Lucy Bellwood

Lotta zine-making energy in the world these days. I recently got to contribute Schoolhouse Rock-inspired cover illustrations to this bilingual zine on overcoming common barriers to voting: If you’re in the U.S. and want to help your neighbors get to the polls for midterms this November—especially folks who are worried about voter intimidation—this is a great resource. It’s in English and Spanish (reversible!) and came together thanks to a crack team of elections specialists, print nerds,…

Hi [the name is not important, this isn’t really about one guy], As an artist who writes about the necessity of credit and compensation for my work, I was surprised to receive your message. It’s impossible for me to know whether you’re writing these emails yourself, although at this point there are tells. I know I turn up in searches for “creators who talk openly online about money and the creative process,” so it’s easy enough to have ChatGPT write to me on your behalf thinking that I’d be a…

If you haven’t caught the news, there’s a fancy new page on the site all about Seacritters! The Hunt for the Jigamaree, my upcoming swashbuckling graphic novel with writer Kate Milford and colorists K. Czap and Natalie Riess—and just in time! This week Barnes & Noble is running a big preorder sale that includes our book! You can use the code PREORDER25 to get a hefty 25% off from now till Friday, 9/11/26. (This offer is for B&N rewards members, but it’s basically like a free frequent flier…

Heads up for you blog-reading types: I’ll be teaming up with my friend Mike Monteiro next Friday (August 28th!) to offer an info-packed 90-minute online workshop on MAKIN’ BOOKS. Mike and I have decades of combined experience crafting books, graphic novels, zines, and weird one-off projects from start to finish, and we want to help YOU finish making your thing! We’ll be diving into managing creative projects, tackling print design, traditional vs “self” publishing, The Dreaded Promotion…

I’m spending a lot of time at memorials these days. Partly it’s to do with living in a small town with a median age well above the national average. Partly it’s to do with loving people, being close to them, and wanting to stay present when they go. I had the chance to speak about my 7th grade teacher, Peter Thielke, this past Saturday. I think more people should know about this lovely man, so I’m republishing my speech on my blog. Writing—and especially writing that expects to be read…

Last year I got an email from Tania Sammons, a curator at Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum in Savannah, Georgia who had previously licensed my guide to sailors’ tattoos for a show. Her pitch was irresistible: an exhibition of comics based on model ships from their collection. Four cartoonists would be hired, assigned a vessel, then given six months to produce a short comic for publication in an anthology alongside an accompanying museum display. BELLWOOD CATNIP. It’s still amazing to me when…

"Left to its own devices, the path of reading strays all over the place."