Thursday, December 29, 2011

woodcuts and glittery stars



Left: the first "Timrick" woodcut I ever made. I sold it at the Festival of the last minute, then realised that I never actually got a clear photo of it. I was nearly finished with it when I spilled ink all over one of the hands, so I blackened the hands and feet as a way to fix it. I ended up really liking the effect and it's something I don't think I would've ever tried otherwise. It's good to roll with the punches.


Right: The only woodcut I've kept for myself so far. I made it right before Griffin was born and looking at it reminds me of the whole inner-process I had leading up to becoming a dad. I sit with Griffin propped up on my lap like that all the time now, and I've seen him make that same expression on his face.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Festival of the Last minute

I'll be setting up my Thought Cloud Factory booth in Ankeny Plaza in downtown Portland for the Festival of the Last Minute from December 19th through the 24th, from 11-5 each day (closing early at 3:30 on Christmas eve). If you stop by and visit, you'll find me wrapped in a blanket, drinking massive amounts of tea, trying to keep my hands warm enough to draw as many pictures as possible, and hoping for some weird and interesting conversations with friendly strangers.

This is a new woodcut star ship I just finished for the festival. I just finished cutting a whole new batch of them and will probably be finishing new ones through out the week so that there's a little something different at my table each day. Happy Holidays everyone!

Sleeping Griffin.

I hang out with this little guy a lot now. He is awesome.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Welcome to the World, Griffin!

Our Son, Griffin has arrived and Heather and I are so Happy! He was born on 11/20/2011 at 9:49 pm and was 22 inches tall at birth (so many palindromes!). Being a Dad has inspired and changed me in so many ways already and he's only 10 days old. Helping catch someone as they enter the world and watching them take their first breath was a truly intense experience, and Heather was so awe inspiring and strong. I feel really lucky to have such an incredible family.

One of my new favorite things to do is to fly Griffin around the house like a spaceship and show him the different things on the walls around our house. I think he already has a thing for sea monsters.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Post-it note art

I made art on 6 post-it notes for the annual Post-it note show at Giant Robot in LA! My friend and fellow cartoonist Jesse Reklaw is also in the show, so we met up in a coffee shop in downtown Portland and worked on our pieces together. It was good to have a post-it note motivational support system in place when you need it.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Christmas Cards!!

I've got some of my Christmas cards up for sale over at my Etsy Shop! www.theoellsworth.etsy.com . I make a new one every year for my mom to send out to friends and relatives, so I thought it would be fun to reprint the last four just in case you want to send them to your friends and family too! Yes!!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Space Cadets! Don't Panic!

I just got the Oak, Otaku album in the mail. It's the second cover I've done for the London Based record label, Space Cadets, and I'm just about to start working on the third. It's fun getting to be the house artist for such an exciting label. There's going to be stickers soon too!

Doing art for Space Cadets led to an interview with the awesome UK Magazine, Don't Panic. You can read it if you want:
http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/arts/theo-ellsworth

Saturday, November 5, 2011

meet the new kids


Each of these new monster kids are hanging out on the wall of Pony Club Gallery all month. They like visitors.

Friday, November 4, 2011

New life

Thank you to everyone who came out to the art opening last night. It definitely made me nostalgic to be showing work at Pony Club again. It's good to see the gallery being run by such a great group of artists. The fact that my son is going to be born any time now made it feel like an especially monumental occasion. The waiting is getting suspenseful. Our friend Aimee Swallow made a belly cast of Heather and we hung it in the window of the gallery. Aimee painted the outside and it looks amazing. I'll post a picture as soon as I can get a good photo, but until then, this is the inside, negative space that I painted myself.

The show will be up all month if anyone wants to see it. above is the Understanding Monster Mask I made.


This one is a parallel reality shock absorption mask. The idea is that if you witness a parallel reality, putting on this mask will help your brain cope with the shock, so you can enjoy yourself instead of freaking out. It's good to be prepared.


I'll post the rest of the art soon, including the large scale drawing I finished for it. Good times!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

today at the drawing table

I'm working on 9 well dressed monster children woodcuts, a large doodle, and a couple of masks for an upcoming art show in November.

two collaborative drawings with Alex Chiu!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Nursery Rhyme Comics

I did a two page adaptation of "As I was Going to St. Ives" for a collection of nursery rhyme comics edited by Chris Duffy and published by First Second. It's going to be in stores October 11th. The book turned out great! 50 cartoonist, 50 nursery rhymes. It's nice to have work in the same book as so many artists I'm excited about.

Habibi Art Show

My friend, Craig Thompson just released his huge, amazing graphic novel, Habibi, that he's been working on for the last 6 years. He's doing a signing at Floating World Comics at 400 NW Couch st. on the evening of Thursday the 6th. There will also be an art show of different cartoonists who have made work inspired by the book. I just finished my piece the other day.

It's going to be an excellent night for seeing art. My friend Alex Chiu has a solo show that same night at Grass Hut Gallery, which shares space with Floating world.

Yoyo art show!

There is a yoyo art show at SoHiTek gallery on NW 6th between Flanders and Everett. 30 or so artists made art on handmade yoyos made by TMBR Toys. I was excited that I got to do one. The show is on the evening of Thursday the 6th.

Monday, October 3, 2011

cosmonaut longboard

I did a drawing of a Cosmonaut for the new line of boards from DB longboards!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Space Cadets

I've been doing album art for the new London based record label, Space Cadets. Their first record just came out and the second one is on the way, both by the awesome electronic musician, Oak. Space sounds and cosmic patterns. I need to get a record player! Their website isn't done yet, but there should be a lot to see soon: www.spacecadets.co

Thursday, September 22, 2011

birthday art and insane gifts!


For my friend, Sean Christensen's birthday, I decided to make him the most "Sean" inspired picture possible. Anyone who knows him understands the resulting picture. I want to do more art directly inspired by friends like this.
This is one of my very favorite art pieces by Sean. It was in his most recent show, and I found myself obsessively thinking about it after I saw it for the first time. Every time I'd see Sean afterwards, I'd end up mentioning the piece at least once or twice. I guess I mentioned it one too many times, because he ended up giving it to me! It now lives in my house where I look at it all the time. I don't even know how to respond when someone gives me something so amazing. The collection I have of art made by friends is one of my most valued possessions. I'll have to post more of the pieces in my collection sometime down the road.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

invisible doors

I want to thank everyone who commented on my post about Dylan, and everyone who talked to me in person about it. It helped me to know that the photo I took of him was able to reach so many people who cared about him. Dylan's funeral was a day of raw emotion. It's hard to believe it was already a week ago. I felt like a lightning rod as I stood there listening to everyone speaking from the heart and from the gut about the friend we all held in such regard. I was unable to speak out loud myself; I felt mute and paralysed, but as we were all gathered around Dylan, I felt as if something profound and difficult was being achieved by each of us, standing together as a group. I've been carrying that feeling with me ever since, and even though I find myself unable to even articulate what that feeling is, I've been doing my best to use it as fuel for my work. The best way to honor someone who loved and valued art is to try open those elusive, invisible doors even wider, and follow my own weird calling as completely as possible. This is the photo I took at the Chapel of the Chimes right before Dylan asked me to take the photo of him I shared in my last post. I referred to it as an "unidentifiable animal" but now I see that it's obviously a feline hippo. I'm not much of a photographer. I'm always snapping photos, then never doing anything with them, but I had to search back and find this one, since it suddenly felt like an important monster to me.
A couple of days after Dylan's passing, I got together with a few of my favorite artist friends: Sean Christensen, Amy Kuttab, Daria Tessler, and Jeniffer Parks; all of whom have been encouraged and inspired by Dylan is some way or another. We decided to collaborate on a large drawing to give to his wife, Emily.
I've never collaborated quite like this before; five hands simultaneously working on the same piece. It seems like the result would have been chaos, but the image somehow achieved a strange kind of harmony. It's pretty amazing to have so many friends who draw. It's always been such a private act for me. It's funny to think back on how uncomfortable I used to get when anyone wanted to see my drawings.
Spending time with these other artists has taught me a lot about the relationship between individuals and their work. Each of these artists has such a distinct world that they build. Talking to them, and watching them work, I can really see that the art they make is a living, changing thing that is with them wherever they go, and it is a relationship that is completely unique to them.This is the closest I've ever felt to being part of an actual art movement. I don't know what I would even define it as, but I appreciate having people around me who are constantly working to reach new hidden layers, and unlock some new thing they've been feeling.


This is what I was working on when the news reached me of Dylan's passing. It's not done yet, but this piece will always feel connected to him now. It's part of an exploration of the idea of parallel realities, which I'll write more about when the piece is done. The first piece in the series was the one from two posts ago, titled "Outside Inside" which was in a show that just happened to be curated by Emily.