The 3rd track in the sonic companion to THE SOLAR GRID graphic novel has dropped! THE SOLAR GRID SOUNDSCAPE by N Slash A is absolutely wild. I cannot stop listening to all three tracks back to back.
journal
Putting together this talk for Ohio State University's Global Comics Lecture Series (the title of which was actually suggested by the organizer) and I'm starting to notice how quite a bit of my work on THE SOLAR GRID is informed by those outrageous times some ten years ago. And of course, a lot of what I did back then, be it on walls or in galleries was itself informed by comix. Everything feeds into everything.
It'll be fun to talk about, even if it's all virtual with no actual meeting of people in meatspace (hey, I'll take what I can get). Will include some shop talk on the making of THE SOLAR GRID as well.
October 19th is the day, 2:00pm is the time (EST, I'm assuming).
Radix Media is also organizing an online event, comprised of Molly Crabapple, John Dermot Woods, Matt L. and myself. Anything involving Crabapple is a joy.
The Küelox #500 nib flows fast and smooth like a Sable brush, and requires very little pressure. A light grip and fast strokes is all you need to get good lines, which requires a little getting used to, and until then, some lines will wobble, but they will still be very alive. Not a nib for noodling; ink is laid out thick as far as nibs go, but still offers a pretty broad range in line weight. Overall, it keeps you from getting sucked into ornamentation, and instead forces you to think about the broad shapes and only the very necessary of lines.
Which is a good thing.
New goodies have arrived. As far as nibs go, I've only ever inked with a G (center). Excited to put the rest to the test.
Generally speaking, I find that the more I use nibs and brushes, the less I enjoy working with pens.
Digital I've come to loathe.
Two new lovely tributes have arrived in honor of The Lit One. A children's book by none other than John J. Muth, who I had no idea even did children's books (I know him from a couple of his more grownup oriented comix), and a can of Robin Sloan's own brand of olive oil, Fat Gold!
No sender information came with the Muth book, but huge huge thanks to the anonymous sender. I will likely get a kick out of poring over it numerous times before Moony every manages to.
The olive oil came from a dedicated group of very fine individuals who frequent my forum, Restricted.Academy. I gotta say, I dig how it comes with a funky risoprinted single-sheet zine with a little info on the making of olive oil, a recipe, and some recommended reading (Can this olive oil get even more tailored to me?! I don't think so!).
Very lovely surprises to find in my mailbox.
In other news, congrats to my friends at Radix Media who after only 1 week into their kickstarter have made it to 50% of their target! Very excited for their graphic narrative collection, but of course I'm biased given that it includes a 10-part hardcopy serialization of THE SOLAR GRID, delivered monthly starting April 2021!
Six days since my last entry, which although not entirely blasphemous is still not ideal. I want to get back into the habit of blogging everyday, because it helps keep things arranged in my head, and gives something of a metronome to my otherwise very fluid existence.
Knowing that kids learn by observation more so than telling, I'm trying to be mindful of the amount of screen-time I spend per day, because even if my child is only a couple months old, he... he stares. He stares at me intently all the time, and I don't want the unshakeable image he registers of me to be daddy-staring-at-screen, be it computer or phone.
But with that being said, I'd still like to blog everyday. I imagine entries will start being a bit more concise.
Today and yesterday he helped daddy fulfill orders, getting quite a kick out of the sound of folding paper and cutting tape :)
First restaurant experience since March! It wasn't even that long, maybe an hour or hour-thirty tops to make it back home in time for Moony's next feed. But man did we need it.
Next up is to re-institute some socializing practices. Still with proper precautions and social-distancing measures in place, but it's really unnatural and unhealthy (at least for me) to completely eliminate any and all social interaction with other humans for so, so long.
Over six months in with no clear end in sight, it's high time we starting devising new ways to go about living. A pause might work for a time, but not forever.
Exercise is another thing. It took me months to get into the habit of hitting the gym daily, and once I finally did it was only a monthish before Covid hit and since then my excercise regiment has been on hold. We're finally just now taking steps to building ourselves a little home gym. Had we moved on this as early as May, we would've been in much better shape both mentally and physically.
Was updating Ganzeer.com, including my comix section, and realized that the only year I put out more than one chapter of THE SOLAR GRID was 2016! And then there was literally no release in 2017, and none in 2019! Fucking shameful. Both those years did involve moving between states, but still. I do feel pretty fucking crummy about it.
With only 3 months left before the end of 2020, the year is kind of almost over already (sorry to have to break it to ya). If I can squeeze in one more THE SOLAR GRID release before year's end, I'll be happy. And if by 2021, I manage to tap into some of that 2016 energy, I should be able to pump out 3 more chapters of The Grid, which would finally bring the graphic novel to a close.
Imagine that? 😶
Other than that, I'd be happy if I did nothing else but take on a couple of installations and unloaded a painting... or three.
Oh, but I actually have another wicked book with Colla in the works. And may put together one single-edition artist book of my own.
We'll see. Don't wanna bite more than I can chew.
But who am I kidding?
Finally got around to photographing WALLS OF (UN)FEAR, a large triptych I finished in 2019! 🤪
(What is time anymore?)
They're quite large, about 121.9 x 269 cm each (that's 48”x106” to the isolationists) which means they're not particularly easy to photograph. They involved photographing each one in parts and then stitching the pix together in Photoshop which pretty much consumed the entire weekend (with, in my opinion, only passable results).
In any case, this work finally has an entry on Ganzeer.com, which includes larger pix, a few closeups, and a little backstory into its making.
A bit more website maintenance tomorrow along with some administrative stuff. Hoping to get back into the creative stuff come Tuesday (then again, what is time anymore?).
Just back from a 3-day beach getaway with the wife and child, where I learned to enjoy existence without ever looking at my computer. Our days were divided between laying on the sand, dipping into the sea, eating delicious food, and being wholly absorbed by our books. I've been alternating between Simon Roy's HABITAT and Roger Zelazny's LORD OF LIGHT, which go very well together. The latter I started in Denver a couple years ago only to reluctantly abandon it when shit got real and I got a little too caught up in the everyday to-do's and stresses they involved. It felt very fitting to escape back into it with my short escape to a pretty secluded beach town, and what an escape this book is.
I'm only midway through, but it's already got me wondering how most of fiction was ever written afterwards. The bar is set so high with this one that 99% of the books adorning the shelves of bookshops seem so frivolous in comparison. A great and marvelous work that encompasses everything any creative act should set out to do.
Back in Houston reassessing how I go about my days, which I'm hoping will no longer involve my phone or computer first thing in the morning. All in all, a successful and long overdue time outside the house, despite a sea full of jellyfish and relentless assaults by mosquito.
(photo by the wife)