Stumptown Comics Fest & BEARD LINK ROUNDUP

This weekend I’ll be in Portland, Oregon for the Stumptown Comics Fest! Portland is the Beard Capital of the USA, so it’s only fair that I use this post for a BEARD LINK ROUNDUP:

BEARD HEAD. So many people have sent me this link! It is a very windy day in Los Angeles today so I could certainly use one of my own. Beardhead.com

Amazing video from the World Beard & Moustache Championships (2003)! My favorite quote: “Well, I don’t normally wear it like this, it’s a bit impractical actually.” This year’s championships are coming up next month in Anchorage, Alaska.

Beard Song. Quite a lovely song really.

The astonishing charity fundraiser, Things My Beard Can Lift.

The Australian band “The Beards“. They proclaim themselves to be “a bearded band”, which is great — but wait! “We only play songs about beards and having beards.” Phenomenal.

This lovely poster is by Michael Buchino of beardrevue.com, which should have a home in the “Beards” tab of your bookmarks folder or RSS list.

Finally, here is a drawing that I made in 2006, the very first year that I went to the Stumptown show:

See you in Portland!

Sketches from Seattle

Since returning from the Emerald City ComiCon, I’ve been busy moving into a new office! The Twitter throngs and I workshopped a number of excellent names for the new space before I settled on “The Assault Factory.” Runners-up “Champion Cave” and “The Murder Hut” were top contenders as well, but the Assault Factory makes me think of forging boldly ahead, getting stuff done, and blazing new trails. Stand back — I’m headed to the Assault Factory. Let’s make some power.

I considered designing a logo for the Assault Factory, maybe something incorporating an AK-47 and a top hat, but then I realized I already did! (P.S. it looks like there are still a few discounted Smalls and Mediums from the misprinted solid-black-shirt run.)

There remains a fair bit of moving in to do — er, to assault — and I’ll post pictures of the new space when that’s all spiffy and done. In the meantime, here are some sketches I did in Seattle last weekend! The first three were drawn at the airport but the last one, thankfully, was not.

Clever Tricks and Dispatches Vol. III pre-orders will go up on Tuesday.

truck

boat

lawn mower

awwww

Artist Edition drawings!

A few more examples of Artist Edition drawings, which can be created on command for you, your loved ones, or any strangers you happen to feel like buying books for…

Finally, kind Marksman Doug M. sent this picture of himself and his (drawn in total ignorance) amazing-likeness sketch. If only I’d managed to peg that TERRIFYING MURDEROUS GLEAM I’d call it quite uncanny:

Get your own Artist Edition books today! (Doug-level likeness not guaranteed)

Drawings: Artist Editions of my books

For a few months now, I’ve been offering the option to upgrade purchases of my strip collections to “Artist Editions” (a term I shamelessly stole from Dave Kellett). That means I’ll draw a unique sketch in each book!

I make no promise that the sketch will be particularly good, or that it will make any sense. But I’ll leave those qualitative determinations to you — below are a few examples of Artist Edition sketches I’ve done so far.

Click for bigger versions.

For more examples of my sometimes-awful sketches, check out the “Drawings” section here on the site (occasionally not work-safe). I’ll be posting more drawings over time — including more examples of Artist Editions I’ve done over the last few months, and continue to do for folks every day.

Also, all purchases of my print-only comic book “Treachery!” are Artist Editions by default (at no additional cost to you). That’s because the story in “Treachery!” is reprinted in the newest collection, Beards of our Forefathers — and the copies I have left of the separate “Treachery!” book are chirping at me like newborn birds, eager to spread their wings and venture forth into the wild, exotic lands of Your House. To encourage their expulsion from the nest (by way of commerce), I’ve made Artist-Edition “Treachery!” comics a cheap way for you to own some original art by me, if you care about such a thing.