Debuting at SPX This Weekend

This Saturday and Sunday I will be selling comics at table W69 with Jess Worby, Mike Freiheit, Chris Duffy. I will also have a few Birdcage Bottom Books titles from J.T. Yost.

Mike Freiheit is visiting all the way from Chicago, and debuting Volume Two (?) of Monkey Chef, a comic about his time as a chef on a primate sanctuary in South Africa.

Here's a handy map I defaced for your convenience:

I'm excited about the comic I'll be debuting, Invisible Wounds. This sixteen-page comic is based on some beautifully written exchanges from Paul David Mansfield, an Army veteran of the Iraq War. After returning home from his last deployment, he discovers a lot about perceptions others have about his service, in addition to coming to terms with a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His writing and story are so powerful, drawing comics has been an incredibly rewarding challenge. Hope to see you there!

Preview page from Invisible Wounds:

For more details on visiting the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, visit the official SPX webpage.

An Approach to Tabling by So What? Press

Dave Kelly of So What? Press recently shared with me how he and his partner in crime, Lara Antal, decide which comics fests to attend every year. Dave says, “We were inspired to do this by the band Fugazi who had a similar "code" about when and where to play concerts.”

• Admission must be under $10/day or free.
• Show must be curated - - you want to feel good about being there.
• No more than one fest per month - - unless one is in NYC.
• Table price must include two badges, two chairs.
• Fest cannot run longer than two days.
• Never pay more than $100/half table, $200/full - - and always share whenever possible.

“We break the rules every once in awhile, but they've proven their worth - - and not just monetarily, but in overall positivity of the experience.  The winning combination is always a free, one-day show, in NYC - - you can never go wrong, haha!

The disclaimer: we do break our own rules sometimes and do not put ourselves above any festival.  We know there are logistical reasons why some festivals charge higher table prices.  The ultimate point, though, is that "the rules" have helped inform our decision-making process as well as improve our exposure and performance.”

Rumpus Article on CBLDF

You can read the brief article I wrote for The Rumpus about Charles Brownstein's appearance here.
Thanks to Andrea Tsurumi, Paul Madonna, Isaac Fitzgerald, and (especially) Jess Worby for their editing genius, and to Connie Sun and Ben Katchor for making the New York Comics Symposium a great event every week.

I had the good fortune to catch Charles Brownstein's presentation on his work with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. I had heard of the CBLDF a few years ago at SPX, as they often table at comics expos and events, but I didn't investigate further. Charles is passionate, serious, has a sharp sense of humor, while maintaining a deep appreciation for the absurd and offensive. We are lucky to have such a smart guy to defend the First Amendment in comics. What was most surprising about the 1973 obscenity trial in NYC regarding Zap #4, is that the booksellers, not content creators, were prosecuted and convicted of knowingly distributing obscene material. One of the convicted was a 23 year old Vietnam War veteran.

Ben Katchor hosts weekly panel talks about all things comics at the New York Comics Symposium. Sign up here for his weekly newsletter to see who's in town this week.

Charles Brownstein holds Zap #4.

Sketches From Last Night

Last night in the studio: drawing Ai Wei Wei, listening to Beyonce. Life is interesting. I recommend checking out the doumentary Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry. These are drawings for a secret project-- I can tell you about it in a week when it's done!

Veteran Writers at The Old Stone House

I had the pleasure and good fortune to meet Peter Catapano at the Joe Bonham Project exhibition reception this past weekend and he told me about a reading he was co-hosting at The Old Stone House. Presented by Brooklyn Reading Works, the reading showcased the incredible writing talents of several young writers who are recent alumni of the NYU Veterans Writing Workshop and have been using their war experiences to inform their creative writing. It was an incredible evening and I am looking forward to hearing more from this group of great writers. A collection of their writing, "Fire and Forget", will be available in February, but you can pre-order the book here.

Maurice Decaul is a former Marine who served in Iraq in 2003. He is a poet, essayist and librettist.

Matt Gallagher is a Senior Fellow at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the author of the Iraq memoir, Kaboom.

Mariette Kalinowski served in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2002 and 2012, deploying twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She studies fiction at Hunter College's MFA program.

Phil Klay is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a graduate of the MFA writing program at Hunter College.

Roy Scranton is an Iraq War veteran, and is the co-editor of Fire and Forget.

New Nib and Brooklyn Book Festival

 

I went to New York Central Art Supply on Saturday and picked up a new nib holder, fancy G-nibs, and some really gorgeous Strathmore 500 Bristol. I bought a Dustin Harbin original drawing at SPX and was inspired to use the materials he draws with to see if I could make something really clean and pretty, like his stuff. The lines are not as clean as I thought they would be, quite messy actually, but really fun. I don't understand how people letter comics with nibs. It's hard and unwieldy. I think the ink I use is too thick and may be causing all the trouble. Further investigation is required.

 

 

I also had the opportunity to see a great panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, moderated by Bill Karalopoulos. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear about each of their story-writing processes.

Bill Kartalopoulos,  Gabrielle Bell, Carla Speed McNeil, Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez.

Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez.

I want to find a smarter way to work, or a way work faster. Maybe it is a matter of developing consistent work habits.

New York Times Homepage Today

Two of my favorite illustrators, Victor Kerlow and Eleanor Davis, are featured in homepage articles this morning. What a nice surprise!

People Care About Oxford Commas

Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

Design Recharge Spreecast Interview with Diane Gibbs

Diane Gibbs (Little Bird Communications) hosts a weekly Spreecast episode called Design Recharge, where she interviews artists, illustrators and designers about their working process, staying unstuck, and navigating the business of being creative.  I met Diane in Mobile, Alabama when I was attending school at the University of South Alabama. She is an incredible, inspiring, and contagiously enthusiastic person.

Diane interviewed me about making comics and getting my work out there, and we talked about what inspires us to make good work. You can watch the full episode here. On her next episode (Wednesday July 25th at 2pm EST) she discusses the transition between freelance to full time--a great topic I am looking forward to hearing more about.

All in a Day's Work

While working hard at cartooning and making comic books, I also work full time for a science photo agency that specializes in shooting material for textbooks (Fundamental Photographs). For an artist trying to make it in New York City, these people make possible what would be impossible alone. Thank you Kip and Richard for being a wonderful presence in my life and rooting me on (and for reading my blog)!

Digestate Anthology Kickstarter Campaign

(The newest incarnation of credits-whoa!)

I've been asked to contribute work to this really wonderful food-based comics anthology, Digestate by J.T. Yost. The effort is crowd funded and needs your support. Read below and watch the video for information about the project. I'm putting some ink drawings of chickens and cows up for donors--they could be yours! When you donate there is a large variety of original art and mini-comics by contributors that can be had, so essentially  you're buying affordable art and supporting a good cause. If you pledge $20 you get a copy of the book, it's going to be gigantic and full of awesome. Help me get published!

(Bok Bok!)

it's all in the hands of a lazy projector
Andrew Bird - Lazy Projector

The Captain

This is a somewhat capricious double portrait I did over the weekend. These were drawn from a photograph I took of The Captain, a man Ray Alma and I had the pleasure of meeting during the last trip to Walter Reed, who was really brilliant and kind to share so much with us. I have several pages of sketchbook muddle I've been feverishly poring over that I hope to have transformed into glorious inked pages at my next posting.

Joe Bonham Project in this Sunday's NYT Arts and Leisure Section

(Some of the Joe Bonham Project artists at Walter Reed: Ray Alma, Victor Juhasz, myself, Fred Harper and Jeff Fisher.)

 Since February I have gone on several trips with Victor Juhasz, Mike Fay, Ray Alma and Fred Harper to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. On our last trip Carol Kino, a freelance writer for the New York Times, and Marcus Yam, a 'curious and contemplative' photographer, convened with us there and documented our visit to draw portraits of the returning wounded. (Marcus' multimedia project, The Home Front was recognized by World Press Photo and is incredibly stunning and moving, I highly recommend watching the video).
What a thrill it is to see your art in the New York Times! (The taste all the more sweeter after years of sending promotional cards to the Op-Ed Art Director). I enjoyed what the interviewed service members had to say about the project and the powerful impact of portrait drawing, and their thoughts on the experience of being a soldier.

You can read the full article here, and see it in print on Sunday (or late Saturday if you're a New Yorker).

(Note the tabs for the Society of Illustrators' Facebook page and Rishi Tea...)

 (...and the scary Cindy Sherman/MoMA ad.)

(Photo Credit: Lacy Rhodes)

Illustrators on the Loose

I came back from Bethesda with a really nasty cold, all this world traveling and public restroom use finally caught up with me. Here's some drawings the other artists I traveled to Bethesda with sketched of me.

Drawing by Ray Alma.

Drawing by Ray Alma.

Drawing by Fred Harper.

Status Quo Ante Bellum Available at Desert Island

You can now get a copy of my new comic at Desert Island in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you don't buy a copy it is a good place to go anyway, because Gabe is really nice and likes to answer questions and will let you put your paws on everything without making you feel like a broke loser. But you should probably buy something.

Here is a really good picture Jason Polan drew of Gabe for his project, Every Person in New York. Jason is the chairman of the Taco Bell Drawing Club, NYC Chapter.

(Photo taken from The Daily Crosshatch - link here.)

Drawing America By Bike

Eric Clausen once paid off thousands in medical and dental bills (acquired by a nasty bike accident) by creating Drawings for 30 Bucks. Now he's traveling around America to draw for Americans, and see how they're doing in this recession.

Here's the featured video on Kickstarter.com:

Arty Things

There's a new post up on Diderot's Photo Blog with some really interesting guerrilla art involving a wonderful mash-up of past and present social issues. It's really worth checking out. I felt a little self conscious about the Oil Spill comic I just posted, I am never sure about making work about things I feel passionately about, I don't want to risk losing narrative credibility by being overly emotional. So it was really great to be in such good company. In an age where people fall back on automated 100 word status updates to express themselves and contribute to a cultural dialogue it's nice to see people turning upsetting situations into something more constructive.
Tonight I went to see Daniel Clowes speak at a local independent bookstore and he was really great. He said something to the effect of that the images he makes are ideas that immediately embarrass him when he first thinks them up. I think that's a good art-making policy.
His new book, Wilson is a haunting collection of existential one-liners merging sweetness with weirdness. I love it but it makes me want to read Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron again, because it's longer and even weirder.

So check out that blog and read some Dan Clowes, ok?

(Cover via Amazon.com)

Busy Day

Go see Eric White's paintings at Jonathan Levine Gallery. Go. I'm not kidding. The best most beautiful paintings I have seen in forever. I haven't gotten out much lately but still. Please do yourself a favor and go see them.

People I met at MOCCA:

This girl, Helen, does really awesome mini comics detailing the perils of subway riding and careless lovers. She's also a singer, check her out.

Another guy I met likes to cast things in resin and text on his iPhone. He was very nice and traded me a resin army tank for my mini.

J.T. Yost is a talented pet portrait painter but also a great comic maker. I recommend checking out his Snoop Doggy Dogg comic.

Esther Pearl Watson is the nicest person. And you already know she is insanely talented, go get all of her books from the library.

Rosa Colon and Carla Rodriguez came all the way from Puerto Rico and gave us a ton of cute itty bitty books for a trade! The nicest girls at MOCCA.

Eroyn Franklin is super nice and told me all about her Xeric grant experience. What a nice gal. And her books are so pretty--she hand prints the dust jackets and there are some really fancy cut away things going on. I can't describe it go see!

Dudes at thegoodproduct.com holding it down as usual. Great great stuff.

Joan Reilly is working on a cool feminist comic, I love her drawings!

This lady Jess Harold did an amazing comic about Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Day Hat. I can't find her website though. She had a jellyfish tattoo! Go see her at Sunnyside Tattoo!


Ulises gave me an amazing/pretty book for trade.

There are other people I met but can't remember now, but thanks to everyone who stopped to chat, it was nice to see you.

Eric C: Drawings for 30 Bucks

(Eric Clausen's Abe Lincoln)

Eric was in an epic bicycle accident around a month ago, and to raise money for his medical bill (and celebrate the fact that he still has use of his drawing facilities) he's offering a drawing of whatever you wish, for 30 dollars, post paid.

Check out the ones he's done so far here.

I am fond of "Obama Fighting a Dragon" and the nice radiator cover for Sandra.

Martha Rich: New Website

I love Martha Rich's paintings. She just launched a redesigned website but promises to update her blog still.