Thank You monsters, Dinosaurs, and Bro time.

I had an excellent time hanging out with my brother, Matt this last Friday, when I had a free day in San Francisco. We walked all over the city and talked about everything that we like to talk about. I had some silkscreen prints with me that I'd just made and I decided to leave them in various locations throughout the day. Maybe people found them and took them home.I also found a rubber dinosaur on the ground that day and it felt like good luck. According to the writing on it's wings, it is a Pteranodon and was born in China. It rode in my pocket for the rest of the trip.

Sacramento comics festival

I'll be a special guest at Indy Euphoria in Sacramento this coming Sunday. It should be a fun show and I'm looking forwards to the road trip with friends and fellow comics people, Dylan Williams and Austin English (though Austin won't be at the actual show, unfortunately). I'll be selling the very last copies of the first print run of Capacity as well as the very last 3 Capacity posters, plus all sorts of other stuff. I've made a special silk screen print that comes with the final copies. I'll probably be leaving some in random places for people to find while we're on the road too, because I've decided that I need to do more things like that. If you're in the area, come say hi! I like to meet people.

My Brother's Website!

My brother, Matt recently graduated from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His final project was a stop-motion animated film, where he basically created every aspect of the piece. His film turned out incredible! I got my copy in the mail and I've watched it over and over. At some point you should be able to watch the whole thing online. For now though, you can see a bunch of great process shots he took while making the film as well as a trailer showing peeks at the some of the work he did in school: www.ellsworthanimation.com

Someday we're planning on collaborating in some way. For now though, I'm just excited to see his next idea take shape. Next week I'll be in his neighborhood and we'll get to hang out for a couple of days before I head to a comics festival in Sacramento.

screen print separations

I just finished the separations for a new screen print I'm making. I figure out the color separations by hand, using layers of tracing paper. Most screen prints I've made have been simple 2 color images, so it was fun figuring out something slightly more complex. I was kind of fascinated by the way the different layers ended up looking on their own.Layer-4

Layer-3 Layer-2
Layer-1

Park Report

I went to the park the other day and I sat in the grass and drew a picture.

I looked really closely at some red and yellow helicopter seed pods and carried them around with me for awhile.

I decided to suddenly start running down a big hill.
I ran past a bunch of trees. My vision was bouncy and my feet sounded loud.

I didn't stop running for awhile.

altered change

I've heard that you're not suppose to draw on money, but there was nothing else to draw on while I was waiting for my food. I would like to think that George would understand. I'm going to spend the dollar soon, and someone in Portland will eventually get it as change. Maybe it will be someone I know.

decorative border

I've been working on a large decorative border for my friends Aimee and Lonnie's wedding. It's going to be a certificate that all the guests sign as witnesses. It felt like a huge honor to be asked to do this, so I'm trying to do a really nice job on it. I keep having to stop myself from adding little funny creatures everywhere. Hopefully when it's done it'll look like a page from an old illuminated manuscript or something. That's what I'm going for anyways. I've been working on it a little bit each day.

Olympia Comics Fest

Saturday the 5th, I'll be up in Olympia, Washington for their comics festival. I've never been to it before and I've been hearing good things. From 3-3:45 I'll be doing a panel talk. Dylan Williams from Sparkplug comics is going to interview Austin English and myself, then we'll answer questions from the audience. It should be fun. Dylan's always an insightful and interesting person to talk to, so I'm sure he's got some unexpected questions in store for us, and I've been a fan of Austin's work for years, so it'll be great to hear what he has to say.

collaborative drawings with Tom Eichacker

Last week I spent an afternoon doing collaborative drawings with the awesomely talented High School student, Tom Eichacker. He had sent me a pile of great drawings, mostly made on top of math assignments, utilizing the bleed-through of the pens and markers to make double sided images. I was really inspired by what he was doing. The math is beyond my understanding. We wrote back and forth a few times and finally met up. I love the way collaborative art becomes a visual conversation between the artists. The pieces themselves are a record of how completely different approaches can work together in unexpected ways. Thanks for drawing with me, Tom!

Together gallery opening

I had fun at the Together Gallery art opening last Thursday. The art is Up for sale here: http://www.togethergallery.com/cat_view.php?cat=85 They've got a great selection of prints, art books and zines in the back. I ended up having to buy a beautiful etching from an artist who goes by Doodles. at some point I'll have to post pictures of my slowly growing art collection.

Together Gallery

I have five pieces hanging in a show that opens this Thursday at one of my very favorite Portland Galleries. The pieces will be for sale online pretty soon as well. www.togethergallery.com .I haven't been wanting to do many art shows lately, but I couldn't resist being part of this one. Together Gallery is awesome!

PSU talk

Yesterday I was a guest speaker in Katya Amato's Comics Literature class at Portland State University. I had no idea what to expect, but the students asked me thoughtful questions for the whole hour, so I had quite a fun time. I'm thrilled that there's a college English class devoted to reading and discussing comics.

At one point, I was telling the students about all the piles of toys and different wallpapers I've been drawing lately, so I thought I'd post one of the panels, just in case someone from the class checks my blog.

a sketchbook being held open by the feet of a sleeping cat.

coming soon

This is a sneak peek at the new limited edition poster that Secret Acres is putting out. It should be heading to the printers soon. Then I just need to sign and number them all! The image itself has a lot to do with the new comics I've been working on. I've been really into drawing hundreds of tiny flying ghosts lately.

collaborative comics

Last night I hung out with my friends, Sean Christensen and Amy Kuttab and worked on a collaborative comics project we're doing. We started by each drawing a character and naming them. We each started a story with our character, then passed it to someone else to continue. We found a way to connect the three original pages into one story, and now it's been growing. We have 14 pages or so now. We're going work on it a bit every time we hang out and see how far it goes. Below is a single page featuring NarNar and a character that doesn't have a name yet. Everything is in pencil so far. When we're done, we'll probably divide them up and ink them. I love it when hanging out with good friends becomes an awesome project!

Trojan Moosicorn

My friend Aron Nels Steinke is a student teacher in a 5th grade class at Buckman Elementary School here in Portland. Last Tuesday was a guest speaker. I read my comic, "Norman Eight's Left Arm" to the class, answered tons of questions, then drew a big picture on the dry erase board, which they decided was a "Trojan Moosicorn".

It's been a long time since I've been around elementary aged kids and it was wonderful. The kids were interested, fun, and full of creative energy. I got to look through a big stack of comics pages they've been working on class. It was inspiring to see how they intuitively solved different cartooning problems in interesting ways. I've been thinking about their comics all week and wishing I could look at them again. A good sign for the future of comics!

tiny ghosts and a giant cat

I'm having a nice mellow day working on a new limited edition poster for Secret Acres. Every once in awhile I stop and watch the rain outside. Mortimer's been up to his usual antics, rolling around on my drawing table and trying to get as close as he can to my hand as I work. The tiny ghosts seem drawn to his giant face in the picture above. Conclusion: dynamic personalities attract tiny ghosts.

Sometimes when I'm working, I put my face so close to the page, I end up being surprised by how small I've actually been drawing. It seems pretty big at the time.

It's almost done, I think.

Stumptown aftermath

Sunday at the Stumptown Comics Fest was fun. I talked to so many people that my own voice began to sound alien to me. A girl named Cass showed me her arm. She'd decided to have a drawing from my zine "Imaginary Homework" put on to her arm forever! It is my hope that she will not regret it someday. It was sad to see Barry and Leon of Secret Acres off at the airport after such a great time. Thanks to everyone who spent time at our table and to all the great cartoonists who provided me with inspiring loot.

Stumptown Comics Fest update special

I had a blast with Secret Acres at the Stumptown Comics Fest on Saturday. Now I'm about to have my morning tea and head back for day number two. The Copies of Capacity we're selling at the table are some of the last! We're talking about the second printing while they're in town, but it'll be unavailable for a number of months in the meantime. It's been an inspiring show so far and having Barry and Leon from Secret Acres out here has gotten me charged up to get back to my drawing table and make these new new pages that I can't stop thinking about.

Stumptown Comics fest is this weekend!

I'll be at the Festival all weekend (April 24th and 25th) signing books at the Secret Acres table and talking to whomever happens my way (table 42 to be exact). Come out and say hi if you can! I'll have prints for sale, and Secret Acres will have all kinds of excellent publications to check out. I'll also be taking part in a panel discussion with them from 4 to 4:45 PM on Saturday in the Alaska room. People will ask us things. replies will be made. Find out detailed information at www.stumptowncomics.com

Also, if you're in portland on Friday the 23rd, come out to the Stumptown pre-party at Guapo Comics and Coffee on 6350 SE Foster. There will be a comics reading, awards, things to drink and eat, and cartoonists everywhere. It's also the release party for a number of books that awesome friends of mine have made which I haven't gotten to see yet, and which I cannot wait to have in my hands. I won't be taking part in the comics reading this time but I'll be in the audience eating grapes and holding some kind of beverage.

a pile of toys.

This pile of toys is from a page in my new comic. I don't know when it's going to be done. The scope of the story feels quite beyond me most days. I feel like it's a living thing that I'm trying to document and map but it won't sit still. So I try to sit still instead. When I just sit and work on a single panel, try to make a drawing of a pile of toys just right, or draw the wall paper pattern behind a character, my brain finally relaxes and it suddenly all makes sense. For a moment. I've decided to stop being in a hurry and just enjoy the act of building something inch by inch. When I'm in a hurry, I never find that moment I'm looking for anyways.

Slowing it down

I've been really trying to slow down and just enjoy making comics again. It's been hugely rewarding to be make ends meet by making art, but it can also have a detrimental effect on the passion that drives me to make it. I recently decided to stop selling my work at the Portland Saturday Market, which feels like a scary decision. I've been lugging my work down there and setting up shop for over three years now, and it's been a great experience, but now I feel like I need to retreat and get really focused on my bigger goals as an artist. I want to make books and everything I do that isn't making books, pushes my newest work further into the future.

I'm going to start an etsy site soon where I'll be selling originals, screen prints (like the one above), and whatever else I can come up with to help make my rent each month. I'm planning on attending a lot more comics festivals too. But telling stories with my art is the most challenging and satisfying outlet for me by far, so my long term goal is to someday make a living doing just that. Onwards and upwards!

A day in the life...

High Contrast Review (Print Edition)

My friend Sam Kulla (the same talented fellow that helped me create my website) is co-editing the first issue of what will be an ongoing publication of art, literature, and music with contributors from around the globe (including me). Right now they're fundraising to get the whole thing rolling. You can find out more about the publication and how to help at www.highcontrastreview.com/kickstarter

Heat Vision

According to the Portland Zoo, this is what I would look like to a snake.

Secret Acres Blog!

Secret Acres has launched their blog! http://secretacres.com/blog/ Definitely worth checking out on a regular basis. They're going full force with some excellent new books, out now and coming soon. I'm drawing a new limited edition poster for them at the moment and when they're in Portland for the Stumptown Comics Festival at the end of April, we'll be having our official meeting about my own book that's in the works.

a real liveTea Gnome!

Stefan Gruber (excellent animator, comic artist, and teacher) sent me this photo of a Tea Gnome that his student, Chris Johnson made in is class. It made me feel weird inside (in a good way) to see one of my characters be brought to life like this, and so skillfully too! I've always said that Tea Gnomes are real, and now here is the proof. Thanks for believing, Chris!

back and running

I'm back from an incredible time at ArtFest! Huge thanks to all the folks who took my workshops, hung out and talked with me, and supported my work at vendor night! Thank you Teesha and Tracy Moore for putting on such wonderful and innovative event!

I'm back in my studio working away on several things at once now. Above is a comic page in progress. The next big event for me will be the Stumptown Comics Fest here in Portland, OR!