Alec Longstreth's Blog, page 2
July 20, 2024
What Came First?
I started this short animation loop in 2020 and made it up until the chick starts running before I got stuck. The first 300 frames or so were done on paper, then I moved to Clip Studio Paint. I returned to this project in 2024 and finished it off in Toon Boom Harmony. What felt hard four years prior now seemed easy - concrete proof of my improvement as an animator!
During the last month I was working on it, I documented my process in a series of free Patreon posts, which are all in this collection. As a reminder, I'm now posting 2-3 free blog posts a week on my Patreon, including my weekly Isle of Elsi comics page, with some commentary. Follow me over there to get these updates in your inbox!
June 25, 2024
Phase 7 #026 is now available for pre-ordering!

Last week I finally finished Phase 7 #026 which is available for pre-ordering! If you are a Phase 7 subscriber and have moved in the last two years, please email me your updated address! I can also look up your subscription status in the Phase 7 subscriber database if you have any questions.
This issue tells the story of my parents going to see The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, me seeing Return of the Jedi in 1983, and my subsequent obsession with Ewoks. It also includes my 2023 and 2024 Hourly Comics! It's 32 pages, black and white, and should ship out in July!
You can read some sample pages, and find ordering information on the Phase Seven Comics website.
June 1, 2024
Social Media Restructuring
I'm having less and less fun on social media these days, so on June 23, 2024 I will be deleting my twitter, facebook, and instagram accounts. Below is an updated list of online platforms that I'll be using (for now) to share updates. If you're on any of these platforms and would like to get updates, please follow me there!
Isle of Elsi Updates

If you'd like to read each week's page of my webcomic Isle of Elsi you can do that for free on the website. There is also an RSS feed you can subscribe to, to get updates if you use RSS. If it's too much trouble to check the site, you can also get updates about each post on Tumblr or have each page arrive in your inbox every week by following me on Ko-Fi, which also has a simple system for making one-time or recurring donations, if you want to support the comic!
If you subscribe to my Patreon, you can get the weekly Isle of Elsi posts in your inbox for free, or if you subscribe at $1/month you get access to my monthly backer blog posts where I share behind the scenes looks at my comics, illustration, and animation projects. There's also an archive of 600+ posts! This support is greatly appreciated, as it makes it possible for me to take on less freelance work and focus more on my artistic projects.
Social Media Updates

For social media updates about my projects I'm going to keep posting on BlueSky and Mastodon for now. If you're not on either of those platforms, you can also just sign up for the Phase Seven Comics Newsletter, which goes out twice a year with a recap of my recent projects.
Animation Updates

I'm not sure how much longer vimeo will be around, but I'm going to keep posting my animation projects on there until it goes away. I'm also experimenting with posting some of my smaller animation projects onto my YouTube channel as "shorts."
My Personal Website
If everything listed above sounds like a drag, you can always just check this website, where I'll continue to post links to my latest work, public events where I'll be exhibiting, new books, etc!
May 25, 2024
A2CAF 2024!

June 15-16 I will be exhibiting in the Artists Alley at Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival (A2CAF) in Michigan! I'm going to be traveling light, and will only have the following three items for sale:
• Isle of Elsi Book One - The Dragon's Librarian• Isle of Elsi Book Two - The Egalliv Examiner• Isle of Elsi Activity Book
If you will be in the area that weekend, swing on by! There are some amazing special guests, a bunch of fun panels and live drawing events, a gallery exhibit of original comic art, and lots more!
May 7, 2024
Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

Today is the release date of Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol published by FirstSecond Books. I colored this book! At 352 pages it is the longest graphic novel I have ever colored. I’m very proud of the work I did on this project and it was so fun collaborating with and learning from Vera. There were some extra pages in the back so FirstSecond included a two-page spread documenting the coloring process!
I received some early comp copies a few weeks ago and my two daughters have read this book dozens of times. I’m biased, but I think it’s a great book with an important message. I recommend picking it up at your local bookstore or comic shop, or checking it out from your local library!
February 7, 2024
Mickey Mouse is now in the public domain!
I created this little animated piece to celebrate Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse FINALLY entering the public domain.
I did all the key pose and breakdown animation drawings on paper, then in-betweened the rest digitally using Toon Boom Harmony, which I also used for digital ink and paint. The three backgrounds were done traditionally with ink wash on watercolor paper.
I cut up the original soundtrack to piece together the music and sound effects. It took me about 38 hours to create these 38 seconds of animation, mostly late at night after my kids went to bed.
It felt like an animation history lesson animating these characters! It was also really freeing to animate in the ‘20s “rubber hose” style. Need the character to grab something? Just stretch their arms! Any time I tried to add some overlap, I had to go back and take it back out, because it looked wrong in this context.
Anyway, you can learn more about the importance of the public domain at the Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
November 1, 2023
Short Run 2023!

I will be exhibiting at the Short Run Arts Festival on Saturday November 4 from 11am-6pm in Seattle, WA. I'll be at table J59 with my friend Nicole Georges. She'll have copies of her new book Dog's Breakfast and I'll be debuting the second volume of Isle of Elsi. If you are in the Seattle area, don't miss it!

October 10, 2023
Isle of Elsi Book Two is now available for online ordering!

Now that all the Kickstarter copies of Isle of Elsi Book Two have been sent out, it is publicly available for purchase online! You can also download a pay-what-you want PDF eBook over in my Ko-Fi shop. You can see a preview of the hardback print edition below:
This second collection of my award-winning, Eisner-nominated webcomic Isle of Elsi contains the fourth, fifth, and sixth storylines. These were originally serialized online from 2018-2022 and were reprinted in Isle of Elsi Adventures #1-5. If this sounds confusing, check out the new Isle of Elsi Continuity Chart that I set up to help people understand where stories have been printed before.
There were so many Isle of Elsi comics available, I decided to set up a Big Cartel online shop, to help simplify the online shopping experience. You can easily add activity books, or copies of Book One to your order. Check it out!
October 9, 2023
CCS Info Session in Milwaukee, WI 10/21/23

On October 21st I will be hosting an info session for The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the east branch of the public library. I'll be there from 3:00-4:30pm to share some information about the school's programs, and then I'll be giving a free lecture about my experiences creating and self-publishing my first graphic novel Basewood.
You can find more information about this event and RSVP on the CCS website.
September 1, 2023
Dog's Breakfast! SPX 2023!

Today is the release date of Dog's Breakfast by Nicole J. Georges. I published and edited this 492-page collection of Nicole's diary comics through my Phase Eight Publishing imprint. It collects a dozen issues of her long-running zine Invincible Summer and includes over 100 pages of diary comics that have never seen print from Nicole's archives.

Nicole and I will be exhibiting at the Small Press Expo September 9 & 10 in Bethesda, MD. If you are in the D.C. area, please swing by and pick up a copy of Nicole's new book! I will also have various Phase 7 minicomics and collections, and Isle of Elsi books and comics too! We will be at table W68.
