May 10, 2008
"fred 43": work in progress- day one
[Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Like they say, when you fall off your horse, the first thing to do is get right back on it.
After Fred 42 died earlier today, I got right back to work. Behold "Fred 43". Ink & pencil on paper. 23 x 30 inches. It's been a busy morning, to say the least.
I'm already liking this one. We'll see where it goes...
By the way, to answer a frequently-asked question. I consider these large pieces "cartoons", I do not consider them "fine art". I consider myself a cartoonist, not an "artist".
So there!
r.i.p "fred 42"
I'm sad to report the premature death of my good friend, "Fred 42".
This happened earlier today, when my pen exploded.
It happens.
All is not lost. I already have a New Evil Plan. Hurrah! I'll let you see it when it's ready.
I spent about twenty minutes being really bummed, then said, "To Hell with it. "Fred 43" will be EVEN BETTER."
It's all good...
May 9, 2008
cut the art crap
[Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Cranked out this one quickly today. "Cut The Art Crap", May, 2008. 24x24 inches, pencil on wooden Ampersand Gessobord, varnished with spray acrylic. I might sell this one... thinking it would go well in somebody's New York apartment. We'll see what happens etc.
"fred 42": work in progress- day six
[Close-up of "Fred 42". Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Yesterday [Day Five] I hardly touched Fred 42. Maybe ten minutes, tops. My brain was all wrapped up with all the Blue Monster stuff.
Like I told somebody the other day, if I just tried to be a full-time cartoonist, I would fail. If I just tried to be a full-time marketer, I would fail.
Somehow it's managing to balance BOTH spheres that keeps it interesting for me... and ipso facto, interesting for the people that pay my bills. And all this, of course, feeds back into The Sex & Cash Theory, from Chapter Seven of "How To Be Creative":
"The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended."Today I don't want to think about marketing. I'm just going to draw...
May 7, 2008
"fred 42": work in progress- day four
["Fred 42". Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[Close-up shot.]
Yesterday I wrote, "When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing."
Hmmm... That does not explain the 8-10 hours I put into the drawing yesterday. What the hell, I guess I was on a roll.
In the last decade or so, I always had a job to hold down, or a business to run. I always had a thousand different things to do BESIDES making drawings. My drawing time was always "stolen" from the other stuff going on.
But now here in uber-laid-back West Texas, suddenly I have more time on my hands.
Or so it felt, yesterday.
"fred 42": work in progress- day three
[Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Yesterday (Day 2) I hardly touched the drawing. I was busy doing other things.
Today I fooled around with it for a couple of hours in the morning. Quite pleased with the results, so far.
When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing.
I'm guessing "Fred 42" will be done by month's end, if all goes well. Rock on.
May 5, 2008
"fred 42": work in progress- day one
[Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[Close-up: Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Today, once I had finished with work for the day, I decided to start on a a new drawing. 18 x 24 inches. Pencil and pen & ink on paper. Working Title: "Fred 42" [I'll explain the title at a later date].
So far I'm having a blast. We'll see where this all takes me. I have no idea how long it'll take me to complete, but I'll let you know when it happens. Rock on.
ian murdock: sun keynote
[UPDATE: You can watch the video here- See Chapter One.]
[UPDATE: You can see photos from the event here.]
[Click on images to enlarge etc.]
Last week I was in Austin. One of the reasons I was there was to help design some slides for Ian Murdock's keynote, "Innovate. Collaborate. Integrate", which he gave today.
Above are the slides. They start off as a giant, black, haystack-shaped software monolith, then evolved outwards into "Open Source", and finally, to the Sun logo. The sixth cartoon is just a humorous drawing projected behind the other panel members who were sharing the stage with Ian.
I'm told the screen was fifty feet wide, so I'm guesing they would've looked rather spiffy. These were all drawn in pencil on 3.5-inch card [Business-card size, obviously]. The actual drawings didn't take that long to execute; though getting them to work cohesively and conceptually took a long time, a lot of collaboration was involved.
It was a cool gig; I hope to do more like it. Thanks to the very groovy Sarah Dornsife for making it happen. Rock on.
May 4, 2008
moleskine 42
[Overview: Click on image to enlarge etc.]
[Close-up view]
"Moleskine 42". A wee sketch I did over the weekend in my Moleskine notebook. Approx 5x7 inches.
April 26, 2008
gapingvoid: a new direction?
[Tablet PC sketch of what I have in mind. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
One of the things I like about Twitter is that it allows you to have instant feedback from lots of people while you're thinking out-loud.
Case in point: If you have been following my Twitter feed recently you'll have noticed me bandying this idea around, about doing large pieces. Namely, large, abstract paintings on canvas.
Basically, the idea is to create six-by-six foot canvas, covered with a field of my obsessive "squiggly" style. The image above, which I made digitally on a Tablet PC, should give you a pretty good idea what I mean.
So far the feedback has been tremendous. I've got dozens of comments, both public and private. Thanks for that.
I think being out here in Alpine, Texas, covered under a blanket of desert air and "Big Sky" brought about a wee change in me, at least in what I find interesting artistically. The "cartoons on the back of business cards" format came about in New York City, when living conditions, shall we say, were far more intense, crowded and cramped. Not to mention, I was ten years younger. Things change.
Acquiring blank business cards and a few pens is a LOT simpler and easier than making big paintings. With the latter, suddenly you have to start thinking about renting studio space and buying materials, which are not cheap. Then you have to find a buyer for the pieces, to offset the cost of making them. Then you have you have to figure out how to ship them to their new owners without them getting damaged. Plus a myriad of other pain-in-the-ass factors to consider.
Whatever. It's all exciting stuff. I'm looking forward to finding studio space in the very near future. Though to be honest, I have no intention of ever becoming a permanent, full-time artist. Too much else going on. Too much else out there worth getting interested in. I like to juggle things around. Keeps things new and interesting. We shall see what happens.
April 24, 2008
April 18, 2008
gillmor gang joins the techcrunch network
So it looks like my friend, Steve Gillmor is working with Mike Arrington now. Jason Calacanis breaks the story, with the above cartoon on the blog post. The Gillmor Gang's new permanent home is here.]
Jason writes:
Here's some exclusive news: after being offline for over a year in a legal dispute (can't get into details) the Gillmor Gang is back and is part of TechCrunch! Steve Gillmor is one of the most insightful minds in the technology space, and his "gang" is a free-form thought-fest that unpacks, repacks, and distracts memes faster than any other conversation out there.
April 17, 2008
April 16, 2008
April 5, 2008
April 3, 2008
March 13, 2008
March 12, 2008
January 29, 2008
January 12, 2008
January 11, 2008
January 7, 2008
December 23, 2007
December 13, 2007
naked conversations
[Cartoon dedicated to my friend, the dauntless Robert Scoble.]
[Seesmic Post:] "Are 'Mosquitoes' a good Metaphor for Web 2.0?"
December 1, 2007
crazy cathedral
[Drew this cartoon outside Sagrada Familia when I was in Barcelona the other week. Later it occurred to me that Sagrada F. is not technically a cathedral, but a church. Life is suffering etc.]
November 28, 2007
why facebook might be consigning themselves to the slushpile of history.
["Social Media". Drew it about 20 minutes ago. Inspired the post below etc.]
So what's stopping Facebook from putting in a small, tickable box that says, "Please do not let my 'Friends' send me any more of these REALLY ANNOYING Vampire/Zombie/Super wall/Super Poke/Whatever invites. I really, really don't want them etc..."?
Heck, it would probably take one of their junior coders only a few minutes to do. What's the problem?
I'm starting to suspect the short answer is, they WANT you to spend hour after hour after hour every month on their pages, deleting the crap. Makes the numbers look better for their bean counters:
"Yes, Mr Investor, people are spending on average 4 hours a day on our site. Can we have your vast pots of money now?"
But when in fact, 3 hours and forty five minutes of said 4 hours is spent deleting Zombie invites and their ilk, you start getting the feeling that somebody in Silicon Valley is taking somebody else for for a little ride.
I'm not saying this is what Facebook is doing. I'm saying this is what it's starting to feel like to me, more and more.
Don't get me wrong, I generally like Facebook and have found it mostly useful. I've even met their CEO, Mark Zuckerberg once before and liked the guy.
That being said, if they want to fix the problem, they can easily do so. If they do not, they're sadly just consigning themselves to the slushpile of history.
["HUGH'S THIRD LAW": If you p*ss in the soup for long enough, eventually it stops tasing like soup."]
[UPDATE:] Oh, Happy Day. Looks like Facebook now lets you ban annoying apps on the latter's Facebook homepages. Look for the link at the bottom right hand corner. Rock on.
November 26, 2007
hugh's second law [zuckerberg was on a roll]
HUGH'S SECOND LAW: "The minute the Facebooks of the world forget they are replaceable, is the minute people like me move in for The Kill."
[HUGH"S FIRST LAW: "All online social networks eventually turn into a swampy mush of spam."]
[UPDATE: I left the following message in the comments: "Ben Grada, I'm not anti-Facebook. In fact, I quite like it... But the ever increasing amount of non-relevant stuff it's letting through the net is beginning to concern me. I actually met Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year in Silicon Valley. Good guy. Wicked smart and gracious manners. I hope he works it out."]
