DERNIERS TESTS AVANT L’APOCALYPSE at SPX

Published on September 12, 2013 in Books, Comics, News and Photographs. Tags: , , , .

I’ll be manning the Uncivilized Books table (table i8) at SPX all weekend! I’ll be there with Kevin Huizenga, Dan Zettwoch, Zak Sally & Peter Wartman. Stop by to say hi!

Meanwhile, look what I got in the mail!

The French version of Beta Testing the Apocalypse is a reality! The book is in stores in France now!

The French book is a bit larger than the Fantagraphics version.

It wouldn’t be French without French flaps! I had to extend the cover drawing by more than 50%! More on that in a future post!

The table of contents.

French title card.

Sample pages in French. Thanks to Dalton Webb for creating a great font from my hand writing!

The French edition has an afterword written by novelist & journalist Christophe Tison. I’ll have a translation of it in a future post.

The back cover! I’ll have copies in both languages at SPX. See you there!

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Brooklyn Book Festival

Published on August 30, 2013 in Books, Brooklyn, Comics and Events. Tags: , , .

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a guest at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 22nd. I’ll be on the The Real: Comics Nonfiction panel. Here’s a description:

3:00 P.M. The Real: Comics Nonfiction. Three artists represent the diverse spectrum of topics taken on by nonfiction comics-Ed Piskor’sHip-Hop Family Tree offers an encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop; Lucy Knisley’sRelish: My Life in the Kitchen is a loving memoir of growing up gourmet and Tom Kaczynski‘s Trans-Terra: Towards a Cartoon Philosophy is a mutant memoir that melds comics, politics, and philosophy. Moderated by ProfessorJonathan W. Gray, John Jay College. Featuring screen projection. [ at BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY AUDITORIUM (128 Pierrepont Street) ]

Check out the rest of the comics programming. It’s looking great!

I’ll also be running the Uncivilized Books table all day. Stop by and say hello!

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Music For Neanderthals Outtake

Published on July 11, 2013 in Art, Comics and Process. Tags: , , , , .

Unused & unfinished page from ‘Music For Neanderthals’ (collected in Beta Testing the Apocalypse).

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 7

Published on July 10, 2013 in Books, Comics, Drawing and Process. Tags: , , .

This is how final front/back cover (pictured, click to see full-size) to Beta Testing the Apocalypse came to be (see parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of this series).

It was one of the most complicated drawings I’d drawn. It was done! Or was it… ?

More soon!

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Fellini Trylon Poster

Published on June 26, 2013 in Art, Drawing and Film. Tags: , , .

Another poster (here’s the previous one) for my favorite Twin Cities movie house: The Trylon.

 

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 6

Published on June 24, 2013 in Art, Books, Comics and Process. Tags: , , , .

So, I’m continuing the cover process for the Beta Testing the Apocalypse cover. Previous parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. In the last post, I was showing the evolution of the color. This time I’m focusing on the type design.

This was the first iteration. I wanted to typographically mirror the ‘beta testing’ concept by having some kind of wireframe version of the type present… it was a little too much.

I still wanted they type to be somehow active… but not quite as hyperactive as here.

This is pretty close to what I settled on. The drawing had so much going on in it, that I decided the type needed to be more subtle and clean… so the two elements won’t compete with each other.

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 5

Published on June 14, 2013 in Art, Comics and Process. Tags: , , , .

The next task was color. I started out by blocking out areas that were closer to the viewer… more in focus.

I ended up subdividing the line art into three ‘layers’ apparent below. Initially I wanted a limited 2-3 color palette… but it quickly became obvious that the detail demanded something else…

I eventually settled on this general color palette… but it still needed more.

This is how the final color scheme ended up.

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 4

Published on June 13, 2013 in Art, Comics, Drawing and Process. Tags: , , , .

If you’re just joining us, check out parts 1, 2, 3.
It took me a while to work up the nerve to ink this thing. Normally I would’ve inked most of the building with rules & rapidographs. But I decided against it… Since everything was so rigidly planned out, I wanted to have a more organic line in the finishing process. Click on the image to super-size.

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 3

Published on June 13, 2013 in Books, Comics, Drawing and Process. Tags: , , , .

A few quick tests of the pencils with type & color.

beta testing the apocalypse cover rough

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Beta Testing Cover Process Part 2

Published on June 13, 2013 in Architecture, Art, Comics, Drawing and Process. Tags: , , , .

After the cover concept was approved it was time to pencil… this was the most complicated drawing I’ve done in a long time… maybe since architecture school? Click on the image for full-sized glory.

Beta Testing the Apocalypse Pancil

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