Tanked

Listening to: A.A. Bondy: "The Mightiest of Guns"

How to Draw a Gun

I'm still not too sure...

Clifton Hicks

This past weekend I went out to the Brooklyn Folk Fest and saw some really great musical performances by a bunch of talented folks. (I need to get out to Jalopy more. You should check them out, too if you haven't yet). At the folk fest, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Clifton Hicks, who is an incredibly talented and down to earth guy. I am working on a comic with the lyrics to an old time song he plays called "German War". You can see him play the banjo and sing it here.
The first drawing posted here was done from life... I like it better than the others I did, which were done from photos from the internet.
I'm taking a comics class and it's pretty great; the instructor, Sungyoon Choi, (American Widow) is really smart and subtly funny. Non-fiction comics by ladies, totally awesome.
So, I better go get to work!

Robbed

This is a picture I recently drew of Rob. He makes pretty drawings, available for your viewing pleasure on his site, Killer Acid. I was going to try to make some fan art to put on the paper but thought it would be weird. But what fan art isn't weird, right?

***UPDATE***
Here is a better version with one of Rob's drawings added to the paper:

sketchbook drawings from this week

Here's a drawing I did when I was watching Beautiful Losers the other night, I guess it was last week.

Thought-provoking photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Misrata this past week. I had just finished reading "WAR" by Sebastian Junger (whom with he traveled to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan in 2007 to document U.S. soldier's experience there, culminating in some amazing photos and the Oscar-nominated documentary "Restrepo"), and just the other day found myself admiring Tim's Sleeping Soldiers , to the point of wanting to copy them as paintings (Google them or check his site, they are beautiful). The world is so big and so small.

Here are some drawings of my really awesome coworkers. Kip and Richard don't have many photos on their Facebook pages so I will have to try again, but I kinda like the larger one of Kelly (left) and Patricia. It really helps to have a good photo. Without photographers I wouldn't be able to draw a lot of fun stuff, so if you're reading this and take pictures, keep doing your thing, you're awesome.

Quitting

This was a super fun job I got to do over the weekend for a feature article in the Portland Mercury on escaping junk mail (and sometimes Facebook). The spots were really funny to draw, I am a fan. Thanks Justin!

 I'm silkscreening business cards at the printshop but it is really taking so long and has left me eager to work on other projects (like comics!) I'll be at MOCCA with something up my sleeve. I really want to see the talk at 2:30 on Saturday with the Pizza Island ladies. They are so talented and encouraging me to not be sad that comics is often dominated by cranky old men. Here is an etching I did while waiting for a space to open up in the silkscreen room (it sure is busy lately).

Keep Secret Prison Free

Philly based comics anthology--super great--keep 'em running with a little donation! There's only 6 days left and they're really close to making their goal! And if they continue to publish through the year, I'll submit comics, get published, be really famous, etc.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1043760737/secret-prison-2011

Black Smoke's A-Risin', Surely is a Train

Generosity

Smokey Dokey

Here's another piece for the Portland Mercury, about the tobacco industry in Oregon, roughly paraphrased. This was really fun to draw. Pascal was relatively well-behaved during the creative process i.e. camped out on my lap as I brandished my tablet pen.

Thanks Justin!

Fiddle Player in Union Square

Charlie

I'm making a comic book and some etchings based on people I have met in the city that have been or are homeless. Charlie is usually on the Bowery, near some nice graffiti. Banksy spotted him last year and had him pose for this poster:

It was weird seeing this poster at the Sunshine Cinema, only a few blocks away from where it was taken. I asked him about it and he said he got paid $100. That made me kinda mad but Charlie said it was okay. I see Charlie on the way to work most days if the weather is good. He told me sometimes the other men at the housing place try to put curses on him. I tell him that I am sending him good thoughts. I think I gave him California Raisin Hands in the drawing.