Influences: comics, part 2

Below is the second of four installments on my favorite print-based visual storytelling work, where I provide choice images and cleaned-up notes on why I love these works so much. Read the first installment along with the story of how I did this. I encourage you to consider where you come from creatively by revisiting and reflecting on your favorite and most foundational influences.

Note: The rights of these works belong to the creators and their publishers; blemishes in the image quality of the shots below are meant to acknowledge and respect that. If you want a better look at any of these works, go out and buy them! ;-)

Moonshadow

Jon J. Muth (Art) | Marc DeMatteis (Story)

Continue reading “Influences: comics, part 2”

Influences: comics, top 3… +1

In a strange moment of creative darkness and confusion this past December, I became convinced that I couldn’t continue making comics or illustrations without first developing My Visual Style—that is, the distinctive and unique means of visual communication that I would employ for the rest of my life, thereby ensuring the world could identify and cherish my unparallelled work.

In a curious lapse into childhood problem-solving, I decided that, like a videogame, I would simply grind my way toward a solution. I simply had to figure out the work to be done and then bang it out. A couple of solid workdays seemed like enough time.Continue reading “Influences: comics, top 3… +1”

Fall friends and holiday deals

New fall friend prints available at my online store! Get a discount if you buy them together.

The fall is too dark a time to be all alone, so I made a companion piece to the fiddlin’ mouse I drew earlier this fall. This guitar-stummin’ squirrel comes in full color or, newly added, as a black and white coloring page. In fact, Fiddelmouse how has a coloring page, too!

In the spirit of friendship, these partner prints are available with a discount if purchased together as large prints, small prints, or coloring pages. Take a look on my online store.

lewburn: a zine about Lewiston Auburn, Maine

I’m excited to share a recent indie publication I was part of with some artist and musician friends in the Lewiston Auburn, Maine area. It’s a quarterly zine we’re calling lewburn that will document the old neighboring mill cities through the lenses of art and music. This first issue is a summer retrospective focused on cultivation. Take a look:

My contributions include an interview with an Auburn-based permaculturist, the zine’s final layout, and helping with overall development (theme, etc.). Follow lewburn happenings and experience additional content on Facebook @lewburn.

Reimagining Alice

Last year I developed a series of illustrations derived from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its later companion, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. Thanks to this process I discovered an interesting connection between Carroll and psychologist Carl Jung, and I reflected on the relationship between obsession and the creative process.

View the illustration series and read my reflections.

Illustration series: crowd walking strategies

I recently did some illustration work for a friend from my Arkansas days. He’s in New York now and working on a multimedia project about population density. Hence, walking strategies.

Check out the final videos.

The Chicken
Crowd Walking Strategies: The Chicken
The Cover
Crowd Walking Strategies: The Cover
The Creeper Waltz
Crowd Walking Strategies: The Creeper Waltz
The Weave
Crowd Walking Strategies: The Weave
The Screw This
Crowd Walking Strategies: The Screw This