Storyboard

April 11, 2013 1,715 notes

Welcome to the Museum of Copulatory Organs

It all started with a flea circus. This is the story of Maria Fernanda Cardoso, whose biology-based artwork progressed from her very own circus of live fleas to detailed models of nature’s most intricate and unlikely reproductive systems. Industrial design, electron microscopy, and 3D printing were all brought to bear, and the results are fascinating.

This story, created in partnership with Symbolia and Popular Science, was illustrated and animated by Andy Warner. “My father is a marine biologist who specialized in fish sex change,” says Warner, “and I grew up learning about weird and wonderful animal behavior and morphology at the dinner table.”

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April 2, 2013 5,903 notes

Noelle Stevenson’s Guide to Blowing Up on Tumblr

Noelle Stevenson, aka gingerhaze, joined Tumblr to share her fan art — comics based on movies like X-Men: First Class and Lord of the Rings. In the summer of 2011, she started posting “The Broship of the Ring,” a modern interpretation of the LoTR characters as hipsters and fratboys, and everything kind of … exploded. Stevenson’s online following shot way up, and since then, she’s landed an internship at a comics publisher and has signed with a literary agent.

She’s also been offered a contract to publish in hard copy her original webcomic project, Nimona — the story of aspiring supervillain Lord Ballister Blackheart, who never seems to get anywhere with his evil plots. That is, until he takes on a new sidekick, Nimona, a shapeshifter with poor impulse control who likes to solve problems by blowing things up. Nimona recently won the Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Webcomic of the Year by Slate Magazine and the Center for Cartoon Studies. It was also named one of io9’s top ten Best New and Short Webcomics of 2012. We had a chance to talk to Stevenson about breaking out and Hulking out.

How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing pretty much as long as I can remember. It was a hobby of mine as a child, and I grew up and that was still what I wanted to do.

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March 21, 2013 8,662 notes

Marlo Meekins: Caricature as Character

Marlo Meekins is a legendary creature: the continuously and gainfully employed artist, illustrator, and cartoonist who’s worked on everything you love, but you still somehow haven’t heard of. Unless you’re into illustrators on Tumblr of course, in which case it’s hard to miss her distinctive line.

Hailing from the cluster of suburbs on the New Jersey side of Philadelphia, Meekins wanted to learn animation in college, but settled for illustration and design. That turned out not to be settling at all, as the discipline obviously informs her work and creative life. After school, she went right to regular illustration and character design for the studios, taught drawing and cartooning, and entered the world of competitive caricature. In 2009 she was named Caricaturist of the Year by the International Society of Caricature Artists.

Meekins spent a hot second working on The Simpsons but dropped the gig to join John Kricfalusi at Spumco, where she met her husband, director Nick Cross. Since then, she’s been contracted on all kinds of developing shows (including one for Disney), while still omnivorously teaching, drawing, and posting her work online.

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February 11, 2013 1,634 notes

The Hot ‘n Dog: Where Franks & Comics Collide
Shorty after 3pm each weekday, kids from two Toronto grade schools hang out at a tiny neighborhood hot-dog joint. This is the Hot ‘n Dog, where the specialty is toppings. Lots and lots of toppings. Behind the counter is Keith Jones, a cartoonist (and hot dog connoisseur) responsible for graphic novels like dystopian pet epic Catland Empire and abstract-ish activity book Colour Me Busy. Jones loves comics, frumpy cartoon animals and filling up spaces — interests that synced with a Toronto entrepreneur who, a year ago, decided to open a hot dog shop. Now co-owner, Jones is dressing $2 hot dogs with comic artistry, along with toppings (100 of them in all) that range from wasabi to flaxseed to rainbow sprinkles. We asked Jones about renovations, post-apocalyptic BBQ cars and, of course, hot dogs.
This is kind of an odd place for a comic artist to end up. Do you have any particular feelings toward hot dogs?
I think hot dogs are hilarious. As a kid, they were one of my favorite foods. I like that you can decorate them, just put junk on them. A hundred different things. I made a great dessert dog just the other day. It had two different kinds of jam, chocolate chips, marshmallows, pretzels and bacon bits, maple syrup. Then I mixed in Hickory Sticks and graham crackers. It looked insane. Also I made a chili cheese dog with 10 different things on it for fun. Supposedly, there are kids who have come in here and gotten all 100 toppings on their hot dogs. I haven’t done that yet.
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How did you come to run the Hot ‘n Dog?
I met George Karpouzis when he opened up a comic book shop in Kensington. I hung out at that comic book shop all the time. He was trying to sell the Hot ‘n Dog to somebody else, but that didn’t work out. I woke up one day thinking, “I should own that.” So I just went and asked him. I wanted this place to look like a cartoon-land. He knew what I wanted to do with it, and that made him excited to have me.
Is it true you enjoy filling spaces like this?
Oh yeah. I don’t know why, it’s obsessive to me. Might be an insecurity, I don’t know, but it’s fun! I’ve done a couple spaces like this before, redecorated a bar and had some gallery shows. Usually I come in and I don’t know what I’m doing, start with a couple things and new ideas flourish. I remember when I came up with “My Hot Dog is Bigger Than Yours.” I was just staring at this white empty space wondering how the hell I’m going to fill that in. I came up with that line and just laughed for about a half-hour. Great ideas lead to more ideas. I want to make those rotor fan blades up on the ceiling hot dogs. That’s an idea I just came up with.
And you’re selling comics here too?
Yeah, I just brought in a couple comics that I made, to sell. I’m actually going to make a newspaper called Hot Dog Times. It’ll have different cartoonists from all over doing hot dog-themed things. Articles all about hot dogs. I’ve talked to five or six artists who want to do stuff.
What do you like about drawing rude animals?
I don’t know, it just happens that way. I just think they’re weird. I like cartoon characters, but I want them to be doing things that cartoon characters don’t usually do, like swearing and throwing junk around and drinking alcohol.
What do you foresee in the future of Hot ‘n Dog?
Well, I want to get karaoke going in here. My goal is by the end of the summer is to buy a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice and jack it up on dump truck wheels and take all the chrome off of it and paint it with Tremclad, flat red, gut the whole interior, make it yellow, get an old school bus steering wheel, take the trunk, open it, turn it into a Hibachi BBQ and write “All Dogs Go to Heaven” on the side. Just a weird Mad Max BBQ car.
Were you a fan of Pee Wee’s Playhouse growing up? The colour scheme in here seems Gary Panter-ish.
Oh yeah. It’s one of my most favourite shows ever. Actually, I wanted to play it in here but the TV broke. It’ll be a regular thing that’ll be on here. It’s like playtime. Playtime in Dumboland. That’s what hot dogs are, they’re Dumboland food.
— Zack Kotzer

The Hot ‘n Dog: Where Franks & Comics Collide

Shorty after 3pm each weekday, kids from two Toronto grade schools hang out at a tiny neighborhood hot-dog joint. This is the Hot ‘n Dog, where the specialty is toppings. Lots and lots of toppings. Behind the counter is Keith Jones, a cartoonist (and hot dog connoisseur) responsible for graphic novels like dystopian pet epic Catland Empire and abstract-ish activity book Colour Me Busy. Jones loves comics, frumpy cartoon animals and filling up spaces — interests that synced with a Toronto entrepreneur who, a year ago, decided to open a hot dog shop. Now co-owner, Jones is dressing $2 hot dogs with comic artistry, along with toppings (100 of them in all) that range from wasabi to flaxseed to rainbow sprinkles. We asked Jones about renovations, post-apocalyptic BBQ cars and, of course, hot dogs.

This is kind of an odd place for a comic artist to end up. Do you have any particular feelings toward hot dogs?

I think hot dogs are hilarious. As a kid, they were one of my favorite foods. I like that you can decorate them, just put junk on them. A hundred different things. I made a great dessert dog just the other day. It had two different kinds of jam, chocolate chips, marshmallows, pretzels and bacon bits, maple syrup. Then I mixed in Hickory Sticks and graham crackers. It looked insane. Also I made a chili cheese dog with 10 different things on it for fun. Supposedly, there are kids who have come in here and gotten all 100 toppings on their hot dogs. I haven’t done that yet.

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January 28, 2013 5,807 notes

The Reconstructionists: Celebrating Badass Women
What do Buddhist artist Agnes Martin, Hollywood inventor Hedy Lamarr, and French-Cuban author Anaïs Nin have in common? Their names may not conjure popular recognition, and yet, for Lisa Congdon and Maria Popova, these women represent a particular breed of cultural trailblazer: female, under-appreciated, badass. They are “Reconstructionists,” as the writer-illustrator duo call them — and for the next year, they’ll be celebrated on a blog of the same name. Every Monday for 12 months, The Reconstructionists will debut a hand-painted illustration and short essay highlighting a woman from fields such as art, science, and literature. The subject needn’t be famous, but she will, as Popova, the creator of Brain Pickings, puts it, “have changed the way we define ourselves as a culture.” We spoke with Popova, and illustrator Congdon, about the inspiration behind their project.
How’d you come up with the name ‘Reconstructionist’?
Maria Popova: It’s very challenging to celebrate women without pigeonholing the project into some stereotypical and alienating feminist corner, the most dangerous part of which is the preaching-to-the-choir quality that many such projects tend to have. So when it was time to come up with a title for the project, it couldn’t be something too literal or too obvious. After sifting through hundreds of letters, diaries, autobiographies, and other writing, I suddenly remembered something Anaïs Nin had written in a 1944 diary entry — about “woman’s role in the reconstruction of the world.” It was perfect. It was the only common denominator between those women – they aren’t all artists, or all writers, or all to be expected in the pages of a tenth-grade history book. They are simply all reconstructionists.

It sounds pretty hardcore.
MP: The word had a sort of masculine, industrial quality that contrasted nicely with the gender stereotypes of femininity, and yet it was very much about women.
Who’s your modern-day Reconstructionist icon?
Lisa Congdon: For me, it would definitely be Hillary Clinton. Last week we saw her conquer Capitol Hill as one of her final acts as the first female US Secretary of State. She was both poised and incredibly tough in the face of relentless questioning and, at the same time, incredibly real and even tearfully emotional about the events in Benghazi. She has been a trailblazing diplomat, showing the world that foreign policy should include issues like women’s rights and human rights, and not just issues of war. I admire her greatly.
I love how diverse these women are so far: Hollywood beauty/inventor, secular Buddhist artist, lesbian author. Where do you find inspiration?
MP: Our own lives, where else? Whatever moves us, inspires us, gives us hope and awe and stimulation. It’s obviously a very subjective project in that way — but hopefully one that resonates with others as well.
How does the illustration process work?
LC: I try to find a really interesting photograph of the woman I am going to draw — and I use that as a reference. For some of these women, literally only one photograph exists, so I may need to go to the library and do some additional research. The photos are often black and white, so I use them to get the likeness of the woman, and then I breathe new life into each portrait, by infusing bold color into the clothing and background. Then Maria picks a quote that best captures the woman’s ethos, and I hand-letter it into the portrait.
What do you hope visitors find in each of these portraits?
LC: A new discovery. Hope. Promise. Inspiration. A sense of awe and appreciation about someone who has helped shape the world we live in.
MP: Admiration for an unsung hero who has touched some small piece of something we take for granted today. A general awareness that there are many more women who have, in ways big and small, shaped the course of modern life than our male-centric cultural paradigms might suggest.
— Alyson Neel

The Reconstructionists: Celebrating Badass Women

What do Buddhist artist Agnes Martin, Hollywood inventor Hedy Lamarr, and French-Cuban author Anaïs Nin have in common? Their names may not conjure popular recognition, and yet, for Lisa Congdon and Maria Popova, these women represent a particular breed of cultural trailblazer: female, under-appreciated, badass. They are “Reconstructionists,” as the writer-illustrator duo call them — and for the next year, they’ll be celebrated on a blog of the same name. Every Monday for 12 months, The Reconstructionists will debut a hand-painted illustration and short essay highlighting a woman from fields such as art, science, and literature. The subject needn’t be famous, but she will, as Popova, the creator of Brain Pickings, puts it, “have changed the way we define ourselves as a culture.” We spoke with Popova, and illustrator Congdon, about the inspiration behind their project.

How’d you come up with the name ‘Reconstructionist’?

Maria Popova: It’s very challenging to celebrate women without pigeonholing the project into some stereotypical and alienating feminist corner, the most dangerous part of which is the preaching-to-the-choir quality that many such projects tend to have. So when it was time to come up with a title for the project, it couldn’t be something too literal or too obvious. After sifting through hundreds of letters, diaries, autobiographies, and other writing, I suddenly remembered something Anaïs Nin had written in a 1944 diary entry — about “woman’s role in the reconstruction of the world.” It was perfect. It was the only common denominator between those women – they aren’t all artists, or all writers, or all to be expected in the pages of a tenth-grade history book. They are simply all reconstructionists.

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January 7, 2013 5,300 notes

An Interview with Illustrator & Poet Yael Levy
Yael Levy is simultaneously a leather-clad tomboy and a graceful, sweater-knitting tea enthusiast. A poet and illustrator from Northern California, her works are inspired by the changing seasons, her daily commute, and very frequently her taste in music. She has illustrated for many publications in print and online and helped found Berkeley writers group The Audience Collective. Named after the woman who struck a tent-spike into Sisera’s temple in the Book of Judges, Levy would one day like to illustrate a children’s book rather than live up to the revolutionary lifestyle of her namesake.
How long have you been drawing and writing?
I’ve been drawing as long as I could hold a pencil. My mom has a lot of my childhood drawings of misshapen cows and truly unflattering family portraits. Poetry was more difficult. I was a big reader (still am), and so I read plenty of poetry as a child, but I didn’t really write any until I entered my teen angst years. Really really horrible poetry.

Describe your illustration process.
I try to draw or write things pretty often, but to be honest, sometimes I’ll go months without drawing anything apart from doodling while I watch television. Most of the time, I’ll start just by becoming nearly obsessed with something, really. I’ll get hooked on a song or an idea, and I’ll turn it over and over in my head until I’ll want to make something out of it. The actual drawing process is really lo-fi. I don’t have a scanner or a tablet or anything. I draw and then take photos of my drawings with my shitty camera’s fake macro lens.
You draw a lot of faces or people in motion. Why do you think that interests you more than other subjects?
Drawing people tends to interest me more because I love the kind of hidden, inner-history aspect to an image of a person. What they’re thinking in that moment, what they’re doing. Secrets! Just thinking about it makes me want to draw a whole bunch of people who are each keeping a different secret.
A lot of your work also has a winter feel. Do colder months inspire you?
I think the transitions between seasons have a stronger effect on me. The beginning of summer with that giddy anticipation of lazing about outdoors, then when winter really starts to settle and I know I’m going to spend a lot of time hunkering down, drinking endless mugs of tea, and listening to records in the dark.
I know Elliott Smith has been a very, very large part of your life. How has he affected you?
Elliott Smith came to me at a point in my young teenage life when I was just forming my feelings about being creative, being confessional. At that time, my appreciation for his music wasn’t very aesthetic, it was just intensely personal. Losing him was a huge blow because it felt, at the time, as if he couldn’t do it, no one could. He has incredible sentimental value for me because I think he played a large role in my realization that art and music and writing didn’t have to be slick, or that it didn’t have to be your best, all the time. It could be a little fuzzy, fragile, angry and self-righteous and selfish, it could be gentle and tender, simultaneously.
What is your favorite thing about poetry? Are there aspects of writing and drawing that you appreciate for different reasons?
What I love most about poetry is the same thing I love about songs or paintings or books — that they can briefly let you see something through someone else’s eyes.
San Francisco’s Bay Area — along with its public transportation — is a recurring motif in a lot of your work.
I grew up in the South Bay, and now I live in the East Bay, so the Bay Area has always really felt like home. I spend a lot of time on public transportation which is a great way to just glimpse neighborhoods as you pass through them. On one of my commutes I cut straight through Oakland, from swanky Rockridge through downtown into Chinatown, and even if I go to each of those neighborhoods individually, it’s not the same as watching it through a fogged up bus window in the rain at 6:30 in the morning. You get to see how almost each block has its own personality and bright spots and struggles. It’s a real slice of life, which is a cheesy way to put it, but it rings true to me.
— Alan Hanson

An Interview with Illustrator & Poet Yael Levy

Yael Levy is simultaneously a leather-clad tomboy and a graceful, sweater-knitting tea enthusiast. A poet and illustrator from Northern California, her works are inspired by the changing seasons, her daily commute, and very frequently her taste in music. She has illustrated for many publications in print and online and helped found Berkeley writers group The Audience Collective. Named after the woman who struck a tent-spike into Sisera’s temple in the Book of Judges, Levy would one day like to illustrate a children’s book rather than live up to the revolutionary lifestyle of her namesake.

How long have you been drawing and writing?

I’ve been drawing as long as I could hold a pencil. My mom has a lot of my childhood drawings of misshapen cows and truly unflattering family portraits. Poetry was more difficult. I was a big reader (still am), and so I read plenty of poetry as a child, but I didn’t really write any until I entered my teen angst years. Really really horrible poetry.

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