THE B(R)E(A)ST OF THE SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2017

The San Diego Comic Con had a lot to offer: comics, movies, games, more comics, cosplay, panels, and more! But now that I'm home, the visual memories I have are of the amazing amount of breast art there. OMG the breasts!

Stunning.

TWO NEW MINICOMICS AND MORE FOR TCAF

ANATOMICAL TRIANGLES PREMIERING AT TCAF!

I have 2 new mini comics debuting at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF)! I will be on the second floor at table Q18. Come on by May 13-14!

ANATOMICAL TRIANGLES OF THE NECK  A Selection of Love Stories

This little green gem of a comic blends fanciful and melodramatic passages about lovers' triangles with the graphics of various anatomical triangles of the neck. You can read the whole thing here, but if you'd like to own this adorable quarter page micro-tome click here. If you're going to be in Toronto for TCAF you can also pick it up there at my table!

AT LEAST WE HAVE OUR HEALTH!

Looking for a chuckle about medical history? Antisepsis? Bioethics? If you're not I suggest you stop reading. This selection of gag cartoons and graphic rhymes uses everything from mutated lung cells to the dancing movie star Anne Miller to the theory of spontaneous generation, just to make a joke. Don't worry! If you don't get the gag, I have included a short "humor analysis" section to get you on board. Find it at TCAF or click here to buy it online.

CIVIC MINDED

POLITICS
It's almost spring in New York City. Usually during this time of thaw one can smell a hint of all the defrosted dog droppings left over the winter by dog-walkers to inconvenienced to stoop over while wearing all those sweaters and jackets. But this year the stronger scent of politics wafts through our town. 

Here are a couple of gag cartoons that are science and health inspired while still evoking thoughts of country and (obliquely) economy. "Enjoy!" (Ha.)

AWESOME POSSUM!

IT'S HERE!

The cover of Awesome Possum volume 3     

I got my copy of Awesome Possum volume 3 in the mail yesterday. It is over 300 pages of natural history goodness! Stephen Bissette (yes that Stephen Bissette) inked the cover designed by Angela Boyle. Angela also happens to be the editor.

Surprise! Cats like birds and squirrels.

My contribution is a sketch of an anatomized opossum and a shark (each on the subway) as well as A Pictorial Anatomy of the Denizens of Manhattan's East Village, Gramercy Park, and Stuyvesant Town. Yes it's a bit wordy but I like old pamphlets with titles that take up the entire cover. 

This project gave me an excuse to buy A Dissection Guide and Atlas to the Rat and a couple of tomes on vertebrate anatomy.

THE BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL

CAN YOU DRAW THE MEANING OF LIFE?

The answer is "Yes!" 

The question above was the title of a panel I moderated for the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday (9/18/16). Although we could have saved a lot of time with a monosyllabic answer, it was so much more interesting to see what panelists Tom Hart (Rosalie Lightning), Cyril Pedrosa (Equinoxes), and Lauren Redniss (Thunder and Lightning) had to say about it.

GOING DEEP

All three books tackle big topics and provoke big questions about art, death, loss, and more. Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart is a memoire of his daughter, her tragic death, and his love for her. Tom is an expert story-teller. His black and white images are so expressive that I could not get through the book without weeping.

Cyril Pedrosa's book Equinoxes just came out in English (yay!) It is a cyclic story taking place over a year and  over millennia. The book follows separate characters through significant and insignificant moments in their lives. The drawing and the writing reflect one another in their thoughtful and loving (yes loving) detail.

Thunder And Lightning, written and drawn by Lauren Redniss is a vibrant form of reportage that uses weather and the elements as a touchstone for relating histories, interviews, and stories about the ecological, personal, economic, and political effects of weather. Instead of using the traditional comics panel format, Lauren arranges her text in and next to her images in absorbing two page spreads. It is fascinating. 

FINDING CONNECTIONS
The three artist/authors had thoughtful and interesting things to say about some of the themes in their work (art, death, loss, etc.) I'm going to write about the topic of Art and leave it there.

Pedrosa

If I was to synopsize (and I was!) the conversation... Cyril has a respect and love of art and the creative process that manifests in Equinoxes as 1) the presentations of creativity (painting, sculpture, singing) in the environments of his story and 2) the incorporation of art making (photography) and its meaning into the fabric of the story.

Redniss

Lauren includes a chapter on the interrelation of artist (writer), environment, and economy with her chapter on Thoreau, his thoughts on living and writing, and his stay at Walden Pond. She provides us with a mood and environment that was important to Thoreau and his writing. She gives us an intimate experience of his influences.

Hart

The ways in which art/comics are a part of Tom's life are inextricable from his and Rosalie's story. He and his wife Lela Corman are cartoonists. For Tom drawing is work, fun, "therapy" and more. His story of grieving shows us how cartoonists use elements of their work organically for their own emotional and spiritual survival.

...And that was only a tiny part of a whole conversation. I'm so lucky to have been involved in this panel!

ANATOMICAL TRIANGLES - Love Stories

SOME DAY THIS WILL BE A MINICOMIC
Use this image to refer back to as you read the torrid stories below.

You can't imaging this image and the word "torrid" belonging together? Read on!

SMORGASBORD OF UPCOMING EVENTS

FIRST THING FIRST

If you're looking for more information about the Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy class, there's a paragraph below with a link for more info. But I will be writing an in-depth blogpost for May 17th that will give more details.

NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
If I ever whine about being bored in your presence you have my permission to tell me to shut up  and remind me of this spring. The fun doesn't stop until June 28th!

Me at TCAF in 2014 presenting some anatomy about muscle strain.

The fun never stops!

GUEST PRESENTER AT TCAF

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) has invited me to participate in their Word Balloon Academy Professional Clinic on Friday May 13th at the Bloor Yorkville Marriott. I will be available to answer questions about injury prevention and good drawing habits and will have copies of my mini comics (No) Pain! and First Aid for Drawing Injuries for sale. I will also present a self care workshop on back pain prevention on Saturday May 14th in the early afternoon, AND will be reading from some of my less educational comics for a Carousel Slide Show on Sunday the 15th late afternoon, details TBA May 11ish. TCAF is still working on their schedule. Can’t make it to Toronto but still want to buy a copy of one of my mini comics? Click on the title and you will be takes to Birdcage Bottom Book "shop" page.

Just when you thought there was nothing left to injure!

NO BACK PAIN! ANOTHER GUIDE TO INJURY PREVENTION FOR CARTOONISTS

Yes, there is a third volume of injury prevention and self care in the works! No Back Pain! Another Guide to Injury Prevention for Cartoonists focuses on... you guessed it - back pain! This mini comic explains the anatomy behind three common causes of back pain: muscle spasm, muscle tear, and disk herniation. It also gives some guidelines for self care and injury prevention, and presents breathing and conditioning exercises for relaxing and strengthening the core muscles of the trunk. (As usual, if you use this book instead of medical advice you are out of your mind.) No Back Pain! is still in-progress but I will have excerpted draft copies for preview at TCAF.

The past meets the present on June 7!

Visualizing and Drawing Anatomy Workshop at the New York Academy of Medicine

I am very excited to announce that I am partnering with the New York Academy of Medicine to offer an anatomy for artists four week workshop on Monday evenings June 6, 13, 20, and 27. As per usual I will be drawing the musculoskeletal system onto live models, but the most exciting part is that each class starts with an exploration of body parts and other systems in the Academy’s Drs. Barry and Bobbi Coller Rare Book Reading Room! For registration and  information you can visit the NYAM events page. And, as stated above, I will be posting an in-depth description and sneak peak at some of the images we will be working with at NYAM on May 17th.

MoCCA FEST 2016

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

If you like Daniel Radcliffe as an Arabian horse, 

wait till you see who I paired Elijah Wood with!

That's right! It's time for MoCCA Fest! This year I am tabling with my spouse R. Sikoryak at Table B128. It has been a year or two since I vended at this super-fun event. As usual I expect it to be a blast. In addition to the anatomized kitten comics and tales of your digestive system for sale, I will be offering some postcards and an entire poster that reek of physiognomy (see above). Although it is poor science to associate a person with a breed of horse and attribute a personality to them based on the temperament (cold, warm, or hot blooded) of the breed, I couldn't help myself.

PRETTY CONAN

PEER PRESSURE
Last weekend was The Lost Weekend. Lost to drawing that is! Because of a conversation between friends that I wasn't even in the room for, the Pretty Conan mini comic became a plan and is soon to be reality. I admit I didn't know who Barry Windsor-Smith was until Bob (R. Sikoryak) told me all about this talented artiste. Behold one of three Anatomy of Conan The Barbarian drawings anatomized from the comics by BWS.

Why anatomize Conan? Because it's fun to see how anatomy can fit inside a body drawing in any style. Plus I like the challenge of drawing anatomy in action which is how we usually appreciate it. Notice Conan's tibia vara in the right leg. That shinbone is pretty curvy! 

Yes, Conan gets migraines. You didn't know that? Says who? Me! That's who. They're triggered by many things including all the wine he likes to drink.

This drawing and two others will appear in a mini comic masterminded by Stephen Destephano. Or was it Greg Benton? Or Robbie Busch? Whatever. You can get it when you come to the Society of Illustrator's MoCCA Fest. Bob and I will be tabling. See you there!

VIRTUAL MEMORIES INTERVIEW

TALK, TALK, TALK
A few weeks ago I had a chat that happened to be an interview with Gil Roth for his Virtual Memories Show. 

Curious about the origins of my Pathology Laffs series? How about some opinions on how people learn, or strategies for making science funny? Maybe you're curious about my past dance career. Follow this link to Virtual Memories, click on my interview, and brace yourself for an hour of fun! (The first 12 minutes are an interview with writer Paul Di Filippo) My Interview (#154) starts at minute 12:45 on the download.

I thought it might be fun to post some images and links to accompany my conversation with Gil. Here's your program!

MINUTE 12:45 MY BIO AND INTRODUCTION

Dura Mater (Dance and Anatomy Projects before 2010)

Marymount Manhattan Dance Department

The Cinematologist

Integrative Medicine Service at MSKCC

MINUTE 14:20 CARTOONISTS AND DRAWING INJURIES

Me from our last visit to the Center for Cartoon Studies

First Aid, part 2 of my self care series.

MINUTE 18:20 THE PHYSICAL STRESSES EFFECTING CARTOONISTS

From (No) Pain!

MINUTE 21:20 THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING GOOD HABITS

It's much easier to teach people interested in what you have to say. 

The trick is to find a way to get disinterested people interested!

MINUTE 23:35 MY HISTORY WITH COMICS AND SCI FI

Welcome to my 10-year-old-world!

Andre Norton, Dark Piper

My Sci Fi tastes have matured, I guess.

Love these guys! (James SA Corey)

MINUTE 26:00 GROWING UP IN A WORLD OF NERDS

Dragon etching from Junior High.

MINUTE 30:30 HOW PATHOLOGY LAFFS AND LOUISE THE LOUSE CAME INTO BEING

The gag cartoon that started it all.

The earliest Carousel Cartoon Slideshow poster I could find. 

My illustration is the cancerous mice, bottom right.

MINUTE 35:00 DANCE, PERFORMING, DANCING COMPARED TO DRAWING

This pic got me a page in Dance Magazine.

For more about past dance projects see DuraMater.org.

MINUTE 41:00 NEEDLEWORK, MEDICAL IMAGERY, AND COMICS

Two in-progress pieces I will be submitting to 4Panel.

The bottom images are from a SciArt Center workshop.

Catherine's Knee, photo by Tom Henning.

MINUTE 52:37 TEACHING ANATOMY: BACKGROUND, VISUALIZING ANATOMY, SPECULATIVE ANATOMY

Joan Reilly created some incredible anatomy images based on class homework.

Drawing on a body helps us visualize structures under the skin.

MINUTE 59:30 MORE ABOUT SELF-CARE FOR ARTISTS

WOW! YOU MADE IT! TAKE A BREAK.