Recap: Academic Year Highpoints + Postscripts

As of late there has been many moments of small wonders and opportunities to look back over the academic year from a far-enough-away perspective that all the speed bumps and frost heaves disappear. One of which was donning a cap and gown for the first time ever in my academic career and participating in a formal commencement ceremony. Decades as an adjunct meant not serving on any committees, and the extent of my interaction with art majors was usually just at the Beginning Drawing level, and thereafter seeing their thesis show. Now I get to be in a more engaged and supportive role and remain a part of the process as they take addition upper-level courses and I can sit on their respective committees as a full-time faculty member. And the rebellious self-righteous hippy who dropped out of highschool is a wee bit more assimilated now as far as meeting institutional expectations, and realizing that it's not a damn bit about me. It is a good feeling to be so proud of other's accomplishments, and acknowledging their artistic efforts. Maybe, just maybe, I even finally graduated myself.

Speaking of amazing events, there were several standout samples of student achievements. I have an open studio door policy, and when former students walks through to do a show & tell of recent work it always makes not just my day/week/month/semester, but inspires everybody else who is working away on their own respective efforts. Follow below after the jump break for more...

Blackboard Wisdom: Semester Recap

One of the best ways to start a day is to open the door of the drawing studio and see some anonymous doodles left behind upon what I can only guess is the last remaining blackboard on campus. Most "smart classrooms" have long since evolved with dry-erase paneling and/or digital projections of virtual blackboards. But this is entirely in line with my presumably also being the last professor using those iconic little green grading books.

There was also a recent day when I was introducing Beginning Drawing folks to the usual unit on figure drawing, and all my demos just crashed and burned, as in nothing was working out, and I was having the quintessential "bad art day."  

Rather than be overly embarrassed it served as a meta-lesson in both perseverance and tacit acknowledgement that shit happens, and it's far better to be open and honest about what happens to everyone, even to the best of us. That might be a reason why there some instructors that either/or don't ever do public demonstrations so as to avoid potential displays of failure. Be that as it may, I resorted back to my comfort zone, ie what works fastest and bestest: “Whattaya wanna be: Beaver? Moose? Bear?” “Bear” “Polar, Grizzly, or Black?” “Dealer’s choice” "Done."

My favorite exchange occurred whilst working again from models in the morning Beginning Drawing classes, and while sitting one-on-one with a few students through a 5-minute gesture and after talking them through the process from building up loose, simple underlying shapes, slowly dialing it in & refining a basic contour line before dropping in some value etc. I then asked:

"And what did we learn from this demonstration?"
"Just keep scribbling until it looks like something”

"no lies detected"

Woman Inkers

A recent post in a private FB group about comics (formally Cartoonist Kayfabe Ringside Seats – incidentally the only forum I still read as a member as they don’t put up with the usual shit by tiresome trolls that infect 90% of comic fan groups), makes a subtle point with a self-own about the pervasive nature of misogyny in the industry, and by extension the patriarchal systems in society in general. Fifty-three comments and the overlooked irony being how many women chimed in (hint: none). But whenever you point a finger there are three pointing back: speaking personally, self-reflection and awareness is a real challenge – it can be humbling if not painful. And there’s no better example of this in action than an insight after last year’s inaugural Pen & Ink studio art course I taught.

A couple random posts (images above) triggered some critical commentary in that there’s something missing in this lineup. It recalls the monumental shift brought about in part by postmodernism whereas before, if you read most art history books, you wouldn’t be wrong to walk away with the impression that, well, guess women just don’t make art. Same selective gatekeeping seen in ComicsGate, GamerGate et al; the whining from the old guard is the last vocal gasp of a changing paradigm. But almost at the very end of the semester to my chagrin I realized that I was guilty of the same omission: every single artist spotlit for examples of various techniques (stippling, cross-hatching, spot blacks etc) was male, and overwhelmingly caucasion.

Jackie Ormes (link)

A while back I did another search of "Top" lists, and here's the receipts: The top list in 2018 from Comic Book Resources 2018: Top 100 Comic Book Writers and Artists Master List from Comic Book Resources has only one woman writer represented out of fifty, and one woman artist out of  a field of fifty men; Atlas Comics' 100 Greatest American Comic Book Artists has zero women; The 25 greatest comic book artists from the last 25 years (2019) according to SyFy.com, has three women outta one hundred; Also three women out of one-hundred for The Comic Journal's Top 100 Comics of the 20th Century; one out of the 100 Greatest Comic Books - Comic Book Runs - Single Issue Comics & Graphic Novels of All Time from When It Was Cool; and lastly, Comic Vine's GameSpot has two on a top one-hundred. I mean come on… it’s just embarrassing. Theatre, music, poetry, literature, and hell, bad as it still is, even Fine Art is far, far better. It’s one thing to ignore half of the population as a potential market, but the moronic content takes it to another, even lower, level.

Pen + Ink/Examples: Bernie Wrightson, Maurice Sendak , Bill Waterson, Walt Kelly, Jack “King” Kirby, Jeff Smith, Edward Gorey, Frank Frazetta, Jim Woodring, Ed Koren, Mike Mignola , Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, Frank Miller, Ralph Steadman, Winsor McCay, Joe Sacco, Alootook Ipellie, and B. Kliban of course. 

Now, to clarify, each and every one of these artists is certainly more than qualified to serve as examples of pen + ink texture techniques, but collectively it sends another subliminal message of exclusion. So a new show & tell came about, featuring these creators who have works culled from the rolling cart of comics that is set up in every Beginning Drawing (and Cartoon & Comic Arts natch) class that I teach. *update: Tessa Hulls has her own little slide-show now btw.

Updated roster: Alison Bechdel, Amanda Conner, Emil Ferris, Fiona Staples, Sana Takeda, Marjane Satrapi, Wendy Pini, and a creator that I recently got turned onto, Howard Cruse.

I’m happy to say the physical buffet I set has been steadily inching towards a far better balance of creators – I just hadn’t yet gotten around to consciously focusing on making show & tells specifically highlighting women inkers. I got to show right off the bat the new set of slides for the second time around teaching the class. Oh noes, hope this never reaches the attention of Charlie Kirk’s infamous fascistic organization of censorship and intimidation, because this some woke shit, in the traditional, actual sense. 

PS: Here's a couple of groups that are good resources well worth some solid support: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (and accompanying title) + Prism Comics.

Recap: Cartoon & Comic Arts 2024

In an earlier post I highlit the UAF campus newspaper publishing a piece about the Cartoon & Comic Arts course inaugural class for the first time ever offered during a regular semester (as opposed to the twelve years during the summer). This was half a year after the interview, but I easily doubled that time delay by just now finally getting around to a recap post – uploading this only a few days away from the Fall semester restarting, and kicking off a radically revamped syllabi + schedule.

Sydney

This, thee second time ART F220 + ART F420 was being offered during a "normal" timeframe (two nights per week, 2.5 hours per class) it went into waitlisted status I think after only a few days of general registration. Degree-seeking (art) majors get first dibs, and there is a section of the course specifically geared towards satisfying the requisite upper-level credits that they need to accumulate.

Hailey

The majority of the students are not, however, and that’s partly the reasoning behind offering it in the evenings, so as to attract folks who are not traditional students. Usually a healthy percentage of the class comes from outside the department, the college, and even the university. There is a vibrant community of like-minded individuals all hiding in the Alaskan wilderness, and if you shake the bushes, not only do you get blueberries and cranberries, but many a fellow aficionado and partaker of craft will roll about the tundra. *Join me after the jump for more...

Pastel Demos

"Basquiat Bears" 18x12" pastel

As of late, it seems that the less I care, the more fun I’ve been having with these demos. And by “not caring” I mean ignoring the fear, bypassing that little voice inside that says “you suck,” which doesn’t mean stop learning, stop trying to improve, but don’t be shy about putting up a signpost by which to measure your progress. Another way of saying it is “first make it exist, then make it better.”

First time in looong time trying to use oil pastels (+ colored chalk, and mix-media w/wash, marker) and experimenting on black paper and also charcoal + pastel papers. These were largely from some donated supplies, playing in different media than I used to, so some fun & unexpected results. Like most artists who sometimes eventually plateau, I tend to “stay in my (art) lane” which can eventually turn into “stuck in a rut.” Picking up and playing with new toys, and staying humble – if not outright amused by your own attempts - is the meta lesson learned from years of observation + personal experience.

"Moosehead demo" 11x17" oil pastel

Have always loved pastels by other people, and it seems every year there’s at least one rising star art major in our department that creates stunning work with them, so I get to cheer students on when they go where I can’t lead – or even follow. As a medium I absolutely hate using them, one practical reason being I’m so damn ham-handed I inevitably bust up every one after a few minutes of use.

"Demo Salmon" 11x17" oil pastel

Another is I simply know for a fact that I haven’t spent any time developing my skills with them. As is the case with every single thing you pick up in the studio, you’ll need to practice. A lot, if you want to get any better at it. And teachers in general are somewhat comparatively constrained by the volume of work they have to do when school is in session. It’s a matter of routine now that I will feel the frustration at having to stop/suspend working on my own stuff, and instead take the time and energy to critique, advise, demonstrate, and any number of other departmental and professorial tasks. Note: Worth it, and damn lucky to have such opportunities.

Office door notes

And I deal with that observable, demonstratable fact almost every day with students in the classroom, anxiously gripping their pencils or pens or charcoal and tackling exercises, assignments and critique pieces. I am competing with a wide range of other priorities; life in general (eating, working, relationships, taking time off and spending it on entertainment, reading, recreational activities etc.) + other classwork. It’s why I relate more to Beginning students than anyone, as I face the very same inner critic, nomatter how long I’ve been doing it. And at the other extreme, seeing professional artists hit that plateau and never color outside their lines again, once they’ve reached their respective pinnacles. And to be honest, fucking up in front of people comes with the territory too.

"Muzzle Nuzzle" museum demo w/Sharpie + Watercolor

And as has been mentioned many a time before on this blog, if they can’t learn from my example as to how to do a good job, then they’ll get to learn from my mistakes. And those are the equally valuable lessons: showing how important it is to not take yourself so seriously, to fail, and remember to keep playing anyways. The discipline and practice is the same with sports, sans teamwork (though the support network of encouragement from peers is invaluable).

Sméagol

Center for Cartoon Studies: Gag Workshop Summer 2025

Just returned from taking a week-long workshop on gag comics under Hilary Price (creator of the syndicated cartoon “Rhymes With Orange” since 1995) at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. It had been nineteen years since I was there last, when it was Harry Bliss who taught a class on single-panel comics. Proving once again the meta-lesson in that you ought to remain teachable, and you're never to old to go back to school, and that taking classes is always humbling when you realize just how little you know. It was a perfect balance between professional development as a teacher, especially one that teaches comics, and inspirational insights into my own personal creative process over on the other side of the drawing board as a publishing cartoonist. There was a great mix of personalities and varying skill-sets within our group, with a wide range of ages and experience all brought to bear on an intensive, immersive five-day deep dive into one of the most foundational aspects of sequential art.

Both buildings of the campus are located right on main street downtown in the historic village, and our classroom was in the former post office building. One particular highlight was getting to do research for our homework right next door in the Schulz Library, which was a mecca for us comic nerds to geek out on. There was a daily, sometimes hourly rhythm to the course, each day consisting of a constant stream of warmups, lectures, exercises, breaks, group/collaborative exercises, jams, writing/conceptual exercises, more warm-ups, etc. (repeat). The collective synergy from all eight of the students was fantastic, plus we had a teacher's aide who was a current second-year student at the school, and his contributions and artwork was excellent. We hung out together in varying small groups over lunches and dinners, getting to know the story behind everybody, and made some wonderful new friends & colleagues.

Hilary Price is four-time winner of Best Newspaper Panel Cartoon by the National Cartoonists Society + Cartoonist of the Year in August 2024, with her feature appearing syndicated in over a hundred newspapers. I was in awe of how much energy, output and passion for not just the medium, but also for teaching others about cartooning, was so inspiring on both a professional + personal level. Emphasis was on many components in the creative process like hand-lettering, and how the deliberate arrangement of visual elements in the composition - both image and text - are in fact “sequential” insofar as how we perceive/interpret the cartoon. Hearing someone of such stature further re-legitimizing this particular medium was so gratifying and empowering, as sometimes this single-panel sub-category gets lost amidst the ascendancy of the lofty graphic novel. Another fantastic aspect to this institution is the variety of different genres students can explore, as there was a horror workshop running concurrently with ours. The Center even has a manifesto free to download (here) called "The World is Made of Cheese," which literally illustrates the center's MO.

Price (who considers herself “a writer who draws” rather than “an artist who writes.”) was the perfect instructor at the right time in both my life and career. It was revealing to experience such a course from a student perspective, and if maybe a third of the lessons were familiar exercises or assignments that I use in my own courses, she totally customized them and taught them in completely different ways, some of which I shall dutifully emulate to improve my teaching the same material. Doing essentially double-duty by taking notes on how-to-teach plus doing the assigned work, I wrote and drew so much so fast my hand cramped a couple times – that’s really rare. She was such an exceptionally attentive teacher, very inclusive, supportive and engaging. Since her emphasis was on the generation of ideas, it was ideal to focus on the conceptual underpinnings ie words first, then drawings. We progressed through character development, then plotted punchlines stressing "process over product" ("Amplify - Simplify"), setting + design, some collaborative exercise, "crosstraining" in longer formats like strips and other multi-panels, and constant group reviews of all the work we did during the workshop. An omnipresent timer was used for everything, so as to bypass the inner critic and short-circuit the impulse to over-analyze. A few lessons were in part drawn from Ivan Brunetti and Lynda Barry, each of which are "textbooks" in my own classroom, and another suite of recommended titles have already been ordered. We spent a lot of time exploring various techniques in brainstorming tropes and visual cliches, and the pacing + placement of punchlines with repeated emphasis on how "it's not the joke - it's the getting the joke."

Another highlight of the week was on the morning before the last class when I was last on the list for having a 20-minute one-on-one review/critique with the teacher, whereupon I proceeded to split that time into two 10-minute sections: the first was an attempt at encapsulating my experience of the entire workshop in the context of a cartooning teacher. The second was an overview of a mini-portfolio, from the perspective of the recent NCS rejection (which I'm over btw, and now back at the "self-made rugged artist" thing hand-carving cartoons borne out of the "independent arctic work ethic") (grrr) (snort), and most importantly, showing how the aesthetic effect both her work and that of Peter Gallagher's "Heathcliff" has been in directly influencing my recent stylistic shift. This was true for both the coloring approach/palette overhaul, and now also in the revamped gag-writing aspect. I can't wait to see the growth of even more low-hanging fruit and to in turn share the creative juices with this fall semester's group and future classroom gigs. One irony is that in all of the differing assignments & critiques the weakest and hardest one by far for me personally has always been introducing the single-panel/gag cartoon in my own classes. Now it with be the tentpole for the whole semester.

Yeah I went into total fanboy mode over a special guest cartoonist Suzy Becker (1990's “All I Need to Know I learned From My Cat”): she gave a show & tell of her work + process to our class one morning. Exposure to so many cartoonists during this workshop reminded me of how the relative geographic isolation of living in the middle of Alaska tends to make one even more ingrown than a lot of "normal" artists, and that I really need to get out more. Meeting and listening and talking to both of these artists, each a consummate professional in the field, taught me to add yet another re-evaluation of my own personal work, in that of my entrenched tendency to overwork my panels. It's a good thing that I only have to do a weekly feature, because if I had to do a daily for syndication, I'd never leave the damn cabin. The process, belabored here on Ink & Snow for years, of doodling, then sketchbooking, then penciling>inking>scanning + digital and watercoloring, is resulting in cartoons that many times illustrate perfectly the industry mantra that "a good joke will sell a bad drawing." Unfortunately my parallel career as an art teacher who constantly insists on criteria such as enhancing depth in the composition by using fore/mid/background elements and obsessive attention to linear perspective etc. I love to draw, and absolutely enjoy incorporating all the tricks of the trade that are quite simply just not necessary when making a cartoon. As per usual I'll over-correct on the mental highwire in both directions, going back and forth between extremes multiple times, before finding the correct balance.

This last image is an example of a homework assignment where we were tasked to use an everyday regular object/nearby scenario as a photo reference to incorporate into panel. My hotel room was right down the hall from an ice-machine, and since this transplanted barbarian from the north was suffering from a comparative 90° heatwave (w/60% humidity), it personally resonated with me. On a closing note, maintaining the momentum after a sorely needed reboot has rekindled the daily ritual of putting pen to paper… One final lesson on how everything is fodder and fuel, and anything can be a canvas, even a sick-sack.

In closing, an all-around immersive and powerful experience on many different levels: the Center for Cartoon Studies is an outstanding place full of wonderful folks that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to other aspiring talents, at any stage in their career. After a pilgrimage to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, I aim to return to Vermont for some more serious, scholarly study into cartooning.

"AK Body Positivity" + Bonus Demos

This cartoon panel was done as an inking demo for the cartooning class, while we were working on out second critique pieces: four gags + two editorial panels. I think I penciled & inked it in under twenty minutes, which must be a new land-speed record, though coloring (both digital + watercolor versions) took another hour. I admit that I pushed myself to knock out the print version within a day of doing the demo. After all, when leading by example one has gotta continually prove that you can walk the talk when it comes to meeting deadlines. "It's called artWORK!"

And yep, this is yet another example of the reoccurring walrus motif that will take some time to get out of my system after Demo Day 2024. I was also advised I might want to give the portly pinniped a distinctive goatee.
In other words, I am the walrus.

Bonus Meta: While sketching this demo (posted below) during a drawing class field trip up at the the UAF Museum of the North, some tourists were up in the "Thinking Made Visible" exhibition where a looped video of me drawing the same bear froze, and when they went to complain at the desk, they just pointed them down the hall to where I was doing it live. Same bear. Same hat. Just to mess with the guy I froze in the middle of my demo.

But seriously, right after that amusing incident, the nicest thing to happen to me all year occurred after meeting one last time with the students at the end of the day's session for a quick sketchbook review. I was still sitting at my table in the lobby working up these sketches, an elderly woman from New Orleans came over and told me that she couldn't help but notice how kind and attentive I am to my students. Since I routinely worry about how I could have done so much better when first starting out teaching, which in turn lingers into the occasional imposter syndrome, that was so incredibly validating and humbling to hear from a total stranger. It made my day. Whole semester in fact.

Another sweet spot about this particular panel is how it appeared in the middle of a series of other pieces, making for a memorable day of making art. It started out in the morning Beginning class with 20-minute  demo drawing a "subtractive selfie" in-class exercise with charcoal from an enlarged portrait (current variation of this assignment). Since I was rather sick of drawing myself, I instead used an absent student's image as an example. Then in-between classes I did the Nuggets panel (20-minutes pencil > ink + another hour for coloring). Then for the afternoon field-trip with a class of Intermediate + Advanced folks, I cranked out a few demo sketches (approx. 10-minuutes each + another hour of texturing/color) for their pen & ink assignment. What a day, and I'm gratefully aware of how lucky and rare it is to get such an opportunity.

Professor (of Cartoon & Comic Arts!)

A quick update on a couple recent developments: the first being news on an ascension into the upper ranks of academia with the title of actual professor, and the second, the long-awaited enshrinement of my Cartoon & Comic Arts course into the official UAF course catalog.

This follows fifty-five-ish semesters as an adjunct (technically “Adjunct Lecturer”), then the past couple years as a “Term Instructor” (one as bipartite, then as tripartite with expanded duties ie attending meetings + sitting on committees), and now, starting this fall, as a professor (technically “Term Assistant Professor”). Note this is non-tenure track, with the next rungs on the ladder being Term Associate, then full Term. Also I’m additionally endowed with the designation of “lead instructor” of the drawing department (meaning it’s now all my fault), tacitly tasked with studio maintenance and other duties, but don’t have to worry overmuch about updating the ol’ CV and the stress of standing for review. Just remember to shave and get a haircut every once in a while, and maybe watch my mouth/mind the manners a wee bit more.

As mentioned here earlier in some cryptic teaser posts, this goes hand-in-glove with my promise to reward any advancement in the ranks with the creation and development of courses like this (next: Pen & Ink, Illustration, Caricature, Tattooing etc.). It’s a consolidation of all my experiences from SCAD + elsewhere, and as a working professional in the field, and represents the grand summation of all my educational priorities: mainly, that comics count. 

The "Buffet"

Here’s a couple backlinks to previous posts recapping 2020’s of the VAA comics class and the summer sessions course, for both of which it was my last time teaching them. One of the things I’m really looking forward to is literally drawing from the voluminous archives of former student works with which to continue to amaze and inspire the next generation of budding talents. 

Excerpted sample student pages

All along throughout my teaching career I have incorporated sequential art lessons into the classroom, as the academic advantages are very familiar to regular readers of Ink & Snow. Establishing the educational legitimacy of this medium as a uniquely powerful and popular means to express and address a limitless diversity of topics and issues, as well as develop technical rendering skills in the studio, has been an ever-evolving personal mission of mine. Also, the results speak for themselves.

Excerpted sample student pages

From flunking art classes in high school before dropping out, then dropping out again from a community college and then taking ten years to finally get a degree, plus another decade to earn the terminal, it has been a convoluted path - “three steps forward and two steps back” - but I’ve never stopped going forward, and that’s a meta-lesson well worth passing on. 

(Still the best student caricature of me ever made)

That, and keep making comics.

(Teaching Teaser)

Long-time readers are more than familiar with my advocacy for comics in the classroom as a powerful medium in both literacy + art. Relatedly, I've been dropping hints as of late about what might possibly be the personal summit of my entire career. But, as can be ascertained from the above snapshot, I'm still awaiting final approval a little bit longer along the academic food chain, so more on this exciting possibility when it actually goes live... so I'm resisting posting anywhere else on social media about it. Folks following Ink & Snow, as compared to thousands of others across other platforms, are a much more select, almost private group that always gets the news first. Appreciate your time & attention!

"...shhhh..."

In the meantime here's a set of samples done as demos during the linear perspective portion of Beginning Drawing. They literally illustrate the advantages cartoonists have in the studio for showing students how to easily accomplish, with just a few, quick lines, depth on the picture plane.This is the fundamental miracle behind the voodoo magic trick making a drawing can do: a three-dimensional image on a flat 2-D surface. Making marks on a piece of paper that stand for something, and visually communicating a concept to another. How amazing is that.

Best of all, and bonus points for irony here: extra-funny detail that for a linear perspective assignment doesn't even contain any straight lines. Making a hyper-realistic copy of reality isn't what this is all about, no knock on that style but for me it's not the point. Sometimes I'll joke about it and tell students if that's their goal spare yourself the struggle and just take a picture instead. Plus these demos of mine shot from the artistic hip aren’t so good as to intimidate, and not so bad as to inspire a loss of confidence in the instructor’s abilities. Even doing these day after day for fifty-odd semesters I still screw up, which is also an important meta-lesson in itself. I  try to knock these classroom demos out in a couple minutes while Bob Rossing the hell outta the process – for some folks it’s helpful to see someone sketch stuff out in person.

"stool sample"