Public at Public

January 20, 2013

I’m pleased to have been asked to participate in the first show at the Louisville Visual Art Association’s new gallery space, Public. I was given a really beautiful lightbox and asked to create a piece on the theme ‘Public’. After much sketching and a few false starts, I came up with something I’m pretty happy with. I’m calling it “You Are What You Meet”

IMG_0162

Come see what it looks like plugged in, with light behind it! It will look different! Will it look better? Well, I don’t know. That’s the question, isn’t it? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

I brought this piece in front of my classes at Waggener High School and had Mrs. Linkhart’s Art 2, Art 1, and Computer Design students give me their opinions, and their feedback was wonderful. It was great having having this piece get a conversation started, and they ‘got where I was coming from’. I would be happy to discuss all these heavy meanings with you in person at the show:

public @ PUBLIC

1/24 – 3/3

Members Only Reception

Wednesday, Jan. 23  6 to8pm

Opening Reception

Thursday, Jan. 24  6 to 9pm

with music by Lydia Burrell

Louisville Visual Art Association
609 W Main Street, 2nd Floor
Louisville, KY 40202
502.584.8166

New Starbounds!

January 20, 2013

The ‘Noboddy’s Business’ Saga Continues….All these originally published in the LEO WEEKLY, 2012-2013

starbound12web

 

starbound15web

I was in The Paper!

January 20, 2013

Ted Nathanson portrait -35

Very Big Thanks to Matt Dobson and all the fine folks at The Paper for a) featuring the burgeoning, diverse, talented local comics scene in their latest issue, and b) running several articles that feature yours truly. Glad I could participate- and I’m pleased with the way the whole thing came out.

Here’s my ‘ Meet Your Maker’ interview

Here’s an article about my comic classes

and Here’s an article about the Louisville Cartoonist Society!

Group

The January issue of The Paper is still out around Louisville and is packed with a bunch of great comics, including an article on the mighty Steven Bowman! Go grab one- for collector value if nothing else!

New Starbounds!

October 31, 2012

 

 

 

 

the first three installments of the Noboddy’s Business Saga!

 

That’s right! the pages from the Dragon and The Deep Sea #1 are up for the rest of the month at the Jane Chancellor Moore Gallery in Frankfort KY!

See the postcard for relevant info about dates & places:

And here’s the statement that goes with the show:

The pieces in this show are parts of a whole. Individually, they could be described as figurative illustrations finished in ink and marker on 11”x17” Bristol paper. Some of them are better designed than others, some feature more interesting moments, but all contribute to the one truly finished piece in this show. That finished piece isn’t on the wall, but in the rack filled with comics, and its called The Dragon and The Deep Sea.

The ideas and characters in The Dragon and The Deep Sea started life as part of a book project called Travels, and were little more than a vague conceptual underpinning for image creation. The Frog-Man, the Scientist, the Aviator, their boat, and the open structure of the world they live in were developed almost abstractly for years, before they started telling me their story. And I decided to tell that story through this medium that I love, comics.

I’d like to resist explaining the story- if I’ve done my job correctly it’s all right there on the paper. Please take a minute to look through it. The magic of comics, like any story, happens when all of the component parts- the images and text- give way to narrative. And comic magic, like all proper magic, needs an audience to complete it.

So: come with me to the world of Deep Sea, where Frog-Men and Scientists paddle free from the rust covered palaces of the forgotten dead, the spaces between places shift and move, and adventure awaits. Examine the art, turn the page, and read on-

Sketches!

June 12, 2012

I don’t normally post sketches and incidental drawings. Usually I work so loose and sloppy that there isn’t much I’d like to show folks, but I like these. This selection are all from my thumbnail pages for Starbound and Dragon and the Deep Sea. I go through pages and pages of quick sketches to flesh out story ideas or character designs. Very often I find I’ll like the energy and expression of the concept sketch more than the finished product…

Madlox, a fighting mad version of Maylox from the Starbound strip.

 

Character design and incidental business for the Aviator

Figuring out Gus’ plane

Quick gestures for the Frogman

Maylox’s awesome Uncle Corky has yet to be debut in Starbound, but he already has a little room in my heart. Also: Maylox had his teeth capped!

Geez it’s like I’ve abandoned my blog! What’s been going on since mid-February ( man, time flies)? A bunch of Baby Stuff. Our son Archer Lee was born at a little past midnight on February 26- he rules. My wife Sarah has the whole story over at her blog, Nathanson Nest, for the full run down plus some pics of the first two weeks. I notice she hasn’t updated lately either. I do not understand how you could have a newborn AND keep up an online presence. Babies, god love em, are not impressed by the internet.

Archer is amazing, but very attention demanding, so aside from trying to get ready for this summer’s show in Frankfort, and teaching gigs all summer( more on these later), I’ve been hanging out with him.  Oh and I started grad school. Yikes. What I really wanna do is keep working on the second issue of Dragon and the Deep Sea, which I’m serious is the best thing I’ve done, or it will be when it’s finished. here’s page two:

There’s that and I worked with young artist David Ploetz for the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft‘s Side by Side project, pairing local artists with special needs young folks to make some collaborative works- our comic is up at the museum now.

David and I at the Rocketship Studio getting our comics on.

Our Display at the KMAC show.

Other stuff:The Louisville Cartoonist Society has a new book coming out titled The Future! with a beautiful cover by expatriate genius Alex Wilson, and the awesome Phil Back put together a Kickstarter fund-raiser to pay for printing. Thanks to everyone who contributed- we made our goal! More on all this later too.

more Starbounds! There’s been a couple since February, and more work has been done on the upcoming Nebulous Agenda, although I tell ya babies slow down drawing time. They’re wonderful little creatures, but they are alarmingly hapless. Here’s one of the new ones:

Note the shout outs to wife & son in the lower left panel.

That’s it for now- I hear the boy stirring in his crib. More art and news soon! Sooner than three months, I promise!

 

The New Dragon and Deep Sea

February 16, 2012

The New Dragon/ Deep Sea is a bit of a prequel. We’re going back to learn the orIgins of the Frog-man, and how he met the Aviator, learned of the greater Sea, and left his home. It is grays now, but I’m strongly considering color… more to follow soon!

Tonight at the LVAA’s Watertower: the Louisville Art Syndicate Presents Fire and Ice! This show has wall art, fire breathers, ice sculpture, AND a phosphorescent performance featuring your humble narrator! I’ll be assisting Alex Preston, the originator of glow-drawing, for several hours during tonight’s show. Come out if you can- history will be made!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.