Natalie Nourigat Talks How ‘Far From Tree’ is Personal and Speaks to a Larger Audience

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Far From Tree may feature a pair of raccoons as the main characters, but they have very humanistic qualities. Like the protective instincts of a parents or the genuine curiosity of a child. Set on a quiet idyllic beach of the Pacific Northwest, audiences will get to see how the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree applies to every parent and child relationship, even those who are raccoons.

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Why this ‘American Sikh’ Cosplays as Captain America

Animator and cosplayer Vishavjit Singh has experienced tremendous trauma in his life. He survived a genocide against Sikh people in India as a young boy, and after he and his family fled to the US, he’s constantly experienced racism and Islamophobia (despite not being Muslim) in the pre- and post-9/11 era. Despite all of this, he remains an optimist for people to treat each other better, and found through his regular cosplaying as Captain America that he could somehow achieve that. But what drew him to this initially?

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Cartoonist Keith Knight on ‘Woke,’ Politics, and the Power of Comics

Keith Knight is the creator of three popular comic strips: the Knight Life, (th)ink, and the K Chronicles. He has appeared in various publications worldwide, including the Washington Post, Daily KOS, San Francisco Chronicle, Medium.com, Ebony, ESPN the Magazine, L.A. Weekly, MAD Magazine, and the Funny Times. I sat down with Keith to talk his new show, Woke, now on Hulu, as well as politics, the craziness of 2020 and also the impact of animation and cartoon drawing by artists of color.

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There’s More Than Meets the Eye with ‘Sanpaku’ Creator Kate Gavino

If you grew up in a Japanese or Chinese household, the idea of ‘Sanpaku’ sounds really familiar. If you or a member of your family had ‘sanpaku eyes,’ which directly translate in Japanese to “three whites,” it means your eyes have white space above or below the iris is visible. In my household, as in many very traditional Asian households, to have sanpaku would mean you’d be cursed or carry around some bad luck. Only trinkets from the Buddhist temple, or whatever religion the family believes in, would protect those who had sanpaku eyes. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones in my family to not be “cursed” with sanpaku eyes.

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Exclusive Preview of ‘Sanpaku’ from BOOM! Studios

All week, BOOM! Studios has been conducting a spotlight on the powerful original graphic novel releases from its award-winning imprint Archaia. And we are proud to contribute to the Archaia Summer Reading series with this extended first look at Sanpaku.

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A Behind the Scenes Look At My Process

Originally posted at Medium

I recently got an email asking about my latest appearance on Madam Secretary and I thought I’d draw a cartoon about the whole thing.

Here was the email:

Wow!! I saw your episode last night and I’m blown away! So I had a question that you partially answered with a tweet. Do you speak Russian? At all? I saw that you had to learn 4 pages but did you have any background in the language. Also, your accent was amazing!!! Did you ever study the accent or did you just learn it when you got the audition?

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Secret Asian Man’s Tak Toyoshima Featured on Public Television

At the end of December, Central Florida’s public television’s Global Perspectives program featured a 30-minute interview with cartoonist and Secret Asian Man creator Tak Toyoshima. On the show, Tak is interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning John Bersia and they discuss everything from comics to education to diversity. Check out the full interview after the jump.

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SPX’s Black Art Matters Panel is Online

Back in September, we tried to get you all hyped for the 21st annual Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. One of the main reasons for that excitement was the (controversially named) “Black Art Matters” panel moderated by legendary cartoonist Keith Knight and featuring artists C. Spike Trotman, Whit Taylor, Ron Wimberly, and Darryl Ayo.

If you missed out on SPX this year, you can still see the panel in its entirety after the jump since the show organizers have just posted it online.

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Are You Ready for This Year’s Small Press Expo?

In less than 24 hours, the world’s best cartoonists and indie comics makers bring their talents to the DMV (that would be the DC-Maryland-Virginia area of the country, and not, alas, where you get your drivers’ license renewed) at the 21st annual Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD.

In addition to hosting esteemed guests like Noelle Stevenson, Scott McCloud, and C. Spike Trotman (among many others), SPX is also home to the Ignatz Awards and a venue for fans of the medium to support some of the hardest working artists in all of comics. After the cut, we’re going to highlight a few of the things we’re most excited to see this weekend.

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Red, White, and Beard Documentary Launches

Back in 2013, cartoonist Vishavjit Singh made a splash on the internet when he took to the streets of New York in a customized turbaned Captain America uniform. A year later, a team of filmmakers followed Singh on one of his Captain America runs and the result of that journey, a short documentary feature called Red, White, and Beard, debuts in one week at its eponymous website.

Also, come back later in the week for Alice’s review of the film. In the meantime, check out its trailer and description after the cut.

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MariNaomi Joins the Latest Hard N.O.C. Life

In a special one-on-one conversation, Keith talks to award-winning cartoonist MariNaomi about her recently launched Cartoonists of Color database and forthcoming graphic memoir Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories from 2D Cloud and Uncivilized Books.

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Submit Your Info to the Cartoonists of Color Database

For the last several days, the award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist MariNaomi has taken to social media to solicit names for a database of cartoonists of color she is currently assembling. And now you can help by adding your name to the list!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Ellen Lindner

How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!

On today’s show, cartoonist Ellen Lindner talks about the one thing beginning cartoonists should do to further their career.

Check it out after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Breehn Burns

How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!

On today’s show, the writer/director of Bravest Warriors, Breehn Burns, and Natalie draw “Parrying Bunnies,” the two word suggestion sent in from viewer Mike Timony. They talk about everything except Bravest Warriors.

Check it out after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim Special: Kimchi Power

Today’s special episode is “Kimchi Power,” an animated cartoon about a normal Korean American girl who finds out she gets super powers when she eats kimchi.

1656175_10153760786905106_18923767_n Natalie created this short with animator Tyler Landis aka Visual Brownies!

Check it out after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Robin Ha

How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!

Today Natalie sits down and draws with her partner on the “Ching Shih: Queen of Pirates” story in Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology, the independent comics master Robin Ha to discuss how Alabama and Seoul, Korea are actually not that different!

Check out the episode after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Simon Fraser

How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!

Today Natalie had the privilege to sit and draw with renowned Scottish cartoonist Simon Fraser. They talk about how Simon learned to draw so well and about why you should not read his upcoming project Grindhouse, a collaboration with writer Alex de Campi coming from Dark Horse.

Check out the episode after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Horatio Sanz

How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!

Today Natalie draws with Saturday Night Live alum Horatio Sanz as he talks about how he really felt about the classic #cowbell episode of SNL.

Check out the debut episode after the jump!

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It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim Debuts in One Week

I am so stoked to announce a new video series we Nerds will be bringing to you dear readers. My friend, the New York City-based actress/writer/artist Natalie Kim has a new — and awesome — YouTube show called It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim that will be debuting exactly one week from today. You may recognize Natalie from her other web series including Super Twins, the comedic web series about fraternal superheroes, and the indie comic review show Inked TV.

Natalie is also part of the SIUniverse fam since her story “Ching Shih: Queen of Pirates” (with art by Robin Ha) was featured in Shattered.

On It’s a Draw, Natalie will interview comedians, cartoonists, and YouTubers — all while drawing at the same time. The show is officially part of the Channel Frederator network, and we’ll be bringing you the show here at The Nerds of Color every Thursday starting on January 16.

After the jump, check out a clip from Natalie’s interview with former Saturday Night Live player Horatio Sanz.

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