A few of you may know via my Flickr that I recently illustrated a very short story called “Lost”, which you can purchase at my Etsy shop. This was one of those projects where it began quite by accident — I just started drawing (because I love stories, I just went along and wrote text to accompany whatever it is that flowed out of my hand).
Help came too in the form of a book I bought called Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine by Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd which helped me by expanding my thoughts to the possibilities of a zine format for story-telling.
Now, after I’m done, I went around looking for more zines and came up with a few places, which I think might be a great place to start if you’re looking for something unique. The list isn’t exhaustive, so feel free to let everyone know if you have a favorite distro or a zine that we simply MUST have a gander at.
Running Amok sells limited edition zines made by fantastic artists like Kelly Lynn Jones and Nigel Peake.
Ahhh. Nothing better than cereals to go with your zine, just like what Andrew Neyer wanted it to be.
Yael Fran has her say in the cute Girls have many girls zine.
Julia Pott makes one of most wonderful zines ever (besides you, Gemma — we’re still waiting for your new one to come out!!)
Who can forget Craig Atkinson’s collaborated zines sold over at Cafe Royal?
And a fashion zine called Worn which caught my eye with this cover art. There’s artists interviews, fashion and more, so it’s almost like a full-fledged indie magazine!
{For more zines, I’d recommend going over to Julia Rothman’s Book By It’s Cover because she has one of the largest collection ever of artists’ zines and books!}
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On a more personal note, I find it very difficult to focus my energy on creating my own art sometimes, because there is a lot of beautiful works out there by artists whom I respect, and you know the drill — I keep putting things off because I’m hooked on looking instead of creating. And because I’m a newcomer to selling my own art, I feel an even deeper connection to the artists who I profile here on Pikaland, and I am in awe of the hard work that they put in to get their names out there. So I’m going to be working extra hard to discover my own destiny, and in the meantime, we’re all in the same boat, and I can’t ask for better company. 🙂
i really do agree with you on the last part.
And i often hesitate to post up my work too, it’s like i don’t have any confidence at all =(
Let’s work hard together!! =D
Eeep! Thats so cute – I’d like to send a copy of your zine to my Sis in Australia (coz she’s feelin a little down now…). Would you be able to send me the text for it (I trust your illustrations!)? I just want to check that its sentiments are what my sis needs to hear right now 😉
I met the Running Amok people the other day – they were at a book fair in Bristol, and bought the Sing Statistics zine (the most recent Running Amok). Its SOOOOOOOO cute. And I have that Cafe Royal Zine too.
I’ve been wanting to make a little zine for myself for AGES, but am scared by all the lovely stuff already out there, and can completely understand where you’re coming from … Well done for making one!
Bibi: Yes, let’s! 🙂
Mithi: Thank you, and I think you should totally do it! Your illustrations would look fab on zines!
Reading your personal note made me feel like you were reading my mind! I get so wrapped up discovering and admiring and finding inspiration in others that I end up with less time to create my own stuff. I have recently started an Etsy shop, as well as a blog, and I find that it’s taking time to find my voice and feel comfortable expressing myself both in my blog and my work. And now I’ve found another cool site to spend time reading instead of getting busy!!! I’ll be adding you to my blog!
I love this post! And I love this blog! The difficulty you have making rather than looking really resonates with me. But then again, I don’t think I’m the kind of artist who can just hole up and create – I really need to be immersed in it. Keep it up, your work is beautiful!
hehe, thanks amy… the bear 6 will be out soon i promise!!
i love ‘whatdya mean what’s a zine?’. i would recommend it to anyone interested in making/reading zines. x
I think a lot of us fall into the same boat when it comes to that last part of your post, Amy. I’ve just been working on getting over that myself over the past month in particular through my site, putting myself out there with social networking applications, etc. I’m drawing regularly again! I kinda have to if I aim on throwing up at least one sketch a day on my blog, which I have now consistently done for a month. Hard work, but the pay-off has been more than worth it. When I admire everyone elses’ illustrations and artworks, I can pull up my own beside it and be proud of my own work too.
Your little story is just beautiful – you should definitely do more!