Meanwhile

I think, though may be wrong, the lockdown has been the first time Paper Jam has missed a monthly meeting in it's thirteen year history. It's certainly the first time we've gone more than a couple of months between meetings. Weird times. I hope you're doing okay.

However! We're still up to comics stuff! Check out our Paper Jams sketch blog for the comics and sketches the group come up with on a regular basis, at the moment based on fairly arbitrary monthly themes!

Interested in getting involved? Get in touch! Drop us an email or say hello on Twitter!

Keep drawing!

New venue: Bridge Hotel

After a couple of great years in Bar Loco's gallery space, the time has come for the Paper Jam Comics Collective to move on once more.

Our provisional new home: The Bridge Hotel (which is primarily a pub not a hotel, situated just beside the High Level Bridge and Newcastle Castle).

Our February meeting (on 13th February evening) will be there. We'll assemble from 6.00 to 6.30ish in the main bar downstairs then at around 6.30 head upstairs to the room we've booked (note: there's two rooms, ours is the one where there ISN'T a band practicing).

If all goes well, we'll make it our regular meeting place.

Anyone in Newcastle interested in making comics, whatever your previous experience, just come along. We chat, we draw, we try and help each other make better comics. Any queries beforehand, do fee free to email us.

We've also started a monthly, themed comic-drawing challenge. Sort of like mini anthologies without the hassle of printing. Our first theme was 'new' - check out the results here https://papercomicjams.blogspot.com/2020/01/monthly-comic-challenge-new.html.

You Need A Holiday ...And That

Life, eh? Been getting you down? Same old thing day after day? You know what you need? A SELF-PUBLISHED COMIC ANTHOLOGY FROM NEWCASTLE'S FINEST COMIC-MAKING ART COLLECTIVE!

The Paper Jam Comics Collective's latest masterpiece has arrived, just in time for summer. You Need A Holiday ...And That is an anthology that features insightful experiments in sequential art on the theme of needing a holiday from: K. Ben Clarke, Brittany Coxon, Michael Dodsworth, Mike Duckett, Daniel Fitzgerald, Steve Flanagan, Emma Friel, Michael Gonson, Lauren Matthews,  Oscillating Brow, Sara Qaed, Paul Thompson, and James Wilkinson.

The very first opportunity to obtain this wondrous tome will be at the Make & Print Market at the Grainger Market this Saturday (29th June, 9am-5pm). There'll be loads of other cool and interesting self-produced art of various types, so come and check it out.

Then! 13th July, in honour of Small Press Day, we'll be having our 'official launch' at the Canny Comic Con Summer Comics Jam event at Tyne Bank Brewery. There'll be ALL the finest locally made comics, collaborative drawing games, street food, beer, DJs - everything you could want from a laid back Saturday afternoon/evening. (13th July, 12pm-12am).

Make & Print Market and Baltic Self Publishing Artists' Market

We're going to have tables at two exciting events in the next few weeks.

MUCH PAPERY EXCITEMENT!

First up, the inaugural Make & Print Market: Saturday 30th March, 9am-5pm, within Newcastle's Grainger Market. It's a spin-off of the successful long-running 'first Saturday of the month' Make & Mend Market, which is always full of interesting art and craft works, and this special event (set to run quarterly) is focused more specifically on print media, so is sure to be full of all kinds of quality gear.

Then in April, it's the Baltic Self-Publishing Artists' Market 2019: 27th April,11am-6pm, in the BALTIC gallery just on the Gateshead side of the Tyne. We had a great day at this last year and are again expecting excellent varied work from a wide range of creators.

Pretty cool and highbrow eh? Come to both events, they're free entry and they'll be class. And come and say 'hi' to us (we'll be the ones bringing the tone down).