Category: Art

Art, News1 Comment

The Political is Personal

Dennis R. Upkins

Since Donald Trump’s presidential election victory last week, there’s been much discussion and preparation in regards to the fates of minorities given the Presidential Elect[?]’s controversial and bigoted platform.

Whether it’s the election, Ferguson, Flint, Orlando, or DAPL, one of the most infuriating things I hear from people, and by people I mean white people, is that there needs to be more dialogue, more education, more love.

If only there were more people out there teaching and educating then tragedies like #Orlando or #Ferguson or #Baltimore wouldn’t be a reality.

Why is that infuriating? Because there are people who have dedicated their lives, doing that very work. In fact you’re reading one of their pieces right now.

Continue reading “The Political is Personal”

Art, Books1 Comment

CTRL+ALT: A Culture Lab on Imagined Futures, This Weekend in New York City

Keith Chow

Like the rest of the nation, I woke up this morning to an unfathomable reality. Despite our best efforts, the country has chosen hate and division. Those dystopian science-fiction novels don’t feel so far off anymore. Still, we at The Nerds of Color must soldier on. I’m doing that by participating in CTRL+ALT, the Smithsonian’s pop-up Culture Lab on imagined futures this weekend in New York City. Though, to be honest, I’m having a difficult time imagining the present, much the less the future.

Continue reading “CTRL+ALT: A Culture Lab on Imagined Futures, This Weekend in New York City”

Art, Conventions1 Comment

Artist Talk: Shawn Taylor in Conversation with Ajuan Mance

Shawn Taylor

If you’re in the Bay Area this week, you should attend this conversation. It is one of our events leading up to 2017’s Black Comix Arts Festival, a Co-Presentation of MoAD, Cartoon Art Museum, and Black Comix Art Festival.

Join the Cartoon Art Museum and Black Comix Art Festival at the Museum of the African Diaspora for, “Ajuan Mance in Conversation with Shawn Taylor,” an evening celebration of current Bay Area cartooning sensation Ajuan Mance as part of the SF Comics Fest. Writer Shawn Taylor from The Nerds of Color will chat with Ajuan about her latest projects in illustration, cartooning and writing, her creative process, her recent rise in popularity, and what she plans to achieve next.

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Animation, Art1 Comment

Creator Profile: The Ghetto Geppetto

Shawn Taylor

There isn’t a week that goes by that I’m not asked some version of the following questions: “How do you know about all this comic book stuff?” It is usually followed up by: “There is so much out there. How do you know if it is any good?”

Instead of rehashing here my plea for people to take risks on art and culture, I’ve decided to be more proactive.

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Art, Comics1 Comment

My Family Loves Goldie Vance, Yours Should Too

Shawn Taylor

For parents who know a little about me but don’t really know who I am, the conversation starts something like this: “My [son/daughter] tells me that your daughter is one of the best readers in class. She’s always reading… I also heard that you were really into… comic books, superheroes, and things like that. Is this true?” I proudly proclaim that comic books were instrumental in my becoming a voracious reader, and that I used comics and graphic novels to instill in my daughter and intense love of reading, creativity, and fantasy world-building. I explain that since reading comics and YA fantasy/adventure books, my daughter’s imagination is incredibly expansive and that her being able to make-believe is a value that I and her mother share.

They are usually intrigued by now.

Continue reading “My Family Loves Goldie Vance, Yours Should Too”

Art, Podcasts1 Comment

#CrossLines Takes Over the Smithsonian This Memorial Day Weekend

Keith Chow

This weekend, the historic Arts & Industries Building at the Smithsonian will be the place to be when over 40 artists and scholars participate in a pop-up culture lab on intersectionality called CrossLines. And The Nerds of Color will be there all weekend conducting podcast interviews (Hard NOC LIVE, if you will) with artists and writers like Shawn Martinbrough, Ellen Oh, and more. And on Sunday evening, bring a sci-fi/fantasy book or graphic novel and join in on the NOC Book Swap.

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Art, Comics1 Comment

Bernard Chang Wants to Give You Original King Art

Keith Chow

King, the dystopian sci-fi adventure from Joshua Hale Fialkov, Bernard Chang, and Marcelo Maiolo, is now available in graphic novel form. And artist Bernard Chang wants to give you original art from the book!

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Art, Music2 Comments

Night of the Waking Astronomer

Dennis R. Upkins

Being stuck in Nashville — proud home of country music, the Confederacy, and the Klan — I don’t go out often. To be more accurate I really don’t go out ever. For me to emerge from my Batcave of Solitude, there had better be a good reason. A very good reason.

This past Friday there most certainly was a reason for me to venture out into the wasteland known as the Music City. Comic book artist, rock musician, Jane-of-all-trades, Renaissance Woman, fellow Atlanta native, and the epitome of Black Girl Magic, Afua Richardson, announced on social media that her band, Waking Astronomer would be in town performing at the Exit In.

She already had me at “Afua Richardson would be in town.”

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Art, Books1 Comment

Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Complex Revealed

The Nerds of Color

Over at io9.com today, Charlie Jane Anders has the scoop on the latest novel from author Sarah Kuhn, Heroine Complex. In addition to the exclusive first look at the book’s fantastic cover, illustrated by Jason Chan, you can also find an excerpt from the book. Click the cover below to read more about Kuhn’s Asian American superhero novel at io9!

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Art, Marvel7 Comments

#AAIronFist Fan Art by Alison Roberts

The Nerds of Color

We all know Marvel and Netflix passed on the opportunity to cast an Asian American actor in the role of Danny Rand on their upcoming Iron Fist series. Still, that didn’t prevent artist Alison Roberts from illustrating what Danny might have looked like as an Asian American.

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Art, Comics1 Comment

Why Comix? Drawing the World You Want to See

Keith Chow

If you’re in the Boston area on Thursday, January 14, then I hope you have a chance to stop by Northeastern University. Starting from 9:30am, fellow NOC and celebrated artist and scholar John Jennings will be kicking off a day-long conversation about the politics of race and identity representation in comics.

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Art, Comics, Interview

APAture2015: Interview with Jason Bayani

Alice Wong

We continue our spotlight on Kearny Street Workshop and its APAture2015: Future Tense, a series of showcases featuring emerging artists from the San Francisco Bay Area. This Saturday, October 10, the Comics & Illustration Showcase will feature a number of comic book artists. Yesterday was my interview with artist Thi Bui. Today, I chat with Jason Bayani, Program Manager of Kearny Street Workshop.

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Art, Comics, Interview2 Comments

APAture2015: Interview with Artist Thi Bui

Alice Wong

Kearny Street Workshop, one of the oldest and well-known arts organization in the Asian Pacific American community, proudly presents APAture2015: Future Tense, a series of showcases featuring emerging artists from the San Francisco Bay Area.

On Saturday, October 10, the Comics & Illustration Showcase will feature a number of comic book artists. Below is a brief Q&A with  Thi Bui, who is the featured artist at this year’s showcase.

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Art, Comics, Guest Post3 Comments

How to Be Black in Comics

Guest N.O.C.

by Darryl Ayo

[Ed. Note: This essay originally appeared as a series of tweets on Darryl’s Twitter timeline.]

I’ve tried for years to draw black people as real characters as well as visibly dark; it’s expensive with screentones.

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Art, Crowdfunding3 Comments

Coming Soon: MaeJay and the Mech

Shawn Taylor

Close to a decade ago, I met a Blaxican artist at Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland, CA. We had mutual geek interests, as well as an undying love and connection to hip-hop culture — the vibe was pure fiyah. He was already a parent, and I was about to be one. We became friends. He’s a visual artist, toy maker, animator, and filmmaker. I’m a writer, marketing guy, pop culture scholar, and performer. Match made in geek heaven. We bandied about ideas on how best we could work together, but nothing really panned out. Then, something happened. I don’t know what his catalyzing agent was, but mine was WonderCon. Continue reading “Coming Soon: MaeJay and the Mech“

Art, Marvel, Sports4 Comments

On Body Image, Diversity, and Comics’ Outdated Standard of Beauty

Jordan M Calhoun

Originally posted on Black Nerd Problems

ESPN made a “Body Issue” based on Marvel superheroes, and it’s glorious. But before we get to that, let’s go through some fascinating history first. The first Body Issue was published in 2009 in response to a significant decline in ESPN magazine’s revenue during the financial crisis. Not only that, because it was also a response for that pesky high-selling publication from their competitor, Sports Illustrated’s annual Swimsuit Issue. ESPN photographers took shots of athletes — some more famous, others less known — nearly or completely naked, bearing it all with a soccer ball, or a baseball bat, or the snowboard they ride on. Where the Swimsuit Issue focused on homogeneous models showcasing bikinis and pandering to the typical standard of Hollywood beauty however, the Body Issue saw an opportunity: ESPN the Magazine would focus on the diversity of the human form by centering on the athletes themselves.

And focusing on diversity proved to be an amazingly successful strategy. Who knew?

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Art, Gone Too Soon3 Comments

R.I.P. Francis Tsai

Keith Chow

Last night, the SIUniverse family was rocked when we learned we had lost one of our own. Francis Tsai, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010, passed away after a long battle with the disease — just one week after celebrating his 46th birthday. In 2009, Francis became part of the SIUniverse by illustrating the story “Taking Back Troy” in the first Secret Identities volume. Though ALS slowly took away his ability to draw with his hands, he never let the disease stop him from creating art. First, he trained himself to draw using his feet, and when that was taken from him, he pioneered special technology using his eyes to create art.

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Art, DC Comics1 Comment

Bernard Chang is Giving Away Original Green Lantern Corps Art

Keith Chow

We are a couple months out from DC Comics’ soft reboot of their entire line up. One of the changes that will be coming this summer is that long time DC artist — and friend of the NOC — Bernard Chang will be shifting from Green Lantern Corps to art duties on Batman Beyond!

To celebrate the Green Lantern Corps fans and reward them for their loyalty for the last two years, Bernard will be giving away original interior art from his run on the book on Instagram!

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Art, Television1 Comment

Fresh Off the Boat by Artist Krishna Sadasivam

The Nerds of Color

If you were one of the 14 million people that caught either of Wednesday night’s Fresh Off the Boat debut episodes, you know that the show — loosely based on the Eddie Huang memoir of the same name — has gotten off to a promising start. Let’s hope the other networks take notice and start truly broadcasting in color!

Now the show is finally out there for the world to see, we wrap up our special week-long tribute to Fresh Off the Boat  with this piece of star Hudson Yang as Eddie by PC Weenies creator and SIUniverse alum Krishna Sadasivam. Speaking of Hudson, be sure to read this heartfelt piece by his dad — and friend of the blog — Jeff Yang in the L.A. Times.

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Art, Television1 Comment

Fresh Off the Boat by Point and Question

The Nerds of Color

Our second Fresh Off the Boat-inspired illustration today comes from the collective known as Point and Question, a.k.a. Jef Castro and SooJ Lee. Don’t forget to catch the premiere of the life and times of young Eddie Huang tonight on ABC at 8:30pm (sandwiching a new episode of Modern Family).

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Art, Television1 Comment

Fresh Off the Boat by Artist Quan

The Nerds of Color

Tonight’s the night! The first two episodes of Fresh Off the Boat — the sitcom loosely based on the Eddie Huang memoir of the same name — debut on ABC at 8:30pm (sandwiching a new episode of Modern Family). Since ABC is giving you double the FOTB, we’re also going to be doubling up our artistic tributes to the show. Come back later in the day for a piece by SIUniverse alum Jef Castro. But right now, dig this dope piece from Boston-based illustrator Quan.

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Art, Television1 Comment

Fresh Off the Boat by Artist Earl Yi

The Nerds of Color

As we continue the countdown to the premiere of Fresh Off the Boat — which chronicles the early life of Eddie Huang — we’ve been asking some of our favorite artists to help us celebrate the first Asian American family comedy on network television in 20 years. Next up is the homie Earl Yi.

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Art, Crowdfunding

Kickstart This: Jamie Noguchi’s Kitsune Hoodie

Jamie

The Kitsune Hoodie is a zip-up hoodie featuring an all-over printed fox spirit design.

Like many web cartoonists, I occasionally design shirts to supplement my income. But I’ve never been very good at coming up with the clever designs or mashups that you might see on popular t-shirt sites. My shirt designs tend to feature strange creatures.

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