4 in

So a month later

We have now had 4 submissions in, whoop!

They are all varied in their own right so I'm pretty excited to see what other people come up with.

Still a way to go though, there's a couple we need to finish and we need to badger more people to get done too.

Are schedules are getting a bit clearer around here though so we are getting on it more though.

Get, or keep, in touch.

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Work hard, play harder

If there's anything I've learnt about myself since moving out here to Vancouver, it's that I'm not a hard worker.

Despite having deadlines to stick to, and things I want to accomplish, I have the motivation of a flea. This has resulted in me being fairly stressed out of late as I struggle to complete a year-long book writing project that I really should've finished by now.

But when it comes to play-time I have no trouble summoning my energy. Perhaps it's not just me, perhaps I'm normal - maybe you're all fleas too, and this is one big flea circus where no one's sweeping up the mess, but everyone's happy to play on the trampolines. Ah... fleas!

But teeny tiny itchy animals aside, I must say play time is essential. The book I'm writing is about LEGO, and while LEGO itself is a true joy to meddle with, sitting down at a computer for hours a day in a dark basement apartment to write about it is far less fun. It makes me long for the days when playing with LEGO was just that and nothing more. Now, when I play, half my brain is thinking that I should be working instead.

And I'm a lazy person - I dread to think what someone who actually works hard is going through. So get out your LEGO, your paint box, and your sketch pad and get playing. Don't feel bad - play is a human right.

Oh, and this week, for half an hour, instead of working hard, I made myself in LEGO. Yay!

Your own path

This week my parents were in town visiting. This brought a few conversations of what I was like when I was a kid, but I could only remember so much of what I did. Even then you only know what you know. Makes you wonder what you can't remember having fun doing or missed out on all together.

Thats why we want your stories, more perspectives on play, different things strike memories in people, we want to collect more.

In the next month I'm going to start rustling together my work, but get in touch if you have anything you would like to do. If you have previously contacted us, we'll be in touch

Catch you later

What did you do?

So as part of filtering process for my contribution to the anthology I'm thinking of all the ways and things I have fun with.

Here's what I can remember for the moment. I'm sure there must be some other stuff I played with.

Lego
Transformers
Scalextric
Meccano
M.A.S.K
Micro Machines
Hot Wheels
He Man
G.i. Joe
Remote Control Cars
Balsa wood planes
Mini Golf
Football
Field Hockey
POGs
ZOIDS
Basketball
Amiga 2600
Commodore 64 ( I once spent around 2 hours programming it just for a balloon to fly accross the screen)
Kites
Body Boards

Now I have to work on how to combine all that into something.

But what did I miss, what did you have fun with?

Ahem. Talented people. Come play with us.

Last weekend - our feet clad in Converse, clutching a small bundle of printed flyers - we made our way to Vancouver's Heritage Hall on Main Street for Comix & Stories. This intimate gathering of local artists and writers seemed the ideal spot to spread the word about DYWTKIB and our new comic, PLAY.

We circled the room, approaching the approachable and gawking in pleasure at the indie comic delights the good folks of BC spend their spare time making (along with adorable pins, prints, and the cutest little Fimo hearts complete with arteries and smiling faces). It was an inspiring sight - warm (sometimes shy) faces sat behind fold-out tables decorated with everything from the cutesy and curious to sinister and explicit. One very friendly dude tried to sell us his first porn movie, which sat proudly next to his growing collection of meticulously drawn erotic comics.

It was inspiring to say the least.

Here are a few of the Comix & Stories peeps whose work made me feel the warm and fuzzies:

http://thejackbracken.com/works/
http://ideatopaperstudios.deviantart.com/
http://www.tiny-vices.com/
http://purplecomics.com/
http://bigfatmind.com/shop/

We picked up a few things including Jack Bracken and Reid Psaltis' delightful new comic The Malaise Trap. (See image above)

When everyone is already producing so many wonderful things, for the sheer love of it, it would make sense that they would want to donate a little of that creative time to the production of a charity project like this, so we asked away and came away feeling positive. But it's one thing to nod your head and show interest; it takes real commitment, passion, and dedication to see that interest through to some beautiful words and pictures on a page for us. So to everyone who has already agreed to be a part of the comic, we thank you, and to all those lovely folk at Comix & stories, and everyone else still deciding - what are you waiting for? Come play with us!

Er what's play?

So what is play?

Thats the question striking anyone who wants to contribute, myself included.

I'm not sure yet if I will write or draw something myself yet, as opposed to just persuading other people to do it, but I have been trying to think of what I might do.

These days play for me is sitting in front of a screen twiddling my thumbs, or going outside and kicking a ball, throwing a frisbee. In some ways its not all that different from what I did 15 years ago, but go back a few years further say 20 years ago and it seems a lot more "adult".

What was it about losing myself in my imagination that was so easy and fun, maybe the fact that it was easy.



These days I have more "responsibilities" to myself and others that detract from making play easy. I'm going to need to forget about a few of them to remember what play was all about if Im going to create something.

P.S

Sorry its seemed slow, been on a bit of an end of summer holiday.

Stage 1 - Recruit

The first stage of doing this is like any project, getting people to help. So far we've had some success with persuading people. But we are still a way off how many we would like.

So we've been doing some posters, some ads, some schmoozing and some talking. We might not know everyone to talk to but we are getting there.

Here is a handy poster that, if you know somewhere good, you can put up.



Any comments/suggestions/headhunting assignments welcome.

A week later....

So a week later;

We have found some people to help out, and one person has even already produced something for us! which is amazing if you ask me.

But we are still looking for more, so if you know anyone that wants to contribute to a comic for charity that will be published in BC, Canada let us know

More news soon

New Brief

Ok so here is our new brief; I hope you can find some room in there


What does 'play' mean to you?

Charity comic 'Do You Want to Kiss it Better?' is putting together a new collection of work to raise money for War Child, and are looking for previously unpublished narrative art, sequential or otherwise, which expresses play in its many dynamic forms.

Many people, especially adults, don't get the chance to play. In a world where we're all growing up fast little time is left for our imaginations to run wild.
What was play to you as a child? What does it mean to you now? Can you even remember or is your life still one big game of make-believe?
This project is a tribute to play; what it means to you and what you would like it to mean to others.

This is a family-friendly comic, so while your work can be traditional strip art or abstract, with words or without words, our only stipulation is that it's suitable for a child's eyes.

please contact us for details

doyouwanttokissitbetter (at) gmail.com


charity's website

http://www.warchild.ca/

Where did we go?

We had a good run raising money for the World Land Trust and it still does raise money for them (hint there are still copies left to buy).

After we had raised some money we were pretty drained of our energies from doing it all in our spare time, so we just rested and waited quietly until we had the desire to come back and do something again. It was never a case of just stopping we always wanted to do something again.

So now we are back from our dormant slumber in the hope of creating something again!

Stay Tuned