FLOG! Entries tagged 'art'

Badges of Past San Diego Comic Cons...

TheJenVaughn

Linda Medley, cartoonist of Castle Waiting and much more, recently shared some old Comic-Con International or San Diego Comic Con badges with us. Above is her FIRST Comic-Con badge. Twelve years later, Medley designed the badge for the 1991 con (below). As you can see Toucan existed even then, pre-blog. This was an extra they gave Linda so no names on it and the official one had a slightly different design printed with METALLIC INK. This is so bad ass.

The 2000 SDCC badge still sported artwork: DINOSAURS by Gahan Wilson (his new book coming out soon)

Badges need only have three things: the name of the show, the year and your name but some amazing art can make the show more memorable! And while I understand the need for currency level standards of 'authenticity' to keep all the photoshop pros from creating fake badges.... c'mon:

Bland. How cool would a drawing with the linework printed in the holographic paper be? It'd probably have the power to BLIND PEOPLE.

Jim Woodring's Oddland Peppercorn Saison Tapping Party!

TheJenVaughn

Come one, come all and bring your ale mugs! Thursday, May 16 is the OFFICIAL ODDLAND RELEASE - BEER AND ART TOUR

Join Fantagraphics and Elysian Brewing in celebrating Oddland Peppercorn Saison - the first beer release in our Oddland Series - a creative venture from the warped minds of Elysian Brewing and Seattle artist, Jim Woodring. Start with an Elysian brewery tour and continue to CoCA Georgetown Gallery for beer, bites and art, including handpicked works from Jim Woodring, who will also be in attendance.

4-5PM - Brewery tours at Elysian Airport Way: 5510 Airport Way S., 98108
5:30-9PM - Art, Beer and Bites at CoCA Gallery Georgetown: 5701 6th Ave. S., 98108

For those who must know more about the beer, Oddland Saison is a Belgian farmhouse-style ale brewed with four varieties of peppercorns: The fire of black and green, the sparkle of white and the pungent fruitiness of pink create a playful landscape of taste and aromatics. Brewed with Pale, Munich, Cara-Munich and wheat malts, bittered with German Northern Brewer and finished with Czech Saaz hops. 7% ABV so don't forget to eat.

The ODDLAND SERIES is a journey through the strange ingredients and imaginations of Elysian brewers and Seattle cartoonist, Jim Woodring. Invite your friends via our Facebook event.

Fan Art

TheJenVaughn

Yeah, dudes, we love fan art. We all know that's why Tumblr exists. But we wanted to highlight a great drawing by Zach Worton (Klondike, D&Q) of Richard Sala's The Chuckling Whatsit: scary and somber, the quiet before the storm. This art is part of a 'super-villains' fundraising auction, with proceeds going to the towards the Doug Wright Awards.

SPEAKING of up for sale, Johnny Ryan has some super cheap work up including an homage to the Simpsons.

So buy some fan art today and fill that empty space on your wall with some nice original artwork!

Chuck Forsman Original Art for sale

TheJenVaughn

Come one, come all! It's time to spend those tax refunds on something good like some original art from Charles Forsman. You may have first seen his art in the Mome anthology from Fantagraphics but Forsman is a prolific cartoonist with many, many mini-comics under his belt. Above is a page from Snake Oil #6, below from a story in Mome, clocking in just at $100. Get a page or two now before Forsman's two books, The End of the Fucking World and Celebrated Summer come out later this year (and the prices on this type of artwork skyrocket!).

Steven Weissman in The Stranger

TheJenVaughn

Most Seattlelites recognize the cartoons of Steven Weissman since he's been drawing I, Anonymous for the Seattle Stranger for quite awhile. In this weekly letter column, he pens the diatribes of the angry, bitter, self-loathing and oblivious. Last month's was a favorite of mine, a huge fan of the C-word, handled with the utmost care (see above). Weissman's love of duotone, gray shading and dot-matrix-heavy shading makes his drawings perfect for print and they look hella fine on the web too. Weissman was sweet enough to answer some questions about how he approaches the weekly illustrations.

Q: Do the letters appear on your doorstep in a huge sack just steeped in vitriol?

A: [Art Director] Aaron Huffman sends me a letter sometime between Wednesday and Friday each week after Stranger associate editor David Schmader or some shadowy 'they' pick the letters.

Q: What is your process like for a weekly drawing based on someone else's ideas?

A: I've usually scanned the letter once by Friday. I'll print it out on Sunday night, underline key phrases and make a couple of sketches. By Monday morning, I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm drawing.

Sometimes the Seattle-specific letters can be puzzling (I'm in Los Angeles), but I can only think of one where I was completely stumped, and all I remember about that one is my solution being some guy eating a toaster waffle.

Q: Have you ever been contacted by the people who wrote the letters or the ones who figured out they were the subject?

A: I've sold drawings to people related to the letters before. They make great gifts for friends recovering from messy breakups (35% of I, Anonymous letters are breakups). Original art is also a great way to say "I'm sorry I gave you V.D."

What a Weiss-ass! More of those illustrations are available for sale via Weissman's Pinterest board as are his books, Barack Hussein Obama, Chocolate Cheeks, Chewing Gum in Church.

Ivan Brunetti Comic Page for Sale

TheJenVaughn

Every great once in awhile, like a giant locust swarm happening on the same calendar day as a solar eclipse, Ivan Brunetti offers a page of original art for sale. This time it is the page below (detail above) from The New Yorker, the December 21, 2009 issue.

All proceeds will go toward the printing of a small print run of issue 4 of the Linework anthology, a kick-ass project Brunetti helps his students and former students put together. For more work, see Ho! The Morally Questionable Cartoons of Ivan Brunetti.

The ODDLAND series, new Elysian beers inspired by Jim Woodring

TheJenVaughn

The Peppercorn Saison is the first of many beers in the newest collaboration between a Fantagraphics cartoonist, Jim Woodring this time, and Elysian Brewing Company, who created the 12 Beers of the Apocalypse based on Charles Burns' Black Hole art last year. The Oddland series will feature gorgeous full-color labels with a hint of bright, shimmering foil and artwork based on the ingredients. From the Elysian press release: "Head Brewer Dick Cantwell and his brainstormy gang get an idea; they run it by Woodring, who sketches his two cents' worth and sends it on back; then the recipe is tweaked, the ingredients secured, suggestions made as to visual format, and away we all go, to Oddland." Weird ingredients are once more very much the order of the day--black, green, white and pink peppercorns for the first go, pears, cumin and cardamom for the second, and who knows what for the third--focused, inverted, enlarged and then made small again through the Woodring lens. The labels will both disturb and amuse you; the beers intrigue, refresh and engage you. The Oddland Peppercorn Saison will hit stores in 22-ounce bottles, restaurants and bars on draft and Elysian's own taps around May 15 of this year. You can drink it down at home even while reading Weathercraft, Congress of the Animals or the soon-to-be-released, Fran. Keep your eyes peeled and throats thirsty for a fun keg-tapping event featuring the Oddland ring-and-inkmasters, Jim Woodring.

Ron Reg�, Jr. Cartoon Utopia Original Artwork On Sale Now!

janice

Earlier this month, the great Ron Regé, Jr. taught an amazing week-long class at SAW, the Sequential Artists Workshop, in Gainesville, Florida, followed by an art show at the F.L.A. Gallery.

Well, for those of us who don't live in Florida, artwork from Ron's show is now available online! There's everything from collages, pen-and-paper drawings, and even original artwork from his magnum-opus The Cartoon Utopia! Everything is one-of-a-kind, so go snap up your favorite before someone else does!

Jaime prints available at CBLDF

TheJenVaughn

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund continues to bless objects with Jaime Hernandez's artwork. They have taken his Libby image from the Membership Card seen below (and shirts and hoodies) to make gorgeous limited edition prints. Utilizing the press at Aardvark Letterpress and help from CBLDF Member Store The Secret Headquarters in LA this 11 x 14 inch print is available to people pledging at the DEFENDER Level ($250) and higher.

Here Jaime is approving the design by cartoonist Malachi Ward to accompany his own artwork. Deputy Director Alex Cox states, "Mr. Hernandez was involved in the design process, and as you can see, an enormous amount of love and care went into to getting these prints just right." Visit their site to see how the prints turned out, here's a hint: GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLDDD.

CBLDF Membership Card:

Jodelle Door

TheJenVaughn

As a recent thank you to Publisher Kim Thompson and editor Kristy Valenti (and more) for moving offices, I hatched up a scheme to paint the library door in our basement. If you haven't visited the Fantagraphics office recently, the lovely 70s shag carpet was ripped up awhile ago leaving the basement aesthetics a bit similar to that of a cattle kill floor. NO LONGER!

Inspired by Guy Peellaert's smashingly neon art in Jodelle, Office Manager Steph Rivers and I pulled out the carbon paper to adapt the drawing to our door. Also called graphite paper and available at art or architecture stores, it is an invaluable tool for mural making or large scale painting projects.

And then we let the Vitamin-C-infused paint hit the door. Now our library door matches the library door in Jodelle! Steph on the left as I sneakily took a photo.

The finished product may have worked too well. Now everyone at the office wants a new door. Maybe a Graham Chaffee one or Johnny Ryan....

Now time to paint all the book spines to match the ones in this library. Mwuhahahaha!

Jeremy Eaton's Jumbles Keep Coming

TheJenVaughn

Fantagraphics' veteran Jeremy Eaton continues to draw his mashup characters or Jumbles since his show last fall in Seattle. Luba and Olive Oyl is one of our favorites, good thing that iconic Luba hammer exists for the sake of Olive Oyl's shoes (created by Gilbert Hernandez and E.C. Segar respectively). Jeremy's posted more than a few of his 'jumbles' online so check it out today! And try to name all the characters jumbled together below.

CBLDF 2013 features Jaime Jaime Jaime

TheJenVaughn

Here's a preview of the sassy Libby aka Lady Liberty as drawn by THE Jaime Hernandez for the 2013 Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's card. And they must have answered my prayers because I've been wanting a new baseball tee for a long time. I'll let Deputy Director Alex Cox tell you more below:

Legendary cartoonist Jaime Hernandez rings in 2013 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund by providing the art for this year's membership program! CBLDF protects the freedom to read comics by providing legal aid, resources, and education in the service of protecting the comics medium's First Amendment rights. Members provide the monetary foundation CBLDF needs to protect perform that important work, and this year every member is being rewarded with a membership card designed by Hernandez. Members who can afford to join at higher levels will also be able to receive exclusive items featuring Hernandez's striking art, including a member exclusive t-shirt, a limited letterpress print, and more!

Jaime Hernandez is best known as the co-creator (with brothers Gilbert and Mario) of the of the epoch defining masterpiece Love & Rockets. His characters Maggie and Hopey among the most iconic characters in the history of independent comics. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of LOVE AND ROCKETS' debut, and the CBLDF is proud to have Mr. Hernandez's insightful take on Lady Liberty as the mascot for our 2013 membership program. When discussing helping the CBLDF, by creating this extraordinary piece of art, Mr. Hernandez stated simply, "It's pretty much a no brainer. We need the CBLDF."

This year we're asking everyone who supports the freedom to read comics to become an intellectual freedom fighter and join the CBLDF! As a member, you will be an active part of the field's most proactive advocacy group, and ensure that our important work protecting the right to read, create, own, and sell comics can continue to grow. Your support will help advance our important legal and education work from courtrooms to classrooms and beyond. Your membership contribution makes you an essential part of the team that helps protect and advance the rights of this incredible art form.

All members will receive the 2013 membership card by Hernandez. When you join at the $100 Advocate Level, you will receive an exclusive long sleeve t-shirt, available only to members, as well as button pack and sticker set! This shirt features the gorgeous Jaime Hernadez line art, and will only be available to members who join the CBLDF in 2013! Other levels offer other incentives, including a limited edition signed and numbered letterpress art print, and CBLDF branded items including sports bottles, hooded sweatshirts, and embroidered polo shirts. All of these premiums thank our members for their generosity, and let them show that they're a proud member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund team, who are always ready to stand up for the freedom to read comics!

To view all of the membership levels and learn more about CBLDF's important work, please visit: http://cbldf.myshopify.com/collections/memberships

So get involved and get some hot Jaime merchandise! We'll keep our eyes peeled for a Jaime-CBLDF inspired tattoo.

Esther Pearl Watson show in TEXAS

TheJenVaughn

While trampsing around the suburbs and backwaters of Texas, I happened to find the majestic Webb Gallery in Waxahachie for there lay a treasure trove of Esther Pearl Watson paintings. With fading painted trim in still vibrant oranges and teals matched with iron statues and odd toys from people long since dead, it reminds you of an open range and that mix of culture which is a side-step from Southwestern.

Watson's paintings, unlike her Unlovable comics Fantagraphis printed, are deeply personal and autographical. As the daughter of the local color, Watson watched her father build several large-scale UFOs. Out on the lawn.

Bitter-sweet nostaglic scenes in dirty brown skies and abandoned women's clinics, Watson paints a darker time in her childhood. But that ever-hovering presence, the idea of 'what-if', the UFO. (They Might Be Giants might have called it her 'hovering sombrero')

Compared to Watson's Unloveable, which also runs in Bust Magazine, the unapolagetic Tammy Pierce is nearly the opposite of these quiet moments with tension bubbling under the surface. Each canvas, most of them wooden, are akin to a diary page created in paint, dirt and the occasional glitter patch instead of words. Notes are scribbled in the corners of most of the paintings to enhance or detail the scene. Often a new town, a new landscape to explore.

Details of the paintings. They practically vibrate.

So all these gorgeous paintings hang on the high-ceilinged walls of the Webb Gallery amongst their antique carnival posters, including Coney Island originals. The perfect place for the painted recollections of hazy memories. Something almost most too incredible to believe.

The Webb Gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-5 or by appointment, (972) 938-8085. A quick 30 minute drive from downtown Dallas or 2 hours up from Austin, be sure to see it! 209 West Franklin Street Waxahachie, TX 75165. The current exhibition by Esther Pearl Watson will be up through January 20th, 2013.

For more pictures of the show or to purchase see Esther Pearl Watson's website.

Holiday Hauntings by Josh Simmons

TheJenVaughn

Looking for that special something to give to special someone you love? (In my case, that would be me.) Order a commission directly from an artist! Josh Simmons of The Furry Trap, House and Jessica Farm is one of the many artists offering his service to you. Simmons said he is very flexible and can tailor things to peoples' budget, or something like the Witch-King of the Nazgul painting above is the most time-consuming, would go for the highest price. When I asked if the highest price was money, the soul or a bucket of blood, he agreed any of the three would do. Horrifying.

But like most cartoonists, artists, people of note, Simmons can create for children too! So for the parent who wants an original drawing but needs G-rated content, Simmons has a sweet side too. Well, it's still spooky.

Dash Shaw to shine at 2013 Sundance Film Festival

TheJenVaughn

Cartoonist, animator and story teller Dash Shaw's animated music video for band Sigur Ros entitled "Seraph" will be shown at next year's Sundance Film Festival. This six and half minute film will appear in the animated short section of the festival. For those of you not attending, feel free to watch it here from home in your jam-jams.

Shaw's book graphic novel and comic New School and 3 New Stories are scheduled to come out next March.

Esther Pearl Watson in Person and in Paintings down in Texas

TheJenVaughn

November 18th - Waxahachie, TX. HIDDEN BEHIND THE STARS featuring the artwork of Esther Pearl Watson opens up this Sunday on the plains of Texas at Webb Gallery. From 3-7pm on Sunday November 18th, you can rock out with music by Quintron and Miss Pussycat while gazing at amazing paintings by Ester. At 7pm, see a premiere screening of Quintron and Miss Pussycat's new movie "The Mystery in Old Bathbath."

Esther Pearl Watson is one of Webb Galleries favorites. Her work is fantastical, beautiful, witty, colorful, dark and autobiographical all at the same time. Many of the works depict her childhood, of growing up with a father obsessed with the idea he could build a flying saucer and sell it to NASA or Ross Perot. Her newest body of work addresses perception and legibility of painting with the addition of surface texture and sculptural elements such as starry fabrics and sculpted meteorites. She grew up in the DFW metro-plex, but currently resides outside of Los Angeles.

Esther Pearl Watson earned her MFA at California Institute of the Arts in 2012 and a BFA at Art Center College of Design. Her work has been exhibited at Nancy Margolis Gallery, Billy Shire Fine Arts, Lesher Center for the Arts and Oakland Museum of California. This is her first exhibit following her Masters Graduation from CalArts.

In addition to paintings, Esther will also have copies of her two Fantagraphics graphic novels, Unlovable, loosely based on a teenager’s diary from the 1980s found in a gas-station bathroom. Tammy Pierce is one of the most unfortunate teens and unabashed malcontents on the other side of the 80s. Serialized in the back of Bust Magazine, Watson has an incredible talent for humor in frantic, scrawled drawings. Adding paint and gouache to the mix just make everything cuter. Hope ya'll can come out! (my apologies to other non-ya'lling Texans).

Webb Gallery - downtown Waxahachie, Texas
209 W. Franklin
972.938.8085
www.webbartgallery.com

Richard Sala's Autumn and Evil

TheJenVaughn

Children reveling in piles of leaves, the sharp intake of breath with the brisk morning chill. Just the other day, I was gazing out the window at the prismatic display of fall, we love the colors and splendor even though it represents the slow annual death of our tree friends. But thank god for that because Richard Sala is creating some gorgeous new work inspired by this time of the year.

"Autumn and Evil" is a alphabetic collection of 26 drawings (if you go by the English Human alphabet) Sala is gradually posting on his blog. Drawings for letters A-I have gone up so far. It's hard not to love his dirty denim color-palette, asymetrical demon faces and ladies who rock thighs of size. Gargoyles and Forgotten Ones lurk above and below. A fan of 'J' myself, I hope to see a Jersey Devil next!

Consider all this Sala's lead up to his next book from Fantagraphics, DELPHINE, which is slated to be thrilling and chilling readers in bookstores this February. Can't wait? Order a copy of The Hidden for a frightful Halloween.

Millennium Boy Action Figure!

LarryR

Artist Dan Schultz dropped by Fantagraphics Bookstore store last week anxiously awaiting the arrival of Dungeon Quest Book 3 by Joe Daly. (Soon, Dan. Soon.) While discussing his enthusiasm for the comic, he conjures up a picture of his amazing Millennium Boy action figure fashioned from plastic. Then he pulls up an equally awesome array of original pop art. Remarkable. Really. Keep an eye out for this guy.

Seasons Greetings from Santa Graphics

LarryR

Fantagraphics friend Csaba Mester checks in with "Beardo" — a suitable mascot for seasonal merriment.

SKID ROAD TO FLOATING WORLD

jmiles

A curated selection of Seattle’s finest contemporary drawing.
Remarkably, artists were selected by the unjaundiced eye and not chosen because of their reputation in either the fine art or cartoon art world, ahem.
Artwork was chosen by proximity, spiritual connection and contribution to the Northwest Tradition as pioneered by the likes of Morris Graves, Mark Toby, Peter Bagge and Jim Woodring.
Remarkably (yes, again), the artwork featured in SKID ROAD TO FLOATING WORLD is a mixed miasma of drone drawing, figure drawing, pattern cartooning, metamorphic automatism, cartography, illustration, totem drawing and good ole rain soaked mysticism. We will also have advance copies of Jim Woodring’s new graphic novel, CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS, available for sale. We will also have advance copies of Jim Woodring’s new graphic novel, CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS, available for sale.

LISTING INFORMATION:

WHO: Skid Road art collective, artists in attendance TBDWHAT: Art exhibit & book release for Jim Woodring’s CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALSWHEN: Thursday, June 2nd, 6-10pmWHERE: FLOATING WORLD COMICS 20 NW 5th Ave #101Portland, OR 97209(503)241-0227
Artwork on display until June 30th.
Participating Artists:
Ajax Wood StormBlair WilsonCM RuizEroyn FranklinJason T. MilesJesse Paul MillerJim WoodringKelly FrohMartine WorkmanMax ClotfelterScott DavisStacy RozichStefan GruberTim Miller
Curated by Jason T. Miles