OCTOBER 8 – 28, 2012
Residency #147
Graphic Novel Residency
Application Deadline: May 18, 2012

ELLEN FORNEY, cartoonist

Seattle cartoonist Ellen Forney currently spends most of her time toiling at her drawing board on a graphic novel for Gotham/Penguin, to be released in fall, 2012. Her previous books include Eisner-nominated I Love Led Zeppelin, a collection of her short comics from magazines and newspapers (2006); Eisner and Harvey-nominated Monkey Food, a collection of her “I Was Seven in ‘75” comic strips(1999); and Lust, a collection of her “Lustlab Ad of the Week” comics (2008).

She collaborated with celebrated writer Sherman Alexie on the National Book Award-winning novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), contributing over 60 illustrations and comics.

Since 2002, she has been teaching comics studio classes and Graphic Novels as Literature at Cornish College of the Arts. She has been a guest speaker and has taught workshops for Philadelphia’s “One Book, One Philadelphia” program, at several colleges including Northern Arizona University and Virginia Wesleyan College, and was keynote speaker for the Seattle Public Library’s month-long “Comixtravaganza”.

Ellen’s comic art has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including “Counterculture Comix: A 30-Year Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists” at Bumbershoot (2010), Maryhill Museum of Art’s “Comics at the Crossroads” exhibit (2010), “30 Years of Fantagraphics” exhibit at the Museum of American Illustration in New York (2006), and in several exhibits at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. In addition, her non-comic paintings, mostly large-scale acrylics, have been included in numerous group and solo shows, in particular her “Big F’ckin’ Hands” series and “Big Paintings of Sexy Women” series.

Other honors include selection as Writer-in-Residence by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as “one of the top twelve Northwest writers,” selection as Writer-in-Residence by esteemed literary organization, Hugo House, Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers, and selection as public artist for two large-scale murals in the Capitol Hill station of Seattle’s new light rail system.

“Employing simple, open-line work, Forney's comics are whimsical and wise as well as sexy, naughty and sometimes shocking. But always, they're formed with a generosity of spirit that shimmers on the surface of each panel." – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ellen grew up in Philadelphia and has lived in Seattle, Washington since 1989.
For more information please visit www.ellenforney.com.

Residency Statement
Comics are often described as intimate, both to create and to read. That kind of connection lends itself well to autobiography, and in this residency we will explore the rich possibilities of telling our own stories in comics. Comics are foremost a storytelling medium, so it is more important to me that you are a developed storyteller than a polished artist, though you do need to be able to draw well enough to communicate your ideas. Anything fancy – inking style, color, page design, sound effect lettering – must be in support of the story.

In this residency, we will approach questions like these: Why do we tell stories? Why do we listen to other people’s stories? Where does a story come from? When does it make sense to tell a story as a comic? How can we translate our experiences into comics effectively? How do we decide what words to use, what kind of line?

We will practice writing, drawing, and different ways to integrate them. You’ll keep a daily comics journal. You will read assigned graphic novels before the residency, and we will discuss them and use them as inspiration. You will get feedback and critiques from me and from other associates. We may create comics with no words, comics with no pictures, one-panel cartoons, page and panel design variations, life drawing, writing practices, multiple one- or two-page comics about a range of topics, and some of a range of exercises disguised as games. There will be specific skills covered and looser experimentation facilitated.

Application Requirements
Personal statement re: comics: What is your personal experience with comics, both reading and creating? What is your experience with drawing? With writing? What do you see as your future path in comics?

• What kinds of comics do you read? (Genres, titles, cartoonists, etc.)
  
• What kinds of comics do you do? (Materials you use or have tried, subject matter, publications, etc.)
  
• What are some of your interests other than comics? (favorite books, forms of exercise, musical tastes, etc.)
  
• What do you hope to get out of this residency?
  
• Short essay: Describe a lost object you wish you still had. 250 words or less.
  
• List ten autobiographical story ideas. (Years-pondered ideas or sparks of inspiration are fine.)
  
• Short essay: Pick one of those ideas and tell me the full story in 500 words or less.
  
• Two samples of finished comics: one should be no more than 1 page, the other should be 2 - 6 pages.
  
• 3 – 5 samples of non-comic art pieces (sketches, paintings, etc.).
  
• Optional: sample of a short piece of your published writing.
  

All submission materials are to be sent as digital files, preferably PDF format, 150 dpi RGB or Grayscale.

FULL Scholarships to attend FREE are available for painters and sculptors (through The Joan Mitchell Foundation) and composers (through The Sally Mead Hands Foundation) for ALL accepted artists who submit ACA Financial Aid forms upon acceptance. Limited additional Financial Aid is available for writers through The Pabst Charitable Foundation for the Arts and the Atlantic Center for the Arts Advance an Artist Program.