Things in my hands

Get ready for a bunch of mediocre-quality digital photos! I have no work on Fridays (so far...) so I decided to take some pix of things in my immediate vicinity, and then to upload them with limited explanation. Explore results below.

Bonus embarrassing photo of me trying to stuff everything I own into two suitcases in my new room back in Providence.

View from the front porch of my Montreal apartment. It's  really nice, I swear.

My room here opens out onto a second floor balcony sort of thing. It looks like a pretty grim scene from this photo, but actually usually this area is filled with happy little hasidic children arguing and playing (i think it is a Hasidic elementary/day care). I swear, every jewish kid in this neighborhood is required to travel by A) bike B) scooter C) tricycle at all times. When school gets out, you have to keep aware or they will steamroll you in packs.

Proof that I'm still making things.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for comics. I received my copy of Battle Ass  from a trade I did with the artist. It's very Mat Brinkman / Brian Chippendale inspired and bound in some crazy zig-zag way that I need to learn. 

But the real excitement came when I found that my Pre-order of Happiness Comix #2 arrived as well!  And damn, look at all those things that came with it (note pogs!!!!!). I don't really feel like writing up a review right now, but hopefully it is good enough to say that if you have a few bucks you should send them this way instead of blowing em on yr starbucks. Also, it features A.T. Pratt, a fellow RISDoid.

This is what greets you upon opening Happiness #2. Convinced yet?

The third reason it was a triumphant day for my comics collection.  I am working on adding the sound effects to another Shigeru Mizuki manga that D+Q is putting out  in english next year, Kitaro. The letters for the sound effects in Nonnonba are the same that are being used for Kitaro (see below), so I've been looking at Nonnonba for reference. I asked if I could take it home to actually read for the weekend, and my boss actually said I could have it for free. LOVE THIS JOB.

The aforementioned sound effects

A sketchbook comic from Thursday, my long day of transit and finally arrival in Montreal.

 So in conclusion, errything is pretty okay. D+Q is the best and I feel at home in the city already. Here we go...

What is the Value of a Sketchbook?

I've been thinking a lot recently about the importance of sketchbooks. Part of this is due to the fact that my cousin bought me Drawn In, which is a really great collection of pages & spreads from various contemporary artists (many of which went to risd?! what?) + short interviews about their contributions. I haven't got to examine every page yet, but it definitely stirred some things up in my brain.

For me, I do my most inventive work in my sketchbook. I'll start off drawing an idea or my surroundings and then slip into this weird mode of intuitive creation. Time will fly by as my hands seem to make decisions on their own - decisions I would never come to by pure, rational thought. I'll admit, the results are not always groundbreaking. However, they are always looser and more interesting than when I get out a piece of nice paper and decide to "make art." Looking at other artist's sketchbooks generally seems to confirm this tendency. Something is lost in the trip from pure expression (doodling, random collage, life sketches for me) to planned expression. 

Questions: Can we then present a sketchbook spread as a finished art piece? The sketchbook itself as an art piece? How does a doodle change in meaning when it is made as "art" instead of as a doodle? What about artists who don't use their sketchbooks often? 

Answer: I don't know, you tell me!

Anyway, if you get a chance, definitely pick up Drawn In and allow yourself a long time to look through the various artists. You'll not regret it...