ART TO THE FACE #33: Toys, Ninjas, and Other Excellent Bad Decisions
September’s sketchbook zine is here. Come for the art. Stay for the tiny plastic bastards and questionable ambition.
This month I did a whole lot and somehow felt like I had very little to show for it. Then I started putting together ART TO THE FACE #33 and realized where the time went: sketches, figures, painting, story notes, and approximately twelve different arguments with myself about what comes next.
Apparently, making art also involves making decisions. Nobody mentioned that shit in the brochure.
September has been packed with studying for my master’s, hopefully wrapping up in December, and training toward a new job teaching graphic design. I’ve been crossing fingers, toes, and huevos. At this point, getting out of a chair requires strategy.
Through all of that, though, the work keeps happening. And this month’s zine lets you get close enough to see it taking shape.
ART TO THE FACE is my monthly sketchbook zine: drawings, experiments, works in progress, and whatever else crawls across the desk demanding attention. Some things are finished. Some are finding their legs. Some need me to stop fiddling with them and let them live.
If you like seeing how a sketch becomes a character, or how a ridiculous idea starts becoming an actual thing, this issue has plenty to dig into.
There’s toy-making, including bases for my own figures and one for my buddy @BARRIOBOBA on Instagram. These little bastards deserve to stand up and stand out. A good base gives a figure presence, attitude, a little stage to inhabit. Also, fewer faceplants off the shelf. Dignity matters, even when you’re made of plastic.
There’s also CALCINATION No. 1, the painting I finished for an upcoming show. It feels good to get something across the finish line while everything else is still waving its arms and asking for another revision. Sometimes you need that finished piece sitting there to remind you: yes, you can actually do this. Now wash your brushes, you animal.
Then we get into NEENJAZ.
I still love what I made during that first year, but it didn’t hit the way I wanted. Looking through it again, I can see ideas worth pushing, designs worth sharpening, and places where I need to give the story more room. These notes are me working toward a stronger foundation before bringing it back for year two.
That’s exciting. You can return to something you love with better tools and a clearer idea of what you want it to do. The ninjas can handle a little constructive ass-kicking.
And then there’s H00D, where I apparently decided comics weren’t already enough work.
The idea is a stop-motion comic book: build figures, build sets, pose them, photograph them, and turn those images into a story on paper. Tiny actors. Handmade worlds. Me making punching noises alone in a room.
I want to discover what happens when I can physically move a light, turn a face, or put a character into a world I built with my hands. Will it work? I’ll find out by making it. That possibility has me itching to get started.
You’ll also find sketches and notes for Kuriouser and Kuriouser, and there’s a new comic waiting on the website. Meanwhile, Inktober is approaching with its usual innocent expression, pretending it won’t eat my entire October. I’m planning a separate zine for that madness, too.
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Read ART TO THE FACE #33, tell me what catches your eye, and share this post with somebody who loves comics, toys, or getting their hands dirty.
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I’ve got shit to make. Glad you’re here.
Laters.