Sunday, November 17, 2024

"Watch Your Step"

I know, I know, we need to express gratitude and support for the most important renewable resource driving the economic engine of Alaska. Please enjoy your stay!

Update: As it happened, I was idly flipping through an old moldy hardcover collection of ancient New Yorker cartoons, and this panel by Charles Addams - one of the all-time greatest single-panel cartoonists in history - caught my eye. Having never seen it before, though honestly it might have been subconsciously buried from exposure as a child (it has happened before with Kliban panel), it serves as a good example of great minds flowing through the same gutter (ie multiple discovery). 

The direct inspiration for mine came from all the attention being paid locally to recent and ongoing work being done on an iconic section of the single road into Denali National Park, that has been closed on account of landslides and necessitating extensive repairs. Anyone who's ever been on a vehicle and looked out the window while traversing this particular stretch of Polychrome Pass will immediately recognize the scene. Similarly, I can see how anybody familiar with Addams' piece would be forgiven if they would find it familiar as well - maybe he once vacationed in Alaska? 

Nuggets Sketchbook: "Currants," "Mosquitoes" & "Narwhale/Snowman" and other "Cartooning Problems" (Updated w/64th!)

Ganging together on this post a few recent examples from the "Nuggets Sketchbook" series that occasionally punctuates the regular panels. For some unknown reason there was an unusual number of them this year: these three which were published in the paper this past July, September and October, plus previously ones in March and August (both of which were uploaded here earlier in another set of sketchbook samples). "Currant Mood" is sorta special to me as it's about something that most newspaper readers probably aren't familiar with, so they'll never get it, and those that would probably get it never read the newspaper, so they'll never see it. But fortunately it went on to occupy a third dimension...

Update: This particular panel was the only one out of four submissions of mine to get accepted for the 2024 "64th Parallel" annual juried exhibition of the Fairbanks Arts Association (the others were "The Lodge," "Rush Hour" and "No Lives Matter"). This was the first show my work's been selected since 2017, o fourteen years - maybe half of which work was entered... the meta-lesson here being just never give up, don't ever stop chumming the water. Incidentally the fifth of six (possibly seven) shows this year alone, and that's why for 2025 I'm gonna swing to the opposite extreme and not do any, take a few years off from the endless marketing.

Regular readers know that these "Sketchbooks" are little offshoots are a special insight into creating the cartoons where I feel it provides a nice little break from the more commercial (some think contrived) vibe or visual feel of the regular feature. Put another way the aesthetics are a bit more spontaneously or raw, as opposed to the comparatively more controlled and polished look of the formal pencil > ink > digitally colored process for the "normal" panels. 

The origins actually arose from when I was essentially homeless, couchsurfing at a girlfriend's cabin, and without access to my accustomed computed + scanner setup. So I temporarily resorted to just submitting images shot directly from the pages of my sketchbook. One meta-lesson that gave me insight into my work was how essentially incidental the whole professional standards of production were: nobody particularly gave/gives a shit that I use specialized equipment and rarefied, arcane tools (ex: and insistence on archival materials etc.), aside from other geeks. The only factor that really matters is the content ie how funny it is. This is reflected in the industry mantra "a good joke will sell a bad drawing, which goes a long way towards explaining the style of many a successful cartoon. Nevertheless I have always continued in my quest towards self-improvement - 2019's reboot of "Spring Breakup" illustrates this perfectly, as some measure of pride in craftsmanship is inherent in any artistic pursuit. 

Of all of these latest ones in the series, this particular panel to me is a touch more special than the rest, in that not only was the printed version a reworking of the original doodle (from the initial one done on a scrap of paper > then translated into the sketchbook variation), but the charming simplicity of the piece really stands out. The only aspect of it altered was the digital spot-coloring of the heart, all else is marker + water-soluble wash. Incidentally the pen is a Micron (08), which I after many, many years of using ballpoint pens for the sketchbook doodles, I have adopted full-time this year, mostly because erasing the underlying pencil without waiting for it to dry so as to avoid smearing the ink is a pain in the ass - this is much quicker and also more opaque. It's still a "dead" line, meaning no line weight variation which is the hallmark of dip-pens.

Bonus: this is also one of the relatively rare non-verbal panels, which is another factor in its primitive clarity... reflective of my current relationship situation. It's quietly exceptional enough that I selected it as one of the three pieces showcased in the annual faculty exhibition in the UAF art department - subverting expectations with a thumb in the eye of artsy-fartsy elite.

Friday, November 15, 2024

Pop-Con 2024

Got a surprise last-minute gig: taking the opportunity to run a couple tables for the twelfth annual UAF Pop-Con on campus in the Wood Center this weekend (both today/Friday & Saturday, 11am - 6pm). It's been a decade since I last sat in at this event, and along with doing some service for the university, plus promote the Art Department, I get to hang out amongst others of my kind... and get some work done.

I'll be showing off artwork done by my drawing students over the many years from teaching comics + the current Cartoon & Comic Arts course. Be doing demos all day along with some special guest appearances by cartooning alum... stop on by!

Update: Day one was good, with many new introductions to really cool and very nice people, and seeing some long-time friends & folks, previous & current students... all on both sides of the tables. Looking forward to tomorrow, which is surprising given how bleak and stressful it has been as of late. These are my people.

UAF Parking Design: More NookieBear

You know shit's gettin' real when you see the legal name

Contest for the new UAF Parking Decal is now live. Click here to cast yer vote (about as useful as my last one). gotta have a UAF email to sign into the Google Form. It closes in a week... December 22nd!

There's a LOT of other good designs, my personal bias notwithstanding. Actually I didn't even vote for myself. Meanwhile this little logo of mine originally done for the CLA is continuing to molt and morph into new outfits - this one is the most adorable and my fave.

Sunday, November 10, 2024

"Ant-lers"

Long-time friends & fans are well aware of my weakness for the worst gags in the world, and I'll admit to only a relative handful of my own panels are so good/bad that they'll make me giggle to myself. Which is rather weird when sketching out alone in public, hence the reason I camp out at cafes in the early morning so as to not disturb fellow patrons. 

While the initial doodle - the ant with antlers - was amusing enough, flipping the concept on the second take was even better, and was refined a bit more in ballpoint with the revised, second sketch. Also uploaded here a process piece with the penciled panel + pre-inked verbage (more often than not the usual order, mostly so as to have a better, more clear idea of where to start and stop the inked-in lines), and then lastly a fully inked example before erasing the pencil lines that are still visible.

Sunday, November 3, 2024

"Toilet-trees"

Okay so, no pontificating here: really bad punnage aside, this was basically just an excuse exercise in drawing a classic double-take.  

Friday, November 1, 2024

"Tricksters & Sourdoughs" Anchorage Museum Exhibition

As of this posting, this marks at least six shows I've been in for the year: the annual Ursa Major, another Flossie & May's, "Thinking Made Visible" at UAF Museum, the annual Art Department faculty show, the 64th Parallel juried exhibition (first time in fourteen years), and now I think for the first time ever, four panels will be appearing at the Anchorage Museum: "Tricksters & Sourdoughs: Humor & Identity in Alaska." (special thanks to photographer John Hagen - websites here + here).

Thanks to Sarah (@saraanndexter) for the sneak peek

Don't know if the Significant Otter and I will be able to migrate south for the show, but on the offhand chance any of y'all are in that neck of the woods the big city, check it out - opening is tonite from 6-8pm.


Sunday, October 27, 2024

"Sourdough Therapy" + "Leftovers"

 

Yup, I went there. The union with my Significant Otter is usually strictly off-limits as far as any autobiographical connotations, especially as a matter of practicality and preserving harmonious coexistence at the happy homestead. That being said, artists are supposed to draw what they know, and one theory about comedy is how the commonality of experience is always a rich vein to mine. Okay, it's cheaper than therapy, and if you haven't learned how to laugh at yourself, you're probably on your third or fourth marriage.

And boy is matrimony a never-ending source of inspiration. which is certainly reflected in the abundance of rom-com material out there, to the point of it being flogged to death as an eye-rolling trope. Still, the temptation to do my first-ever fart joke was as irresistible as an SBD.

Which brings us to our bonus double-header post this week: in the arena of the family kitchen all is fair in love & war. Or at least when it comes to long-simmering relationship issues that can be as deep and layered as any championship Alaskan cabbage. My advice is to always first clear the air between you.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Dr. Indiginerd

Quick note of thanks to the UAF College of Indigenous Studies for hosting a visit  from Lee Francis IV, aka Dr. Indiginerd. He opened the first Native American comic shop (Red Planet/now ATCG) and the first Indigenous Comic-Con (now Indigenous Pop Expo). We got to hang out for a while inbetween his presentations for Indigenous People's Day, and geeking out about comics in my office was on of the highlights of the semester for me: it's so inspirational to connect with folks in the comics world and share stories.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

"Shrew Brain"


One of the best things about doing a single-panel is all the trivia that gets dredged up which trolling the depths of your subconscious. Like this one, for example, which recent research provided a variety of inspirational points of reference for inspiration.

Others included autobiographical experience an keenly honed observational skills that are crucial to the craft. You know, draw what you know.

Also a bonus session sitting right next to a table that had real, actual human brains on display as recruitment for the psychology department at a college major conference. Kind of a no-brainer... on could say it was rather shrewd.