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World Sketchnote Day 2017

1/11/2017

1 Comment

 
It's World Sketchnote Day, so it's time to post some sketchnotes!

I found these old unpublished sketchnotes from two different events I attended in 2014, and never really finished.

This first one was from a talk by Canadian comics creator Michael Cho, at Loft 112. Calgary comics guy Damian Willcox invited me to come out for this!
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And the second set of sketchnotes comes from a reading at Shelf Life Books, by my mom, who had a little launch for her self-published book of poems, "Naked Under my Coat: Writing Under the Influence of Parkinson's."
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And last of all - found at the bottom of my pile of "things I drew in 2014 and didn't do anything with" - some notes that aren't exactly sketchnotes, but notes about the kind of lettering I use when making sketchnotes!
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Happy sketchnoting!
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Calgary Alphabet Utility Box, Revisited

6/26/2015

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I'm just going to post a few pictures of a utility box I painted back in 2012, to show some folks an example of a comic-strip alphabet mural. These pictures are of a painted utility box on Elbow Drive in Calgary. Each of the panels is pretty small (a few inches in width/height), so there isn't room for more than a single phrase and image. Bigger panels would allow for a bit more than this.
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Calgary Comics Expo Alphabet

4/28/2013

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Here's the alphabet I wrote about this year's Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. It's featured in the Expo program guide and was inspired by a similar alphabet I wrote about Edmonton's Expo last fall.

What should I do with the original art? Right now it's at my Expo table in Artist Alley. I haven't had any takers. Interested? Make me an offer!
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Sneak Preview!

4/21/2013

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Here's a tease for those of you gearing up for the weekend of geeky mayhem that's about to descend upon Calgary... the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. This is the title of an alphabet/comic strip I drew for the event program guide: Check out the guide this weekend to read the rest! I've also posted a couple of other panels from the alphabet which you can see here and here.

And - here's another newsflash - you can follow me on Twitter at @calgaryhester to read live comic-strip updates from the Expo! It's never been done before, folks, but in the bold, innovative, groundbreaking spirit of the Calgary Expo, we're going to try it now! I'll be doing this with the help of a great local partner, but you'll have to wait a few more days to find out who.

Is there anything you'll be wanting to hear about this weekend? Let me know!
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And you know who Edward Gorey is, right? Ok - just checking. 
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More Expo Alphabet

4/8/2013

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We've just learned that Tom Felton (who portrays the villainous Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) will not be able to make it to the Calgary Comics Expo. But he'll be here in the Expo program guide, as part of my comic strip "Expo Alphabet." As you can see for yourself right here. Another time, Mr. Felton!

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Expo Alphabet

4/4/2013

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Last year, just for fun, I wrote a comic-strip-style alphabet about my weekend at the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo. Here are a few bits & pieces from it. To read the whole alphabet, look here.
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So now this year, just for fun, the folks putting together the fast-approaching Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo asked me to draw another alphabet. This was a bit trickier, because it hasn't happened yet! The Edmonton Expo alphabet was about my own experiences at the Expo. But this new alphabet ended up being about... ANTICIPATION.
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The alphabet will appear in this year's Expo Program Guide. But in case you just can't wait that long, check back here during the next couple of weeks for a few more sneak previews!

And now that I've got your attention: take a look here to find out how you can help get a local indie comics project (yes, that would be my project) printed in time for the Expo... and earn a reward while you're at it!
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Z is for Zachary

11/12/2012

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Well, it was only a matter of time before I got some Young Adult Fiction stuff in here (my favourite subject). When I was taking a look at what Isaac Cates had been up to, I found AlphaBooks. It's an alphabet's-worth of illustrations, with each illustration representing a character from a book whose name corresponds to the featured letter. Of course, I discovered this cool project just in time for the last round of submissions... Z.

Naturally, the first Z-named book character who springs to mind is Zachary Gray. Here ya go. And if you would like to find out more about Zach and his home in literature (as discussed by Lizzie Skurnick, who really knows what she's talking about when it comes to YA), you can take a look here.
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Mural Painting Alphabet

11/1/2012

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Well, since I've been thinking about alphabets, I thought I'd post one more - an old one. In 1999 I painted a large mural on the wall of a Calgary office building. I hired my brother's friend to help me. This was one of the most enjoyable summer jobs either of us ever had. Here's my alphabet-style "graphic recording"  of the work. It never was coloured in completely, but maybe I'll get around to doing that one of these days.

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"A was an Author who went for a walk..." was the Edward Gorey alphabet that inspired this one.
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Edmonton Expo Alphabet!

10/28/2012

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My goodness - I drew this whole thing at the Edmonton Comics Expo, and it took me a week to find the time to get it up here. Hope you enjoy my graphic recording of a great weekend at the expo. As before, apologies to Edward Gorey, who came up with this alphabet/poem kind of format.

Also - don't you think this would look nice in colour? If there's enough interest, maybe I'll colour it in. Let me know what you think!
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edmonton expo comic
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Alec's Alphabet

10/25/2012

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On the subject of alphabets... here's another one I painted on my son's bedroom wall a while back. All of the letters stand for something in English and German, too - pretty clever, nicht?

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    sam hester

    I am a graphic recorder based in Calgary. I like local stories. I write comics when I have free time. And I leave eraser shavings everywhere I go.

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    contact me

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    my website

    www.the23rdstory.com started as a blog and now includes some information about my graphic recording practice as well.

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    Some nice things people said about my work:

    “If Breitkreuz and Foong [founders of the Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo] represent the Type-A side of Calgary's self-publishing community, Hester may be the community's right brain.” – Tom Babin, FFWD Magazine

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    The 23rd Story: an indie comics creator's tales of life in Calgary

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