Right before MoCCA Art Fest 2011, comicbook artist and inker Peter Palmiotti (he’s worked for Marvel, DC, and many other publishing companies; both major as well as small press) sent me a message on Facebook. Think it was Facebook, or an email, can’t remember which. Anyhow, he had an idea for a quickie collaboration. Peter kindly asked if I could do a pencil sketch, in which he would then ink in. I agreed.
If you’ve read some of my earlier blog posts a few weeks back, (https://witchesbrewpress.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/mocca-art-fest-2011/) I did the pencil sketch right after I had spent 24-28 putting together a Psycho Bunny mini-issue. Despite major sleep deprivation, I was on a drawing roll. To quote myself, I was a mean, not-so-lean sketching machine. A few hours later, Peter drops by my table. We’ve been internet buddies for quite some time now. It was on his birthday that we finally met, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Here’s the pencil sketch before inking. Photo taken with my iPhone: Pencil sketch prior to inking. Done April 2011.
Here’s the sketch after inking: The sketch after inking. April 2011
MoCCA came and went. Kinda glad its over in a way, although I still haven’t caught up on sleep. If I didn’t have school, I would have gladly stayed home. The MoCCA Art Fest itself didn’t tire me out. Actually, it was staying up all night working on the latest Psycho Bunny mini issue that did it. By the time I had arrived at the fest itself, I was pretty much zombified. At my table I practiced the art of sleeping with my eyes open.
It was around this point that I swore never, ever again will I attempt to pump out a self published issue within a 24 hour period. These might be empty words though. Somehow I can see myself doing another 24 hour art marathon.
If that wasn’t enough, I found myself sketching this despite only getting three hours of shut eye:
Pencil sketch done morning of April 9th, 2011. To be inked by artist & podcaster Peter Palmiotti.
At this point I had become a mean, not so lean drawing machine. Still amazed that I was able to sketch while suffering from sleep deprivation. The piece itself, done on illustration board with Dewitt brand pencils was for a collaboration between me and artist/writer/inker/podcaster Peter Palmiotti. He’s done stuff for Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant and numerous independent titles. When he asked me to collaborate on this, I considered it an honor.
My own influences have always been more of the Fantagraphics Books style. What really got me into comics was the likes of Los Hernandez Brothers (Xamie and Gilbert) and Peter Bagge. I’ve been reading titles from these two parties since the early ’90s. Got dog-earred copies of their comics to prove this.
Peter Bagge panel at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.
Yeah, I’m getting all sentimental here. Meeting both Hernandez Brothers last year, and Peter Bagge this year reminded me of why I dug comics in the first place. Also reminded me of why I put up with various nonsense over the past few years. Its due to my love of this medium. Honestly, if it wasn’t for these two, I would have never been a comicbook fan in the first place. When I was a child I read comics, mostly Harvey titles, Rupert The Bear, Archie, Peanuts, along with various newspaper strips. Yet it wasn’t until the late ’80s/early ’90s that I fell in love with what comics truly had to offer. After discovering those two, I explored different titles, like Sandman, Joe Matt’s Peepshow, Omaha The Cat Dancer, some Robert Crumb stuff, etc. In the end, I always went back to L&R and Hate. So if anything, you can always blame Hernandez Brothers and Peter Bagge.
My table at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.
Back to MoCCA. It was a bit slower for me than it was last year, but still managed to sell some stuff.
Here’s some more photos from this past weekend:
Miss Chris table display at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.Animator Bill Bill Plympton and friend, MoCCA Art Fest 2011.This was the table to my left. The two female artists were Vanessa Taffuri & Amy Lynn Duengf. MoCCA Art Fest 2011.Fur hat for sale at MoCCA Art Fest 2011.Here's a poster for the Peter Bagge exhibit being held at the Scott Elder gallery. Like a true fan dork, I took the poster. Not that I usually swipe stuff, but hey. Don't worry, I still have ethics; I waited until the weekend was nearly over before I took it.
Still like MoCCA Art Fest better than some of the more mainstream comic cons. Probably because with the Alternative cons, its more mellow, and focuses more on the artists than numerous collector items.
Anyway…MoCCA was fun as always. Before I left, I swiped a poster from the wall, an advert for some Peter Bagge exhibit over at the Scott Eder gallery. Still got ethics, so I waited until the weekend was over until I took it. And with that, until next time…
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