From the Flat Files
Frayed Nerves, Deer in Headlights, and Hiking in the Catskills
It’s hard to believe, but at this point I’ve been making art and zines for over 25 years now. Or at least, over 25 years of doing it with a purpose. (I’m not counting all the drawing I did growing up.) Sometimes I feel like I’ve barely made anything, but then I go looking through my files and books and remember all that I’ve made. Admittedly, I have lots of art I’ve forgotten about, but I also have art that never really fit in anywhere else and I was never sure what to do with.
Here’s a few pieces that fell by the wayside over the years. Part of my goal in showing them is to give them some of their own spotlight, but I also would really like to clean out my flat files. I’ve tried to price them reasonably considering they’re originals. But if there’s something you truly love and it hasn’t sold yet, make me an offer — I prefer my art have a home than just hang out in a drawer forever until I discover it again.
This is one I made back in the aughts. It is mixed media + collage on bristol board. Several of the techniques I used here were me exploring new techniques to incorporate into larger paintings, such as the collage and layering of color. This piece predates those start of those paintings by several years, so I consider it a somewhat important step in my process from that perspective. I’ve always liked the composition and color of this one.
If you look at my comics these days, you can see that I still use dots like this for shading. However, when I originally started using that technique, the dots were analog. I would buy sheets that were scratch off, and add those to my drawings. It got harder and harder to find those tone sheets, so I eventually switched over to the digital technique I use these days. I still love the simplicity of being able to have this all on one piece of paper, though. This drawing is from the late 2000s or early 2010s — I always liked the way I drew this deer here… something very sweet about her eyes, despite the oncoming disaster.
I originally drew this for a t-shirt illustration for an acquaintance who is a guide in upstate NY. This is all nib + ink on bristol board. I’d love to see this one find a good home — It’s very detailed and I think captures that feeling of joy when summiting a hike and taking in the view. This particular view is in the Catskills.