Notes on writing and drawing

WHAT MAKES SOMETHING CUTE?

Monday, June 25, 2007

Last night I was admiring Ice-Bat, Meg’s Ugly Doll, and it reminded me of a NYTimes article I once read about the scientific explanation for “cute.”

The Cute Factor (Nytimes)

Scientists who study the evolution of visual signaling have identified a wide and still expanding assortment of features and behaviors that make something look cute: bright forward-facing eyes set low on a big round face, a pair of big round ears, floppy limbs and a side-to-side, teeter-totter gait, among many others.

Cute cues are those that indicate extreme youth, vulnerability, harmlessness and need, scientists say, and attending to them closely makes good Darwinian sense. As a species whose youngest members are so pathetically helpless they can’t lift their heads to suckle without adult supervision, human beings must be wired to respond quickly and gamely to any and all signs of infantile desire.

And so, here are a few scientific reasons why Ice-Bat is so darned cute:

CAN YOU GET DOWN ON PAPER WHAT’S IN YOUR HEAD?

Friday, June 22, 2007

The drawing skills don’t matter. It’s can you get down on paper what’s in your head? And if you can in such a way that when I read it you’re opening up a new eye to the world for me or a new ear to the how people talk, or what have you…then it’s cookin’. It’s comics. And that’s all that matters.”

– Steve Bissette, from the really great little trailer for Tara Wray’s documentary, “Cartoon College”

CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES GETS THE MFA STATUS (NOW THEY NEED SOME FUNDING)

Friday, June 22, 2007

Hooray! The State of Vermont Board of Education just approved The Center for Cartoon Studies for degree-granting authority. It will now be offering a two-year MFA.

“This is a landmark decision from the State,” says CCS board member and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Arts Council, Peggy Kannenstine. “What NYU’s Film School is for film or Iowa’s Writing Workshop is for writing, The Center for Cartoon Studies is for comics. Beyond its educational impact, CCS is a fine example of the creative economy at work: helping revitalize a depressed downtown with the economic lift from students, faculty, and tourism. Its contributions to the State and Industry are impressive and quantifiable. It’s appropriate and important to recognize CCS’s quality and the high level of instruction with the terminal degree and certificates.”

James Sturm and the gang at CCS have been working on this for a while, and it’s really great news for the program, which, from everything I’ve read, seems like a really incredible place. (Read Patrick McDonnell’s speech to the 2007 graduating class, and check out Joe Lambert’s blog, and the I Know Joe Kimpel! blog for examples of student work. Also, a documentary called “Cartoon College” is coming out soon, chronicling a year in the life of CCS…)

The next step, of course, will be funding. There are all kinds of arguments about MFA programs, whether they’re good for writing or not, blah blah blah, but in the end, I believe that an MFA program is, or should be, nothing more than time to hone your craft, free from financial responsibilities. The best MFA programs in creative writing offer full tuition, a hefty stipend, and health insurance. (My buddy Brandon has a package like this at the University of Washington.) At this point, CCS is $15,000/year just for tuition.

I’m really not trying to de-value anyone who is paying for an MFA, or any kind of creative education, but the bottom line is, an MFA lets you teach at a university IF you get lucky enough to publish one or two successful books. With all the racket going on with student loans and student debt these days, I think it’s important for an artist plotting the path of his or her creative life be smart about finances. Going $30,000 into debt for an MFA from “cartoon college” is just not a move that I could justify for Meg and me.

I mean, why not just move to Chicago and stalk Chris Ware and the gang?

I’m kidding.

Tonight is a night were the money-grubbing pragmatist in me has clubbed the dreamy artist over the head. It probably has something to do with the job search.

Regardless, this is a step in the right direction, and I’m really happy for CCS and all involved. Now let’s wait and see if somebody drops a multi-million dollar endowment on them!

SAUL STEINBERG’S CINCINNATI MURAL

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Enquirer has a long article about the restoration of Saul Steinberg’s 75-foot-long “Mural of Cincinnati” owned by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The piece was commissioned in 1948 for a restaurant at the top of a downtown hotel. When the hotel sold in 1965, it was donated to the museum, but it hasn’t been seen since 1982. The mural will be displayed as part of the fabulous Illuminations exhibit that’s coming on July 21st.

I’d love to go see it, but I don’t know when we’ll get down to Cincinnati before the big Austin move. Here’s a decent (at least it’s large) black and white detail:

If you live anywhere near Cincinnati, I really urge you to see this show.

A BUSINESS MODEL FOR CARTOONISTS: SELL YOUR ORIGINALS!

Monday, June 18, 2007

As a cartoonist, one advantage you have over prose writers is that after you publish your book, you can sell your original artwork in a gallery show for hundreds of dollars. This works out great financially for the artists, and at the same time works out great for the fans.

David Heatley recently posted an awesome concept diagram of a multi-media show he has in mind to do for his upcoming memoir:

Heatley’s memoir seems particularly suited to this kind of presentation — dig the home videos his father singing.

So anyways: sell your originals. Although few prose writers have taken advantage of the business model, I can see it working, especially for people who write first drafts in longhand. (Lynda Barry sells pages of her original calligraphic manuscript for Cruddy at very reasonable prices over ebay.) Who would mind this hanging on your wall?