Writers Old Fashioned » Emily

Miners Mutiny, First Look

Emily — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:15:39 +0000

Keep your hands on your holsters and don’t be jumping no claims. Here we have folks, a nugget of what’s to come this October at the 2010 Alternative Press Expo.

Miners Mutiny, the first full-length comic book of the forthcoming trilogy, is the story of a man looking for trouble in a small gold mining town where no one has anything better to do.

Loaded with TNT, wild women, and plenty of whiskey to keep your whistle whetted!

Yeeeeeee HAW!

Your Tools Aren’t Everything…

Emily — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:32:41 +0000

But they’re certainly something.

Hi Ho! Just sweating over a panel and feeling extremely unproductive tonight. I finished a whopping 2 panels today! That’s one more than one and one less than NOT ENOUGH!

Anywho, I’m sitting here staring at what little work I did do, and I start blaming my lack of productivity on my pencils, of all things. This got me thinking about the importance of “tools” and “workspace”.

These two things can make or break you. Without the proper tools your work will suffer. Same goes for your workspace; If you don’t feel comfortable, you won’t get anything done. Your art space is sacred. Your tools are the lightening rods of your imagination. Or something?

With all that being said, here’s another thought: These tools do not define your work. In other words, a true artist can create with the bare necessities, in the worst conditions. Meaning, it’s no excuse when all your pencils have become little nubs that can not tolerate another sharpening (as you can tell in the above picture, I have an electric sharpener = OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE SHARPENING).

Before I start a project, I make sure to give my space a looksee. Here are the 3 most important aspects of a workspace, for me:

-Functionality

-Ease

-Comfort

My space is all about accessibility. Glass of water within reach, CHECK. Tools, paper, references, are all at my disposable. I know myself and thus know that if I have to get up from my desk; I may never come back. The goal is to have everything there for me.

Now I’ve shown you mine, let’s see yours.

It’s a Miracle Anything Ever Gets Done

Emily — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:49:16 +0000

And I don’t mean that to sound depressing. Let me clarify…

I am having a particularly hard time starting a new project (and instead of working on said project, here I am writing a blog post, see?)

I won’t use the term writer’s block, or artist’s block or whatever verbiage is used to describe this happenstance. We all know what it is, and we’ve all been plagued by it at some point or another. To me, I don’t see it as a block; some kind of proverbial dam holding back the metaphorical river of creative juices. That implies that it’s out of your hands. It’s too easy to say, “I can’t write now, I’m blocked!”. You may not be able to write now, true, but it’s more likely that you plain “don’t want to” then that you’re blocked. Creative power is YOUR creative power. Any dam, block, handicap, lack of motivation, mental disorder, addictive behavior, fear, or just plain laziness holding you back is YOURS and yours alone. Facing this fact, or what I see as fact, actually makes it easier to deal with. You can’t change most things outside of yourself after all.

You with me?

Yet here I am, knowing and believing what I just expressed, unable to focus on a project that means the world to me. This is because no matter how you define it or how well prepared you are to deal with it, it happens to us all. And then there’s the physical world of distractions. How does one stay-in on a Friday night to draw? How is one capable of mentally focusing on drawing knowing that there is fun to be had right outside their door?

As I sit here, frustratedly staring at a blank sheet of paper, I can’t stop the thought going through my mind: ‘It’s a miracle anything ever gets done.’ I think about all the movies, books, shows, and artwork that I love; it’s truly miraculous that creators are able to grapple this thing and CREATE! (and thank heavens they do!)

My point in writing this post is this: If you are a creator, just know that none of us are alone with this feeling. I say that more to comfort myself than anyone else. However, more important than commiserating is celebrating. For it is our duty as creators to overcome this thing and get shit done.

And the winner is…

Emily — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:19:36 +0000

Brazilianoir! That’s right, you heard it here first (or maybe here). Emily Stackhouse and Nicholas Shahan’s first mini comic, Brazilianoir, brought home the gold for Outstanding D.I.Y. at Stumptown Comics Fest 2009.

Thank you Portland for sharing your love!

photo credit greyaenigma flickr

Trophy Award Nominations

Emily — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:05:10 +0000

This just in! Writers Old Fashioned now has two, count ‘em, two contenders for the the majestic Trophy Award!

Emily Stackhouse and Nicholas Shahan are up for Outstanding D.I.Y with their comic, Brazilianoir!

Jason McNamara and Paige Braddock are in the running for Outstanding Small Press with, The Martian Confederacy !

If you’re going to Stumptown Comics Fest, check out our books and then vote! vote! vote!

Go team!

Look out, Portland!

Emily — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:18:02 +0000

Stumptown 2009. It’s that time of year again, when the fine city of Portland, Oregon, opens it’s arms to the world of comics! The city has even dubbed the month of April, Comic Month, how cool is that?

This is something that Writers Old Fashioned wouldn’t miss for the world. So we’re packing up our wares and heading up North. Also, check out fellow Old Fashioned Writer, Jason McNamara’s Trophy Award nomination for Outstanding Small Press. And please, look out for us. Stop by booth 85 and say hi, will ya?

Why Comics?

Emily — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:21:03 +0000

We’re Writers Old Fashioned, a group of Bay Area comic book creators bound together by our collective four color dreams. We’re polling our resources (us) to answer the age old question: Why comics?

And more importantly: Why the hell do we MAKE comics? First up, Jason and Emily…

The place stunk of bloody meat and kicked up sawdust and I couldn’t be happier. The longer the butcher took to take my pop’s order, the longer I could spin the lopsided, creaky comic rack. Bat-Man, Spider-Man and The Hulk were familiar friends I had seen on TV. Riding home on my father’s shoulders, I held tight to Pork Chops and a handful of 35 cent adventures to be read to me. And then suddenly without warning…

“Jason” my father warned me “Don’t turn around. Two-Face is behind us.”

Oh Shit, Two-Face was the worst of the bunch that chased us home. I held on tight to his sweatshirt as my father broke into a run. Soon I’d be filled with meat, four color funnies and, if I was lucky, a baby can of Budweiser to calm my 5 year old nerves.

Why do I make comics? Because I want every kid in America to think Two-Face is going to chop him or her into little pieces.

-Jason McNamara

Here’s how my mini-drama-comic-love-affair goes, in three parts.

Part One- Girl meets comics. I was naive and unsuspecting, the perfect age for a comic book to be thrust upon. The first time I held one of those colorful little books, I knew I would do whatever it took to stay close to them. I had to draw for them, write for them, anything!

Part Two- Girl leaves comics. Along with the my little ponies and legos of my youth, the rolled up comic book in my back jean pocket was doing nothing for my social life. I was too cool for comic books, if such a thing ever existed.

Part Three- Girl comes crawling back to comics. I was wrong and I wasn’t fooling anybody. The doodles of Rogue on the corners of my school papers were a dead giveaway. I was the one who was “uncool”. Comic books are the coolest and they aren’t even smug about it. I jumped back in, head first. I even starting making them myself, an offering to the comic gods. Repentance.

So, here I am, back in the warm embrace of comics. Back where I belong.

-Emily Stackhouse

I Still Believe in Comics.

Emily — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:13:37 +0000

I originally wanted to write a recap of my 2009 WonderCon, but I just can’t get into the details. It seems if I focused on the specifics (like the fact that Mike Mignola’s table was two tables away from our own!) I’d be missing the big picture of WonderCon.

Does anyone remember this song?

(click “continue reading” to rock out)

Really listen to the lyrics (no seriously, listen to this song while you read this post!). This was my theme song for WonderCon weekend: I Still Believe. All details aside, let me tell you about what this convention, and all the others, mean to me.

It’s tough making comics; it’s an isolating experience. Writing and drawing are lonely activities. When we make comics we are totally alone, don’t get me wrong, being alone is nice and all but after awhile it can really get you down. This is why I love cons so much: they bring us together.

Not only is making comics a lonely business but it’s also esoteric. Sometimes people in your life simply don’t “get” what it is that you do. This is true for any profession, but with comics, outsiders may find it hard to take seriously. Believe it or not, but there are people out there who see our beloved comic books as just silly cartoons, or to use the phrase I’m quite fond of, “funny books”. A good pal of mine, (and everyone else’s in this little comic world) James Sime, uses this phrase in the same way I like to. We have to reclaim this word. Come on, say it together now, “funny books”. It’s these little grubby, pulpy books that we all live for. And it’s the meeting together to discuss, sell, buy, draw, write and read these little funny books that makes us a community.

Writers Old Fashioned is a little slice of the comic community pie. What we do is support each other. What the comic community does, as a whole, is support each other. See? It’s all about love and support. Whether it was from the hundreds of people who stopped by booth AA103 or from my fellow comrades at Writers Old Fashioned, (check out STORM’s post) love and support were all I felt last weekend.

So, without giving you all a play by play of my weekend, I just want to say:

I still believe in comic books and I still believe in what WE do.

Love and Comics

Emily — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:45:48 +0000

Throughout the history of comic books, there have been some great loves (Jesse and Tulip, Cyclops and Jean, Peter and Mary Jane, etc.). However, there’s one love story that left an impact on my heart, the size of a crater.

Now, I’m not saying it’s the most epic love story, or even that it had that great of an accompanying storyline, but the cover of issue number #24 is hot. Maybe it was because I was only a wee lass when it came out, but Rogue and Gambit had a kind of untouchable, steamy passion going, that as a kid, I couldn’t even begin to grasp an understanding of. That cover has burned a mental image forever on my mind. I traced and retraced it over and over again (taught myself how to draw a kiss even). Take a moment and look at it, will ya? And when you’re done eating your heart out, I ask you, what’s your favorite moment of comic love?

The Freaks Come Out at Night

Emily — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:27:26 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I love some good ol’ homemade costumes and comic book fans are especially good at do-it-yourself fashion. Wonder Con is like a pop culture safari; cruise around the convention halls and you’ll be sure to spot several icons in their natural habitat. They’ll be a Wonder Woman eating a bag of Doritos or a Storm Trooper using the water fountain. I can’t wait! The ladies and gentlemen of Writers Old Fashioned may not be in superhero attire this year at Wonder Con, but you can bet we’ll be looking sharp. Just for your amusement, here’s some of our past costumes to show you our true colors.

Jason as Spiderman (black suit)

Kirsten as Lady Blackhawk

Josh is Tony Stark

Matt- a perfect Doctor Ock

Danger Bob is Captain Portugal!

STORM as Black Widow

Emily as Checkmate

and the votes are in,

Danzig IS a superhero, as Ash displays here. See you at Wonder Con.