A Portrait of a Gentleman

Andrew's little brother Justin wanted me to draw a fancy portrait of him with his dog, Lieutenant Gibson. I finished this in the late summer, and last Saturday we all went to Michael's and picked out a ridiculously fancy custom frame/matte combo. I hope Justin trains a light on it once he hangs it above a fireplace somewhere. Or surrounds it with candles. Something like that.

Dock Ellis

 

These mini-comics tell the story of Dock Ellis, famous for many things, but mostly for pitching a no-hitter on LSD. He has been immortalized before. This was my attempt.

That wide panel is a splash page in the middle of the book. This comic was made last semester in Surabhi Ghosh's class. The assignment was to write a historical comic.

There is no title to this comic. The covers are made of Thai marbled paper and colored rice paper. There's a window cut out of both covers, creating a frame around the lines, "She said, 'What's wrong with you?' He said, 'I'm high as a Georgia pine.'" It's a nice effect because the color of the rice paper matches some of the swirls in the marbled paper, and the look like they blend together a little bit; the rice paper is also slightly transparent, so after you turn the first cover page, you can see the shadows of emergent words.

Dirty Birds

So I'm co-president of the Experimental Film Society this year, as well as Xerox Candy Bar, a zine-publishing student group that I've mentioned before.

We're putting out our first issue for the year next week. This is my submission. I've placed it on the page opposite my friend Nick Jackson's first comic, which is breathtaking, and so I feel pretty lucky about that.

In other news, Pop Serial just made its deadline for funding! Thanks very much, everyone who helped pledge and support. There will be a reading for the coming release (haha coming release) of issue #2 on Friday, November 19th at 8:00 PM at 1622 South Allport St. Apt. #1, which is Sara Drake and Cassandra Troyan's apartment. Sara and I, as well as Ben Bertin and Ingrid Olson, will have artwork up at the reading. So stop by, if you're in town.

Merry Christmas Bike Accident

It must have been a year since I made this run of high-class mini-zines. In my offset printing class, fall 2009, our first assignment was to make a one-color one-off project. I decided to use the opportunity to create a terrible Christmas card.

The last page shows me (this is a true story, about me!) sitting at a table with a bowl of lumpy something, stitches all over my face, eating through a large straw. One word bubble emanating from off-page asks, "is that straw big enough for you, sweetie?" while another, crossing tails with the first, says, "pass the turkey, please." At the bottom of the page is a large message: MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009.

As you can tell if you read the book, this is about the bike accident I had right before Christmas when I was eight years old. I skidded down a hill on my face and it really messed me up and totally ruined the holiday. There's still a chip of cement embedded in my nose. Gruesome closeup:

(Admittedly, slightly hyperbolic. Slightly.) I distributed this along with regular gifts to my friends and fellows last year. Because it was an offset project, I had to do a large run of prints, so I still have about 60ish copies left. I'm thinking of covering up the 2009 part and just giving them out as sick jokes, or selling them as sick jokes for other people to give out.

Pop Serial #2

HEY GUYS, HEY! My friend Stephen Dierks, a poet and writer and small-press publisher, is trying to make the second issue of his art/literature print magazine, Pop Serial, happen. He has the ambitious and wonderful idea to publish Pop Serial #2 as a perfect bound edition, because, in his own words: "I like visually appealing art objects, and hopefully you do, too. Also, I want the magazine to be more durable and nicer to hold and turn its pages." Amen. Stephen has initiated a Kickstarter fund-raising project to make this happen. If you pledge $10 to the perfect-bound cause, you are guaranteed a copy of the magazine, and if you pledge more, then you may receive a variety of additional printed prizes.



Lots of wonderful artists and writers will be in this edition, including yours truly. Now is your chance to own the first officially printed and published copy of any of my work, ever. Jump on it. Also, help a brother out.