cartoonist of the day: Mark Gleim
Mark Gleim’s A Simple Apology is good. The drawing, as you can see, could not be simpler, but is deceptively so. But I’m impressed by the sheer number of left turns he manages to put into his strips.
New drawings up at DeviantArt
Last year I took some photos of my son’s Justice League 4.5″ action figures to test out the close-up feature on my digital camera. Then later I did some drawings based on the photos to test out my Wacom tablet. The results of this screwing around may be found here.
sketchbook
click for larger version.
Master cartoonist ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
r_sikoryak is in town visiting and had two notes for my drawing from yesterday — one, I had made the file too small, which was going to complicate printing later, and two, I had made some errors in coloring that it turns out I didn’t have to make. So I thought, well, I had so much fun drawing it the first time, it won’t kill me to draw it again and do it properly. So there you are — a little peek inside the graphic-novel development process.
sketchbook
click for larger version.
Above, the opening panel of a new graphic novel I’ve started working on. Details to come.
Wildlife imitates art
In chapter one of Feeder Birds, squirrels invade the feeder. Cardinal dismisses them as “rats with fuzzy tails.” Later, he drowns one and the other birds attack it and pluck out its eyes.
Imagine my surprise when I looked out my window the other day to find this:
The feeder drawn in the panels above has moved three thousand miles, only to be invaded by actual rats. And while Cardinal is not here to sort them out, the House Finches who frequent the feeder certainly had a thing or two to say about them.
Attention NYC residents
My re-vamped Chapter 1 of my one-fine-day-to-be-completed graphic novel Feeder Birds will be presented at
‘s Carousel this Wednesday evening. The author (me) will be in attendance and providing the voice of Flicker. Details of where and when can be obtained by clicking on the above images. Following the link below will provide the viewer with a 10-second version of the chapter. More images from the massive bird fight that forms the centerpiece of the chapter can be found here.
It’s worth noting that this edition of Carousel is to benefit Doug Skinner, whose studio was flooded a few months ago with much loss to his work and livelihood. Doug is, to put it simply, one of the most talented people I’ve ever met in my life. A true renaissance man, Doug is a gifted songwriter, performance artist, musician, composer, cartoonist, and many other things.
How smart is Doug Skinner? Here’s an illustrative story:
In 1989 or so, I ran into Doug at an evening of performance art. We were both on the bill that night and we had some time to kill during tech rehearsal. I had brought the Village Voice to read. Doug was reading Voltaire. In French. The big story that week was that Steve Martin and Robin Williams were currently starring in a big-deal production of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at Lincoln Center. The scandal of the production was that, in spite of gigantic ticket demand, it was being presented in the 300-seat Mitzi Newhouse Theater. I wondered aloud if the production justified the hype, and Doug mentioned that he had seen it. I remembered that Doug had trod the boards at Lincoln Center for many years as the co-star/co-creator of Bill Irwin’s In Regard of Flight, and that Mr. Irwin was playing Lucky in the current production of Godot. This all explained how Doug got in for the hottest ticket in town, but how did he like the show? I asked him, and he replied, with characteristic underplaying, “Well, it’s not a very good play…“
Johnny Hart 1931-2007
I’m conflicted by the death of Johnny Hart. When I was a kid, B.C. was my favorite strip in the world for a long, long time. I collected the books, read them over and over, compared one to another, mentally charted the development of ideas and themes, thought about how the characters differed and how they acted toward one another, learned to draw all of them. It was a big part of my life for what seems like years.
I had not read the strip in decades when I learned that he had decided to go out of his way to inject his strict fundamentalist Christian views into his work. Strips like this, this, this and this seem unasked for at best and hateful at worst. To start with only the most obvious, how do you explain a bunch of cavemen discussing evolution? Or Jesus? In a strip titled, ahem, B.C.? It’s one thing to write according to your beliefs, but why use an art form (on the funnies page, no less) as a tool to bludgeon Jews, Muslims and, essentially, anyone who isn’t also a fundamentalist Christian? Charles Schulz was a devout Christian and wrote of his beliefs with elegance, charm and great warmth. Not every cartoonist can be a Schulz, and my early life was greatly enriched by Hart’s work, but he ended his career on a decidedly sour note of intolerance. UPDATE: An eloquent appraisal of Hart’s talents can be found here.
Holy week expands to embrace alternative religions
Dinosaur comic makes me laugh! I enjoy laughing, it’s better than sadness!.
Meanwhile, what could be funnier than Dinosaur Comics? Nothing I can think of! Unless maybe it’s panels from Dinosaur Comics presented in a constantly-changing random order!
cartoonist of the day
Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship is one of the funniest, most bizarre and original weekly strips out there. If you are unfamiliar with it, here is your chance to have your mind blown.