Grant Reynolds' Tour Journal

Pox Dogs

2012-01-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some panels from my comic Pox Dogs in Paul Nudd's anthology Corpus Corpus #4. It's a pretty filthy comic, and one I'm excited about.

monster mash

2011-11-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

A collaboration I did with Lyra Hill on the Brain Frame 4 poster. It was really fun to work on. We basically penciled the characters and then inked each other's pencils.

nice profile

2011-11-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

A flier for CAKE.

Show flier for my DJ friend, Ryan (the empty white space is for show info).

I've essentially been drawing the same image in my sketchbook for the last few months. Gettin' all loosey goosey with the Bic pen. There are tons more profile drawings like these in my sketchbook, but at some point I had to say enough is enough.

drawing & painting

2011-11-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

Here are a few new drawings. Plus, I've been trying my hand at painting. I definitely lack the skill and control of a real painter, but it's something fun and relaxing to do, so I'm not too worried about it.

Oh, by the way, this first drawing was actually a re-imagining of Patti Smith's Horses cover art.

Peeled & Deveined comic reading

2011-11-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

On November 10th I did a reading of my new horror comic Peeled & Deveined (available on Etsy) at Brain Frame 3, with Lyra Hill and Robin Hustle. Here are some photos and videos of the reading.

Grant Reynolds reads Peeled and Deveined from Lyra Hill on Vimeo.

The saddest thing in the world...

2011-10-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

There's nothing sadder than kittens without a home :'(

Adopt these three little kittens today: Mew mew mew!

Dirty Barfield t-shirt

2011-10-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Ever want your own Dirty Barfield t-shirt?

I worked closely with my friends at Muck for about a year as I developed a character design for one of the their new shirts. It went through several stages. Initially they asked for a Dirty Barfield-like character, so I did some very rough sketches of a cat guy and a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn guy to figure out what direction they wanted me to go in. They went with the latter, but wanted to base it off a more instantly recognizable character, so I started to develop a Snoopy/Joe Cool character: Joe Ghoul. After exploring it for awhile we decided it might be better to just go with Dirty Barfield, instead of trying to recreate his energy in something else. There were several stages of the DB design and I did a whole bunch of drawings. It was a very fun and organic exchange of ideas, and it was exciting to push the DB character in so many directions, so I decided to post that process here.

Here are the Dirty Barfields:

Here are the Joe Ghouls:

And here's the cat guy and Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn guy:

Finally, here are the versions of DB that they wanted to use as a jumping off point:

the three little cyborg kittens

2011-09-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Drawing for Giant Robot benefit show.

d.w.

2011-09-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

I really didn't know Dylan all that well, but news of his death struck me hard. To my surprise I found tears streaming down my face. This is a comic that I made for Lumpen a few days after he passed. I feel unqualified to make something like this, since so many others knew him better than I did, but I guess had to make something.

beebees

2011-09-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a scan of a bad photocopy of a drawing I did for a forthcoming Blizzard Babies release.

film mixtape

2011-08-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Lilli Carré's Zummertapez screening last night -- which was part of a series that invites artists to create a video mixtape that combines excerpts of their own work with material that inspires or influences them -- I decided to post some clips from films that continue to influence my own work. I tried to keep it short and sweet. Sorry some of the videos are slightly cut off (they're different widths and I guess there's a formatting issue on Blogspot).

long haired freaks

2011-08-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Drawing for Tales fantasy art show (associated with Elfworld comics anthology) in San Francisco.

Page from the horror comic I'm working on right now.

Event flier.

Sketchbook.

Commissioned Flower Drawing

2011-08-02T07:32:00.001-07:00

Luffcats series

2011-07-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest drawing in my Luffcats series. It's much bigger than the others -- 14x17in., while the others are 8.5x7in. I included all four in this post just cause I wanted to see them together. They'll be in an upcoming show very soon (details to follow), which is very exciting.

weddin bellz

2011-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

As unlikely as it may seem, this summer I went to two weddings -- my first two weddings, ever. What can I say, I have a strange/estranged family and no siblings, so I just never got the chance. But guess what -- it was a blast! The ceremonies, the friends and their families, the food, the drinking, the dancing...the upset stomachs...it's been a new and fantastic ride!

And because I'm a poor artist (both of these factors come into play here) I decided to make each wedding party their own drawing.

Rachel Niffenegger-Tinder & Jeremy Tinder:

Becca Taylor & Jared Grabb:

Even though the likelihood of these drawings ever being in the same room together once they left my apartment was slim to none, I made them with the intention of each relating to the other. Just as each of these happily married couples knows the other in real life (for we all co-exist within the same close circle of friends), they each, as respective couples, possess their own unique and extraordinary personality. As did their wedding ceremonies. As do the drawings (I hope). I tried to approach each drawing using a different process so that they had their own character, while also linking them together through the use of text, phrasing and the dimensions of the paper.

Happy Wedding Summer 2011!!!

ten pics

2011-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

The other day my friend Jeremy Tinder was hanging out at my place and he asked to use the internet. I handed him my laptop and while he was using it a picture of The Misfits (see below) popped up. Apparently, I'd had it open, along with a bunch of other pictures that I was using for reference while I was drawing before he came over. It was a really funny moment. But it got me thinking about my process a little and I decided to do a post about it (don't worry, I'll keep this brief).

I collect a lot of images off the internet and put them on my Tumblr. Then I go back to it whenever I need ideas or specific pictures and save the images I want in one of several folders on my computer desktop. There are lots of lots of pictures in these folders, but whichever images I'm using for a current project tend to stay out on the desktop for easy access. Below are ten random pics (out thirty-some) that I'm using for a drawing right now.

zummer zketchbook ztuff

2011-06-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

screen printing project

2011-06-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was recently commissioned to draw and screen print a bachelor party t-shirt for a friend of a friend. Although I've had some experience with screening on paper, I'd never printed on a t-shirt before. Apparently it's a little tougher to register the colors. Anyway, it was really fun to do, and a good learning experience. Posted here are the steps that the project took over the course of a month.

The original b&w drawing.

A rough color version with some alterations by request. Note: the new design of the luchador shown here is super rough and drawn in Photoshop. I later re-drew him by hand.

The colors changed, because I was working with the available free inks at the studio: Spudnik Press. This shirt had probably the best registration of the bunch.

Here's an example of some of the off-register ones. I wish I'd done the text-color as a solid block, rather than trying to match it all up. Definitely one of the things I figured out as I went along.

Voilá!

funtime

2011-06-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of fun in my sketchbook lately...

dance magic

2011-05-30T15:22:00.001-07:00

Recently I ordered this new book by Lilli. I look at it a lot, and in some odd way I feel like these sketchbook drawing are a direct reaction to it (even though they obviously don't explore the world of shadows).

1up+

2011-05-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Another drawing in this new series that I'm working on.

Sketchbook stuff.

new series

2011-05-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

So, I've been doing a lot of reading lately: general women's studies, essays by female sex workers, feminist/gender theory on horror/slasher films, etc. Plus I've been compulsively collecting images of the figure (female, androgynous or transgendered): fine art photography, lowbrow point and shoots, straight-up pornography. After many months it's all finally filtering into a new series of drawings.

Because of the explicit nature of this new work I feel somewhat compelled to preface the drawings with some of the ideas behind them, although I also feel awkward about revealing too much or over-indulging myself. I'll just say that it's a series I fully intend to continue exploring, and one that I feel very strongly about.

Tiny 1989

2011-05-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

It seems 1989 was a pretty prolific year for me as a nine/ten year old. I keep finding these comic books that I drew then. I was in third grade and won a Young Authors Award for this book, Tiny. It was part of a class assignment, which our teacher oversaw and helped with (especially the production aspects of the physical book, which is actually quite nicely bound...although the rubber cement hasn't held up very well over the years). Then she submitted the books to the competition. I remember going with the other recipients and their parents to the awards ceremony. My dad had dressed me in a suit and tie, identical to what he was wearing. It was a pretty cool, if not completely overwhelming experience for a shy ninth grader.

Help Feed Grant Reynolds fund

2011-04-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is my new book of comics called Hypnotic Induction Technique. It's 28 pages long and collects six comics that were drawn between 2/7/09 – 8/1/10. Most of them were originally published by other people and had a limited release, while the rest simply hadn't been published yet. This is the first time that I've put them out myself. They're only available here, as part of a donation system set up to help me with my recent medical bill mishaps, which I've recounted as briefly as possible below.

On February 2, 2011 I suffered a work-related injury in which I fell down some snow-covered stairs and dislocated my right shoulder. After riding in an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where some doctors popped it back into place, I spent the next two months checking in with my new ororthopedic surgeon and getting a series of MRIs and lab work done. On April 1st I returned to the hospital for surgery to repair the damaged muscle tissue in my shoulder. All seemed to be on the up and up, and I spent nearly two weeks on a medical leave from work. All of this, of course, was supposed to be covered by Workman's Comp.

However, when I began to receive medical bills in the mail I realized that the initial hospital visit (along with the ambulance ride, etc) had been billed to my own insurance, sucking it completely dry. This in turn affected my ability to refill the prescription for my depression medication, which I usually paid for through my insurance. So I was rationing my pills for several weeks until I could afford to pay out-of-pocket for more.

And now, through a series of unfortunate circumstances, all of which were due to the negligence of those handling my case, the check from Workman's Comp, which was supposed to compensate me for my medical leave, has been delayed by several weeks. This has caused a tremendous domino effect in my finances.

So, I would like to offer signed (and drawn in) copies of this new book to those who donate to the Help Feed Grant Reynolds fund. The money will go directly to helping me out of this sticky little situation. Plus, let me know if you'd like copies of my older books Smaller Parts or Tales of Achilles, and I'll gladly send them your way.

You can donate any amount that you want and you'll still get the book(s). But please be sure to send me an email with your current mailing address, as well: reynoldsrabbit at gmail dot com

Below are some sample pages from the book. Thanks! :)

head foot

2011-04-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

New header and footer I drew for the Atomic Books website.

foundish

2011-03-21T10:33:00.001-07:00

Some older paint marker drawings made along the same time as this unfinished comic.

tree tings

2011-03-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Two sketchbook pages.

A panel from a comic strip for the new Mutant (from Atomic Books). It's part of a new series that I'm smack dab in the middle of right now called Lowlife. Stay tuned...

circa 1987

2011-03-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

I recently came across some drawings I did when I was 8 years old and thought they were pretty funny.

some new work

2011-03-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some cleaner images of two drawings I posted awhile back, along with some other stuff.

Two drawings from the recent Patterns and Portraits show.

abandoned comic i found the other day

2011-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

pretty colors

2011-03-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

miss olivia olivier

2011-02-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

I recently dislocated my right shoulder when I fell down some snowy concrete steps at work. Consequently, this is a comic that I drew with my left hand while staying home on bed rest duty.

wah wah too see

2011-02-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

recent larger work

2011-01-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a piece for a show coming up in the next few months.

And here's two more pieces for the Year of the Rabbit show at Giant Robot 2.

February 5 - March 2, 2011

Reception: Saturday, February 5, 6:30 - 10:00 p.m.

GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276

new website

2011-01-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.grantreynolds.com

photo booth

2011-01-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

recent tour jots

2010-12-16T12:12:00.001-08:00

i spent the morning making this

2010-11-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

1428 Elm Street

2010-11-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's another chalkboard for the holidays: A Nightmare on Elm Street gingerbread house.

(click on picture below to see the whole elm street house)

shrimpsgiving

2010-11-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

I love my sign making job, and up until now I've pretty much been given full creative freedom (within reason, of course) to make the chalkboards I would want to see if I were a customer shopping at our store. Often times I try to push the drawings and ideas further in different directions to see what's possible, sometimes surprising myself, which can be extremely gratifying. The idea that I'm working within a community, and therefore within a collaborative dialog between myself and my co-workers and the customers, is something that has become more and more of an influence in the way that I approach the projects. It's very exciting and refreshing to have that interaction, since drawing comics is such a solitary process.

Anyway, this Shrimpsgiving sign was my first rejected work. Ha. Basically, I just put too much paint on the glass, obscuring the actual shrimp that the sign was supposed to be advertising. So I was asked to wash it off and do something a little simpler. Although I definitely couldn't argue with their logic, because my supervisors were right, it did sorta bum me out...but just a little bit. I should mention here that the sign was supposed to be submitted to a storewide Shrimpsgiving sign competition, so I was really trying to make something that would make people laugh and go, awwww.

Bascially, the entire sign is me doing my best to channel the fabulous Miss Lilli Carré...especially some of her more recent work.

And here is Shrimpsgiving 2.0

put it on the glass

2010-11-15T16:11:00.001-08:00

Some new chalkboards, as well as some drawings on glass (which is really fun! it's so smooooooth!)

After doing the Celebrate Real Food board (see below, from earlier post), where I tried to emulate the current line of holiday signage (see screenshot of their website banner below, although the layout is horizontal there rather than stacked vertically), as well as the classic Rockwell Thanksgiving image, I decided to try a similar approach with the We Heart Our Hood board.

It had been difficult matching the sepia tones in the top half of the Celebrate board to the holiday signage, especially since art supplies consisted of "out-of-the-tube" paint markers and a few pastel nubs, so for the football player I limited my color pallet rather than trying to recreate the b&w photo it was based on.

Then, liking the simplicity of a single figure floating on the black background, I decided to try that again with this Vespa image.

And then again with the leaning tower-like bottle of water. I've also been really interested in vintage travel posters and European poster design, where there are bold and simple visual elements.

This was my first time drawing on glass, which I found to be incredibly satisfying.

And one more chalkboard.

And, of course, a subtle reference to David Bowie's Lodger

gingerbread man vs hungry monster

2010-11-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

recent chalkboards

2010-11-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

meatballs 1989

2010-10-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

So basically here's a 33-page comic I drew for my creative writing class in grade school. My dad had taken me to see Spaceballs at a drive-in theater and it clearly left an impression on me. I'm not even sure if I'd seen Star Wars, but maybe I had.

This is probably my favorite page.

BONUS FEATURES: I think my teacher made me redraw Meatballs with corrected spelling and a shorter page count. She must have typed it out for me. I basically just copied my own drawings from the original, although are a few pages that are different.

newspaper 1989-91

2010-10-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a 'newspaper' I drew in grade school for creative writing. I have to admit that my past self is making my present self laugh a lot. Maybe I should make more work like this. Oh, by the way, Crossroads was the name of my school, and I lived in West Des Moines, IA.

1989-91

2010-10-14T11:44:00.001-07:00

After my recent move I found a bunch of old drawings and 'sketchbooks' from around 1989-91. I use quotations because they were just spiral bound blank books my dad bought from the grocery store for me to draw in, but I wasn't consciously using them as sketchbooks, or no one had ever used that word to describe them before. I also drew on a lot of printer paper that my step-mom brought home (the old kind with the perforated accordion-style attached sheets and hole punched perforated tabs on the sides that you had to tear off).

Below is a selection of pages from one of those early sketchbooks.

I loved to copy comic strip characters out of the newspaper, although I was also obsessed with drawing Ren and Stimpy. I would draw these characters over and over again trying to get them right. There's also a page of comic strip clippings taped together. I remember doing this a lot, as well. Somewhere there's a lined notebook filled with nothing but Far Side clippings...I just have to find it!

Here's a page of Weird Als. I loved Weird Al. Below that is one of many attempts to draw Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King's IT. I was deathly afraid of Pennywise the Dancing Clown and obsessed with trying to draw him.

A few early attempts at comics and some bad character designs.

Finally, here's an assignment of some sort for a writing class.

more illustrator

2010-10-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Still learning Illustrator. Here's a flyer I designed at work. I'm pleased as punch to be learning new skillzzz.

synz

2010-10-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

This one was a little rushed, but I wanted to do my best Merry Melodies tribute. It's a little wonky.

An older sign from when I first started sign making a few months ago.

I erased it today and reused it for this:

zzzzleep

2010-10-11T17:23:00.001-07:00

Screen print I'm working on

Paint markers on paper

worn elbow sweater

2010-10-04T12:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a page from a comic I drew three years ago that's going to be in the new Elfworld book. It was drawn at the same time as the Black Forest Hymn comic in Comic Diorama and shares the same tripod character, as well as the same title.

Portraits drawn from photos collected on my tumblr.

Ball point pen sketchbook stuff.

This pyramid drawing was inspired by the collages of Sarah Mosk, whose work I'm kind of obsessed with at the moment.

college schtuff

2010-10-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

I was going through some boxes after my recent move and found a bunch of old work from college. Looking through it was weird and funny, cause I hadn't seen it since graduation way back in 2002. I thought it would be fun to post a few things on here, since there seemed to be some definite themes.

I was mostly obsessed with drawing teeth, which is because for most of my life I've suffered from an acute fear of my teeth being pulled/falling out. As early as grade school I had reoccurring nightmares about them. This developed into constant checking habits to make sure they weren't loose, and I eventually stopped eating things like corn on the cob and apples, which I'd convinced myself would pull them out with one wrong bite. I only recently overcame this phobia when I had to go to the dentist to get my wisdom teeth pulled. It was quite an experience, which I won't go into here. But, just like that, I faced my greatest fear and I guess now it's completely gone. Strange.

The teeth eventually started to resemble various animals' legs.

Another thing I drew repeatedly was this character Herbert, who had been around since high school. He'd sort of developed from this skinny, spindly guy (see earlier post about my first zine Wasted Paper) into this plush-looking thing in a bell-shaped coat with big buttons and these pointy black boots. The truth of the matter is that he was supposed to be me and that I wore a similarly enormous and ridiculously shaped bright blue old lady's coat. It was not a good look, but I rocked it for maybe two years, until a close friend told me it had to go.

I was a pack rat, picking up anything and everything that I saw that seemed even remotely interesting. These found scraps of this and that became materials to collage and draw on (note the row of teeth over the man's head in the drawing below).

basssssss

2010-09-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

So, I'm learning Illustrator. This is the first show flyer I've made using it. I know it's nothing huge, but I like it. It's a lot different than what I usually make. The flyer was inspired by the movie posters of Saul Bass and his use of text and simple graphics.

wasted paper - issue one

2010-09-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I've been going through boxes of old stuff in preparation for my upcoming move to a new apartment and finding all kinds of goodies I haven't seen or thought about in some time. For instance, here's the first zine I ever put out, way back in 1995/96 during my sophomore year in high school. I think I was grounded when I made this as a means to entertain myself. Highlights include early comic characters such as Herbert the Bunny with no Tail, Trent the Assassin, Nobody the Nonexistent Nothingman, and Canada Lady and Jan. There are definite themes that surface time and again, such as picnics, acts of vengeance and harpoon guns.

Here's a story about a race of cigarette butt people enslaved by alien cough drops, only to be saved by Nobody the Nonexistent Nothingman, a naked body builder who fights the 'nasties of crime.' In the last panel Nobody is confronted by the Altoid Ludid Lord, who threatens to unleash his wrath and avenge his fallen cough drop brothers...to be continued.

Canada Lady and Jan in the Crocodile Safari. "One day in the local fuzzy sunny spot Canada Lady and Jan were skipping in place while basking. This way they could get their exercise and bask at the same time. When all of the sudden a big mean ol crocodile pounced out of the underbrush and snatched away their picnic lunches...not even their obscenely large breasts could cheer them up." They hunt down the croc, who is hiding in his house of latex watching Hee Haw on TV, getting ready to eat their lunches. They capture him in a butterfly net and then spear him with a harpoon gun. "His rotted carcass still hangs from the rafters today." But before they leave the house with their lunches they hear a little voice coming from a cage in the corner, "Help me!" They release the leprechaun inside and he does a dance of gratitude and grants them three wishes. Jan wishes for world peace, but then decides that the worlds sucks that way and wishes it back to normal. All of the sudden someone named Druggy Kenny approaches them and coughs in their faces. Jan promptly wishes for him to be turned into a 'lump of congealed giblet gravy with chunks of salmon.' POOF! 'And the world was a better place..." until the leprechaun's evil brother tries to take it over, 'But that's another story. The end.'

Here Herbert the Bunny with No Tail is sitting on the edge of a cliff pondering life when he's hit on the head with a bowling ball by some unknown assailant. Herbert transforms into a monster who is 'like the hulk on acid,' and demolishes the guy.

The Misadventures of Trent the Assassin and his Beatnik Chia Pet Frank-o. Trent is thrown from an explosion off panel and finds himself falling down into a bottomless hole in the ground. 'I bet you're wondering how I got into this mess,' he says. FLASHBACK! 'It was a nice day for a picnic. Frank-o, being the kind hearted Chia Pet that he was, had made a special lunch for me. We were right in the middle of the potato surprise loaf when a big foot stepped on Frank-o! It was a giant Macy's Day Bullwinkle Blimp Thing! It scared me out of my senses and my pants! After I put my pants back on I decided to get my vengeance! I quickly grabbed the nearest speargun I could find and shot the moose in the antler. POP! The explosion was very, very big and I was thrown into this canyon. That is my story,' he says, still falling down the bottomless hole. The End.

colololololor lol

2010-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Multimedia drawings

Commission for the Chicago Underground Library

Sketchbook stuff

Unfinished comic

2010-09-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

events calendar -september

2010-08-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

For this month I decided to draw iconic album covers, but in a minimalist fashion, although a few of them got a little more detailed. It was pretty fun to see how few marks I could make and still create a recognizable image. The dates that are missing here, of course, were the actual events...

early influences

2010-08-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Recently I was asked in an interview what inspired me when I was younger to draw comics and I remembered this series called Pocket Classics that I hadn't thought about in probably twenty years (see earlier post), and then days later I found myself still reflecting over the question. Finally I decided to make a list, and I found that I was recalling all sorts of things that I hadn't thought about in a very long time. It became very fun to think back, but also very revealing in a way that actually surprised me. So, at the risk of over-indulging myself I've posted that list here. Comics, animation, art, etc. that had a profound impact on me, from one of my first childhood memories to my early years in high school. I've tried to remain focused about it, keeping the list as brief and accurate as possible, as well as providing examples from my recent work that I think relatively correlates. Please forgive me if I ramble on too long. Like I said, I was somewhat surprised by my findings here, by the trajectory of my interests over the first part of my life, and I thought it might be interesting to share it with you.

I am, however, going to skip over newspaper comic strips, which were my very first introduction to comics. I've already addressed this in that recent interview, plus I don't feel like it applies to what I want to talk about here. When I say influence here I'm not referring to the first time I realized what a comic was or that I wanted to make them. I'm talking about what my direct influences were when I was growing up. Things that had a direct connection to how I started to make work. That being said...

For some reason the Sherwin-Williams logo was imbedded in my brain at a very early age. I just remember seeing it from the passenger seat of my dad's truck as we passed by the store. Only, I thought it was a drippy pear. Looking at the logo now I'm actually just as intrigued by it, although it makes me think of blood.

Garbage Pail Kids were always good for a gross-out laugh. I'm not even sure how I got ahold of these, and It's actually hard to believe I was allowed to collect them as a child. My favorites were always the ones with loads of vomit and pus or when someone was being flayed alive. There was so much detail put into the most vile images. I don't remember ever trying to copy them directly, I would just stare at them to complete awe.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark...I actually don't remember these stories being that scary at all, but the illustrations, well, those were nightmare inducing. I was really drawn to them as a child. Particularly this image, which was the cover of the first book. Something about the red nose and gums sent chills up my spine. Still does.

I remember this one very vividly, too. The eyes, the hair, the sickly pursed lips...it's hard to imagine something more terrifying than this, whatever it is. And if it freaks me out that much now, it must have been much more intense as a kid. But I was always very curious about being scared. After I watched Stephen King's IT at a friend's house I had trouble sleeping for weeks, for fear that Pennywise was under my bed, but still I wanted to watch it again. I wasn't allowed to see horror movies, but I sought them out through the kids I knew in the neighborhood. The same would eventually apply with pornography, but that's a different blog post.

Ah yes, Cream of Creature from the School Cafeteria. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be squat on the internet about this book, but let me assure you it was rife with great gloppy gags of a gross green school lunch gone gonzo as it gobbled up the greater geography of the globe. If I remember right it eats everything until there's nothing left, then eats itself. I liked this story a lot. It was kind of dark for a grade school picture book, and I read it over and over.

Ren and Stimpy. Particularly the excruciatingly detailed, gorily painted stills by Scott Wills (images below taken from Wild Cartoon Kingdom issue one). What I liked so much about these images was that they really made you squirm in your seat. They weren't even animated and still they retained more presence than the entire rest of the show (and that's really saying something). There were exceptions, of course, when the animation (which was superb, don't get me wrong), exceeded the bar set by Wills (ie: when Ren pulls out his nerve endings with a pair of tweezers), but I would say for the most part his paintings were the creme dela creme. For me it really just exploded the possibilities of what you could draw and get away with. It was an open invitation let it all hang out in the best and worst ways possible.

Oh no, not the Marvel Swimsuit Special. Please, no, anything but that. But yes, oh yes, it made the list. Although I don't draw tons of scantily clad superhero babes these days, I did devote an obscene amount of time to drawing them when I was in grade school and junior high. Actual real pornography was hard to come by, if you'll pardon the expression, and items such as the Swimsuit Special caught my eye in the grocery store within no time at all. The trouble was that I was terrified of actually purchasing a copy, and wasn't entirely sure that I was even old enough to do so (which probably reveals how closely I had associated drawings of ladies in swimwear with pictures of real ladies who were naked). Anyway, after riding my bike way across town to a grocery store that wasn't near my house, thereby avoiding anyone who might recognize me, and spending a good hour pacing back and forth in the aisle, trying to decide whether I should steal it or not, I finally mustered up the courage to take it to the check-out line. I was sweating through my clothes with the anticipation of betting busted. But the woman there didn't ask to see my ID, as I was sure she would...she didn't even really care that I was in her line at all. She just wanted me to pay and be on my way.

Wild Cartoon Kingdom. Somehow I stumbled upon this rare gem at the shabby bookstore in the mini-mall across the highway from my apartment complex. There were five issues and I poured over them religiously. Mostly it was filled with articles about Ren and Stimpy (complete episode breakdowns, full-page spreads of animation cels, concept sketches and character designs, as well as the show's controversial history with censorship at the hands of Nickelodeon) and other Spumco-related news, which had been the initial draw. But it also covered cartoons such as Batman the Animated Series (the complete opening sequence's storyboard and dirty Christmas cards created for the holiday cast party), Beavis and Butthead, Aeon Flux (and the rest of Liquid Television), Spike and Mike, and some oldies like Beanie and Cecil (who I had never heard of). I was either in 8th or 9th grade and this was my first experience with something like this. I didn't have a computer or access to the internet, and my dad was gone all the time so I was always home alone. I had no siblings or much in the way of friends to point me in the right direction. Prior to this moment it had only been possible for me to enjoy the cartoons on TV and then obsessively draw them in my room. When I found that first copy of WCK it shattered my brain into a jillion pieces. Here were all their secrets!!!

Wild Cartoon Kingdom - complete issue one online
Wild Cartoon Kingdom wiki

Around this same time I also discovered Heavy Metal magazine. It was actually in the same mini-mall bookstore that I found WCK, and where I would often edge to the back corner with a copy of Penthouse Forum and try to absorb as much of it as I could before catching the attention of the employee behind the cash register. Much like my earlier experience with the Marvel Swimsuit Special, I was terrified of actually purchasing the thing, and would have considered shoplifting it if the idea of getting caught hadn't been slightly more terrifying. Eventually, after several weeks of pawing through the magazine in the bookstore one of the employees prompted me to either buy it or kindly return it to the shelf. I produced the cash and ran home with it in my sweaty little hands, where I would spend hours upon hours either trying to copy the drawings of hot alien babes or just jerking off to them. The art was naughty and weird and the stories were violent and misogynistic -- the perfect combination for any teenage boy. The cover of the issue below is probably one of my favorites. It's just so rad.

Then there was Liquid Television. Or, more accurately, Aeon Flux. I think I can safely say that as a student just entering high school I had never seen anything so overtly sexual in such an alien way. Everything about it demanded my attention. The skeletal, Schiele-esque figures in their leather harnesses jerking quickly across the screen like insects, tongue kissing and licking each other's hair and gums, releasing the occasional low moan or sigh, but never actually speaking. Each episode was sketched out as a series of confounding and seemingly unrelated events, which were somehow interconnected, oft times creating an incidental chain reaction that would eventually kill the main character, again and again. The allure of this, of something so specific in its details and yet quite uncompromising in its ambiguity, refusing to clarify who the characters were or why they were there or what their relation was to each other, was far more interesting to me than any straight laced narrative, no matter how many twists it held. It made me realize that you didn't always need to provide all the answers, and that sometimes the action of things in a certain situation could speak for itself without having to be explained.

This was also about the time that I started looking at H.R. Giger. I can't remember how I got into him exactly (maybe it was the Alien movies), but once I did his work had a very heavy influence on me. Perhaps it was in conjunction with Aeon Flux. I just remember being obsessed with sexualizing the figure (although I was terrible at drawing it) in depraved ways. This went on for awhile, and the drawings I made were really, really, really bad, but I can't help but see his influence now in a lot of my work. It feels strange to admit, for some reason.

more chalkboards

2010-08-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

Mineral Water chalkboard (detail)...

Back to School chalkboard (aka The Lunch Pack)...

Floral Shop chalkboard. This was a big one (approx. 3x4.5 ft)...

Pocket Classics

2010-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

When I was in about third grade or so my dad bought me these comics versions of classic literature called Pocket Classics. There looks to be about 60 of them in the series and I had the entire edition. Anyway, over the years my dad and I moved around so much that little by little I lost them all. I hadn't really thought about them since, until yesterday when I was considering what comics were an influence to me early on. Obviously, these weren't a direct influence in style or storytelling, but I do think that they had some impact, in combination with newspaper comic strips of the time.

I searched the internet high and low all yesterday afternoon, but to no avail. Though the covers were clear in my mind, I simply couldn't recall the name of the series. Then in my sleep last night it actually came to me and I wrote it down on the back of an envelope.

Pocket Classics (1984) B&W 4"x7" 64 pages. Versions of 1970's Pendulum Classics using the artwork from the original series in a slightly smaller format.

Here's a complete list of titles: http://www.classicscentral.com/pocket-list.htm

sake foxy

2010-08-14T19:48:00.001-07:00

somehow this is my job

2010-08-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Mural collab with my co-signmaker Mollie. She cut out the wood print contact paper and wrote the info across the planks and I drew around it...

Another mural collab with Mollie. She did the clouds and I drew the rest. One side of this is unfinished. They have to pull all the beer out on that side again so that she can finish the clouds...

Every month I get to draw the events calendar. August features many of our friends from the wild kingdom...

The other day I noticed that some paint from one of the markers had dripped and dried on my palm, then squished when I closed my hand creating a little Rorschach Test...

drake the snake

2010-08-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

collab with sara drake for upcoming jared grabb/wesley wolfe 7"

count drakeula

2010-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Some show posters...

Collab with Sara...

Sketchbook stuff...

an oil spill nude

2010-06-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

A commission for my friend, which was based on the figures in his paintings: http://web.mac.com/aaronrwooten/

zine

2010-06-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

sundries

2010-06-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've been doing these quick daily drawings for almost two weeks now. I'll probably continue posting them here in chunks...

bic some

2010-06-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

i've been drawing with bic pen a little bit lately...

pattterrrnsss

2010-06-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

three-word commission

2010-06-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

soft power

2010-05-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

7" artwork

2010-05-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

today

2010-05-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

finished/unfinished

2010-05-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

Two drawings for Giant Robot show on trees...

Panel from a comic I'm working on...

Thirty minute concept/layout sketches for an invitation. I normally don't work this way (I just pencil the page very barebones and then jump right in), but I ended up really liking them. Rough little finished works that aren't labored over...

altered beast

2010-05-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

click here to see: original movie poster

take a tumble

2010-05-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have a new dump for all the photos I like to look at on the internet: www.grantreynolds.tumblr.com. Feel free to check it out:

i saw the sign

2010-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

So, a few weeks ago I got this sign maker position at work, and this is the first chalk board that I'm actually pretty satisfied with. I don't normally work with paint markers, and so it's taken a little bit to get used to, but now I'm falling in love with them. I realize it might be lame to post this on my art blog, but it's what I've been working on, so why not. Sorry the photos are pretty bad. I took them with my phone. Oh yeah, this sign is for the Floral Dept..

comic for february issue of fnews

2010-04-28T11:18:00.001-07:00

T C T C T C T C T C T C T C T C T C T C T C T C !!!

2010-04-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Trubble Club event: Sat. May 1st 7pm

Free comic: The Best and Worst of TC

Plus we draw a short comic for you that tells your future

Quimby's: 1854 West North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622 (773) 342-0910

Like the underground comix artists in 1960’s Berkeley, Trubble Club brings together Chicago’s most talented young comics artists to draw some of the weirdest comics out there today. The group meets every Sunday at a rotating location and draws jam-comics together. One artist draws the first panel of a jam comic, and then passes it to another artist in the group to draw the second panel, who then passes it on to a third artist. This process is continued until the group has a finished comic. Trubble club then self-publishes the finished comics in minicomics.

Saturday, May 1st is Free Comic Book Day, when comic book stores around the country hand out free promotional comics to customers. Trubble Club will contribute a free comic, which apes PSA comics from the 70’s and 80’s, and will spend the evening drawing at Quimby’s, and prophesizing the future of audience members in comic-book form. Trubble Club contributors at the event will include Aaron Renier, Jeremy Tinder, Grant Reynolds, Russel Gottwaldt, Bernie McGovern, Lucy Knisley, Joe Tallarico, Nate Beaty, and many more. Refreshments for the event will be provided by Metropolitan Brewing, an Andersonville-based brewery whose German-inspired lagers are crafted with toasty malts, spicy hops and a ferocious DIY ethic.

Though the event starts at 7pm, Free Comic Book Day starts as soon as Quimby’s opens its doors at 11am. Quimby’s will have free comic books while supplies last from a host of artists. Free comics include the Short Pants Observer from Chicago-based small-press publisher, Short Pants Press, and the Xeric Grant winning graphic novel Black Mane by Michael LaRiccia.

show poster for john bellows, who is...simply...amazing

2010-04-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.myspace.com/iamjohnbellows

wudderat

2010-03-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

tree top back drop

2010-03-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to do one of the backgrounds for the new Top Shelf website.

lots of new stuff

2010-03-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Collaboration with Aaron Renier at karaoke.

Random sketchbook stuff.

Quimby's Books no cell phones sign. I wanted it to reference all the Chris Ware art around the store, but still retain some of my own style.

Some three-word commissions.

5 x 5 drawings for Giant Robot New York's Small Favors show.

Multimedia drawing for the GRSF Year of the Tiger show. I didn't really care for it, so it got put back in the desk...but for some reason when I found it again a few days ago I thought it might be cool to put it up on here.

giant robot game over show

2010-02-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

something cute, something weird

2010-02-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

forming like voltron

2010-01-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here's the full wraparound cover for Jared's record. It was actually kind of a challenge to do. We wanted the characters to continue from the front to the back, where they would surround his portrait. Seemed easy enough, however the artwork (see diagram below) had to line up exactly at the edges of the record sleeve (a & b) and on the back of the sleeve around his face (a & c). In order to do this I measured out five different pieces of bristol (one square piece for the front and four trapezoid-shaped flaps for the back). Then I alternated between having the trapezoid flaps connected to the front square piece (in a t-shape) and then detaching them to re-connect them along their diagonal sides, forming another square that was the back cover. Because I pretty much just inked the covers with very little penciling or pre-planning I was working intuitively (starting in the center of the front cover and working outward in all directions at once), and near the end I had to keep re-alligning the flaps to make sure everything was connecting right. Needless to say, it was kind of an insane way to work. Jared needed it fast so that he could start the arduous task of coloring it on the computer and still have it finished in time for the record release. So I drew this as quickly as I could in about a week. After he finished coloring it he sent me a file for approval and as I looked it over there were things that I noticed in the artwork that I didn't even remember drawing. Kind of a weird experience...

jean jackets

2010-01-30T09:39:00.001-08:00

new record cover artwork

2010-01-28T15:51:00.001-08:00

*colored by jared

yeesh

2010-01-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

I drew this over a picture that I'd taken of some blood that I'd spat out of my mouth after coming home from the dentist. The ghost of wisdom teeth past and a sleepytime vicodin/antibiotic cocktail.

playing more with photoshop and wacom tablet

2010-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

I really know next to nothing about Photoshop, but I've been playing around with it a lot lately, trying to figure it out...

by request

2010-01-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

concept sketch

2010-01-18T00:23:00.001-08:00

more wacom

2010-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

wacom tablet drawings

2010-01-16T12:49:00.000-08:00