Conversation Gardening Drawings 026-029

Conversation Gardening 022-025

Conversation Gardening
(I'm not accepting new questions, by the way. I still have a big pile to do and am moving. pretty. slowly. through them)

Conversation Gardening Drawings 19-21

Conversation Gardening Guest Artist #2: Zak Sally

Back in 1999 I was just beginning to flirt with the idea of getting serious about making comics. As part of trying to figure out what that might mean I found myself picking up something called Recidivist #2 at a comic shop in Minneapolis. It sort of bowled me over. There were three stories in the little book, all of which felt finely observed and patient and pointed to something I didn't feel like I'd quite seen before, but wanted to see more of. But the third story was more than that. The third story, You Won't Let Yourself Be Touched, left me with the feeling that the author had reached into the depths of my mind and was clearly describing to me some part of myself that I had never really been able to quite make out before. That comic left me with the same feeling that you have when you wake up from a dream that has been profound and powerful and deeply specific and yet... indescribable. I'm not sure I've ever come across another work of art or literature that has done quite what that story did.

That's what Zak Sally is capable of. He continues to make mysteriously specific, ineffable stories that needle at you in your soul. He's also a brilliant musician, teacher, organizer and friend. He's joining Eleanor Davis in taking over the Conversation Gardening project, and I could not be more pleased or more humbled.

For what it's worth one thing I love about this project is the very different takes people have had on it, even if the bottom line is essentially the same (Eleanor's take is here, mine's here). Zak's pissed, and he lays it all out. Go here and read what he has to say – it is a conversation, after all – then buy a book and send him a question.

Eleanor Davis: First Conversation Gardening Guest Artist

Eleanor Davis is one of those artists whose work just makes your mouth fall open. She makes virtuosic drawing and watercoloring look simple, effortless and fun, and she can also twist a corkscrew into your arm before you even realize what's happening. Her recent book How to be Happy is, predictably, beautiful and brilliant. None of the stories do quite what you expect, and it's a book that stays with you for days after you put it down. Her comics voice is utterly unique and compelling. So I couldn't be more excited to have her taking over as Guest Artist for the Conversation Gardening project. She's agreed to do 10 drawings, so click over to her site and get in on this. Those ten drawings are going to go quick.

Also: more announcements are imminent, so stay tuned.

MEANWHILE...

I am officially no longer accepting new submissions for Conversation Gardening for myself to draw. I'm going to be enlisting more guests to take over for me. I haven't counted the ones I've gotten so far, yet, but there's a big stack. Many of you who have sent me questions have probably noticed that it's taking me a while to get to them all. Hopefully you find that they are worth the wait. But I promise: I am moving through them, so please be patient. Below are a few new ones. The first here is my initial attempt to answer the question in the one below (the opposite side of the paper). I thought it deserved a second go. The others are self-explanatory, I think... although perhaps it's worth saying – given that I'm not as good at drawing myself skateboarding as I was when I was 15 – that that's supposed to be a frontside 180 to fakie manual.

Coming soon: Big Bird

Conversation Gardening 012-014

Gainful Employment

I'm going to be volunteering at Magers and Quinn in Minneapolis on Saturday from 2-5. They're inviting some local authors to hang out in the store and talk books with holiday shoppers for Indies First and Small Business Saturday. So come say hello and support a great independent book seller. We can talk about comics or typography or design books, or histories of religion, or good books on atheism or human nature, or pretty much anything by Steven Pinker... or whatever. I'll even try and say something intelligent about novels, if the subject comes up. And in case you missed it, here's my little cartoon manifesto on why you should buy books in a store.

(Also speaking of buying stuff, it was just brought to my attention that the Me and the Universe print [a strip I did for the New York Times this Fall] was erroneously listed as sold out at my store site. In fact there are still a few copies there in case anyone's interested)

Show and Tell at the Twin Cities Book Fair on Saturday

I'm doing the official hometown book release for God and the Devil at War in the Garden at the Twin Cities Book Festival this coming Saturday. With Zak Sally and Jay Peterson.

Zak and I will be doing some Conversation Gardening drawings from 10:30-11:15 at the Magers & Quinn table. Then at 3:30 we'll be doing a public talk about our new books (Zak's Recidivist #4 will be debuting as well) and showing some of the drawings from the CG project (including yours if you come early enough). Jay will be moderating. We'll also be talking about independent publishing and why if Amazon was asleep on a train track and there was a train coming, we wouldn't push them out of the way.

Also we're both going to have some original artwork on display at the festival. Instant one-day art show. Stuff like this, perhaps:

So come hang out, look, listen and tell us what to draw. By the way this is what Zak's kind-of-amazing 10 color risograph masterpiece looked like a few weeks ago. Come high five him for getting it done. You're gonna get it done, right, Zak?

I might also have a few prints of Me and the Universe for sale. We'll see.

Conversation Gardening Questions and Answers, part 1

In order to start things off right, the first two people I asked to pose questions for the Conversation Gardening project were my niece and nephew. After some thought over cheese pizza my niece (age 5) decided her question would be:

As you can see from the drawing, I don't. I did a second version later, using reference.

My nephew, age 7 asked "can you draw a centaur?" (the main character in the mini is, of course, a centaur, but not a very well-drawn example). I do sometimes take drawing dictation from these two, and so while I was drawing the centaur I asked what it should be holding in its hands. The answer: a picture of president Obama. Dialogue was also dictated.

I've been on the road for the last month and have collected a good stack of questions at signings and talks in Anacortes, Washington; Besançon, France and Brooklyn. The next three are from France:

(This is from a friend in Besançon. We were planning a side trip to the region of Ardèche my second week there. But it didn't work out)

Some of the questions are very long and complicated:

Sometimes complicated questions have simpler answers.

Sometimes the questions are simple.

More soon. Keep them coming.

Conversation Gardening, Part One

Okay, so word is out (I guess that's what happens when you start telling people about stuff) so I'm going to begin posting a digital version of this strip, now. I'll continue it tomorrow.

Click here for part 2.

God and the Devil at War in the Garden

My new book is done. God and the Devil at War in the Garden is available in the shop now. This is the cover:

The book is large format, 9" x 12 1/4", 24 pages, with a fold out back cover. The main story is a piece about the Devil that didn't quite get finished for Rage of Poseidon. Here's page 9:

It also includes a collaborative strip I did with novelist Kyle Beachy and a piece I did back in 2011 about a vacant lot near my old place in Chicago. It's got a few drawings from a show I did at the Elmhurst Art Museum in 2012 and elsewhere (the book's title refers to the cover drawing which wraps around and folds into the back).

The first 25 orders will go out with a free 13 page minicomic called Conversation Gardening. It's both a comic and the beginning of a little experiment I'm embarking on. I'll explain more later this week.