Tonight: Illiterate's Talk & Draw provides a look into the underappreciated world of comic artists

If you've ever wanted to be a comic artist, you should probably reconsider because there's no money in it. But if you're anything like a comic book artist, you're stubborn and you will not listen, so you might as well get off on the right foot -- and Illiterate's Talk...

By Jef Otte

May 26, 2011

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If you've ever wanted to be a comic artist, you should probably reconsider because there's no money in it. But if you're anything like a comic book artist, you're stubborn and you will not listen, so you might as well get off on the right foot -- and Illiterate's Talk & Draw series is a good place to start. Once a month, the gallery plays host to one established comic book artist (past visitors have included Sam Spina and Westword's Noah van Sciver) and lets them talk about what they do and how they do it -- and then get you doing what they do.

Tonight's guest is Leila del Duca, a local artist and RMCAD graduate that takes a more polished approach to the craft than many. "Of the comic artists working in town right now, she has one of the most classic illustration styles," notes Jose Medina, Illiterate's comic maven and the guy who coordinates the shows. "Some of the other artists we've featured have had more cartoonist kind of styles, works that are a little bit more personal, where she's a little bit more traditional in her approach."

Tonight, she'll present a little about herself and her work in the first half of the evening, showing some slides and talking a little about how it all comes together -- "We want to let people really get to know these artists kind of on a deeper leve, says Medina."

But the second half is where it really gets interesting: There, the artists put together a drawing activity related to their style and everybody works in that vein -- at van Sciver's presentation, for example, everybody did a "4 Questions" -- and it all ends with fabulous prizes for the best drawings.

That's right: Free stuff. And if you're going to be a comic book artist, you're going to need all the free stuff you can get.

Talk & Draw goes from 7 to 10 p.m. tonight at Illiterate Gallery; tickets are $8 at the door or $5 online.

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