Cropped Will Cardini artwork

January 28th, 2011

Hypermorph – Bathanklyopod

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 7:07 am

I drew another Hypermorph in pencil (you can see my previous ones here):

Hypermorph - Bathanklyopod
This Hypermorph’s name is Bathanklyopod. Over ten thousand years ago, on a nameless planet in the Hyperverse, a bat was dying in a cave near where two powerful Hyperbeings were battling. In a desperate move, the Hyperbeing Kygargz dropped a twenty gigaton transmutation bomb to distract its opponent so that it could escape. The bat was caught up in the resulting mutation wave and Bathanklyopod was born. She’s wearing armor she pieced together from parts of other Hypermorphs that she has killed in battle.

I like drawing Hypermorphs. I just start at the top and let my pencil wander.

January 25th, 2011

Candy or Medicine Volume 12 for Sale

I drew the cover for Volume 12 of the comics anthology Candy or Medicine, check it out:

Cover for Candy or Medicine Volume 12

The anthology is 14 black-and-white 4.25×5.5″ pages and features comics by Willard Herman, Sam Spina, Tori Holder, Kyle Nolan, Steven Myers, Ray N, and Brandon Lehmann. I think that Nolan’s comic is particularly awesome because it name checks VALIS and stars PKD.

If you want to get yourself a copy of Candy or Medicine Volume 12, you can order it here (direct) or here (etsy) for $1 plus $0.50 shipping or pick up a copy for $1 at Domy Austin.

January 21st, 2011

Mati Klarwein Landscapes

Filed under: Inspiration — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:30 am

I’ve been thinking about the landscapes in my comics and paintings a lot, about how I really need to push their otherworldliness to the next plane. Mati Klarwein’s landscapes, which I saw on Brenna Murphy’s tumblr, have definitely given me some forms that I can riff on.

I think this first one is my favorite. There’s just something really appealing to me about terraced landscapes (which this guy paints a lot of).


Original enclosure.

This next one is less striking because, as Glade said, it’s all details and no central image, but man I could get lost in those details:


Cropped because of watermark. Original enclosure.

This last one has a ton of stuff going on. I really like how some prominent features (glowing golden figure, cube) are hidden or obscured by all the lush vegetation. Also, what about that sky?


Original enclosure.

January 18th, 2011

GCPM Merch and Other Items on Sale at Domy Austin

Hey y’all, I’ve been dropping off a bevy of GCPM books and some other goodness at Domy Books in Austin over the last month.

Click here for the full list

January 14th, 2011

The Four-Color Process Gallery

Filed under: Inspiration — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:21 am

I’ve been thinking a lot about comic book coloring processes recently, just letting myself brainstorm how I would print a so-far imaginary color epic. As part of this, I’ve been researching older methods for getting a lot of colors out of a few different inks. So, I was particularly struck by this Four Color Process site that Dan Nadel linked to at the end of December. Here are a few images and a quote from their manifesto (written by John Hilgart):

…in [a] decisive, paradoxical twist, [the] four-color process created a form of depth even as it fought against illustrative realism. Whereas contemporary reproductions of mid-century comic art are truly closed and flat, old comic books are visually leaky and deep. Four-color dots perforate the flat surface of the universe, opening onto nowhere – some uncharted cosmos.

Click here for more

January 11th, 2011

My Fave Cartoonists of 2010

Filed under: Inspiration — William Cardini @ 7:37 am

Now that I’ve done the looking forward post, it’s time for the looking backward post. Rather than recap my own year, which y’all have already heard about in realtime on this blog, I decided to present four cartoonists that really inspired me in 2010, in no particular order: Brandon Graham, James Stokoe, Michael DeForge, and Angie Wang.

Click here for more discussion and images

January 7th, 2011

2011!!!1!!!ONE!

Filed under: Life — William Cardini @ 7:09 am

Happy holidaze and new year yawl! Sorry this is a bit belated, I took a little holiday break. To all those who came over because of the Meathaus blog post (and anyone else who just wandered here), welcome!

I was trying to do a drawing for 2011 to accompany this post and I was stymied, so I decided to let the cover of Leif Goldberg’s latest calendar ring in the new year for me.


Leif Goldberg’s Full Metal Rabbit, buy it online at Picturebox or come into Domy Austin and buy one

So what’s in store for 2011? Personally, things are going to be pretty quiet on this blog because my wedding and honeymoon taking up the first half of my year. However, during that time you can come see me and buy GCPM stuff, including the next issue of Catch Up, at STAPLE! on March 5th and 6th here in Austin, or pick up a copy of Math Fiction Squared, which I will again be contributing to, from Pat Ausilio at MoCCA. Expect more detailed posts as those events approach. In the second half of the year, things are fuzzier. I won’t be able to attend any cons or festivals but I want to put out some longer comics either here on my site, on other people’s sites, or in print. The specifics are misty but I’ve got a lot of ideas percolating, so don’t delete me from your feed yet!