Manic Monday!

Welcome to the new and improved blog of yours truly. Today marks the beginning of a rededication to blogging daily, well at least during the week. I've been doing a good amount of work lately, professional and commercial, but most if not all of it is stuff I can't show until publication. I've missed the back and forth of a dialogue that a blog entails, as well as being able to show everyone the stuff that I'm drawing or interested in or feeling inspired by.

Mondays will be a clearinghouse day, for all the stuff I've seen lately, or drawn, or thought about. Along with a pretty, pretty picture of course. I'll save the syllabus and just let the rest of the week unfold as it comes around.

- This past weekend me and the family went to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit currently at the San Diego Museum of Art. I realized quickly that Toulouse-Lautrec is one of those artists with whom I had a fairly deep recall of two or three pieces and then... not much else. His poster work for the Moulin Rouge is famous, justifiably so, and was amazing to see. The real revelation however was his sketches and preliminary drawings. Having very much what can be identified as a 'Parisian line' (confident but soft, delicate but detailed), his technical proficiency was surprising. It was a well-organized exhibition also, and well worth a visit. It's ongoing for another month, I believe.

- You picked up Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette's "Batman, Inc" yet? I was initially skeptical on Morrison's run (which started back in 2006(?)) and even despite enjoying some arcs (particularly "Club Of Heroes" with JH Williams III) I wasn't following it consistently until Batman RIP. Since then it's been incredibly exciting and fun to follow. The pacing and various art teams have made the book(s) a bit less consistent than I'd like, but if you're looking for something new to pick up you can do a lot worse than Morrison most recent Batworks, especially this weeks release, focusing on a ...er, refocused Batman, guest starring Catwoman, taking place in Japan, introducing an old Japanese Batvilain to the DC Universe proper and taking the piss out of a couple comic cliches/ tropes. Great stuff. (I have some more, specific, thoughts on Yanick Paquette's art, but I'll save that for another time)

- Prince is a genius. Not much more than that. I've lately been digging his "Camille" stuff. The aborted "Camille" was going to be an album in which Prince affected a female personae and recorded the album under that personae, complete with modified voice and themes. A lot of the work found its way onto other albums, but it'd be awesome to get it all in one place. Can you have an anniversary re-release for an album that never came out to begin with? Check out "Good Love" and "Shockadelica" to hear 'Camille' in action.

- And here's your inaugural Manic Monday sketch. Prince, with some Toulouse-Lautrec accoutrement thrown in. (Interestingly, I feel like the prelim sketch was very TL, and saved it to compare)






And here's the original, pencil prelim too: