Correction: The Colacino Gallery at Nazareth will only be open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 12-5, not Mondays through Saturdays, as previously posted. Sorry for the flub!

“We’ve got a really big shoooooe for you tonight!”
(Unrelated, but upon typing “Show” in the title, I wanted to add that.)

Due to the good graces of my friends Tom Galambos and Greg Lendeck, I’m participating in my first ever art gallery show starting today, and running through the first week of February, at the Margaret Colacino Gallery at Nazareth College, in Rochester, NY.

The show, titled “Instances,” features a large collection of our sequential art work, including over 40 big-as-life prints of my strips. It also features a “process wall,” on which the three of us will be directly painting a collaborative comic work during the run of the show. It promises to be quite a hoot. I’ll be posting some portions of the work here, but to get the full effect, you’ll definitely want to visit the gallery!

Due to the nature of the process wall, rather than an opening reception, we’ll be having a closing reception on Friday, February 5, from 6-8pm (all are welcome). The gallery itself is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12-5pm.

I took some photos of the “Instances” gallery show (at Nazareth College’s Colacino Gallery through the 5th) before we really dig in to the mural walls (walls, mind you, not wall, as previously indicated; Tom and Greg have arranged them into four distinct surfaces, for four times the fun!). Have a first look via my Instances flickr set.

It’s been a cho very busy week here in Odori Park-ville, and I haven’t been able to keep up with the blog and other press notifications enough to keep you all abreast of it. Here’s a rundown of the latest news:

CCA Donation Tally - Lora Innes posted the final tally for donations to the Comic Creator’s Alliance drive to fight human trafficking, and the remarkable number was over $10,000! All from webcomic readers. How cool! Thanks to everyone from this neck of the woods who linked over and donated.

Instances - The “Instances” gallery show at the Colacino Gallery at Nazareth College wraps up today with a closing reception tonight (Fri. 2/5) from 6-8pm. If you’re in the neighborhood, please come! Here’s a link to gallery info.

TWCL Awards - I’ve created an extra-long comic that serves as part of the “awards ceremony” for the 2009 Webcomic List Awards. My strip serves to present the award for Best Comic, and although I’m sorry to say OP wasn’t nominated for any awards itself, just getting to create the presentation comic for what I presume will be the most prominent part of the “show” is gratifying. Thanks to Wendy at TWCL for letting me pitch in. The awards ceremony goes live on Sun., 2/7, at (I suspect) this address: thewebcomiclist.com/awards and I’ll repost my own contribution here on Monday, so you can see it at full size.

Phew!

I’ve been unburying myself lately from some time absorbers, and finally getting back on top of reading my favorite comics and sites. I came across a handful of very kind mentions of Odori Park that I wanted to share:

Delos, proprietor of the webcomic news and review blog ArtPatient, gave OP a very favorable review in his What Did I Learn feature. I was really flattered by the attention Delos paid in diving into the inner workings of my comic. Thanks for taking the time, Delos. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the comic!
http://www.artpatient.com/2010/02/21/odori-park-review/

Also, way back in November, Tim Dempsey (of the family comedy webcomic My Life in the Trenches) gave OP a positive nod in his Everybody Else is Too Loud podcast. Thanks, Tim, and although we’ve chatted in the interim, here’s a belated welcome aboard!
http://www.dempseystudio.com/podcast/19-get-clicky-social-gaming-offerpal-odori-park-webcomic-and-ft-hood-sketchblog/

Last but not least, I caught mention of OP in a recent episode of the fun Digital Strips podcast. Steve and Jason mentioned the possibility of a future OP review, which I’ll be excited to hear if it comes to pass, and in the meantime, guys, thanks for the link!
http://www.digitalstrips.com/2010/03/digital-strips-187-review-bear-and-tiger.html

On a completely unrelated note, let me just remind everyone that, if you’re interested in putting together a guest strip to help me celebrate Odori Park’s first anniversary (and I’d love to post it!) please plan on sending it to me by 3/15 (a couple day extension there; I realized my actual anniversary of 3/13 falls inconveniently on a Saturday) Thanks in advance!

Although the closing reception was held a month ago, I haven’t yet shared photos–particularly of the final multi-wall mural–from the “Instances” gallery show at Nazareth College. Ironically, the photos have been online all this time, but I haven’t been able to squeak in the time to post a note about them. Well, that oversight ends here! (Picture me slamming my fist angrily on the table while chewing out Charles Bronson, or the local PTA.) Here you go. Please comment!

“Instances” Flickr Gallery 2

A little while ago, Brigid Alverson, comics journalist and blogger for the Robot 6 blog at ComicBookResources.com, asked me if I’d be interested in doing an interview with her. Never one to turn down an opportunity for directed navel gazing, I lept at the chance. The interview–which dives a bit into my creative process, my mercenary goals, and the evolution of Odori Park–is now online at:
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/05/chris-watkins-on-odori-park/

Please go read! It was a lot of fun, and I’d love to do more for any media outlets so inclined (*unsolicited nudge*).

While thinking about the interview, I realized I’d been remiss in sharing a couple bits of fun buzz from elsewhere on the Web. In a recent episode of their webcomics podcast The Lightbox (which I’ve been enjoying listening to lately, regardless of the plug, honest), creators Chris Flick and Matt Stout made very kind mention of Odori Park. I Tweeted about the nod, but failed to link the podcast. Just check out Episode 40 at the Lightbox site

Also, for those not already in the know, I’m currently working behind the scenes on a SuperFogeys Origins short for Brock Heasley, star-studded creator of The SuperFogeys and Monsterplex. Brock has made a couple posts hinting at the story in recent weeks. It’ll take me a little while to juggle the artwork to completion, but I’m really eager to share this tale with folks. Keep tabs at the SuperFogeys site for updates.

Toward the beginning of the year, I did a guest comic for Brock Heasley’s The SuperFogeys. Brock was kind enough to invite me–much to my pleasure–to try my hand at a SuperFogeys Origins story, which I’ve been working on, slowly but surely, the past couple months. So, needless to say, I like The SuperFogeys.

Brock has something big up his sleeve for his comic next week, and I wanted to help him spread the word. So, please take note of the following:

“If you’ve never read the SuperFogeys or it’s been a while since you have, now’s the time to check it out! Launched in September of 2006, the SuperFogeys has steadily developed into a hilarious and dramatic saga that’s far and away from its gag-a-day roots. Throughout its nearly four-year run, one villain has loomed over the residents of Valhalla-Home for the Supertired more than any other, the Third Man. We now know he’s secretly Dr. Klein, the founder of Valhalla, but what does he want? Who is he, really? And how do Spy Gal, Captain Spectacular, Swifty, Dr. Rocket and all the rest fit into his plans?

“Everything has been leading up to the bomb creator Brock Heasley will be dropping on Thursday, August 19th. Early reactions to the revelation (by those lucky few) have varied from “That’s a total mind screw” to “Holy Sh—!” (Okay, so that’s not a lot of variety. Reactions are pretty much the same across the board!)

“To celebrate, SuperFogeys will be running four updates August 16th-19th, Monday-Thursday. Then, in the week after that (after everyone’s had a chance to calm down!), seven consecutive daily updates August 23rd-29th, Monday-Sunday. 

“It’s time to catch back up with SF. What are you waiting for?”

www.superfogeys.com

I’ve been remiss in not telling you all about something nifty I did at the onset of the summer. Thanks to the good graces of Mike Churchill, owner of Pulp Nouveau Comix in Canandaigua, NY, and the organizational powers of old teammates Tom Galambos and Greg Lendeck, and awesome newcomer Ben Morey (my cousin, natch), we were able to put together a sequel to the Instances art show we installed at Nazareth College back in February.

Instances 2, which involves another artistic interplay mural–this time painted all over Pulp’s front window space–has been up all summer. I should be up for a little while longer, so if you’re in the area this month, take a drive to Canandaigua, enjoy the changing leaves, and check out Instances 2 at Pulp Nouveau.

Have a look at some in-progress shots of the mural space over at my flickr page.

UPDATE: I recorded my interview with the guys at Comics Coast to Coast, mentioned below, last night, and it was a blast. The episode–number 107–will be posted at comicscoasttocoast.com on Monday, Nov. 1st. Please check it out and share your comments!

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I’m very excited to let you all know that I’m on the docket to be interviewed by the guys at Comics Coast to Coast, one of the Web’s premier comics podcasts. Brian, Jason and John at CCC have interviewed luminaries like Scott Kurtz, Stephan Pastis, Mark Tatulli, Brock Heasley, Amy Lago, and on, and on… And now they’ve seen fit to sully their good name by including me. Excellent.

I’ll post again soon with info about when to listen in. (Of course, you should go now and listen to archived episodes, anyway, right?)

Also, while I’m on the topic of podcasts, I should throw out two belated thank yous:

• Thanks, again, to the CCC crew for naming Odori Park their Webcomic Pick of the Week back in August! Listen here.
• Thanks, also, to Kurt Sasso, host of the TGT Webcomics podcast, and his guest, SuperFogeys creator Brock Heasley, for mentioning me in their chat about upcoming SuperFogeys Origins storylines! Listen here.

The guys at the Comics Coast to Coast podcast have posted Episode 107: The Chris Watkins Interview. Please click through and have a listen as I wax philosophical on the intercultural complexities of Japanese and American relations, the inner workings of digital art making, and cutting heads off things. Also featured: How I met my wife, why family is comedy gold, the dangers of Facebook, and what a “Hamfighter” is. Good stuff all around!

Thanks, Brian & Justin!