The vibes have been rancid this month, but we persevere. I’ve been working on small things around my day job - that shit takes up way too much of my time - but nothing big.

I saw Nine Inch Nails on Valentine’s Day with some friends. Two were a couple on a date, so I made them a special gift for the occasion.

The box office gave me a paper ticket because my phone was too old for the stupid app, which was an unexpected thrill. Nine Inch Nails were amazing, and I’ve upgraded my phone from a 2016 to a 2022.

I’m watching every David Cronenberg film in release order (multiple times). Some I’ve seen before, but quite a few I haven’t - or haven’t for a long time.

I’m keeping a sketchbook about this and finding I have a lot to say, as well as just enjoying paying that level of attention to film and making note of framing and poses I can steal. While I love comics and admire many artists, I rarely think of other peoples comics as part of working on my own. Film is where I turn when I feel stuck, it’s where I get that spark of realisation, it’s what I collect references from, and to a certain extent it’s what I’m trying to emulate.

I love storyboarding, I was doing that before I was really thinking about making comics. 2D animation was fun and I had a bit of a knack for it, but making the whole story move was more to my tastes than making one character move. I sometimes wonder about a life with a few different choices where I make films instead of comics.

I don’t quite know what it is about David Cronenberg’s work that speaks to me, maybe I’ll have a better idea when I’ve watched all 23 films. Maybe I’ll make a zine about it.

I’m also looking out for opportunities to see his films on the big screen, if you hear of any, let me know.

Sketchcards

Website Updates
I added a commission to the illustration section.

Upcoming Shows

PIE - Pittsburgh, PA - March 15
BICS - Brooklyn, NY - April 18 and 19

Recommendations

From the Drain (1967) - an early short film by David Cronenberg. I’m very taken with this. You can see the seeds of things to come, and not just because (spoilers) there’s a weird death. It’s got subtext I doubt is accidental, and the whole story could be told from the initial high-angle establishing shot, which interests me as a concept. The other angles are not necessary for us to watch what happens, but they are necessary for the story.

Directing the Story by Francis Glebas - I bought this book way back in art school because none of my teachers knew much about it and it was literally the only book I could find that seemed to be about the point of storyboarding. Not just the technical side (widely covered in film books), but the reasoning behind choices and ways of thinking about things, the approach to becoming a visual storyteller. I still haven’t come across a book I like better on the topic.