We have four talks planned this year which cover self-care, drawing fun monsters, and all sorts. Sadly we have not been able to secure BSL interpreters this year down to funds, if that changes we will announce it via our social media.
Here is a quick reference to the times of the talks and a more in-depth explanation of each one below
- 12:00 – Comics and Kindness – Creativity as Self-Care
- 13:00 – Let’s Make Monsters
- 14:00 – An Image Worth a Thousand Words
- 15:00 – Welcome to St Hell
These talks will be recorded (where possible) and then put onto our YouTube in 2025
12:00 – Comics and Kindness – Creativity as Self-Care
with Sarah Millman (she/they)
Sarah “Milmo” Millman is a comics writer and artist based in Cardiff, primarily known for her independent comics work.
Every artist encounters pitfalls in their practice: from burnout to illness, it’s difficult to keep creating when you feel low. Using Satah’s own experience with chronic illness and mental health issues, she will talk about self-care methods, reigniting your creativity and using storytelling itself as a tool for self-care. They want to address the myth of the “tortured artist” and, instead, focus on how art can give kindness, both to its creator and its audience.
13:00 – Let’s Make Monsters
with Kaarokaaro Art (they/them)
KaaroKaaro Art / Carlo Sebastian Hornilla is a Bristol based Queer Filipino artist, illustrator, storyteller, spoken word poet, workshop facilitator, organised chaos, lover of lists and awkward human being.
You are invited to a casual and collaborative monster drawing session. Carlo will encourage you to imagine new creatures out of silly shapes and nonsense. Make a mess, enjoy the process and draw in a way that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Expect warm-up exercises, monster drawing games and googly eyes.
14:00 – An Image Worth a Thousand Words
with Ricardo Bessa (he/him)
Ricardo is a Portuguese illustrator based in London, whose main practice revolves around book covers and art for games. Queerness and fantasy are central themes in his work.
Using his own work and others’ as visual examples, Ricardo will talk through what, in his opinion, makes for an appealing and effective cover that helps communicate the narrative within (and sell the book!); the differences between designing a cover illustration vs planning comics; and go into the kind of thinking and planning that goes into his cover work.
15:00 – Welcome to St Hell
with Lewis Hancox (he/him)
Lewis Hancox is a comedy writer, actor, filmmaker, transgender advocate and now comic maker.
Lewis will be talking about how his life growing up trans in a small town in the early 2000s and turning his trans teen hardships into creativity and humour. Insights into his two graphic novel memoirs, and how the books came to be. Delve into his family and friend relationships and how they inspired his comedy videos for his social media. Showing clips of his earliest films/comedy/comics and more sneak peeks into his trans teen life and how he made it through.
Our 2023 talks are still available over on YouTube