blog: drawings

I drew some fish

I am in Easthampton, MA at the moment, having just drawn sketches in about a hundred books! All of my books (and shirts, and prints, and pretty much everything) are shipped from the TopatoCo Command Bunker here, so once the Artist Edition orders that I’ve been crowing about were received and compiled, I swung on into The Office Of The CEO and drew strange little vignettes into everyone’s books while The Executive and I listened to folks recount their visits to Saturn on Coast to Coast AM. I shared a handful of the sketches on my Twitter as I went: the one above is among my favorites, and here are several more examples as well. We may be seeing more freakish dinosaur/tank/airplane/fish drawings in the future! These were pretty fun to do, and thanks very much to all the kind folks who ordered Artist Editions. The next opportunity to get sketched books will be in November.

If you would like to know the sorts of things that go on at TopatoHQ on a daily basis, I guest-star in a totally factual documentary account by John Allison, a well-respected subject of the Queen. In fact, I believe this tale bears the Royal Warrant. (Part 1 is at the bottom of the linked page.)

Now then! In just a few short hours I’ll be leaving the cozy confines of the Pioneer Valley for big ol’ Chicago! The Windy City! Chi-burg! Town of The Double Friendlies! The Urban Chicagopolis! Ol’ Jimmybean! I’ll be at the new C2E2 convention all weekend (with TopatoCo, booth 965), including a Friday-night panel discussion about webcomics that’s sure to be a thrill. I’ve never ever been to Chicago before, and I’m super-triple-excited to check it out and meet all the fun people who I’m sure populate its warrens! You guys have warrens, right? (I have been reading up.)

Finally — thanks to everyone who said hello at the MoCCA Festival last weekend in New York, and especial kind double-thanks to Chris and Carly, my gracious and collegial hosts. Chris if you find my jacket can you please bring it to Chicago.

I made a painting

In Houston, at a fantastic live art event after Saturday’s Comicpalooza. Joel (who took this picture) made one too. All pieces were auctioned off to benefit the CBLDF.

Hey I’m in San Francisco at WonderCon this weekend! Booth 425, with Octopus Meredith, Dr. McHastings, Saturday Morning Breakfast Weiner, & Dresden Diaz. The booth is called The Reason You Came. I will have the new book! Probably! Maybe. Hopefully!

2010 Appearances AKA “The Busy Spring”

I’ve updated the right sidebar to indicate my confirmed-as-of-this-instant 2010 appearances! Coming up first is this weekend‘s Tweet Me Harder Live event plus Emerald City Comicon, both in Seattle, to be followed very quickly by visits to Houston, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.

ALSO: Regarding the One Too Many Mornings contest: I neglected to mention that the deadline is Friday at midnight! And if you don’t have Facebook or Twitter, but would still like to enter the contest, you can always tell the filmmakers your story directly — their contact info is listed at onetoomanymornings.com! But really, the point of the contest is to spread the word about the movie. So — email the filmmakers, then tell twenty strangers about the time you were hung over, and we’ll call it even. Deal? (I have no way of knowing if you don’t do the last part.)

ALSO here is a sketch I just did:

Artist Edition example sketches

Here are some more examples of the sketches I put in Artist Edition books! Each sketch is unique and totally unpredictable.

This is a reminder that these special edition books are currently available through October 11 only, and that the opportunity will not be offered again until next spring. UPDATE: They’re done! Thanks to all who ordered. Next chance will be in April or so.


Will yours look as dapper as these (or any of these older ones)? It is impossible to say yet exciting to imagine. The books — individually or in a discounted combination pack — are available here.

SPX Sketches

Here are some sketches from my recent trip to SPX! They have nothing to do with SPX, but I had a lot of time to kill on airplanes. All were drawn with that surprisingly-versatile tool, the hotel-logo-imprinted ballpoint pen. (Click for bigger versions)

gotta catch the sun

git that bad man

only stampy understands

Also, a reminder: I’m at the Long Beach Comic Con this weekend (Friday-Sunday, booth 149, with “Sheldon”), and on Sunday at 3pm, I’ll even be on a panel, talking about either webcomics or Your Sure-Fire Route To Easy Internet Millions. I’m excited to see what I’ll have to say; I could use some of those internet millions. Join me, Dave Kellett and Jeff Zugale for what’s sure to be a raucous time!