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.

Another random post (image 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 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.

"Readers Digest"

In all seriousness, reading endless copies of Reader's Digest (submission link here) between all the bathrooms and waiting rooms and reception areas I've sat around in for all of my life has probably been more of a bigger influence in my career as a (primarily) single-panel gag cartoonist, at least as much as the ubiquitous copies of my mom's New Yorkers & Funny Times. Also, for those of our viwers keeping score along with us at home, this makes number three of a month-long series of grizzly-bear themed material.

"The Question"

This actually was the semi-annual Valentine's Day themed panel, as it evokes such tenderness and heartfelt emotions, I can barely contain myself. Backlinks to previous posts here, here, here, and here, also here and here as well. Here too.

"Seasons"

I'm really pleased with this one. Not a Nuggets, but it'll definitely get printed up full-sized and framed like 2024's epic "Rush Hour" panel and go on the wall for the annual fall faculty exhibition.  It took a while, not so much to actually, physically draw, though that was also tedious, but more it sat around incubating (fermenting?) in sketch form for forever. The layout/composition was the most fun in the process. I oscillated a lot after it was finished, tweaking the three vertical floater panels with different ranges of value, but it always came across as too overworked, too Photshoppy, so I deliberately left them flat (update: yep sure enough, even after uploading, I still went back one more time and tweaked them yet again with a super-subtle gradation + a handful more digital flakes set off against the hand-drawn ones) and also using no color. The middle "smoke" panel was the only area not converted with the usual threshold setting after the scan - the 18x24" original being so big it had to be scanned (I now again have an Epson tabloid in my office) in two separate sections then digitally recombined, so as to retain the softer, grimy aesthetic. It was somewhat of a demo piece done in the background of several Pen & Ink sessions, hence the range of different textures: scumbling with a ballpoint pen; crow-quill dip-pen on the leaves (a real pain as it was on an 18x24" sheet of watercolor paper so the surface texture was constantly snagging the nibs); the regular Hunt 105 dip-pen on the background + dog; a stick dipped in India ink for the iconic black spruce; brush on the droplets (again, as with the dip-pens, a bit too chunky on account of the substrate but cleaned up digitally), and lastly the Microns (8, 10 and 12) for the text + panel borders. It was originally intended to double as a demo in using watercolors (hence the stock) and also how to incorporate masking fluid into the long-term development of a piece, but by the time I finished the linework, I was too impatient to monkey around with it any more. 

After a search through the archives, I dug up this image from the compost heap: from a post back in 2020 about an encounter with a neighboring stray, and an accompanying Bukowski poem I was turned on to back during my tenure at SCAD for graduate studies. I had always intended that to be a study for a much larger piece, but had completely forgotten about the project, as happens with many an artistic intention (again with the mental mulch-pile metaphor). 

So I was pretty moved emotionally to rediscover it and see it come full circle. I mean, how weird to semi-remember that the three-legged dog in that exact same pose had already been sketched out: it stirred a visual memory, and I made a mental note to ferret out and follow the breadcrumbs down a rabbit hole. And it only resurfaced on account of a random post on social media about either the same dog, or perhaps one of the many similar stray sled dogs that limp around maybe after getting mutilated by a trap.

The chosen lyrics were done at the last minute, on the fly, right before working on the final inks. In retrospect an obvious instinctual choice, from one of my favorite male vocalists of all time. A beautiful man with such a Hutchence vibe (suicide notwithstanding). And that particular song is so transcendent, so evocative and bleakly, perversely empowering, especially after out record-setting winter amidst so much existential stress and brutal horrors unfolding daily.

Finally, another note scribbled on the doodle is "*use Kakimori." This is in reference to a new (well, new as in new to me and the only reboot of the same technology since metal nibs were first invented) nib design from Kakimori, via Dick Blick. Before my professorship there is absolutely no way I would have been able to afford such a luxury toy, as it's fifty bucks, and another fifty for the holder - though the heft of the aluminum one is an interesting difference from the wooden ones I prefer, so it'll doubtless I will return to playing with it again sooner than later. My intention was to use it exclusively on this piece, but right away the rough surface texture of the watercolor paper really hampered any smooth flow, which was frustrating. This could also be partially attributed to the unbroken-in new metal in conjunction with a perhaps incompatible brand of ink, as I am currently using the standard Dr. Ph. Martin's Black Star, Winsor & Newton and Sennelier. Not to mention I am personally acclimated to using what to most folks who draw is one of the most maddening implements ever made for inking.

"Costcoho"

Yep, a big Costco fan, but I'm noncommittal on salmon (somewhat heretical around this neck of the woods). Still there are some impressive slabs on display in the meat section, where I join the silent saunter of folks slow-walking like dumpster divers at the local transfer site, craning necks to peer at the prices that are way out of my reach. This is also the first post in a month of grizzly bear themed cartoons - which this year all just so happened to all line up as a silly set.

"Moose-Subie"

One of the neat things about last year's table at UAF's Pop-Con 2025 (which I completely spaced out posting anything about afterwards - but here's a backlink to 2024's) was for the first time ever getting to try some musubi - including my initiation with spam. One of my students family had a table where they served some homemade delectables. A second revelation was finally getting to eat fresh ramen noodles, made by Oishi Kitchen, which has since then been a regular stop whenever I'm downtown.

"AK Magic Carpet Ride"

The omnipresent Alaskan signature adaptation to subarctic life, the ubiquitous plug-in. So much of daily existence revolves around such a tenuous, fragile (especially given how many cracks have broken out along this winter's poor extension card. 

At -40°F expect some stiffness in the morning!

"Die A Log"

More dam good, toothsome material with an idea that's been gnawing away at me inside for some time now. As of late it has been a lot of fun coming up with punny gags, and seeing the whole process from concept doodle to creating the actual, physical work by penciling and inking up the original, coloring it, to opening up the newspaper at the corner store and seeing it in print, is such a rewarding full circle.

I had just recently posted about mentorship, and the network of relationships within the creative community, and how the juxtaposition of the weekly Nuggets panels in the newspaper (support me by subscribing here - thank you) is at times an excellent illustration of this. Case in point being this snapshot of the recent "Sundays" spread highlighting one of the top three shows I've personally ever seen at the Museum of the North, and in the all-time top-ten seen in Alaska. The crew did an amazing job installing all of the work, and outstanding curation for the 60-year anniversary of the Native Art Center by my co-worker in the UAF Art Department Daka!

"The 40-Below Club"

I haven't done an editorial in quite some time, even though I have lots of ideas, and what with the state of the world right now, things piss me off on an hourly basis, especially if I spend any time online. Still there is something to be said about art therapy, and channeling my anger into more positive outcomes. 

Well, okay, maybe this isn't so positive, but like many folks in our neck of the woods, I am so done with winter this season. Fighting against depression, augmented by seasonal affective disorder, and compounded by existential despair, throw in a semester of stress, drama and imploding students, and topped off with record-breaking cold snaps and snowfall totals for the Interior, and you have a perfect recipe for inspiration for those of us with a decidedly dark sense of humor. Ha ha ha.

But seriously, the whole traditional "40 Below Club" as a rite of passage is only funny for the first few weeks, but now it's really really getting old. Or maybe it's just me...

Going to the outhouse

"Lovesick Moose" (aka “Carousel”)

One of a set of several recent panels drawn as classroom demos, and as it was the last one of the session, I was rushing it and consequently got really sloppy + crude with the linework. Plus I didn’t take good reference pics (I posted here an example one done while on a field trip to Alaskaland with the summer drawing class), and so had to make shit up on the fly, which really doesn’t work with either A) complicated machinery and/or B) horses and other moose-ish mammals.

Digital tweaks included: level out entire merry-go-round + fill in the ensuing blank space opened up after re-orienting everything; reducing size + repositioning moose + extending forelegs + dropping tail; resituating + resizing the heart; cropping in left panel border to tighten composition; shifting nuggets up to align with moose; drawing in missing grass + horses; endless editing to caption text. At some point one does wonder whether it’d simply be easier to just redraw the whole damn thing, but there's also that one step over the line and you are now committed. Or perhaps should be, in my case.

Also of note, while I was working on this particular panel, there were a couple guys reinstalling flooring, drywall and cabinetry in the background (one-room studio/cabin). A couple thoughts occurred to me, the first being my absolute cluelessness and general incompetency with all things construction related, including any tools other than drawing implements. This can be easily ascertained with viewing how I literally build structures in my cartoons, in this specific instance the clusterfuck of this carousel. Sure, it's believable, at least at first blush, but only if you don't really know what you're actually looking at or looking for. Details, details...