I had an great time yesterday working on the collaborative project my brother Matt and I are doing. I wish we had time to work on this more often! He did some test shots of the astronaut from the post below, making him do a zero gravity leap across the screen. Stop-motion animation is like magic to me. I worked on creating interchangeable heads for this goofy old photo of us. I'm the little guy!
I just finished making my very first paper-cut puppet for the collaborative animation project my brother Matt and I are doing together. It took a little while to figure out how to make workable paper joints, but I think it worked out. Now I'm super excited to see what else can be built! I'm riding my bike to his house later today so I can give him the astronaut for some test shots.
Found on sidewalk near park. I wish I could contact the person who lost this because I'd really like to meet someone this small
I've finally got a little shop up and running over on Etsy! Right now there's a few limited edition prints and a nearly out of print art zine for sale. I'll be putting some of my woodcut characters and original art up for sale soon too. Hopefully this will be another step towards supporting myself while working on my crazy new book! www.theoellsworth.etsy.com
There's a new place in Portland called "Float On" that has sensory deprivation tanks. There's been some studies showing that floating in sensory deprivation tanks can improve creativity and mental clarity, so they're doing a project where they let artists float twice for free. After the second float, the artist creates an art piece inspired by their experience. After a hundred artists have done it, they're going to publish a book. I just finished my piece. It's something I vividly saw during my second float. I highly recommend trying this some time, if you've never done it. It's a fascinating experience. It's an amazing way to step outside of your life and spend ninety minutes in a surreal and relaxing state. If you're an artist in Portland, I'd recommend getting in on this project. I'm trying to get all my artist friends to do it so we can take over the book! www.floathq.com
Chris Beckett, Color artist at DC comics, commissioned all the Secret Acres artists to create pieces to a Russian Doll set as a Christmas present for Barry and Leon, the awesome gentlemen that publish my comics.
Leon just sent me this group portrait of all of them together. It was awesome to see what everyone did. It makes me want to do more collaborations with everyone. From left to right: Edie Fake, me, Joseph Lambert, Ken Dahl, Sean Ford, Minty Lewis, Mike Dawson, Sam Gaskin, John Brodowski, and Eamon Espey.
My friend Jesse Reklaw gave me one of his altered action figures. Now I can choreograph epic action sequences when I'm taking a break from drawing! Read Jesse's weekly comic at www.slowwave.com
I've been working on a story that I've been hoping to turn into an ongoing comics series.
Lately, whenever anyone asks me what I've been working on, I end up giving abstract and evasive answers. It's been hard to tell if its actually turning into a real comic or if I've been on a madman's quest. 
The story's been working it's way through a long phase where I've been pretty sure it might be an unreadable mess. Also, the ongoing need for rent and food money has been causing some suspenseful and distracting thoughts. Illustration work and gallery shows have been squeaking me by, but it can be scary.
Trying to bring this story together has been mirroring everything else in my life. I've been trying to live and function in the world in a way that feels responsible, while at the same time attempting to let my imagination run completely wild. It can feel like racing in opposite directions simultaneously.
I've been going to work everyday. My New Years resolution has been to keep regular hours (something I have trouble with) and stay as focused as possible. It's already been paying off.
Just yesterday, I felt like I arrived somewhere new with it. The contents of the first issue are finally starting to gel. I don't want to say too much about it yet. The story has lots of weird Science Fiction, personal Myth, and Fantasy elements to it. I've been trying to access the feeling I used to get reading comics as a kid and remember the kinds of stories I used to make up in my head during that time.
It's also a Ghost Story. For awhile I was calling the comic, "The Quiet Family", but I've gone back to the original title I had for it. The Quiet Family still plays an important roll in the narrative though. There are stories within stories.
There's lots of goofy Horror elements to the story as well. I want this comic to be a vehicle that will allow me to explore anything that fascinates or scares me, while at the same time allowing for in-depth character development and world building.
I feel like I'm in way over my head, but creating something that feels impossible, an inch at a time, is the most satisfying thing that I can think of to do with my art. I'll post more about my progress soon!
Wish me luck!
This is a New Years card I made for the Toonseum in Pittsburgh. www.toonseum.com . It seems like an amazing place. Hopefully I'll get to visit sometime.
I made a few wooden cut out ornaments for family this Christmas, thought I didn't get to make as many as I was hoping to. Next time I want to make tons of them. Shapes for everyone!
I received my copy of the Art Visionary Box Set in the mail a little while ago. It's a gorgeous collection of limited edition prints, art booklets and original art put together by Damian Michaels, who also contributes some amazing work to the set. Other contributors include Alex Grey, Ben Tolman, Wolfgang Grasse, and Tom Mckee.
My own contribution is a signed, limited edition version of my long out of print art zine, Thought Cloud Shrines. I'll be doing more work for Art Visionary magazine soon! www.artvisionary.com
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas! These are some cookies I decorated at my friends Andrice and Jesse's holiday party. They have probably all been eaten by now.
I got really fascinated by the Christmas myth of Krampus, so I had to make a decoration for our tree! Supposedly he originated in Austria. He accompanies Saint Nick on his rounds and scares the kids who have been bad. Apparently there are huge gatherings of people who dress up as Krampus every year. There's even a gathering in Portland, but I missed it. Something about Santa Claus hanging out with a scary monster is really amazing to me. If you google image him, you'll find all kinds of crazy renditions. Save a place for Krampus on your tree!
My solo show at Giant Robot is coming down in a week. There's still some pieces left, including some of my personal favorites: http://www.gr2.net/artshow.php This will probably be the last big gallery show I do for awhile since I'm planning to put more and more of my focus towards comics. Huge thanks to everyone at Giant Robot and everyone who came out to the show and supported my work!
I've been working on my new comic. It's been hard to tell how it's going sometimes, but I'm really excited to be working on it. I don't want to say too much about it yet, but here are some snapshots of a few places that one of my characters has been. More sneak peeks soon!
