SF Zine Fest! Sign up now!

For all those print artists, card makers, crafters, DIY-ers, and other people who do cool stuff, you should definitely mark your calendar for the San Francisco Zine Fest! With our brand new postcard design from Jesse Reklaw, one of our featured special guests, we're one month to go to the deadline for early registration. Save your money now and get on board!

As chief registrar for the Zine Fest, Monkey can safely say that we're already half-full, with applications coming in daily, so make sure you get on it! Considering the price tag and the fact that it's not juried (although we'll tell you no if you're selling something non-DIY or really sketchy), it's really a low(er) cost opportunity to get your feet wet in the craft/art/zine fair scene and plus you get to meet tons of really cool people! Meet your audience face to face! Get out there and show us your stuff!

Overall, Monkey + Seal always have an amazing time at the Fest. Once again, we'll be live painting at the Festival, so even if you're not planning on exhibiting, definitely make sure to come check it out!

Register now!

Zine Review: The Great Myspace Swindle

Note to readers: Monkey + Seal have been kicking around the idea of occasionally blogging in our own voices, not so much the standard "Monkey + Seal" voice that we usually write in. As a first sort of experiment in this, here's Monkey's zine review of the week:

First off, happy Labor Day! Congratulations to all those who don't have to work today (unfortunately both Eve and I do have work -_- ). Anyway, on to the actual review.

Though I seem to get hyped up about a lot of stuff these days (there's just hellsa good art/literature/general stuff out there!!!), I can honestly say that I'm a huge frickin' fan of Sean Logic's writing.

As the founder/editor of Ashcan magazine (as well as a contributor to the Bad Date Zine), I've been able to read a decent amount of Sean's writing. And believe me, this dude is solid.

In his latest zine The Great Myspace Swindle, he creates a faux profile on Myspace and lets the internet do its thing. The results are probably to be expected, but the zine itself is hilarious, sometimes a bit creepy, and thoroughly entertaining. The big unexpected surprise is Sean's closing remarks, in which his usual cool and funny style gives a bit to a thoughtful and meaningful commentary on society as a whole.

I can't recommend this enough. For reals. Email him to find out how to get a copy NOW: myspace_swindle [at] yahoo.com

New Zine in the Works!

So Monkey has been hard at work working on a brand new personal zine! Currently untitled, this new zine will have comics redrawn and reprinted from some of his earlier and out-of-print minicomics, some spoken word, a few brand new short stories, a 11x17 fold-out coloring poster, and perhaps even more. We'll see what he can come up with by the Zine Fest!

Question:
What color should Monkey make the cover?
-Fuschia?
-Moss green?
-An assortment of colors?

Please respond in the comments!

Dates that stink...

both in the figurative and literal sense. We've all had them (well, maybe if you're really lucky you haven't), and some brave souls have bared all and shared their nightmarish stories in the newest edition of The Bad Date Zine.

The first issue nearly sold out at last year's Zine Fest, but we've printed up some more and are offering both issues for a discounted rate! Woot! Check out our Etsy shop to pick up your copy today!

Monkey aka Ri.S.K. is also the editor of the zine, and is always accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Soooo, if you have some troubling stories of dates gone awry, please send them in! He is also looking for illustrations, photographs, poems, etc., as long as it relates to the theme of the zine. Check out what he's looking for here!

The SF Zine Fest

Monkey + Seal will be tabling at the SF Zine Fest!! Woo! It will be held on August 22+23 at the SF County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. Admission is free, and there will be panel speakers, workshops, and tons of great independent creators!

Monkey will be co-instructing the Bookbinding workshop, where you'll be able to learn about hand-stitching your own zines and books!

Seal will be doing a weekend-long (or at least one full day) gouache demonstration, where she will be painting some of her newest works from start to finish! She'll be on hand to discuss color mixing, temperature, paint handling, and any other questions you might have about the medium, her paintings, or her techniques!

Also, word is on the street that the Zine Fest still has a few tables open, so sign up now!!! (Full disclosure - Monkey runs registration for the fest :P )

Anyhoo, stop by and say hi! We hope to see you there!

Welcome!!

Thanks for visiting! We are Monkey + Seal, the collaboration between artists Eve Skylar and Ri.S.K. We publish our own mini-comics, zines, and paint, illustrate, and make stationery and such.

We sell our wares on the friendly Etsy site, as well as on our current site designed to keep Seal in art school. More of our paintings and artwork are on our personal site, but we're working on getting them up on Etsy.

Thanks again for stopping by and we hope to see you again and again!