Theo Ellsworth's Blog, page 81

first time on Earth

Talking about The Understanding Monster

Zack Smith at Newsarama just interviewed me about my new book. It's the most I've talked about it so far. You can read it if you want. I also just got an advance copy in the mail from Secret Acres. It feels quite surreal and exciting to have it exist in physical reality for real.

photos from opening night

There's a bunch of photos from my gallery opening up at the Giant Robot site, including a weird one where I look possessed by spirits while a young couple embraces in the background. This one's my favorite. Two time travelers from ancient Japan traveled to the future of 2012 to see my show! I couldn't feel more honored. I'm crazy thankful to everyone who came out. I met so many awesome people that night, and it was nice to feel so much encouragement to keep doing the work that I do.

The Understanding Monster, Book One

Here it is. I'm finally ready to show you the cover (and a detail from the  back cover) of The Understanding Monster, Book One. I'm going to write more about the book soon, but  for now I'll just say that it's the biggest leap into my subconscious that I've made with my art so far. I have no idea what people will think of it, but creating this book was a startling and rewarding process. It's a hand colored, oversized, hardcover book. This first installment is one piece of a bigger puzzle that I'm building. I can't wait to find a studio space so I can get back to work on book two. The next scene I want to draw has been haunting me.

collaborative comic with Craig Thompson

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I've been meaning to show you this comic for awhile now. Right before I moved from Portland to Missoula I got together with my good friend, Craig Thompson and drew this collaborative comic. It was a fun time! For a number of years, Craig generously shared his home studio with me while he was working on Habibi and I was working on Capacity and Sleeper Car. I would walk to his house once a week or so and work at his extra drawing table. It was truly inspiring to watch him tackle such an epic and complex project and talk with him about comics and the world a large. While working on this collaborative comic, I got to have a sneak peek at the top secret all ages book he's been working on. I wish I could tell you about it. It's going to be awesome!

collaborative drawings with Alex Chiu

Every time I get to hang out with Alex Chiu, we try to do two collaborative drawings that we work on simultaneously, passing the drawings back and fourth until they're both done. We've done six so far. Someday, when we have enough drawings, we'll put out a zine! It's fun to have a long term project that's all about hanging out with a specific friend.

More show pieces

Available to see/own

The whole show is now up online at the Giant Robot art shop. A nice number of them sold opening night but some of my personal favorites are still available. It's the biggest show I've ever done and it's only up until August 15th!

Werewolf time, all the time

 I had forgotten about the window display space at Giant Robot and really wanted to be able to make something for it, so Alex Chiu helped me make a giant xerox print out of a tiny drawing I had with me and we glued it to a big piece of wood in his backyard workshop. Staying with Alex and Ann Chiu is always the best!

six eyes, one mouth, two ear-like protrusions

I had an amazing time in at my gallery opening in LA this weekend, but now I'm trapped in the San Francisco airport for the night because my flight arrived too late to make my transfer to Missoula. Only one flight goes out to Missoula from here each day. I guess that's the downside to living in a smaller city now. I'm making myself feel better by remembering how awesome it felt to get to become one of Yukinori Dehara's characters while taking a break from hanging my show at Giant Robot just a couple of days ago.  Have you seen his sculptures? He's great!