Tag Archives: graphic novel

The Long Weekend turns 5 today

11 May

Five years today since the Alice Springs launch of the most emotionally difficult art project that I suspect I’ll ever do, and also the first huge art project I ever did. Grateful that I stumbled into it, completely unaware that it would change me.

Graphic-novel-web copy

Recently I finished a minicomic called ‘The Tension’ which is about making ‘The Long Weekend in Alice Springs’ and what happened to me afterwards, which isn’t something that I’ve talked about much; it will be riso-printed in time for the Other Worlds Zine Fair in Sydney. I’ll have some mini launches later on once I’ve pulled my brain together.

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May Newsletter

26 Apr

Hey! HOW ARE YOU??
My May newsletter is out -> HERE

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Free postage til Xmas

29 Nov

Woop !

I’ve been on big art-adventchas lately, it’s been grand.
But i’m back home now and it’s super nice to be back in my own bed after 5 weeks.

It’s almost the end of the year: it’s always surprising when it sneaks up on me like that. Not sure what you’ve been up to this year, but looking back I reckon the thing that I’ve spent most of this year trying to get better at is being a good friend to the people that mean a lot to me. I’m often away with the fairies in my own head reading books and writing and sometimes forget to tell my peeps that I love them. I’ll probably keep trying to get better at that next year too.

I’m grateful you’ve all been interested in stuff I do. I always hope that people find it interesting. Secretly (shh) I think I make comics because I’m not great at starting conversations the normal way … so I’m always super glad when people talk to me about ideas in my comics. It may not be the most efficient way to start a conversation … but I’m glad it works! 🙂

Xmas pressies
Hey … I just had an idea … perhaps you should get onto Christmas presents right now. By which … I mean you should buy my books and comics for your friends and family. San Kessto publications has free shipping til Christmas on both my graphic novels ->>>>>>>>

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* Swallows Part One (a tale of immigration and family) – $15 (FREE postage)

* The Long Weekend in Alice Springs (has turned out to be a cult hit over the last four years) – $29 (FREE postage)

* I wanna be a travella: Sri Lanka (a nice little travel comic/sketchbook from my trip there) $5 + postage

But now that my overly forthright sales pitches are all done
– I’d like to say that 2017 has been smashing for me and I hope that it’s been pretty damn smashing for you too. Whether it has or not – I hope that 2018 will be a WONDERFUL an super creative year for you all.
jxo

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Follow Your Shadow

10 Oct

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13th Oct – 5th Nov

An exhibition of comic, cast and cartoon art at the Rosny Barn.
With artists – Scott Baxter, Alyssa Bernudez, Grace Garton, Paula Hatton, Joshua Santospirito, Paul Peart-Smith, Vivien Mason and Sarah-Jane Moore.

Opening – Thursday the 12th Oct, 5:30pm.
FREE, All welcome.

Artist talks – Saturday the 14th Oct, 2pm.
FREE, all welcome.

Student drawing competition – 13th Oct – 5th Nov.
FREE, students 18 and under.

Follow Your Shadow moves between surface and source. Curated by Dr Sarah Jane Moore, Tasmanian artists Scott Baxter, Alyssa Bermudez, Grace Garton, Paula Hatton, Joshua Santospirito, Paul Peart-Smith, Vivien Mason and Sarah Jane Moore collaborate to create a magical place of mystery, animation, exaggeration and intuition. The shadows we cast are explored through object, sound and space where cartoon meets comic, graphics meet sculpture and holograms meet playful projections. From Marvel to Minions, comic and cartoon art is all around us and is increasingly being recognised as an art form with both high artistic value and the power to communicate diverse stories. Join us and follow your shadow.

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October News

5 Oct
Hiya !

Upcomings and Goings
* 13th Oct -> 5th Nov HOBART *
I’ll have some art as part of a group exhibition of comic-art at the Rosny Barn in Hobart named Follow Your Shadow (see the image at the bottom). Opening part is from 5:30pm Friday October the 12th. I’ll also do an artist talk with some of the other artists on Saturday the 14th of October at 2pm, All welcome. Kid-friendly.

* Oct -> Nov INDONESIA *
Me and my tribe of graphic novelists will be in Jogjakarta for the second biannual Comics Art Workshop. Whilst we are in Indonesia we will be doing TWO DIFFERENT Read To Me comics reading events:
1) At Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali (if that pesky volcano doesn’t blow it’s top), and
2) At Biennale Jogja, in Jogjakarta, Java.

Whilst I am in Indonesia I’ll also be manning the @Sawtoothers Instagram account if you want to follow and see all the great art things that catch my eye. Sawtooth is wonderful artist run gallery based in Launceston in Tasmania’s North.

* 16th November, Thursday -> MELBOURNE *
Talk (see the above promo image) – I’ll be in Melbourne to give a low-key talk about Sydney/Purgatorio at Squishface Studios in Brunswick at 8pm after their drawing class.

Sydney/Purgatorio
I feel like I should tell you a bit about my graphic novel project … but not too much, cos it’s going to take me a very long time to complete and if I talk about it too much you will be sick of it by the time it comes out … in maybe the year 2023 or whenever. This is the project that I’m taking to the Comic Art Workshop to get feedback on.

Comics take a long time … they truly do. And this one is more complex than any one I’ve ever done before. Craig San Roque wrote in “prose form” back in 2010, and it is a published piece in an academic journal. After I launched The Long Weekend in Alice Springs in 2013 I said to Craig “Hey Craig, if you have any short bits of writing, flick them my way and I’ll see if I think they’ll make a good comic”

Craig sends me a piece of writing which is about THREE TIMES AS LONG as the original version of The Long Weekend in Alice Springs …. honestly … what didn’t he understand about the word “short”??

I read it … hated it.

I quite was relieved “Great – won’t waste years working on that super long piece of garbage! … A few months after that I got a bit drunk at home after the Carlton Blues lost badly to someone (2013 was yet another lost year) … and reread Sydney/Purgatorio and realised that it was indeed quite brilliant. DAMNIT Craig!!!

I might tell you a bit more about it in about in another email in a few months time so I don’t take up all your day, the art on this page are from concept sketches I’ve been doing alongside the drafting work that I’ve been doing on it.  You can look at these process images on my Instagram if you like.

Thing to buy if you enjoy buying things
Graphic Novels
* The Long Weekend in Alice Springs
* Swallows Part One
* I wanna be a travella: Sri Lanka (a nice little travel comic/sketchbook from my trip there)

 

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Melbourne Exhibition

4 Sep

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Get down to the Immigration Museum to see the free Swallows exhibition in the foyer area, ends at the end of October.

More info here – https://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/whats-on/swallows/

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Swallows Part One – film

28 Aug

I’ve finally gotten the comic reading for Swallows into a rough film.
I stutter a few times in the narration – but I’m not terribly worried about that – I kinda like it!
Enjoy

If you like the film – consider buying the book! 

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Aurélie Neyret in Hobart

26 Aug

I was asked by Rachel Tribout to be the interviewer for the interstellar illustrator and comic-artist from France Aurélie Neyret who recently came to Hobart to talk at an AGDA night. It was a fantastic evening, very well attended – and the audience gushed at Aurélie afterwards, which was great to see. A wonderful artist, and I hope to see more of her works translated to English soon. I know First Second are publishing the comic series – Les carnets de Cerise in 2017 – which is super exciting.

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Long Weekend short film

7 Jul

This 16 minutes short-film was made from the performance that was commissioned by Brian Ritchie for MONA FOMA 2016 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The live version, just like this film version, was narrated by Craig San Roque with music by Joshua Santospirito, with visuals projected onto the big screen at the Odeon Theatre and then repeated again at Cinemona in the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in January, 2016.

The art and story in this film is extracted from the award-winning graphic novel of the same name, which can be purchased from sankessto.com/product/the-long-weekend-in-alice-springs The Long Weekend is the cult favourite graphic novel, adapted from an original 2004 essay that explores the Jungian concept of the cultural complex; an idea about group behaviour that was left largely unexplored until very recently in the academic world.

Neil Gaiman – “this Australian graphic novel is the best thing I’ve been handed to read in ages”

The Australian Review – “… one of the oddest and most rewarding Australian comics that has yet appeared”

Joshua’s website is at – joshuasantospiritoart.com

Sound recording for the film are by Matt Warren

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Aeolian Exhibition

4 Jul

I was asked by the great people involved with the Aeolian Hall in Carlton to be part of the interviews for this lovely documentary that is part of the Aeolian Exhibition which is at the Immigration Museum currently. It turned out quite well! I’m the last one interviewed of the seven people that were chosen to represent the descendants of those from the seven Aeolian islands. I mention the making of Swallows.

This week the exhibition of artwork from Swallows Part One went up, my graphic novel about my Aeolian ancestors – it’s running from July to October as an addendum to the Aeolian exhibition at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne. I’ll be heading over there for an artists talk on Saturday August the 6th at 2pm. Stay toon’d.
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