Rina Piccolo waits on Petey

I think Rina is one of the most talented and beautiful ladies I have ever met. She is so charming and witty that I just wish my time with her last year and been longer. Rina, Thank you !

A word from Rina...

Richard Thompson and “Cul de Sac”

“If I didn't know Richard, I would read "Cul de Sac"

and wonder about the man behind the characters. Is

he sensitive, intuitive, distinctively brainy? Or is he

just awesomely neurotic?

All of these things are true about Richard. He's the

spark that gives "Cul de Sac" its charm. I'm so glad to

know him.

Oh, and did I mention he's an alchemist at the

drawing board? Turns ink and paper into pure gold!”

Rina Piccolo

Mort Walker

Thank You Mort!

Deadlines and being overwhelmed!

Dear TCDS folks,

The support for TCDS has been greater than I could have ever dreamed of and the last few months have been amazing. From the Baltimore Comicon last year, then the Cartooning Festival at Ohio State U last fall, to the recent NCS awards in Boston(Congrats again, Richard), then Heroescon this month... I am so lucky to have met many of the artists who have contributed. Thank you all so very much.

The deadline for contributions is this weekend and feel free to mail the art ASAP. Contact Caty Neis or me if you are working on art and haven't mailed it yet. If we don't answer ASAP, it's because we are so lucky enough to have so much to do! I know Caty is still sorting packages and she is still being trapped by checking out all of the great art.

We are planning to have the art auction in the fourth quarter this year and the book will launch May/June next year.

I am working on having a big launch party at Heroescon 2012, June 22-24.

If I haven't posted your art yet, don't worry, I will post a few more, but remember I need to leave some shockers for the book!

I have asked Richard Thompson to create our cover. I cannot wait to see what he does for us!

Rick Detorie is always there.

Rick has been such a supporter of ours from the start. This art shows you just how amazing an artist he is and what a wonderful man. Rick thank you so much for your support to TCDS and the friendship to Richard and myself. Rick ad a few words about Richard:

Richard Thompson draws funny.

By that I mean his drawings, with their loopy lines, scritchy scratchings, and omnifarious orbs, coalesce to form characters whose faces seem to have been channeled from ancient Inuit totems (or the lavatory wall of the Kerrville, Texas, Dairy Queen). They’re stand alone funny. You don’t even have to absorb the gag to be tickled silly.

But when you take these quirky characters, who are as familiar to us as members of our own family, (Come now, who doesn’t know a diffident Peter or an audacious Alice? Can someone hand me a mirror, please?), and place them in a whimsical world that’s really quite mundane, until soggy clumps of it are probed with precision by a masterful cartoonist who transforms them into tiny cluster bombs of insightful hilarity, then you get the magic that is “Cul de Sac.”

And it’s just so damn wonderful.

Rick Detorie is the cartoonist responsible for the comic strip “One Big Happy.” He is also author of the YA novel “The Accidental Genius of Weasel High.”

Hilary Price joins TCDS!

I met Hilary last year at OSU and I think she is so talented . Her strip always makes me laugh and makes me wish I had a tenth of her wit. Rhymes with Orange is it!

Thank you so much Hilary!

Mark Tatulli LIO Teaser!

I met Mark a few weeks ago in Boston and I think he is such an entertaining and smart and and and . It was such a treat to hang out with him. Mark thank you for being such a supporter of TCDS and for now this is a tease of the upcoming Sunday strip of LIO!

Carolyn Belefski says the Otterloops needs a date night!

Ok, I think she is right! Maybe a date month? Is a night really long enough? Here is a little about Carolyn Belefsk, My date hero! Please follow more TCDS news on her blog!

WHY

For my Team Cul de Sac art, I wanted to create a story involving Richard's characters and my Curls character. I felt like the Otterloop parents needed to go on a date because they hardly have any time to themselves, so I wanted them to get-away and introduce Curls to look after Alice and Petey. Richard Thompson is a brilliant cartoonist. I admire his skills very much and I wish Team Cul de Sac the best of luck to raise money for Parkinson's Research.

BIO

Carolyn Belefski was nominated for Friends of Lulu's 2010 Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer. She displays a new Curls webcomic every Monday and Thursday at www.curls-studio.com/curls and collaborates with writer Joe Carabeo on the comic books Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales and The Legettes. Carolyn’s illustrations have been published in USA WEEKEND Magazine, The Commonwealth Times, Magic Bullet, The Pulse on Comicon.com and more.

Big Nate + Cul de Sac= Love

Big Nate is one of the biggest names in cartooning right now, thanks to best-selling books and an uncanny ability to delve deep into the psyche of an eleven-year-old. We thank him immensely for his contribution to the Team, and hope this piece goes to a loving home.

Dave McDonald's TCDS contribution

Dave McDonald shared space with us at Heroes Con as a South Carolina member of the National Cartoonist Society chapter, and we twisted his arm into doing a piece for us.  I'll leave his contact information here in case anyone wants to see more of his Hamster Sam.
--

Cartoonist & Teaching Artist
www.davemcdonald.com

Bill Mitchell's contribution

Richard Thompson says "this is from my old friend Bill Mitchell, former DC resident and one of the first online editorial cartoonists. It's cool!"

From: Bill Mitchell

I've attached some snap shots of my contribution to the Team Cul De Sac auction. On Friday I received a very nice note from Caty Neis informing me that she'd gotten my package and that I would be published in your book! I'm very pleased to know I'll be included. I had thought that I might not make the cut - mainly because the thing is a paper sculpture and not as easily scanned (photographed) and a flat illustration.

Mike here - I think this is very cool too, and I'll be bidding on it (which shouldn't dissuade anyone because I have honestly liked EVERYTHING sent in so far, and can't afford it all).