Birfdee Giffs

   Here are some gifts I've made for my fancy people in the last few months. The top image is a portrait of Kitty Cat Man from Tim and Erik, Awesome Show, Great Job! for my brother Samson "Gerald Garner" Gorman.  The next image is one of two Glowscape tea light covers I made with Sculpey, ink, acrylic and goauche for my cousin Danielle.  The third image is an illustration I did for my friend Tiana with ink and gouache.  The bottom image is a collage-drawing I made for my Mama with casein, goauche, ink, postal tape, silverpoint and graphite.

   If you likes what you sees and want to commission me to make a holiday or birthday present, let me know!

Matt 'n' Lynda=BFFs 4 Lyfe

  "I consider Chicago to be the best American city because there's ample parking and mediocre-looking people are considered foxy."

-Lynda Barry, 11-5-09

 

   Last week, as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, Matt Groening and Lynda Barry gave a talk at UIC.  Luckily, I moved my schedule around and got to go and WOO-HOO, it was great!  The place was crawlin' with all kindsa people: stank-nasty art kids, nice, tidy fellas, and academic-types wearing sweater vests.

   After the Humanities Festival representative gave a sort of sad introduction (he reminded me of an old man version of Brand from The Big Lebowski), Matt and Lynda mentioned a few anecdotes about their time together at Evergreen State University in the 1970s: 

-Before they met, Matt had heard about "the girl who'd written a letter to Joseph Heller" -who turned out to be Lynda- and wanted to know more.  She'd written "Ingrid Bergman" above her return address, and the letter itself consisted of praise for Catch-22 and a marriage proposal.  Heller responded saying he would marry her, but he just didn't want to live in a dorm room.  

-Lynda mentioned that all one had to do to get into Evergreen was make a peace sign out of lentils on construction paper.  

-One day when really, broke, Lynda was having a bit of a freak-out in the cafeteria.  All of the sudden, one of the art teachers hurriedly approached her, asking, "you're a model, right?" Apparently their model hadn't been able to come into class and they needed someone to draw, lickity-split.  Having remembered that the school models got paid a whopping four bucks, Lynda agreed.  When she showed up, they told her it was a nude modeling session, so she took off her clothes and started posing.  Since the only naked lady "art" she'd seen was in Playboy, Lynda started posing like a trashy, modern day pin-up.  The teacher told her to tone it down a little bit.

-Matt was the Editor of the school paper and wrote an ad saying he'd publish anything.  Lynda started giving him comics and the rest is history. 

   One of the best parts of the talk was when they read some Will and Abe strips.  Matt turns his kids' conversations into comics and they're really, really funny, so check 'em out if you get the chance.  Matt also showed some of his favorite clips from The Simpsons and Lynda read the introduction she wrote for a book about comics.

   Lynda tended to dominate the conversation, which was okay for the most part because she's so damn funny, but things got a little awkward when she mentioned that Matt had proposed to her at one point and she'd turned him down on the spot.  I couldn't tell if he was pissed at her for mentioning it or not, but he played it off well by saying that they both couldn't really stand each other.

   The day after the talk I went to the Flaxman and checked out the first three discs of the third season of The Simpsons.  It was funny, but I don't know if I'll ever be a major, hardcore, die-hard fan.  I like it, but it 'tain't m' favorite.  The reason why I wanted to go to the talk in the first place was because of one of Lynda's books, 100 Demons.  It's beautiful, as are all her books.  Go to your library and check them out.

   I'm sorry if this post is shittily written.  I had to whip it out real quick and don't have time to do a thorough proofread.  I'll make corrections later, but for now, try to ignore any mistakes you might find.

Shhhhh

   I'm starting a secret project.  

   It involves: 

• lots and lots of drawing
  
• guache
  
• my beloved Rapidographs
  
• the laser cutter
  
• my family crest
  
• debossing
  
• and five colors of bookcloth
  

   I'll keep you updated.

   In the mean time, if you're an SAIC-er, go to the AIC.  I went this past weekend when my family was in town and I realized how much I take it for granted.  I was particularly excited when seeing A Sunday on La Grande Jatte because last week my drawing class visited the Prints and Drawings Department and Richard had a sketch pulled that Seurat had done for the woman with the umbrella.  It was so cool to see because it was clear that he fucked up a few times before finding the right line.  It's always nice to see that a master stumbled before becoming a master and that even when they were in their prime, they still screwed up.  It makes me feel a little closer to them and gives me hope that I'll continue to improve as I continue to practice.

A Few More

More LPZ Pictures

Lincoln Park PRISON

   I've been to the Lincoln Park Zoo researching for my Animal Behavior class a couple of times over the last few weeks, and even though I dread the packed 151 bus trips*, I really enjoy my time at the Zoo.   Taking walks there has been so calming and wonderful- a nice change from being in the Loop.  It's really quiet, there are babies around every corner, and true to Midwestern form, the leaves on the trees are all bright yellow and orange.  Today I actually stopped and said out loud, "those are some yellow leaves."  I talk to myself a lot at the zoo.  I talk to the animals, too.  Sometimes I'll ask them how or what they're doing, but mostly I say things like, "look at that sweet baby" or, "poor baby." Most of the animals' pens are really spacious and nice-looking, but I feel like some of them don't have quite enough room.  I've seen a lot of animals pacing or swimming in the same patterns over and over again, which makes me feel really awful.  The title of this post is a joke, but I really do feel guilty when going to zoos.  I feel like, in general, the people that work in zoos have good intentions that are rooted in conservation and education, but there's something kind of messed up about watching animals in fake environments, with tags on their arms being yelled at by middle schoolers and other assholes.  Today, I saw this teenage girl banging on the glass between her and a sleeping lion.  I was watching her, shaking my head without realizing it.  Then she and the boy she was with looked over at me.  I walked away, hoping they weren't the kind of people to shank a bitch for giving dirty looks.

   ANYWAY, the point of this post is to bring attention to some of the gorgeous decorative arts and architectural details at the zoo.  Every time I go, I notice a pretty little something.  I've been taking a lot of pictures of flowers to draw later, but mostly I'm really, really interested in all of the little unique bits and bobs that adorn the animal houses.  I really want to go to the Harold Washington and research the evolution of the zoo and how the buildings have changed over the years.  

   Here are some interesting links:

-I would like someone to make me a personalized  piñata for my birthday (or Earth Day) at some point in my life.

-Cool-assed postcards

-?

-Scroll down to see some pictures of Bushman

-Hmmm

 

   *Today there were three teenagers sitting by me who couldn't stop talking (loudly) about the albino man that had gotten on with some friends at the stop after ours.  It was really weird.  Like, they didn't recognize that he had any sort of condition, they just seemed to have a kind of disdain for him.  They thought he'd dyed his hair white because he was arrogant and wanted to make a *statement* or something.  Then, one of the kids started talking about his friend's mother and her "mild case of Tourette's." He said she'd once told a man wearing a white jumpsuit at the grocery store that he looked like a hot dog.  He also mentioned that she had Social Anxiety Disorder, too and that she was "always good for a laugh."  Jeebus!

   I hope my kids don't turn out to be bratty little shits.  

REJECTED Flaxman Button Submission That Should Have Been Posted Awhile Ago

I'm gonna be a shidass and submit a colored version of this next year.  I haven't seen the ones they chose this time 'round.