Cropped Will Cardini artwork

October 17th, 2012

APE 2012 Recap

Filed under: Events,Print Comics — Tags: , , — William Cardini @ 9:59 pm

Thanks to everyone who came by our table during APE 2012!

Table 807 at APE
Table #807 at APE 2012. Left to right it’s me, Melinda Tracy Boyce, and Aaron Whitaker.

Although I’ve gone to MoCCA a couple of times as an attendee, this was my first time tabling at a big city con. Although I covered my table cost, I was surprised I didn’t make as much as I do in Austin at Staple! That might be because I’m a known quantity in my hometown. Regardless, traveling to one of the most expensive cities in America isn’t a good way to make some cash in the first place. Overall I had a blast and got to see friends and meet a lot of cartoonists I’ve only known online (as well as kewl new people). San Francisco is always a mystical, fog-shrouded adventure and I hope to be back for another APE!

October 10th, 2012

I’ll be at APE 2012

Filed under: Events,Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 9:45 pm

I’m super stoked to let y’all know that I’m going to be at the Alternative Press Expo this weekend (October 13th and 14th) in San Francisco!

APE 2012 Flyer

I’ll be representing the Gold County Paper Mill at Table #807, which I’m sharing with the fantastic cartoonists Aaron Whitaker and Melinda Tracy Boyce. Here’s a picture of all four of us with my wife, Glade:

Group photo
Left to right: me, Aaron, Melinda, and Glade

I’ll have Vortex #1, Vortex #2, Future Shock #1, and Kid Space Heater #2. If I bring up any extra older stuff I’ll bring that also.

October 5th, 2012

“Corruption ATTACKS the Miizzzard” an Abstract Comic

Filed under: Web Comics — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 7:36 am

Previewing my tif files in Google Drive does interesting things to them. Here are corrupted versions of all six pages of my latest comic:

I think its works as an abstract comic. Props to Josh Burggraf for pointing this out to me.

October 2nd, 2012

“The Miizzzard of the Year One Million ATTACKS the Moon Base of the Floating Crystal Witch” Preview Page

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:18 am

I finally finished the six-page full-color comic that I’ve been working on and blogging about for the past few weeks. It’s going to be in the third issue of Future Shock, a sf anthology edited by Josh Burggraf.

Here’s the first page as a preview:

The Miizzzard of the Year One Million ATTACKS the Moon Base of the Floating Crystal Witch Page 1

I’m pretty proud of this one, I put a lot of work into it. By the way, if you’ve wanted to buy the first issue of Future Shock or other comics put out by Josh that I’ve mentioned, they’re now available through the Birdcage Bottom Books distro.

September 25th, 2012

More “The Miizzzard of the Year One Million ATTACKS the Moon Base of the Floating Crystal Witch” Process Shots

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:13 am

I’m still working on a six-page comic for Future Shock #2 so I thought I’d show y’all more screenshots of my process:


In this screenshot I’m selecting a fill so that all of the detail lines I draw are contained in it even if I draw right to the edge. This saves me a lot of time erasing the lines that extend past the edge later. I should’ve done this from the beginning!


Scribbling out all of these stars takes a while but hopefully the effect will be worth it.

September 18th, 2012

“The Miizzzard of the Year One Million ATTACKS the Moon Base of the Floating Crystal Witch” Process Shots

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 10:27 pm

I’m focused on finishing a six-page full-color comic for the second issue of the Josh Burggraf-edited sf anthology Future Shock.

Here are some process shots in MangaStudio. First I draw color outlines and rough shapes with the pencil tool. Then I draw black containing lines for shapes with the marker and pen nib tools. I give the black lines different transparencies so that I can see where they overlap.

William Cardini process shot

I draw detail lines outside of containing shapes and then erase them later.

William Cardini process shot

The page in this final shot is almost done. After I’m finished with a page in MangaStudio, I transfer it to Photoshop and fill in the black shapes and lines with different colors.

William Cardini process shot

I’m working on a couple different projects. I’m not sure how much in-depth posting I’ll be doing over the next few months.

September 14th, 2012

Digestate Anthology and Kid Space Heater 2 at SPX 2012

Filed under: Events,Print Comics — Tags: , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:52 am

This weekend is the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. I’m not going to be there but JT Yost will be debuting the Digestate anthology there. Here’s the cover:


Cover by Cha.

I’ve got a four-page comic in Digestate called “The Miizzzard ATTACKS the Munchies.” Here’s the first page to whet your appetite:

JT Yost is exhibiting at Table H13 as his small press, Birdcage Bottom Books. He’s put together a handy map here that shows his table and the tables of all Digestate contributors who’ll be at the festival.

Also, from 1:30 to 2:30pm on Sunday Victor Kerlow and Josh Burggraf will be signing at the Birdcage Bottom Books table. Josh will have copies of his newest comic Kid Space Heater #2.


From Josh’s tumblr.

I’ve read a draft of KSH#2 and I can vouch that it takes the greatness of #1 and levels it up.

August 14th, 2012

Making Progress on Vortex #3

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: — William Cardini @ 11:37 pm

I’m in a deep groove of working on Vortex #3 right now.

Here’s a quick preview, cropped from a page I just finished drawing but haven’t added patterns to yet:

Vortex #3 Preview Panels

My goal is to have Vortex #3 ready for BCGF (I’m on the waiting list, so I’ll be there either as an exhibitor or attendee).

July 31st, 2012

Do I Self-Fund, Crowd-Fund, or Submit to a Publisher?

Filed under: Comics Process — Tags: , , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 10:23 pm

This past Friday my particular corner of the comix internet blew up over this Comics Journal post where Dan Nadel heavily criticizes Kickstarter in general and the Secret Prison #7 Kickstarter in particular. I’ve been riveted to the ensuing shitstorm in comments threads, blog posts, and my Twitter feed. I feel compelled to post my thoughts here.

Click here to read the rest.

July 24th, 2012

Vortex #3 Cover Preview

Filed under: Inspiration,Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:06 am

I’ve started Vortex #3. Here’s a possible cover:

I’ve been looking at classic Jim Starlin mind trips for inspiration. Like Page 52 from the collection The Life and Death of Captain Marvel:


This page is from #28 of Captain Marvel. I got this scan from this blog post.

Here’s that Starlin page with Frank Santoro’s golden section diagram:

Look at how all of the lines converge in those two light blue/white panels in the center. And that center diamond perfectly frames the skull! Frank’s made me a believer!