Lynda Barry

A recent NY Times profile of the great comic artist Lynda Barry. And I mean Great.

On the Ferry

Mr Holdstock and the very expressive top of his head. We were on the Stranraer - Belfast ferry. It's all felt tips, one of the few times those have worked for me. From a few years ago.

Liquid Telvision

In the 90s, MTV aired a brilliant animation showcase called Liquid Television. People like Charles Burns, Mark Mothersbaugh and The Residents were involved. It was the first to feature Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux. Now MTV has made it all (and more) available for free viewing online.

Dan Clowes

Interview with Dan Clowes at the A.V. Club. 

The Voice of the City

A recent illustration job for Paravion Press. This is a short story called The Voice of the City, by O. Henry. Like all Paravion Press publications, it comes in the form of a small, exquisitely designed chapbook, and it's part of a series of 3 books about New York City, the other 2 being works by Maxim Gorky and Walt Whitman. 

Paravion gave me free rein with this project, and I conceived the illustrations as a series of snapshots of ordinary life in the city. The images do not reference the text explicitly. Instead, they address the question which the story poses: What is the essence of the City? 

The story was written in the early 20th century, but you will notice that the clothing and objects in the images are contemporary. I made that jump because it underscores the universal quality of city life. Almost a hundered years later, New York is still New York.    

You can find The Voice of the City and other books by Paravion Press here.

NYC Cartoon Club

2 collaborative cartoons made with Dan Meth. In the left one, we each drew every other panel, whereas the right hand page is more of a mishmash. The idea is that you don't plan the cartoon at all. You just riff off of what the other person has drawn and add whatever comes to mind. And you have to work fast. 

Joanna Hellgren

From Fixa Cashen (2008)

... is a Swedish comic artist and illustrator. Her penmanship is delicate and expressive, and her characters have the most haunting eyes. Here's her website.

From Frances 2 (2010)

Cover of Mon Frere Nocturne (2006)

Fun at the Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving image is located in Astoria, New York City. This is not it. This is the Tyrell Building from Blade Runner. It's about the size of a piano and it's only one of many objects from film history exhibited here: 

Prosthetics from the prologue in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Almost all of the apes were played by actors. The  face pieces were especially developed for the movie, to allow the actors maximum expression.

John Hurt's prosthetic from The Elephant Man. 

Hair pieces worn by Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. 

Al Pacino and Christopher Walken life masks. Life masks are used by make-up artists to create facial prosthetics. 

The single movie that has the most space devoted to it is Silence of the Lambs. There is an extensive exhibit of production design from this one. Above is a detailed scale model of Jame Gumb's house, complete with  the well in which he kept his victims. 

A beautiful sketch of the same house.

Detail.  

A sketch for the scene with the crucified guard. It's based on a method of torture/execution called the Blood Eagle. Only click on the link if you're not squeamish. Here is an interesting analysis of the film. 

The museum also has a large collection of filming equipment from different eras, television sets, pre-film era machines such as the zoetrope and film franchise toys. There are some rather interesting choices in terms of what movies and shows are represented. For example: one of Elizabeth Taylor's dresses from Cleopatra is placed next to a Robin Williams costume from Mrs Doubtfire.

A few random snapshots:   

Screening of Boxing Cats, a short film from the earliest days of cinema where films were simply a few minutes of people or animals doing something quaint. 

Authentic Cosby Sweater.

Star Trek Barbie and Ken dolls. Observe that Barbie is a Redshirt.

Crockett and Tubbs suits from Miami Vice.

 Museum interior. Like something from 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Ok, but the museum is not all about movies. Example: an exhibit of arcade and video games, which you can play. What got me most excited?

I used to have one of these! You can sit down and play Super Mario Bros 1 on it. It's a funny feeling when you find something you used to own in a museum.

The End
(Music swells)

Badges for Friends

A couple of portrait badges made for friends.