Pixel Pushing

A while back I helped Act 3 design and build a videogame for the photographer Scott Smith's website. I did a bunch of "pixel" drawings of locations, characters, weapons, bikinis, etc. Here are some of 'em.It was a neat project and pretty different from most of my other work. The idea was to emulate the look 'n feel of old adventure games and their EGA graphics, like the early Sierra Online games. My middle-school years included a lot of Space Quest, Police Quest, and (of course) Leisure Suit Larry:It was fun turning real and semi-real people and places into pixelized versions of themselves:More challenging was designing all the games-within-the-game. This was was sort of a Frogger-style deal:For those interested in tech talk, all these drawings are 100% vector. I won't reveal any more of my secrets. Unless you ask me.This is an interstitial loading screen:This is the climactic photo-shoot, sketched then rendered:This was the celebratory duck-hunt afterwards:Anyway, if you've got a few minutes, you should go play the full game!

Annals of Beerstory

My friend Will over at 600series/infoshots and I have been doing these illustrated infograph charts for a blog called Manolith. This time around it's an epic 2400 vertical pixels describing BEER through the ages. My rough sketches: We shared research duties, Will did the heavy design work (be sure to check out the full timeline!), and I did all the little spot illustrations. Here are some of 'em:Know when to say when!

Wet Socks

I've got a drawing today on the COVERED BLOG, an awesome site where artists pay tribute to other comics covers. I "covered" one of my favorite books by one of my favorite cartoonists, Surviving Saskatoon by David Collier. The top one is mine, this one is Collier's:The strip "Milgaard & Me" is a mix of biography, auto-biography, and true crime that really hits my narrative sweet spot. I thought of Collier's cover when I was painting the cover to my Drawn & Quarterly book, which treads similiar biography / graphic journalism territory.(If you were curious how to pronounce the name of this blog, the first part rhymes with my grandpa's war-nickname "wet sock".)

Morrissey vs. Agnostic Front

These legends are in all town next week (on the same night) and this illustration for the RFT pretty much drew itself. "TOO MUCH PRESSURE 'n YOUR MIND IS BUSTIN'!"

Let Sleeping Kitties Lie

Beezus & Ramona, March 28th 2009, drawn while Villanova beats Pittsburgh to reach the NCAA Final Four.

Weapons of Glass DUNK-STRUCTION

New Amazing Facts & Beyond here!ps. LET'S GO LOUISVILLE!

Redbird Recycling Program

Redbird Comics, back in print and available here. Special collector covers, edition of 100, screenprinted on boxes I've eaten food and beer out of.

Magicians of Knowledge: 033009

I was honored to draw this for my good pal Adam and his new band MAGICIANS of KNOWLEDGE. I haven't been this excited about a band's first show in a long time. If past performance is any indication of future results (Adam was in two of my favorite area hardcore bands, Infestation of Ass and Step on It), it will be a good time. And ENLIGHTENING. I got a lot of visual and spiritual inspiration from this great book:The show is at the FUBAR, Monday night March 30th. See you there?!

Homemade Wood Grain

I just finished printing a new edition of my beloved chestnut of autobiographical stories, Schematic Comics. The central strip in the book is called WOODWORKIN' and I always wanted to print the covers on some kind of wood grained paper. I tried wood grain contact paper, but its ultra-slick surface proved difficult to screenprint on, not to mention staple and fold. And scrap-bookers have driven the price of specialty pre-printed wood grain paper through the roof (there must be a lot of families vacationing in lodges these days, or babies being born in log cabins). I decided to try and make my own. Here's how:
I found a good board in my house - the one sealing the entrance to my attic - and painstakingly scanned it in. After tiling it together in Photoshop, and cranking up the contrast enough to tranlate to silk, I made my transparencies and burned the screen:
I was going for the look of cheap plywood, the kind most prevalent in my house growing up, and I luckily had a bunch of beige paper from a previous project laying around. I experimented with some pinkish/brown inks and eventually my entire basement was covered in wood grain.
I'd lost a lot of the subtle tonal shifts from the original attic board, but since I'd be printing two more colors on top of it, I figured it'd look okay. I sprayed all the finished prints with a matte-coat glaze that that softened the edges and made the top inks melt a bit into the wood grain.
Now that these comics are done, I'm excited to try printing wood grain on stuff on all kinds of stuff around my house: washer/dryer, bed clothes, my car, underwear, etc.

Amazing Facts & BEYOND-a-THON!

Leon Beyond talked his USS Catastrophe buddies into doing a custom trivia/art bakesale. More information can be found at the blog or here! Basically, here's how it works:
1) That "special person" in your life has a birthday, barmitzvah, or bachelor party coming up.
2) You secretly find out something that special person is into, such as WWII aircraft, Haircuts of the St. Louis Cardinals, or MilkBones (if the "special person" in your life is a dog).
3) Tell us! Also be sure to specifiy which bargain deliverable you want us to deliver, specify which one of us (me, Kevin H, or Ted May) you'd like to draw it. Next thing you know you'll have an original fact, AND an original piece of art, ready to hang and discuss at your special function! For example:
That would one work if your special friend is into basketball, soft metals, or is a dentist. Or it could be a sneaky way of tricking them into cleaning the bathroom!!! If your special friend is a dog we could make him magically find a MilkBone in the toilet.
Or, you could just treat YOURSELF and order one for YOU! No topic is too boring or too exciting. Leon will use the magic of trivia to make your boring topic appropriately exciting, or vice versa. If you have questions feel free to write: danzettwoch (at) gmail (dot) com .
Thanks for reading!

Big Internet Update

Dear Friends! I just finished putting lots of new work up at danzettwoch.com. In addition to fresh illustration, prints and comics, there's a new section called HOW THAT WORKS! that contains lots of my never-before-seen informational & educational (nutritious AND delicious) work.Please go look at it and tell how me how much of a mess I made.

The Lazers of Sexcellence

I made some prints advertising a poetry show coming up this weekend here in St. Louis. More info here & here! I made a bunch on newsprint and some on scrap pieces of cardboard I had laying around. If you would've been here I probably would've printed one on you.

New Comic! "Urine of the Grays"

Hey! I've got a new Civil War comic up on the Vice Magazine website. Be sure to read both parts I and II. Mom: if you're reading this, don't click on that link. I'll show you my comic in person when Spring Break rolls around.My strip was inspired and partially based on accounts from this book:

T.G.I.F.F.F.

It's that time of year!