Still no scanner up here. Got a South Philly houseshare on lockdown, but for now I'm housesitting for my parents and drinking their beer.
I'm making an 18-page comic of a James Joyce story for an anthology of literary adaptations from Seven Stories. Here are the finished incomprehensible layouts.
Doodle for someone in their copy of
Decorum
A wild turkey walked into the yard behind my parents' house! I grew up in this townhouse where the yard connects to other houses' and a forest, so we see deer, frogs, and
other critters constantly.
I'm at home in NJ, staying with my parents and looking for a place in Philly. On the way from Chicago, I stayed with one John Horstman (of Lucy Knisley comics fame) in Pittsburgh. Foliage obscured the railroad bridge overlooking the Alleghany River. Did not see the Hot Metal bridge. I lack scanner access for the moment.
My mother found a childhood sketchbook of mine. Here is Sonic the Hedgehog trapped in his logo.
A cheetah, my favorite animal at the time (around 8). I loved that they were slender and fast (paging Dr. Freud), and their pathetic hunting method moved me. Cheetahs can sprint for only about a minute before losing breath. They then have to rest for at least half an hour.
If they don't catch their prey after their burst of energy, they're exhausted, and often go hungry. If they do catch a wildebeest, they still must rest, and during that refractory time, vultures and hyenas will wander over and eat their prey right in front of them. They're so tired that there's nothing they can do about it.
Click for large version
I made this piece for my in-progress illustration & design portfolio. I dedicated it to Charles Burns because I unconsciously ripped him off when in its first incarnation. I changed some details so it wouldn't be derivative. (Not that I don't steal. But ripping off is different.)
The typeface is a drawn version of Minion Pro, with crowquill nib, brush, and spit.
My roommate Quin Slovek and I saw the doc
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within this spring, and we agreed that it skirted the issue of how deeply and apathetically he harmed those around him. I heard a theory that he was a sociopath, and from my experience (not of being one), his behavior seems to fall under that category. The quote I used, which must be the basis for the doc's title, illustrates the poisonous qualities that the director brushed aside in favor of a heroic "punk godfather" image of the writer. And of course he was a literary, queer, and cultural hero, but that doesn't mean he gets a free pass on his actions.
I found a couple of the film's interviews enchanting, though. Patti Smith talks about a crush she had on him, and sings a song that Burroughs used to request of her as the nights wound down.
Here are the new covers I just drew for the two minis I made last spring. This one's on green paper:
Decorum also includes a new-ish insert on "orchid" paper with the story
"Mommy's Secret Helper." The cover's on cream paper.
I put my favorite review quote ever on the new back cover of
Decorum, from
Edie Fake (site slightly NSFW).
Twofold news about
Ghost Comics:
Illo: Allegra Lockstadt; Design: Jenny Tondera; Lettering: Micah Lidberg; Art director: me
The anthology we did is now available as a
free PDF download, and it's on sale for five bucks.
Stitching and
Decorum are on sale, too: $3.50 each. Read full stories from both and get 'em at
edsdeadbody.com. I re-designed the site and it went live today. (Click image below to go there.)
Next: Bill Burroughs is all demons
