Every so often the cartoonists of Portland get an open invite to a local theatrical production. Sometimes it’s the children’s theater, other times the opera. Occasionally it’s something with extravagant puppets. We get free tickets to whatever’s on in exchange for producing a batch of frantic live sketches, which then get used to promote the production.
This month the call was for a world premier play called Redwood, a story about race and heritage and relationships, intergenerational and otherwise. I’d gotten a mailer for it a few days earlier and really wanted to go, so when the invite to live sketch a dress rehearsal came in I was all over it.
Thank you JJ for this very good photo.
They issue all the cartoonists with these goofy clip lights and send them to sit in a row towards the back of the theater. We then have to do our darndest to draw like the wind throughout the entire show, capturing gestures, faces, moments, scenery—whatever we like. Here’s what I came up with! These sketches were all done straight to ink with a Pilot Carbon Desk Fountain Pen (the least well-named implement in my arsenal).
Meg
Beverly
Dancers
Drew
Ensemble
Stevie
It’s a challenge for sure, but one I always come away from feeling surprisingly accomplished. It’s also nice to be drawing for folks who aren’t visual artists themselves, because anything you produce seems like wizardry.
I’m really glad I made time to go see this production—it was powerful and moving and laugh-out-loud funny. You can catch it at The Armory here in Portland through November 17th!
I’ve got an amazing opportunity to exhibit at the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting here in Portland this week (AKA the most impressive gathering of marine science folks in the country) and I wanted to invite you all to come along. I’ll be displaying original pages from (and giving away copies of) Mappin’ the Floor, the comic I drew during three weeks at sea aboard R/V Falkor last spring.
Fun fact: I relinquished ownership of the original pages once the gig aboard Falkor was over, so they’ve been touring all over the world without me to various nautical events: a film festival in San Francisco, the America’s Cup race in Bermuda, the Bishop Museum in Hawai’i, a sailing festival in Rhode Island…pretty neat!
Even aside from the comics stuff, the films they’re showing as part of this art evening at OSM sound really cool. One of them deals with the Blaschka collection of glass replicas, which I had the chance to see at Harvard a couple years ago. Here are someexamples, all mind-blowinglyaccurate. If you ever get the chance to go see them in person, FOR THE LOVE OF NEPTUNE: GO.
I’m really looking forward to doing an event that’s ocean-first rather than comics-focused. Gonna meet a lot of other aquatic nerds!
So that’s it! Join me this Thursday, February 15th, in the Oregon Convention Center Portland Ballroom at 6pm. No ticket required.
Hi friends, I am very excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at Creative Mornings this Friday (October 6th) at 8:30am at the Armory Theater here in Portland.
Creative Mornings is a free monthly lecture series where speakers appear on stages all over the world to deliver thoughts on a communal theme—all before 10am on a Friday. This month’s prompt is PIONEER, and I’ve crafted a talk all about belonging, childhood passions, and curiosity that I am super stoked to reveal.
I’m also hand-drawing all my slides, which has led to working on things like this all week:
WHAT IS THIS PERSON DOING WITH THAT FIRE EXTINGUISHER AND ALSO THAT BABY? Come to The Armory on Friday to find out.
Seats are free, and the CM Team provide donuts and coffee to get you pepped up in the early hours. All you need to do is reserve a spot through this website. I look forward to seeing you there!
Hey Portland! I’m making a hometown appearance at Linework NW this weekend. This fantastic indie comics and illustration festival boasts a unique format with two completely different sets of exhibitors Saturday and Sunday. This means you can only find me there on Sunday (at Table 24B), but should totally show up both days to take full advantage of the talent on offer. Did I mention it’s stone cold freeto attend? You heard it here first. Or maybe you didn’t. Either way I’d love to see you on the floor.
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2015 & Sunday, April 19, 2015
Time: 12:00pm – 8:00pm
And here’s a handy map! See Table 24B? Right in the middle there. Aw yeah.
You can check out the exhibitor lineups for both days of Linework NW right here. I’ll also be speaking on a panel called The Modern Reality of Fundraising for Artists at 4:30pm on Sunday with Hazel Newlevant, Kory Bing, and Taneka Stotts, moderated by Tristan Tarwater. Check out the full listing of panels for more exciting discussion topics.
Big week, friends! While I’m still away doing Boat Stuff in Boston, my five-strip guest arc for Danielle Corsetto’s delightful series Girls with Slingshots begins running TODAY. Check back on the GWS site each day this week to follow Hazel and Jamie in their quest for reasonable underwear. I promise it will be a thrilling ride.
I’m also selling the original inked artwork from these five strips over in my store, so give ’em a look if you’ve been in the market for some Lucy Bellwood originals.
And if you want to come see myself, Danielle, and Erika Moen in the flesh, we’ll be doing an event at Bridge City Comics in Portland this Saturday from 6pm – 9pm. I’m honored to get to sign alongside these rockstar dames, and Bridge City is one of my favorite comic shops in town, so get’cherself over there and say hello! Here’s what we all look like in case you feel alarmed or confused.
Enjoy the guest arc and I hope to see some of you on Saturday when I’m back from the East Coast!
What ho, blog friends! Just wanted to let you know I’ll be appearing on a panel in Portland tomorrow as part of this neat event called The Wild. If you have an interest in print goodness, why not stop by to hear Sarah Mirk, Zack Soto, Francois Vigneault, and yours truly discuss the state of comics and independent publishing in the digital age? The panel will be moderated by Justin Hocking and it’s absolutely free! It all goes down tomorrow (Tuesday) from 7pm to 8:30pm at the Independent Publishing Resource Center (1001 SE Division St). More details on the event site.
So, as some of you may know, I attended a rehearsal of Don Giovanni earlier this week, courtesy of the Portland Opera. The company runs this great outreach program where cartoonists come and live sketch rehearsals in the days leading up to the show. I’m no opera buff, but the experience was fantastic. Stellar cast, dramatic staging, and no shortage of saucy thrills. If you’ve been wanting more bang for your operatic buck, this is the show for you.
Unfortunately, these sketches fail to capture the pathos and emotional torment of the show itself. I have, instead, chosen to focus mainly on the boning. There’s a lot of that.
Don Giovanni, his peasant rival, Masetto, and Masetto’s ridiculous hat.
Leporello, unwilling servant to Don Giovanni. This was the happiest I saw him in the entire production.
Most of the time he looked like this.
With good reason.
Giovanni spends a fair amount of time attempting to blame Leporello for his own sexual dalliances.
Masetto is rarely pleased with Giovanni’s party tactics.
Frustrated by his master’s shenanigans, Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni’s service.
Giovanni, however, convinces him to stay and switch clothes with his master, in order to go seduce some more babes. The disguise is somewhat lacking.
Meanwhile, Giovanni completely fails to impersonate Leporello.
Leporello learns that being Don Giovanni has its upsides.
Meanwhile, the grisly evidence of Giovanni’s murderous tendencies (displayed to their fullest at the very top of the show), continues to slide down the set.
Don Ottavio, fiance to the ravishing Donna Anna, is shocked when his beloved expresses her attraction to Don Giovanni.
At Giovanni’s party, he tries a new tactic.
Donna Anna, however, is too busy belting it like a rockstar to notice her fiancé’s change of attire. (Seriously. The women in this show fucking KILLED IT.)
In the process of lamenting her father’s murder at the hands of Don Giovanni, she makes an alarming discovery.
The Commendatore sings accusingly at Don Giovanni from beyond the grave! (Or does he?)
Leporello fears the Commendatore’s fiery gaze, but Giovanni knows the truth.
Don Ottavio makes a last ditch effort to grab the attentions of his beloved.
The Commendatore rises from the grave to deliver a striking revelation! (Also Giovanni gets whisked away to eternal damnation and there’s a big moralistic finale or something I wasn’t really paying attention to anything but the Merkin Mystery at this point.)
And they all lived happily every after!
***
Seriously, folks, with the flippancy of my goofy sketches aside, I suggest you all go check out this show. I had a wonderful time. To sweeten the deal, those of you in the know (i.e. everyone reading this blog) can get your tickets for the Thursday (11/8) show at 50% off! Head over here and enter the password MOZART to get in on the action.
If you enjoyed this you can find other excellent commentary, artwork, and cheap gags from the evening’s cartoonists and live bloggers on Twitter under the hashtag #pdxgiovanni.
