A Peanut Evening at BookCourt

Many thanks to everyone who made it out to BookCourt last Sunday, Ayun Halliday and I had a great time.

 At first, author Ayun Halliday did a reading with panels from the book, a really fun way to present a comic for the audience.

Then I gave a "Making-Of" presentation, showing how the book evolved from sketches to finished product.

Afterwards we had a fun Q&A session with the both of us. Thanks again to everybody who came out, and to BookCourt for hosting!

PEANUT event at BookCourt Brooklyn

The first event to celebrate to release of my graphic novel PEANUT is happening this weekend at Brooklyn's BookCourt.
The author, Ayun Halliday, is doing a reading with projections, while I will give a little making-of presentation, showing sketches and process work.
It should be a lot of fun, so come out to celebrate with us!

Sunday, February 24th 2013
7:00pm
BookCourt
163 Court Street,
Brooklyn, NY

(For the Facebook Event page, click here)

Illustration Now! Calendar 2013

Taschen created a calendar from selected pieces from the latest Illustration Now! Volume, and they were kind enough to include my Rabid Rabbits Over Brooklyn piece.

Originally, this was done for a show of original art from the Rabid Rabbit Comic Anthology, and was also included in the 53rd Annual Show at the Society of Illustrators.

Spring Arts Cover for Washington City Paper

The Washington City Papers does an annual Spring Arts Preview, and this time around it'll feature a section cover of yours truly. (Click to enlarge)

As you see to the left, there was very little change from sketch to finish. Just the type took us a while to figure out. Many thanks to Art Director JD Rothstein!

Peanut review in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland loves Peanut, reviewer Michael Sangiacomo wrote a very kind and thoughtful article about our book, you can read the full review on The Plain Dealer's website.

Here is the second half of the text, which has some very nice things to say about the art as well:

"[…] Halliday, the self-described "chief primatologist" of the popular New York zine "The East Village Inky" writes a simple yet compelling story that offers lessons without being preachy. She found a perfect partner to illustrate the work in Paul Hoppe, who previously wrote and drew a children's book of childhood fears, "The Woods."

Hoppe's style is gentle and engaging. His depictions of the characters are perfect, and, in an unusual touch, he gives Sadie alone a splash of color in the otherwise black-and-white drawings. It sounds so simple, but that slight dash of red on her clothing sets her apart from the other characters in much the same way her fake allergy does.

Most impressive is the lack of stereotypes or overwritten characters. Everyone's actions are normal, plausible, believable. It's a slice of high school life in which a 14- or 15-year-old girl tries desperately to find an identity.

Along the way, Sadie learns about the difficulties of allergies and how constantly vigilant truly allergic people must be. She learns of a girl who was sickened because she kissed a boy who had eaten peanuts. She also learns how tough it is to lie to her mother and the school nurse.
Sadie selects her condition with little thought, reeling from the divorce of her parents and the abandonment by her best friend from the old school.

In some ways, "Peanut" is a universal story about people who are just trying to fit in. Isn't that everyone?"
– Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 31st 2013

Communication Arts Illustration Annual

Woo-hoo, I got a piece into the Communication Arts Annual, my Ruins Girl did it! It's been a while since i got a piece in there, so it means a lot to be back. Or perhaps I never left?

PEANUT reviewed by The New York Times

“A smart, affecting graphic young adult novel… Sadie’s allergy may be fake, but the sentiments in ‘Peanut’ are not, and that’s what matters. For adolescents, reality is often more about how you feel about things than about the facts themselves. “
--Pamela Paul, The New York Times

The New York Times reviewed PEANUT on January 23rd, 2013, on their website. It's a very thoughtful and, thankfully, positive review that made me and everybody who was involved in the book very happy. Read the full article here.

I'm especially thrilled about the kind words Pamela Paul had to say about my artwork:

"[…] Hoppe’s panel illustrations are done in a loose, black-and-white pen-and-ink style. Only Sadie’s omnipresent shirt, which goes from tank top to polo to hoodie, according to season, is cherry-red. This highlights her sense of physical and emotional isolation. Hoppe also illustrates Sadie’s thoughts and emotions in inventive ways. A sequence in which she imagines various people’s reactions to her confessing as thought bubbles above her head — each one going pop! as the imagined dialogue sputters — is especially brilliant. […]

I have to admit the "bubbles" sequence was already thought up in author Ayun Halliday's manuscript, and it was one of my favorite parts from when I first read it. I'm glad that the reviewer liked it as much as I did.

Many thanks to Pamela Paul, and once again to Ayun, Rebecca, Ann an Lee!

Ruins Girl and 400th Blog Post!

This is a new personal piece; you can find this and some other new work on my website, which I've just updated. And below, you can see how this piece got started as a small sketch. It's part of a personal series I've been working on, tentatively called The Invisible City.

Incidentally, this is also my 400th post on this blog! Thanks so much to everybody who swings by for a visit, it really means a lot to me! Here's to the next 400 ones!