Whereabouts Book + November Film Tour!

First things first, the big Whereabouts book is now available for sale! Here is a link to purchase: https://firstholdstudio.com/Whereabouts-60

So what’s in this book? Well, the Whereabouts book as a companion to the short film. Divided into 3 chapters: Morning, Noon, and Dusk, the book traces the filmmaking process from start to finish, with each section showcasing selected frames that mirror the time of the day.

Featuring more than 150 pages of vibrant animation frames, Whereabouts offers an intimate look into the riso animation process, and a way to experience the film in a new, tangible form: an animation you can hold in your hands.

This is one of the most ambitious book projects I’ve completed so far. The initial idea evolved quite a lot; I actually was going to break up Morning, Noon, and Dusk into three separate books (so someone can get a unique version), but it feels good to see the whole film together in one book. Huge thanks to Yejee for helping me pace that out, those cool leading pages were her idea! :0)

I’ve wanted to make a zine + short film duo for so long, maybe ever since I started printing in 2022. RISO is the perfect medium for this, to exist in multiple contexts. I’m interested in lots of things, between animation and comics and books, and it is satisfying to see it all come together in an organic way.

Thank you to everyone who made this book possible: Yejee, Brooke, Aidan, Sabii, Sarula, Pan, Isabel, Shahin, Kris, Laura, Jenna, Kitsch, Emil, Andrew, Eddie, Pili.

And thanks to those of you who came out to the book release party, it means the world!

I also want to briefly mention the November lineup for Whereabouts! I’ll be at every event except Cutout Fest and Malt Adult. Check out the dates:

To kick off the November tour, I attended the TAIS Animation Showcase.

The screening was amazing, and it was an honor to be included alongside some stellar films. Experimental animation is so imaginative, and I came away feeling so inspired!

I took the book along with me so people can see the film all printed it out. Super touching to see everyone’s feedback, it was fun to geek out about RISO together. Canadians also pronounce RISO in a funny way… hehe.

The next day, I took a tour of the TAIS office. TAIS (Toronto Animation Image Society) is a non profit production center ran by artists. They rent out studios and equipment to local animators and productions who need support with their projects; the showcase Whereabouts was a part of is something they put on annually.

I can’t think of anything exactly like TAIS in the States, a grant funded center for animation. But in Canada, there are lots of non-profit art organizations like this with different focuses: film, animation, fine art galleries, etc. *cries in American* 😭

But genuinely, can you imagine renting a studio for 3 months and finishing the big project you’re putting off? And not drawing everything in your bedroom? Seriously, so cool to see a space like TAIS exist!

Afterwards, I grabbed lunch with a Constant, met some of their friends (shoutout Syd and Lis), and we checked out the OCAD campus. OCAD has a RISO studio as well, and it was cool to see their facilities. :0)

It was awesome to meet local artists, seeing how they work and support one another was heartwarming to witness. Toronto’s got a good thing going on, both across animation and comics.

October Favorites:

• One Battle After Another - PTA’s latest movie, enough said!

• Valley Valley / Idella Dell - The new comic by Audra Stang, published by Frog Farm. So so good!

• Gilmore Girls - Perfect to throw on while bookbinding, first time watching

• Over the Garden Wall - It still holds up after all this time, one of my north stars for sure.

• The Art of Loving - Olivia Dean’s new album. I’ve been enjoying watching the press for this. The Bell Hooks book All About Love inspired this album!

• Jake Shane on Las Culturistas - One of the best episodes to date

And that was October, a bit of November too! This book is a major milestone, so thank you for being here. I am feeling a lot of gratitude for all your support and interest in my work. Feeling inspired and looking forward to some R&R before the next project.

Thank you so much for reading, ‘til next time! ❤️