This is my final illustration class assignment of the semester, also created as a self-promotional card image for a big freelance work push I’ve got planned for this summer. It combines two of my favorite things: bikes and hairy things.

Alright, so it’s been over a week since Stumptown and I still haven’t gotten around to reading more than a handful of things I bought/traded for/was given, so I’ll sum up Stumptown for me and the RCC in a few general words. Saturday, hot, stuffy, packed with people who were not much in the mood to buy anything; figured out we could open the window behind us in the late afternoon, which was a highlight. Mustaches was up for “Outstanding DIY” at the Trophy Awards Saturday night. It didn’t win, but it was the only thing that sold well on Saturday, so no complaints. Sunday started slow but picked up by mid-afternoon, and people actually wanted to buy things this time through, including a lot of wholesale sales to comic shops. All in all, it was fun, as Stumptown always is, and that’s what’ll keep us coming back.

Normally, Stumptown Comics Fest would’ve been the biggest event of a given week for the RCC, but a mere 4 days after SCF2008 closed its doors we were scheduled to have a First Thursday art show at Tender Loving Empire in NW Portland. It was called “Beware The Robopocalypse” to go along with our newest anthology of the same name, and was a stellar success for everyone involved.

We showed original comic pages throughout the entire shop.

As well as these small, screenprinted, mini-posters, and of course comics were sold as well.

Oh yeah, and then the bands started playing…

And they brought an even larger crowd than was already there.

For many members, it was the first show in which they were an integral part of, but the night was still full of excitement for the veterans of the group as well. Thank you to anyone reading this who was able to make it out on Thursday night.

Just a quick reminder for any of you reading this in the Portland area: the Robopocalypse Comics Collective, my group of scrappy, young artists, will be having our first ever gallery show this Thursday, May 1st. Please come down to Tender Loving Empire (NW 18th and Lovejoy) between 6pm and 10pm on Thursday. There will be food and booze and even two bands.

We’ll be showing a ton of original comic pages as well as selling our new set of tiny screenprints, and of course, our comics.

Please come see the show of you can; support your local cartoonists!

If you need any proof of how well TLE and the RCC go together, glimpse this combo: TLE owner Jared Mees keeping it classy at Stumptown with a copy of Mustaches: For Fun and Profit.

I feel like I’m on a roll here, with two consecutive Illustration class projects in which I am incredibly happy with the results. This week’s project was to create an image that could be used within an advertisement for a product of our choice, but without designing the ad itself. I decided to do something fun for my favorite beer in the whole world, Grain Belt. It’s only available in the northern midwest, so I cannot enjoy it whenever I please, as I once could, so this is my tribute. I wanted something that spoke of the history of the beer (the old neon sign, snapped while I was on a trip back to Minnesota) but also the very specific region in which it is available.

I’ve been working on this image for almost three weeks now from the thumbnail sketch stage and it still cracks me up every time. I think I might be using this as a promo post card image soon.

If you still don’t know by now, this coming weekend is the 5th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest here in Portland. I have attended all but the first year, as I was not living here at the time, and have had a table since the third year. This will be my second Stumptown under the banner of the RCC. I have spent most of the last few weeks screenprinting, photocopying, stapling, folding, and cutting my way through a pile of comics and other goodies. This photo only includes things I’ve worked on for myself, I’ve done even more if you also include my work for the RCC.

That is, of course, Baby Otto: Volume One on the right, but on the left we have my 24 Hour Comic from last year, Mustaches. Yes, those moustaches are felt, and yes I cut and glued them all by hand. But wait, you get your choice of flavors! As you can see, they are available in sexy blonde, classic brown, macho black, stately gray, and the elusive orange. It’s a little something for everybody! I also just finished printing a few hundred free, screenprinted takeaway cards for radrobot.org, as well as some for bigtimeillustration.com (not pictured).

Oh, yeah, and I came up with this kick ass t-shirt design to wear at the show. For the time being, this design will be a one-off, but if the interest is there, I might want to have a run of these printed, however, I’m not too clear on the legalities of parody t-shirts. If you don’t get the reference, maybe you need to take a long, hard look at your life and feel shame, for you have not rocked hard enough.

If you’re going to be tabling or just attending Stumptown, and we haven’t met before in person, I’d sure like it if you said hello sometime this weekend. I’ll be there both days, behind the Robopocalypse Comics Collective’s tables (12-13), and I plan on attending most of the pre, award, and after parties. I LOOK LIKE THIS, but probably not so intense, and I’ll be wearing the t-shirt above at least one of the two days, so say hey.

For those of you wondering when you will see The Life and Times of Baby Otto Zeplin: Volume Two, I assure you that it is fully written and the drawings are in the works, but a lot has seemingly been standing in the way of getting any real work done on it. At the moment, I’m realistically anticipating a mid-summer release for Volume Two.