📝This archived post is originally from my old comics focused Wordpress blog from 2011-2019. That site was a space to publicly commit to learning the art and craft of cartooning and self-publishing. These posts are full of a naive enthusiasm that though at times embarrassing, I'm proud of. I hope you find them useful in some way.❤️

Here’s a little experiment for Jason Lutes’ Cartooning Studio. The goal is to evoke an intense emotional experience. Can you guess what I’m attempting to depict?

I’ve wanted to make a comic using monoprinting as a key component for a while. As you can see, I gave it a go. Given that for this assignment we didn’t have to prepare 14 pages, I thought that it’d be a do-able task. Additionally, as you’ve seen me post adamantly about abstract comics, I thought I ought to put my money where my mouth was and give them a good go.

I made some patterns, experimented with layering and then worked these images in Photoshop to crop and layout in InDesign. Nothing too fancy. Given the fact that I was using the computer I felt like I was cheating quite a bi, but hey, I’ve got deadlines. I hope that in the coming months I can make a complete page entirely through monoprinting. The hardest part is going to be keeping the gutters tidy, given how grubby my hands get while working with the oils and solvents. Perhaps I’ll cut some tiny copper plates…

In other news, here’s a cute little cartoon I made by chopping and screwing some other monoprints that I made. I might use him as an avatar for something, given his 8bit feel and his seemingly cheery disposition.

Some work that really inspires me is that of Brecht Evens. The man has some truly expressive cartooning and a breathtaking control of color in his art. To think that Antwerp gets an entire mural of his art! (here’s some recent documentation of the mural and the creation process that Art Mural oversaw). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9qWhxuYsXU&feature=player_embedded