Terms of Use

I was going to post new work but the new terms of use contract will grant google the ability to use my work - and anyones work - for any advertisement purposes at their discretion. 

So this is the end of this blog from a new art standpoint until their terms of use are changed. Occasionally I'll maybe post a short story, but you all don't really care about that so who knows. 

Sorry Ruthie, David, Em, and "Aubreth." 

Matt

Doodle moments

Church Doodle - Apologies to Ben Sternke.

After last week's post I started thinking about all of the times and time I've spent over the last several years listening to someone speak, teach, preach or lecture all the while doodling on whatever paper is in front of me at the time.

Lecture Doodle - Just after spending an hour listening to Mort Walker and other cartoon creators reminisce about the good ole days - while remaining pleasantly detached from current industry realities - I started on this drawing just as the next lecture about the importance of original art began.

Hot Wind doodle - This came out while listening to a good friend and an acquaintance blow hot wind about various social injustices...I there is a message here, but I'm not entirely sure what that message is.



Over the next several weeks I'm going to attempt to dig up some of those drawings and if I'm lucky, some short stories. Until then...

Doodle Boy

Church - Sun 7-19-09

When I was a little boy sitting uncomfortably in church on Sunday morning, I would steal little scraps of bulletin paper and draw. Over time this became how I was able to concentrate best during meetings and presentations. In both high school and college I obsessively doodled on syllabus and notebooks and to this day I do so on my desk calender.  

For onlookers, to draw when someone is speaking is "horribly rude and inconsiderate." In a two or three person discussion I would agree, but when you are just listening to the performance or lecture, it is one of the best ways to keep your mind active...

In this post are two such doodles.

During a lecture at the opening of The International Cartoon Art Museum in Columbus.  It was fascinating to see the reverence towards what many consider disposable art juxtaposed with the uncertainty of the medium. The character to the left is a caricature of Mort Walker...

Happy Drawing

M

7 Months Later...

Let me start this post off by apologizing to those of you who've noticed that I haven't posted in months. Between then and now I fully immersed myself in the completion of a book that is very dear to my heart. It's been 7 months since I started working on my latest book, a allegorical fantasy called Children of Apologue.  Prior to this 7 month labor of love - and an abundance of migraines - I attempted to tackle this story close to 3 years ago. In fact I made at least 4 attempts all of which failed thankfully. The above image is from the book's prologue and I felt that it is the most appropriate. It is the image of a man who has been used up by the process of bringing his creations into existence. 

"For with every act of creation, the instruments fed on the souls of their mortal caretakers."

More to come in the days ahead. 

Water, Water, Water

Creative dehydration - a thing that occurs when the creative body is deprived of fulfilling its intended purpose. The resulting dehydration may result in bursts of energy, phantom physical pain, irritability and minor depression. Occasionally mild digestive problems occur...fun times for all.


Over the last several months as some of you know - according to statistics I'm guessing 3 of you - I've been working on a new picture novel. Novels - or very complex lies as some people call them - by there very nature are often big, scaling epics and as a result require a lot from their creator. It's like long distance running, or in this case endurance writing/illustrating. The problem is not that it takes several months to complete, if not years - in extreme cases - , but that it feels really good. In a way it's like drinking a crisp glass of water on a hot day.

However...

Life happens. Responsibilities scream for your attention and pretty soon it's been a week since you've created and your creative body is downright dehydrated.

Sometimes it's such a shock to our physical system that we have to slip back into creating or our creative body will reject it.


And that is today's blog post.

As Promised - Preview Image

As promised...

I won't tell you who this is just yet. Soon Enough.

Hope...

Several months ago I posted a single page version of this story. By months I mean October. During my break from posting I expounded on the story utilizing more of the inks and stylization I enjoy. The story centers around a brave little seedling trapped on a wasteland planet; it is the place where hope goes to die. In one final act of resistance, he tries something that could only work in the world of fantasy...

Goodbye Winter

Back in December, I wrote and illustrated this little comic as a holiday card. As the winter is slowly reaching its hopeful end I figured it was an appropriate post.

At the end of this week I will be posting some images from the new picture novel I am currently working on, a fable of sorts about dangerous truth that lives inside the essence of all fiction.

Matt