Are Comic Books Even Real!?: 2016

Thursday, December 1, 2016

New original watercolors for sale!

I've added more small (5 x 3.5) watercolor illustrations to my Sanctuary series on the BUY ORIGINAL ART link. If you're interested in purchasing one you can e-mail me at alexnall0@gmail.com

I'm starting to include illustrations referenced from photos of a trip I took to Europe nearly six years ago. I studied in Florence and London on a study abroad program while in school, and took many photos during my time there. I got to looking at the photos the other night and figured I might as well put them to some use and reference them for some drawings. I've been having a lot of fun revisiting this time in my life and remembering all the places I went all those years ago.

I moved to Chicago the year after this time in Europe and my habit of exploring followed me there. I still enjoy finding places that have some certain charm or character to them. The Sanctuary series has its roots in the activity of exploring the city you live in or a new place you're visiting and finding somewhere you feel like you might belong or just feel comforted by.

Taqueria Moran in Logan Square. (I defy you to find me a place that serves a better burrito under two minutes.)

The corner of my living room. Lots of board games and books (Chris Ware's Building Stories is there next to Settlers of Catan), art work and prints hanging on the wall, and this weird pseudo-couch from Ikea that no one ever sits on.

The vineyards outside Villa Medicea di Artimino. I remember this small province outside Prato to be a great trip mostly because our study group got to tour a winery and have a free wine tasting at the end.

I lived in Florence for three months in 2011 and crossed through this archway on my way back to the home I was staying at. There was usually a bustle of activity here including protests, carnival rides, and merchants selling to tourists.

A cemetery in Stratford-upon-Avon. During the London-portion of my study abroad experience we spent two days in Shakespeare's birthplace. Walking through the graveyard near the church of his burial site was a highlight for some reason. There was a tombstone here that read R.I.P. Samuel L. Jackson, which among all the old-English jargon and medieval history was a source of idiotic delight for me and my friends.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Spooky Comics #1

Here just in time for your Halloween-night viewing pleasure is Spooky Comics #1!

This comic book was created at Chi-PRC at October's monthly group-drawing night Saturday Night Drink n' Draw. Mike Freiheit led a group of ambitious Chicago cartoonists in creating one to two page stories using a collection of toys, knick-knacks, and unique ephemera as models characters for the artists' stories. Some of us collaborated and made unique corpses, worked off of each other's storyboards, inked the other's pencils, etc. After two hours, we all came together with our work and printed this pumpkin-hued beauty on Chi-PRC's risograph printer. Each artist took home 5 copies with them and 5 other copies were donated to Quimby's Bookstore to promote next month's Sat. Night DnD (Date TBA...) Thanks to all the artists who came out and collaborated to make this beautiful book and thanks to Chi-PRC for hosting us!

And now, without further ado, here is the entirety of Spooky Comics for you to enjoy...

Happy Halloween!