Editor’s Note: On January 22, 2019, the Seattle downtown core was rocked by a mass shooting. Part of the heart of downtown Seattle is Third Avenue and Pine Street, one of the most congested downtown areas in any American city and long known as a hub for crime. This incident underscores the dysfunction at City Hall and how Seattle city leaders have long struggled to understand and address crime. Seattle cartoonist and writer Jennifer Daydreamer speaks out on the challenging situation Seattle citizens must face.
Seattle mass shooting crime scene. The Seattle Times.
SEATTLE: THIS IS HOW TO PROTEST THE CRIME
We have a real crime problem in Seattle. Who are the superheroes that have emerged to champion public safety? The business community. The Downtown Business Association commissioned the 2019 System Failure Report, held an impromptu 1.24.20 downtown safety rally, and, most recently, signed a petition letter to Seattle and King County leadership, pleading for safety reform. This should give one pause. Can you feel the topsy-turvy of a non government entity – businesses – doing our government’s job of protecting the people? Something is terribly wrong.
What has our council, mayor and governor been doing in response to crime? They give speeches! It’s always the same one, too. Their speeches consist of feel good solutions that appeal to their voter base. They never have the courage to say that the law is not being enforced and if it were, it would reduce the crime on the streets dramatically. Now, why would their voter base not want safety? The short answer is that the hard Left is keen on bridging the economic divide. An example of this is the focus on free bus rides, library fees waived and free winter rent (to be paid back, if the landlord can collect it). Do you hear our leaders talk with the same passion on the need to stop people from getting stabbed, gunned, punched, pushed and robbed? No.
In case you have been asleep like Sleeping Beauty the last decade, the speech our leaders give is this: “We have to build more housing, have alternatives to incarceration, offer drug rehabilitation programs and mental health assistance.” All of that is very good. Well planned, thoughtful alternatives are important. The problem is, given the track record of our government’s inability to create such entities, I don’t think these ambitions will become reality for another twenty years, if ever. When politicians offer up nonsensical solutions to the immediate need of public safety, it’s a way of denying the crime.
I recognize the Emperor’s New Clothes when I see it. Make no mistake, the crime is real. The majority of you in Seattle know this; you’re experiencing crime and reading and watching the news. At its core level, law and order is gold; it’s been melted down and is slipping through your civic fingers. I recommend KOMO television’s 1.27.2020 Town Hall, Downtown Seattle Violence: Enough is Enough. Attorney Scott Lindsay describes the City’s approach to public safety as “The appearance of gross negligence.”
When you hold a large protest, it tells our politicians that this is a voting public. Allow me to describe to you my dream rally. Have a simple rally, centrally located in downtown. Chants can be yelled for ten minutes such as ‘Enough Is Enough!’ and ‘We Want Safety and We Want It Now!’ The twist is, in any part of downtown, business owners only have to step outside their building to the sidewalk, to join in the chanting. Isn’t it cool that business is strategically located to have a protest that stretches to both ends of downtown? Anyone can join in, employees, passersbys, all people. I really believe there are enough people affected by crime that many will join in. Yet, this can be peaceful. There’s no need to spill onto the streets and block traffic. Police can join in for a change instead of having to keep the peace. Businesses won’t break their own windows. Everyone yells during his or her break and then back to work. Efficient!
Maybe I’m dreaming too big, to say this, but the protest can be spectacular and stretch “across the land” from business to business, residence to residence, person to person; to Belltown to Beacon Hill to Capitol Hill, all the way to Alki Beach to Ballard to Fremont to the U District…you get the picture.
We are in a kingdom, a fiefdom! It’s time to awaken! Although I use fairy tales as metaphors, I am not naïve. I know I am preaching to the choir out there in the Emerald City. Seattle, you know the crime is real.
This is one of the most inspired scenarios for a comic that I’ve seen in a while. What if all the great mystery writers of the 193os formed a club–and had amazing adventures? That is exactly what is happening in this totally cool new graphic novel series, The Detection Club, script and art by Jean Harambat, published by Europe Comics. We’re talking about the golden age for mystery writers including G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, and Dorothy L. Sayers. This is from the same brilliant talent who created the spy thriller series graphic novels, Operation Copperhead. If you like crisp and witty humor, then this is for you. And, yes, this book is in English. That’s an essential component of Europe Comics, your home for comics from Europe, translated into English.
The Detection Club page excerpt
First off, you need to know that there really was a Detection Club and it must have been something! Just imagine all of these world-class writers meeting on a regular basis, helping each other out with their craft, and even writing books together under the name of the club itself! I don’t think I was aware of this and, if I was, I’d forgotten. So many years and beers ago, you know. But now I’m fully aware of this fact thanks to this wonderful graphic novel series. So, that is the basis in reality for this series but Harambat takes it much further and places a select bunch of our writer heroes in quite a madcap adventure involving a crime-solving robot who may or may not have just committed murder! So, lots of fun for all ages, even for much older kids at heart such as myself.
Panel excerpt: Our main characters all in row.
I really like to showcase panel art. There are so many reasons to do this. The main reason is to simply get a closer look! This makes sense, just as you would focus on a particular passage in any novel. It gives us a moment to savor the process. What is key about Harambat is that he loves to draw. This is quite evident in the above example. Too many young aspiring cartoonists believe that any scrawl that they produce is priceless. That wrongheaded thinking is much too ingrained in the indie comics community. Yes, there is a place for spontaneity and a loose and sketchy style can be quite legitimate. But look at the dazzling results you get from rigorous care in the pursuit of refined essentials. Everything reads as very crisp and clear! You want that kind of clarity!
The Detection Club page excerpt
Harambat is an auteur cartoonist who truly loves to write and draw economically. It is a very functional approach that makes it easier to tackle such an ambitious project that involves characters with formidable back-stories. We’re talking about some of the greatest popular writers of all time–either intimately known by readers or at least recognized to some degree. There are expectations already in place. Many readers coming to this graphic novel already have some notion as to who Agatha Christie was and expect someone unusual and clever–and will expect the same from her contemporaries. Any reader attracted to this book is already curious about the world of mystery and crime fiction and related matters. Harambat is there to deliver on all counts: he fills in the blanks, connects the dots, and thoroughly entertains. All the characters are drawn in a direct and clear way, easy to keep track of, easy to relate with. Then you bring in the villain, an eccentric billionaire living on some secluded tropical island with a huge robot at the center of a murder mystery. Bingo! What a premise to kick off this series!
The Detection Club: Part 1 is an 86-page book, available in digital format on various platforms. For more details, visit Europe Comics, your home for all European comics, all digital, all in English.
As you can read in my previous post, I am a big fan of Danny Gregory, his new book on creativity, and the online creative learning community of Sketchbook Skool. I believe Danny to be very sincere in his pursuit of making drawing in a sketchbook a “new normal” in anyone’s life. What he has to say is honest, direct, and spirited. So, with that in mind, I couldn’t resist doing an interview with him. I think you’ll enjoy it. I found Danny to be a delightful guest. I’ve done numerous interviews for well over a decade now, including best-selling novelists, award-winning screenwriters, and so on. Danny is someone who keeps reminding me to never forget that, at my core, I love being creative. We talk a lot about creativity in the interview and this “artist thing.” And, I have to admit, I don’t have a problem calling myself an artist because I am one. For Danny, he doesn’t care about labels as they can get in the way. I care about a label, especially as it applies to me. I guess I’m trying to say that I relate to what Danny is doing in my own way. Becoming an “artist” or maintaining being an artist is something that I’m proud of. Anyway, I’m sure that Danny has heard it all. In a nutshell, he’s the sort of person who doesn’t tolerate too much in the way of formality and wants you to go out and play! For goodness sake, go out and draw something already!
Danny Gregory
How to Draw Without Talent is the latest in Danny Gregory’s books on how to get into the creative habit. It is the first tie-in book with Sketchbook Skool that he co-founded with Koosje Koene. If this is all new to you, I know that you’re in for a big treat. Everyone can benefit from taking pencil to paper and drawing. And, if you are not a beginner but an established artist of one kind or another, Danny, Koosje, and the rest of SBS staff have an assortment of creative workouts that will entice you. It’s all about keeping one’s hand in game, right?
Sketchbook Skool
So, just click the video link and you can check out my interview with Danny Gregory. Upon listening to it a number of times as I put together the video, I found myself rediscovering all the care and charm to Danny’s approach. He’s a regular guy, no pretense about him, and he’d like to put a smile on your face byway of a sketchbook. Why not give it a try?
Visit Danny Gregory right here. Visit Sketchbook Skool right here. How to Draw Without Talent is published by North Light Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Danny Gregory portrait by Henry Chamberlain
I thought you might appreciate the above drawing my yours truly. I keep promising to add more of my own artwork to my posts. This is just a quick little portrait of Danny that I whipped up.
#SaveSpiderman and #SaveSpidey. Illustration by Henry Chamberlain
This was a shaky situation right from the start: one mega-corporation owns a universe of beloved superheroes; and another mega-corporation owns one of the most beloved characters from that same universe! How is that going to work? For a brief shining moment, it looked like Disney and Sony could play nice and live in a world where Spider-Man could frolick freely right along with his fellow Avengers. But no more, at least not for now. Disney and Sony simply cannot play nice. Fans have their own opinions on that and have #SaveSpiderman and #SaveSpidey trending like crazy. We wish all involved the best of luck! Tom Holland would have made a great Spider-Man right alongside The Avengers.
We turn our attention to Seattle and a most engaging campaign by Sergio Garcia for City Council. This is a vibrant campaign on many fronts. One key element, to start off with, is the distinctive character illustration for the campaign. Garcia appears on campaign posters in the form of a contemporary Seattle police officer with prominent mustache and tattoos. The latest posters boil it all down to Garcia’s iconic mustache. It is a look that is getting people’s attention.
A campaign with style and substance that has struck a chord.
An essential issue that Garcia is addressing is the need for an improved and sensible approach to Seattle’s homeless population and related issues: affordable housing, crime and disruption. A basic need for safety is mired in politics and in desperate need of clarity. This is where someone like Sergio Garcia, with a law enforcement background and fresh perspective, steps in. Seattle citizens, fed up with the lax and chaotic approach to crime from the City of Seattle are more than ready for a fresh change and it looks more and more like Sergio Garcia can lead that new path.
Seattle is ready for a change.
And, with that said, it looks like this is a case where image and substance appear to be in sync. Garcia’s message, along with his brand, appears to be resonating with Seattle voters who are more than ready for a change. Having spoken with a number of business owners, the response I’ve gotten has been consistently positive. If Sergio Garcia wins, it will be thanks to a vigorous grassroots campaign. The primary election is August 6, 2019 and the general election is November 5, 2019.
Vote for Sergio Garcia, Seattle City Council.
For more details, visit the Sergio Garcia campaign site right here.
Masters of Comics: Inside the Studios of the World’s Premier Graphic Storytellers is a unique behind-the-scenes look at the studios and work habits of some of the all-time great comic book artists, published by Insight Comics, with interviews by Joel Meadows. It is a pleasure to get a chance to chat with Joel Meadows, a fellow comics journalist. Mr. Meadows jumped into comics journalism in 1992 with his own Tripwire Magazine. In this interview, we’re going to unpack what that all means. There have been so many others who have joined the ranks of comics journalists, including myself, so there’s plenty to unpack!
HENRY CHAMBERLAIN: Joel, thank you for joining me for this conversation. We’re going to chat about Masters of Comics and the world of comics journalism. You begin in 1992 as a young guy who is compelled to create Tripwire, a magazine of genre culture, and that has evolved into an exciting new website presence and the publication of significant books on pop culture. I believe you really hit upon something with the original Studio Space and now the current Masters of Comics. As a jumping off point, share with us some of the thinking that led you to pursue a collection of in depth process interviews.
It started with the magazine, you mentioned Tripwire. We used to run a feature, Studio Space, where we interviewed artists and illustrators in order to get a closer look, get behind their work: the way they work and how they approach their work. We began with Tim Bradstreet, Phil Hale, and John Bolton. I found it fascinating and I thought it might be fun to pursue this further as a book. We put together a line up of artists for Image in 2008 and that was an impressive book. I was very proud of that book. That came out 11 years ago. We had the late great Joe Kubert. We had Sergio Toppi. We had Steve Dillon. We had Howard Chaykin. I can’t recall everyone. It was a pretty amazing list. I was very proud that we had managed to gather all these great artists together and get into each of their headspace and look at how they actually created work and how each studio was different from the next.
Tripwire magazine, circa 1990s
I love the fact that you have books out in the world. For me, my first loyalty is with print. We both go back to a pre-internet perspective. It used to be that to have something in print was the be all, end all. You feel secure with print. You can feel a bit uncertain about the internet: things can be completely wiped away. The whole website might blow up but you can always have a print edition somewhere. Do you feel like that sometimes?
A little bit. We switched to the web back in 2015 and it has its pros and cons. If you make a mistake you can always go back and fix it. But there’s something about the physicality of a book or a magazine. There’s the tactile nature of it. Say, if you meet someone and they ask you what you do, you can direct them to a website but, in some ways, it’s even nicer to be able to show them the book that you’ve published or the magazine that you edit. There’s something about having something physical that is hard to beat.
Exactly, that’s what I want to stress to everyone. Of course, you can go to a tutorial on Youtube but it’s so great to be able to pick up a book and pore over the pages and make discoveries. I think of someone like John Paul Leon, an amazing artist who will be new to a lot of readers. There’s one title that he worked on, The Winter Men, that really sticks with me. You’ve got such a wonderful range of talent, everyone from Frank Quitely to Bill Sienkiewicz to J.H. Williams III, and everyone has their own way of working. There’s so much to consider, of course, over creating the work physically or digitally or a combination of the two.
Maybe it’s a generational thing. I interviewed Mike Kaluta for the book and he works physically with pen and ink. J.P. has more of a mix. Walt Simonson works physically but he does fix lines digitally. I think it was Laurence Campbell, who does work physically, who said that, with digital, he misses the idea of being able to have a happy accident. You might make a mistake but it’s a good mistake. It brings the work to life a little bit more. In some ways, it comes down to digital coming across as too precise. The idea that you can go in and fix a mistake in Photoshop can leave some artists feeling that something is missing. Obviously, other artists love digital. Sean Phillips he draws his line art digitally but he also paints physically. He went back to painting for some of his covers and some of his work for Criminal. He likes to jump between the two. It really depends upon the artist. Some like the tactile experience of physically painting. Others like the convenience of digital. So, it comes down to a case by case basis.
Sean Phillips doing digital work.
Yes, I think it does come down to a case by case basis since you can’t totally peg it as generational. You have so many young artists who enjoy doing work physically. I even wonder sometimes if using markers is really the best approach to coloring your work. But, hey, if an artist can make it work with markers, then why not.
Exactly.
Michael William Kaluta doing physical work.
I want to ask you about your own process. Maybe you can take us behind the scenes of how you got the book put together. Did you personally interview each artist in their studio or were some interviews over the phone?
It was a mix. I got to visit some of the artists personally: Mike Kaluta, Walt Simonson, Posy Simmonds, Laurence Campbell, and Sean Phillips. The rest were e-mail or telephone interviews and, for those, they supplied the photographs. I would have loved to have interviewed in person Eduardo Risso but he’s way over in Argentina. The same with Rafael Albuquerque. He’s in Brazil. I did the photography for the artists that I met with in person.
It’s a seamless presentation, how all the profiles were put together into such a compelling whole.
Insight did a great job with the design. It looks beautiful. They did a great job with the typography and the way all the images fit, the comics art and the photography. It holds together really well as a cohesive package.
There are 21 profiles here. Maybe you can tell us something more about the decision-making process in choosing artists. It is a stellar line-up of artists. Rafael Albuquerque. Tim Sale. Yumo Shimizu. The list goes.
We wanted to have a cross section of artists coming from different disciplines. For instance, Walt Simonson is very much a pen and ink guy. John Paul Leon is more of a marker artist. Dave Johnson is a cover artist, one of the best. If we picked 20 or so artists that were all in the same style, then it would have gotten repetitive. So, we wanted to have something that was varied in terms of approach and actual work.
Share with us about the world of comics journalism. It was a whole other world when you began in 1992. The field was wide open. Back then, there were only a few outlets, like The Comics Journal. Today, it’s a relatively crowded field, especially when you add in all the various tiers of involvement.
It has changed. The Comics Journal had its moments. I used to enjoy Amazing Heroes, going back to the late ’80s. The biggest one was Speakeasy. It had a column by Grant Morrison. It was a very irreverent magazine. That was a big influence on us at Tripwire. Back in the ’90s, you also had Wizard, which really wasn’t for me. And, yeah, I never connected with The Comics Journal. Today, there are a number of good websites. There’s a digital magazine based in the UK that is doing a lot of good work called, PanexPanel, run by Hass Otsmane-Elhaou. And Forces of Geek, with Stefan Blitz, does excellent work too. A lot of sites are just running press releases. At Tripwire, we try to dig deeper. We interview the creators and the key players. We try to look at the bigger picture. It’s a challenge.
Amazing Heroes (1981-1992), published by Fantagraphics
The thing with press releases is that it’s a balancing act. You don’t want to rely on them. You have to really pick and choose. Some are quite informative and newsworthy. What is the criteria for you when it comes to content on Tripwire?
We try for variety and we try to cover people that other websites don’t. For example, we’ve recently run two interviews with Scott Dunbier from IDW. His artist collections and special projects are a great celebration of comics history. So, we try to pick people like him. We’ve interviewed Chuck Palahniuk a couple of times. We’ve interviewed Philip Pullman. We try to go beyond the boundaries of many comics websites. I want to dig a bit deeper like we did with our interview with J. M. DeMatteis. We try not to cover everything. And we try to contextualize our interviews and explain the significance of our interview subjects.
I do my best to go in depth with my interviews. And I’m always on the look out to go beyond the boundaries of a typical pop culture website. I will naturally gravitate to some novel, which may or may not have anything to do with comics. I might bring in an essay, or whatever. It just happens organically and it helps to keep things fresh and bring in a cross section of readers.
Yes, we do that too on occasion.
Speakeasy, “the organ of the comics world,” March, 1990
I wonder what your take is on alternative comics. My partner, Jennifer, and I are both cartoonists. We come from that indie alt-comics scene. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Page 45 quote.
Yes, I am.
It’s a brilliant observation by Stephen Holland, owner of the UK comics shop Page 45, about how “alternative comics are the real mainstream.”
There’s a lot of great material. I read indie comics. I’ve read the likes of Joe Matt and Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine back in the ’90s. I tried to keep up with their careers. There’s incredibly talented people. You have someone like Ed Brubaker who started life as an indie cartoonist and moved into the mainstream. He’s one of these guys who can straddle the two. I believe the Page 45 quote gets it right. You can give someone who doesn’t normally read comics a book like Berlin, by Jason Lutes, and they can appreciate it. But they will have a much harder time with a Batman or Teen Titan graphic novel which relies on more in depth comics knowledge.
MASTERS OF COMICS
I just need to ask you about what’s been on your pop culture radar. For instance, what was your take on how Game of Thrones on HBO resolved itself?
You have to feel sorry for the creators of the show since you can’t satisfy everyone. I remember when the Sopranos ended. I really liked how it ended but there were a lot of people who weren’t happy. A big show like that, which has been around for years, it’s almost impossible to satisfy all of your audience. I think the ending to Game of Thrones was okay. To be honest, I’m not sure how else HBO could have ended it.
There are some shows that we in the States have to wait for from across the pond. But then there’s also the reverse. For example, the new Twilight Zone on CBS All Access. Are you looking forward to that one?
I am curious. I enjoyed Get Out a lot. I think Jordan Peele is quite talented. I’m curious as to whether or not they’ve managed to keep that original flavor.
I’ve gotten a chance to view the whole season and I think it’s coming together. I think it’s going to be of those shows that will probably remain a bit uneven but can have exceptional episodes so you root for it.
There’s quite a bit of TV. I’m trying to catch up with Jessica Jones. I’m a bit ambivalent about the Marvel shows on Netflix. I enjoyed a lot of Daredevil and Luke Cage. I think the big problem is that a lot of these shows run too long. They would be much better off with shorter runs of six episodes per season. Another one, Punisher, I just couldn’t finish that.
How would you like to end our talk? Anything else you’d like to add about Tripwire or Masters of Comics?
We continue to evolve the Tripwire website. We’re hoping to organize a talk that ties in Masters of Comics at the Society of Illustrators in October during New York Comic Con. It would include Walt Simonson and Shawn Martinbrough. It would be very nice to have an event tie-in for the book. We’re also looking forward to some collections of interviews from Tripwire. This is something we’re working with another publisher on. The plan is to have the first book available in time for next year’s Comic Con in San Diego. So, that’s exciting. We’ll be returning to print after a bit of a break.
That would be so exciting to have a talk at Society of Illustrators. I hope that works out.
Well, thank you. We’re hoping to pin that down.
Thanks so much, Joel.
Thank you, Henry.
You can listen to a portion of the podcast interview by just clicking the link below:
Masters of Comics: Inside the Studios of the World’s Premier Graphic Storytellers is a 184-page full color trade paperback, with 21 profiles, with art samples and studio photographs, published by Insight Comics.
Keep up with Joel Meadows and Tripwire magazine by going right here.
Joyce Chin is a highly respected comic book artist who has suffered a setback. She was on her way to a comics convention in Chicago when she experienced a sub arachnoid hemmorage in the O’Hare airport terminal. A stroke. At the same time, she also fractured her ankle. You can imagine the pain and agony–and the hospital bills. Ms. Chin needless to say, did not attend C2E2. Instead, she spent nearly two weeks in the ICU ward of Presence Resurrection hospital in Chicago undergoing multiple procedures and diagnostic tests. Lucky for her, she is on her way to recovery but she has mounting medical bills to attend to. Visit the Joyce Chin GoFundMe and help in any way that you can.
Joyce Chin cover
Joyce Chin is a comic book penciler, inker, colorist, and cover artist. She has created content under the Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dynamite Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and IDW Publishing labels. A large portion of Chin’s work has been in creating comic book covers. Visit the Cartoonist Joyce Chin Recovering From a Stroke GoFundMe right here.
It is truly a pleasure to share with you a rising talent, singer-songwriter Mariel Darling. You might think of her as a future Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga. Who knows? She certainly has got talent and determination and, at 16, she has some solid songs like “No Mirrors” and “Unknown,” to show for it and a work ethic going back to the age of nine. So, yes, Ms. Darling is the real deal. I believe in Mariel Darling. So much so that I created the above illustration. Mariel, if you ever need an artist for an album cover, I’d be more than happy to do it.
A Western Massachusetts native, 16-year-old Mariel Darling started recording music when she was only nine years old after being discovered by manager Jackie Sarkis (formerly of Radio Disney) and working with producer Shaun Bless, and by age ten she was already turning heads performing at the New York Knicks halftime show. Even in her early years, the young singer knew that she wanted to use her talent to help promote positive messages, and by eleven she was already hard at work writing and performing songs for the National Education Institute encouraging other kids in a fun and upbeat way to read, study, and focus on their education as a way to further their well-being. These initiatives lead Darling to perform on bigger national stages and festivals including the Maritime Festival, Washington D.C.’s CureFest for Childhood Cancer, and the Camplified Tour which saw her perform in front of thousands of teens and tweens at summer camps across the nation at fourteen.
Mariel enjoys motivating her fans with her music. During our conversation, Mariel said she’s excited about connecting with the huge fan base of girls and young women who follow her music. She’s proud of her songs, like “No Mirrors,” that resonate with her fans and speak to positive self-image and empowerment. And another more recent song, “Unknown,” speaks to the challenges in young lives in facing the unknown. Mariel says she admires those performers that are able to reach out like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. No doubt, you can add Mariel Darling to the short list of the best influencers. Listen to my interview by clicking the link below:
Keep up with Mariel Darling on Instagram right here.
If you live in or plan to be around the New York metro area, then consider visiting the Scott Eder Gallery for an in depth look at a variety of notable underground cartoonists from the sixties. This includes a number of names that are common to the comics community along with a number that will be newly discovered gems for gallery visitors. The show is entitled, THE ALTERNATIVE UNDERGROUND: Foot Soldiers in the Revolution that Forever Changed Comics and runs from Feb 1 thru March 9, 2019. The opening reception is Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, 5-9 PM. Scott Eder Gallery is located at 888 Newark Avenue, #525, Jersey City, New Jersey in the Mana Contemporary Arts Complex. From New York City, you can easily reach it from the PATH train.
Mickey Rat Comix by Robert Armstrong
What If? by Joel Beck
Casserine
Women at Work!!! by Daniel Clyne
Pro Junior by Dave Dozier
Smile by Jim Mitchell
Rev. Jeremiah Moses by Grass Green
Jesus Learns a Thing or Two by Frank Stack
Trina Robbins self-portrait
More details from Scott Eder Gallery:
When the Underground Comix movement is discussed, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, and Gilbert Shelton come quickly to mind. But the revolutionary break from mainstream comic books in the late ‘60s, leading to graphic novels and today’s vital independent scene, was comprised of numerous other artists. Many seldom get their due. Scott Eder Gallery is proud to present some of the largely unsung pioneers like Joel Beck and Frank Stack, both of whose comix significantly predated ZAP. Other featured artists are Bob Armstrong (Mickey Rat), Sharon Rudahl, (Wimmens Comix), Dan Clyne (Hungry Chuck Biscuits), Wendel Pugh (Googiewaumer), Mike Roberts (Bizarre Sex), and other foot soldiers active in the broad and groundbreaking underground comix scene. Discover or rediscover the idiosyncratic styles of more than twenty outspoken and bold cartoonists whose work remains surprising fresh a half century after the psychedelic fervor and anti-war chants swirling around their era have faded away.
Interview with gallery owner Scott Eder:
If you’re interested in comics or would like to take the opportunity to see firsthand some of the exciting trailblazing art that has influenced today’s boom in indie comics, then be sure to visit Scott Eder Gallery.
You can’t deny someone what they love because love will find a way. So it is with me and drawing. I’ve always loved drawing. I draw very well, if I do say so myself, and I don’t have to make excuses for it, thank you very much. You wouldn’t begrudge a ballerina for dancing very well or a professional singer for singing very well. I think you know what I mean. I think I know my way around words too but that’s another story. It’s not about conceit. No, it’s simply talking about how someone is built. This is what they know.
What I’m getting at is that I took a drawing work shop recently. The photos here of my efforts during the session. The truth is that any artist, no matter how good, can always make good use a creative workout. That’s why life drawing sessions are so popular: most of the people aren’t trying to learn the basics. No, they’re having a creative workout. So, I was beyond pleased to discover this drawing session offered through Airbnb during my stay in New York City.
Chrysler Building
Wow, you just can’t go wrong and, let me come back to this, your skill level is NOT the important thing. Say, you went to do a yoga session. It’s like that. Everyone moves at their own pace. Funny I should mention yoga as the instructor for this Airbnb experience, Ben Ponté, is both an artist and a yoga instructor. Well, it makes total sense to me.
With all that said, I had a blast. And maybe, at my relatively high skill level, I was tapping deeper into our shared activity than one could expect from a novice. Again, it doesn’t matter. First, I’ve spent a lifetime developing my art. If someone walks in and is trying out something they are new or unfamiliar with, they are simply going to need to take things one step at time.
New York Public Library
Look, I’ve been hitting the gym regularly since the start of this year and it has become very apparent to me that I’m at a beginner level to say the least. I’m more into recovery exercises from years of being a coach potato. Well, maybe not a total coach potato. But, there you go, we all have our stuff to work out.
The moral to this story is pretty straightforward. Be passionate about life and go out there and tackle new things but know your limits. If you have to take small steps, then so be it. Before you know it, you’ll reach a master level. It’s good for the soul and just plain fun to reach a certain skill level. I have my faults but I can always come back to the drawing board in more ways than one. And, at an actual drawing board, I feel right at home.
Bryant Park
I found a moral but the big point also is that I sense everyone had a good time under the leadership of our very upbeat and accessible instructor. Yes, I can’t praise Ben’s course more than to state right here that it really got me thinking and got me motivated. I’m telling you, it’s a creative workout–and we all need that. Everyone can lay down a mark and express themselves. That is one of the big secrets, I suppose, to drawing. It’s all about process. The only way you’ll get it is by actually doing it. The same thing with going to a gym: the only way you’ll get results is by actually working out at the gym.
You’ll have to pardon my rambling, if it comes across that way. I just felt like jotting all this down. I’m still in New York City as I write this. And I’m still right in the middle of a thousand and one things related to being in New York City! Ah, the city that never sleeps!
Alright, I had better find a way to wrap up. Well, I highly recommend Airbnb for so many reasons. For the purpose of this post: try out the Airbnb experiences! And, when in New York City, get your Airbnb creative drawing workout from Ben Ponté! Vist Ben right here. Check out his Airbnb session, “Sketch Your Way Around New York” right here.
