THONY AIUPPY

Category: Materials

  • 5 Things Friday – January 9, 2026

    2026 is already rocking and rolling along. Here’s 5 things that’s been going on.

    1. I got to celebrate 20 years of marriage with my wife Melissa. We got to get away to South Florida where we went to the Perez Museum in Miami, visited the Everglades, ate Mahi tacos, and traveled down to the Florida Keys to see coral reefs.

    2. Teaching is picking up. Not only am I teaching at the University of North Florida this semester, but I will also be teaching at the Florida State College at Jacksonville (South Campus). I’m really excited and hope to share some student work soon.

    3. 2025 was my first real year of tabling. Ended the year with the Orlando Zine Fest (shout out to Black Bird Comics who puts on an extraordinary event!) I will be tabling at more zine and comic fests in 2026, including DCAZ 2026 in Jacksonville, Florida and Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Some more announcements will be forthcoming. I did put in for the Fluke Athens fest in Georgia. Fingers crossed.

    4. I received an Art Ventures grant in December 2025 through the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. You can read more about the Awards HERE. With the grant, I will be making a graphic novel about the architect Henry Klutho and his impact and contribution to the city of Jacksonville. I’m very excited about this project and I will officially start working on it in February. Part of the funds from the grant will go towards hiring an editor so that I can make this the best book possible!

    5. I will be having an art exhibit with James Green at The Unicat Gallery in Jacksonville. The show is called FULL BLEED. James and I are including original comics pages that we’ve made for our comics as well as new paintings and prints. You don’t want to miss it if you live in Jacksonville. The show’s opening reception is Saturday January 24th.

    Screenshot

  • Colored Pencil Drawing

    Colored Pencil Drawing

    One of the classes I’m taking this semester during Quarter 3 of the Sequential Artist Workshop is about process and different ways of finishing comics. This week we worked in pencil, either graphite or colored. I picked colored pencils because I wanted a challenge and I’m not very good at the material, as opposed to others I’m more used to working with.

    The image I came up with is pulled from a photo of a boy who is enamored with with a large metallic sphere. A specific sphere known as the “Betz Ball” or “Betz Sphere.” If you’ve never heard of it, look it up. It’s a wild story about a family that finds a mysterious ball on their North Florida property. I ultimately want to do a comic based on the story, so I thought I’d do something towards that goal.