New Paintings

A few finished pieces for the upcoming show at Caffe Vita.

Preview of Coming Abstractions

Here's a sneak peak at some paintings in the works. I'll be showing these and others at Portland's Caffe Vita in February.

Experiment in grey

 

Alternative Press Expo

I'll be an San Francisco this weekend for the Alternative Press Expo, October 1st and 2nd. I'm sharing table 562 with Josh Shalek. I'll be debuting a new minicomic as well as the second edition of "Cryptozoology: A Pragmatist's Guide," and will be selling the rest of my wares, including original art from "Cryptozoology." If you're in the bay area this weekend, do stop by.

Second Edition and New Cover for "Cryptozoology"

I'm releasing a second edition of "Cryptozoology: A Pragmatist's Guide" to be debuted at San Francisco's Alternative Press Expo in October. Last year I debuted the first edition there and sold out, so more copies will be on hand this time. Hope to see you there.

Commonplace 6

I kinda bailed on the background on this one, but oh well. Also, I'm too inconsistent to call these "Weekly Drawings" anymore, but I'll keep doing them. Given the pattern of the facebook "likes" from the same core group of interested persons, I feel confident that all five of you will forgive my deadline woes.

The Knives of Park Kitchen

"The Knives of Park Kitchen," 24"x48," oil on wood (click to enlarge)

I just recently completed this commissioned painting for Scott Dolich, the chef/owner of Park Kitchen. Each of the cooks and chefs contributed an implement for inclusion in the piece, making a veritable portrait of the kitchen. The painting will soon be hung in the restaurant. If you stop in to see it, I recommend the flank steak salad.

(Bi)Weekly Drawing: Commonplace 5

Minicomics never say die!

My comics now grace the shelves of a new location, Astoria, Oregon's own Amazing Stories. Tim, the owner is shifting away from mainstream comics and wants more small press and self-published work, so if you're heading to Astoria, bring books for consignment.

http://amazingstoriesastoria.com/

Weekly Drawing: Commonplace 4

Weekly Drawing: Commonplace 3

New Comic, New Character

Announcing the completion of, "The Suit in: 'Surplus Property,'" a new collaborative comic with the writer Adam McGovern!

Page one of eight

Adam pitched me the script back in April at the MoCCA Festival, with a completed and polished script. I did my usual hemming and hawing about getting started on it, but once underway it went pretty fast. Adam is an exemplary collaborator, thoughtful, precise, communicative and straightforward. He's taking point on finding publication outlets, so more on that as it happens.

Weekly Drawing: Commonplace 2

Weekly Drawing: Commonplace 1

To keep the blog fresh and active I'll be uploading a new illustration per week. As of late I've been shifting my focus from natural forms onto man-made objects. I'm calling this series Commonplace, made up of everyday landmarks I photograph on the street.  Here is the first of (hopefully) many to be coming at a (hopefully) weekly rate.

I used sumi ink and chalk pencil on textured brown paper. Its a new technique for me, combining two methods I've used before, ink and chiaroscuro. I used to do drawings like this with charcoal, a much messier, crude medium. With the ink I can achieve charcoals mid-tones and sharp black lines.To get these gradients with ink I let it dry out enough to thicken, barely load the bristles and lightly brush across the high points of the paper's texture.

I really like the look of this, so perhaps after some more practice, I'll try inking a whole comic this way. No promises...

Progress photos

The aforementioned painting (top) for Park Kitchen, and others, in progress.

Trimetrodon Prints Done

What do you get when you cross a Permian reptile with Portland transit? Trimetrodon, of course. These three color, 11"x14" prints are now available for $16 from an edition of 36. Special thanks to Sean O'Connor for his help, his time and his know how.

Trimetrodon Three Color Prints

Here's a digital mock up of the forthcoming three color prints of Trimetrodon.

Expect these within a week or so. They'll be available via email or my slowing developing etsy shop. Price and edition number are yet to be determined.

MoCCA Report

Last weekend marked my first appearance at the MoCCA festival, both as an exhibitor and attendee. I'd heard mixed reviews about the show from past exhibitors, so I had to try it out myself. Spending a weekend in selling my comics and picking up new ones is my kind of business trip, so even if it didn't go well, it would be an excuse to go back to New York.

Now that it's come and gone I can say that it was a great success. This was only the second time I've crossed the country for a convention. I've noticed that many East Coasters, don't make it out to exhibit at west coast shows. I understand why, and actually I'm envious of the proximity of big markets and large conventions on east coast. If we had more than Seattle, Portland and San Francisco I'd never leave my time zone either.

But the benefit of going so far for a show is all the new people to meet. Because this was such a highlight at MoCCA I decided to write a little about some of them. First I'll have to acknowledge the usual suspects, the guys who would make these shows great even if I didn't sell a single thing.

First off was my tablemate and comics co-conspirator Matt Ocasio, aka Jack Bracken. He graciously let my swelling mass of products creep over onto his half of the table, provided good conversation, and allowed me to steal many customers that he lured in with his genuine niceness.

Not far from our table were Josh Shalek and Kenan Rubenstein. Josh is a fellow Portlander as well, and gave me copies of both Scenic Byways, the newest and fourth volume of his popular webcomic Welcome to Falling Rock National Park as well as his foldy-comic critique of Malcolm Gladwell, called Boom. Kenan, the creator of the foldy comic format, is a New Yorker, and we only connect in person at or around coventions. This was the first time I was on his turf, so he took us around his beloved Greenpoint for a pre-show pubcrawl, and for Polish food on Sunday night.

Onto some new faces.

Somehow Matt Sundstrom and I both managed to make comics in tiny Portland without knowing about each other, only to cross paths in New York City. Matt traded me a copy of his new book Second Chances, which is about a day-job burnout who makes a pizza-box doppelganger to escape into nature. The plan only works out so well, but the comic is beautifully conceived.

I actually met  Ken Wong at SPX last year and was impressed by the ingenuity of his Origami Comics. As a former origamist and current comicker, its the perfect confluence of my artistic passions, both past and present. This year he had a new mini, Cyrano's Ballade. Instead of folding, hes moved onto cutting, where shorter pages play off of the longer ones underneath. Never satisfied with a standard rectangular page, its the kind of innovation I know we'll keep seeing out of Ken.

I spent my first morning in New York, of course, at the Museum of Natural History. Thinking I'd gotten my fix I prepared to satisfy a different realm of nerdiness at the comics show, but worlds collided when I found Charles Fetherolf's Giants of the Earth, which beautifully and creatively chronicles everything that's ever happened. We had a mutual appreciation for each others work, so I walked away with a new fan and a new idol.

Alec Longstreth has the kind of beard you don't forget. I'd seen him around, but we'd never been properly Introduced. Josh Shalek took care of that, which laid the groundwork for an old fashioned comics trade. He gave me the first two issues of Basewood from his series Phase 7. Chapter two ends with a cliffhanger worthy of Lost, which meant I had to get three and four at Stumptown. Now the waiting begins for chapter five...

Alec's occasional partner in crime, Jon Chad was there as well, who I'd met at Stumptown last year.  I picked up The Ruby and his new one, Maser. Both of which lived up to the work of his I've already enjoyed.

Sitting to my right was Mike Shea, who traded me for his book Furlough. I'm not usually one for stories of family drama, but with its fantasy tangents, through the eyes of a child, Furlough has a distinguishing edge. It methodically builds towards a satisfyingly simple conclusion and made for great reading on the plane ride home.

Emma T. Capps won my vote for most adorable exhibitor. At 14 years old she demonstrates some remarkable skills and motivation, and for it has earned more awards in those short years than most of us cartoonists achieve in a career. She was selling her new mini-comic, Jam Days at the show, and was donating all proceeds to 826 Valencia, which helps kind 8-18 with their writing skills. With reasons abound, I made the purchase, and as I expected, got a darn good little comic.

I left the show with many other books that I've yet to read, but these are the initial impressions. I'll post more reports on other books as I read them. I applied for next year's MoCCA Fest on the way out the door. so I'm excited to do this all over again.

Stumptown Comics Fest

Well I forgot to announce that I'd be at MoCCA until it was over, so I guess announcing that I'll be at Stumptown ten hours before the door opens is an improvement...
Come on by the Oregon Convention Center Saturday and/or Sunday the 16th and 17th and check out the show. I'll be at table C14, alongside Josh Shalek, Kenan Rubenstein, Neil Brideau and Tyrell Cannon.

MoCCA, after the fact

Last weekend I had a table at the MoCCA festival, my first show in New York and a dandy it was.

I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by my booth, whether to chat or grace me with their patronage. Eventually I will put together a longer post, something to recognize some of the great artist's I met and their work, but right now I'm getting back into convention-mode again for this weekend's Stumptown Comics Festival here in Portland.

Perhaps when both shows are said and done I'll put together a proper report on this nine-day convention intensive I'm currently in, but until then, suffice it to say that New York's comics scene is not surprisingly full of pleasant and talented folks, who made my first MoCCA a damn good time, and I thank them for it.

Scrimshaw Scout Books Done!

I just got my new Scout Books back from Pinball this week, and they came out great. You can see details of each side of the cover in previous posts.  I'll have these next weekend at MoCCA, or you can order one via email for $4 each, plus shipping.

The Malaise Trap: new copies, new cover

Imagine this folded in half.

In preparation for MoCCA this upcoming weekend Jack Bracken and I have put together some new copies of last year's release "The Malaise Trap," with pretty new covers.

The shadow on the right will be on the front. More photos to come when they are printed and ready.

Scrimshaw 2

Back covers of the new Scout Books.

More from South America

Statue of Antonio Jose de Sucre in Sucre, Bolivia

El Congreso in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Statue of Artegas in Montevideo, Uruguay

Drawings from Peru

So, I lied. I said no updates for a month, but I brought supplies with me, so what did you expect. Tiktaalik has briefly woken up with some quick ink drawings from Peru.

Templo de la Compania de Jesus in Cusco, Peru

This church is located in Plaza de Armas, Cusco´s tourist central. A passing by kid dubbed me ¨Pablo Picasso.¨

Terraces, steps and a commoner´s house at Machu Picchu

I´ve never inked a drawing on sight before. They´re a little crude, but it was fun to work differently.

Hibernation Mode

I'm glad (yes glad) to report that Tiktaalik will be shutting down for the remainder of January and all of February. While the prospect of not making any new art for a month is unsatisfying, the reason why gives me great pleasure. My absence from this blog is due to my temporary relocation to South America.
I hope to come back with all sorts of new inspiration, the likes of which could lead to many future blog entries on Tiktaalik. I will be blogging about the experience with the lovely Nan Allison, at our new, travel-based blog Eyes and Stomachs. Read along if you like, and if not, see you in March!

Scrimshaw

I promised new Scout Books, so here's the font cover. The back cover is still awaiting inking.

Trimetrodon

 

Old Project: T-Rex Scout Books

These aren't new, but they also aren't on my website. Thus, they are perfect for Tiktaalik.
 Printed by the fine folks at Pinball Publishing, these blank-page notebooks with my design are available for the low, low price of $4. They've been a hot item, so I may take a crack at designing another one soon.

The House: in comic form

Two weeks ago marked the last Christmas my family will spend in the house my Dad bought over twenty years ago. With my brother, the youngest, off to college in September it was decided that the time to downsize was nigh. In light of this, my sister commissioned all family and close friends to put their memories of the house to paper in whatever method they saw fit. All pages were collected into a book which we presented to my parents on Christmas Eve. 

Since sentimental prose is not my strong suit, I opted to make the following single-page comic.

Sleepy Hollow Lane is, in fact, where said house resides, though it has no noticeable connection to Washington Irving's. These images are mundane little scenes from around the house that anyone outside the family would not likely recognize, but, since I won't be putting this page to print I thought I'd at least share it on the blog.

First Thursday Reception and Gallery Show for January

Most of you are probably tired of being reminded, but if you haven't heard I'll be at the Sequential Art Gallery in downtown Portland Thursday night, January 6th for an opening reception. I'll be displaying the twelve main illustrations from my book "Cryptozoology: A Pragmatist's Guide." Original art will be for sale as will copies of the book. Hope to see you there.

You’re looking at Tiktaalik.

In brief, Tiktaalik was a prehistoric creature that was a halfway point in the development from fish to amphibians. 375 million years ago, these “fishapods” were a major step forward towards vertebrate life on land. Even though it was equipped with lungs, it’s doubtful that Tiktaalik ever left the water. Its weak limbs likely couldn’t support its whole weight. It was more likely relegated to shallow ponds or rivers, where its limbs helped it climb through detritus and its lungs made for easy breathing in oxygen poor waters.

Tiktaalik is also what I’ve named this blog, which I promise will not about my daily life. There will be no posts about my bad days, or pet photos, it will only be about my artwork. As you may know I have an actual website for the same purpose, but a blog is the most convenient way to present new work and announce upcoming shows and events.

So why name the blog Tiktaalik? Well, at one point, Tiktaalik was the most advanced form of vertebrate life on Earth. In a mere ten million years, however, something more advanced developed, with stronger legs and the ability to walk on land. This blog will not last that long, nor will it make any noticeable impact on evolutionary history. It will, however, present my new work better than the old website did, but it isn’t the final solution. When the time comes, like its namesake, Tiktaalik (the blog) will be replaced with something more advanced.

The idea is to incorporate a blog into the existing website, but making that happen is just not a priority right now. For now, this is it. Just until I get my legs.