David Chelsea's Blog, page 46

The Critics Rave!

I had a fine time last Wednesday at Things From Another World signing copies of the first issue of the new Dark Horse Presents and answering questions with publishers Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley and fellow artists Paul Gulacy and Michael T. Gilbert. This story from Examiner.com should give an idea.

David Chelsea is reading:

"Full Moon" by Andrew Chaikin

Meanwhile, most of the reviews I've seen are favorable, and many of them single my story Snow Angel out for special praise. Here's a roundup of quotes (sorry for tooting my own horn, but since I don't have a publicist I have to do this kind of thing myself):

"I'm not even sure I know how to properly talk about this comic. I probably can't convey how and why I like it so much. This tale stands out from the rest because the art style, and narrative tone, is so drastically different. This is a child's fantasy as thought by the child, or at least that is my very liberal interpretation. It is a picture book wrought to life through comic pages. It is the glee of imagination.

Snow Angel is about a girl who can do a snow angel and become a snow angel. She then does good deeds. It's amazingly simple, almost too much so, and it's so sweet you won't need a snack for the rest of the day."

-Ryan K Lindsay, The Weekly Crisis

"David Chelsea—best known so far as the writer/artist of an amazing graphic how-to guide (Perspective! For Comic Book Artists) launches an amusingly whimsical series called "Snow Angel", about a little girl who can apparently turn into a crime-fighting angel by falling backwards and flapping her arms in the snow, as we've all done. Chelsea's art is technically superb but has an alluringly abstract, enigmatic feel to it—he always reminds me a bit of Windsor McCay, artist of "Little Nemo"—and I look forward to this series, which seems kid-oriented."

-Adam Prosser, Thor's Comic Column

"A delightful young girl wish fulfillment religious/superhero strip"

-Rich Johnston, Bleeding Cool

"a weird, haunting piece"

- Blake Petit, cxPulp

"It's a fun all-ages story with really enchanting and colourful artwork."

-Edward Kaye, Hypergeek

"I love the almost wordless approach to storytelling he takes here; no dialogue is needed to carry the story to its final page, and it has such a mix of joy and wonder as we watch Snow Angel make her imprint in the snow and chase after a bicycle thief. It's quite different from anything else I've seen from Chelsea, and I'm dying for the next chapter."

-Greg McElhatton, Comic Book Resources

"It's cute."

-Danny Djeljosevic, Comics Bulletin

" I don't get it."

-Greg Burgas, What I Bought

Meanwhile, I can't take credit for this one:

Accept no substitutes!

Snow Angel, published by Arcana, is an original graphic novel coming out this month by writer Kurtis Wiebe and artist Tyler Jenkins. It's described as "a gritty little tale that delivers as much character as it does blood." I guess there's room for more than one Snow Angel in today's comics market, but whose will reign supreme?

Happy Easter

Decorated Envelope, 1980s

David Chelsea is watching:

"Moon"

The Stumptown That Wasn't

The Rarest Item At Stumptown

As reported in my last post, I had a pretty good time at Stumptown this year. There is only one way the event fell short of my hopes- I would like to have sold more copies of the Jack Chick homage minicomic that I did in collaboration with Chad Essley. Unfortunately I ran out of matte black ink in my printer while I was running off copies, and because my printer takes an esoteric brand of ink that is only available online, I was unable to get a replacement cartridge in time to print more before the event (and having the printing done at Formerly Kinko's would cost nearly $8 a piece). The four copies I did manage to run off in time were snapped up almost immediately by a nice lady from the Multnomah County Library's zine program, and that was that.

David Chelsea prints with:

an HP Photosmart Pro B8850

Inkjet Photo Printer

David's printer takes an:

HP 38 Matte Black Pigment Ink Cartridge.





That's not how it was supposed to go down.

Let's rewind and do it over. You be you and I'll be me.

You're in a vast, windowless room at the Oregon Convention Center. It's the last few minutes of the last day of the Stumptown Comics Festival. You've been buying comics all day and you only have five dollars left. You stop by a table you haven't visited before. The artist behind the table looks vaguely familiar- a handsome devil in a tie and vest. You remember he's one of those guys who draws comics about himself. Oh yeah- David Chelsea!

Chelsea snaps your picture with his Palm Pilot (Note: I didn't actually bring my Palm Pilot this year. Maybe I use my cell phone). You look over the merchandise- a few books you've already read, some sketches printed on envelopes- and then you notice something new, an eight and a half by eleven minicomic. The price is $4.95- exactly what you have in your pocket with a nickel left over. It has an unusual title- ANAPEST:THE MINICOMIC.

"Anapest? What does that mean?"

"It's a type of poetic meter- two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, like in The Night Before Christmas and nearly every Dr. Seuss story. All the dialogue in this book is in anapest."

"Oh."

You notice another name on the cover, one you don't know- Chad Essley.

"Who's Chad Essley?"

"He did the art for one of the stories. You don't know him because mostly he does animation."

You glance at the story on the inside cover. It looks familiar.

"Didn't I read this story on your website?"

"Yes, but it looks better on paper, don't you think?"

You turn to the first page of the second story and begin to read.

Just as you get to the bottom of the page Chelsea speaks.

"Are you going to buy that comic?"

Well, ARE you? If not, then you need read no further. If so, then read on.

You're not at Stumptown any more- instead, you are back at your computer, or reading this on your iPhone or other handheld device. This whole selling things online thing is new to me, so I don't have a button or link set up for immediate purchase. You will have to send me an e-mail.

Here is my e-mail address: davidchelsea(at)comcast(dot)net. Once you've contacted me we can arrange payment- maybe you'll send me a check by snail mail, or maybe we can work something out with my wife's Paypal account. Price is $4.95 for a paper comic and less- let's say $1.95- if I send you digital files.

I look forward to doing business with you.

And if you're in the Portland area tonight, don't forget the Dark Horse Presents Launch Party!

Featuring special guest signings by

Mike Richardson

David Chelsea

Paul Gulacy

Michael T. Gilbert

and more!

When: Wednesday, April 20 7–10 p.m.

Where: Things From Another World—Hollywood

4133 NE Sandy Boulevard

Portland, OR

THERE WILL BE FREE BEER (21+) & FREE PIZZA!!!!!

See you there!

The Stumptown That Was

It's not Stumptown till I file my report. This year I decided not to bring my trusty Palm Pilot and instead left it to others to record the event in photos; the official pool of snaps can be found on the Stumptown home page.

My Table (overhead view)

David Chelsea is listening to:

"Swing Guitar Masterpieces"

by Oscar Aleman

Stumptown is usually more about the selling and the chatting than buying comics for me, but I did manage to pick up a few choice items including Colin Upton's autobio comic about dealing with diabetes, parts two and three of Gina Siciliano's sexy minicomic series Summertime, Mike Russell's Beware The Sabre-toothed Vampire, Stevie Van Bronckhorst's date ruiner (Stevie also sketched a portrait of me during an afternoon lull) Steve Lieber's true facts comic Escape from Alcatraz (which he says was commissioned by the Alcatraz Historical Museum specifically to correct the errors in the classic Clint Eastwood movie), musician/cartoonist Jeffrey Lewis's Fuff ( now also available in an iPad edition) and Jesse Dewyer's Hawt.Dawg!

My big item this year was my new book Extreme Perspective! For Artists: Learn the Secrets of Curvilinear, Cylindrical, Fisheye, Isometric, and Other Amazing Systems that Will Make Your Drawings Pop Off the Page, and that did very well- I sold all my copies the first day. I also appeared on a panel discussing the new print version of Dark Horse Presents with editor Mike Richardson and fellow contributors (you can see how that one went in this Youtube video), and did a demonstration of drawing over the perspective grids on the DVD that come with Extreme Perspective! I had a good time doing that one, and I think the folks in the audience enjoyed it- l heard a lot of laughs, anyway.

Grid Demo Drawing

The reprint envelopes I brought with me did not do quite as well for me as the books, but I did sell out this Easter-themed one.

Put a bird on it?

l spent downtime sketching one-of-a-kind envelopes, which I hoped to sell for $5 each. l decided to follow the Portlandia formula and "put a bird on it", but results were mixed- I sold just one envelope with a bird on it (and one without). I switched to unicorns and rainbows after a while, figuring that might be more commercial, but those didn't sell any better. Finally I pulled out all the stops and drew an envelope with a unicorn, a rainbow AND a bird on it. That one sold.

Dark Horse Presents Launch Party

Cover of Dark Horse Presents by Paul Chadwick

Attention Portland and Vicinity Residents! Here's an announcement on the relaunch of the comics anthology Dark Horse Presents (the one with my story Snow Angel):

David Chelsea uses a Palm Zire 71 Handheld

Snow Angel

Let's Party-Dark Horse Presents Launch!

To celebrate the return of the legendary anthology, DH cordially invites you to the return of Dark Horse Presents launch party!

Featuring special guest signings by

Mike Richardson

David Chelsea

Paul Gulacy

Michael T. Gilbert

and more!

When: Wednesday, April 20 7–10 p.m.

Where: Things From Another World—Hollywood

4133 NE Sandy Boulevard

Portland, OR

THERE WILL BE FREE BEER (21+) & FREE PIZZA!!!!!

See you there!

Stumptown Preview #5: Curvilinear Grids

More excerpts from the demonstration talk I'm giving tomorrow at Stumptown:

David Chelsea is listening to:

A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles

I worked out the construction of curvilinear perspective years before I did my first perspective book, but all things curvilinear wound up on the cutting room floor that time. Now, 14 years later, my new book, Extreme Perspective!, includes chapters on curvilinear perspective (which comes in two main types, fisheye and cylindrical), and the accompanying DVD includes dozens of curvilinear grids for those who don't have the time or inclination to do the construction themselves.

Each grid appears in two versions: a cubic lattice with tiled columns, and a simpler pattern of a cube with squared-up faces.

While many artists will likely use the grids as a background layer in Photoshop, I prefer to print out pale blue versions and sketch over them in pen and ink.

Perhaps my favorite grid of all is this "Oblique Cylindrical" which includes all six vanishing points in a single view.

Working over it results in delightfully loopy panoramas like this one:

Extreme Perspective! Slide Show and Drawing Demonstration

Saturday April 16th 2:00-2:45pm Room A104

8th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest

April 16 & 17, 2011 • Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR

Tickets are available now through TicketsWest Online and at participating TicketsWest retailers!

Stumptown Previews #4: More Perspective Grids

l

Grid by M.C. Escher

I'll be giving a talk and demonstration of drawing on perspective grids Saturday at Stumptown. Here is part of what I'll be talking about.

David Chelsea Is Watching:

"True Grit"





There have been pre-printed perspective grids for a long time, primarily marketed to architects. I had a set that I used from time to time, but when I wanted to draw curvilinear perspective I had to create my own. I based the curvature on an M.C. Escher drawing I found in a book.

My First Grid

Working over that grid, I was able to create a number of curvilinear illustrations like these:

Illustration, Early 80s

Self-promotion piece, mid-80s

The magazine I drew this piece for has maybe the coolest name ever: Geriatric Nursing.

Illustration for Geriatric Nursing Magazine, 1984

When I did my first perspective book in 1997 I included a section of grids in the chapter "Shortcuts To Perspective". I liked Escher's cubic lattice pattern but added regular divisions to the columns. Because these were extremely labor-intensive to draw by hand I was only able to include a few examples. I had intended to include some curvilinear grids as well but dropped that plan under deadline pressure.

Grid from Perspective! For Comic Book Artists, 1997

One of the first things I did when l got a computer in the late 90s was start constructing perspective grids in a CG1 program. Once I had the basic scene modeled it was easy to create grids at a variety of angles by rotating the virtual camera.

Computer-generated grid

These illustrations from a New York Post series predicting the new millennium were clearly drawn over grids; the regularly spaced columns are a dead giveaway.

Illustration for New York Press, 1999

Illustration for New York Press, 1999

My first 24 Hour Comic, The Harold Project, was entirely drawn over grids printed in light blue onto bristol. The  underlying  pattern  of  lines already  suggested  a  cityscape  to  me, and I was able to create backgrounds with an impressive level of detail, especially considering that each page was drawn in an hour.

Page from 24 Hour Comic, 2004

Page from 24 Hour Comic, 2004

Next up: more curvilinear grids!

Extreme Perspective! Slide Show and Drawing Demonstration

Saturday April 16th 2:00-2:45pm Room A104

8th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest

April 16 & 17, 2011 • Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR

Tickets are available now through TicketsWest Online and at participating TicketsWest retailers!

Stumptown Preview #3: The Chick Tract

Jack Chick Tracts

It will be a busy Stumptown for me this year. I will be on two panels (one a perspective drawing demo, the other about the relaunch of Dark Horse Presents) and I'll be selling books and decorated envelopes at my table the rest of the time. This year, in addition to my new Watson-Guptill book Extreme Perspective! For Artists: Learn the Secrets of Curvilinear, Cylindrical, Fisheye, Isometric, and Other Amazing Systems that Will Make Your Drawings Pop Off the Page, I have a new minicomic to sell, a parody Jack Chick tract written by me and drawn by my friend, Portland cartoonist and animator Chad Essley.

David Chelsea is reading:

"Talking Lines" by R.O. Blechman

Classic Chick Panel

Among the tribe of ironic hipsters, especially hipster cartoonists, a taste for Evangelical comics artist Jack Chick is a kind of secret handshake- we all admire the flat-out vulgarity of his goofy cartooning style, and the way his hellfire and brimstone storylines scream out loud the things we suspect our more polite Christian friends keep to themselves (Among other Christian cartoonists, Chick seems to be a source of embarrassment- I once had a chance on a panel to ask Rick O'Shay artist Stan Lynde what he thought of Chick's work, and his reply was a masterpiece of diplomatic distaste.).

My Homage To Jack Chick. Art By Chad Essley

There have been a number of Jack Chick parodies over the years (most notably by Eightball cartoonist Dan Clowes), but to my mind his brand of take-no-prisoners storytelling defies mockery, and the only possible way to answer his sincere belief is with some sincere disbelief of my own. The quintessential Chick tract is about some heedless soul who leads a life displeasing to God (sometimes as a drug addict or homosexual, sometimes as a Mormon or Jew) and then (usually after dying in a sudden accident) finds himself in the Hell he scoffed at. I reverse this by having a Christine O'Donnell-type chastity lecturer who has just died- you guessed it, in a sudden accident- meet Jesus, who tells her the afterlife doesn't exist and that her years of celibacy have been wasted. To make things more fun, all dialogue is in rhymed tetrameter: "You're not going to Heaven- it doesn't exist./ But then neither does Hell." "I am royally pissed!".

Chad has his own history with religious fundamentalism. Raised Mormon, he once drew a very funny autobiographical comic about the time he used a visit from two Mormon missionaries as an occasion to formally resign from the church.

On a more secular note, here's an envelope I'll be selling at Stumptown that I forgot to include in yesterday's post.

8th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest

April 16 & 17, 2011 • Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR

Tickets are available now through TicketsWest Online and at participating TicketsWest retailers!

Stumptown Preview #2: Envelopes

I'll be selling copies of all my books at Stumptown this weekend, including the new one, Extreme Perspective! For Artists: Learn the Secrets of Curvilinear, Cylindrical, Fisheye, Isometric, and Other Amazing Systems that Will Make Your Drawings Pop Off the Page. And just like last year I will be selling copies of decorated envelopes I've sent to various correspondents over the years, with the original addresses digitally erased and the stamps pixellated, so that you can send them to your own pen pals.

I still have copies of the Jodie Foster image above left over from last year. I also have copies of the Carol Kane and Richard Nixon ones. The Peter Cook and Dudley Moore piece was a surprisingly strong seller so I will probably reprint it.

I've added some other examples to the collection since last year; below are some of the ones I'm thinking of including.

Previous blog posts about decorated envelopes

Want to see more decorated envelopes? Check out this classic collection:

What The Girl With The Keyhole Eyes Wants

Line Drawing

Three stages of a single panel from The Girl With The Keyhole Eyes, a comics story which will be serialized later this year in Dark Horse Presents. The line and watercolor images are combined in Photoshop to create the final art.

David Chelsea is reading: "Portland Confidential" by Phil Stanford

Watercolor Painting

Finished Art