A Note From the Creator – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

A Note From the Creator

Two vultures are perched atop a branch running horizontally across the page, above the author note: "A Note From the Creator This visual diary was produced during a very busy year. It starts in January 2021, when we were still very much in that strange first year of the pandemic. 6 months earlier I had taken part in SAWâ€™s Graphic Novel Intensive. It was such a strange time and our little group really leaned into each other as we made comics and tried to make sense of it all. Time felt more expansive and there was room to create. But that feeling didnâ€™t last long as I made the decision to finish a degree I had started years prior. My interest in regenerative agriculture was the impetus for my leap back into university life. But the juggle of school, job and family slammed me back into a hurried existence that left little time for art. On a whim, I started drawing daily pictures with quick, dry accounts of the day. I guess the idea was to help me remember the year as well as force myself to work on my weak drawing skills. They were never intended to be in the public eye and would have been approached quite differently hadâ€¦"

"â€¦I known they might. It was my friends at SAW that saw some value in these pages and prompted their publication. I do believe their merit lies in the evidence that even small attempts at something over time amount to something much bigger. While this diary is far from being considered in the realm of comics, the act of drawing the steadfast march of life over the course of time could probably be considered sequential art. There was so much more life happening beyond these pages, but these little sketches helped stave the ever present artistsâ€™ guilt to create. I even hated doing them most days but it felt important that I was doing something. - Kim Laurenti, May 2023"

Published On: April 17, 2024

"Free online workshop: Icons Patterns and Textures with Fionn McCabe, Sequential Artists Workshop, Friday May 24 7pm EST"

"After Camp" A traced drawing of Adam as a boy standing with his Grandpa, whose hand rests on Adam's shoulder. Adam says, "Hi again, Grandpa."

"SAW Presents: Exploring Your Comfort Zone Using Comics with Dana Jeri Maier, Friday May 17 7pm ET 4pm PT" A map of a land mass divided in two by a dotted line and surrounded by water and sea monsters.

A hilly landscape with a black sky. Someone from off panel says, "Nelly?"

"SAW presents a virtual comics workshop: Your Celebrity Crush Is In Love With You, with Heather Loase, free and open to all, Friday May 10th, 7pm EST" The title of the workshop is in white block letters over a large red heart, surrounded by small red hearts decorating the graphic. Below the heart, one person is chasing another. The chasee says, "No Barry Keoghan, I will NOT be your date to the Oscars!" Barry Keoghan, holding a bouquet of roses, replies, "I beg ye' to reconsider darlin'"

Two people enter a house that is partially flooded and in disarray. They look shocked.

"Disabled activists fought for an elevator down to light rail but it was shuttered due to misuse. Foot traffic brings the challenges of humanity. For building owners, isolation saves money."

“The Way Above by Adrean Clark My librarian aunt has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid, I climbed the loft high above my hearing family. A row of National Geographic’s formed a tunnel behind her bookshelves. My mind traveled the world without worrying about my Deafness." 3 panels who altogether depict a cityscape view of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Rachel looks at themself in the mirror. They have thick eyebrows, bangs, and wavy hair past their shoulders, rendered in soft blues. They are touching their cheeks with their hands as tears and makeup stream down their face. They look pained, brows furrowed, eyes wide, frowning.

Promo graphic reading “Drawing Sense Memory with Solomon Brager @jbbrager Free Virtual Workshop Friday 5/3 @7pm ET / 4pm PT” A human nose highlighted in pink is sniffing a yellow daffodil; they are composed of half-tone textures.

“When I was in the 5th grade my best friend and I used to name the pigeons in the schoolyard.” A brightly colored screenshot of a Google Maps street view image of a city street, with a cartoon pigeon imposed on it to be part of the scene.

"Krazy Aphorisms Herriman-Kafka"

"SAW Presents: Sketchbook Church with Walker Mettling Fri April 26 7pm EDT Sketchbook Games | Beginners Welcome Free Friday Night Comics Workshop"

A human figure is crouched down on the ground, back against a tree trunk. They are backed away from a pond, from which a huge splash of water rises with a “PLIIP!” The figure is frowning, looking a bit taken aback.

$Christa places her hands over her chest in mourning and cries quietly, tears streaming down her face, eyes closed and head tilted slightly. Two other versions of this image are refracted in the background along with a slight iridescent effect.$

An extreme close up of a human eye. The pupil and iris are completely reflecting a scene of frogs in the mud.

A view from below of wintry trees encircling a ball of light, perhaps the moon on a cloudy night. The title is contained in this orb, lettered in a curveless style in all caps. There are lots of crow-like bird silhouettes perched in the branches of the tree, and it is raining. The scene is rendered in layers of purple, blue, and brown watercolors/gouache, lined with a black brush pen.

Two vultures are perched atop a branch running horizontally across the image, above the bolded text, "A Note From the Creator"

Kim sits at her desk, facing away from the reader, working on a painting by the light of a desk lamp. A board is standing upright in front of her, with a photo taped to it; paints and a cup of water sit on the desk to her right. “December 26.”

Kim’s hand holds a little flower; in front of her is a sheet of paper covered with other little flowers of different types. Next to it is a pair of small shears. “December 21. Collected flowers for Mom’s gift. Cleaned, worked, readied, cooked.”

Kim is crouching over the large pile of mulch, which is giving off steam. “December 14. Land remediation talk after work. Mulch pile is smoking :)”

Promo image: “SAW Presents: Aimless Comics with Anand Shenoy / 04/05 @ 7pm EST | Beginners Welcome / Free Friday Night Comics Workshop” In the center of the image is an illustration of a man with warm, medium skin sitting on a train, framed by the window. The figure’s elbow is resting on the edge of the window, knuckles pressed below his ear in a relaxed position. He is wearing a bright pink and yellow baseball cap, a purple t-shirt, and a green vest; the train seat is pink and the background is blue. The rest of the image is pink, with curved, dotted lines like in a map drawn in yellow and purple.

Kim is sitting on one knee, other knee perpendicular to the ground, as rummages through a shelf of papers in front of her. She is dressed in all black, wearing glasses, and has on a neutral expression. “December 8. Worked. Not sleeping great, Mom picked up Enzo from school so I got to see her and Ali after work.”

Kim sits at her desk working on a landscape design. A wall clock and two potted plants decorate the background by the window. “December 2. Finished compost bumper sticker and worked on final design. Online class.”

Promo graphic reading in black text over a bright yellow background: “SAW presents: Creating Iconic Characters with Sage Coffey / 3/29 7pm EST 4pm PST / B.Y.O. art supplies, Free virtual workshop.” The heads of Garfield, Snoopy, Popeye, and Nancy, each with red and pink angel wings, circle the text, and at the bottom a small cartoon figure of Sage looks up excitedly at them. Red and pink stars, light sparkles, and motion lines decorate the empty space.

Two people are lounging back on a couch, holding remote controllers and looking ahead, presumably at a TV or monitor. One of them has tattoos, gauges, a nose ring, and facial hair; the other has their hair tied back in a ponytail. Someone is in the background, possibly Kim or her mom, heading off-panel. “November 25. Friday. Worked on school assignments until 5 a.m. and David came over. We all went to mom’s (played Jackbox and ate Chinese).”

Kim is lying on her side, spooning her dog and smiling softly. “November 20. Worked. Enzo slept over Mom’s. She drove him to a party after.”

Promo image for workshop reading: “Drawing Sound / a poetry comics workshop with mara ramirez / march 22 / 7 pm eastern / free, online / Sequential Artists Workshop.” Decorated with a gray and white digital collage of photocopied x-rays of an ear, overlaid with a photocopied image of a woman holding an ear horn up to her right ear.

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