blog: drawings

Sketches from MoCCA!

Thanks for coming and saying hello at MoCCA last weekend! It was a fun show. I loved being in New York, and it’s always super encouraging and energizing to meet nice people who have nice things to say.

Some of you were clearly nervous, but don’t worry! It was adorable. I get nervous sometimes too. I did not think you were weird. This is the first time in a very long time that I can confidently stamp a show as “WEIRDO-FREE.” I did not meet a single weirdo all weekend! (Until I got on the subway, of course. But that’s a different story.)

Mediocre Sketches

As I normally do, I was offering Mediocre Sketches to all and sundry. As I normally forget to do, though, this time I had the presence of mind to take some pictures!

I usually ask the sketch requester for a suggestion of what to draw — unlike other cartoonists, I don’t have easy characters to just whip out a sketch of. Most people prefer to leave the choice to me (as in the above), which is fine, but I also got some good requests!

“Octopuss in Boots”

“Elephant Chef”

“Dignified Portrait” (click for bigger)

Machine of Death

I also managed to whip up a portable Machine of Death to administer mortality predictions on the spot. Normally this sort of thing is done in a van with an autoclave and a stack of waivers and a full counseling crew on-hand, but in a pinch I made do with a piece of cardboard and a Sharpie.

Dresden Codak‘s Aaron Diaz was my dapper model for this demonstration (with thanks to Chris Hastings for the pics):

WATCH OUT FOR RUBBER DUCKIES AARON

LAST FEW DAYS for Artist Editions! PLUS TMH LIVE Saturday

TODAY, FRIDAY, is the last day to receive a free ebook by forwarding us your Machine of Death order confirmation from Amazon or TopatoCo. If you’ve purchased a print edition, you can get a Kindle, ePub, or rich text version for free simply by sending your confirmation to info at machineofdeath dot net! Or, you can buy the ebooks directly for ten dollars, that’s fine too. Or of course just download the PDF for nuthin!

SUNDAY is the last day to order Artist Edition Wondermark books, which are books that feature original sketches perhaps similar or perhaps wildly divergent from the example above. This is the only Holiday Offering — I won’t be doing any more Artist Editions until next spring.

Some folks have asked about COMBINING THESE EFFORTS and commissioning a Machine of Death Artist Edition. This is a bit like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters, and so I’m disinclined simply for safety reasons, but rest assured that we have lots of interesting MOD stuff coming down the pike and there will be no shortage of delights in the future.

Now after all those deadlines, here’s one splendid aliveline:

SATURDAY at the New England Webcomics Weekend, I’ll be doing a live performance of Tweet Me Harder with my handsome friend Kris Straub! We’ll be streaming the show online at tweetmeharder.com — just head over there a little before 10:30 AM Pacific / 1:30 PM Eastern to tune into the live program. It is guaranteed to be astonishing.

Now I am off to attend a Final Fantasy-themed wedding. Jealous?

Airplane fish are a GENRE now.

Twice a year, I offer my books in “Artist Edition” — I create a custom unique sketch in every book, for those that desire it. Patrons of the most recent offering are well familiar with my fixation on “flying fish,” by which I mean strange hybrids of fish and aircraft (or fish and armored vechicles, or insects and aircraft, or land mammals and construction equipment). Here are some examples from this spring’s series of Artist Editions:

I will be honest with you: I have harbored furtive dreams of turning this particular subject into an oeuvre, of creating larger and ever-more-complex tableaux of sea creatures/aircraft, engaged in all sorts of aerial hijinks in glorious, full-painted color. (The sketch at the top of this post was an expression of this urge to refine and develop the theme.)

Well, thanks to diligent reader and frequent correspondent Kevin S., I have learned that apparently someone else had the same idea — Roland Tamayo:

I HEREBY DECLARE TAMAYO MY NEMESIS

…although I should point out that my inspiration, and perhaps Tamayo’s as well, was and is the surrealist vehicular work of Stan Mott:

I believe this more comprehensive collection may be Stan’s official site, but with respect, it’s miserable to navigate. However, if you have a little patience you’ll find the charming “History of Tanks” illustration series there, which I’m sure is why 90% of the sketches I’ve done at conventions in the past year have featured tanks in some fashion (usually attached to African wildlife).

Finally, consider this your official warning that the fall Artist Edition series will become available very soon! Before the moon is full! October is going to be a big month, I’m just brimming with exciting news. ALL IN GOOD TIME.