Zettwoch's Suitcase

New Print: St. Louis Style!

2009-11-25T11:55:00.007-06:00

I just finished a new screenprint, which will debut this weekend at the Rock ' n Roll Craft Show at 3rd Degree Glass Factory here in St. Louis. The print combines a couple of my inspiration/obsessions (gross food, local lore, the St. Louis skyline) and is guaranteed to look good any kitchen. Here were some sketches: You'll notice that I eventually ditched the Arch-as-Giant-Belly, as well as the Dirt Cheap Chicken's inclusion in the pantheon.Here were the results of some color tests after mixing up inks. I thought that I could create a T-Rav / Brain Sandwich-ish orange by laying a Provel yellow over the St. Paul brown ...
... but I also made the happy discovery that laying the Gooey Butter / Ted Drewe's yellow overtop of the brown yielded enough of a Vess green to keep me from adding a fourth ink. Huzzah for semi-translucency!Working on the print reminded me of this illustration I did a couple of years ago, showing just how many times I can regurgitate the same local landmarks. Anyway, the new print is a 3-color, hand-pulled screenprint on wheat-colored Canson Edition paper, edition of 100, 30" x 11 1/4". I'm sellin' 'em for $25 apiece.Thanks for reading! Hope to see some of you at the Craft Show. I'll be working all day Sunday, if anybody wants to bring me any reference for future prints.

Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts

2009-11-19T07:05:00.006-06:00

This week Leon Beyond tells of the secret origins of the popular kids' gross-out folk song "Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts". This song has appeared in my comics before, like this page from the "Ghost of Dragon Canoe (Kramers Ergot #5)". Just like the kids' sing-along son "Dead Skunk (in the middle of the road)" was written to ridicule Richard Nixon, "Great Green Gobs" originated with real life targets, the turn-of-the-century gang The Gophers.
After the chant caught on in areas beyond the ghettos of New York, the song was modified according to regional and technological circumstances. Kids in Detroit prefer their eyeballs dipped in motor oil, instead of kerosene, for instance. Thanks Leon!

Graphic Dogzign

2009-11-07T15:29:00.003-06:00

Leon didn't harm any dogs in the making of this comic strip. Maybe verbally.
Read it here!

Famous Fictional Villains: Riders of the Apocalypse!

2009-11-04T22:31:00.004-06:00

Tomorrow night, Friday Nov. 6th, is the opening for an art show I put together here in St. Louis at the Mad Art Gallery. It's another one of these "Famous Fictional" shows in which local artists draw portraits of characters from popular fiction, in this case, books and movies.
These are some rough sketches for the posters I printed up advertising the show.
The rules for the show were:
1) Each artist makes two pieces the same size and shape
2) One piece from features a character from pre-20th century literature. This includes everything from ancient mythology and religious texts through 1899.
3) The second piece must features a character from film.
4) Both characters must - to a reasonable degree - be recognizable to casual viewers
5) Both characters must be VILLAINS! The characters I personally chose are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (from Chapter 6 of Revelations in the New Testament of the Bible) and The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse (from the 1987 film Raising Arizona). Some sketches: My paintings are big sheets of Masonite covered in fluorescent orange spray paint, silver leaf pen, acrylic paint & india ink. Here's an early in progress shot of the Horsemen:
And here's a detail from further along:
And here's a sneak peek at the Lone Biker:
You should really see the whole paintings in person to get see how bright this construction orange spray paint is. It should be a fun time. It goes from 7 - 11, radical DJ Tone Wolf will be playing songs, etc. See y'all there!

Apple Souls

2009-10-26T06:51:00.003-05:00

New Amazing Facts & Beyond explores the origins of apple-based Halloween festivities and myths. Be careful out there, kids!

Read the entire strip here!

Hot Rods & Eyeballs & Comics

2009-10-15T09:59:00.006-05:00

I'm honored to have some strips in this year's Best American Comics book published by Houghton Mifflin, edited by the esteemed Charles Burns. Included is my strip SPIRIT DUPLICATOR, which was originally published in Comic Art #9. In addition to those strips I also had the honor of illustrating the books' endpapers, so I drew this long crazy highway scene filled with people reading comics. It allowed me to indulge my twin obsessions of Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth style hot rods and bulging eyeballs, taking them to their logical endpoints.Ink & watercolor, 30" x 10". Click for a larger view!I designed the drawing to have the explosion bleed of the edges of the endpapers, containing the wreckage within the book.Speaking of hot rods, I found perhaps my earliest work on a drawing of a dragster, framed and hanging in my parents' basement. It looks like by brother Jake (age 5) drew it, and I (age 3) colored it. I remember making this exact drawing all the time. That blue thing is the driver's head a in a helmet sticking out.
And speaking of eyeballs, here's a picture of me at St. Louis' Laumeier Sculpture Park next to Eye by Tony Tasset.

Autumn Oddities

2009-10-12T10:36:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year... new Amazing Facts & Beyond! And while we're on the subject of amazing facts and obscure local legends, Leon wanted to give shout-outs to this awesome new book just published by the St. Louis Post Dispatch:Our Own Oddities was a weekly comic drawn by Ralph Graczak published in the paper every Sunday for 51 years. It could be described as a more folksy, homespun version of Ripley's Believe It or Not! (another of Leon's favorites) - lots of vegetables that look like faces, local bowling lore, weird pets, etc. My pal Tom, who edited and designed the book, sent me along this serendipitous snippet from one of the 80's strips:More information and ordering info here.

Halloween Heads of Don Zettwoch

2009-10-09T07:54:00.003-05:00

Drawn from memory. More detailed view of the Jam Box head here. I hope these are still to be found somewhere in my parents' basement!

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-06T10:51:00.004-05:00

I did a one page illustration/comic/infographic inspired by the book Where the Wild Things Are for the VICE magazine booklet & blog released in conjunction with the new movie. Check out my whole drawing here. Here are a couple of my rough sketches.
Here's part of the vector drawing:
Thanks & Apologies to M. Sendak!

SPX sketches

2009-09-29T09:13:00.004-05:00

Here are a couple of sketches I made while attending panels at the Small Press Expo over the weekend. Jerry Moriarty's great Q & A with Alvin Buenaventura (above) and "The Future of the Comic Book" with Kevin Huizenga, Matt Thurber and others.When I sat down to do my panel later that afternoon I found this doodle next to a microphone. I think this is the Future of the Comic Book.

New LEON Book! and SPX!

2009-09-22T09:24:00.006-05:00

Kevin H and I are hitting the road for the Small Press Expo -- North America’s Premiere Independent Cartooning and Comic Arts Festival -- in Besthesda, MD this weekend. We'll have with us, hot off the presses, a new Amazing Facts & Beyond book entitled FACT PARADER! It's 44 pages chock-full of Leon Beyond's special brand of Believe It of Not packaged in a fluorescent eye-bleeding silkscreened cover for $5.We'll be posted up at the tables belonging to Buenaventura Press - publisher of Comic Art Magazine and Kramers Ergot, publications I've recently had work in. More info and a schedule of when we'll be signing here. I'll have all my usual other booklets with me too: upcycled Redbirds, faux-bois Schematics, etc. Also: I'm honored to be a part of a panel discussion Sunday at 5 o'clock called "The Aesthetics of Mini-Comics." Come ask me questions about long-reach staplers and remedies for copy-shop-rage.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Treehouse of Horror!

2009-09-18T09:18:00.008-05:00

I drew the cover to this year's Simpsons Halloween spectacular comic book, The Treehouse of Horror. Look for it at your local grocery, newstand, or specialty shoppe next week! I won't be there, but if you're gonna be in Los Angeles on Tuesday, drop by the FAMILY store and gallery to see a bunch of the original art and get a copy signed by Sammy Harkham (editor), Jordan Crane, Tim Hensly, Matt Groening, and others. More info here and here.
In the meantime, here were some alternate sketches I did:Anyway, everybody should check out the comic. I think they usually have 'em at 7-11. I've seen a bunch of the stories and they're really weird and awesome, including stuff by my STL pals Kevin H and Ted May.

Museum of Leftover Masterpieces

2009-09-16T16:04:00.005-05:00

New art/historical Amazing Facts & Beyond. Y'know what? Ballpoint pen on styrofoam is great sensation. I want a sketchbook with flat styrofoam pages.
Above: Lemmon's Pizza Box doodled on by me and L. Earle Townley

The Royale

2009-09-09T11:09:00.004-05:00

Above: Sketch drawn from the back patio of The Royale in St. Louis, which partially depicts a mural (below) that my pal Jerome painted based on an envelope doodle I drew.

Finger Lickin' Good

2009-09-03T14:48:00.003-05:00

Leon posted a new Amazing Facts & Beyond strip about the lost (and found) loves of midwestern fast food magnates!

Chicago Sketchbook

2009-08-31T06:51:00.004-05:00

Footnotes. Panel 1: Olafur Eliasson, Exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Panel 2: Glamorama, Papi Underwear, song playing was actually It's Raining Men (of course), not Let's Hear it for the Boy Panel 3: Castevet, Burger King Crown Panel 4: Chicago

Shirt.Woot B-Day Bash

2009-08-28T15:19:00.003-05:00

You'd be crazy to miss the good times to be had at Shirt.Woot's 2nd birthday party tomorrow night at the City Museum. Plus you can get this poster I made (all in one piece).

Emberley Galaxy!

2009-08-25T08:44:00.007-05:00

There's a new book out from Red Panda Comics called Emberley Galaxy: A Tribute To Ed Emberley that I've got a 6-page comic strip in:Ed Emberley -- along with Commander Mark Kistler -- was the most inspiring and instructive drawing-teacher-from-afar I had as a kid. He made lots of wonderful 'how-to' books, including two of my favorites the Big Orange and the Big Purple Drawing Books.
Emberley uses a step-by-step approach in which drawings are 'constructed' through an assembly-line process. A skeleton is erected then layers of raw lines shapes and squiggles are added sequentially. Emberley's drawings are angular and cartoony, as well as 2-D and diagrammatic - evidence of their the process in which their built. There's no doubt this style has influenced how I "build" drawings, mechanically and aesthetically. Above: "Running Fox" from The Big Orange Drawing Book. Below: Recent cut-paper fox I made a pop-up card. Another thing that was always really appealing to me about Emberley's books was the sheer density of the drawings. The world he creates is really fun and crammed with weird details. But there was an underlying graphic logic to his world - it makes sense that an orange gorilla named Buttercup lives alongside a purple 70's conversion van. Above: "PICKUPS" from The Big Purple Drawing Book. Below: Poster I made for a pal's business.Given the drawing style - which resembles elaborate erector-set directions more than traditional art instruction - and the overall consistency of his creations, it seems appropriate that Emberley's most famous book and an upcoming documentary are entitled MAKE A WORLD. In my story, characters from Orangeland are gearing up for a big battle against their foes from Purpleville, and Emberley's motifs of construction and deconstruction become more than just teaching tools. Check out the book for the exciting conclusion!Above: excerpt from my Emberley Galaxy story. Below: excerpt from my comic IRONCLAD.Thanks for everything, Ed!

Fall Fashion Trends

2009-08-19T08:19:00.002-05:00

Leon Beyond breaks down all the upcoming Back-to-School fashions for you in this week's Amazing Facts... & Beyond!

Redbird Wino

2009-08-14T18:56:00.003-05:00

Since it's been a couple of weeks and the scent is (almost) totally gone, it's probably safe to post this doodle outta my sketchbook.

Origins of the Missouri Float Trip

2009-08-10T14:31:00.007-05:00

Last week's Amazing Facts & Beyond explored tips, trick & trivia associated with the traditional travels of inland tributaries, the recreational "Float Trip" down the river. The strip is based on a painting by one of my favorite artists and Missourians George Caleb Bingham called The Jolly Flatboatmen from 1846.I've been interested in the exploits of frontier whitewater raftsmen for a while - here's a panel from my comic Gone Fishin' (from Comics Comics #4), intended as an anarchic take on Caleb Bingham's restful and idyllic portraits of flatboat life.:Here's an old painting of mine, from a series of historical Louisville (KY) images, featuring the folk-hero / terrorist Mike "King of the Keelboats" Fink:And here's an unfinished / unpublished version of a drawing I was working on for the cover of my upcoming comic book: I was halfway through inking my Amazing Facts comic last week when I remembered that my idea to pay homage to George Caleb Bingham in a local newspaper strip was ripped off entirely from my friend and teacher D.B. Dowd, who did the same in his wonderful graphic novel The Frame Job which was serialized in the St. Louis Post Dispatch in the late 90's: Sorry/thanks, DB. At least my jolly floatboatmen weren't in port.

Campin' Sketches Aug. 1-3, 2009

2009-08-05T10:39:00.002-05:00

Ballpoint pen & colored pencil, drawn at the Powder Mill campgrounds outside Eminence, Missouri.

Warped Miasma

2009-07-30T07:22:00.007-05:00

The Ol' Vans Warped Tour is heading through St. Louis this weekend, and the RFT put together this first-impression bordering on free-form-poetry field guide to all 63 (!) bands playing. I made this drawing to go along with it. Can you spy with your little eye brokeNCYDE?!? I've crazy cartoon crowd scenes ever since I was a little kid, probably because of those Mad Magazine 2-page spreads that contained what seemed like hundreds (probably more like dozens) of sight-gags.

Pie

2009-07-22T08:28:00.006-05:00

Leon talks gross food and dead animals (again) in this week's installment of Amazing Facts & Beyond. Pictured: Stargazy Pie

DIY AC

2009-07-20T18:13:00.003-05:00

We just posted another one of our manly infographics up at Manolith. This one's about how to jerry-rig your own lo-fi air conditioning unit out of stuff you might have lying around your basement. More info here.

Here were my rough thumbnail sketches:And here was my more detailed sketch:And here's the whole thing. Keep cool out there!