Teen cartoonists, and parents of teen cartoonists! Time to sign up for summer comics classes at Cornish! Fun! Plus, several students in my current classes at Cornish were students at my summer classes at Cornish, just sayin’.

Comics Studio

Ellen Forney

July 9 – 27, M W, 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Ages 15 – 18

Create your own comics! Students will learn basic skills including writing, drawing, crafting stories, developing characters, lettering, and page design.

Scholarships are available. Housing is available. Questions: summer@cornish.edu (206)726-5148

Lots to report but I’ll keep it brief!

ART SHOW: Tomorrow, Sat., 2/11: Funny Valentines Art Show at Fantagraphics Bookstore in Georgetown, 6-9pm. It’s a group show featuring work by Jack Davis and a couple dozen other artists and cartoonists including me, Art Chantry, Jim Woodring, Peter Bagge, and more.

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE: I’m honored to have been invited to be a Master Artist-In-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Oct. 8-28. Come study comics with me for a few weeks at a beautiful arts facility a few minutes from the beach! Apply here.

ART FESTIVAL JUROR: I am one of five jurors for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, June 16-24 (along with Dan Savage and Mistress Matisse). Submit art now! Early bird submissions before Feb. 15, submissions accepted until March 10. Here and here are some of my own pieces from previous years.

PANELIST: I’ll be at the Emerald City ComiCon, March 30 – April 1, on a panel organized by Fantagraphics, about Seattle’s role as the “city that gave birth and momentum to the alternative comix movement.” (Panel time and date TBA.)

And!! GRAPHIC NOVEL: I am at long last sending in my files for my graphic novel. Hooray! Hooray! This is unbelievably exciting for me. More excitement to come! The book is due out from Penguin in September.

I’m doing two college visits next week, on Oct. 12 at Montgomery College, and October 13 at Towson University: workshops and my presentation about how comics are amazing. I just brought a travel mug/ french press for the occasion, and it has the unfortunate slogan on the side, “GIVE UP BAD COFFEE FOR GOOD!” It was the only one I could find, so I’ll have to either finish my first cup of the day in my hotel room, or give in to looking like a total Seattle coffee snob dork.

I was honored to contribute to this comic book, benefitting the kids of Joplin, Missouri:

Comics Express is a limited-edition comic book conceived by Carmen Morais (a former editor at Nickelodeon Magazine) to benefit kids affected by the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, which destroyed 30% of the city and made thousands homeless. She assembled a bunch of award-winning comic artists and former colleagues from Nickelodeon to donate the content and labor. The comic book will give young kids up to teens something more fun to think about than damaged neighborhoods and uprooted lives. The Joplin Public Library will coordinate with local groups to distribute the comic books to kids free in July.

This went great, and the local media in Joplin ran a story about it. It made me happy to actually see kids reading the comic I did, “How to Draw Eye-Catching, On-the-Nose, Loud-Mouth Cartoon Faces!!” – I hope some of them tried it!:

I had an awesome bunch of budding cartoonists in my classes at Cornish this summer. The Session 2 class’s final minicomics and original work will be on display today between 2:00pm – 7:00pm on the Cornish campus, in a big performance/exhibit extravaganza of all the summer classes. Every year, I am blown away by their work. You will be like, wow, these are teens?

My fabulous class with their minicomics in front of their final exhibit:

Here’s the schedule online and after the jump.

[Read more →]

Hey! The Seattle Weekly just came out with their 2011 “Best of Seattle” awards, and they voted me “Best Local Cartoonist.” With many nods of respect to the many excellent cartoonists in town, thank you, Seattle Weekly!

Once a month, the editor of the Stranger takes over the beautiful lounge at the beautiful Sorrento Hotel, filling it with beautiful people just relaxing and reading. I’ll be one of two special guests next week:

The special guests at next week’s reading party are confirmed: Ellen Forney and Derek Erdman! Comix themed! Both of them are insanely prolific, both of them have been on the cover of The Stranger a bunch (here and here and here and here), and both of them will be there, sitting on couches or wingback chairs, reading whatever they feel like reading, just like you.

The special is a $4 Manhattan. Kyle O’Quin will be back on piano, playing Chopin and whatever else he feels like. Starts at 6 pm, takes place at Sorrento’s Fireside Room, and it’s free.

Someone Photoshopped this ridickiliss graphic: my I Love Led Zeppelin cover self-portrait, a car-not-a-Cougar by Derek (his work is here, it’s great) and the Sorrento’s fireside lounge. Come if you can, I’ll bring some extra comics with me.

They’re up! I designed banners for Broadway, in the middle of Capitol Hill, extending nine blocks from Pine to Roy. Thrilling! They’ll be replaced by special events-related banners from time to time (Pride, farmer’s market opening) but other than that they’ll hang for a few years.

Jake and I love our apartment. And so does CityArts Magazine! Their March issue has a feature on artists’ homes, including our “art-laden” pad.

Join me on Wednesday at 11am PST and ask me questions online. I will answer them in real time! If I can figure out what I’m doing, that is. (Chat console? Moderation queue?) Here’s the official press release:

Free Library of Philadelphia and Walmart Host Online Book Chat with Ellen Forney, Contributing Artist for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

What: One Book, One Philadelphia online book chat

Who: Chat led by Ellen Forney, illustrator of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

When: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Where: Chat will be hosted at http://walmartphiladelphia.com/

Join readers nationwide as Walmart and the Free Library of Philadelphia host the first ever One Book, One Philadelphia online book chat. On Wednesday, February 23, at 2:00 p.m. EST, visit walmartphiladelphia.com to participate in a live chat with Ellen Forney, contributing artist for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, on how the themes in this year’s book are developed through the 65 comics she created for the novel.