All these crusty websites and (empty?) promises of new comics to come.
posted in Home Jabber on December 20, 2006
I've just about finished work on Aaron Renier's new personal site, as well as Ezra Claytan Daniel's site for his fill-out-yr-own-card company, Loaded Blanks. To top it off, I've launched the first incarnation of my new portfolio site, natebeaty.com.
I'm still unsure of what's to become of Brainfag. My latest idea is to shelve the site as it is, maybe keep it alive but put it in a subdomain. Then I'd redesign it to just be a sketch and kvetch (those terms just work too well together, even tho I think it's been used too much) outlet. Then again, the concept of having multiple sites seems ridiculous -- not only the cost of registering umpteen domains a year, but of spreading my creative self across all of them. As well as expecting any sort of readership to check in on all of them (how many of you actually use RSS readers? I know I do, but I think there's still a lot of people who haven't picked up on the habit.)
My first xmas gift just arrived: Abandon the Old in Tokyo by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, the sequel to The Push Man, which Soon Bok bought me last year. Both books are fantastic, the first from 1969, Abandon.. from 1970 -- collecting works from a reclusive manga cartoonist, edited by Adrian Tomine and published by Drawn & Quarterly. I love the style (it definitely influenced BFX) of both art and storytelling: clean, direct, realistic, and twisted. It's really inspirational for me, reminding me of the types of stories I want to tell with comics.
(Random sidenote: wtf is up with Drawn & Quarterly's website? Jeeezus, please hire someone with web skills! (hint hint) I wasn't aware they'd done away with their previous incarnation: the beautiful yet mystery-meaty site was at least COOL -- but good lord their new site is ugly and awkward.)
Somewhat related to random sidenote: Chris Staros just had me update the Top Shelf site's db and images from "2006 Releases" to "2007 Releases", and I noticed in doing so that we've had the same design for four years. Top Shelf was my first big web job, and I haven't had the opportunity to revamp it since. I've learned a LOT since 2003, and the web has changed a lot, too. I fear it might be time to smash the walls and rebuild that beast. Now I just have to convince Chris (who hates change) that it's time...
However, before I even venture into a TS redesign, I need to get my butt in gear on an arguably more needed revamp: the Microcosm Publishing website. This was my second big web job, and happened just about the same time -- maybe 2004? It's always been ugly, if not functional, and seriously needs some new paint.
I realized my Korea comic actually fits perfectly on a legal digest sized zine, so I guess I'll be printing up a super-limited print of that after new years. I still have quite a bit of drawing to do if I want to make it readable at all, so that will have to happen at some point. I haven't been drawing much, so I give no promises. But at some point in the near future I'll have a new comic, I swear. No, really.
4 comments on this entry
just went thru yr photos on flickr... again. to hell with you and yr discerning eye. enough said. ps: lilli needs an intervention for karaoke addiction.
I hear you on spreading out onto multiple sites Nate... I'm about to split up my web-presence onto my third site and it feels a little weird. I remember going through a similar thing with sketchbooks. At some point I had like three different sketchbooks going: one for "observational drawing", one for "finished" sketchbook comics (whatever that means) and one for rough ideas, etc. Eventually it became too much and I condensed it all into one. Now I'm back up to two. ACK!!!
Regardless of the frustration and questioning please know that *I* for one will be checking all of your sites and definitely look forward to your Korea adventure comic, even if we have to wait for it. Keep plowing forward! ONWARDS!!!
actually lilli just needs an intervention in negative acidity prevention -- something i always thought you could use! ha! suddenly yr mutual attraction comes crystal clear!
as a sidenote, reminding me of when you and lilli smooched loudly while i, single and horny and irritated as usual, getting all mad at hearing the love outside the bedroom/office/enclave of computer-dork-over-production-on-into-6am ----- wait, i forgot my sidenote. but jesus that was over TWO YEARS AGO, can you believe it?!
buy me a goddamn ticket south and i'll come visit you. seriously. i'm too broke. fake-broke. as in 8k on the card, and 1k in the bank, what does it mean?
it means MERRY FUCKING CHRIST-IS-DEAD-MASS! hoo ha &tc, &tc.
please do not email me beer.
@alec: i can relate, i have a ton of sketchbooks going, and i just give up. draw the best stuff in the lined notebook and the doodles in the $20 multimedia book, fuggit. korean adventure comic? oh man, maybe you should start harassing me relentless -- like with phone calls, emails, postcards, singing telegrams, whatever. i need harassment. i'm a lazy comic-drawing bastard.
Well how about THIS, Nate? I'm coming down to PDX in a few days. I'm going to drag your ass to a coffee shop and we're going to get some goddamned drawing done!
Commenting closed.