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Remembering Philip Sidney Field

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on November 16, 2016 at 12:03 am
Posted In: News

Field6Philip Sidney Field received his M.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1965 and has been a member of the University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley Painting Faculty for over 40 years. Among his vast accomplishments, he has exhibited in Japan, Vienna, NYC, and Houston and has been instrumental in cultivating a generation of successful figure painters in the Rio Grande Valley.

Philip Sidney Field was one of my painting professors when I entered college at the University of Texas – Pan American in the Fall of 1991. From the moment he first walked into that Painting I class till my graduation in the Fall of 1996 (and during my one year of grad school beyond that) he would forever be my favorite professor.

It wasn’t just the knowledge that I would glean from him over those years (and he had a lot of it to share… theories in color and composition, technique… so much to impart!) but more than that he was the one to “give me permission” to be the artist I would become.

No one necessarily NEEDS permission to draw or paint what they like, but I was subconsciously handicapping myself in his painting class until the day I decided to paint a more cartoony canvas. The flood of praise, insight and direction that burst forth jubilantly from this usually silent character gave me all the impetus I needed. I was on my way.

Professor Field was an enigmatic instructor. At first glance this gentle giant seemed like a burned out hippy who had settled into a university teaching job. His paintings of people dancing to conjunto music hung in the University library. Those large canvases were a welcome sight over the five years I’d go in and out of that library working on research and term papers.

I was a horrible student as an undergraduate. Having been told by professors and friends alike that I had “talent” had gone to my young head and I tended to skip class or do the bare minimum of work, knowing that I’d still do enough to pass my classes. Even my favorite professor had to put up with it when I wound up attending his figure drawing class for the first two weeks and last two weeks of the semester. The drawings were good enough to get me a B for the class in the final meeting with him for the semester.

“I would have given you an A if you’d just shown up for class,” he told me. Ever the gracious and understanding man. Any other professor would have taken it personally and dropped me from class or given me a failing grade (and indeed there were a couple other faculty members that did). I took you totally for granted in those days, Professor Field, and for that I’m eternally sorry!

I have so many memories of this man. I would visit him during his office hours sometimes just to pester him about technique or to hear old stories about his student days. I remember him handing me a folded comic book from his back pocket one day before class… it was a copy of Mr. Natural #1 (first edition, mind you… with 2 color spot printing on the cover). He had carried around Robert Crumb’s work in his back pocket as a young man and now he was giving this crazy underground comix artifact to me! That first real taste of Crumb’s work was also a game changer for my young cartooning mind.

I remember Philip Field voraciously devouring my first attempts at grilled chicken at my engagement party in the large backyard of my first house. I still remember how enthusiastic he was about it, eating drumstick after drumstick. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. Wish I could have grilled for you later when I finally learned how to do it properly.

In the ensuing years, after I’d made my splash in the comics world as a “pioneer of webcomics”, Field would introduce his students to my work every semester as part of his discussion of digital art in some of his classes. I’m still flattered beyond words that he thought so highly of my work. He had such a huge hand in getting me there.

I was interviewing Philip over email just as he’d started his chemotherapy this past Spring. He was too weak (and indeed VERY private in his life outside of the university) to meet with me in person, so over email we started a back and forth dialogue. The interview was to be the cover story for the third issue of a now defunct local arts magazine. After the death of Richard Hyslin, another beloved professor from the same era of the UTRGV art department, it seemed imperative to interview Philip and publish some kind of tribute while he was still with us. Sadly, the folding of the magazine left me disenchanted and unable to produce that tribute before we lost Philip Field for good. Our last communication was an email asking about the fate of the interview and my apology for not letting him know sooner and that I’d get it done sooner than later and post it, publish it, get it OUT THERE as soon as I could.

Philip Sidney Field passed away Wednesday, November 9, 2016. He will live on in the hearts and minds of the students he taught in his 40+ years as a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

flyer

Here is my interview with my old teacher, friend and mentor:

The Green Slippers

The Green Slippers

Please tell me a little bit about how you got started doing art and where you wound up studying art.

As a child I loved drawing and colored crayons. I watched and copied John Nagy’s drawings exercises on T.V. and learned and copied from Arthur Zaidenberg’s drawing book.

In the 1st grade I won an art contest and then started Saturday children’s classes at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. I loved wandering around the great collections of American landscape paintings, the Egyptian collection and the displays of American colonial rooms. It was then that I decided that I wanted to be an artist.

Philip Field (right) with another beloved instructor from UTPA in the 90's Wil Martin (left) during  Fall registration 1992.

Philip Field (right) with another beloved instructor from UTPA in the 90′s Wil Martin (left) during Fall registration 1992.

In junior high school I began taking oil painting classes with Evelyn Eisgrau, an excellent artist who taught me the fundamentals of mixing color and handling paint.

My studies were primarily academic, which might result in a professional career, possibly medical, as my father was a doctor and my mother a nurse.

Just after high school graduation and before going to Syracuse University I spent the entire summer in classes at the Art Student’s League of New York. I had some great teachers there – Robert Beverley Hale, Raymond Breinin, Thomas Fogarty Jr., Frank Reilly, and Charles Alston.

In my junior year at Syracuse I switched out of pre-med into art and in the next two years completed my Bachelor of Fine Art and by graduation I won a senior award in painting.

At Syracuse, at the Yale Summer School of Art, at my M.F.A. classes at Rhode Island School of Design, [during] my Fulbright Grant in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, and in Vienna, Austria  I was lucky to meet and interact with so many brilliant people.

The Devil at Boystown

The Devil at Boystown

After you graduated from college, what led you to Pan American University?

I was in Los Angeles and a friend who was then getting her M.F.A. at Otis Parsons Art Institute accidently saw a post on a bulletin board advertising the position. I wanted to impress her and boldly stated that I could get that job. Also the money that I had saved up from three years of teaching, in Thomas Jefferson High School in New York, and from my first college teaching job at Juniata College, P.A., was almost gone. The idea of having a printmaking studio to work in was also a great incentive.

In the Forest

In the Forest

During the time you were teaching, you continued to work and exhibit. Tell us a little bit about the shifts that occurred in your working methods over the span of those years. Specifically, it seems you went from painting to printmaking and continued to do the two until the 90′s when you started to work digitally for the first time. Is that accurate?

In the 1970’s my intaglio printmaking moved from black and white into color.

This technique requires multiple metal plates to be registered perfectly in place on a dampened paper that is shrinking during the process. It requires great skill and is usually done best by a team of printers in a professional studio than by an individual artist. Each print can take over an hour to hand produce and the total effort, especially for an individual artist can be great, even to produce a modest edition of 25 prints.

Professor Philip Sidney Field in the printmaking studio at the University of Texas - Pan American

Professor Philip Sidney Field in the printmaking studio at the University of Texas – Pan American

I had success with my imagery, getting into many juried shows and winning awards, particularly ColorPrint USA, but because of time restraints and my own psychological makeup I was more interested in creating my next new image than producing editions. At that time at Pan American there was a very heavy teaching load of five classes. In addition to printmaking I taught painting, drawing, figure drawing, and art appreciation.

I was hopeful when I sent a series of color prints to a well-known New York print publisher that had agreed to distribute my prints, but then disheartened when they cheated me out of all the work I had sent them. I learned that this was a long standing practice of print publishers. Vollard while promoting Picasso prints had cheated many artists out to their work.

I was not interested of the very pixelated early computer work that was being done in the 1970’s. I got my first computer in 1996 and began digitally printmaking. I knew that even though there were trade-offs in image making and quality, the computer as an artistic tool had evolved exponentially. My belief is that as long as the artist is truly involved with the media he is using to create the artwork, what he is creating is original.

OLDTYMES

Old Tymes

During the 80′s you moved away from surreal imagery to paint large paintings of people dancing to Conjunto music. Tell us a little bit about what lead you to that stylistic change and what you gained from the experience. 

I came to the Valley in 1971 and by the mid 1980’s had evolved three of four modes of expression, primarily personal, symbolic and spiritual imagery. By then my contact to New York City and Europe had lessened, actually almost ceased, and my attention and life was now the Rio Grande Valley.

One of my strengths had always been figure drawing from life, and I was teaching it, but not actually using the figure in a gestural manner in my own work.

I had been visiting the Valley Flea market dances on and off for many years and seen the energy and movement of these dances. I also liked the strong beat and power of the Conjunto music, as its power suggested strong patterns of light and shade. Another entry point into valley subject matter were the myths and legends collected by UTPA Anthropology Professor Mark Glazer in his book Flour From Another Sack. One story in particular, the Devil in the Disco became my first dance painting.

Dancing on the Rio

Dancing on the Rio

At first I was reluctant to use Valley subject matter thinking I might be usurping subject from another culture. But with my very first paintings I realized that the people of the Valley, particularly my students who I imagined and later used as models, were actually a part of my inner experience, and that I could truly “be” every figure I represented.

I wove my own personal ideas and stories into these dance paintings so that I feel that these works are both particular to the Valley and universal. There is nothing so poignant and heroic to me as a man and woman dancing, trying to find happiness and express joy in an often hard and difficult world.

Professor Field discusses his work to a crowd of students and art lovers at one of his last public art exhibitions.

Professor Field discusses his work to a crowd of students and art lovers at one of his last public art exhibitions.

In the move to digital, what were some of the challenges that you encountered initially in working methods, how to display the work and with the reception of the work? It seems like the proliferation of dye sub printers and large format commercial printing over the last few years has lead to an explosion of possibilities for artists to print their digital work that weren’t available in the early years. 

Since I began digital printmaking I have had some difficulties with program instability and printers, but in general there has been a constant improvement, and the digital print is by far more flexible and forgiving than earlier traditional methods. We must realize that all printmaking methods were developed for mass communication and their commercial ability, to create and distribute “exact multiple duplicates” in a faster and more efficient manner.

An incredible number of layers of a print are manipulated and adjusted and registered in a computer program like Photoshop, with an ease and sensitivity that far surpasses silkscreen and lithography. Now an individual artist has no difficulty with the registration problems I described earlier.

A Charmed Night

A Charmed Night

The digital tablet makes drawing and painting seem quite natural, pixels are no longer seen, and the computer’s color range is much greater than in previous techniques. The possibility for adjusting the size of the image and print during the creative process is a great advantage.

Importantly each image is now a digital resource that can be integrated with other digital images. The computer is not only a printmaking studio, but an animation, video, music and film studio.

Field had a way of engaging a crowd.

Field had a way of engaging a crowd.

I’ve had trouble convincing museums to let me display large banners. However, with the recent appearance of a Ron English banner in Brownsville and your own recent show LIFE WITH WRATH being printed on banner material do you see the acceptance of commercially printed work in the art world as time goes on?

The images for my LIFE WITH WRATH show all started as 4” x 6” pencil drawings, and while I’ve digitally colored and enlarged each work to 17.5” x 22” I have not gone to a larger or banner size, because of their original scale. I did have a couple of my previous show posters printed up to a width of 36” and they looked good at that scale.

In time digital art commercially printed will certainly become more acceptable as it will dominate fine art image production. The pricing of an individual work however may be lower and the art establishment equates scarcity with a higher price.

It is always up to the buyer of the art to discern quality. Because of technology there will continue to be more “art”, both good and bad, created than ever before.

Dental Safari

Dental Safari

Tell us about the LIFE WITH WRATH cycle and the significance of “Fast Food Frozen Mexican Style Art”

Professor Field directed me to this article written by Nancy Moyer, once head of the art department and a long time colleague (and another professor of mine from UTRGV!)  in answer to this question.

You can find more of Philip Field’s work on the Rhode Island School of Design’s Portfolio site.

Thank you for your friendship and knowledge, Philip Field

Thank you for your friendship and knowledge, Philip Field

Our new Threadless.com Artist Shop

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on March 19, 2016 at 10:51 am
Posted In: News

THREADLESSSHOPFRONT

It’s been a while, but I’ve been as busy as ever with my bands and (re)starting a new local magazine. Just wanted to take a moment to direct you to my Threadless Artist Shop that finally went online sometime last week. The program is still in beta so I’m super proud to be part of the early roll out of the new feature. Threadless makes some of the best tees I’ve seen and ordered online so I’m proud to be part of the site.

For now I’ve got designs for my bands Cat and the Coyotes and Squarepegz, but soon I’ll be uploading new, wonderful one-of-a-kind pieces. Watch this space.

Transmission

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 15, 2015 at 9:17 pm
Posted In: News

Busy working on several things all at once… as usual!

Continuing work with my hip hop cartoon band Squarepegz. We recently uploaded a new track on our soundcloud.

Tragically, I believe WebcomicsNation has finally gone the way of Modern Tales and is now extinct. Gone are all the original Squarepegz comics I made back in 2005-2006. In some ways, though, this is a blessing in disguise because the original THOSE WERE THE SALAD DAYS story was never completed. This opens up a HUGE opportunity to reboot the ‘Pegz in a more permanent and iconic way. Please keep an eye on our Squarepegz website as I upload the old comics and art as well as (hopefully) start posting brand new comics as well!

possibleCOVER

I’m also still working on new music for an album sometime in the next year, but now I have a band behind me. We’re calling ourselves Cat and the Coyotes.

Of course a lot of the Cat and the Coyotes original material will be from the Summermilk album I had started working on earlier this year…

As for comics and art…

I’m again plugging away at new Don Cacahuate strips every week. Those have already been running in print in the La Feria News and Los Fresnos News newspapers and will be running weekly here on magicinkwell starting the first Monday in October. New strips every Monday thereafter…

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What I’ve been up to lately… no foolin’

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on April 1, 2015 at 2:56 am
Posted In: News

Working diligently on a new Summermilk album that will take the whole year to record. I’m shooting for 20-ish songs. I’ve got nine so far…

I’m also trying hard to be ready for South Texas Comic Con in May. I’ll hopefully have a brand new Squarepegz minicomic as well as copies of my work, orginal art and some limited edition art prints and canvas prints.

Stay tuned…

Happy New Year

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on January 1, 2015 at 11:59 am
Posted In: News

The Struggle is Realimage_12

2014 was quite a year for myself and “magic inkwell”, the name I use as a blanket for my artistic/creative endeavors. Lots of new work this past year, a few comics and I even opened a studio/gallery for a summer and part of the autumn.

In some ways, I guess I could feel defeated. My studio had to close, I have a lot of unfinished comics to account for, there are pieces I still haven’t started and artistic obligations yet to complete…

IMG_3770

The truth of the matter is I’m VERY happy and excited about what 2015 will bring. I’ve kept working, slowly building my cache of comics, painting, design work, writing and music a little at a time. Things that are unfinished last year will continue this year. If I can only continue to work, to produce art and music, consistently, the battle is won. I may or may not have a CD or a comic book to sell, but I’m building, creating, rearranging and imagining CONSTANTLY.

And that’s all that matters and that’s all that anyone can hope for in their creative lives.

All that said, I continue in earnest to make comics and music for my sci fi fantasy trip hop extravaganza SQUAREPEGZ. You can catch up with all things PEGZ related at The Squarelair and over on our soundcloud. Even though I only managed to put up a couple pages this last year, the comics at The Squarelair will grow exponentially this year, so keep an eye on that. We’re hoping to release a 24 page comic book in time for the South Texas Comic Con, which is on May 9th and 10th (mark your calendars).

We’ve been working a lot on new tracks as the year ended and the new one’s begun, so check check it out…

I’m also working on a new SUMMERMILK album for this new year, tentatively titled SEASON’S END. Again with the soundcloud:

I’ll be constantly adding new tracks this year to both those soundcloud accounts as i work on new music this year.

On the comics front, I’m continuing my weekly strip Don Cacahuate y Palo Verde into the new year as well as working on a Magic Inkwell comic book that I’ll be previewing pages of here.

Dia de los Muertos Art Competition!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 10, 2014 at 11:28 am
Posted In: News

posadaWe’ve partnered with Mario Leal of Rio Grand Valley Arts Studio to create an all ages juried art competition to be held on October 31st as part of our Harlingen Art Night Halloween/Dia de los Muertos celebration! Prizes will be awarded.

Calling all artists! Be a part of Harlingen Art Night. Halloween is a great time to celebrate our area’s unique and talented artists. Sign up now for our Halloween art contest. 3 age divisions 10 yrs and under, ages 11 -17 and Adults. Create an original drawing, painting, watercolor, or digital design following the theme with a maximum size of 24” x 30” framed or unframed. Works should contain no sexually explicit or objectionable material. Works must be the original creation of the artist, signed and ready for hanging display. Entries must be accompanied with the attached Entry Form and Jury Fee of $10.00 per piece. First prize of $100 will be awarded by the judges, other prizes may be awarded as entry fees allow. DEADLINE: ALL ART WORK MUST BE SUBMITTED BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24TH.

Download the application: Halloween Art Contest 2014

Magic Inkwell Micro Con I

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 31, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Posted In: News
POSTER_final

Poster for Magic Inkwell’s first mini comic convention and gallery show.

July’s Harlingen Art Night, which happens every final Friday of each month, happened to be the same weekend as San Diego Comic Con. In honor of this, Magic Inkwell hosted its first MICRO CON, a mini comic book convention with a gallery exhibition of original art from a selection of local talent. A few days before the event, Ramon Rodriguez came by the studio to film an interview for one of his RAZA REPORTS youtube shorts to help bolster hype for the event.

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COMIC BOOK MEN – left to right: Alexis Garza (GAIA, UTPA Cartoon Club), Ramon Ramirez (Smarty Cartoons), Javier Espinoza and yours truly posing for a post con photo.

About 5pm on Friday, July 25th artists, vendors and cosplayers descended on the studio, where I’d cleared the partitions and condensed the studio area to allow for tables to be set up on opposite ends of a large room.

10460776_10204428500171330_4308308430998606289_nOur special guests Ren Cardenas, Omer Garcia III and Ramon Ramirez set up their tables in our front area, greeting guests as they walked in the door with their colorful banner displays and amazing collection of original art, mini comics and prints. Omer and Ren also set up a small table for Valley Artists and Story Tellers (V.A.S.T.), a local club of illustrators, comics and manga artists. Original artwork by many of our featured artists graced the display walls and I was able to hang a few of my latest paintings. We had a vendor selling comic book wallets and several other artists setup tables inside to sell their comics. A few local cosplayers also came in costume to add to the festivities. As we do every month, local artists and craftspeople set up in our Artist’s Alley in the empty adjacent lot with music provided by Albert Gonzalez and his band from McAllen, TX. Our live graffiti wall was painted by local graffiti artist RAWmirez.

It may not have been as well attended or overblown as San Diego Comicon, but we were happy to bring a bit of the spirit of Comic Con to Harlingen Art Night this past month. Special thanks to all the artists and vendors that participated and made our first mini comic convention a success! We’re looking forward to putting another one on very soon.

The Art of Manuel Zamudio

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 1, 2014 at 4:50 pm
Posted In: News

Event flyer for Magic Inkwell’s first gallery exhibition

Manny02

Artist Manuel Zamudio. Photo by: Pete Brown

This past Friday, June 27, 2013, marked the night of our first official MAGIC INKWELL STUDIO & GALLERY art exhibit in conjunction with Harlingen Art Night. The studio hosted the work of Manuel Zamudio, aka RAID, an extremely talented graffiti writer who straddles the divide between the high aesthetic of gallery art and “lo-brow” iconographic (read: street/urban) art. His enigmatic work has been featured in many different venues across the Rio Grande Valley, with murals adorning more than one of the area’s more popular night clubs.

I wrote this article about his debut solo show at the Weslaco Museum as a reporter for La Feria News which will give you a more indepth description of the artist and his work.

manny01

Since his debut in Weslaco, RAID has added religious and neoclassical elements to his work with the visual landscape either peeling or having been torn from the firmament to reveal patterns akin to the designs of high fashion fabrics. The devil’s in the details and RAID, an artist essentially trained to produce large pieces of art on walls with the idea of expendability and impermanence, sharpens his focus to the miniscule, with laborious attention to shading and color as he hones his skills with brush and acrylic paint. We were proud to host his work and thank him immensely for helping us inaugurate our monthly gallery shows!

ArtistsAlleyPosterMagic Inkwell was also proud to host the very first Artists’ Alley art walk this past Friday. Artists, jewellers, and crafts folks were invited to set up tables to sell their wares for a modest fee.

alley CHRISTOPHERMARTINEZLive entertainment was provided by our friends and featured artist’s crew Boom Bap Masterpiece Records: Ultra talented local hip hop cypher impresario Elo the Emcee held down the sound and provided a sneak peek at his new acoustic project while sharing the night with performances by Evolve and Farmertron.

Toward the back of the alley, we set up a small graffiti wall live-painted by TUSK. Thanks so much to everyone that came to be a part of our first ARTISTS’ ALLEY. We’re excited for the next one!

More pics:

More music from the BOOM BAP family:

MAGIC INKWELL now a studio and gallery in Harlingen!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on June 5, 2014 at 6:04 pm
Posted In: News
Photoshopped rendering of our proposed paintjob!

Photoshopped rendering of our proposed paintjob!

MAGIC INKWELL has now opened its doors in Harlingen, TX as a working studio and gallery space. We’re located at 412 W. Van Buren. We’re very proud to be a part of Harlingen’s burgeoning art scene. We held an open studio on the last Harlingen Art Night (last Friday of May) and we’re looking forward to holding our Grand Opening on the next Art Night (June 27th). THERE’S SO MUCH WORK TO BE DONE! More details and info soon!

Vayne Ink/Tone Tests

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 31, 2013 at 8:37 pm
Posted In: News

More inking/toning practice/promo images from my comic collaboration with Chuck Farmer (pencils) and Shawn Munguia (scripts) – VAYNE. Issue #1 will debut at South Texas Comicon in April.vayne

More VAYNE Previews

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 30, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Posted In: News

Here’s a couple more ink test promo images for the first issue of a new comic I’m working on with my friends Chuck Farmer (pencils) and Shawn Munguia (script). I’m contributing inks, lettering, toning and production to the mix. We’re pretty excited with these few practice images. We may wind up using some of them  in the  book. I’m also using different fonts for the title lettering. Feel free to let us know which one you think looks best!

chimera2

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

Work in Progress: VAYNE

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 29, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Posted In: News

One new project for 2014 is a new comic series I’m working on with two friends of mine Shawn Munguia and Chuck Farmer. Shawn is writing the script and my friend Chuck Farmer is doing pencils. I’ll be inking, toning and lettering. Below are some of our sample images we’ve been working on while we develop the comic and start actually working on pages. The first two images are samples of finished art with inks and tones as well as a couple of title art proposals. Under that are raw scans of Chuck’s pencils. We should have the first issue printed and ready for debut at South Texas Comic Con. I’ll post more about all this soon.

promoimage

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Society6 shop

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 22, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Posted In: News

Post by Cayetano Garza Jr.

Fisticuffs I

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 16, 2013 at 10:39 am
Posted In: News

IMG_3515
First in a series of paintings. “Fisticuffs I” is 36″ x 40″ acrylic on canvas.

Felix de los Muertos Process

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 16, 2013 at 3:40 am
Posted In: News

Originally a commission piece, this is my new print version of my Felix/Dia de los Muertos mashup. Here’s some photos of the original commission painting…

IMG_3269 ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

What I’ve Been Up To Lately

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 4, 2013 at 1:47 am
Posted In: News

canvases

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Sara Garcia y Pedro Infante

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on June 17, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Posted In: News

Been over a year

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 14, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Posted In: News

20111214-181646.jpg

…since I’ve posted a blog. Maybe I’ll fix that this coming year…

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Easter Yeggs

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on August 12, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Posted In: News

Easter Yeggs
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.
└ Tags: animation, Cartoon Cavalcade, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Love & Theft

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on May 18, 2010 at 8:16 am
Posted In: News

Thanks Lisa Campos!

└ Tags: animation, Cartoon Cavalcade, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Get a Job!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on May 16, 2010 at 1:59 am
Posted In: News

great link from the infamous Dane Martin

└ Tags: animation, Cartoon Cavalcade, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Way Back When We Was Fab

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on April 20, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Posted In: News

└ Tags: Fab, Squarepegz, Those Were the Salad

Music Time: Tell Me That It Isn’t True

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on April 8, 2010 at 10:35 am
Posted In: News

My first video performance covering Bob Dylan’s “Tell Me That It Isn’t True” off the album Nashville Skyline. Hope you like it!

└ Tags: Bob Dylan, cover tune, music, Nashville Skyline

YEAR OF THE RAT FINK

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on March 11, 2010 at 10:52 am
Posted In: News

I just finished this commission for an old classmate of mine from middle/high school. He specifically asked for YOTR era Dingbat in the style of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. I’m pretty happy with the way it came out. Whaddaya think?

I can make you whatever you’d like, too, for just $50! email me! Or better yet, paypal fifty bones to cat@magicinkwell.com!

I could totally use the money right now. :3

Music Time: The Man In Me

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 23, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Posted In: News

It’s been almost a year and a half since I’ve recorded any original music and posted it here on my website. Truth is that the computer I’ve had for the past two years didn’t have the ability to record sound (!) because of a faulty 1/8 input and the sheer age of the computer. Because of this you may have noticed that all I’ve uploaded in that time have been music mixes and DJ sets (since they didn’t require any sound in, these were fairly simple to pull off). Recently I got a new computer that not only has the ability to record sound but offers me new and different methods for doing so. I’m still getting my feet wet right now so you won’t be getting an album of original music JUST YET (even though this IS album writing month… gonna have to miss this year…) but one thing I did do the other day was start to play around with my new recording capabilities.

For this first experiment I thought I’d do a cover that I play a lot at open mic nights and performances… Bob Dylan’s “The Man In Me” from his amazing and under appreciated 11th album NEW MORNING. You may remember the song from the movie THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Anyway, one of my all time favorite tunes and I totally massacre it here (with vocal harmonies and everything!). :D


you can download the file here

I’ll (hopefully) be recording and posting new music as time permits. I have to say I’ve been so busy with comics in the past year that my musical endeavors have kinda fallen by the wayside (except for playing every Thursday night at the pub downtown and weekly practices with my new cover band). Anyway, enjoy!

└ Tags: acoustic, Bob Dylan, cover song, Man In Me, music, New Morning, recording, Summermilk

BUY YOUR COPY TODAY!!!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 19, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Posted In: News

My book is now available for order through IndyPlanet! Buy a copy now and support a starving artist (me)!

click to see the product page

└ Tags: graphic novel, print collection, Year of the Rat Vol. I

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Winsor McCay

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 17, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Posted In: News

└ Tags: animation, early animation, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade, Winsor McCay

Another look

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 15, 2010 at 11:23 am
Posted In: News

I’m supposed to receive my proof copies of my YEAR OF THE RAT VOL. 1 print collection. Barring any unforeseen difficulties or changes that might be needed the book should go on sale online sometime by or after March 1st. While we’re waiting I thought I’d share another look at the cover, this time with the spine and back cover added.

click to get a closer look

I even have my own ISBN number (thanks Colleen!!) and barcode (thanks Max!!). This is the first ISBN number I’ve ever acquired for a book, so it feel really official and professional in a way it’s never felt before. Can’t wait to get copies shipped out to all of you! Soon, so soon… ;)

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: U900

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 15, 2010 at 10:56 am
Posted In: News

From the Drawn!blog: This cute animated video for a song by the Japanese ukelele duo U900. Drawn! seems to not know who’s producing these animations, but my roommate and I suspect it may be the band themselves.

└ Tags: animation, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade, stop motion, U900, ukelele

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Vegeterrible

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 13, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Posted In: News

It’s been a while since we’ve posted a Cartoon Cavalcade post. Here’s a really entertaining cartoon by Henrik Sønniksen and Benjamin Nielsen found for us by our pal Bryan Stone! Enjoy!!


Vegeterrible from Henrik Sønniksen on Vimeo.

└ Tags: animation, Benjamin Nielsen, Henrik Sønniksen, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade, Vegeterrible

Coming Soon

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on February 8, 2010 at 10:09 am
Posted In: News

Roughly 138 pages. Full color AND black &white interiors. Manga digest size (5″ x 7.5″). I’ll have ordering info within the next few weeks. ;)

Test post from my new Blackberry

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 28, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Posted In: News

Let’s see how well this works…

Manga Appreciation Society: AIR GEAR by Oh!Great

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on December 13, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Posted In: News

airgear_09-10

I want to take a little time today to FINALLY talk about a manga that caught my fancy sometime last year. I’ve been planning to do this write up for a long time now, but have had a hard time actually sitting down and writing it out. Part of the problem is that I’ve been very busy lately and have had little time to sit down and actually collect my thoughts about how I feel about this particular manga series and synthesize that into a well thought out, succinct review. The other part of the problem is that it would be hard to really top what’s already been written about this series that is available online.

Air Gear 1 artI’m speaking about Air Gear by mangaka Ito “Oh Great” Ogure. This series is currently being reprinted in the United States by Del Rey and is up to volume 14 as of October of this year. You can actually read the series for free online here, where it has been translated well beyond the Del Rey print run (how well, I’m not sure). I’ve been faithful enough to only read the copies I’ve bought in print but I’m so into the series that I’m going to be reading it online now. The series has inspired an anime series as well as a MUSICAL (!) and even featured an Obama shout out/parody during election time. The series is currently being serialized in Japan in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

A little background as way of disclaimer: I have never been a huge anime/manga fan, but I’ve flirted with the genre for years. I’m from the Robotech/Nausicaä generation of US kids exposed to manga/anime (born in the 70′s, grew up in the 80′s). Akira premiered here in the States when I was a freshman in college back in the early 90′s. Over the years I caught Ghost in the Shell, Ranma 1/2, the work of Miyazaki, and All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku even! Read a few manga growing up as well… The Lone Wolf & Cub reprints, Mai the Psychic Girl, some Tezuka (though not much), Gunsmith Cats, and a lot of random stuff. I was also exposed to a lot of “japanimation” growing up as well (like Belle & Sebastien, The Little Prince, The Mysterious Cities of Gold) during the early days of cable and during frequent summer visits with family in Mexico.

pen&ink

interesting book from Digital Manga Press where I first discovered the work of Oh!Great

It wasn’t until the last year or so that I’ve completely immersed myself in Japanese comics and comics making techniques in earnest. Not only to gain an understanding of its cultural relevance but also to hopefully absorb some of their techniques and processes for producing comics to (hopefully) better inform my own process. I’ve especially become a huge fan of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s work.

It was during my initial research into manga that I came across a book which featured three Japanese mangaka, one of whom was Oh!Great. I was immediately drawn to his work, his sense of design, his ability to create compelling sound effects that integrate well with the images (especially in the original Japanese language Air Gear pages, which border on graffitti) and his use of screentones. He was creating work that fell into the same manga mode/style we’ve seen over and over again through the years and yet he retains a personal signature style that is uniquely his own. You can look at an Oh!Great image and immediately recognize that it is his.

AIR GEAR’s story (from Wikipedia):
Itsuki “Ikki” Minami, is a student and a delinquent. Also known as the “Unbeatable Babyface”, Ikki is the leader of the youth gang by the name of “East Side Gunz”. Upon his return home, after being humiliated by a Storm Rider team called the Skull Saders, Ikki discovers a secret hidden from him by his benefactors, the Noyamano sisters. The sisters belong to a group of Storm Riders who go by the team name of Sleeping Forest. In the anime, learning the sisters’ secret angers him and he steals a pair of Air Trecks, abbreviated as “AT”. (In the manga, the sisters give a pair of ATs to him and invite him to skate with them.) Ikki eventually settles his grudge with the Skull Saders, but in the process he receives more than the simple satisfaction of revenge. Determined to experience the sensation of “flight” for as long as he can, Ikki is quickly engaged in the mysterious, irresistible world of Air Treks.

My own thoughts on the series:
My love of this series is a complete paradox. There is absolutely no reason in the world for me to like this series. It is boy’s manga written specifically for 16 year oldss. It’s full of potty humor, the over-sexualization of young girls, homophobic comedic situations and overweight characters being blatantly lambasted for being “pigs”. Some of the jokes/situations revolving around the female characters border on the misogynistic and at the very least are clearly infantile/immature. And yet… and yet…

08-09

16-17

The series contains many tropes that the narrative returns to again and again as Ikki becomes more and more competent with his Air Treks and goes up against harder and harder opponents. Oh!Great’s art work in this series is impeccable and a visual feast, with amazing double page spreads that leave you breathless in their complex panel arrangements.

02-03mCVhQ5

10

What a pity: Horrible graphic design sense is what makes the Del Rey printed version of this page waaaay better than the OneManga fan scan/sub. And the design on the Del Rey actually leaves a LOT to be desired! Way to mess up great artwork!

I’m a big fan of the side characters in the series as well, most of whom are pretty well thought out and developed. The overall story of Air Gear is a bit hard to follow and seems to become more convoluted as the series progresses. There’s also a ton of Japanese pop culture references that may take some getting used to if you’re not familiar with them (like me). Also if you’re easily offended by juvenile humor, potty jokes, and nudity this might not be the series for you. It’s definitely shonen manga and I have to say it’s caught the fancy of the sixteen year old boy in me!

Far from perfect, and apparently losing favor with some of its fans in the last couple years due to the complete convolution of the story and the introduction of a million new characters, I find this series to be inspirational visually and conceptually. I admire what it aspires to be as a whole, even if the parts are sometimes less than whatever it is we demand of such entertainment. Oh!Great is one of my favorite artists of all time (no joke) for his stunning technical ability as a cartoonist and his hip graphic design sensibilities overall.

Is it a guilty pleasure that I should be ashamed of? Maybe. No more than any romance novel or a bit of trash TV. And really, isn’t that something we all sometimes crave?

38-39

You can find episodes of the anime on YouTube
Please note: NSFW contains some nudity/adult language/situations! You’ve been warned!

└ Tags: Air Gear, comics reviews, manga, Manga Appreciation Society, manga reviews, Oh! Great

nyc

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on October 19, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Posted In: News

I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures like I’d intended to and I didn’t really get any photos from the Boston end of the tour. Sorry. I also tapped out after Boston and didn’t make it to Providence, RI.

All in all it was a really fun little trip and it was nice to spend a couple days in New York City. Thanks to all my good friends in NYC for making this birthday weekend extra special. These pics don’t really do this trip justice but hopefully I’ll come visit again real soon and take some better snaps!

nycDESERT_ISLAND

└ Tags: book tour Fall 2009, I Know Joe Kimpel, NYC

Ten Years Later and the Birthday Weekend Book Tour

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on October 14, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Posted In: News

As I prepare for my imminent departure on the Funny Aminals/Dark Corners Book Tour tomorrow it struck me tonight that ten whole years have passed since I first started making real inroads into this crazy comics “industry”.
workingman
It was ten years ago that the first and only issue of Magic Inkwell Comic Strip Theatre was published in print and I was in the midst of my first experiments with online comics. Tonight at midnight I turn 37 and tomorrow I embark on a book tour to celebrate the release of two wonderful anthologies (one of which I had the honor of being a part of). I’ll be selling copies of the Magic Inkwell Reader, which collects the work I did when I was 26/27 years old (as well as copies of the Secrets & Lies Anthology which I edited and published a year and a half ago).

A lot can happen in ten years. To be honest, I feel like I’ve lived several lifetimes over the course of that time. I have nothing really profound to say about all this because I’m having a hard time putting into words what it is exactly that I’m feeling… it’s almost a mix of nostalgia, melancholy and bittersweet joy I suppose.

Ten years later I’m still working on comics and enjoying every minute of it, but my life has changed dramatically (and many times over) since then. All the hope and promise I felt at 27 has pretty much been fulfilled or is on the way to being fulfilled now that I’m 37, but maybe not exactly in the way I’d envisioned it back then. Even though there has been some disillusionment along the way, I don’t feel bitter, angry, disappointed or discouraged but rather stronger and better for it. I’m definitely not the same man I was at 27 that I am now at 37, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’d change anything or that I’d have it any other way.

I’m enjoying this time in my life very much and feel lucky to be able to celebrate my birthday by going on the road this weekend to sell my comics and promote my work along with some of my wonderful and talented friends. So enough of this sentimentality and here’s a rundown of my scheduled stops this weekend. Hopefully I’ll get to see some of you at one these events:

Friday, October 16th:
Desert Island
540 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
7-9PM

Saturday, October 17th:
Hub Comics
Union Square
19 Bow Street
Somerville, MA 02143
7-9pm

Sunday, October 18th (not sure if I’m going to make this one or not, but I’m planning on it):
Ada Books
717 Westminster Street
Providence RI, 02903
2-4pm

tourimage

My internet access will be spotty at best over the next few days but I’ll be checking in as best I can. I’ll DEFINITELY be doing the whole twitter thing throughout the weekend and taking many photo evidences which I’ll upload when I get back so as to share all my adventures this weekend with all of you. Thanks so much for all the birthday well wishes I’ve already gotten and hopefully some of us will get to celebrate together tomorrow night and/or Friday night in NYC.

One thing I would like to do on Friday night (after the book signing and dinner) is maybe hit the Brooklyn Bowl and check out Eclectic Method’s regular Friday MIDNIGHT METHOD show. That would be rad.

Oh, and in case you feel like getting me a birthday present… ;)

Ottim… an’ the livs is fallin’

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on October 3, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Posted In: News
ottim

The view behind our house and the chill in the air says that colder times are ahead

Yes, yes, ya’ll. Decided to go on that little book tour after all. I’ll be hitting the road the weekend of Oct. 16th – 18th to promote the Funny Aminals Anthology.

I’ll have copies of THE MAGIC INKWELL READER for sale as well as copies of the SECRETS & LIES anthology. We’d be remiss to not mention that SR Bissette’s story for SECRETS & LIES recently received an honorable mention in this year’s edition of THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS series making these last few copies I own a bit of nerdy comics gold. Collector’s items even, sure!

*ahem* N E Wayz…

Here’s the big bad list of appearances for my birthday weekend North East comics tour-o-rama.

If you live in New York, Boston (Somerville), or Providence I hope to see you at one of these crazy things. If you don’t live anywhere near any of these places please consider picking up a copy of my collection THE MAGIC INKWELL READER so that I can raise enough funds to have books to sell at these upcoming events. I would love you forever for it. Seriously.

└ Tags: book tour Fall 2009, Boston, Funny Aminals, Magic Inkwell Reader, New York, Providence, Secrets and Lies, SR Bissette

Lil’ Ainjil!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on October 1, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Posted In: News

lilainjil
After almost a week I finally have internet access at the new homestead. And what a crazy week to not have any internet, too. The analogy of feeling like I’ve been hit in the head with a brick is apt. It’s been a whirlwind of excitement with the exhausting move into new digs, the Ignatz Award win, being in several anthologies that made their debut this weekend at SPX, getting the Magic Inkwell Reader finished, printed and delivered to my door, etc. Phew! The analogy is apt, though, because just like that Krazy Kat from Coconino county, I can’t help but feel in love despite the violent creasing of the skull. It was a great surprise to hear I’d won the award. It’s something I’d wanted for a very, very long time – mostly because I’m a HUGE Krazy Kat fan and as a cartoonist I coveted an industry award named after that wily mouse. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that awards are just a big popularity contest and I think (no, I KNOW) that I had a lot of friends at the convention this weekend to vote for me. I’m so grateful to all of them. I really couldn’t have done it without them. For those that have asked (like my brother David) here’s a pic of the brick atop my living room bookcase:
brickshelf
It really is just a brick. On a plain wooden stand. They used to engrave brass plaques that would get sent to the winner in the mail after the fact with a little engraving on the wood itself of Ignatz mouse. Apparently this is no more. I’m having one made locally and Got an email from the gracious Greg McElhatton of the SPX steering committee that I’ll be getting a brass plaque some time at the end of October. I’ll definitely post a picture of the award with it’s plaque then.

My win over the weekend got picked up by the Washington Post’s comics blog on Tuesday which was very pleasant surprise.

Another surprise was reading that Lan Pitts over at Newsrama follows YOTR. Cheers and thanks for saying so!

In other SPX related news - I Know Joe Kimpel (the CCS cartooning community comics distro) is planning a book tour to celebrate the release of the DARK CORNERS and FUNNY AMINALS anthologies which both made their debut at this year’s Small Press Expo this past weekend. The tour is on my birthday weekend, so I haven’t committed to any of the dates yet, but I’m seriously considering going to at least one of the signings. I’ll post that info here when we get closer to the event if I do commit to going. In the meantime, here’s the poster/postcard image which I designed and was passed around this weekend at SPX.

tourposterfinal

click to see it larger

In other news, during my internet blackout this past week my copies of THE MAGIC INKWELL READER arrived in the mail. They look pretty good, even if it is a bit painful to look at 10 year old work. Still, this guarantees that I’ll have that stuff in print for cons and to give to friends. You should order a copy for yourself!

readingthereader

OK, enough rambling from me. It’s time to put the nose back to the grindstone. Thanks again to everyone for all the wonderful support and encouragement and for voting for me if you attended SPX! Happy October!

└ Tags: book tour, Dark Corners, Funny Aminals, I Know Joe Kimpel, Ignatz Award, Ignatz nomination 2009, Magic Inkwell Reader, Small Press Expo, SPX

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: The Big Snooze

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 20, 2009 at 10:03 am
Posted In: News

└ Tags: animation, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

The Magic Inkwell Reader is now available!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 18, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Posted In: News

MIRcoverAs of a few moments ago The Magic Inkwell Reader is now available for orders at IndyPlanet! Previewed here a couple months ago, The Magic Inkwell Reader collects all my original print comics which appeared in various publications from 1996-1998 including comics from Magic Inkwell Comic Strip Theatre #1 originally published in 1998 by Moordam Comics. The book includes an introduction by none other than the ol’ Tyrant himself Steve Bissette! Click here to buy your copy today!

Special thanks to good friend Sarah “Cyd” Streveler! Her generous donation day before yesterday made the expedited printing and availability of this book possible. If you’re reading this, Cyd, don’t you go buying a copy! I’ll be mailing you one from my personal stash as soon as they arrive in my sweaty little hands later next week.

On a more personal note: I’ve decided not to attend the Small Press Expo this year after all. Since I’ll be moving into a new place to live only days before the convention and I need to come up with next month’s rent before the first of October, I’ve decided it was best to beg off going and conserve my energy, time and money for a future convention when I can attend in proper fashion. Also, I’ll need next weekend to properly settle into my new place and get back into working mode as quickly as possible.

Many thanks to all the friends who’s outpouring of support, offers of lodging/transportation, commiseration and retweets after my rather long, cathartic post the other day. As broke as I am, I am truly a rich man to have so many good people in my life. Those of you attending the convention please be sure to make it a point to vote for Year of the Rat for Outstanding Online Comic! It sure would be nice to greet my fellow WRJ/CCS buddies returning from the convention the following week and be handed that coveted red brick! We’ll see what the future holds!

└ Tags: donations, Ignatz nomination 2009, Magic Inkwell Comic Strip Theatre, Small Press Expo, SPX 2009, The Magic Inkwell Reader

Good News/Bad News

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 16, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Posted In: News

Let’s start with the good news, shall we?

Fueled this a.m. by copious amounts of coffee and a couple everything bagels (toasted & slathered w/ buttah), I wanted to take a couple minutes to write about three anthologies I’m involved with that will be debuting next weekend at this year’s The Small Press Expo:

bigsexycover

First up is BIG SEXY an erotic anthology being put out by Offshore Comix.  I’ve got a 10 page story, written by my friend Daniel Barlow, which I’ve written about here on the blog at length recently. Offshore Comix is a collective of cartoonists and comic creators from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont interested in exploring comics and cartoons for mature adults. This is the first of many erotic comics Offshore plans to put out as time goes on.  Definitely worth picking up if only for the wonderful cover by Center for Cartoon Studies pioneer class alum, Xeric grant recipient and fellow Ignatz award nominee Colleen Frakes (pictured above). Having been raised in a strict Christian household, I had to work through a lot of personal baggage and issues to complete the ten page contribution I did for this and as proud as I am that I pulled it off I’m hoping to explore this genre again soon.

funnyaminals

Next up is the FUNNY AMINALS anthology, which also contains a lot of fellow CCS community members and alumni and a cover by your’s truly. Here’s the writeup from the press release that went out earlier this summer about the project:

CCS graduates and Sunday’s Co-editors, Bryan Stone, and Jeff Lok and their bestest forest friends bring you, Funny Aminals!

Contributors include: 2009 Ignatz award nominees Colleen Frakes and Cat Garza, as well as Brandon Elston, Emily Wieja, Jose Luis Olivares, Denis St. John, Kubby, Penina Gal, Bryan Stone, Jeff Lok, Morgan Pielli, and Dane Martin. With a cover by Cat Garza, an essay on the history of the funny animal comic by Steve Bissette, and games and puzzles!

The release date for the book is SPX 2009 at the I Know Joe Kimpel table. It will also be available in select comic shops, and online at http://www.iknowjoekimpel.com and http://funnyaminals.com.

Not safe for children! 64 pages. $10. On newsprint. Full color cover on cardstock.

sheltercover

And last, but certainly not least, there’s the new Trees and Hills anthology for this year: SHELTER. From the T&H website:

SHELTER features comics inspired by the themes of housing and home, including aspects such as affordability, cohousing, gentrification, green building, housing cooperatives and homelessness.

This is the second anthology themed around social topics released by the Trees & Hills group and is a follow-up to 2008’s SEEDS anthology, which focused on food.

“Our last anthology, SEEDS, focused on food,” said Colin Tedford, a New Hampshire cartoonist and the co-founder of the Trees & Hills group. “Shelter looks at another basic human necessity and, like SEEDS, allows us to address social issues and connect with our communities.”

“SHELTER is the next evolutionary step in connecting comics and communities,” explained Dan Barlow, a Vermont writer and co-founder of Trees & Hills. “Our creators are very interested in working with local builders, shelter workers and advocates who have expertise in housing issues.”

SHELTER will be the sixth comic anthology from the Trees & Hills group since it formed in 2006. Last year’s SEEDS anthology broke new ground by focusing on the timely and engaging topic of food, tackling issues such as sustainability, eating organics and the vegetarian lifestyle.

I did a three page contribution with CCS pioneer class alum Bob Oxman. The story is called Nebulous Prime and is about Bob’s friend Neb (Ben) and his unconventional living over the past couple years, culminating in his living in a school bus that has been converted to running on vegetable oil!

Ok, and now for the bad news (mixed in with a little good news)…

First of all, as of a few moments ago, I’m officially getting evicted from my apartment. I just got THE LETTER, delivered by certified mail.

Some background: When my ex-wife and I first decided to separate last October I searched around for an apartment in the downtown White River Junction area that I could afford. I found a nice one bedroom apartment, but the rent was a bit high: $650 a month. After getting a tour of the apartment, I was later informed by the landlords by phone that I didn’t make enough money to afford the place and they couldn’t rent to me. OK, I said, no problem… I would keep looking. Bare in mind, I was still employed at the time. About two weeks later, they call me and ask me if I was still interested in the apartment. Needing a place to live and not having found anything else in the area, I was ecstatic. I guess they couldn’t find anyone else to rent to and just wanted the money. Whatever, I just needed a place to live and moving back to Texas wasn’t an option (my daughter is here in Vermont and I’ve got other commitments keeping me here as well) so I moved in right before Thanksgiving.

It was lean times from November through December last year, but I was on the way to being financially stable when I lost my job a day before I was to go on Christmas break. Merry Christmas!

Needless to say, I’ve had a hell of a year trying to keep up with the rent (and my sanity). The real estate property management company which owns my apartment building has been very passive/aggressive about me making the rent on time, piling late fees on me every time I couldn’t make rent on the first of each month, regardless of the fact that I was sending them $100-$200 dollars a week (roughly 1/3-2/3 of my unemployment money) in leu of being able to pay the full amount all in one lump sum.

There were weeks where I didn’t pay my rent because I’d gone a couple weeks with nothing but ramen to eat, if that. There were weeks where I didn’t eat because I needed to pay rent. Like I said, it’s been rough. The Dude abides…

Mind you, I’ve asked repeatedly for an invoice detailing how much I owed, how much I’d paid and how much they were charging me when I couldn’t pay on time. They finally sent me an invoice detailing everything from the moment I moved in last November until now along with this eviction letter. As it stands I owe them $2,385 in back rent and late fees and need to be out by the 30th of this month. According to the statement I received I’ve pretty much been running to catch up since I got “let go” from my job last December.

It didn’t help that I had to wait three months (Jan-March) for my unemployment money to start coming in thanks to my last employer dicking me over by claiming he had fired me and I had filed that I had been laid off (his words at the time of my “firing” were “let go” but there was no check box for this on the unemployment application). Let’s face it, he didn’t want to have to pay any money for my unemployment. He’s got a long record of doing this to people, from what I can tell, and I really should have fought it but was in dire straits at the time and didn’t want to rock the boat.

It also didn’t help that he told the Vermont unemployment folks that I had been fired because I was “incompetent” and had written me up a couple times over the year so that he could cover his ass when he got rid of me (instead of the other guy, which he’d sworn to me up and down in private he was going to “get rid of” when December was rolling around and he was getting tight for money to run his business… yeah…).

I may not be the world’s best employee, folks, I’m willing to admit that right here and now, but at the same time I’m a damn fine graphic designer and had done well by him in the year of my employ. So much so that on more than one occasion he HANDED ME CASH MONEY to tell me I’d been doing a really good job! Does that sound like something an employer does for an “incompetent” employee? Of course, by writing this in a public forum like the internet I’ve pretty much guaranteed that said employer will never want to hire me back again, but at this point and after all I’ve been through in the last year I could give a rat’s ass. Vermont unemployment docked my unemployment money as punishment because of the discrepancy and subsequent “investigation” they did to find out which one of us was lying. Fun!

It’s been a hell of a year, folks, but I’m not quite licked yet!

Now for of a bit more good news…

Enter this year’s Center for Cartoon Studies fellow Maxime de Radigués from Belgium. Max just arrived a couple weeks ago and has been desperately looking for a place to live. I’ve been half heartedly searching for cheaper living arrangements, as well, while my landlords got more and more insistent and vociferous with their threats of eviction.

Long story short, we’ve found an amazing little place to live that is not only cheap ($750 a month 2 bedroom apt with a yard, washer/dryer hookups, nice natural light, garden area, basement, much more), but also down the street from the cartooning school (about a block down from my first apartment here in Vermont, actually).

We sign the lease tomorrow morning and move in sometime next week. As for my debt to the current landlords, my parents have vowed to help me out, which is good because I’d be pretty much sunk otherwise. They’re not exactly in a position to help me because let’s face it – EVERYONE’S poor right now – but they’ve done what they could over the past year and I’m lucky to have their help! Now a moment of zen as we gaze upon my new home as of later next week…

newhome

Now for more bad news…

As much as I’d like to go to SPX this year (and I’d really, really like to go), it’s looking really, really bad for me. Aside from moving into a new living space days before the convention, and even though I’ve found a couple empty seats in a couple different caravans of folks going to the show, I have nowhere to stay if I do go and no money to really do anything while I’m there. The bad part of all this is that if I don’t attend I’m pretty much guaranteed not getting the Ignatz award I’m up for because I won’t be around to lobby for votes. This also means I won’t be around for the debut of the three wonderful anthologies I’m part of. I’m confused about what my priorities should be here, but something tells me sticking around White River and getting back on my feet financially trumps going to a comic convention.

I’ve fought the urge to make a plea for donations to you, dear readers, over the past couple months as things got worse and worse because I wanted to be able to offer something in return for said donations and haven’t been able to come up with any means to do so. My best bet, THE MAGIC INKWELL READER, was stalled for a time and honestly I’m not sure that sales for the book would have generated the kind of money I’d need to pull myself out of this hole. The book has finally been delivered to the printer and should be ready for purchase online sometime around mid-October (just in time for my 37th birthday!).

Still, as bad as things have been for such a long time, there have been small victories along the way. Generally speaking I’m as happy as I’ve ever been and things are starting to look up a bit over the past month or so. The Ignatz nomination has done wonders for my self esteem, sense of self worth and my standing in the cartooning community here and abroad. Ditto my collaborations with my fellow cartoonists of late and now the prospect of living in a more affordable place with another working cartoonist (albeit until May when I’ll be looking to find a new roommate when Max returns to Belgium).

As ever, I remain optimistic about the future and my cartooning, my music and my daughter bring me more joy and fulfillment than I’m sure a lot of people get to enjoy in a lifetime of living. I have little room to complain and I’m sure there’s a lot of other folks out there worse off than me.

Sorry to vent all this personal drama here, but I really needed to get all this off my chest. I’m putting a donation button at the bottom of this post in case anyone is in a position to throw a couple bucks my way, but I have no illusions about it. We’re ALL broke right now and we’re ALL trying to find a way to survive, but I figure since I’ve already let the cat out of the bag (no pun intended) about my current financial situation I figure it couldn’t hurt. I’ll be rolling it over into my bank account to help pay for my expenses for the new place and paying off the landlords for this place. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get enough to go to SPX after all if enough of you contribute… It’s next weekend so I doubt it, but who knows?





└ Tags: anthologies, apartment, Big Sexy, donations, eviction, Funny Aminals, Ignatz nomination 2009, Max de Radigués, Shelter, SPX 2009

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: I Haven’t Got a Hat

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 10, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Posted In: News

└ Tags: animation, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: I Love to Singa

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on September 8, 2009 at 4:02 am
Posted In: News

└ Tags: animation, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Like a Brick to the Head!

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on August 24, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Posted In: News

ignatz

I just got a phone call from my buddy Steve Bissette with the news that YEAR OF THE RAT HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR AN IGNATZ AWARD IN OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC?! I’m still reeling from the shock!! I’m up against some pretty stiff and wonderful competition, so I won’t be too disappointed if I don’t get it (lies upon lies). Conversely, I’m honored to be listed with such talented company! I was starting to think that I wouldn’t be able to make the trip to SPX this year (finances are BLEAK at best), but now I’m rethinking my rethinking…

Also congratulations to my White River Junction/CCS Cartooning Community comics comrade in arms, Colleen Frakes, who’s book WOMAN KING has landed her a nomination for Promising New Talent as well!

└ Tags: Ignatz nomination 2009, Small Press Expo, SPX, Year of the Rat

C’est finni

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on August 22, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Posted In: News

p8220011

FINALLY! At about 7 am this morning I was putting the finishing touches on my submission for the BIG SEXY erotic comics anthology after pulling an all nighter. The story is entitled “The Iris of Berlin” and was written by my friend Dan Barlow.

I’m extremely happy that I was able to make good with my commitment to draw this story and that I was able to pull it off. The anthology itself will be making it’s debut at this year’s Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. Be sure to stop by the Offshore Comix table and pick up a copy if you happen to go to the show. I’ll post about ordering the book online when the info becomes available. For now, to whet your appetite, here’s the first and fourth page of this ten page story for you to preview here.

Speaking of anthologies that are making their debut at this year’s SPX, there’s also the FUNNY AMINALS anthology, being produced by several of my CCS/WRJ community cohorts and comrades. I got to draw and paint the cover! Here’s a little sneak peek of the line art for the cover. Hopefully we’ll post a full color preview of the cover soon. Click to enlarge.

funnyaminalscover

└ Tags: anthologies, Big Sexy, Daniel Barlow, Funny Aminals, Offshore Comix, Small Press Expo, SPX, The Iris of Berlin

A Faint Transmission from the Front Lines

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on August 12, 2009 at 11:54 am
Posted In: News

readingmonsterguide

As the battle rages on, I thought I’d give you a heads up of a few battles won. :D

First up, I got a nice visit from the Indefatigable Steve Bissette yesterday afternoon. He’d stopped by to ask me to lunch and bearing a copy of the now newly printed, but still not quite available yet book THE VERMONT MONSTER GUIDE, which I’ve talked about at length here before. The printing came out even better than I’d could have imagined it, complete with spot varnishes (omg… *bookdesigngeek überfreakout*)! This is probably one of the biggest projects of 2009 for me and Steve, who produced a TON of new work specifically for this book. This is probably the most amazing print job on anything I’ve ever worked on IN MY LIFE and you should definitely consider scoring your own copy. You can pre-order the book on Amazon today, order it now from UPNE’s website or you might even find a copy at your local retail book outlet nationwide once it’s out. Congrats to Joe and Steve! I’m honored to have had the opportunity to work on this gorgeous new book!

Second – putting the finishing touches on the erotic story I’m working on in collaboration with my buddy Dan Barlow for the new anthology BIG SEXY which will be debuting at SPX this year. Here’s a photo of my 10 pages. :3

10eroticpages

└ Tags: Big Sexy, Joseph A. Citro, Steve Bissette, The Vermont Monster Guide, University Press of New England, UPNE

Things and stuff…

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on August 5, 2009 at 1:02 am
Posted In: News

pitcherpages

Working my little tail off on some erotic comics, but need to finish up this week so I don’t completely burn up my Year of the Rat buffer. The cat abides…

Also, did you see? I made this month’s banner/cover art for comixtalk.com!

Oh, and I have a camera again. I haven’t had one of my own since I moved up here to White River Junction back in Spring ’05. Hopefully this means I’ll be posting a lot more pictures and maybe even some photo collages like I used to make back in the day. Time will tell. I’d love to walk around White River and take some pictures to give you outsiders (flatlanders) a tour of the town I live in and a peek at the cartooning school…

└ Tags: comixtalk, excuses, stuff, things, work

Rainy Friday Morning

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 31, 2009 at 10:17 am
Posted In: News

The heat’s finally relented here in White River Junction only to be replaced with a torrential rain this morning. I thought I’d take a moment to apologize for not posting any tattoo designs for the past two weeks. The truth is I’ve been so busy trying to keep up with my YEAR OF THE RAT schedule and a couple anthology pieces I’m currently trying to finish up that I haven’t been able to maintain the Friday updates. The feature itself isn’t entirely gone, just taking a back seat as I continue to plug away on other comics stuff and freelance projects. I’ll be posting a new one in the near future, but I can’t promise any kind of update schedule, as much as I’d like to.

Seems like I’ve apologized for not being able to maintain a schedule on this site and others (the original whimville site comes to mind) for most of the last ten years, but I take comfort in the fact that I’ve been able to maintain a regular schedule with the current YEAR OF THE RAT storyline (THE PLACE BETWEEN SECONDS) since mid March and (not to jinx myself here) is on track to continue updating regularly until the story’s end sometime around mid-February 2010 (just in time for Chinese new year and the next cycle – the year of the tiger!).

At that point I’ll be collecting the story in book form and I’ll have more details about that when the time comes. As it is, we haven’t even reached the halfway point for THE PLACE BETWEEN SECONDS yet (that will come on August 27th), so I don’t want to think about or deal with any of that stuff until the time comes. I’ve made too many broken promises over the past few years and I just want to see things through and not just talk about it.

For readers that may be coming to this site for the first time, please take some time to come back and visit often and read through the archives. There’s a wealth of comics there (my spotty output from the past eleven years!) In particular, if you want to understand the current YEAR OF THE RAT story, you may want to read the the first book YEAR OF THE RAT: TRIAL BY FIRE, which ran as a webcomic last year.

The current story, THE PLACE BETWEEN SECONDS, is dedicated to the year of the ox (2009…this year). The Chinese zodiac figures very loosely into my current comics work and outpu. Suffice it to say that I’ve dedicated myself to creating a book for every year of what’s left of the 12 year cycle. Whether this ties in with YEAR OF THE RAT specifically or not remains to be seen. I want to see if I can get through this first real book first then make plans later. I’ve barely been able to maintain a decent buffer which unfortunately is burning away as I attend to a rather challenging erotic anthology submission I’m currently trying to wrap up. Yes, I said erotic. More details on that later.

Lots of big plans and work going on because the life of a true cartoonist is the life of a true hustler, and hustling is what I’m doing… best I can.

I haven’t forgotten about THE MAGIC INKWELL READER, I’m just holding off getting it out until SPX this year. I’m currently in no position to go to the show financially, but I’m going to run a donation drive to help me scrounge up the funds to go, with the book in hand, to debut it there. This will be on September 26th and 27th in Bethesda, Maryland (close to D.C.), so I don’t have much time to get everything wrapped up and table space sequestered, etc.

This seems fitting since SPX is where this all started for me back in ’97 and taking the INKWELL back there in it’s nice shiny new incarnation seems apropos. We’ll see if I can pull this off…

This summer seems to be shaping up to be a summer of returning to the source. Case in point, my brother emailed me a pic of my very first acrylic painting on canvas, painted during my senior year in high school (see below). It’s now framed and hanging in his mother in law’s house. Seems like a lifetime ago when I painted my interpretation of the founding of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec empire. Back then I felt like all the nervous creative energy in me would make me explode into a billion pieces in an unexpected moment of spontaneous combustion. This summer I’m starting to feel that way again and it’s like putting on an old favorite coat and realizing it still fits.

myfirstpainting

└ Tags: beginnings, Flash Fridays, painting, SPX 2009, The Magic Inkwell Reader

Inking and Watercolor Demo

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 28, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Posted In: News

I thought I’d post this inking and watercolor video demo I did back in March for your viewing pleasure. It was filmed and edited by CCS senior Tim Stout for the Vermont community access channel (CATV8) and The Center for Cartoon Studies. I’m not sure, but I think this has been running on CATV8 sporadically since then, so I may have been on cable at some point late at night or something, which is kinda cool. :3

Because YouTube has changed their policies about video length, I had to break this hour long program into 10min chunks to upload it. If you’ve got time to kill, watch me ramble on about a myriad of topics whilst I pencil, ink and watercolor a drawing. Enjoy!



└ Tags: CATV, Center for Cartoon Studies, community access television, inking demo, process, video, watercolor demo

Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade: Super Rabbit

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Posted In: News

Run fer yer lives! It’s Cottontail Smith and he’s gone plumb loco!


Bugs Bunny – Super-Rabbit

└ Tags: animation, Bugs Bunny, Chuck Jones, Inkwell Cartoon Cavalcade

Eclectic Method – BackToTheBackToTheFuture

by Cayetano Garza Jr. on July 20, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Posted In: News

When I was growing up, the Back to the Future Trilogy was constantly running on our VCR. We had taped every movie when they appeared on HBO and we must have worn those tapes to dust! It was huge for my family and we could almost quote every single movie line for line. Eclectic Method did a brilliant job (as always) taking something I used to love and making it new again. I’d been waiting for this one and it doesn’t fail to please! Enjoy!



└ Tags: Back to the Future, Eclectic Method, music video, Remix

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