LWNW-Woodring.jpg

Artist Jim Woodring will be one of the special guests at Linework NW, a new comic festival that will focus on artistry instead of pop culture.

(Jim Woodring)

François Vigneault has been to comic conventions before. He's seen, firsthand, independent illustrators like him get pushed to the corners of the convention center to make way for those with mainstream name recognition.

François grew tired of the conventions, so he decided to make one of his own.

What he and co-founder Zach Soto came up with is dubbed Linework NW, a free and curated comics and illustration festival dedicated not to the comic industry but to comic artistry.

"I think a lot of people have a lot of interest in visual culture right now," he said. If the swarm of drama surrounding Linework's predecessors are any indication, that's something of an understatement.

Last year there were three major comic conventions in Portland: Wizard World, the nationally touring behemoth; Rose City Comic Con, a two-year-old upstart with ties to Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con; and the Stumptown Comics Fest, a smaller show that started in 2004 with a focus on comic creators instead of pop culture.

Last year was a little disenchanting for independent artists who have been flocking to the Stumptown fest since 2004. The festival expanded into the Convention Center but drew criticism for its lack of organization. Seemingly plagued by troubles, organizers cancelled this year's festival, announcing it would now be a part of the Rose City convention.

Seeing the writing on the wall, François and Zach had begun working on Linework, which they promised would have a renewed focus on small, independent artists.

"I think here in Portland we have so much of this cool indie art culture," François said. "There are a lot of [illustrators] who want to be putting their work out there and who are putting their work out there." In fact, when Linework put out a call for artists, they received nearly 200 applicants for 60 spots in the show. That would make most festival organizers think immediately of growth, but after seeing the rise and fall of Stumptown, the duo is playing it safe.

They're holding the inaugural festival at the Norse Hall in Northeast Portland, a small venue that only reinforces their idea of bringing things back to an intimate level. The atmosphere will lie somewhere between the calm respect of an art festival and the bustling marketplace of a comic convention.



"If you are an art collector and you are trying to buy beautiful lithographs and stuff like that, there's probably something beautiful for you at this show," François said. At the same time, there will be plenty for the traditional comic book crowd as well. That all-inclusive nature is a big part of the Linework philosophy, and one that differentiates it from the pop-culture comic cons.

While most conventions charge an entry fee of anywhere from $10 to $200 (depending on your level of access), Linework is completely free. And while comic cons might charge an extra $165 to get photos with celebrities, Linework eschews the whole notion, instead offering affordable, limited edition prints of work by local illustrators. "The whole concept is that you can take stuff home with you that is relatively inexpensive," François said.

Keeping a festival small and focused on artists is a worthwhile goal, but in the volatile world of Portland comic conventions, the slope leading to the Convention Center can get slippery very fast.

"We do feel that there's some pressure to grow just a little bit, just because there's so many people we had to turn away and so many people who we wanted," Francois said. He said there's already talk of expansion, with a possible announcement at the show next weekend. Does it mean they'll be upgrading to somewhere like the Convention Center? "I really doubt it," he said. With the lessons learned from Stumptown still fresh in mind, Linework is keeping it simple -- for now.

-- Jamie Hale

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LINEWORK NW

When: April 12, from 2 to 9 p.m.

Where: Norse Hall (111 N.E. 11th Ave.)

Admission: Free