Blog Archives

LIU Janice

LIU Janice

This Vancouver based artist conducts classes at Young Artists’ Place, her studio. She teaches and runs art workshops for children across the Vancouver area and is a creative writing and cartoon instructor at Place des Arts, Coquitlam B.C.

In partnership with Naomi Cui she created the English/Chinese bilingual novella Chicken Soup & Goji Berries. Her work has appeared in anthologies like Wayward Sisters: An Anthology of Monstrous Women.

WORK

ILLUSTRATOR

BOOK GRAPHIC

Content novella & Content book front & back:

Chicken Soup & Goji Berries, Writ., Naomi Cui. Cloudscape Comics, April 2019.

POST CARDS

A package of 5 post cards and a Sticker sheet published with Chicken Soup & Goji Berries.

POSTER

Chicken Soup & Goji Berries, 28cmX43cm published with Chicken Soup & Goji Berries,.

GALLERY:

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\L\Liu Janice, Chicken Soup & Goji Berries, 2019, fc.jpgChicken Soup & Goji Berries,2019: Front cover.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\L\Liu Janice, Post Card, 2019, 1.jpgPost card, 2019.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\L\Liu Janice, Post Card, 2019, 2.jpgPost card, 2019.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\L\Liu Janice, Post Card, 2019, 3.jpgPost card, 2019.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\L\Liu Janice, Post Card, 2019, 4.jpgPost card, 2019.

CUI Naomi

CUI Naomi

This Toronto based writer graduated in 2014 from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Linguistics. She is knowledgeable in English, French, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. From 2017 to 2018 she studied at the Kyoto Institute of Culture & Language in Japan.

She translates documents and other materials from Japanese or Chinese to English, and she is a program analyst.

In partnership with Janice Liu, she created the English/Chinese bilingual novella Chicken Soup & Goji Berries and manages the website for this project.

WORK

WRITER

BOOK GRAPHIC

Content novella:

Chicken Soup & Goji Berries, Illus., Janice Liu. Cloudscape Comics, April 2019.

GOVERNMENT WAR EXCHANGE ACT

GOVERNMENT WAR EXCHANGE CONSERVATION ACT

As World War 2 raged Canada imported immense quantities of military equipment from the U.S. which was neutral at the time to supply its forces: the Canadian army in the defense of Britain and Hong Kong, the R.C.A.F. engaged with the R.A.F in the Battle of Britain and the RCN with the R.N. engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic. In order to conserve its currency for the importation of these materials Canada on December 2, 1940, enacted the War Exchange Conservation Act assented December 6, 1940 which restricted the importation of nonessential goods from other countries. This included luxury goods, broad range of prepared food items and of course:

“Periodical publications unbound or paper bound, consisting largely of fiction or               printed matter of similar character, including detective, sex, western and alleged             true or confession stories, and publications unbound or paper bound, commonly             known as comics but not including bona fide supplements used with                                newspapers.”

A small, undercapitalized industry was created by Canadian artists and entrepreneurs to fill the void left by the absence of the U.S. product.  They reacted in different ways. Some organized companies like Bell Features, Educational Projects, Hillborough Studio and Maple Leaf Publishing to publish original material. Others like F.E. Howard Publications imported scripts from U.S. companies and employed local artists to draw them. Anglo-American Publishing Ltd. was a hybrid. To the original material it published, it added scripts from the U.S. for which its artists drew the visuals.

With the end of the war Canada phased out the Act over a period lasting to 1951. It created a crisis for the Canadian industry eliminating first those companies which produced original material. Companies now able to publish finished material originating in the U.S. survived till the mid 1950’s, but they vanished as major U.S. producers were able to get their product directly to the Canadian market through major Canadian periodical distributers. At least one company, Ganes Productions Ltd. found a niche for itself publishing cartoon information booklets for companies and institutions. It existed from at least 1962 to 1973. It was not till the emergence of the black and white graphic periodical and book that a grassroots graphic publishing industry reappeared in Canada.

SOURCE:

Statutes of Canada 1940-1941: Acts of Parliament of the Dominion of Canada 19th Parliament: 4-5 George VI, Chap. 2, An Act respecting the Conservation of Exchange, Assented 6th December 1940.

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

SOURCE:

Article book:

“The State As Alternative.” Writ., Mark McLaughlin . The Canadian Alternative: Cartoonists, Comics, and Graphic Novels. Ed., Dominick Grace & Eric Hoffman. University Press of Mississippi, 2018: 3-15.

 

TAIT Ruth

TAIT Ruth

Uses the pseudonym “Rutz” for her cartoon books.

“Comics communicate in ways that the printed word does not. They make the world of ideas about life and society a richer place.”                                                  “Comic Books” Ruth Tait – Drawing the Left.

As a child in a diplomatic family her life was nomadic until she landed in London England where she studied art at St. Martin’s School of Art and Camberwell School of Art. She moved to Toronto and the Ontario College of Art where she studied illustration. She moved on to Sheridan College and studied animation. These were followed up by studies at the Toronto School of Art, Ontario College of Art & Design, York University where she graduated with an MA, and finally Ryerson Chang School.

Working roughly in the first decade of the 21st century, she has done commissions for paintings, portraits, landscapes and drawings these works have appeared in many group and solo exhibitions.

From 1997 to 2006 she worked with theatres doing a mural for Ontario School of Ballet and set designs for the Ontario School of Ballet, Amicus Players a Toronto community theatre operating from 1978 to 2017 and Curtain Call Players another Toronto community theatre group.

She has worked as a storyboard artist in the film industry including doing story boards for companies like Xenophile Media, a web designer, and a book designer for print and e books.

She has created cartoon stories like The Bush Garden [about Susan Moodie], published by Xenophile Media, My Origami Motorcycle (Domestic Tragedy Press), Walk (Open Mind Press), Supercilitator (Globe Resources), “Toying With You” and “Wild Horses” (Don’t Touch Me Magazine), and “Highway of the Atom” in Extraction an anthology of cartoon journalism.

She has created and self published Boudicca’s Shield, or under her imprint Talking Pictures: The Abortion Inquest of Dr. Emily Stowe, (a web comic), Visit, TellTale, Soap Opera, and a 300 page sci-fi novel called Outworld. She has illustrated a series of children’s books written by her sister and featuring “Brooklyn Dog”. The series is published by Tait Sisters Press and so far (2020) includes three volumes.

She belongs to the Union Arts Service and in 2019 designed and developed their website.

She moved her base to the Wychwood Barns complex near Cambridge Ontario and continues to work there.

SOURCE:

Internet:

https://www.artbyrt.com/artbyrt_docs/cv.html “Resume.” Accessed 4 July 2020.

https://www.union-art.com/ “UAS Member Bios.” Accessed 15 May 2020.

DUNN Rodney

DUNN Rodney

Born 1968 in Toronto.

He worked in the television industry as a story board artist.

As an illustrator he worked on many graphic publications in the 1990’s, including the graphic periodical Atomicow on which he collaborated with Kelly Strong. The publication survived only one issue.

He died 2005.

WORK:

ILLUSTRATOR:

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC COLLECTION:

Content story & Cover front:

Atomicow, 1-1, August 1990: “…” Writ., Kelly Strong: …. Vision Communications. Black & white.
“The Atomicow”: 1-19. “Finch Foster Private Bird”: 21-27

GALLERY:

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\D\DUNN Rodney, Atomicow, 1-1, Aug. 1990, fc.jpg Atomicow, 1-1, August 1990: Front cover.

 

CRAIG David H.

CRAIG David Hunter

Along with Robb Mirsky and James Spencer this Toronto based cartoonist and illustrator forms the Read More Comix Collective. He is the creator of the character “Brick.” As Robb says, “ Everyone loves Brick. He has a heart of gold.” In addition to cartoon strips David does posters and album art for Toronto bands.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOKLET GRAPHIC:

Content strip & Cover book front & back:

 Brick Breaks Free & Other Stories. Brick Comix, Summer 2019: includes:                      “Brick Breaks Free”, “Brick Meets Block”, “Brick Lends Support” plus several untitled stories.

Brick By Brick. Self-published, December 2020: a series of one page stories plus “Brick Skate to Create”, In the same book are 2 collaborations. See below.

Life of Brick, Brick Comix v. 1. No publisher. No date. Originally published in Read More Comix 1, 2016.

PERIODICAL TEXT & GRAPHIC:

Content strip cartoon:

Taddle Creek, XXIII- 1, 44, Winter 2019/20: “Brick”: 9, 37.

Taddle Creek, XXIV-2B, 47B Halloween 2021: “Brick: Trick or Treat”: 19.

Taddle Creek, XXIV-2C, 47C Holiday 2021: “Loaf”.

WRITER:

 BOOKLET GRAPHIC:

Content story:

 Brick By Brick. Self-published, December 2020: Untitled. Illus., Jordan R. Aelick.

WRITER & CO-ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOKLET GRAPHIC:

Content story:

Brick By Brick. Self-published, December 2020: “Brick Meets Dingus Dum-Dum.” Co-illus., & creator of “Dingus & Dum Dum”. Robb Mirsky.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Taddle Creek, XXIII- 1, 44, Winter 2019/20: “Read More Comix.” 2.

GALLERY:

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\C\CRAIG David, H Taddle Creek, 44, Winter 2019,20, 9.jpgTaddle Creek, 44, Winter 2019/20: 9

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\C\CRAIG David, H Taddle Creek, 44, Winter 2019,20, 37.jpgTaddle Creek, 44, Winter 2019/20: 37.

WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC

WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC

This feature appeared in Commando Comics and was created by Jack Tremblay who did the first three issues after that it was cartooned by André Kulbach.

It was perhaps created to give recognition to the Battle of the Atlantic which was fought to gain control of the shipping lanes for the safe passage of goods from North America to England. It was the longest continuous conflict in World War 2.

The stories involved air and air-sea battles. The stories were different from the usual fare in that they had no central hero figure but rather focused on events involving multiple individuals who were sailors and airmen. In this the feature was like those found in Canadian Heroes Comics published by Educational Projects.

 The second group of images below is from a different type of story. It centers around the accidental collision between a freighter and a derelict oil tanker.

PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:                                                                        Published by Bell Features & Publishing Ltd.

Content serial: 

Commando Comics ….no date. “Wings Over The Atlantic” Car., André Kulbach:…. Black & White
4: 42-49 5: 27-34. 14: 32-36. 16: 26-30 17: 52-56.

GALLERY:

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE CARTOON\IMAGE CARTOON W\WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC, Commando Comics, 4, fc_0001.jpg Commando Comics, 4, no date: 42.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE CARTOON\IMAGE CARTOON W\WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC, Commando Comics, 4, fc.jpg Commando Comics, 4, no date: 43.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE CARTOON\IMAGE CARTOON W\WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC, Commando Comics, 14, fc_0002.jpg Commando Comics, 14, no date: 33.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE CARTOON\IMAGE CARTOON W\WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC, Commando Comics, 14, fc_0003.jpg Commando Comics, 14, no date: 34.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE CARTOON\IMAGE CARTOON W\WINGS OVER THE ATLANTIC, Commando Comics, 14, fc_0004.jpg Commando Comics, 14, no date: 35.