January on the east coast has been bitterly cold! We had a snowstorm and temperatures have been well below freezing for weeks, even though it’s been sunny. I don’t like this, I think winter should be gloomy and rainy. I’ve been wearing Jeff’s old motorcycle boots a lot, as knee-high thick leather is pretty warm.

This month has been about preparing. I did a lot of research about water-based screen printing and I’m going to start making t-shirts (and other things) next month when I get the rest of the equipment. The appeal of doing t-shirts myself is that I don’t have to try and guess what sizes will sell or keep a lot of stock in my apartment. I also have a lot of friends who wear sizes outside the S to XL range and have trouble finding stuff that fits, be the change you want to see etc.

I started pencils for the next NewOldRare short, a 12-pager called This Must Be The Place. I haven’t chosen an approach yet, but I’m planning to book risograph lab time this summer so I might set it up for a multicolour riso print. I’ve got ideas about ink ink layering, and it’s cheaper than getting it printed.

Catalina Rufin’s beautiful watercolour comics make me want to try that style. I’m loving their ongoing series about the developing relationship between Wallace and Zephyr. It’s in a similar format to NewOldRare, a collection of self-contained shorter stories about important moments between two people.

Also Wallace and Louis, despite being around 20 years apart, are both (partly) visually based on Warren Zevon.

I need to do a sticker order soon, as I’m low on a lot of the music made me queer stickers. I’m thinking about changing the pop punk and emo ones from CDs into tapes, even though those eras were defined much more by mix CDs than mix tapes. What do you think?

Sketchcards

Website Updates
Added new work to the illustration, adult, and sketchbook sections.

I added a crafts and clothing section, where I can post pictures of all the other items I make.

I did a demo of watercolour painting on wood for my blog. NSFW, so don’t look at it on the school computers.

Upcoming Shows
Gallifrey One in Los Angeles - February 5 to 8 - I’m not tabling, but I’ve always got a bag full of random stuff, and if anyone wants to buy specific books/prints/etc directly (or look through the mini erotica box), email me and I’ll bring it.
PIE - Pittsburgh, PA - March 15
BICS - Brooklyn, NY - April 18 and 19

Recommendations
Wishful Thinking (NJ) - I stumbled across these guys while looking up an old Australian band of the same name. If you put on Constant High and told me it was from a 2001 pop punk compilation, I’d believe you.

The Humane Method (Melbourne AU) - the singer Andrew McDonald was in a local band called Tiltmeter that I loved and saw regularly as a teenager, he’s got a very distinct voice that I always liked a lot. His current band have a dreamy quality, not unlike Joy Division at their most atmospheric or Mogwai at their most rock and roll.