INFINITEKICK

AND HERE COMES THE SUMMER COMICS

2010-06-06T16:57:00.003-05:00

AMERICA'S BLOODIEST COMICS

2010-05-09T17:33:00.001-05:00

Not really but Lord knows I try.

COMICS? PFEH!

2010-04-23T14:17:00.005-05:00

We got another color page so I immediately went back on my decision to stop doing digital art. However, if this turns into a reoccurring thing I think maybe I'll try some water colors or something.

Also, I have some old comics which never got posted on the blog.
This first one was initially rejected from the Daily Texan but later approved and actually ran earlier this week.

As for this second one, I'm not really sure why I haven't posted it before but here it is now.

Spring semester is almost over and I am ready for summer!

MS PAINT COMICS WEEK

2010-04-20T09:15:00.003-05:00

Last week I did all my comics in MS Paint. It was fun but I don't think I'll be making more like these anytime soon. Pen and paper, you guys are still the best.

PSYCHIC SPOON-BENDING

2010-04-11T13:58:00.002-05:00

COLOR MONDAY

2010-04-05T16:22:00.006-05:00

Through some miracle the DT comics page was printed in color today and because of that I am able to proudly present you with this comic, made entirely in MS Paint.
Click the image to see a larger version!

Also, shout out to my pal Al who came up with the joke!

HAUNTED PIZZERIA

2010-04-04T17:53:00.004-05:00

Also, Switcheroo was last week. Per usual, I'll just link to the 6 Dollars, Please post about it.

UNFORTUNATE MUGGER PT. 3 AND OTHER COMICS

2010-03-29T16:54:00.002-05:00

Oh blog! I didn't mean to neglect you so! Here, have some comics.

That's better.

SKETCHBOOK NUMBER ONE

2010-03-08T20:50:00.004-06:00

So, I recently finished filling a sketchbook. This is a big deal for me because I'd always just kinda given up part of the way through in the past. And here I've finally done it!
Now to just make a habit of it...

Anyway, I figured I'd share a few of my favorite doodles with y'all.

This is a bear, who is also part salmon, trying to catch himself. I thought it would be funny to see a bear chasing its own tail but then I realized this is the only way that would happen.

This is just some dude reading the paper but for I'm pretty fond of him. I think he's pretty sympathetic. World's a pretty crazy place, after all.

I think this was supposed to be the drunkest frog in the world. Or frogs might just always get this drunk. If any herpetologists read my blog, please let me know what you think.

I was drawing a dude in a coffee shop and I didn't want to draw a hand so I gave him a snake instead.

BROCCHUS!!
This is the mighty deity BROCCHUS, modern god of beer and revelry. I have previously on this blog declared my love for a certain painting of the Roman god Bacchus and while looking upon it one day, I wondered what it would look like if one of the god's sons was born into the modern age.
I am especially proud of my decision to add the painting hanging on the wall behind him. I feel it really helps complete the scene.

Anyway, there's a few things. See you next time I have comics to post!

UNFORTUNATE MUGGER PT. 2

2010-03-07T20:19:00.001-06:00

UNFORTUNATE MUGGER PT. 1

2010-02-27T19:00:00.001-06:00

SNOW

2010-02-23T12:51:00.004-06:00

It is snowing outside for real and this has made me rather excited. So excited I decided to update my blog.

That last comic is rather personal as I sometimes feel a little existential and find myself asking questions like, "Why do I even bother drawing these comics?" and "What am I even doing here in the first place?"

And then I'm like, "Oh right, I draw comics because it's fun and they pay me and I'm in the cafeteria to eat lunch."

Speaking of which, it is about lunchtime right now. Later.

THUNDER THIGHS

2010-02-06T18:24:00.002-06:00

Yes, Zeus always had a beard.

I BLEED INK

2010-01-31T16:51:00.003-06:00

The last comic here is going to be a web exclusive for two reasons, both of which I feel are pretty obvious.

NEW SEMESTER YALL

2010-01-23T15:56:00.002-06:00

Paper's printing again and I've crawled out from the cave where I hibernate to go to the cave where I draw comics. Here are some of them.

WINTER BREAK

2009-12-14T17:10:00.001-06:00

Seeing as how it is wintertime, I need to go into hibernation soon.

So no updates until spring! (probably)

Have a nice break!

CHILLEST COMICS EVER

2009-12-06T17:14:00.000-06:00

THE THANKSGIVING MURDER MYSTERY

2009-11-30T15:14:00.003-06:00

There was a special DT comics page event last week which is explained and displayed in full on the $6DP blog, whom I would like to thank for always compiling posts on the events.
Check out my pro-ass perspective drawing of my dude on page 2!

Oh, and here are some more comics, by the way:

MO COMICS MO PROBLEMS

2009-11-14T12:24:00.003-06:00

WHY IS IT STILL HOT OUTSIDE

2009-11-08T15:27:00.003-06:00

Seriously, Austin, what the heck? It is November. Cut it out.

Of course, what I'm gonna do when it's cold outside?

I don't particularly like the second strip here but I do like how it contrasts with the cleanness of the first one. It ain't just a poop joke, it's a poop joke where somebody dies.

CRAZY WEEK

2009-11-01T19:08:00.003-06:00

So this last week of comics was pretty fun/interesting for me.
I participated in a couple of events on the comics page which, luckily for me, are fully explained in these posts compiled by the beautiful people at 6 Dollars, Please:

Switcheroo

Weeaboo Girl

I think Switcheroo turned out especially well and I'm excited to do it again next semester (I'm already plotting what terrible illness I should inflict on my poor victim).

TIME TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF WHO WAS LATE POSTING COMICS

2009-10-25T16:54:00.002-05:00

It was me. I was late.
(Mystery solved.)

SAME GREAT HUMOR BUT LESS FILLING

2009-10-16T12:24:00.002-05:00

Made the comics a bit smaller this time so hopefully they will fit on all screens.

Sorry these took forever to post. (Also, ACL comics are never going to happen.)

COMICS??

2009-10-12T15:50:00.002-05:00

No.

Go away.

Oh God, please come back.
I'll post some later.

AT LEAST I'M NOT A LAME-ASS CARTOONIST

2009-10-05T13:41:00.003-05:00

...oh right. Nevermind.

I had a lot of fun at ACL this weekend, getting my shoes muddy and all that.
Quick Opinion on Best Show Each Day:
Friday - Phoenix
Saturday - Grizzly Bear
Sunday - Girl Talk

Kinda wanna draw some ACL-related comics which will either be uploaded this week or never. Who knows?

PIE SAGA PT. 2

2009-09-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

And with that, our saga draws to a close. Join me again next week as I make jokes about....uh.... other stuff.

PIE SAGA PT.1

2009-09-19T22:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, here's some comics.

These pie related misadventures will wrap up with two strips next week. See you then!

UGHHHHHH

2009-09-13T20:51:00.001-05:00

I was/still am sick this weekend.
Also, I don't really remember what comics of mine ran this week.
So no comics 'til next weekend! Sorry!

DOPEST UPDATE EVER

2009-09-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

My comics are running again! Yay!

OIL PASTELENCE

2009-08-29T13:14:00.004-05:00

More artwork, this time in oil pastels, which are basically oil paints for jerks.

With these ones I was playing around with differnet light sources and emphasizing the difference between the shadow and light, which my roommate told me is called "chiaroscuro".

The things you learn!

Anyway, I'll start posting comics again next weekend.

SHARPIE MASTERPIECES

2009-08-20T23:31:00.003-05:00

So in addition to drawing comics, I also occasionally dabble in real art.

Here are two of the better pieces I did in sharpie.

This first piece is titled "Nash Nash". It is an attempt to portray what it is like to be nash in America.

This second one is titled "Insomnia". I'll be honest; I don't really understand what this one is about.

I have some more I'll post later as I wait out the break between comics publications.

SUMMER JAMS

2009-08-15T03:26:00.008-05:00

Okay, so while the Daily Texan is transitioning out of summer mode and into school mode (or whatever it is that it's doing), none of my comics will be running and thus I have decided not to post any more to the internet. I promise however that the comics will return in probably a couple of weeks or so.

Since this means I have nothing interesting of my own to post this weekend and because summer is drawing to a close, I would like to share with you, dear reader, a lil' mix of songs which I have been enjoying this summer.

I present to you:

DOWNLOAD

TRACK LISTING:

1. Hey Boy - The Magic Kids

2. F KENYA RIP - HIGHLIFE

3. Be My Girl - Smith Westerns

4. Deadbeat Summer - Neon Indian

5. You'll See It - Washed Out

6. Summertime Clothes (Dam-Funk Remix) - Animal Collective

7. Daylight (la ZEBRA Remix) - Matt & Kim

8. Raindrops - Basement Jaxx

9. Jona Vark - Gypsy and the cat

10. Two Weeks (Fred Falke Remix) - Grizzly Bear

11. Getting You Off (feat. Hey Champ) - 80kidz

12. No Reasons - Vega

13. Every Girl - Young Money

14. Blame It (feat. T-Pain) - Jamie Foxx

15. Snookered - Dan Deacon

My goal here was to put together a mix of songs which I'd been enjoying in 2009 which would be fun to listen to while grilling (for me, the ultimate summer activity). But hopefully, these songs could also become a fitting soundtrack to a day at the beach or a party or whatever.

I also prepared a mix of songs I enjoyed last summer, appropriately titled SUMMER JAMS '08. I didn't make a picture or anything for this one but please try to enjoy it anyway. These jams aren't quite fresh any more but they're still quite good.

SUMMER JAMS '08

DOWNLOAD

TRACK LISTING:

1. Fools - The Dodos

2. So Bored - Wavves

3. Teen Creeps - No Age

4. Cutlass - PVC Street Gang

5. Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second - Starfucker

6. Jump in the Pool - Friendly Fires

7. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit

8. My Turn - Basement Jaxx

9. Chalo - Esau Mwamwaya

10. Back of the Van (Fred Falke Remix) - Ladyhawke

11. Hearts on Fire - Cut Copy

12. Walking on a Dream - Empire of the Sun

13. Love in this Club (feat. Young Jeezy) - Usher

14. Light Night Dance (Shinichi Osawa Remix) - De De Mouse

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer because I sure did! Already looking foward to the next one, y'all!

FRIGGIN MINIS

2009-08-13T19:34:00.018-05:00

So here is the previously promised post on some minicomics I've enjoyed recently.

I will try to provide whatever insight or humorous analysis that I can but mostly I just wanted to let you know what they are about and that they are good.

And fair warning to any of my friends who read my blog but don't know how much of a geek I am: you are about to find out!

First up is Candy & Cigarettes, which is (unless I'm completely mistaken) a local Austin zine series. It says it's a quarterly publication but there's only been two published since they began in May '08. Blog seems alive though so I suppose there might be more. Anyway.

The thing that immediately struck me about these was the incredibly detailed covers done by an artist listed as Jonny B. His work reminds me very much of Corey Lewis (and he actually has some fan art of one of Corey's characters) but that isn't to say he doesn't have a style of his own.

I'll admit that the first cover gave me a bit of a nerdgasm from the sheer number of characters on display there. And I'll be damned if the second one isn't Austin's own Barton Springs.

The interiors feature more of his work in the form of short comics and for me he was the highlight of both issues. I was especially impressed by a comic from the back page of the first issue which features him and a friend discussing different comic artists during which he perfectly apes the styles of the artists mentioned. It's a very cool trick which proves his ability as an artist even outside of his own style.

Besides Jonny, the zines also feature some other comics, essays, short fiction and that kind of thing. I ain't too good at reading words and the like but I did enjoy a short essay on Snakepit in issue 1 and a humorous fake letter to Tupac in issue 2. Overall the content was of mixed quality but well worth the $3 cover price.

Next is "Don't Worry About the Smiles, They're Normal", which isn't actually a minicomic but a little bound collection of two color screen prints, made entirely by hand. It's really a neat little zine with 16 different illustrations assembled from around the world by way of the internet. The only thing the illustrations share in common is that they feature the titular sentence and that they only use the colors pink and black.

Pretty cool and you can quickly flip through the whole thing on Flickr.

JIN & JAM!!! YES!! Jin & Jam is a minicomic by the amazing Hellen Jo. It starts with a quote from Taiyo Matsumoto's Black & White ("We can beat 'em... just you 'n me!") and just gets better from there as the eponymous duo meet, hang out and sort of try to avoid fights with conjoined twins and a police officer wielding a lasso.

Matsumoto's influence (and especially the influence of Black & White) on Jo is clear as Jin & Jam shares a bit of his art style, all of his high energy and a healthy dosage of his detachment from reality (which isn't to say that Matsumoto or Jo are insane, just that their wonderful comics are).

Probably my favorite out of everything I'm writing about here, this comic is pure fun and I eagerly anticipate the second issue to see where Jo takes it.

Next up, we have Milky Way Shuffle by Elio. You'll notice that there are two images up there. The one on the left being the cover and the one on the right being a custom sketch which he includes for the people who buy his comic! He drew me a cowboy who is not to be messed with. Dope!

Anyway, the comic is a fun all ages story about a nerd who gets to go to a party with the cool kids and then saves the day when aliens abduct all the girls. It's the art more than the story which is the appeal here however. Elio has an extremely unique and stylized approach to cartooning with flat characters interacting with very flat objects in a less flat world. That last sentence probably didn't make too much sense but just know that it reminds me a lot of Paper Mario. A comparison which is just reinforced further by this cartoon from his Youtube channel.

Overall: great art, cute comic.

Finally, we have Boy's Club #1 and #2 by Matt Furie. If you didn't follow any of the previous artist links, please spend some time with this one because the dude's art is weird but very interesting.

His minicomics are something like a tribute to 80's stoner teen comedies and feature the weird dudes on the cover hanging out in...uh... I guess an apartment or something? The characters more or less have personalities but there's no continuity and each page is a self-contained illustration or strip. A few of the strips were surprisingly funny and they range from jokes involving puns or someone throwing up to just six panels of one of the characters undergoing some terrifying and inexplicable transformation.

Anyway they're pretty awesome and I'm glad I picked up the first issue at Domy even after being a little ambivalent about Furie's work when I first saw some in a Meathaus anthology. And yes, that sentence is just there so I can link to Domy and Meathaus.

And that's it! I hope this was at least somewhat interesting and that you join me again next time as we explore... THE EXCITING WORLD OF MINICOMICS.

Later!

CHEETO PRESLEY

2009-08-11T20:55:00.001-05:00

This is disgusting and the person who made it should be hung.

WISHIN I COULD BLOG IN BRAILLE

2009-08-08T20:56:00.006-05:00

So, in the last post I mentioned I was a comic ahead that week which let me slack off a little so that I was a comic behind last week. So only four strips this time around.

For the record, Franklin is playing with a Grumpy God bobblehead in the third strip up there, which is what all demons do while talking on the phone.

In this week of comics, I've been trying to start using tones and black fills in my strips to make them pop out more. I think I'd like to emulate the style of KC Green who has a lot of success using tones in his comic Gunshow. His comics have had a huge influence on my own and I would love to learn his technique.

In other news, I've been buying some really cool minicomics lately so I thought I might do up a post featuring reviews of those is a few days. So look out for that.

CLASSIC GAGS

2009-08-03T00:30:00.004-05:00

So, I just realized that I let the weekend pass by (technically) without posting any new comics. But don't worry, I will amend this immediately.

Also: you might notice that I posted six, that's right SIX, comics rather than the usual five. This is because I was a little ahead last week. But don't get too excited because I was a little behind this week and now it's evened out.

Dang.

EDIT: I feel that I should probably go ahead and point out that the fourth comic up there is a re-done version of a comic from my sketchbook which was earlier seen in this post.

THE PINNACLE OF THE ENTIRE BLOG

2009-07-25T13:30:00.004-05:00

And here are the promised comics:

Not much to say about these except that I hope y'all enjoy them and look foward to next week's batch.

DAILY DUDE

2009-07-23T17:24:00.004-05:00

So, it has come to pass that my (incredible) comic strip for the Daily Texan, SHEA'S REBELLION (just remember all caps when you spell my comic's name), is switching to a daily schedule and thus I will begin posting sets of five strips every week starting this weekend with the five from the last two weeks.

So it is written, so shall it be.

Anyway, just so that this post isn't all text, here are some pencil doodles I found recently.

SHARK DAD

2009-07-10T13:16:00.004-05:00

Some more of my Daily Texan comic for y'all. I figure I'll start posting these in sets of five every two weeks after they've run in the paper. Hopefully I'll post some other stuff in between that but we'll see.

Also: shout-out to Leith who invented Shark Dad one glorious Health class, years ago.

SHEA'S REBELLION

2009-06-28T15:27:00.010-05:00

Comic strips for the Daily Texan!!

And yes, these are all recycled bad comics. But I promise there will be new jokes eventually.

SUMMER

2009-05-17T21:30:00.003-05:00

It is summer y'all!

Here is a little illustration I did for the school newspaper. I did about seven of these but this is my favorite even though it doesn't have a background.

Hamburgers <3

GOD'S LOVE

2009-05-13T17:54:00.007-05:00

So I was doodling all over old newspapers today and I came across a photo seeping with the most delicious of ironies. I'm pretty sure the article was supposed to be upbeat about the dude's surgery but the juxtaposition of him looking kind of sad and the detail of this painting is just too good not to comment on:

But who knows if it was really a coincidence.

I did more of these but the rest are posted on a wall at my school right now. I still have this one on account of my not wishing to offend anyone (who I would have to deal with in person).

But don't worry, this one was the best by far.

EDIT: Okay, have reflected on this photo for a few more hours and gotten increasingly excited about it, I have decided that there is no way it was a conincidence and the photographer is, in fact, a genius. So there.

COFFEEEEE HOUSE!!

2009-04-16T22:18:00.004-05:00

This is a poster I drew for a talent show. There was a contest to draw them (coughiwoncough).

The little hatted herons are a bit wonky but I think my lettering is good.

Ah, handwriting... I know that how the letters look isn't the point, they're just symbols to represent something else, but they can still be pretty, guys!

Correction: they should be pretty!

Just wanna marry a girl with nice handwriting, y'all.

SCARY DEMON CONVENTION

2009-04-12T14:07:00.005-05:00

"They screamin' for attention/ beamin at the mention/ of a scary demon convention"

-DOOM, "Microwave Mayo"

So, in my free time I enjoy doodling little monsters. This page got inked on the merit of not having any dumb crap (i.e. stuff that wasn't a demon) on it.

Also, here's another lil' sketchbook comic:

I swear that this came to me in a dream and I woke up laughing. Makes it kinda hard for me to judge whether it's actually funny but I'm still amused by it.

By the way, the new DOOM album is great. The way he rhymes, the dude must be half dictionary. And obviously I was pleased to find a somewhat relevant quote to pull.

That's all for now, so I'm gonna take flight.

(and throw it up like your girl's dress on prom night.)

WELL HE SUCKS AT BUSHIDO BLADE

2009-04-08T17:58:00.008-05:00

This is not a post about Bushido Blade.

This is a post about my all time favorite webcomic: A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible.

Hopefully, you clicked that link upon seeing it but if you skipped past it or just opened it in a new window, go ahead and just read through the archive right now. The comic ran semi-weekly for two years (2004-2006) but there's only 41 strips to go through.

The product of two friends (Dale Beran and David Hellman) working together for fun, A Lesson Is Learned starts off as the sort of slacker-buddy comedy which is probably much too common on the internet. However, it quickly evolves into a series of surrealist one-shots so that by the time you get to this strip, you're viewing utter genius.

Seriously, take a moment to look at that strip because it's so freaking good. While the strip's dry humor may not appeal to everyone, I think most people should at least find the premise interesting. Like most of A Lesson Is Learned, this strip strikes that perfect balance of the surreal webcomic, mixing absurd comedy with a little bit of melancholy and creativity unhindered by what is actually possible. The kind of premium blend that can be found in other excellent webcomics such as Achewood and Pictures For Sad Children (both of which are also brilliant, btw). It's a complex, nuanced flavor which makes strips like this irresistibly delicious.

Where A Lesson Is Learned has a leg up on either of those other comics however is in the art department. While Chris Onstad and John Campbell (of Achewood and Pictures For Sad Children, respectively) are both competent artists who are perfectly capable of visual communication, neither can hold a candle to A Lesson Is Learned's David Hellman. His digital artwork is loose and expressive but also beautifully detailed and I love his occasionally minimalist use of color. Best of all though are his layouts, which are just phenomenal. Seriously, just watch this video of the dude discussing his work:

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

Basically, this is how you make a good comic. Not by mashing creative writing with good artwork but by meshing the two together so that each enhances, rather than just complements, the other. Hellman's organic, flowing layouts perfectly match Beran's dream-logic scripts and vice versa.

While the site's frontpage suggests that the comic is on "hiatus", I doubt the project is going to be revived after three years of non-activity. Regardless, such an event will remain in my prayers and I hope now it will be in yours too.

WIZARDS AND MERMAIDS

2009-03-23T20:28:00.004-05:00

Here is a comic from my moleskine from about a year ago (meaning that I am artistically obligated to say that it sucks).
I was gonna color it but I'll be darned if I hadn't already scanned and posted it!
Shoot!

Also, according to experts off the street, my friend is an "underwater mermaid hipster faggot":

I don't really see it but they seemed pretty sure so I won't argue.

THIS PAINTING

2009-03-11T19:01:00.002-05:00

THIS PAINTING IS 2DOPE

DENOM NOM NOM

2009-02-20T22:02:00.007-06:00

Here's a little doodle I like a lot:

Something about his eyes makes him look goofy and innocent to me, even as he munches away on some poor dude's body.

At the same time though, I don't think I would ever chill with this demon. Even if I kinda knew him and bumped into him on the street.

Actually, what I like about this doodle is that it reminds me of this painting by Francisco Goya:

I think the problem with most classical art is that they painted so much boring stuff. The only times they the artists got to paint anything badass was when they were illustrating either Greek myths (such as the above) or some of the more brutal Christian imagery of demons and hell.
I'm not saying that I don't enjoy classical paintings depicting other things (a good artist can make portraits and still lifes interesting), but I will say that this particular subject matter holds a special place in my heart.

BLOG REVIVAL

2009-02-17T20:50:00.005-06:00

The first of many to come, I'm sure.

Anyway, here is a comic from my sketchbook. It was chosen on the merit that I colored it.

EDIT: I mean, I kinda colored it. It's semi-colored.

DOUBLE EDIT: Since this is now the first post of the blog I am re-adding this comic because it is still awesome.