EVENT: 'Tigerbuttah:The Retro Art of Becky Dreistadt'

Above: Poster for 'Tigerbuttah:The Retro Art of Becky Dreistadt'. Copyright Becky Dreistadt, 2010.

Becky Dreistadt, artist of one of New Zealand's leading webcomics 'Tiny Kitten Teeth', is having a 'Tigerbuttah Gallery Show' at The High Seas from February 5th-18th.

Produced with writer Frank Gibson, 'Tiny Kitten Teeth' has been hugely successful since it's launch early last year. It receives over 5000 readers a day, and they have produced guest strips for such high profile webcomics as: Octopus Pie, Penny Arcade, PvP, Girls With Slingshots, Dr. McNinja, Shortpacked and Menage A 3.

As you may recall, back in November they created a 'Kickstarter' page, to raise funds to produce a 'Tigerbuttah' Golden Book. This went incredibly well, raising over $7300 against their goal of $5000. Allowing them to not only publish the book, but double their print run, which has to be good news for their avid readers!

So make sure you get along to the gallery opening to see some of Becky's remarkable art in person, and meet the creators! The opening is on Friday February 5th from 7pm at The High Seas, with music from 'Bear Cat' (and free cake!). For more information on Becky Dreistadt, and to read 'Tiny Kitten Teeth', you can visit the webcomic HERE.

-AK!

PS: Oh, and for the social network obsessed, you can now follow me and my boring existence on Twitter! (or just err...glance at the Twitter update box to the right). You can also follow other NZ comic creators on Twitter, including: Becky & Frank, Marc Streeter, Dylan Horrocks and Richard Fairgray.

A Golden Opportunity

Above: Tigerbuttah enjoys Halloween (dressed as a narwhal!) by Frank & Becky. Copyright Frank Gibson & Becky Dreistadt 2009.

Frank Gibson and Becky Dreistadt, the creators of the beautifully retro styled web-comic 'Tiny Kitten Teeth', have made no secret of their love of classic Golden Books and it's influence on their comics. Especially their single panel feature 'Tigerbuttah', which is published every Friday.

Now they are taking the opportunity to bring that creative influence full circle, by publishing their very own Golden Book! But they need YOUR help to make it happen!

They have setup a Kickstarter page to fund the $5000 needed to print the book. Kickstarter is a US based funding donation site, set-up to help creators raise money for creative projects (books, films, music etc) through 'pledges': donated credit in exchange for updates and special rewards offered by the creators. The pledged donations are processed by Amazon.com and only collected if the projected funding goal is reached within a set deadline. For Frank & Becky's project to come to fruition, they must collect $5000 in pledges by Jan 16, 2010.

In exchange for your valued pledges, they are offering a variety of unique and collectible rewards! From mini-comics to signed copies of the book, right up to unique Gouache paintings by Becky! (the more you pledge the greater the rewards...obviously). But they are really outdoing themselves by offering a signed copy of the book with a special hand-drawing inside the cover, for as little as $20! (this could mean a loooooot of drawing on the other side of this!).

If successfully funded, the 'Tigerbuttah' Golden Book will support a travelling gallery show they will be having here in New Zealand next year, exhibiting 24 pieces of artwork which form the story presented in the Golden Book.

It's been less than 24 hours and already they are one third of the way there, which speaks to the tremendous support they have online for their fantastic work. But there's a ways to go yet to reach the target goal, so if you're able, show some support by pledging to this fantastic project. They are making it well worth your money!

You can find out more about Frank & Becky's comics at their website, and be sure to visit their Kickstarter page!

I guess it's probably time I gave in and finally got myself a credit card...

-AK!