Lucy Bellwood

Thank you chums. My original page from Crowded remains on the studio wall to remind me that there are other freaks for physical media and clean lines in the world 💛💛💛

Lucy making awooga eyes at a vertical centerfold descending from a blue-covered copy of How to Make Clipper Ship Models.

Getting appropriately motivated by looking at the gift you sent.

IT IS UNREASONABLE HOW NEAR WE ARE TO THE FINISH LINE AAAAAAA

A drawing table with a spread of comics pages in various states of half-inked completion. There’s a cutaway diagram of a tall ship, and several discernible badgers.

Returning to the studio today to plug away at the last 23(!) pages of inks for this graphic novel. Mental gymnastics at an all-time high. Feels like I’m living Zeno’s Paradox on the daily. I have always been inking. I will always be inking.

You Can Just Do Stuff

Depended on where you were on board. Coming from tall ships it was definitely more noise than I was used to, but not deafening. Falkor’s 82.9m stem to stern, so quite a lot of boat to move!

Introducing the New Drip In 2012, the record label Ghostly International launched Drip as a way for people to support musicians through subscriptions. Though niche, Drip was a pioneering service. You could see the potential. ...

I'm with you. It certainly wasn't acceptable here: www.kickstarter.com/blog/introdu...

The great shroud of the sea rolling on as it rolled five thousand years ago?? Me too, buddy.

A new(ish) social media platform means getting to present various baubles from my past like some sort of resplendent and flirtatious bird. Here's a view of the Pacific from R/V Falkor's starboard porthole, taken on January 9th, 2017 during my time as the @schmidtocean.bsky.social Artist at Sea.

I just bought some killer goat cheese at the farmer’s market from a vendor who was reading it! Waved my arms about the merch with great enthusiasm, obviously.

YAY TEAM NOODLE!!!

Finding in these days of chaos that I can’t focus until late at night, so here’s a daytime repost for anyone interested in joining us for maps & comics on Sunday!

Aw man, that's fantastic to hear. I'm delighted! (This call only came about because someone wandered into the shop with one of my science comics from 2017. It's amazing how these little pamphlets move through the world.)

We both brought up "Unflattening" in our brainstorming call! Hi Nick!

Hot tip for all my cartoonist buds: this will give you something interesting to draw for your Hourly Comic Day panels between 11 and 1. You're welcome.

Patreon Community Zoom: Let's Make Maps with cartographer Andrew Middleton of The Map Center. Sunday, February 1st, 11am-1pm Pacific.

I'm so thrilled to be welcoming @mapcenter.com for this month's free Community Zoom Call. On Sunday, February 1st we'll be talking about the intersection of comics and cartography and teaching YOU to map your own unconventional environs. All the details are here: www.patreon.com/posts/maps-f...

Aw man, thank you Dwuff, on all levels. I really appreciate this. The temptation to think we evaporate for good when we stop being Terminally Online is harddd

A bargain, really

Sending you love, David. Walking really is some of the best medicine.

Anyway, it's been a long day and I'm emotional (and also out of practice being earnest on this sort of platform!), but I'm betting a lot of you have folks like vcdefensa.org doing work in your respective midsts already. I promise turning up to be with them in person will bolster your heart.

The internet gave me my career. The people whose names are filling this spreadsheet are folks down the block I haven't met yet, but also people who've been following my work for nearly as long as I've been putting it online. I forget what we're capable of, in our own decentralized, loving way.

Those networks are still where care lives, in a practical, immediate sense, and they're where I want to put my time and energy as we see this rising tide of militant attacks on our neighbors, but what's different is that I have the capacity to get back in touch with the networks I held before 2021.

It wasn't sustainable to access it when I was in the thick of parental caregiving. I had to rely on a much smaller and more physically proximate network. I needed people who could help me get my dad off the floor when he fell; who could change diapers and bring meals. But things are different now.

I put this up on Instagram 24 hours ago. As of this evening people—many of whom don't even live here—have collectively donated $857, which is staggering to me. I've forgotten a lot of what it's like to be bolstered by a far-ranging online community.

A colorful watercolor postcard featuring a barn swallow in a gold circle clutching a banner that reads "No justice, no peace."

A colorful watercolor postcard featuring a barn swallow clutching a banner that reads "No justice, no peace." There's an open watercolor palette on the table nearby.

Hey it's me, your favorite Social Media Cryptid! I'm running a flash fundraiser for our local anti-ICE community network in Ventura County. These postcards are going out for $5 a pop. I'm @Lucy-Bellwood on Venmo. DM me with how many you'd like and a good mailing address and we'll make it happen 💛

A sunlit bookshelf full of minicomics.

Oh! And I've got my copy of "My Evolution" up in the little studio library, too. (Not visible in this photo, but I promise it's there. I just cycle through what's visible up front over the course of the month.)

I split it with two artist pals, but they're super busy with outside work and keep different hours, so it's functionally just me in there 99% of the time. I really miss the collective crew at @helioscopepdx.bsky.social up in Portland, but this has been a fun space to build out solo!

A window display of cardboard cutouts that read "The cartoonist is in" and "Come say hello!" A drawing of Lucy and another of her demon are propped up in the corners. Inside the window is a drawing table with comics pages laid out on top of it.

A window with a banner sign saying "The cartoonist is out." The blinds are down.

My studio space in downtown Ojai has been a refuge during this last year of graphic novel-making, niche freelancing, community building, and, above all, caregiving. I'm doing a livestream tour at noon today if any of you digital friends wanna come say hello. www.patreon.com/posts/novemb...

Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists Self-Care for Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists

Kriota's book is full of in-depth illustrated info about common injuries, steps to care for your body, and a general reconceptualization of being an artist as being a kind of endurance athlete, which I found super helpful. You can nab a copy here: bookshop.org/p/books/draw...

Draw Stronger: The Warmup | Lucy Bellwood Get more from Lucy Bellwood on Patreon

Finally made myself a video of a cartoonist warm-up routine from @kriotaw.bsky.social's fantastic book DRAW STRONGER. It ain't high art, but it *has* gotten me to actually do the exercises after years of owning the book. Maybe it'll help you, too: www.patreon.com/posts/draw-s...