Random Nudity for Warren Ellis' WHITECHAPEL website

THIS PAGE IS BASICALLY GRAND CENTRAL FOR CROSS POSTING. Anything that I need to post around the net that doesn't require it's own blog is going through here first.

It is what the title says, and Warren tried to tell me WHITECHAPEL wasn't socially significant.

These are images I knicked from PAPRIKA's blog    He was hating on the naked beard pictures but it only took me about 30 seconds to find these in his archives.

The City of Gears Kids Comics Online

HEY APATHY! Comics Online!

Maybe today was one for dreaming, but something about the holiday season, and in particular my 2year old nephew, has got me thinking a little more about comics for kids. As a public performer I have been interested in communicating to both the intellectual and younger viewers. Prior to my street and festival interventions, the artwork had a tendency towards a bleakness and horror much more nihilistic than the playful monstrosities I draw today. The last time I made something that was really geared towards younger audiences would have to be HEY APATHY! Book Two. While Book One, using superhero type imagery to tell a silent and symbolic parable, is vary borderline and can likely be appreciated by all audiences, Book Two was modeled after kid’s comics and cartoons. This sort of story telling might alienate “artsy” audiences (one artbook publisher laughed at me for making kid’s books) but they are not nearly as interesting or exciting as kids are anyways.

A little time before making the Samurai Comic (Book 2), I scripted and sketched out a children’s book entitled “The Sound of the City” based on one of my ink drawings of the same name. Although I haven’t gotten around to working on it yet, the script keeps making its way to the top of my pile of things to do and is really tempting. I think this book will happen soon.

Yesterday I did some drawings for my nephew. He likes to tell me what the pictures are,” Fish! Truck! Mommy!” and so on. It is really fun. These scribbles got me thinking and I decided to give a quick whirl at designing a “HEY APATHY!” kids cartoon. I did the sketch (above) in about a half an hour during which time I pretty much sorted out all the details. To make a long story short, these superheroes are basically vigilante law enforcement in the over-industrialized imaginary City of Gears. The city is on the brink of annihilation, though the denizens don’t realize it and the team has to fight various evils villains trying to destroy the metropolis. Sounds dull I know, but I was inclined to approach this as though it were a real show. This means within a set of rules and formulae. The fun will be in the symbolic narratives which I are festering in my sick mind.

The team consists of two kids, an artist and a book-worm computer whiz, a superhero, the old wise one, a female adult with musical magic, Audu & Jungle Cat (from Book Two). They have a giant robot which, once a diabolical business drone, has been reprogrammed for the better of mankind. The Robot is a key representation of the necessity to use, and not combat, technology despite all the inappropriate programming. The MachineHead corporate villain is continually trying to over-do consumption frequently threatening the well being of the city. Lastly the heroes know that they can not disturb the flow of the city for fear of chaos and must work entirely in secret. Blah Blah. Anyways I’m having fun with this today. I think I’ll flesh it out with some more drawings the next time I have free time. I think it would be cool ( and likely wise) to have a whole television series worked out. You never know when  opportunity might arrive and more importantly this is  just something I always wanted to do. READ WEBCOMICS!

Comic Drawings for Kids

HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

Another busy day at the animation stand. Strange week this is leading up to the holidays. I’ve had a bit of human things to do, such as brunch with the family, some gift making and a small amount of shopping. The drawings posted here are for my 2 year old nephew Darroch.  He get’s a kick out of identifying the things in the pictures. These will get cut out and scattered throughout his gifts. Nevertheless I maintained a solid work schedule and should get a lot more done before I start touring dinner parties for the festive season. So far I made 110 animation stills as well as  a bit of drawing done with the goal of making it to 150 and finishing the weekly webcomic before Christmas. Otherwise the primordial vascular and clawed limbs protruding from beneath my bed at night have not been able to find me when I am under the covers and I think the cat has figured out a way to get rid of them. Life is good. VISIT HEY APATHY.COM

Jenny Everywhere

Jenny Everywhere is a public domain super-herione, despite my satirical interpretation, I'd say one of the coolest characters ever.

Alternative Comics Street Art and Performance Video

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Just finished putting together this video of street art, performances and mural painting. The video will be projected tomorrow night on Queen Street West as an unofficial part of the 2010 Nuit blanche celebrations. Officially a selection of my animations will be included in the outdoor installation taking place at the main entrance of 401 Richmond Street ( a huge arts complex featuring galleries, studios and office stuff.Here's the write up for the video:

HEY APATHY! is an ongoing investigation into the monstrous metropolis. In the earliest works the city was announced as a giant gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. In order to best understand the phenomena in question I developed a particular artist's process involving outdoor festival performances, public murals and street art. By means of this unconventional interview I have since talked to thousands of people from all over the globe and of all walks of life. As a result both the artworks and myself have evolved immensely. Today my comics still depict the city as an ominous gear, only now it is up to all the strange and unique characters, not anonymous cogs, who fuel the machine.

This video features several timelapse documentations of my live performances and graffiti work as well as a little animation. Artworks 2002-2007, video by Slavek Smeigel and Craig Boyko. Experimental Soundtrack by Narsen Osutei, Mark vanZyl and Mike Parsons. All new surreal animations, weird comics, and cursed contemporary art at  http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/



Alternative Comics GERM WARFARE

HEY APATHY  SURREAL COMICS

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the quality of my blog posts have been directly related to our strange Torontonian weather. During the summer heat wave I found it difficult to spend time at the computer but got inspired again as the temperatures cooled to a reasonably wam level. However since that time things have been topsy turvey and the temperatures fluctuated between a hot humid forty and a cold wet 25 several times during the course of one week. And like this journal, I was heavily affected by the weather. I have been so sick, fevers, coughs, conjestion, joint pains, you name it. This is the first time I've brought the fever down enough to actually type something. Damn it's tormenting to be ill when there is so much work to be done. New Surreal webcomic post tomorrow regardless of my health.  

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Surreal Interiors #4

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Alternative Comics Surreal Streets, Buskerfest 2010

I just got in from my second day at the Buskerfest. I'm filthy, exhausted and have been painting for 11 hours. It will probably take just as long to get the black grit out from beneath my nails. The thing was a freaking party, amazing music, thousands of people, 30 foot tall rampaging dinosaurs and the most striking venue I have ever had the pleasure of performing at. Can’t get the pictures off the camera, am to tired to recollect the events any further, and I get to do it all over again tomorrow, good night!

Alternative Comics Weird Interior #2

HEY APATHY! SURREAL COMICS

Following a round sample of a fashionably alluring strange elixir the board members slip into euphoric state awaiting the presentation. As they slouch into a woozy oblivion, the meeting room shrinks from comprehensive perspective take the shape of a small stage with the table as a platform while the southern drywall ripples like a drawn curtain. As the lights lower and the pit orchestra moans, an oddly unfamiliar rendition of Punch and Judy begins. Groaning ferocious the deviant headmaster reaches from behind the drapery, and from beyond the wall of sleep, demanding a living sacrifice from the disillusioned jester and his arsenal of hench-creatures. The horrific ceremony unfolds and the drug breathes a stimulated relaxation into the the beings of the board/ Without a second thought a conversation erupts and intoxicated means of marketing the weird terrors a hand fly freely from the brainstorming sect.

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Surreal City Nightmares

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics!

I just finished the gatefold cover page for the upcoming SURREAL WEBCOMIC. The image features  an attack of the amorphous glob techno verse on a group of unsuspecting denizens in a high rise building. On each floor, and the ground below, other strange events are unfolding. Some of the images are from the first story arc but several of them never existed before. That means I probably have to incorporate them into the mythology or else this would be one of those crappy covers that shows things which aren’t actually in the book. I had originally planned on a cover image featuring an amorphous globular attack inside a mad scientist’s laboratory but my desire to draw some mock-perspective ache texture resulted in the sky rise landscape instead.

Thematically I’ve been toying with the idea of a high-rise cross section for many years but have never actually taken the time to try it in the studio before. This was a good test run as I plan to use two similar scenes in the new comics. Through this first attempt I worked out a lot problems and will have a much easier time render the future artworks. Two of the biggest problems I encountered have to do with the size of the original drawing and the resizing of the image for the online portfolio. First I learned that an image of this complexity requires a large drawing surface. I tried to do the image at 11 x 17 inches but found some of the small rooms in want of finer detail. There are eight rooms cover ¼ of the surface. For the most part an entire comics page would have a maximum of nine panels and would have been drawn at almost twice the scale I used for this piece. The second major, major, major, problem I have to deal with is scanning. All of my detailed and smooth line work is turning into ugly Lego block pixels when I post them online. I have to deal with this because most of my work looks a lot crappier than it really is.

SAMPLESOF MY BAD SCANS, the lines are all pixelated

and get worse as I retrieve the original tones

I’ll be starting the weekly instalments of the new web comic next Friday. Hopefully I’ll have my scanning issues resolved by that time but the show will go on regardless. The Weird Tales title is just wishful thinking but really helped me put my own project in perspective. I now realise that I really need to edit my writing and adjust my low quality images before I’ll be happy with my new Surreal Comics series. more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Strange Day

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Alternative Comics Surreal Talismen

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Some weird talismen/tapestry type things from the amorphous globular macroverse. Spilled water all over these drawings but amazingly the computer perserved the wrinkle scibbles. On the streets it use to rain on the work from time to time, so I've gotten use to this sort of thing and the ink never runs, and the paper can always be dried and restetched.

Alternative Comics Strange Faces

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Alternative Comics Creature Visions

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Surreal Skyrise

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

ALTERNATIVE COMICS

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

Alternative Comics SURREAL PULP

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

A little surreal love story... a forbidden passion leads to a black magic double suicide and though the bodies are gone, their love will live on. Just added the old style headline for fun. more at HEY APATHY! ALTERNATIVE COMICS.

aLTERNATIVE COMICS Amorphous Glob Drawings

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

A little Amorphous Globular Macroverse portrait I did today based on the characters and themes from the 13 Stories and upcoming Surreal Comics weekly. I've been a bit frustrated with the fuzzy edges I've been getting from my sketchbook drawings so I thought I try a nice piece of drawing paper today just for fun. The image was easier and for the most part crisper than the recent doodles I've been posting. However I hit a big draw back when transferring the image to the digital world. Unfortunately the way the ink sits on the high quality paper causes a glimmer when I scan the work. By the time I've sorted out the contrast and glare in the computer the damn thing gets pixelated and loses it's fine edges any how! see more HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics.

Alternative Comics a Surreal Noir

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics!

Another creepy comics panel from the upcoming web presentation. This noirish wanderer is plagued by horrific visions of a monstrous metropolis engulfing the seedy city he’s  so accustomed to. The whole collection will include a number of one page stories and about three extended adventures. I had no intention of expanding the comics beyond a single page but  funny things keep happening. After I finish the short I start thinking more about the character’s backgrounds and futures and little histories start to evolve. I don’t have time to draw them all so many are forgotten or written poorly as prose . Well one thought led to another and a couple of the strips escaped the single page infecting any where from three up  five others. These extended shorts however, still follow my original literary attempt at single page stories and can be read either compartmentally by page or as a collective vignette.

To sum up what I just wrote, Surreal Comics! is a collection of single page comics in which some of the strips are connected narratives and the entire catalogue reveals yet another story. It as though there were  strips inside of shorts hidden in a graphic novel, kind of surreal. Just wrote that for fun. More ALTERNATIVE COMICS

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Surreal Stories

HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics

The new HEY APATHY! Surreal comics are basically a side project while I work of the upcoming animation. In order to keep practicing comics while otherwise involved the recent drawings have primarily been created on a small scale and in sketchbooks. The works suffer technically from time restraints and materials but do however offer an unique approach to story telling and imaginary investigations otherwise unobtainable.

On the one hand I’ve no time to develop the scripts and the sketch book paper does not lend itself to fine detail. The drawings are restricted by the size of the book and the type of paper being used. 8.5 x 11 is approximately half the size of a regular comics page. The paper also has a tendency to bleed slightly which, in combination while the scale, makes it nearly impossible to render intricate imagery. An obvious example involved drawing the eyes of the character. In the sketchbook the addition of the iris always results in a blurred mess around the pupil. Therefore the new strips don’t have any iris’. The sketchbook medium frees me from technical and conceptual concern. Even though I’m going to post these strips, it really doesn’t matter what I draw. There is often a pressure associated with creating works for exhibition, publication, commission or on expensive materials. None of these factors apply to the sketch book. In fact the finished drawings become of little importance and the imaginary scenarios take precedence. (Which is weird because none of it makes any sense).

Despite the technical restrictions the sketchbook permits an immediate, intuitive and meditative approach to the pages. Often stories that are to weird to think of, or would never have been made upon further deliberation, come to life regardless. I devised a sort of literary device. The format follows that each page functions as an entire story, like a news paper funny, while simultaneously revealing a larger narrative. This technique works as a guide for the drawing and story telling and is intended as a weekly web comic in which each instalment is self contained and continuous. I also pack a lunch and go to the park which, although technically problematic, is a very quiet and productive place for me. Once I get there I really don’t have any thing else to do but work. These elements, in combination with the oddly beneficial limitations, really allow me to attack the blank pages and dive deep into the world of the weird. see more Alternative Comics