I'm in NYC for the week again. I will ink the comics and scan them in properly when i return next week. but hopefully I will continue to post them regularly through the week.
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posted 7/22/08 - ("7/20/08") - yes, I have met him
And! I have asked some of my friends who are a regular part of my life to contribute some diary stories of their own days. Two more today from Ethan and from Dhanna, who you may remember both (separately) from Olympia. Here are their days:
And! I have asked some of my friends who are a regular part of my life to contribute some diary stories of their own days. The first one who did was Godric, who you may remember from the potlucks back in Olympia. Here is her day:
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posted 7/17/08 - ("7/15/08") - prayer of the firefly
Oh, and I've been hinting at me being ready to stop the diary strip, but I had a bout of inspiration in a conversation tonight, so maybe not yet. Maybe not yet.
I have posted the original artwork for the diary strips for sale. $100 for 3 strips on a page, $75 for 2 strips on a page, and from now on the remainder (for however longer I do the strip, might not be long) will be $40 for 1 strip on a page.
I have posted the original artwork for the diary strips for sale. $100 for 3 strips on a page, $75 for 2 strips on a page, and from now on the remainder (for however longer I do the strip, might not be long) will be $40 for 1 strip on a page.
By the way, I double-post this comic and my monthly "Water Street" comic at livejournal, which has an RSS feed. So, if you wish to keep up on all my work, including this daily journal comic, and use ANY feed reader, you can use this RSS feed
posted 6/15/08 - ("6/13/08") - past and present merging
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posted 6/14/08 - ("6/12/08") - help
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posted 6/13/08 - ("6/11/08") - in my head
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posted 6/12/08 - ("6/10/08") - distractions
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posted 6/11/08 - ("6/9/08") - connection
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posted 6/10/08 - ("6/8/08") - retrieval
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posted 6/9/08 - ("6/7/08") - performance
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posted 6/8/08 - ("6/6/08") - meh
Things may seem mightily gloomy in this strip, but rest assured, I'm fine. Just documenting my feelings, and the sometimes difficulty of transitions. But I have perspective, and I'm not as hard on myself as this might portray.
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posted 6/7/08 - ("6/5/08") - change can be hard
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posted 6/6/08 - ("6/4/08") - arrivals
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posted 6/5/08 - ("6/3/08") - departure
The good news is that I made it to Massachusetts safely and the apartment I had lined up sight-unseen is lovely. The sad news is that my scanner didn't seem to have made it (this is a composite of digital pictures). The good news is that I have a backup scanner. The sad news is it's in the mail, so I'll be doing photo composites probably through the week and maybe some into next. The good news is that despite sleep deprivation, I actually did today's diary strip and am going to wander to a cafe to upload it (at 10:00 at night). The sad news is that I'm still up, why the hell am I not sleeping, silly me?! I am silly. But in good spirits.
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posted 6/4/08 - ("6/2/08") - getting underneath
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posted 6/3/08 - ("6/1/08") - hugs
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posted 6/2/08 - ("5/30-31/08") - drawing and packing
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June 1st Update
Well, another month has passed, and I have decided to continue with the diary strip for a while longer, both because of its popularity and my sustained interest. So, again this is my "Water Street" monthly comic.
That said, the last two days I moved, packed, and drew all day, with spotted socialness. Which means I'm tired and have little my brain can formulate. I'm in good spirits, but I'm taking the day off. And since I am moving across the country this week, I cannot promise this won't happen again this week, but I'll do my best.
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posted 5/31/08 - ("5/29/08") - single-handed
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posted 5/30/08 - ("5/28/08") - crunch
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posted 5/29/08 - ("5/27/08") - leaving
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posted 5/28/08 - ("5/26/08") - restore
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posted 5/27/08 - ("5/25/08") - for the birds
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posted 5/26/08 - ("5/24/08") - dog days
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posted 5/25/08 - ("5/23/08") - errands
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posted 5/24/08 - ("5/22/08") - transitions
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posted 5/23/08 - ("5/21/08") - sometimes
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posted 5/22/08 - ("5/20/08") - legs
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posted 5/21/08 - ("5/19/08") - work
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posted 5/20/08 - ("5/18/08") - wrong wrong wrong
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posted 5/19/08 - ("5/17/08") - plans
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posted 5/18/08 - ("5/16/08") - transported
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posted 5/17/08 - ("5/15/08") - the extra mile
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posted 5/16/08 - ("5/14/08") - good v. bad
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posted 5/15/08 - ("5/13/08") - funny
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posted 5/14/08 - ("5/12/08") - relaxing
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posted 5/13/08 - ("5/11/08") - relaxing
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posted 5/12/08 - ("5/10/08") - inertia
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posted 5/11/08 - ("5/9/08") - results
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posted 5/10/08 - ("5/8/08") - explosive
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posted 5/9/08 - ("5/7/08") - Harvey Keitel
AND A POLL! I told Mimi I'd do a poll on Harvey Keitel's sexy rating among my readers, and lo and behold, I did!
(and yes, I am moving back to Massachusetts, bizarrely enough.)
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posted 5/8/08 - ("5/6/08") - hungry
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posted 5/7/08 - ("5/5/08") - SR-512
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posted 5/6/08 - ("5/4/08") - bulgaria
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posted 5/5/08 - ("5/3/08") - plants
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posted 5/4/08 - ("5/2/08") - peas?
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posted 5/3/08 - ("5/1/08") - run run run
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posted 5/2/08 - ("4/30/08") - slogging
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May 1st Update
What haven't I been up to this month? I've been in Seattle. Writing. Drawing. Knitting. Shipping books. Comic Festing. Making pies.
It was so lovely to get to travel for so long, but I must say that it has felt so good to be in relatively one place, to see my community here who I love so much, and to just breathe a bit.
Well, except for the stopping to breathe a bit. I have been so non-stop busy. But for good or bad, this worked well for my monthly experimental comic. I will be doing a strip a day about my life (in diary form) for the month of May. Along the lines of American Elf kind of thing. Probably some Eddie Campbell influence. Just snippets. All true (as true as memory can be), except I'll be changing most or all names. Not necessarily funny. They may change tone as I go along and discover more what I like to do with them.
For the first one, I wrote a diary of my entire day, and then re-read it a few times to decide which snippet I most wished to draw. For now, I think that is a good approach. Oh, and it will always run two days behind, because I live the first day, write and draw it the second day, and then it gets posted that night for the day after that.
You'll be able to see them daily as i post them here on baldwinpage.com at 6:00 a.m. NYC time, or you can watch as I post them over at livejournal each day after I wake up and get computer access. They'll also be archived on Water Street.
I have been traveling for about half a year, and this past friday I finally returned to the Pacific NW. Here's a lovely pic from the last leg of my last flight of my trip, as I oh-so-demurely quaff my apple juice.
I have attended my first Sunday potluck, made two pies, babysat, picked up OTHER people at the airport, taken the bus, eaten a burrito. The list is complete.
Yes-yes, but what about cartooning.
Among other things, I created the premise and core characters for Mike Rouse-Deane's Guest Strip Project, as well as wrote and drew the first strip, main banner, and cast page. Mike Rouse-Deane has done several projects like this for charities. This one benefits the Make-A-Wish foundation. I was happy to contribute. (I hope you do as well, either in cartoons or donations!)
As well, this week's addition to the Water Street annals, a comic titled Unretractable, which I have nothing to say about. Or too much to put into words.
And lastly, I also did the poster for the upcoming Olympia Comics Fest (below). I.... should be tabling. Let me get back to you on that one, but I want to. And you should drop by regardless. (But I WILL definitely be tabling at Stumptown in Portland on the 26th-27th).
I had a lovely February, including a cheerful birthday which included hot tubs and snowmobiles (beasts I do not love, but it was an exciting brief experience). And now I am about to embark to see some close friends in NY, then a wedding in Pheonix, and back to the Pacific NW in time for the Stumptown Comics Fest on April 26-27 (where yes, i will be tabling. Stop by!)
And then there's this month's comic.
I'm not even sure the feeling is hatred. But when I come back to my hometown, it wins. It is boxing with one round, and I'm sleeping on the floor til 3 is counted. And I've been here, and I've been pretty happy and feel good and confident these days, and so I thought I could go out and face it a bit, but I've always been a sucker in that way.
I've walked every street in this town in my youth, depressed and full of unjustified fear, and doing it again on any level just makes me sink into myself. And then I bumped into some folks I never wished to bump into again, and I suddenly was not even in my body.
Anyhow, so I got a beer and a veggie burger at the people's pint and scribbled out a comic. Not even a comic about it, as much as a comic which embodied my emotion and allowed me to not become present in my body again, while my hands did what they wanted to do.
Oh, and my hometown isn't a terrible place. This is my personal past, and little more. And this month has actually even given me a bit of resolution with it.
Anyhow. I'm actually working on a different experimental short, but didn't have it done. But this one, with its pencil sketchiness and its bizarre self-avatar... I've come to really like, and wanted to include it on Water Street.
Well, December passed, busy, social, traveling. January was much the same, although I kept better organized and managed to write and draw a new comic. A somewhat dark piece, in a way which isn't something I normally would do, but it was fun to play with and I am pleased with it.
It's called Moved In. And as per usual, is linked from baldwinpage.com off of the Water Street page.
I try to post an experimental comic on the first of every month, but unfortunately I have no update this month. I've been traveling; Boston, Dublin; and simply couldn't manage to finish it. So, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until February 1st.
I've had plenty of ideas though. Lovely ideas. Wicked ideas.
I have no recollection of October. It is so long ago that eras have whizzed past like so many pieces of pie.
Philadelphia was wonderful, and I made new friends and was all happiness (except leaving). And now I'm traveling yonder here and there, and life's good.
Where I've been staying the last two weeks, there is no internet. So I've spent plenty of time running back and forth to under the oak in the front yard, under which I can pick up the neighbor's wireless. I am currently writing this blog post inside, and will hopefully spend minimum time outside uploading it. It is late. Cold. Hopefully the forecasted snow has not begun yet (I have only been out there checking email twice while it was snowing so far). Ah, the elements. So refreshing. Or something. emphasis on "or something."
(Update. Server was down. Emailed administrator. An hour later it was blizzarding out. I went to bed, and am posting this the next morning)
So, I need to pack, as I'm heading on in the morning. So this will be brief.
This month's comic is a mix of a bunch of things. The drawing style largely from other comics I've been playing with and from my work with MAD Magazine. Some of it was inspired by Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim (why yes, you should pick it up and read it). Also the loose fun storytelling was inspired by his writing, and heavily derivative of my days writing Bruno.
Anyhow. It's called No Two Alike. And as per usual, is linked from baldwinpage.com off of the Water Street page.
Well, October was a freakin' doozie. Holy cow. Started off with the Stumptown comics fest, during which I had wayyyy too much fun, but have already blogged about it. Then I gave away my bed and furniture and packed everything I own, and floated east. Just traveling. A brief visit to my 2-month-old step-nephew (and his parents) in Providence RI, and now for a bit in Philadelphia.
I was in Northampton/Amherst MA for a day with Anya (during which I oddly bumped into Rich Stevens), and here is a pic she took of me by the Montague Bookmill (yes, it is as cool as all that).
Anyhow. So all is well. Keeping up on Little Dee and freelance work while on the road. My brother wrote and is helping me record a version of the Little Dee Sea Shanty "We Rogues of Wool." Life is fun.
So, this month's comic is a 4 page story called "Mariana 1/365." It came about because I have been wanting to do a silent comic for a while, and it's been a struggle because there are few silent comics I really enjoy. And then I was corresponding with Marianna (she spells it with two "n"s), and I quoted wikipedia about Tennyson's poem entitled "Mariana". And the idea popped into me of a "day in the life."
Oh, and the pages looked pretty, so they're for sale for $100 apiece (links at the bottom of each page)
Here is a link to the comic: Mariana 1/365 and it's linked, as per usual, off of the Water Street page.
Spoiler!: I'm not usually one for gimmicks, but i kinda used one in this comic, and it's subtle enough that's I'm pleased. Each panel of the comic is one hour later, and so I shaped each panel to be the hour of the day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. (24 hour "military" time). I thought I'd post about it after you've all read it, so that those who notice can have that pleasure of self-discovery. :)
First, this weekend was the lovely Stumptown comics fest. I had a great time, seeing old friends in cartooning who I hadn't seen since last year, and meeting new ones. So many people came by just to say hello, and it was fun chatting and just relaxing. Sushi was had, Art Battles were fought, and it was good. Below is a pic taken by the lovely Amy Sakurai who stopped by to say hello.
There was sailing. My friend Mary came up to visit. There were wanderings about Portland and Seattle. I saw Matt's art exhibit. Started reading up on brain function and Nootropics (Rich's fault). Miles and I fell off the swing. Come to find out, I didn't miss out on the Tesla coil at Ben's housewarming. Freelance stuff. And I just release Little Dee Volume #2.
Mid-October i will be moving out of my current residence and become a wandering cartoonist again for a while, focusing on the New England/Northeast. For possibly quite a few months. Not worrying about where it leads, just about getting everything packed and in storage before I begin the big float.
Well, the comic this month. Entitled The Inner Cell. The story actually came out of an inspired email exchange with Jen Wang. Scott McCloud's 24 hour comic challenge for some reason seemed the appropriate method. Perhaps I felt that in this case: the less I thought about what i was writing/drawing, the better.
Overall, I am pleased with it. It was fun to work with such intensity, and to have to be loose, while holding it together. And parts of it I am totally in love with.
My friend Dan accompanied me for drawing a 24-hour comic (he finished his as well), and the whole experience was infinitely more awesome for his company. Here's a picture of Dan and I, about half-way through (it was a long day/night):
And here's me doing a look-over before adding the final touch-ups:
Warning, some male fontal nudity, not necesarily work friendly! Read it here! Enjoy! :) (permanent link at baldwinpage.com under "water street")
Well hell, it has been quite the month of months. One of the most fun months in recent memory, and has been overwhelmingly non-stopping. I think it might be the becoming a full-time cartoonist. I am in my element, artistically and socially.
Well, let's get some of the basics out of the way.
First, Little Dee Volume #2 will be out neat the end of the month. Here's a link to the cover. Front Cover. Back Cover.
Second, I will be at the Stumptown Comics Fest at the end of the month, again tabling with the inevitable Kevin Moore. And I'll have Dee #2 with me if you don't get a chance to purchase it by then. Oh, and theoretically I'll be moderating a Q&A with Shaenon Garrity, definitely worth stopping by to see.
Thirdly, I finished drawing this month's comic, entitled From My Window (archived off of the Water Street page). Hopefully the fact that it took me two months was worth the wait. It was written by the irrefutable Anya Kozorez. I adapted it, we bickered, it was a good time, and hopefully you'll see more from us as a team. She is awesome and is one of my oldest and closest friends, but I can say (utterly unbiasedly) that she is a fabulous writer.
The protagonist is actually based on Anya, herself. You are welcome to declare, "Egads! There is some visual similarity between her and Bruno!" because... well.. there is some. Although I created Bruno before meeting Anya, Bruno's evolution of appearance was definitely influenced by Anya. Or perhaps i was originally attracted to Anya because i was crushed out on my own comic strip. Weirdo.
The style of this particular comic was inspired by works by John Singer Sargent. In a number of his paintings he did this thing where the focal points (usually face) were in focus, and the rest in a sort-of blurred expressionistic style. Below is a sample. I used this as a jumping platform, but also used the blurring occasionally like a camera focus, creating depths of field.
And i think that's it for now. I'm moving out of my apartment around mid-October, and will begin drifting like seaweed, untill I settle again upon some rock.
Hey everybody. Hope you had a good July. I'm in Alaska for the first time in about a decade, visiting my sister. Tomorrow we're going to be road-tripping, camping in Denali, and kayaking around glaciers in Prince William Sound. And so I am posting this month's post a few days early because I have no idea when I'll have internet next (arriving back in Olympia on the 7th).
Here: here's a pic from my trip. My sister and I had wine and cheese with some interns she works with at a local farm. They live in a cabin with no electricity, plumbing, or driveway (they live about a mile from the road). And they had a cap made of cardboard beer labels knitted together, which they took a picture of me wearing.
So, yes. Anyhow.
Ahem. So, I'll start off this post with the lousy news. :(
One is that I have no comic to post this month. I was really busy getting ready for this Alaska trip (getting ahead on Little Dee, etc), not to mention that I'm losing a week because I'm on the trip. I also got some time-consuming freelance jobs I needed to do. I've also been busy doing a few interviews for Little Dee, as well as dealing with the strip's transfer back to littledee.net as well as to Modern Tales.
Which brings us to the other lousy news. Things didn't work with the syndicate for Little Dee. No real fault on either side. They feel it's still missing something, but don't seem to know what the missing thing is. So it was let go.
Everything else has been fine. I had a lovely 4th of July, visiting my cousin (and extended family), as well as at a party hosted by the charming Miles and his sidekick, Naomi. It was also great because I got to see my friend Kyle (and meet Ian) who has been living in Denmark these past two years.
A few days later I babysat for the first time ever (for 6 hours). He is only a year and a half old, and adorable. It was prety awesome.
I have a few stories ideas for new short comics which I'm pretty excited about, and the thumbnails are done for the comic I've been collaborating on with Anya (which will still probably be my next comic post).
Anyhow, and I guess that's about it. I'll end with some links:
First, if you're itching for some strange but lovely short comics, check out Jen Wang's work (click on the "art" link").
Hey, Everybody. The first of the month is here again, as it seems to be so quickly every month.
And all is well.
I made a great friend this last month. I got a ticket to visit my sister up in Fairbanks, Alaska. I got wonderful news from my brother and his wife. I had good talks with my housemate. I also made a spice cake, which I felt afterwards, could have used a maple frosting. The cake was actually bit of an anomaly, as I've been in a pie phase. Rhubarb, raspberry chocolate, strawberry, cherry. Lordie it's been happy times.
And upcoming in July, I get to see Kyle again, who is visiting from Denmark. And then I actually get to go to Fairbanks (I will not be making it to San Diego this year, I'm afraid).
In comic news. I drew a Diesel Sweeties fill-in strip, which will run sometime this week. Freelance is going well, although I always welcome new jobs. I also have found a printer for Little Dee book #2 (the printer I used for book#1 is no longer in the biz), and so I will begin pre-press on that and hopefully it won't be too long coming. There is no news on Little Dee syndication, although things continue fine. The plan is still to move Little Dee back to littledee.net on August 1st, including ALL the archive (the syndicate still has a long period after that when they can choose to syndicate, so it does not mean it's a dead deal).
I also completed my usual monthly short comic. This month I am beginning one of my larger projects. This story will be told in little scenes with an underlying theme. I'm not sure how eventually I will piece them all together, if I will develop a quiet and understated plot (I have a few ideas on that), or if it will simply be vignettes, and leave it at that. But right now I have about a dozen scenes in my head, and will begin to draw them, posting them here on my monthly blog when I don't have other random short comics to post. (next month, for instance, I will be posting a comic which Anya wrote and I adapted).
The working title for the entire project is "Cordon by the sea." This month's installment is titled "Silas."
The underlying story revolves around a woman named Mona, who went off to college fourteen years ago and has just returned to the town she grew up in. The town is called Cordon, and is fairly isolated due to it being wedged between the mountains and the sea.
I am guessing that many of you who loved "Bruno" may like this work as a whole, as it shares many qualities. There is a general underlying story, but overall it's simply snapshots of life. Ideas and scenes I find interesting and wish to play out. There perhaps is less humor (as if "Bruno" was so uproariously funny), but I am guessing the feel will often be similar.
I should warn that this month's installment is sexual in topic, although I wouldn't describe it as titillating. There is no actual nudity or sex, or even kissing. But the topic of conversation is sexual in nature. I did jump into a fairly bold conversation in the first installment, but it will help to push me to continue exploring ideas in the future even when I'm feeling gun-shy.
I find sex an interesting topic, because we (most of us) do it, it's embedded in all our culture, it's a significant and incredibly intimate part of our relationship with others, and seems so rarely spoken about. And when it is spoken about, I have rarely heard it in any really exploring and interesting manner.
Also, know that some of the things I wrote I don't agree with, or don't agree with in their entirety. It's just some characters chit chatting.
My influences are many, and as usual, I like to cite the significant ones. Dylan Horrocks certainly was a part. Both his character writing in Hicksville, his tone in his contribution to "Dirty Stories," and also his current Atlas Stories (specifically the "emil kopen" ones). The Hernandez Brothers certainly played a large role too. Gilbert's world building for Palomar, as well as his lovely storytelling and characters. Jaime for his artwork and character studies. Film writer/director Catherine Breillat was also a big influence, her insight into human nature as well as sexuality still blows me away (I certainly don't recommend her films to many, as they are dark, startling, and unusual. but if you're curious to sample them, maybe start with "Fat Girl" or "Brief Crossing").
As far as the city of Cordon goes, it is not a real city. but I have been playing out these stories of Mona in my head for a few years now, and I sometimes imagine a place like Peru. Partially because Peru has a similar "wedged" coast, but also I will be using a number of storytelling devices i have picked up from books, movies, and comics written in Central and South America.
I decided to draw the comic with felt-tip pen (although the lettering is with a Pilot rolling-ball pen). I'm not sure I'll stick with it. I adore doodling with felt tip, but I've simply become addicted to the brush.
Oh, and the pages are for sale (link at the bottom of each page) for $50. Pages from previous short comics I've posted are also for sale (for various prices), even if not listed. Feel free to ask.
I read a bunch about plot constructing, have begun working on writing the graphic novels. Not a lot, but progress has been un-stalled, so that is good. Otherwise it's been a decently happy month for me, but relatively uneventful. Worked hard, mostly on Little Dee and on freelance work. Spent a week working up in Seattle. Finished the poster for the Olympia Comic Fest (come on by. It's on the 9th, and I'll be tabling, and will be on a webcomics panel with Jenn Manley Lee and Dylan Meconis.)
Bruno book #10 finally arrived today, the 31st, and is available. I'm sorry it took so long! All orders should be in the mail by Saturday (Monday at the latest).
I still haven't fixed up baldwinpage.com and all it's disorganized archives, and the fact that it is such a mess has been weighing on me, so expect some movement there soon when I can no longer bear it.
This month's comic is only a three pager (feel free to read it first, my talking about it is a bit of a spoiler this month). It's a strange mix. It began with an image in my head of someone having fallen asleep wearing a headlamp to read by. And I've been thinking about how easy it is to get stalled in life, to not really being happy, but forgetting that you can change. And I've been reading books by genre, and currently am plowing through a bunch of YA Fantasy/Adventure books, and so they worked their way in. It was thumbnailed at 10 pages, but it felt extraneous, so i chopped it to 3. The inking is the way it is because i wanted to balance out the fact I've been only working in expressive inking styles with the last several comics. I also was influenced by Jaime Hernandez's "Love and Rockets" (the Maggie and Hopey stories), and the final splash picture was inspired by "The Tale of Genji" by Yoshitaka Amano. If you're wondering about the nipple, you're thinking too much. Think of it as a self-aware (yet pleasant) nod of the genere of fantasy/adventure comics.
So yeah. now, go read it. It's called "Sack Tower" which I'm not sure if that's a description of the action of the story, or is the name of the tower. (archived on my home page on the water street page)
There is a short comic this month, which I'll talk about, but first some things....
As of April 20th 2007, I left working a day job. I am now a full-time cartoonist. I was working 20 hour weeks at work, and then another 50 hours of cartooning at home. I think I'll be able to afford to do this due to the freelance work I've been getting, but we'll see.
I am not much of a drinker, largely due to the effect it has on my productivity, but I felt too worn down to organize a "I'm now a cartoonist party" and so I instead asked my friends out for a drink, which they readily agreed to, as long as i actually drank. People were in fair spirits, but a tad quiet, and so I kept making speeches/toasts, to life, etc etc. The next day i found a piece of paper in my jacket pocket on which my friend Keylee had written one of my short speeches, which went like this:
"My plans for this year... is to be awesome!"
I think everyone should try to have that kind of outlook, regardless of how damned they likely are.
Regarding Bruno book #10, I called my printer yesterday and they said it's at the bindery this week and therefore should be done this week, which means I should be receiving it late next week. Sorry it's taken so long, they've been a tad slow on this one.
In random events: This movie: Eagle Vs Shark looks really good to me, and I hope it comes to Olympia.
I did travel to Tucson, as I mentioned. And wrote up a photo-report on it, if you're interested. (perma-linked from My Travel Page)
And aside from that, this month's activities have been things like taxes, Olympia Arts Walk/Procession of the Species (which is awesome), helped Bethanne move. That kind of thing. i still have not begun working on my graphic novel scripts, and am so itching to, but yet again, it's been a hell of a busy month.
No news on Little Dee syndication. It's remaining at comics.com for a while longer though.
Regarding this month's comic, ASTRONAUT ASTRONAUT. It's a 5-pager and it is a tribute of sorts to cartoonists. Kinda' me celebrating my becoming a cartoonist full-time: in all its elation, geekiness, and alienation.
And actually, I should mention, although some of the cartoonists are spoken of in a not-so-flattering light, no cartoonist was mentioned who i don't have deep respect for on some level, and it would've been boring if it was all positive.
It was fun to work with the style I did. I pencilled it, lettered it, and then inked it with a rolling-ball pen. And then added shadows with a brush, and then grey-tones again with the pen. I very much like the results. (the stars were just computer touch-up fiddling.) I did not opt to have the artwork in this piece be an exploration of a "fine" artists's style (like I did with Chagall), but the influence of Joann Sfar's b&w work, as well as Frank Miller's is clearly there.
And I also had some general thoughts about this month's short comic, about how my short pieces tend to be somewhat abstract or surreal. And I think it's because i don't feel a short comic is long enough to develop a character well enough to please me, and so i treat short pieces more like poems. They become metaphor, or tone. Broad strokes, sometimes random strokes. If I wrote in a poem: "the rope has loosened from fading pier, I find no answers from friends nor beer, I'm on a planet far-far from here," it would not seem so surreal because we are used to reading metaphors in text. And so i think I've been playing around with how that looks in comics. I like some of it, and some of it i don't think works as well.
I am posting this a few days early because I'm about to head off to Tucson for a week of sun and much-needed rest and so I didn't want to worry about posting while I as on the road
So... March slammed me and rolled me buck in the mud and spat me out.
In a good way.
Yeah, I've had a lot of freelance work this month. My days have been working my job for 4 hours, and then drawing for 9. Draw all weekend. That said, I don't have a short comic for you this month, but I have a number of drawings to show.
No news on working on the graphic novels, but the syndicate has been very actively working with me on "Little Dee," so that feels positive. I just spoke with the printer on Bruno book#10 and they estimate I'll get the books around April 20th.
So, I'll post some drawings, and then ramble on a bit about thoughts on comics and life and such.
First, I went to a drop-in figure drawing class 3 times this month. It's basically 2 hours, a model (warning: nudes!), no instructor. I have posted all my drawings from the sessions here or click on the image:
A poster I did for the Olympia ComicsFestival which is on May 19th (I will be tabling there). The poster will actually have both information and color, but here is the linework all done:
So, i was doing research on what will likely be a future month's "Water Street" installment here, and I was watching a documentary "El Che, Investigating a Legend" about Che Guevera, and I often play the game of: who in Hollywood would play these people if it was made into a movie. Hands down, Liam Neeson would be Castro (though Liam might be getting to old for the part), and Che? He's a tough one. I finally narrowed it down to Matt Damon or Mike Meyers. I know these seem like odd choices, but watch videos, you might see what i mean. Then I was thinking about the age difference of the actors and the lovely relationship between the two real people (Che and Castro), and i thought it would be a lovely show that as Castro sees his life fading, he is visited by Che. Would that be a rocking story or what?
Anyhow, that's what i think.
Oh, and there were some lovely drawings by some guy names "Bustos" of Che and fellow gurrillas, which helped lead to their capture. I can't find them online, but I liked their rawness and yet accurate capturing of the men.
I was recently reading Brunetti's "An Anthology of Graphic Fiction." And I had a thought, and that is that I don't understand why 90% of "serious" comics are about horrible things. Rape, genocide, people being shitty to each other. Depravity for the sake of depravity. And I did come up with some pet theories, the shy desire for love which i think inspires a lot of cartoonists, maybe because there is only comedy or tragedy, and only tragedy is worth a plum nickel. Many varied silly theories. But in the end I reached no conclusion and didn't feel the need to. But I did realize that it defines me a lot as a cartoonist.
And I was thinking on that, and I think I write basically optimistic stories. Bruno was depressed a lot of the time (and it did often get bogged down in that), but she was always striving to be good, and to act lovingly. "I am Hans Krunkel" has some difficult and dark things in it, and the awl will forever stand out in my mind, but at the same time, the story is about a release, a moving forward.
And this also reflects in which graphic novels I adore. "nausicaa" and "Hicksville" and "The Rabbi's Cat" and "Palomar" etc. I feel even Lynda Barry's "The Freddie Stories" fits in here, though it straddles a bit.
I'm no better than anyone else, and my creations and favorites i don't feel reflect any superiority (Clowes, Crumb, Ware, etc are all supremely talented), but it's good to know what one loves. And it makes me happy that the things I love are in general about positiveness.
I recently read "American Born Chinese" as well as "Perdida," both were really well done. Oh, and "Dark Knight Strikes Again (DK2)" by Frank Miller which was a romp and had plenty of interesting bits, but overall fell a little short of the groundbreaking that "Dark Knight Returns" was at the time.
Anyhow, on another note, I just want to say how excited I've been about writing comics these days. I've been receiving really great, and often intense, editorial criticism for my work both with the syndicate and with MAD Magazine. And it's something I've craved for years. I resisted the feedback some at first, as I instinctively to do, but now that I've gotten into the flow of accepting new ideas and working with them, I've been thrilled. I think it's helping all of my work, adding dimension to even to my non-humor work.
It excites me. :)
And that's all my thoughts for the month. And so I'll end it with a youtube video by one of my favortie Director's Julio Medem:
It has been a very busy month. I turned 34, and I had a really happy time celebrating with friends. I spent a lot of time this month working on the strip-ending orders for Bruno, and then pre-press of Book #10 (it's been sent to the printer). I have not modified baldwinpage at all, but I am only human.
I've spent the remainder of my time on this and that. Freelance work. Learning about Mind Mapping to help brainstorm. That kind of thing. I stopped posting Little Dee at littledee.net, in order to boost hits at comics.com to increase my chances of syndication.
I didn't get any work done on other longer projects, although I am so very eager to get to one. I was simply crazy-busy getting all this done this month. BUT I did get a short comic done....
I want to try to post some illustrations or a comic or something every month, and this month I finished a 11 page (plus title page) comic titled "Vava." I wished to increase my cartooning vocabulary by studying artists I love, and so this first on that theme, and is inspired by the works of Marc Chagall. The "cat" is named after his second wife.
I actually inted(ed) to add shading, but after a few hours and still no satisfactory results on a tester page, I gave up (for now?).
It is NOT work friendly (it has nudity).
You can read it by clicking HERE or on the picture below (at baldwinpage.com, you'll find it archived in the Waterstreet section.)
So, um... hello Bruno readers, and readers of general Baldwin stuff.
Once a month I will be blogging here to talk about what projects are being thought about, worked on, or posted, if I have any to post.
I do not yet have an RSS feed for myspace or other blog interfaces. if anyone wants to do that and then post here how others can read it elsewhere, that'd be great. I am so not computer savvy sometimes, it's criminal.
As you know, Bruno will be ending soon. The date is still not set in stone, I've been busy and sick and so have not been able to review the last couple of weeks, though there may be another week or two added on it(though Feb 12th is the tentative date). I will have books for pre-sale before it ends, which means I gotta get my act together on drawing a cover.
As you know, I currently am drawing Little Dee under contract with United Media at comics.com. The goal is syndication, so keep your fingers crossed.
I have several graphic novels in the works, though all still in infant stages. One, PASS (working title), I have roughly scripted, rejected, and am currently reading related-style books and history books to aid me in rewriting it. Two, Only Sleeping which you know I've done several pages for is back to the writing stage. I realized it was good, but not brilliant, and so was not worth a couple years of my life unless it was. A humorous side-note, I lost the pencils while doped up on sleeping pills in some airport between here and Providence, though I thankfully had a backup. And I must say, it was nice to sleep during the red-eye. Three, SAS(working title), is in rough idea form. A romance. I've written down a lot of notes, but haven't begun any writing.
I will also be continuing making short pieces for Water Street (and eventually print a collection of them). I have an 11 page story pencilled, titled Vava, which hopefully I'll have ready for my March 1st post. I also plan to adapt a short story written by Anya Kozorez entitled From My Window. My idea for a story titled Conversation about Clinton may have died a stubborn death after me reading a couple books on the ex-president and feeling less enthusiasm. We'll see.
Anyhow, I'm going to end this month's post with a rejected submission to MAD Magazine. I have a growing stack of them, so I'm happy to share. :)
2/14/07 - Well. I guess this is it. It felt so weird to set down my pen when I was done with this strip. That's it. Eleven years. There it is.
I wish I had some optimistic vision of a blazing path ahead of me, but even though there are several projects I'm developing, it's hard to see past doing Book#10 pre-press this weekend, then freelance jobs, then taxes, and maybe a breather for my birthday (the 25th) (I'm turning 34 I think).
Again, I wish to mention that I'll be blogging on the 1st of every month as to what I'm up to (here, livejournal or myspace). I also hopefully will clean up this site, including (among other things) fixing the archive, updating my bio page, etc.
For all of you who've patroned for Book #10, please make sure to double-check your name (updated in the list below). Everyone else, today's the last day for your name as a patron in book#10 if you wish.
And lastly, thank you. I know this isn't goodbye for most of you, you'll keep a watchful eye on me, make sure I'm not up to no good. But still, I may have been sailing the ship, but you're all the ones who've kept vigil on the rocks, stormy seas buffeting your view. You've put me up when I was traveling, bailed me out when my finances fell through, and been generous, kind, and supportive when times were bad, okay, and even good.
And you've loved Bruno, as I have.
I can't thank you all enough. And I hope the ending of the strip pleases you. I worked hard (about 7 months lead-up) to make the ending feel good, solid, right, and at the same time, not too precious. Because although the strip is ending, tomorrow Bruno will wake up and her life will continue.
my best,
-Christopher
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Bruno Book#10 avail. for presale. Books prices cut from $13 down to $10. See more below.
2/12/07 - So. A few things.
1. Bruno will finish Wednesday, 2/14/07. And it's a coincidence it's Valentine's Day, although somewhat amusing.
2. "Bruno" Book#10 is now available for pre-sale (that's the cover posted above). I am doing this now because you're all still here reading the strip, although it won't be back from the printer to me until probably early April. Order now and I'll send it when they arrive in my hands. (store is in upper right-hand corner of this page)
3. I am still accepting patronages though the end of the day Wednesday for "Bruno" Book #10. (also, double-check your name's spelled correctly below, which I've kept updating)
4. I've cut sales on books from $13 down to $10. I wish to clean house a bit, and with the strip ending I anticipate sales dropping off. If you've bought Bruno books recently and you feel gypped, please email me and I'm sure we can work something out. I don't want to step on any toes.
6. If you didn't catch it, on the 1st of every month I will post a blog of what art projects I'm working on. You can read it here (at the bottom of this page), or at livejournal or myspace.
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2/8/07 - Patron names are updated below!
And I now have a Baldwin Myspace Account. Basically, I did some reading on RSS feeding livejournal to myspae and couldn't make sense of it all, and it seems few others do. So i just took the simple route. :)
2/6/07 - Holy cats. So, in my dazed flu state, I looked at the calendar and realized that Bruno is ending soon. I went to edit the final strips, and found there to only be five strips left (only four now), ending next wednesday (the 14th). I guess I've been trying not to think about it, its just too much emotion right now.
So, in prepping for the book (which I be putting together as soon as the strip is finished) I am trying to clean up the patron page. I am deeply in gratitude for the support you've all given me, it's often been a struggle to meet financial ends while doing the comic, and you all have bailed me out more times than I deserve. And so, with the patron page, I like to do these things right.
Below is the basic break-down (category names to be determined). If your name is here, check to make sure it's spelled correctly. If your name is missing and it should be here, tell me. If you requested it to be different or to not be here, double-check to make sure that I followed instructions correctly. And if you wish to join the list (or raise your amount), please do in the next couple days, or you'll miss your chance.
100 and up
Adam Buchbinder
Robert Cudinski
Laurel Donnelly
Wei-Hwa Huang
Oskar Kainu Wiggert
60-100
Vicka Rael Corey, PhD.
Sam Dodsworth
John-Paul Ferguson
Paul Guertin
Annie Kleve
Mary Lucking
Seth Milliken
Amy Sakurai
John Saunders
Paul Selkirk
Sarah Stewart
Aaron G. Stock
30-59
Nancy Baldwin
Jennifer "cat" Barts
Gordon Davidescu
Morvan Deghelt
Anthony Foiani
Nicola Fusco
Michael Gust
Sako Hagiwara
Tim Jarrett
Sean Kinlin
Brian Kitchell
Peter Lewerin
David McKenzie
Joyce Melton
Marc Moorcroft
Sara Pickett
J.B. Segal
Will Strang
Gwyneth Whieldon
1-29
Holly Abreu
Steven Akins
Toby Bartels
Chris Battey
Dirk Bergstrom
Zachary Blessing
Rosemary Brock
Brooks Clark
Sam Coupland
Gary Couse
Michael Craven
Sam Dodsworth
Doug Faunt
Michelle Garcia
Samuel Gavin
Noah Gibbs
David Golding
Wylie Graham
Diana Green
Phredd Groves
Donald Hargraves
R. Michael Harman
Austin Henry
Andrew Hickmott
Daniel Huiginn
Michael Johnson
Richard Levitte
Carrie Lynn King
Linda Kippner
Allen Klesh
Ralph Kolewe
Luis Morales
Deanne Neiburger
Jeremy Otis
Sara Pickett
Carin Mary Lee Powell
Sean Purdy
Jeff Rattray
Heather Reid
Daniel van Reijen
Clara Rhee
Jessica Roy
Laurie Sefton
Tristan Smith
Nick Sonneveld
Chris Stoney
Peter Suk
Gwyneth Whieldon
Benjamin Wieland
James Wood
Jay Woodward
Thank you all again.
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2/5/07 - So, I have a blog over at livejournal. I will be updating it on the 1st of every month, so if you wish to keep tabs on me, I'll give an update of what projects I'm working on, what might be coming up, and hopefully post a little bit of art or something. I'll also be posting it here, so you can read it here or there.
