A couple of posters...

I did these posters for Green Door Recording Co. this week. (the blank white and yellow space is so they can add whatever dates they need)

Read More...

Summary only...

Music is my friend...

Here's a random post about music... since I've been pretty much a hermit in my studio working on my book, sometimes music is my only friend (except when Anna comes over to distract me).

Music is very important to my creative process. It inspires me, drives me, or just entertains me when I'm working on something kinda tedious. Pictured below is the little stereo in my studio along with all the c.d.s I've been listening to this month while inking my graphic novel.
The c.d.s include: Deathspell Omega's Kenose, Eric Satie's Piano Music & Melodies box set, Xasthur's Subliminal Genocide, Don Caballero's World Class Listening Problem, Penderecki's St Luke Passion and Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, Shostakovich String Quartets, Painkiller's Execution Ground, Corrupted's Llenandose de Gusanos, The Bee Gees box set of their first three albums, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation and Rather Ripped, Charles Mingus plays Piano, The R&B Years 1947 box set, Eye Hate God's In the Name of the Suffering, Scott Tuma's The River, Jesu's 1st album and Conqueror, Brian Eno's Ambient 4 & Here Come the Warm Jets, Bright Eyes Lifted and 4 Winds ep, and Trollmann av Dotoppberg... and on my iPod, I've been listening to a bunch of other stuff including the complete Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic, a lot of ISIS, Converge, Willie Nelson, and Modest Mouse... I could go on and on...

I have also listened to 3 good books on tape: The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth, Picasso's War by Russel Martin, and Ulysses by James Joyce.

While on the subject of music, I've begun recording a soundtrack for my upcoming solo show at Black Maria Gallery. It's a lot of fun to be making music again. I haven't done that in years. It's a great distraction from my drawing schedule. The end result may be a big, noisey mess that no one would ever wanna listen to, but it's still exciting to be working on something different. Here's where I make my music:

Read More...

Summary only...

I did a Groovie Ghoulies album...

I did the artwork for the next Groovie Ghoulies album, "99 Lives."

Here's the cover:

I'm really proud of what I did for it. It's completely different from anything else I've done. It's also completely different from any of their other covers. I've always been a fan of S. Britt, and his covers for the Ghoulies' albums were what inspired me to wanna do album covers several years ago. I was afraid of falling into a trap of doing something similar to his style, so I went for something completely different. I went for a circus daredevil theme to go along with the song "99 Lives." Hopefully the Ghoulie-fans will like it, and not be disappointed with the lack of Britt's art.

Here's the back cover and spines:
There's more artwork inside the booklet and throughout the layout of the c.d. packaging. Here's one image that I particularly like from the booklet:

The album is supposed to hit stores on April 16th.

Read More...

Summary only...

65%

i'm past the halfway mark of my inking marathon and on my way to finishing the book.

Read More...

Summary only...

group show

I'm in La Luz de Jesus' Everything but the Kitschen Sync annual group show again this year. I went to the preview night last night... ugh. I'll refrain from voicing my regrets and misgivings about this show in public for now. I'll be at the public opening tonight. Here's the piece I put in the show... it's from 2005. It's called "Go South." It's not one of my best pieces- it doesn't seem to hold up on its own in a group show... Or maybe it just doesn't look good in that gallery when surrounded by the usual La Luz low-brow stuff.



Oh yeah... they mispelled my name on the website... it's "Neely" NOT "Neeley". You'd think after 5 years they might know. Oi!

Read More...

Summary only...

Nick Cross' Waif of Persephone

Nick Cross is a very talented animator who you may know from his work on Ren & Stimpy. He has just released his latest film, "The Waif of Persephone" on DVD . I just got my copy last night, and I watched it twice in a row (which is not something I do often) and I will be watching it again soon. I really love it. I reccommend this film to any fan of animation, but not so much to the casual viewer of cartoons because not everyone will "get" it. It is a weird film... The bizarrely grotesque, distorted face animations of the elves are great. The animations of the Waif, especially when she sings, are truly disturbing. The uncomfortably long pauses, such as the scene with the elves standing in an empty room for an oddly long time, completely crack me up. I love the simple but elegant background paintings. The psychotically cute forest animals are also frightening. And the dark, poignant ending left me sad for the world, but happy that this film was made. It's not a "perfect" film, in that it's not a slick, hollywood type cartoon. It's got an unpretentious rawness that makes it particularly good. I can see "the artist's hand" in this film- I feel like I'm watching Nick draw every frame. It's one of my favorite new animated films of recent years, and I'm really happy to have it in my collection. Nick spent four years making it, and he should be proud. Go check out Nick Cross' Plog to see artwork and clips from this film.

Read More...

Summary only...

Charity By Numbers

From Press Release:

Charity by Numbers, a benefit art auction for The Alliance for Children's Rights, features vintage paint-by-numbers pieces reinterpreted and transformed by a jaw-dropping lineup of leading underground fine artists including Mark Ryden & Marion Peck, Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, Todd & Kathy Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, Michael Hussar, Shag, Christian and Rob Clayton, Shepard Fairey, Andrew Brandou, Gary Panter, and many more*.

Charity by Numbers will open with a private reception at
Saturday February 10th from 6 to 9 PM,
followed by a public viewing of the pieces from 10 to midnight later that evening.

The auction will be held on eBay from February 10th and end on Saturday, February 17th @ Midnight Pacific Time.

Corey Helford Gallery.
8522 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.287.2340

----------------------
*The "and many more" includes lil' ol' me and other great artists like Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, Kent Williams, Jeff Soto, Dave Cooper, Kaz, KozynDan, Calef Brown, Mark Todd, Esther Watson and about 80 others...

I saw the show last night, skeptical that it would be gimmicky and silly, but I was really surprised to see a lot of great pieces in the show. My favorite is Eric White who "un-painted" his paint by numbers.

Here's my before:


and after:


UPDATE: I went to the opening and it was so packed full of people, I thought I was stuck in line at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. Couldn't see much through the crowds, but lots of the pieces were already sold at a set price before the auction began. Mine sold within an hour of the opening. YAY! Others can be bought through ebay here.

Read More...

Summary only...

What I'm up to...

I'm working hard to finish my 180 page graphic novel "the blot."

I'm about halfway through the inking now, and hope to have the book debut at one of the conventions this summer.

Below is a step-by-step of how I ink a page. (click to view larger images)

This page is the title page for chapter 3.

Pencils:

Title inked, then the rest of the inking begins:

The inking is complete...

Now it's time to add the ink blots:



And the finished page:

Read More...

Summary only...

New Year...

2006 was a rollercoaster year that started off bad and then got worse... but then suddenly everything got good, then really good and continued to get better and better. I think I'll look back on 2006 as one of the most significant years in my life. A year that I started nearly broke and looking for work, but ended up being my most successful year of freelancing yet. Mona left me and it felt like the end of the world, but then I realized how much better my life is without her dark cloud hanging over me. I thought I'd lose the house in the break-up, but was able to keep it and improve on it by adding a painting studio. I was rejected for the Xeric Grant for comics self-publishing, but I received a publishing offer from one of my favorite comics publishers. I had two successful art shows- Survival of the Fittest, a group show I curated, and Igloo Tornado's debut show at Black Maria Gallery. I got a dog, Barky, the sweetest little girl I could ask for. And I found new love with Anna and we are ridiculously happy.

Anyway... 2006 may end up being one of the more significant years of my personal life, but 2007 should be one of the best years of my professional life. I have a solo art show coming up in September at Black Maria Gallery. I am finishing my graphic novel, and will debut it at some of the comic conventions this summer. And lots of more stuff, too...

Also, I will be completely redesigning and updating my website very soon. So check back later this month.

Read More...

Summary only...

Scot Nobles in group show...

Scot Nobles, my good friend and fellow Igloo Tornado artist, is in a group show at Gallery 825.

2006 Open Show
825 Gallery
825 N. La Cienega Blvd
La, Ca 90069

Opening reception is Saturday December 16th from 6-9
Show runs through Jan. 19

Read More...

Summary only...

Go see this show!!!

Two of my favorite artists, Kathleen Lolley and Andy Kehoe have an art show along with Kevin Titzer (who is probably really good, too, but I have yet to see his work).

Go see it:
Errant Days in a Wayward World
Kathleen Lolley, Andy Kehoe, and Kevin Titzer
December 8th thru January 8th
Opening receptions Friday, Dec. 8th 7-9 pm
Harmony Gallery
5911 1/2 Franklin
Hollywood, CA 90028

Read More...

Summary only...

Igloo Tornado at Black Maria Gallery

This show is amazing. I have to say, I think that all four of us are at the top of our game, and each artist is presenting their best work to date. I'm really proud of this show. I'll post more pictures next week. But you can check out some pictures of the installation at the Igloo Tornado Blog.

Our show opens this Saturday! See the postcard below for info...

Read More...

Summary only...

September 16th will be here fast...

I have an art show with the Igloo Tornado coming up next month at Black Maria Gallery.


I have a lot of painting still to do.

I suffered my first ever art related injury the other night when a flimsy folding chair I was standing on decided to jump out from under me... I flipped through the air and found myself falling headfirst towards the concrete floor of my studio. I managed to save my pretty face by landing on my outstretched left hand, which jammed my arm straight into a part of my torso where it wasn't meant to be, leaving me with a horribly sore back and shoulder... I'm lucky I didn't break my arm or anything... Ironically I'm working on a painting of my main character all beaten and broken apart.

Moral of the story: when working on a 7 ft tall painting, don't stand on a flimsy, plastic folding chair from Ikea.

Read More...

Summary only...

Comicon report...

San Diego Comic Con was a lot of fun. For some reason, this year's con was kind of relaxing for me. I had agreat time hanging out with my friends and selling comics and everything. For the first time it actually felt like a little vacation, even though I was working the Global Hobo booth most of the week. Here's some photos by my pal, Levon Jihanian.

I sold out of my book, tuesday. And the new parody comic, Krayons Ego, was a huge hit and sold out as well.

Apparently there was some pact that the contributors to Krayons Ego wouldn't reveal themselves... But I wasn't in on that pact originally, and my ego makes me wanna tell everyone which pages I did. Here's one of the best reviews I've ever received for comics:

"It's pretty damn funny. I laughed out loud at the Sammy Harkham, Souther Salazar, Gabrielle Bell and Ben Jones parodies (oh, and Mr. T, all drawn in a Tom Gauld style). " - Eric Reynolds

The rest of the books is great. I finally got to read it at Comicon last week, and laughed out loud at several of the pieces. I particularly like "Project Inferior" and the Jefferey Brown parody and the stab at the reigning king of parody,Johnny Ryan.

So, as I promised last week, here are the pages I did for the book. Those of you who aren't familiar with the indie comics world, may not get these strips... they are ridiculous exagerations and inside jokes, but anyway here's a little explanation: As I mentioned before, my pages were a parody of Tom Gauld's brilliant pages from Kramer's Ergot #5 in which he had six one page strips about famous authors such as Cervantes and Emily Dickinson. I love those strips and decided to steal his style and format to make one page strips about several of the other cartoonists in Kramers Ergot. I was also channeling the impressively offensive humor of Johnny Ryan and Ivan Brunetti. Some of their comics are disturbingly offensive, but they are always hilarious. SO with that spirit, here are my pages... (click on them for larger view)


Sammy Harkham is the editor of Kramers Ergot. If you know him, you know he's very devoted to his faith, so, of course I couldn't resist the urge to make fun of that. Sammy is a very talented cartoonist and I highly reccommend his graphic novel Poor Sailor, and his new series Crickets.

Souther Salazar is one of my favorite artists alive today. His work is stunningly beautiful and filled with a childlike innocence and optimism that I admire greatly. His art career is really taking off lately, so watch out for him as he sores into fame. He's also one of the nicest people I've ever met, thus I had to turn him into a whore-stabbing asshole in my strip.

Kevin Huizenga is one of my favorite new cartoonists, and we share a common love of Floyd Gottfredson. I highly reccommend all of his Or Else series.

Gabrielle Bell is one of the most talented cartoonists to get attention lately. I love her work in Lucky and in the latest Drawn & Quarterly Showcase #4.

Everyone in the world seems to love Ben Jones and his Paper Rad comics. I don't care for them much, myself, but oh well...

And who doesn't love Mr. T?

I got a lot of great books at the Con this year, including: Walt & Skeezix Volume 2, Babel #2, Mome #4 & 5, Maybe Later, Tales Designed to Thrizzle #1 & 2, Watching Days Become Years #3, Bardin the Superrealist, Paralysis, Drawn & Quarterly Showcase #4, Krayons Ego, Asthma and Cartoon Modern. I also got an amazing book of an Italian Don Quixote comic strip- too bad I can't read Italian.

Read More...

Summary only...

San Diego Comic Con!

Oh jeez... it's time again for the biggest convention of the year... it's ridiculously huge, exhaustively-commercialized, and frightenningly over-populated with every variety of nerd, geek, freak, pervert, weirdo and genius!!!

Ahhh, I can't wait- I love it... then I hate it, then the delerium kicks in and I start to love it even more, and then it's Saturday and there's over 100,000 people there and it begins to crush my soul... but there's no other place I'd rather be this week!

San Diego Comic Con starts this Thursday, July 20th.

This year I'll be with Global Hobo again... however, we've teamed up with Alvin Bueneventura, Sparkplug Comic Books, and the Honeybunch Squad to take over 5 booths all in one island. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Come on by booth #1528 to find me and all my pals.

I'm trying to finish a new mini in time (only 48 hours left to do that), but I will have copies of "tuesday." and "Henry & Glenn 4-ever".

And I have 6 pages in the parody anthology "Krayons Ego." This is a parody of the exceptional art-comix anthology Kramer's Ergot, edited and published by Sammy Harkham of Avodah Books (in association with Gingko Press). I did a parody of Tom Gauld's brilliant pages from Kramer's #5. And I've lampooned several of the cartoonists who contribute to the Kramers Ergot series. All done with love and respect, so please don't punch me in the face, guys! Other contributors include: Jesse Reklaw, Mark Campos, Karen Sneider, Josh Frankel, Clutch, and Sarah Oleksyk.

Here's a fake cover for the book. I'll post pages from it next week:

Read More...

Summary only...

Busy!!!

I've been really busy lately... I just finished writing a 200 page graphic novel. And now I have a lot of painting to do... I've got a show coming up in September at Black Maria Gallery in L.A. and it will be the inaugural show for my artist collective, Igloo Tornado. More details will be posted soon.

Here's a couple of studies I did for some new pieces.

Read More...

Summary only...

MoCCA

This weekend I will be at the MoCCA Art Festival in New York City! I'll be spending some time at the Global Hobo table with copies of "tuesday." and "Henry & Glenn 4-Ever."

If you're in NYC, come by and say "hullo." I can't wait- I love that city!

Read More...

Summary only...

new links...

I've added some new links to the sidebar. Several friends and other artists I admire:

Alex Holden, Dan Zettwoch, David Heatley, David King, Top Shelf, and my big brother, Blake.

Check 'em out if you have a chance.

update: added two more- Scott Teplin has a blog now, and Tom Spurgeon's Comics Reporter is a must read for regular news of the comics world.

Read More...

Summary only...

Don't Pick On Me in Korea

Don't Pick On Me, the music video I animated for The Muffs, is playing in Korea this month at the 10th annual Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival. If you're in Korea, go check it out on May 24th-28th. I don't know when my cartoon is playing, but it's part of the "Commissioned Films" category.

Read More...

Summary only...

never give up...

I've updated my website to add new paintings. You can find them in the 2006 gallery of the Art section of my website.

Read More...

Summary only...

A.P.E. was great!

Yes, it was really great. Just what I needed- get out of town (and away from all my troubles), see lots of friends, hang out in one of my favorite cities, and get lots of great new comics.

Here's what I got:


What else... Sold out of all the copies of "tuesday." that I brought with me. Got to hang out with all my cartoonist pals. Met some new people that were cool. The APESH!T art show was really great- I bought a painting by Jeff Roysdon and one by Jesse Reklaw. Got a potential publishing offer that I'll be considering after hearing the Xeric Grant results. Went to Brett Reichman's art opening- which was also really great.

I added some new links to my sidebar: Zak Saly and his publishing front La Mano, Daria Tessler's Animal Sleep Stories website, and Tom Gauld. All of whom should be checked out by everyone. They are great!

Here's a picture Alvin Bueneventura took of me at APE

Read More...

Summary only...

A.P.E. this weekend!

I'm headin' to me old stompin' ground of San Francisco this week. This weekend is my favorite comic convention of the year: the Alternative Press Exposition this Saturday and Sunday: April 8th & 9th.

Once again, I'll be sharing space with my pals at Global Hobo, purveyors of fine hand-made and hard-to-find comics. We'll be at table #443 on the main floor.

What I'll have with me... The West-Coast debut of my latest comic "tuesday." A 26 page black & white comic about a man terrorized by a mysterious ink blot.

Survival of the Fittest catalogs. 30 page full color book featuring artwork by Renee French, Levon Jihanian, Andy Kehoe, Kathleen Lolley, Tom Neely, Scot Nobles, Lark Pien, Jesse Reklaw, Billy Reynolds, Zack Soto, Gin Stevens, Scott Teplin and Matthew Thurber.


The newly pressed 3rd printing of Henry & Glenn 4-Ever by Igloo Tornado (Igloo Tornado is the artist collective that consists of Me, Levon Jihanian, Gin Stevens, and Scot Nobles). A 16 page black & white comic that presupposes a domestic relationship between Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig.

Igloo Tornado Gocco Postcards- designed and printed by Levon Jihanian.

Igloo Tornado T-shirts in stylish olive green for boys and hot-pink for the ladies! Designed by Me and Scot Nobles.

And at Josh Frankel and Joe Sayers' nearby table, you will find two hilarious anthology comics featuring work by me: Desert Island Paradise and Only The Lonely.

I will also have some of my older comics with me, and possibly some original art for sale.

Also this week: Brett Reichman, my favorite painting teacher from the San Francisco Art Institute (where I got my MFA), has a show at Paule Anglim opening Thursday, April 6th.

And Friday night- check out some of my friends at this comics-related art show.

So, come out to see me this week at the A.P.E., check out my new comics, and help me mend my broken heart (that's right ladies- I'm single again). I no longer have the easy-to-spot blue hair- just look for the guy with these on his arms:

Read More...

Summary only...

NOW GO!!!

Just a reminder that Survival of the Fittest is still up at Harmony Gallery through April 17th.

Seriously, it's the best show in town.

Go there, see it, and buy some art. It's all reasonably priced and it's all really great work. You don't need another pair of designer shoes, you need some art on your walls.

Also- there are iris prints of the "Snigerpus" artwork (pictured above) available for pre-order from the gallery for $150.

NOW GO!!!

Harmony Gallery
5911 1/2 Franklin Ave
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-957-7965

Click here to see the the installed artwork.

Read More...

Summary only...

EL VEZ owns a piece of me!

EL VEZ bought this painting from the La Luz de Jesus group show!

If you've never seen an El Vez show, you're missing out. He's awesome!

Read More...

Summary only...

I'm in Nickelodeon Magazine!

Nickelodeon Magazine has always had a great comic section that includes gag-strips by some of the best indie-cartoonists out there: Johnny Ryan, Sam Henderson, Kurt Wolfgang, Martin Cendreda, and many many more...

Well- I'm not in the comic section with those guys (though you should check them out, too), but I am on most of the pages of the magazine. If you look at the page numbers you'll see a little mini-strip I drew for them.
It starts with these two dudes on the first page...
Then there is a series of fight-clouds, with the page numbers in the center, scattered throughout the issue...
It all ends with the dudes thoroughly pummelled, but happy with the comic-book split between them. Ahhhhh, sharing- a nice message for the kiddies.

Hopefully I'll get to do more work for them in the future.

Read More...

Summary only...