Climbing on up

Howdy folks, hope life's treating y'all as well as it does abe! The last few weeks have had a few ups and downs, but the overall direction is upwards bound...(for a more in-depth look at my mundane and mild existence check out abes daily comics blog).

So, above are two versions of a cover, to be made for.... well... Abe and his belgian amiga Shamisa are in the process of setting up a petite micro-press publisher! There will be more info in the near future... but t'is most assuredly an exciting time... We shall focus on putting out a few small (12 pagers in b&W) comics, and just see how it goes... working on a wordpress for it, and setting up an online shop etc. But I've blathered on enough... expect more details in Jan!

So the cover will be in B&W but for now, just thought I'd put up two versions of it, on the left digitally coloured, and the right is hand coloured. For this piece I'm probably gonna stick with t' digital version, but shall have t' see!

anyway...

Not gonna put up any pages, but heres a panel from the piece Im working on with my Finnish friend Chris, as mentioned last time... Poetry interpreted! Going well, but Im having so much fun with this piece that I havent drawn for my longer story for a week and a half! Yikes... but interpreting and drawing someone else's words is a liberating (and confining) experience after years of focusing on my own stories et al (and going nowhere fast! ah ha!)

Anyhow

Been listening t' this album by Iron & Wine of late. (nice third track)

And, Think I posted this before, but remains one o' my favorite webcomics about angsty teen life, love et al! supermutantmagicacademy

And Lastly... The grand Bill Hicks telling it like it is .

Peace out!

Cold up North

How'do folks... Abes been away for a little while vist'n folks up north... And boy oh boy, twas cold...

Not much drawing to show for my time... but heres one page I kinda like... mayhap's shall be continued shortly as part of an eight-pager comic for a certain supercool comics project abe and his Belgian amigo Shamisa are working on... 'nuff said for now, but more to come later.

Anyhow... check out this lovely interview with the incredibly funny Tasmanian cartoonist Simon Hanselmann, The podcasts over HERE.

James Kochalka's gonna be quitting his great diary strip American Elf... After some 14 years... I discovered in 2007 and have been reading ever since...  it makes abe kinda sad, but happy that I could read for so long, day after day... catch all 14 years over HERE.

Im a working on a few comics to put together for good o'l Finnish Chris, Illustrating and interpreting his poems et al... Its a pleasant experience working together to build summut new... Not gonna put anything up for now tho' heh...

And lastly... with the larger project..

So yup... Abe changed his mind AGAIN... this is a much clearer read... and nicer to look at... so... alla the pages will eventually look more like this....heh. 

Here's a piece o music that I've been A hearing pop up on this american life for years...just love the opening...

Dianogah- Indie Rock Spock Ears

Onward and upwards folks!

Tentative Issue 7

Greetings folks, Hope y'all are well... Abe stayed up late experimenting with various colouring techniques... and found some he liked... Highly influenced by Ollie Schrauwen's methods, where one works using partly printed, then redrawn images, t' add a grand layering effect... I'm a big fan of his work... 

Anyhow, above is the tentative cover (ie Abe's happy with it, but may be subject to later dislike and subsequent change) for nervous in a cape issue no. 7! 

It should be ready by early January, be around 50-55 pages (90% already done, just needing to watercolour 15 pages or so), B&W inside this time tho'... colours way too expensive, especially if folks wont buy the darned things! I had 85 copies of issue 6  (of which around 25 remain--future sales, right?!?)

Anyhow, Im gonna prove ye with some links, as I have nothing else to say at t' moment!

Heres me o'l buddy Chris's eclectic Blog, rambling's, thoughts, and imaginings... grand poetry also!

I love Noah Van Sciver! not in the Je t'aime... more in the "Swoon" he and Joseph Remnant (another flipping awesome! cartoonist) are serialising their new works here.

Really Looking forward to this book, Never met her officially  but she was an intern at London Print Studio the year before wee abe, and her art is flipping lovely! (kinda David B' esk, but with more watercolour!)

And lastly, for your Musical pleasure... TV on the Radio- "Wrong Way"... this isnt the best recording of a great song, but love the video, at 0.46 onwards.. they're REALLY rocking out!

Love et al!

The Lowdown Yo!

Allo Folks, Just Realised Abe hadn't posted in a week or so... Heres the lowdown yo!

The drawing above's just an exercise in style, hopefully there'll be something coming out of it, but for now t'is just another sketchbook doodle.

And heres a page from the long piece I'm a working away at, still experimenting with colouring, but done got the first 68 pages drawn, nine coloured... I started this project with just a bunch of random short stories in mind... but sat down and made a map of an interconnected storyline... tis most assuredly a long plotline  and now I'm a thinking I may need to cut down the first 100 or so pages (in half) as they're really more of an introduction to the setting now, rather then interesting shorelines ...ho humm, much confusion, but alls well... Im just gonna draw it all anyhow, I'll probably start posting it online at some point. shall see.

And now... Heres two more Fiddidy Cent Comic's fo' your pleasure... if you need to... Double click and open image in new tab for larger pics!

In other news, job hunting is a full time career  and far more distracting for the drawing process then having a job. Heh.... the things we learn once we move on! But unemployment does suit me to a point I guess, just avoiding looking at the ol' bank account... avoidance... thats the key t' getting on in life right? Right?!

anyhow heres a piece o special Musica for the soul... Mississippi John Hurt singing "Goodnight Irene"

And we out like that yo! 

Umm & Ahh

So, heh... after much 'umm'ing and 'ahh'ing, and faux finalising (ie last post) this is the look im'na go for. Just Black and White watercolour, then tinted on the o'l photoshop.

Lets see how long this one lasts before fickle Abe changes his mind!

Anyhow, If'n you happen to be free and around Clerkenwell  tomorrow, I'll be selling zines et al as part of the petite but perfectly formed Interrobang festival.

And um.. thats all for now folks... Lets out with.. This must be the place, from the stop making sense concert.

Oh' the colours

Okay folks... it's double click then open image in new tab time again!

So... Last week abe hit page 60 of the story he's been a' working away at over the last month and a half... so, I decided t' set aside a week to practice and try out various colouring techniques et al...

Boy oh boy... thats the way to confuse a young doodler... I worked on these few pages many many times (above is actually a re-draw of the original pages -but drawn at half the size, so as to force my drawing style...then coloured directly onto the drawing... with just a touch o' photoshop.)

Colouring just makes one unhappy if you dont reach the intended goal... Abe most assuredly didn't, so dont expect the final thing to lok anything like the above... instead Im considering a look more along the lines of...

So... much confusion, this one is actually the first style o' colouring abe did... funny how you end up coming full circle. heh. This one was coloured by using tracing paper to draw with marker pens 'above' the original art... I like...

Anyhow, gotta be off now... I leave ye with Alice Cooper - "Generation Landslide"

Abe has left the building

Happy Hallo'een folks! Abe made a Fididy comic today... Double click on t'image and open in a new tab t' get the full picture!

anyhow, so a week of great miniature changes for myself. I left my job at the Cine... a place I had worked at for over five years, sometimes happily, sometimes sadly, in love, and out of it. The cinema was a constant in my life for a long time... I find it a bittersweet parting.

 Sure I hated a lot of the companies bull and its genrally pedantic assumptions. And yes, I preferred to speak honestly t' customers (really, why would I lie... a shit film is a shit film after all, and no, I'm not in the slightest inclined to "up sell" wasabi peas). So in that respect I'm most assuredly not sorry to leave... However the people, boy oh boy, now those I'll miss.

They really have always been a swell bunch at the Everyman Cinema (Hampstead), and I've seen so many of them come and go (counted to 107, phew!)... only a few remain from my beginnings, scattered to other cinemas, distant relations. The cinema life, ie evening shifts, flexible hours, minimal wages and free films always attract the more "arty" (urgh!)... actors, artists, musicians, writers, filmy folk... all together in a finically poor (but creatively extremely rich) family.

I've met some extremely talented people whilst I  worked at the cine, and have met some of my favorite people in the whole universe working there... So whilst I disliked more then my fair share of ridiculous self indulging, arrogant, and often downright mean customers... I always got a warm feeling, knowing that there were great people to be found in that grey fortress of a movie theatre.

When I started working for the Everyman, it t'was an independent cinema, A year later it bought up the 'Screen' chain of cinemas. I think they're nine in total now, but busy building a four screen multiplex in leeds, complete with restaurant .. god. The waiter service at Hampstead was enough for me... Very few cinemas can be just that any more. Much as I might complain... I understand that the company exists to make a few rich men richer, and there's nothing particularly surprising about that...

Resturants make more then cinemas I guess... Distributors take such a large percentage, its fairly inevitable that the cinema need adapt. But still...

Anyhow... I've waffled on for long enough... heh. Full time cartoonist untill I get another part time job. ho humm.

Will Hanson "Home"

Happy Hallo'een folks! Abe made a Fididy comic today... Double click on t'image and open in a new tab t' get the full picture!

anyhow, so a week of great miniature changes for myself. I left my job at the Cine... a place I had worked at for over five years, sometimes happily, sometimes sadly, in love, and out of it. The cinema was a constant in my life for a long time... I find it a bittersweet parting. Sure I hated a lot of the companies bull  and genrally pedantic assumptions, and preferred to speak honestly t' customers (really, why would I lie... a shit film is a shit film after all, and no, I'm not in the slightest inclined to "up sell" wasabi peas). So in that respect Im most assuredly not sorry to leave, however the people, boy oh boy, those I'll miss.

They really have always been a swell bunch at the Everyman Cinema (Hampstead), and I've seen so many of them come and go (counted to 107, phew!)... only a few remain from my beginnings, scattered to other cinemas, distant relations. The cinema life, ie evening shifts, flexible hours, minimal wages and free films always attract the more "arty" (urgh!)... actors, artists, musicians, writers, filmy folk... all together in a very poor (but creatively, extremely rich family.

I've met some extremely talented people whilst I  worked at the cine, and have met some of my favorite people in the whole universe working there... So whilst I disliked more then my fair share of ridiculous self indulging, arrogant, and often downright mean customers... I always got a warm feeling, knowing that there were great people to be found in that grey fortress of a movie theatre.

When I started working for the Everyman, it t'was an independent cinema, A year later it bought up the 'Screen' chain of cinemas. I think they're nine in total now, but busy building a four screen multiplex in leeds, complete with restaurant .. god. The waiter service at Hampstead was enough for me... Very few cinemas can be just that any more. Much as I might complain... I understand that the company exists to make a few rich men richer, and there's nothing particularly surprising about that...

Resturants make more then cinemas I guess... Distributors take such a large percentage, its fairly inevitable that the cinema need adapt. But still...

Anyhow... I've waffled on for long enough... heh. Full time c

Tuesday, Friday

Double click yo! then open in new tab to get t' full experience! 

Well, just got back after cycling over t' Random house to drop off this comic (for their 2012 competition).... I think it's okay, but nothing special... Heh, I'm not eating humble pie... I just wish I'd done it better... 

Ho humm. I finished the comics a few months back, and just forgot bout it... then of course... deadline was today, so massive "whizz zoom" on the ol' bicycle ove t' pimlico to drop off... 

Anyhow, been working hard on a comic. just to do with processing me life at the moment, I finally got up the courage to quit my job... five years later.... Feel's like the thing to do... Now I figure I'll just be a full-time cartoonist until I get another lame part time job...

the comic I'm working on is progressing nicely, but I'm refusing to scan any of it until I have the first big chunk of it behind me... Normally I draw, scan draw. Get distracted playing round on photoshop, lose interest, start new comic. this is not a good way to be... constantly darting around, without ever really finishing anything. 

Been talking with me Belgian amigo Shamisa, about setting up something really cool. Not gonna say anything for now. but new info will land shortly if we go ahead! 

I fall in love all too easily. But come on! A pretty gal covering one o' me favorite bands ever!

"Cast a shadow" swoon!

Failing successfully

Greetings folks! How are ye? Just a one pager I drew yesterday, representing a drastic new mindset to making the comics... The art of failing successfully!

Yesterday I saw 'Killing Them Softly', dark gritty and painfully funny. a few twists and turns, and a lovely performance by Scoot Mcnairy, who I first saw a few years ago in 'In Search of a midnight kiss'... the most perfect o Indie romances... 

ho humm

 Im refusing to scan the story I'm working on at t' moment... on account of the fact that its a distraction to have digitised artwork to mess around with on photoshop... so im just gonna draw it. draw draw draw. 

Made a list of all the folks i can remember having worked with over the last five years at the Everyman cinema... got to 96, though I feel I've forgotten a great many, heh...

Spent a bit of time this week wandering the city... I saw nothing of any conseqence, but thats just fine with me... I love London at this time of year... a crispness to the air, and a swoon of melancholia at the passing of summer. The days grow slowly shorter, and the twilight seems to stretch. 

c'est magnifique.

The Black Keys. All week. 

Heres 'Brothers'

Cowboy Love

Here is a cowboy! Hurrah! And the thing folks love most of all... Is a cowboy in love!

I remember a zine I got few years ago called 'cowboy love is pure', pretty nice read... heres the website o' the fella responsible.

Anyhow... just figured I should put sumthin' up on the ol' blog, as I haven't for a while... Went away for a week, cycling around norfolk, and landing at the lovely Winterton-on-sea. I did next to no drawing last week, read a lot, and jotted down some rough ideas. t'was nice to be away from the mild strains of a london based existence. and now I feel somewhat charged.

Anyway... David Rakoff died a few weeks back... heres a lovely, funny, and charming episode of 'this american life' looking back at his time there.

and to out... love this song! As faux rock as Plastic Bertrand is faux punk, a brilliant, tacky pop- rock gem...

Wreckless Eric- 'Whole wide world'

Cycle

Two versions o' a page... the first digitally coloured for decision making purposes... The second was water coloured. I like.

Berlin-  "Take my breath away"

for Monsieur Scott. 

I'm a Train

A'llo folks... Just attempting to post regularly for a wee while... though don't expect it t' last too long, it's not the first time abes attempted such a challenge...

Anyway, above is a page for the cycling story mentioned a few posts back... Not too sure bout the art, so it'll probably look different again when next I post... I just done got no staying power... read through Bretch Evens's 'The Making Of', for sure one of the most elegant comics I've ever read... That fellow can draw (paint) beautifully. Oh, and the story isn't too bad either. 

Left me with a kind of hope-enfused rage... How can someone get to be as good as say, Bretch Evens or Frederic Peeters, Adrian Tomine or Craig Thompson? At what they do... they're top of the game...and looking at the ages their early work stems from... they've been at the top from extremely young ages... 

Personally I like Adrien Tomine's view... that waiting for "success" is not necessarily a bad thing. F. Scott Fitzgerald also wrote a lovely essay on fame and success, and how its arrival, too early or late, can cripple an individual (this can be read in 'the crack up').

blah de blah.

This is not really what I should be thinking about now. Just to keep on working, and when its there, (if ever) then it'll be there.

Albert hammond (snr) "Im a Train"

Blah de Blah

Perhaps... or perhaps t'is just confusion.

anyhow... just t' keep you updated... been working too much of late week, but have to earn money somehow I guess, and at least it leaves me with mornings free to draw... this fellow's known as Nocturnal Pascal, and he's the hero of another time and place. took a walk to the river on wednesday... and worked out the story... then sat down to draw, and... booom! no joy... nothing doing.

Sometimes this impotence really frightens me, my fickle drawing skills coming and going as they please, all to oft leaving me in the lurch. Consistency is the real problem... I want to tell long, still, petite epic narratives. But the drawing fades a few pages in... I am slowly improving, but am also realising that there really is no easy way out... I am simply going to have to get better if I want to get where I want to be.

I recall an interview with one of Marvel's writers from the 60's... (I cant alas, remember his name)  he mentioned how he never wanted to be a writer... he wanted to be an artist, but he just couldn't produce the page rate... and so fell into writing, where he was involved and content. But the story seems pretty heartbreaking (in a minor way... so lets say heart cracking instead) to me. I'm not on a salary, no one is paying me to work with comics, so in a way im blessed that I wouldnt have to make the same kind of choice. then I remember. No one is paying me to make comics. Dang.

Such a two edged sword. nheh. 

Its fortunate that theres no money in the kind of comics I wanna make. ho humm.

anyhow... If you haven't seen Searching for Sugarman you're missing out on a beautiful thing... 

Sixto Rodriguex. Je t'aime

Nervous in a Cape Issue 6 on Sale Now!

Well, did a tour o the comic shops today... selling me wares...

now... go buy Nervous in a cape issue 6! its real swell! 68 pages o' comicy goodness!

available at 

gosh! & mega city comics... or email abe and he'll sort ye out somehow.... christieabraham@hotmail.com

should be at orbital soon as well... Fingers crossed!

10:27am -11:27am

It's 10:13 am... Nervous in a cape issue 6 should be winging its way towards me between 10:27 & 11:27...

Heres a drawing I made whilst waiting... lots o pop reference in there...supposedly... yawn.

And while Abe waits.. he listens to some sweet harmless indie rock...

Landon Pigg- High Times

Nervous in a Cape Issue 6 & The Cyclist

A man cycles along empty country roads.

He recalls in a series of un-embodied flashbacks the rhythm and ryhme of his relationships.

A puncture. Repaired.

On and on. Never the sense of an ending.

Well thats the gist of a story the page above would belong to if'n I get round to it!

Anyhow... deep breath... Today the proof came for Nervous in a Cape issue no. 6! It's a 68 page, full colour collection of Abes Scribbles and comics from the last year...

Hooray! isn't it all exciting! well, Abe thinks so anyway... I'll keep ye updated... in case you wanna y'know buy it... or whatever...

Lets out on some Cheap Trick yo... tacky pretty Pop Rock!

'I want you to want me'

Or for the more artistically inclined... prog rock from Television...

'Marquee Moon'

Nighty Night

Cinema Living

Just a wee page... drawn a week or so ago... got page 2 finished yesterday... just putting my thoughts on my job into place... hopefully it should chronicle a whole day in the life, with a few years worth o' experiences. 

Saw Electrick Children  yesterday... pretty nice, oddly charming coming of age indie film. 

anyhow. sleepytime now.

just time for 'crucify your mind' by Rodriguez. theres a doc comin out soon on this enigmatic fellow... mucho' excited!

Another page

Just another page. onwards an upwards. 

Ordered some pretty great books from sparkplug comics... purveyors of fine alt/underground comics, mini's and zines. 

Ordered Blammo 7 by Noah Van Sciver, and Follow Me, by Jesse Moynihan.

anyhow... heres  some Jeffery Lewis t' play me out.

Back When I was Four.

Show off, Showing off!

So... Heres a page from the project I've mentioned a few times... a take on myth & folklore... I'm just a' working away, n' felt like showing something I'm kinda pleased with... as opposed to the usual umnmning and ahhing.

Hot damn! Just found the original recording of "true love will find you in the end" by Daniel Johnston.

so damn heartbreaking, on so many levels. 

Tomorrow should be "Cloudy and windy at first with overnight rain lingering in the southeast. The rain will clear away from the northwest to sunny spells and scattered showers by midday."According to the BBC.

 But Abe's working all day anyhow.


oh... and why not check out abes tumblr... just gonna be putting up more full length doodles on there!
abrahamchristie.tumblr.com

Sing, Unicorn. Dance! on sale now

Well folks, its finally arrived! Abe and Shamisa's Sing, Unicorn. Dance! on sale now at your local comic store!

Well in Central London at least... 

Gosh! Comics (Soho)

Orbital Comics (Leicester Sq)

Mega City Comics (Camden Town)

OK! Go!! buy! Now!

It's a petite 28 page anthology, collecting seven artists comics, on the theme 'royale with cheese'

and last link...

Little Joy: unattainable! 

BELLE.

Back to the Drawing Board!

Back to the drawing board with 'Tonight I may be Elsewhere'. Above is an  experimental three pager abe drew yesterday... trying to figure out a way to make it all work... ho humm.

Mississippi John Hurt-- "The Ballad of Stagger Lee"

Zinage May!

Hallo', so Abe's just trying to get back into the habit o' regular postage to the blog...

Above is a scan of 'pink hatted', an 8 page zine I made a few weeks ago... I've made four since... stayed up to the wee hours this morn making another, titled "There is no virgin on prom night Johnny Utah!".

 T'is a petite analysis of my view on Keanu Reaves, trying to fit in amongst all the 'Duuuudes' my feeling of him as heroic in an almost hyper-brotherly way. heh. deep brah.

taken with a pinch o' salt.

Im also continuing work with the thus far nameless project, utilising various native american myth/folklore as inspiration... on page 16 today... slightly behind schedual by one page |(two days of 12 hr shifts'll do that.)

saw moonrise kingdom. You should too.

Great score as ever

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5ZwTYSo-aw

The enchanted sword!

Allo there! Been a while! ho humm.

Well Abes just been doing a great many nothings recently, managed t' keep up with the daily comic tho', also been a working on several stories (though none of the ones from the last post have made it past page eight or so... boo) as well as rewriting my story for the larger piece... 

I sent the pitch off a wee while back, and recieved a polite, well worded (minimalist) rejection, No big surprises there, it needs work! So instead of my 200 or so pager, im'na try and keep it to bare bones... scale it back to around 48 pages, and cut the cast somewhat.  Heres the rough cover idea anyhow...

Needs work. but thats all fine. just gotta keep on at it! 

I also recently got a giant sketchbook, in which I'm working (a page a day) on a modern fairytale. I've written out the story for once, so now the hard part comes... conveying the narrative in pictures. I'll let ye know.

anyhow... I find this video of the the great Daniel Johnston pretty heartbreaking, his medication saving and destroying him at the same time.

walking the cow.

Just Keep a' Chugging!

Allo' there dear reader. As ever apologies are in slight order for lateness etc.

Above are three things Im working on (as well as the longer piece, dont worry!) the first is a short (maybe a three pager), the second aims t' have a bit of bulk to it... (thinking about 24 pgs) while the third is page one in what Abes a hoping t'make his first ongoing web-comic... Got seven pages done on this over the last week.

I'll let ye know when. IF.

Anyhow, at the moment my drawing is leaving me somewhat unsatisfied, so lord only knows whether or not any of these projects will see the light of day (or computer screen).

Im'na just keep on a chugging. and hoping et al.

For your musical pleasure...

Indian Summer by Beat Happening.

Je t'aime

Sing, Unicorn. Dance!

Whats that?! you dont know??? I didnt tell you yet??? Ah boo! Abe and Shamisa are gonna be putting together a super supercool zine! Shall be titled 'Sing, Unicorn. Dance!' and will feature stories of the greatest wit, charm and style! ho humm.

 Aim is to birth it at the end o may, But I'll let ye know when... Above's a draft of some notes for Abes tale...

gotten five more pages for the longer tale done also. Pat on the back time! heh. 

Anyhow... Heres a nice review for one o Abes favorite webcomics... Super Mutant Magic Academy

And Lastly... John Hartfords version of "Indian War Whoop"

Hit all t' targets!

G'morning folks. Just a brief break from comics today... 

Above is an illustration of the four scoring targets in Kendo, drawn for Abes friendly neighborhood Kendo club. Spent most o' yesterday drawing... Got six pages done for the longer work... gonna try n' keep it under wraps for a wee while. Unless I get too excited and want  t' show off or summut...

In the meantime... to reward the two years of me only putting up snapshots on the blog.. Look to your right.. Topside, there'll be links to some full comics from me sketchbook...petite and kinda sweet. Right?!!

Back listening to the Moldy Peaches this week. Lucky Number Nine.

Best video ever?

Post In Mailbox!

Good morning folks, hope you're well!

So, as ever.... apologies for the weeks between posts (blush), just been real busy preping for the super awesome exhibition at Londonprintstudio for the end o' the internship... Tis on for a week now, till friday the 30th... so hurry on over for comics and stuff!

Anyhow, heres a page from a rough idea I'm fleshing out at the moment (whilst still working on the bigger work- dont worry) all about the things we see whilst wandering the city... as you can probably tell though, the couple is having just a few problems of their own hovering in the background. As ever.

I'm in the process of putting the finishing touches to me pitch, t' send out into the wide world. thenm its fingers crossed big time. BIG TIME. massive time. ho humm

Abe's been listening to alot o' the Black Keys recently... "Ill be your man". For some reason I picture Thomas Jane stripping  when I hear it. Theme song anyone?

Working Process

A'llo folks... Apologies for yet another late post... "oh the familier places we find ourselves in.."

Anyhow, just thought I'd put up some images showing t' working process for my current project... 

So. Thus far the work on the graphic novel has been a first draft... the stuff Abes put up over the last few months belongs to  stage 2... Next comes redrawing in a thinner line and colouring directly onto the page with bright markers (stage 3).  Stage 4 consists of greyscaling and tinting on photoshop, and lastly combining the two for double image goodness. Not forgetting to erase the thicker set o' black lines to remove excess line work.

 ho humm. Enlightning, boring et al, huh?! Now I just need to draw the other 199 pages. 

The White Stripes, "Everywhere I go, I'm always Jack"

Gosh Darn.

A Petite Monologue on Daily Drawing

How do' folks... Heres a page from me sketchbook, just to prove I have been drawing!

Haven't posted in a wee while, 'pologies! been keeping busy I guess, check doodle daydream for my daily strip if'n ye feel the need for regular comics. 

And after that shameless plug, but on the same note... I was thinking today about my daily strip, at almost one year (its 315th issue was posted this noon) its probably the biggest solid body of work I've produced, of course that pales next to the 15 years of Kochalka's brilliant American Elf but still, significant for me...

Basically having looked at the strips I noticed that of late (the last hundred issues or so) they've become pretty much straight autobiography, with the barest hint of fantasy/ absurdity.... Now this was never the intention, not that its a bad thing, just that looking back one can see (especially in issues 1-say 60?) that more then just the drawing style has changed. 

Originally conceived as a means of venting absurdities and a platform for a darker (dare I say it... Shrigley-esque) humor, it's mutated into very much a literal, heart on sleeve look into my persona and petite existence. hmm. One reason I suspect is that they're currently being drawn on the day to be posted immediately; whereas when I began the strip, I had no immediate access to a scanner, and was having to draw about a weeks worth in advance to scan in order to post them daily. I'd sit down and draw following a chain of thought to ink... recalling a weeks worth of events is difficult, so an autobiographical strip was ruled out. Technical difficulties. Ahem. 

Scanning no longer an issue... I now draw to post within half an hour, mostly in the morning before leaving the house... inspiration in the morning is all "yawn sigh". But auto bio doesnt require "inspiration in the regular sense o' the word... really it just requires a stubborn tenacity to actually draw the darn thing every day...

wow. sorry for chewing your ear off (interesting phrase... doesn't really work for text.. but...) I do have a few other things to say, but t'is all self indulgent waffle anyhoo...

Been listening to a lot of the Talking Heads of late. care to join me?

"This must be the place"

Smiling Indecision

Here's a couple o' comics from me sketchbook.

But abe's to tired today to write much. and right now he's at le cine, earning his keep. ho humm.

Heres yet another lovely Pascal Pinon song for your musical appreciation, the words are from The Beggers Opera 

"Over the hills and far away"

Just Another Page

Heres a page Abe drew yesterday... done got six since thursday... so its a'coming... This fellows name is Whiney Te te; everyday someone slips a letter under his door...and he composes songs about em'.

Went to the David Shrigley show over at the Hayward Gallery... best exhibition abes been to since the Watercolour show at the Tate last year... Ho humm.

Pascal Pinon... one of my favorite twee folky Icelandic groups ever!!! this song is really lovely. Really really lovely. 

"Vandamal Ulfsins"

Fish Tale... Begin!

Well here's a page from 'Fish Tale's' story, which will be at the beginning o' the novel... 

I set m'self doon last week and drew... a day of drawing, t'is unfortunately a rarity, but all the more welcome for it... Abe also finished Mathew Thurber's 1-800-MICE, which was a wonderful example of world building, with a lovely streak of absurdist black humor running throu... blah de blah... I highly enjoyed it. 

ho humm.

Anyhoo, heres one o' me favorite songs for your ears... Pascal Pinon's "New Beginning" 

No Sign Yet

Heres a page from a 9 pager Abe finished over the last week "No Sign Yet"... It's an empty tale of a fella wandering a deserted landscape waiting for a sign, and a sign of his friend, who is missing... Wow. Sounds more profound then it is in reality... (oh the joys of posting single pages!)

It was drawn with the idea of it possibly being included in the longer 'novel... Ho humm.

And lastly, here's Monsieur Gainsbourg with "La Javanaise" 

A Wee L'il Comic

Here's a wee comicy comic made in this self same A.M  Abe was just experimenting with layering et al... 

really nice article on the british comic publishing scene over at the comics journal.

http://www.tcj.com/london-calling-blank-slate-books-and-nobrow-press/

 Fills me with excitement... gotta jump on that bandwagon! ah ha!

And for your ears... "Bury the Hammer" by "Beat Happening"