Sarah Howell is a noted

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and educator based in Brunswick, Melbourne. Howell is often involved in projects that promote the Australian

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

art scene. She is a founding member of Squishface Studio, a workspace for artists in which customers looking to buy comics can walk in and watch artists work. She self-publishes zines and mini-comics. Howell was also the first director of the Homecooked Comics Festival. She has worked as a cartooning tutor at Box Hill Community Arts Centre and a cartooning and graphic novels tutor at the

Centre for Adult Education The Centre for Adult Education (CAE), founded in 1947 as the Council of Adult Education, is an adult education institution based in Victoria, Australia. It runs short courses and nationally recognised training, as well as a Victorian Certificate ...

in Melbourne.

Career

Howell was the co-curator and the workshop facilitator of The Dark Woods, a national exhibition and workshop that toured around Australia about the country's comic book art from 2002 to 2006. Howell was the producer of the Gravity Project from 2007 to 2009, a blog documents outdoor and online writing, art, performance and games occurring in Northern Tasmania. From 2009 to 2010, she was the director of the

National Young Writers’ Festival National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in Australia, a festival showcasing the works of "young and innovative writers in both new and traditional forms". In August 2011, Howell was one of eight Melbourne cartoonists to participate in a month residency project at

Federation Square Federation Square (marketed and colloquially known as Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street ...

called ‘Inherent Vice’, where artists worked to create their pieces and the public could observe them doing so. As a result, in 2012, Howell became a founding member of Squishface Studio, where the same process was applied. Also in 2012, she participated in the Caravan of Comics with nine others—a convoy of comic book artists that toured in America to promote Australian comic art.

Notable partnerships and relationships

Howell works alongside other artists in Squishface Studio, such as Ben Hutchings, Ele Jenkins, and her husband, David Blumenstein.

References

Australian comics artists Australian female comics artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Artists from Melbourne 21st-century Australian women artists People from Brunswick, Victoria Australian company founders Comic book company founders {{comics-creator-stub