Nerdvana

 Here's a flyer I did for a local 90's cover band, Nerdvana. If you're in Bakersfield this coming Sunday, come out and see the show. These guys always put on one hell of a performance.

New Sketchbook

 One of the most nerve racking things on the planet is laying down the first lines in a brand new sketchbook. A new sketchbook has so many possibilities, and its hard to shake the feeling that you're somehow going to ruin the whole book if you don't do something good on the first page. It shouldn't be, but for some reason there is a lot of pressure in that first drawing. So I made myself a cup of coffee, took a deep breath, and just drew what was in front of me. 

Well, here's to more sketches where that came from. 

Cheers.

Hourly Comics 2013

Here is my very late, mildly anticipated Hourly Comics 2013, which happened to take place on First Friday Feb 2013, so enjoy multiple panels of me sitting at a table.

Quit Yer Blubberin'

At the next First Friday artwalk event in downtown Bakersfield, I will be debuting a new mini comic: Quit Yer Blubberin'. This miniature adventure briefly recaps the numerous times I cried in elementary school, and my effort to not cry during my 6th and final year.
The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol.2 is a bit behind schedule, and I hope this will buy me a little time. I'm also working on a super top secret side project, involving several Bakersfield artists, so when I release Vol. 2 is a little uncertain. I will be announcing my deadline for the book however after Quit Yer Blubberin' debuts.

Plainest Plane Sightings

The local press has been showing me some love lately. Here are a couple excerpts:

The Bakersfield Californian

By Stefani Diaz

The Bakersfield College Renegade Rip

By Robin Shin

Pregnantville Cameo

Lil' Erwin and myself did a cameo in a zombie movie by the talented gentlemen over at Pregnantville.

New Business Cards

Anxious to go through the last of my business cards, so I can finally print up these new designs.

The Alternative Press Expo 2012 (Recap)

 

I'm sure everyone has heard, from my incessant blog posts and Facebook updates, that this year I had the privilege of fulfilling a major career goal by attending The Alternative Press Expo. Unfortunately it has come and gone and here is my (hopefully) brief recap of the weekend.

I came prepared to the show with my usual wares, including my comics: The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol.1, and Lil' Erwin. Lil' Erwin was vastly more popular at the show (despite the book's higher price) largely due to the cover image, which seemed to stop a lot of people dead in their tracks. Several people who bought the book returned to give me very positive feedback.

I also brought a fistful of mini paintings as well as more atmospheric cityscape paintings, which I've sold at several First Friday events in the past. In addition to my usual bric-a-brac, I brought two brand new limited edition screen prints: NDT and Heroes Del Ring (depicted above). NDT depicts my favorite astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I was really glad the piece caught a lot of people's attention, due to their mutual love of the man. Heroes Del Ring is a large screen print of artwork which can be seen in The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol. 1, depicting 9 of the most important Luchadores of all time. Each print is hand numbered, and frame ready, measuring in at 9x12", or you have the option of matting it down to 8x10". If anyone is interested, you can email me until I get a sale page up, or they will be available at the next few event I will be attending.

Sharing a table with me (as mentioned previously), was one of my best friends, and towering titan of talent, Stu Livingston. My close friendship with Stu dates back to High School, which you could actually read about in his autobiographical comic The Table. Stu currently works as a storyboard artist on shows such as Futurama and teaches a figure drawing class at Cal Arts.

Despite being sick for most of the weekend, it really was (for lack of a more enthusiastic term) a wonderful weekend. On my way home I had time to reflect on how lucky I was to have some of my closest friends accompany me at the show. Besides Stu, one of my current best friends Matt Orizaga came out to lend an incredibly important, and incredibly appreciated helping hand. One of my best friends from elementary school Rudy Escobosa also paid us a visit. Best friends from my past and present supporting me in, perhaps the most important days of my life. Most importantly, I was lucky enough to have my lovely girlfriend of 6 years, Robin Jane Sigel with me every step of the way. None of this would be possible without her support and love, and for that I am infinitely grateful. 

Despite all my self-deprecation, I can honestly say I'm a very very lucky guy.

Thanks once again to all of the fans who came around to provide such positive feedback on my work. Special thanks to Nick Mullins who I had the pleasure of sharing a booth next to, for not only buying a copy of The PPPPP Vol.1, but said some really nice things about it on his website. Please take a second to check out his comics if you're a fan of beautifully drawn (can't stress that enough), emotionally atmospheric comics. I certainly look forward to reading more.

APE Exclusive Mini Paintings*

*Unless, of course, they don't sell...

Oh Boy! It's Lil' Erwin!

Today I officially received Lil' Erwin from the presses. I'm really proud of this book, and confident when I say that if you genuinely enjoyed my last book, you'll love this one. The narrative is a bit more cohesive, with plenty of short gag strips to break up the story. To say that I am excited for people to read this one is an understatement, which is a powerful statement for anyone who knows me.

Lil’ Erwin is a collection of illustrated autobiographical anectdotes from my childhood. This comic book of miniature proportions attempts to humorously capture the experiences of growing up as an awkward, chubby, sensitive kid with an active imagination, a tendency toward escapism, and an overinflated sense of romance.

Lil' Erwin is $5 a copy, and is available for purchase today through the link in the sidebar. Lil' Erwin will also be available to purchase in person this coming First Friday event downtown Bakersfield on the corner of 19th & Eye Street. I will be out selling and signing copies, along with my usual artistic cohorts, Patrick Spurlock and Carlos Fierros. The boys will be bringing out their own brand new original art. This First Friday is one you're not going to want to miss. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there. Thank you in advanced for all of the support.

ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO 2012

On October 13th, I will be packing my comics and heading north to The Alternative Press Expo in San Fransisco, CA. Available at the booth will be copies of The Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol.1 as well as the brand new Lil' Erwin mini comic (details on that book shortly). I will also be debuting The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol. 2, as well as some brand new original art and prints.
I have the honor of sharing a booth this year with one of my best friends and true titan of towering talent, Stu Livingston. Stu's work has been published in several major comic periodicals such as PopGun and Flight. He currently does storyboard work for Rough Draft Studios, known for their work on Futurama and Napoleon Dynamite.
I also wanted to mention that I will NOT be attending First Friday Sept.7th in downtown Bakersfield. Lil' Erwin, and The Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol. 1 reprint will not quite make it back from the printers in time for the event. Lil' Erwin will debut at the following First Friday on October 5th.
Speaking of towering titans of talent... Despite my absence from First Friday this week, I seriously urge everyone to still attend. Specifically to make it out to The Metro gallery event, Latination. My dear dear dear dear dear friend, and towering titan of talent, Carlos Fierros will be showing an incredible original painting.

Sold Out

I am officially SOLD OUT of  the first printing of The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol. 1! Soon I will be sending it out for a reprint, which will hopefully be back in time for next month's First Friday event. I know I say this just about every post, but once again, I want to sincerely thank everyone who supported me by buying a copy, telling a friend, and most importantly sharing their enthusiasm for my work.
I tried something new this month, and did a series of Avengers mini paintings (apologies for the poor scan quality). They went over pretty well (I sold out), and I'll definitely be doing more next month. I'd be happy to take requests and commissions. I'd like to do some similar non-comic ones, like maybe some classic movie character pieces, maybe Wes Anderson pieces, some Pro Wrestling ones... anything really. Please leave me ideas of what you'd like to see out there. I've never fancied myself a gallery artist, but perhaps The Alternative Press Expo in October, I'll look into doing some kind of mini painting show. I'd love to see a group show where we get a ton of artists to do a ton of tiny paintings.
Thanks again everyone. My last goal is to have the Li'l Erwin book finished by next month as well, so stay tuned for that.

Breaking Wind

I thought this would make for a potentially interesting post for those curious about my process. If you bought my comic: The Plainest Plane's Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol. 1 (plug plug), then you're likely familiar with my short story "Hear The Wind Howl" or as it is more popularly known as "Wait What? What The Fuck? Did I Miss The Joke? I Don't Get It."TM
Above is the first page of an early draft of the story. Originally, the narrative was much more deliberate with a slower more methodical pacing. I was hoping it would be a little more representative of how I would like my story telling to play out.
The tramp (always wanted to refer to a homeless person as a "tramp") couldn't make money by pan handling alone, until he meets a stray dog. He quickly notices that people are quicker to donate money to him, and what follows is a short montage of him and the dog making money, and enjoying the spoils, as well as each other's company. When the dog (SPOILERS) dies, he loses a friend, but also goes back to being hungry, and not making any money as a mere panhandler. There was a not so subtle attempt at some kind of social commentary about how we tend to treat animals with more care than people... or something equally contrived. The keen eye may have noticed in the final draft, the tramp's cup is full at the beginning, but empty in the end, so I tried to slip that aspect in a little, but laid it on much much thicker in the original draft. Some would say too thick.
The main problem I ran into had to do with reducing the original artwork down. It was originally drawn on a great big 11 x 17 art board. When you reduce something that big down to 8.5 x 5.5, you tend lose a lot of the fine detail in the artwork. It was also about twice as long as the final draft, and I was running out of time. So I edited down, and simplified the artwork. My only real regret is that the quality of the linework, and pacing may have been rushed in the end. People have generally responded to it positively though, so I try not to dwell on what could have been.

Life Aquatic

Unfortunately, one of the casualties of a busy freelance career, and 3 comics in the works, is a woefully neglected blog. Regardless, here is another set of Wes Anderson drawings. Owen Wilson came out a little funny, and I probably should have squeezed Cate Blanchett's head a little horizontally, but oh well. Maybe I'll perfect all these drawings for a future art print. We'll see.

Weezer Tribute Show

This past Saturday was the Weezer Tribute Show. In case you had the unfortunate fate of missing the show, the guys absolutely nailed it, and put on a truly spectacular performance. B Ryders gets a bad rap for being a "bro" bar, but I really think it is an underrated venue, and really did the band justice. The songs were spot on, and you can tell the guys really went the extra mile to put on a memorable show. If you missed it, do yourself a favor, and check out the encore show at Sandrini's, Friday the 25th at 9pm. Here is a the promotional flyer for the event.

I had the pleasure of setting up shop at the show and promoting my book. I met some really cool people, and got some really positive feedback on "The Plainest Pictorial Periodical Vol.1". This is the 4th event now in which I have, not only exceeded what I expected to sell (Which I kept track of with tallies on my arm throughout the night), but have gotten immediate positive feedback from people who bought the book. I sincerely hope everyone knows how much the words of encouragement mean to me. I am riding this momentum wave right into the next few projects I have in the works. If you liked this book, I have some really cool projects that I am right in the middle of. If you want to support this thing further, spreading the word is the best way to help me get my comic career off the ground. Tell a friend. Then tell your friend to tell a friend. Thank you to everyone who has been already been doing this. You're helping Li'l Erwin's dreams come true.

Grown-ass-man Erwin wants to give a very special thanks to everyone in the band: Zach, Sal, Pablo and Evan for letting me set up at the show, and saying some really kind words on stage. Thanks as well to Matt Munoz for giving myself and the band some exposure in The Bakersfield Californian.