Around this time of year, I still get the itch. School supplies, textbooks, new classes… even if you’re not in school, fall is a great time to pick up a new skill, or work on one you’ve already started. And as it happens, we here at IMPACT and North Light Books are having a Labor Day weekend sale! We’re impatient, though, so we’re not waiting until the weekend. We marked down a bunch of great titles, already in effect today. Click through on the covers to see the sale prices for some of our favorite titles.

Of course, we like to provide a plethora of options, so you can find more just by hopping over to our shop, here!

FairyArt by David Adams teaches you how to paint fairies and the places they're likely to be found.

Girl to Grrrl Manga by Colleen Doran is a great source for learning shoujo manga techniques.

How about sparking your creativity with Journal Revolution, by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino! Like they say on the cover, rise up and create!

This weekend I saw Midnight in Paris, a movie about a writer who is vacationing in Paris when he accidentally travels back to the ‘20s and meets writers and artists of the time. Although the movie only included Picasso and Matisse, it got me wondering about the other artists and art that was around back then. What did people draw dragons like? Did comics have the same form?  I did some Google research and learned about Henri Iselin, who drew many comics in the ‘20s. Here are a few.

It is cool to think about how art has changed and progressed over the decades. And how much changing it is still doing!

Although manga started in the east and didn’t hit it big in America until almost two decades ago, it has still has come a long way in that time. Right now, I am working on Shojo Fashion Manga Art School, Year Two.  It seems to me that the manga and details in this book compared to the first seem like they have already progressed a little in this short time.

Here are some great IMPACT instructionals to help you keep up with art’s constant evolution.

Fellow IMPACTians, wait no more. Today we bring you badass designer Wendy Dunning’s third installment about her adventures at Mid-Ohio-Con last weekend in Columbus, Ohio:

Lots of folks think small press publications when they think indie comics, but nothing is more independent than putting the entire thing together yourself. That’s what Ryan Claytor does with his autobiographical series And Then One Day. This is no straight-up autobiography; rather than Ryan telling the story of his life, he asked his friends to do the work and then translated that into comic form. Check the series out on Ryan’s website www.elephanteater.com. It’s a great site, and you can preview samples from his books as well as order them and other assorted goodies.

I first saw Ryan in San Diego at the 2008 Comic-Con, and with this con being a little less crazy, I stopped to ask him a few questions:

Q: When did you know you wanted to do these comics?
A: It was shortly after college. I’d collected comics as a kid, but just kind of forgot about them. Then a friend asked for a ride to a comic store, and I just got inspired again, especially by the work of Sergio Aragonés. Then I did an internship with Marvel, and I’ve been doing my own stuff for about 5 years.

Q: What’s your favorite comic?
A: Groo the Wanderer

Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
A: I like to watch HGTV. I’m hoping to own a house someday.

For more on creating your own comics check out Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels or Manga Pro Superstar Workshop.

Do you love supernatural thrillers? Shojo manga supernatural thrillers?

Comic Book Resources May Manga Preview blog reports that the first English volume of the Black Bird series will be released August 4, 2009 by Viz Media.

Black Bird  is a Japanese supernatural manga written and illustrated by Kanoko Sakurakoji. It has been serialized by Shogakukan in their Betsucomi magazine since 2007. It depicts the life of a high school girl who can see supernatural beings. Check out some chapters here at mangafox.com. 

(Also of note, Black Bird honorably received the 2009 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga.)

Interested in drawing your own Shojo Manga?

Check out Girl to Grrrl Manga here.