Confounded Content

Google says I have to make a new email address to continue this blog

2011-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

That is lame. I don't want another email address. I want to access this blog with the email address I used to start it. Google has apparently decided that I can't use my email address on this blog, since that email address belongs to a pre-existing domain. It does. It's my domain. I've been using this email address with this blog for about a year, and then when Google Accounts happened my email address became mysteriously disassociated from itself. Now, because my email address exists, it can't be used to access this blog. This makes me want to never use Google for anything ever again, which is sad, because up until this they were doing great. There are a bunch of other irritating things that started to happen when Google Accounts kicked in. As happens so often, it wasn't until they had snaked tendrils into every aspect of our life that we realized they were evil. So this blog will be discontinued, and I will make my own blog using Ruby on Rails that Google can't mess with.

TL: DR
I'm mad at Google. This blog is done. Will post my new one soon.

March Monsters 31

2011-04-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

This monster is microscopic.

This will be the last of these for a while; I'm going to focus on "Always Bringing, Always Taking Away," the puppet show we're putting together for Northern Spark in June. It'll be part of the Mississippi Megalops project aboard the Jonathan Padleford paddleboat, if you want to come see. I'll post progress reports along the way. This'll be my first full-scale puppet show ever, and i am both excited and aprehensive. Wish me luck! Olli "Rachel" Johnson and Thomas Boguszewski will be helping with the animation, and Erik Ostrom is putting together musical accompaniment. Wish us all luck.

March Monsters 30

2011-04-03T20:19:00.001-07:00

Building monster.

March Monsters 29

2011-03-31T21:11:00.001-07:00

Bearing, obviously, no relation to this guy.

March Monsters 28

2011-03-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

This guy is a master of protective camouflage.

March Monsters 27

2011-03-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Self-examination.

March Monsters 26

2011-03-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

So I was drawing the last one and the hands were just wretched. So here!

March Monsters 25

2011-03-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

March Monsters 24

2011-03-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

i think with this one i started drawing, and then i thought "carp! that looks like Gertie!" so i put a bunch of spare heads on.

March Monsters 23

2011-03-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today's monster is brought to you by yesterday's snowstorm and a spray bottle full of food coloring.

March Monsters 22

2011-03-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today's monster reminds me a little of a Skeksis, or a horse in armor, or a poky amoeba.

March Monsters 21

2011-03-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today's monster is very small.

March Monsters 20

2011-03-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is an approximation of a shirt i saw in a dream once. The real thing looked a lot more like Exploding Dog. It was interesting to see how scribbly stuff came off my hand different than it looked in my head. Also I have since forgotten exactly what the dude is saying. "Calm down"? "You're blowing things out of proportion?" i put the closest thing i could think of.

March Monsters 19

2011-03-22T16:23:00.001-07:00

Goatmeleon!

March Monsters 18

2011-03-22T16:19:00.001-07:00

i was watching anime with the Black Hat Collective. I feel like this monster is a fail- not really because her hand is on backwards, which is a valid monsterly trait, but because she's not very monstrous. More a poorly drawn anime chick than an unsettling snake woman.

March Monsters 15

2011-03-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Recycling monster. Show my neighborhood how it's done, friend.

March Monsters 17

2011-03-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

This monster is from a dream that Erik had one time.

March Monsters 16

2011-03-16T22:01:00.001-07:00

dinner monster; right before i set his face on fire.

March Monsters 14

2011-03-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

A subtle monster.

March Monsters 13

2011-03-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

A noisy li'l monster. I really appreciate this guy.

March Monsters 12

2011-03-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

This monster has acute boogiemania. He's listening to "Hum Along and Dance" by the Jackson 5.

March Monsters 11

2011-03-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

This is how i felt yesterday.

March Monsters 10

2011-03-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

A portrait of me, as a pony. Or whatever the Pony version of a Care Bear Cousin is, anyway. Done for as a requirement for joining the Black Hat Collective, which i'm pretty sure counts as hazing.

March Monsters 9- black dog

2011-03-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

March Monsters 8

2011-03-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

it's a goose in a tuxedo. it's scary! he could lecture you about investment banking, or disapprove of you! or run at you like geese run at you!

March Monsters 7

2011-03-07T22:38:00.001-08:00

the trunk grows as he sleeps. if he sleeps too long, the trunk might take up all the space in the world.

March Monsters 5

2011-03-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

March Monsters 6

2011-03-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

This monster is very concerned about the safety of the candles. he feels a great responsibility for them.

Marchmonsters 4

2011-03-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, he may look fierce but he's entirely safe.

March Monsters 3

2011-03-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

so resentful. look at that sour face and those grabby hands. i wouldn't like to be grabbed by those hands, heck.

March Monsters 2

2011-03-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

His eyeballs are always aging and falling off and new ones are growing in. I'm super tired, and I didn't finish rendering this because shut up.

March Monsters 1

2011-03-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

i started a new 1 thing 1 day for March, because something nice should happen in March. I'm doing monsters. The lovely and talented Eleanore (http://ghostlytoast.blogspot.com/) did basically this in January and i thought it was wonderful.

His name is Xerox.

saw-a-day #30: Todtenvogel

2011-02-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

oh dag guys i am sleepy and tired. also i'm out of minutes on SoundCloud so i can't upload the one (or three) remaining tracks that way. dag what was i going to say to you. i totally recorded it though; tomorrow was going to be the last day because the first two days were recorded on my phone which is crap, so i was going to stop at 2/6 instead of 2/4, but now this so.

the downstairs neighbors are having a party that involves hip hop music and everyone saying "ohhh!" at irregular intervals.

saw-a-day #29: edgy

2011-02-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

2-4 by confoundedcontraption

saw-a-day #28: Staccato, Stuart

2011-02-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

2-1 by confoundedcontraption

this is a make-up for 2-1.

Hourly Comic Day 2011

2011-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

saw-a-day #27: Come Away

2011-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

2-3 by confoundedcontraption

Saw-a-day #26: The Best Intentions

2011-02-03T09:26:00.001-08:00

2-2 by confoundedcontraption

right before i turned the recorder on, i played something really good.

Saw-a-day #25: The Mayor of Squaresville

2011-01-31T20:55:00.000-08:00

1-31 by confoundedcontraption

super long, spooky-ambient, jarring microtones.

Saw-a-day #26: Monsters and Migraines

2011-01-30T22:54:00.000-08:00

1-30 by confoundedcontraption

I had a really fun time playing games today with MNØ, despite waking up with a crazy migraine. Really, Kate? You ran through mazelike hallways pretending to be a monster, *and* you had crazy brain things happening, and your saw-of-the-day is a quaint ditty? Who's got two thumbs and is the mayor of Squaresville?

Recorded at the Geek Partnership Society Headquarters. Backing vocals by E. Ostrom and, I think, Dan.

Saw-a-day #25: late night.

2011-01-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

1-29 by confoundedcontraption

sometimes i decide i'm too busy/sleepy/depressed to post these the day i record them, and i can never subsequently remember what i was thinking about. good story.

saw-a-day #24: At Tarnish and Gold

2011-01-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

1-28 by confoundedcontraption

saw-a-day #23: Opera Doesn't Solve Everything

2011-01-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

1-27 by confoundedcontraption

Saw-a-day #22: Maybe I'll Start a Punk Band

2011-01-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

1-26 by confoundedcontraption

I've been enjoying playing with overtones, but sometimes it's more successful than others.

Saw-a-day #21: Winter Thinking About Autumn

2011-01-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

1-25 by confoundedcontraption

locked the cat in the bedroom. learned my lesson.

started Vol. 2 of Circus Season: that'll start next Tuesday, i think. you can catch up here: http://circusseason.smackjeeves.com/comics/194450/page-1/

saw-a-day #20: Face the World

2011-01-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

1-24 by confoundedcontraption

this is a little more what I was thinking. it's a start in a right direction, anyway.

Saw-a-day #14 make-up

2011-01-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

1-18 (late) by confoundedcontraption

i was thinking about how unsatisfying the last couple tunes were, and how i shouldn't just put the saw down after i've recorded my piece for the day. so i picked up the saw and started to mess around, and got something closer to what i want out of music. maybe. i couldn't hit record until the ghost of music let me go, however, so what you hear above is me trying to re-do what was done. some success, maybe. we'll never know how great what went before was.

Saw-a-day #19: What keeps mankind alive

2011-01-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

1-23 by confoundedcontraption

In which the cat starts trying to eat the saw. I need to start shutting her in another room.

It seems like I have two modes in saw tunes: major-key 1930's pop and fugue. Occasionally I get minor-key torch. Most of my interest in music right now is no-wave, post-jazz and experimental. I thought I'd get past the cute tunes after a while, thought they'd work their way out of my system, but they don't seem to be. I'm getting kind of bored.

1-17: creative block

2011-01-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was going to make a comic about how my brain distracts me from work, but then I realized that the only thing more boring than having creative block is reading about someone else's. So here are some dancing starfish.

Also Erik (www.echographia.com, http://slapdash.erikostrom.com) is sitting next to me right now, working on the new comix site. It looks really nice, and he's put a lot of work into it. Thanks Erik.

1-13: Dinner with Erik's Parents

2011-01-23T16:09:00.000-08:00

1-22: job hunting

2011-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

1-22 by confoundedcontraption

the recorder ran out of batteries in the middle of this one. it didn't have a chance to evolve into whatever it might have wanted to evolve into, but you get the idea. maybe.

1-21: i need to do these after doing something interesting, rather than after reading lots of webcomics.

2011-01-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

1-21 by confoundedcontraption

possibly audible in the background: Montana Skies, a nice band. the cat jumped into my lap (by way of right next to the recorder) but did not otherwise participate. she gets really interested in the higher registers of the saw, and also whistling. i'm not really sure why.

1-20: no vegetarian pho

2011-01-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

1-20 by confoundedcontraption

i did some research while this was loading and i think i found some vegetarian pho. thank heavens.

this track takes a minute to get started, and then it starts to fall apart at about 3.5 minutes, but there's a couple nice moments in between there. another track featuring the cat playing the saw with her face.

1-19: what makes a home

2011-01-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

1-19 by confoundedcontraption

i missed 1/18, i forget why. this is not 1/18's.

1-13: Why I have no friends in the Twin Cities

2011-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

It wasn't the first time this happened to me.

1-10: Hello World

2011-01-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

I really need to start doing this. I read so many web comics, and I never show any kind of appreciation. Thanks for setting me straight, sketchy cartoon me.

1-17: in the other room

2011-01-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

1-17 by confoundedcontraption

featuring Bryan and that other guy on jackhammers. I started out in one direction, changed course drastically, and then decided at about 3 min. to start basically over. There's a point in all my projects where the initial coolness of talent and novelty wear off and the project becomes kind of lame for a while. Then i work through that and get to a more nourishing, transformative good. I hope this is that lame part, so we can get to the part where i learn. But usually if i rely on the inevitability of the good learning part, the project ends up kind of sucking the entire way through. so i don't know where that leaves us now.

First day back

2011-01-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

1-16 by confoundedcontraption

a nice little tune. sorry about the clipping, and the off-pitchness.

2011-01-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

1-15 by confoundedcontraption

in which my cat learns to play the saw, quietly, with her face, and i learn to make adjustments.

2011-01-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

1-14 by confoundedcontraption

this is late, because...i didn't do it yesterday. but i tried to play it like i would have done yesterday. towards the end, my cat came up and started rubbing her face on the saw blade, so i stopped.

Saw-a-day #10: Snakes in a snow maze (with door)

2011-01-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

1-13 by confoundedcontraption

based on a collaboration between myself and www.onefleacircus.com

Saw-a-day #9: Now what

2011-01-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

1-12 by confoundedcontraption

Saw-a-day #8: Push-ups

2011-01-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

1-11 by confoundedcontraption

also featuring Edward on vocals and mailing envelope.

Saw-a-day 7: What we need to be happy

2011-01-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

1-10 by confoundedcontraption

1-9: Why am I not more awesome

2011-01-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

1-9 not awesome by confoundedcontraption

stay off the s'mores. get it?

2011-01-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Saw-a-day 5: Latvian Puppet Workshop

2011-01-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

1-8 (Latvian Puppet Workshop) by confoundedcontraption

Saw-a-day day 4: It's cold and I have to pee, but otherwise I feel no particular way

2011-01-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

1 7 by confoundedcontraption

This took 4 takes, between running out of batteries and forgetting to press record and etc., which, given that I had to pee, increased the urgency of the performance.

At the Comix Conspiracy Jam

2011-01-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

The comics jam is every 1st Thursday in Minneapolis and 3rd Thursday in St. Paul. http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/conspire/ for details and huggermugger.

Saw-a-day project day 3: Sad and anxious

2011-01-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

1-6 by confoundedcontraption

I'm wound kind of tight lately.

2011-01-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

2011-01-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

...and here I am. New frontiers, and all that. Spectamur agendo.

2011-01-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

Iowa was uneventful, but lovely.

2011-01-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

I was only in MO for a little while, and didn't get much of a feel for it, outside Kansas City. seemed like a nice enough place.

2011-01-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

another group trying to put clouds in Kansas are pilots. There were a bunch of them chasing eachother all over the sky, leaving tangled contrails.

2010-12-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

These are all real signs, seen on the freeway. Tee hee.

2010-12-31T10:04:00.000-08:00

Coming into Flagstaff at night was the scariest driving. Hail fell so thickly i couldn't see the lane lines, and then it started to rain really hard, and then it started to snow really hard, and i was driving on snow, and I'm from CA so i'm a big wuss about driving on snow. I'm getting better at that as a result of driving in Minneapolis in the winter. There's basically snow everywhere, and driving on it is ok.

2010-12-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

The first state strip I made on my move from CA -> MN. I posted this on an electrical box at a Flying J just inside AZ.

Snow DAZE.

2010-12-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

Riding "Over the Top"!

2010-09-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ollie doesn't think I'm a businessman.

2010-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I would never join a club that would accept me as a member.

2010-08-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

Pro Artist: the MMORPG

2010-08-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Players: 1-6,000,000

You are an artist. Make art, put on shows, and publicize yourself to win friends, make connections, and someday rise to that barely dreamt-of height;

make a living at art.

The following is a task list for each level, somewhat customized to me. Customize it to yourself.

Lvl 1: Who?
Make 15 pieces of art.
Have a show at a coffee shop or other place of business.
Hang out at galleries and make friends with people in the art community.
Repeat until level 2 tasks are possible.

Lvl 2: Oh i think i heard something about you...
Make 30 additional pieces of art.
Set up an Etsy with something on it.
Have a show (group or solo) at an art-specific space.
If your art is up for longer than a month, update it monthly. Make it look nice.
Make art for and attend TBT.
Make a website for your comics.
Reprint SJzine and get copies to the people who said they wanted one.
Get the tree piece to Angeline.
Teach art classes.

Lvl 3: Local artist
Make your Etsy full of objects and easy to maneuver.
Attend SFZF and make 2 new friends.
Table at APE. Bring all your zines and prints and small pieces. Do free sketches. Be proactive. Make back your stand fee.
Start the new comic and update it regularly.
Look for art teaching opportunities. Apply to two of them.
Promote your website or Etsy 2 ways.
Keep your website updated with shows and news.
Volunteer or find work using art in the community.

Lvl 4: Kind of a big deal
i will let you know when i get there.

Hybrid

2010-08-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Teaching

2010-08-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

The sun dripped off the leaves of the bush outside and ran under the legs of the easels. Where are you guys?

Seriously, i'm not helping anyone.

2010-08-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Guzzling unnecessary heat, I thought about what we must do and why I don't.

Get real

2010-07-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to feel the sap rise. Rather, play music.

Teaching

2010-07-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

The sun dripped off the leaves of the bush outside and ran under the legs of the easels. Where are you guys?

Fostering kittens

2010-07-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

Beren

2010-07-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

On Beren's death day, the brush spread its hands over what we remember.

Booksa

2010-07-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Working at Borders:
Books books books books books books books
books books books books books

Cat problems

2010-07-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

You know what helps you get better at something? Doing it a bunch. I was inspired by Elle Skinner's biographical comix (http://elle.mysky.net) and, of course, DAR and American Elf and... but Elle Skinner was the final straw. So i'mma do two strips a week about stuff that happens to me. It's like push-ups for your pacing and composition muscles. I'm aiming to spend about 30 min. on each strip, so enjoy the art. Also, to avoid inappropriately personal content, each strip will be based on a haiku. If you can make a haiku out of it, it's not inappropriate.

Plaintive cries- I was socializing kittens. My cat pooped in the sink.

Comix Panels: 5 Rows is Too Many!

2010-01-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

I was working on Circus Season, and i learned a valuable lesson about pacing.

First, some background. Circus Season was supposed to be a little quick over-the-summer project. A group of us, Lauren Andrews, Jamaica Dyer, Aidan Casserly and myself among them, agreed to do a little comic on the theme "burlesque apocalypse" and then release them all together as a zine. I don't know what became of anyone else's project, but me, i did 6 pages and then didn't touch it for 2 years. I wanted to come back and finish it, both because i thought it would be a relatively quick way to get good comix experience and because i just need to finish things, goddammit. So now i'm doing 3 pages a week and i'm learning a lot. Nothing like doing something to help you learn how to do something.

For instance, i learned that you don't really want more than 3 rows of panels in a single page, unless you're using Infinite Canvas or you've got a really good reason. As the plot thickened, i noticed that i was putting more rows of panels in each page to speed up the action and create tension. By page 13 it was really getting out of hand. Here's my initial page layout:

It doesn't read clearly, it's hard to see what's happening in those little tiny drawings, and the eye just skims over sections. Instead of creating fast, tense action, it creates confusing opacity. I thought i could just ignore it and vow never to do that again, but it bothered me more and more as i inked it. So i broke it up into two pages. Here's the final layout:

It's much easier to tell what's happening, especially in the long shots. Take two lessons from this:
1. Don't go row crazy! Think real hard about how your panels read, and whether you've given them the space they need to shine.
2. When you know something is dumb, fix it. If you spend 4 hours inking it and then finally give in and redo the page, you're out 4 hours and a good sheet of paper.

Lesson learned!

Lullaby #2

2009-10-13T00:56:00.001-07:00

http://www.vimeo.com/6968393

Corpus Callosum is an experimental folk pop band in California's SF Bay Area. Among their members are math whiz Stevie Hyrciw, certified clown Qarly Canant, obscurophile Avery Burke, and genius puppeteer Dax Tran-Caffee. They used all their skills, plus kink.com and a wave organ, plus the skills of many other people, to create this sweet sweet video. Every time i watch it i see new things. Note especially the tiny boat in the foreground, and extra points if you can spot the bagpiper.

Zine Party Tonight tonight!

2009-09-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

San Jose's underground (by which i mean slightly less produced: Works Gallery had a whole zine-to-the-masses week a couple months ago, with workshops and professional mentors and greatness. Now that i'm talking about it, i'm sorry i missed it. This was just, y'know, a zineparty.) zine event went off full awesomeness ahead tonight. Some highlights (among many) were Reiko Miyagawa's tribute to Dirty Harry, kittyhotpants' hand-stitched ephemera, and Matthew Seigel's Tips for Lovers. (that guy has good advice. heh.) Some more highlights were Cat Food Millionaire, Yumi's felt zines, and the Create-Your-Own Hipster Boyfriend Chart. There's basically too much good stuff to mention right now; i would get totally bored telling you about it. If there's a complete list anywhere i'll link.

Zine Party Tonight happened at Kaleid Gallery, and was put together by Yumiko Miyagawa

Yeah! Zine Party Tonight go! Yumi wins!

Variety of mark making with Scratchboard

2009-09-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

This post is not about how to do traditional scratchboard. For great scratchboard tutorials that will teach you to do the kind of photo-real linework you expect from scratchboard, check out http://www.scratchboard.org. This post is about how to use ink to achieve some more tonal, painterly, messy or expressive effects. This post is about how to weird up your scratch art.

I don't know what kind of ink you use. I use Sumi, 'cause i like the consistency and the thick satiny coverage, and, more importantly, it's what i had on my desk. What i'm about to describe would probably work with any water-soluable ink, but i know for sure it works with Sumi.

1. Line weight
Traditional scratchboard uses a sharp tool, often a stylus, to scratch lines of a consistent width into a layer of ink, revealing the clay underneath. Cool. But the stylus only gets you one width of line, yielding an etched, rapidograph look. Which is awesome if you want that, but by simply switching to a broader tool, like a #11 X-Acto blade, you can scrape away a larger area, giving you a variety of line widths from thin stylus to fat scrapey. Check it out:

Mix the fat scrapes with precise stylus values for a full range of precision and expressiveness. All your marks are pretty earthy, though, hard or gritty or scrapey. So how you gonna soften it a little?

2: Wet it up.
Use a wet brush to moisten an area and brush away the topmost layer of ink. While the clayboard feels pretty smooth, it's actually full of tiny pits and peaks. The ink will rub off the peaks first, giving you a sparkly, silty, soft-edged value shape. You can move the ink you just wiped off to another area, bringing down something that's too light or softening something that's too harsh. Be warned, though, ink's not all the water dissolves. A little of the clay comes with it, and the resultant mixture is slightly paler and more matte than the raw ink areas. If you're watching for it, you can use it to lighten areas without scratching them. If you're not watching for it it'll mess with your game, make areas read wrong. In my drawing it flattened an area that should have read as dimensional, and made dimensional another area that should have lain flat. If the clay effect troubles you, just brush matte medium over the offending area- that gives you a level playing field. You can still scratch through it, although your lines will be a little grittier. Not surprisingly, you can't use water to lift ink off a matte mediumed area.

You can also use water in the ink just like you would with wet-on-wet watercolor. Aces.

SFZinefest pt.2

2009-09-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

L. Skinner- "Ellezilla goes to Japan!" (mysky.net)
A biocomic about Miss Skinner's visit to Japan. Funny and informative! The dialogue is extremely true to the kind of idiolect that can form between two friends, and feels very intimate and genuine. somehow, with spare illustrations and vignetted events, Miss Skinner creates a convincing sense of place.
Miss Skinner shared a table with a friend (Jeanne from the comic? the glasses were right) and they were funny and charming. They were accidentlycompletelycoincidentallyandwithoutplanning wearing the same "Harry and the Potters" shirt, which made them look like a team. Very accidentallyprofessional. Miss Skinner said she would be at ApeCon, and i will definitely look for her there, because she and her friend are really fun to be around.

Greg Means- "Papercutter issue 9" (tugboatpress.com)
A biocomic by Aron Nels Steinke about mysterious house happenings, illustrated in an appealing, roundly linear style- fun and engaging. A series of strips about a skull and a frog thing by Elijah Brubaker. A ghost story by Helen Jo. Papercutter is a way for Greg Means to showcase work by his favorite comix artists. Papercutter is great.
Clutch McNasty- "Clutch #21" (splitbook, with Invincible Summer #17)
Both halves are biocomics about people working in comics fields. Clutch works at Guapo Comics in Portland, as well as editing comics and collaborating with other writers. Neat Groeningesque linework, funny and fascinating. I was vicariously successful for the duration of this zine. Thumbs!
Ohmygosh i met the guy who edits "Papercutter." Ohmygosh!

Awesome people i met at SFZinefest pt.1

2009-08-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

Elenore Toczynski (http://ghostlytoast.blogspot.com/) (above pic ©E. Toczynski)
"Brain Crease" #1 an eerie and evocative story about a boy who is abducted to make dreams. tense linework, character design quoting Vasquez or Dirge. I want to read more! I was especially compelled by the subject matter and all the paintings of hallways. In addition to this, Elenore was extremely sweet and funny and pretty and generally fun to be around. Interesting to see this darker, more contemplative side of her personality. I guess Brain Crease #2 just came out: i must aquire that.

Dylan Williams of Sparkplug (http://www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com/)
"Reporter" #6 two 1950's newspaper reporters argue with people at a work party. Strong graphic presence, convoluted and sometimes insightful debate, interesting almost-noir vibe. Remember how you go to parties, and someone says something dumb, but when you try to correct them you sound also dumb and they don't listen? This story will be extremely satisfying to people who experience that a lot.

Joey Alison Sayers (http://www.jsayers.com) (above pic ©J. Sayers)
"Just So You Know" #1 a sweet and funny account of the author's gender transition. I like reading about gender shifts, in part because i don't feel strongly part of any gender, and in part because i do feel strongly between things, chimeric, and metamorphosis is really appealing to me. Joey Sayers' style features cute simple drawings, full of hope and grace. Joey shared a table with Elenore, and together they were a beautiful and hilarious tableparty.
-this just in- Joey Sayers has an awesome and hilarious strip called "Thingpart." You want to read it for days. It is here: http://www.jsayers.com/thingpart/thingpart.html

Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant and Synchromatic Inks

2009-08-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

So, my local art store stopped carrying Windsor Newton colored inks.

At first i felt betrayed, bewildered, other bewords, but it turned out to be a blessing. What they carry now is Dr. Ph. Martin's, which are bizzare and great. The first color i tried was "tobacco brown," a wheezy warm yellowish brown, and it was magnificently expressive worked wet-into-wet. Dark and warm when applied thick, it dilutes to yellow with very little water. Great fingering and variety of stroke on medium-absorbent paper. Another unexpected effect: "tobacco brown" is a blend of two pigments, a yellow and a purple, and the yellow (as might be expected, given the properties of earth colors and chemical colors) is way more soluble than the purple. This means that after you lay down a tone, you can flood the area with water or scrub it with a wet brush and lift away the yellow pigment, making the area shift warm. A little of this can be seen in the head of the hammer, above. I super wish you could see some of these drawings in person, 'cause it's crazy. A single ink can yield a temperature range that causes me to freak out with glee.

If a single ink can look like two inks, what can several inks do? I bought "van dyke brown" (a super warm brown, slightly pinker than burnt sienna) and "ultramarine blue" (a warm blue standby) and mixed the three in a bunch of proportions. Completely blown away by the range of colors possible; the range of base colors were not that surprising, given that i'm basically mixing red, yellow, and blue, but the pigment shifts that happened when water was added at various times were mad, calling blue out of magenta, yellow out of teal, pink and chartreuse out of indigo, like a tasteful earthtone rainbow. It's like a drawing rollercoaster! I want Dr. Ph. Martin to adopt me and take me to live in Martin Manor. You guys have got to try this.