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The Zen of “The Zen of Steve Jobs”
The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha—which is to demean oneself (26). —Robert Pirsig, Zen and…
Apple, Ben Austen, Caleb Melby, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, enso, Jess3 Thomas, kinhin, Kobun Chino Otogawa, Lama Surya Das, Laurene Powell, ma, mu, Randy Komisar, really?, Stephen Silberman, Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs biography, The Story of Steve Jobs: An Inspiration or a Cautionary Tale?, the Zen of Steve Jobs, The Zen of Steve Jobs: Right Livelihood, Walter Isaacson, Warren Berger, What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, What Makes You Not a Buddhist, What Zen Taught Silocon Valley (And Steve Jobs) About Innovation, Zen, Zen aesthetic -
Hignite strikes again: The Art of Jaime Hernandez
The intimacy of Todd Hignite’s In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists (Yale University Press, 2006) blew my mind when I first read it. Profiled within its pages are commentary by Hignite and accompanying passages from interviews with Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Robert Crumb, Jaime Hernandez, Gary Panter, Seth, Art Spiegelman and Chris…
Abrams ComicArts, Alison Bechdel, arts, Beto Hernandez, Fantagraphics Books, Gilbert Hernandez, In the Studio:Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists, Jaime Hernandez, Los Bros Hernandez, Love & Rockets Sketchbook, Love & Rockets Sketchbook Two, Magglie La Loca, The Art of Jaime Hernandez, Tood Hignite -
Holmes on Homesteading
The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective by Patrick Rosenkranz (Fantagraphics Books, 2010) Given that Lucky’s Comics recently hosted an exhibition of Holmes’ work as part of a book launch for The Artist HImself, and that the artist spent much of his life in familiar territory, I was curious. Before listening to the Inkstuds interview…
1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: the Ultimate Guide to Comics, Fantagraphics Books, Fog City Comics, Gareth Gaudin, Georgia Straight, Graphic Novels and Manga, Harold Hedd, Help! Magazine, Lasqueti Island, Lasqueti mint, Legends Comics and Books, Lloyd Chesley, Lucky’s Comics, March 2007, Patrick, Patrick Rosenkranz, Paul Gravett, Rand Holmes, Rand Holmes Retrospective Art Show, The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective by Patrick Rosenkranz, the Benchracer, Zap! Comix -
Comparing Covers
I was looking at the cover of Luke Pearson’s Hilda and the Midnight Giant (Nobrow Press, 2012) and was struck by how much the layout resembles that of Charles Burns’ X’ed Out (Pantheon, 2010). Central figure, similar scale and depth of foreground and background, sloping terrain from right to left, tall object jutting out in…
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Paintings by Johanne Hemond @ CACGV Gallery, Feb. 19-28
What are these works? First and foremost, they are “scapes.” Not only landscapes, but also configurations of Johanne Hémond’s interior world. To enter into her paintings is to explore a realm inspired by equal parts emotional resonance and site-specific geographies and geometries. Nearly the entirety of two walls of Hémond’s most recent exhibit at the…
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Getting Sketchy with Gary Panter
Satiroplastic The opening pages of Gary Panter’s Satiroplastic (Drawn & Quarterly, 2005) include sketches made while Panter was in Oaxaca, Mexico. In the introduction to the book Panter explains how the sketches are not chronologically ordered. Each time he did a drawing, he opened the book up haphazardly to a page and began drawing; further…
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Visual Poetry III: Reuben Margolin
Commentary on YouTube: Reuben Margolin, a Bay Area visionary and longtime maker, creates totally singular techno-kinetic wave sculptures. Using everything from wood to cardboard to found and salvaged objects, Reuben’s artwork is diverse, with sculptures ranging from tiny to looming, motorized to hand-cranked. Focusing on natural elements like a discrete water droplet or a powerful…
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Visual Poetry II: Holton Rower
Directing, Cinematography, Editing – Dave Kaufman Paintings – Holton Rower
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Redefining Doodling? Really?
Sunni Brown is young, she’s smart, she’s charming—and she’s being featured on TED talks (Technology, Entertainment, Design). TED speakers are notorious for the contributions that they bring to creative problem-solving and technological innovation. Brown’s presentation, “Doodlers Unite!” begins with some historical context, which points to the negative connotations associated with the word “doodle” in the…
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Diario de Oaxaca by Peter Kuper
Now that I’ve signed up as a participant in the Sketchbook Project, I’ve managed to devise a clever distraction from actually sketching regularly, in the form of conducting “research” into the sketchbooks of other artists. It’s led to the realization that there is an important body of sketchbooks that have been reproduced and made commercially…
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Screenprinting Intensive
Okay, so I did a screenprinting intensive at the Olio Artists and Workers Cooperative here in Victoria. I don’t know anything about screenprinting, so that made it…intense. Lots of information for four classes, but I found it really interesting. We started by selecting an image that we wanted to print. I tried to copy a…
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The Sketchbook Project 2012
Someday, I will go to Brooklyn: Picturebox. Gary Panter. The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. And now, The Sketchbook Project sponsored by the Arthouse Coop. This is exactly the kick in the ass that I need to get drawing again. Maybe you should do the same! Check it out; choose a theme for your sketchbook…
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Ticket to “Palomar” by Gilbert Hernandez
Palomar (Fantagraphics Books, 2003) collects the stories found in the original Heartbreak Soup comics. They have been identified as the comics equivalent to the magical realism genre initially spearheaded by Gabriel Marquez in literature, eventually also finding its way into film. Palomar’s strengths lie especially in the strong women and three-dimensional characterization present in the…
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Buddy Was There: “Buddy Does Seattle” by Peter Bagge
Buddy sure is coming into his own in these comics, compared with the earlier Bradley family strips. As I’m sure is the case with so many readers of their antics, it’s easy to identify the early twenties slacker lifestyle typified by Buddy, Stinky, Lisa, George and Val. The raging hormones of early adulthood, the low-paying…
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Going Back in Time with “Walt and Skeezix: 1921 and 1922”
I was totally engrossed by Jeet Heer’s introduction to Walt and Skeezix: 1921 and 1922 (Drawn & Quarterly, 2010), and then spent the next three weeks trying to actually get into reading the cartoons themselves. Finally, it clicked. Maybe I was identifying with Frank King’s own struggle to build narrative momentum in the early days…
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Return of the Book Bus: “The Night Bookmobile” by Audrey Niffenegger
Basically, I can’t remember the last time a book fucked me up as much as The Night Bookmobile by the time I finished reading it. (Abrams ComicArts, 2010). I was a casual tourist along for the ride when I began reading this seemingly innocent fable. By page three, I was spinning off with my own…
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A Mostly Glowing Review of “Radioactive” by Lauren Redniss
Radioactive (!t Books, an imprint of Harper Collins, 2011) by Lauren Redniss lies on the fringes of the “graphic novel” continuum—it is a storybook for grownups, a stunning combination of words and pictures depicting the lives of Marie & Pierre Curie (as well as Curie’s later lover Paul Langevin) and their scientific legacy. The book…
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Reading “Reading Comics” by Douglas Wolk
In Reading Comics (Da Capo Press, 2007) Douglas Wolk speaks convincingly of comics readers and artists alike as secretly aspiring towards some sort of acknowledgment, respect and legitimacy from “highbrow” culture, from whence the origins of the word “graphic novel” arise. This is evidenced most directly by Bruce Eric Kaplan’s New Yorker cartoon, “Now I…
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Krazy Kat goes a-wooing; Bugologist; and Ignatz Mouse at the Circus
This just in: I was looking for pictures of burgers and fries on Wikimedia Commons for a work-related project (seriously!) and today’s “Media of the day” was a 1916 Krazy Kat animation that has been made available in the Public Domain. Further investigation led to the discovery of an additional Krazy Kat animation also uploaded…
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On Zen and Pancakes
Since I have been known to meditate in both the Shambhala and Soto Zen traditions, and since I am also a comics fanatic, I found the excerpt included below of particular interest. It is from The Teacup & the Skullcup: Chögyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra (Vajradhatu Publications, 2008). Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-87) is a…
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, crazy wisdom, Heath Robinson, hinayana, Kagyü lineage, mahayana, Nyimgma lineage, Professor Branestawm, Rube Goldberg, Shambhala Buddhism, Shambhala lineage, Shambhala Media, Shambhala publications, Shunryu Suzuki, Tail of the Tiger Buddhist Retreat Center, The Teacup & the Skullcup: Chögyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra, Tibetan Buddhism, Vajradhatu Publications, Vajrayana, Zen -
Bill Blackbeard, Comics Historian: 1926-2011
I will only say this: I scoured the The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1977) as a young lad, and Blackbeard’s commentary in this volume and his essay in The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye (Volume One: Sundays, 1930-1932) were among the first extended historical treatments of comics I ever read. May Blackbeard’s…
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The beauty that is Inkstuds
It didn’t take me this long to read Inkstuds (Conundrum Press, 2010) because I found it tedious; on the contrary, I wanted to savour these interviews and read them in small doses, interspersed with the ongoing consumption of comics—many created by artists featured on the radio show. Kudos to McConnell: with all of the interviews…
Billy Mavreas, Brett Warnock, Chester Brown, Chris Staros, Colin Upton, Dan Nadel, David Collier, Fantagraphics, Fort Thunder, Gary Groth, Gary Panter, George Metzger, Inkstuds, Jason Lutes, Jeet Heer, Jeff Lemire, Jerry Moriarty, Jillian Tamaki, Kate Beaton, Kim Deitch, Kim Thompson, Kramers Ergot, Marc Bell, Marv Newland, Mome, Picturebox, Robin McConnell, Seth, Small Press Expo, SPX, The Comics Journal, Tom Devlin, Tom Spurgeon, Top Shelf -
The Art of Difficult Art
Keeping the Story Alive Today’s National Post had an interesting article with artist Adam Matak. “Over the past few years, this young Toronto artist has made a name for himself by applying a cartoon style to classy gallery settings.” Matak explains that he began drawing at the age of three, and that when he was…
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Other Heroes and Other Notes
What did we do before the Internet? I can’t remember. I’ve been reading the book Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004) by Ellen Lupton. I was drawn to the book initially because I noticed it in a bookstore and it featured both McSweeney’s and Drawn & Quarterly…
Alex Simmons, Characters and Archetypes, Cuties, Damian Duffy, Drawn & Quarterly, Dwayne McDuffie, E. Simms Campbell, Editors & Students, Ellen Lupton, Esquire, Eye Trauma Comix, Graphic Design: The New Basics, Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, Jeet Heer, John Jennings, McSweeney’s, Nancy Goldstein, Other Heroes, Other Heroes: African-American Comic Book Creators, R.C. Harvey, Racism as a Stylistic Choice and Other Notes, Thinking with Type: a Critical Guide for Designers, Turtel Onli, William Foster, Writers -
Point No Point
Tucked away on the west coast of Vancouver Island. No telephone, no cell phone reception, no Internet connection, no neighbours to speak of. The drawing comes across as cold and mechanical, when actually the atmosphere was warm and inviting. Fourth try. But the point is that I did a drawing. I found lots of inspiration…
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The End of the Art Book?
I’m being dramatic, I know. But will more consumers be downloading an art app in the future and viewing works on their iPads, instead of purchasing unwieldy coffee table tomes (the one featured above is a brick, coming in at 688 pages!)? Surely Google’s Art Project will change the digital landscape, with users being able…
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Kramers Ergot 7 Table of Contents (Linear Version)
For all you concrete-sequential owners of Kramers Ergot 7, here is the (better late than never) moment you’ve been waiting for! A fully-functional, hyperlinked Kramers TOC, ordered in a singular trajectory by page number!
Aapo Rapi, Adrian Tomine, Anders Nielsen, Anna Sommer, Ben Jones, Ben Katchor, Blanquet, Blex Bolex, C.F., Carol Tyler, Chris Cilla, Chris Ware, Conrad Botes, Dan Zettwoch, Daniel Clowes, David Heatley, Eric Haven, Florent Ruppert, Frank Santoro, Gabrielle Bell, Geoff McFetridge, Helge Reumann, Ivan Brunetti, J. Bradley Johnson, Jacob Ciocci, Jaime Hernandez, James McShane, Jerome Mulot, Jerry Moriarty, Jess McManus, Joe Daly, John Brodowski, John Hankiewicz, John Pham, Johnny Ryan, Jonathan Bennett, Josh Simmons, Kevin Huizega, Kim Deitch, Kramers Ergot, Kramers Ergot 7, Kramers Ergot 7 Table of Contents, Kramers Ergot 7 TOC, Leif Goldberg, Martin Cendreda, Matt Brinkman, Matt Furie, Matt Groenig, Matthew Thurber, Pshaw, Richard Sala, Rick Altergott, Ron Rege Jr., Sammy Harkam, Seth, Shary Boyle, Souther Salazar, Ted May, Tim Hensley, Tom Gauld, Walt Holcombe, Will Sweeney, Xaier Robel -
“X’ed” Marks the Spot: Charles Burns
Charles Burns’ most recent work of graphic fiction, X’ed Out (Pantheon, 2010) is testament to the ability of words and pictures combined to stand tall among the finest works of nonlinear prose. Tribute to Burroughs X’ed Out not only assumes the structurally complex qualities of postmodern literature, but also pays tribute to one of the…
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Kurtzman and the Comics
Crumb, Terry Gilliam, Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, Denis Kitchen. These and many other artists hail Harvey Kurtzman as a seminal influence on their cartooning careers. The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics (Abrams ComicArts, 2009) by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle demonstrates how Kurtzman transformed the comics landscape forever through his notable…
Al Feldstein, Art Spiegelman, Basil Wolverton, Corpse on the Imjun!, Dennis Kitchen, E.C. Comics, Fritz the Cat, Frontline Combat, Gilbert Shelton, Harvey Kurtzman, Help! Magazine, Humbug magazine, Jay Lynch, Joel Beck, L’il Abner, Lena the Hyena, Little Annie Fanny, Mad magazine, Marley’s Ghost, Paul Buhle, R.O. Blechman, Robert Crumb, Skip Williamson, Stan Lee, Superduperman, Terry Gilliam, The Spirit, Timely Comics, Two-Fisted Tales, Wally Wood, Will Eisner, Will Elder, Wonder Warthog -
Lynd Ward: Six Novels in Woodcuts
New York Times Sunday Book Review of Six Novels in Woodcuts, a two volume boxed set reproducing Lynd Ward’s “silent novels.” The collection was edited by Art Spiegelman and published by the Library of America. This looks like a beautiful publication. For anyone interested in the early origins of what is now being toted as…
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Wilson: Drama, Pathos, Irony, Etc.
Introducing Wilson “For the love of Christ, don’t you ever shut up?” Such are Wilson’s closing remarks in “Fellowship,” the first of Daniel Clowes’ sequential-existential one-page gag strips found in Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly, 2010). Taken collectively, these 77 cartoons amount to Clowes’ first self-avowed “original graphic novel.” This, in spite of Clowes’ previously serialized…
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Sailing the Seas of Manga: A Drifting Life
A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (Drawing & Quarterly, 2009) is a graphic memoir of epic proportions. It is an autobiographical work thinly veiled as fiction, which recounts the story of two brothers, Hiroshi and Okimasa Katsumi as they grow from adolescence to adulthood. Both boys are obsessed with…