Beauty and the Beast 2: The Beast Gets Literate

Or "Even Monsters Need Books" or "My Sendak Tribute"

Any of these titles work.  I had purchased a stack (and I mean stack) of kraft paper note and greeting cards from Michael's crafts.  I am definitely still in my "brown" period.  So, I have been using earth tone markers and pens to make little drawings on these thick brown paper cards, and this was no exception.  I decided the "front flap" of the card would not be enough of a canvas so I used the open space.  I used sparing pencils to layout the drawing and instead plotted much of it using yellow marker and orange pen, then used brown brush point marker, then back to yellows and oranges.

I wasn't altogether thinking of doing a tribute to Maurice Sendak, but clearly it turned out that way.  It started out more as an idea of depicting my girlfriend (who is a librarian) helping a monstrous being check-out a book. She was also generous enough to take a hi-res image of the card since I failed to scan it before licking the envelope and entrusting it to the USPS.

"Bear Under a Tree" (Process)

Here is another Storify story using tweets to show a process of doing an illustration.

Free Comic Book Day 2012

It was that day, it comes round every year in May, when you can honestly say, It's Free Comic Book Day!  In case you've been living under a rock (or I suppose if you do not or have never collected comic books), Free Comic Book Day has been around for 10 years.  It's a day when comic book stores all over the country give away free comic books.  It's a chance for big and small publishers alike to give out free samples in the hopes of attracting new readers and collectors.  I have to say that if better prepared and motivated, I would have liked to have given away comics of my own producing, but alas it did not occur.  Perhaps I will try for next year.

Over the years there have been interesting give-aways, some cooler than others, and this year was no different.  The one book that caught my attention was Archaia's giveaway of a small hardback comic (yes I said hardback!).  Of course, if the hardback was filled with crap, that would be one thing, but this little hardback had one of Archaia's biggest hits in the form of Mouse Guard, and a cool new teaser of the latest in the line of Archaia's treatment of Jim Henson properties, this time it's a prequel to the movie Labyrinth.

I wound up going to three comic book stores on Saturday in search of finding two copies of the Mouse Guard hardback, one for me and one for the girlfriend.  I was a bit disappointed (and suspicious) when one of my usual haunts had no copies (or at least that I saw).  I feel like this special edition hardback has been in the news and on the blogs for months.  I am not sure why any comic shop wouldn't want to order at least a couple copies.  But my persistence paid off when I hit comic shop number 2 (The Comic Station in Haddon Heights, NJ), and even more so when I visited Frankenstein Comics in Woodbury.

If you are in the South Jersey area and you want a nice, shiny, clean comic experience, with friendly staff and cool new comics, check out The Comic Station.  If you like a more old-school, slightly grungy comic experience, go to Frankenstein Comics.  Bill, who runs Frankenstein Comics is clearly in love with comics.  He is very knowledgeable about the industry and the history of comic shops in the region, and he is a nice guy, willing to share is time and stories.  I was persistent enough to look through all his $1 books and come up with a stack of Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis written Hellblazer books.  Did I mention Bill has a slightly unorthodox way of pricing his comics?  Yup, he's got cool, more expensive books for $25, hardback and softback collected trade papers for $10 and $5 and lots of $1 individual issues.  He even puts together set of 5 and sometimes 10 books that ran together as a story-line as a collected super pack.  These are very tempting, because you don't have to run around looking for fill-in-the-blank copies.  An entire contained storyline, bagged, boarded, and taped together for your convenience.  Very cool.  If you don't mind rooting through boxes and avoiding precariously perched stacks of comics, make the trip to Frankenstein Comics.  A special shout-out also goes to Captain Blue Hen Comics (whose logo and link you can follow on the right sidebar of this blog).  They always have cool sales, superheroes and special guest characters in costume, sketch artists and more for their events.  Worth a drive to Newark, DE.

Thank to all the shops that participated for this year's Free Comic Book Day.  See you next year!

The Madd Potters' Studio in Cape May, NJ

On a recent trip to Cape May, NJ, the girlfriend and I wound up visiting a newly installed potters' studio in the shops at The Merry Widow.  This was quite a treat.  You walk in and you are surrounded by hand-made treasures, from elegant yet functional dishes and mugs, to more specialized pieces like salt pigs and yarn bowls.  Throw in some Christmas ornaments and jewelry, and you should be able to find something for everyone in your family.

We met with Amanda Leipert, one of the primary potters of the store that day, and she was not only extremely nice, but she was also willing to answer any and all questions we had about the pottery and other pieces in the shop.  Mine were largely questions like "What the hell is a salt pig?" but my girlfriend, an experienced ceramist herself, had more intelligent discussions about glazes and the temperature of the kiln.  

You could literally spend hours looking at, admiring, and wondering at the works in this shop.  It was a bit overwhelming, but that didn't stop us from finding pieces to buy.

In the end, I bought a hand-crafted "Cape May" magnet, another magnet, and a beautiful tripod mug.  I am not sure if my mug will be used as a mug, a pen/brush holder, or remain simply an objet d'art.

It is always awesome to look at and purchase beautiful hand-crafted pottery, but it also pretty great getting to meet and talk with the artists responsible for making them.  I don't have too much more to say.  I figure the photographs will speak for themselves.  Needless to say, if you visit Cape May, NJ, be sure to stop by the Madd Potters' Studio.  If you are impressed already (as you should be), they do commissioned works like entire place settings for wedding presents.  You can contact them at themaddpottersstudio@gmail.com.