Cropped Will Cardini artwork

August 31st, 2012

One Day Left to Contribute to THE PROJECTS Kickstarter

Filed under: Events — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:10 am

The Projects is an interesting Kickstarter campaign that was brought to my attention by a comment from the cartoonist Dunja Janković on Dan Nadel’s anti-crowdfunding post on The Comics Journal. In the comment she defends crowd-funding by bringing up the European model for comic festivals that are funded by government grants and sponsors. The European model for comics festivals seems very different from the American one (NB: I’ve only been to an American festival), less focused on individual artists selling their wares from behind a table and more focused on exhibiting and celebrating comics art. The Projects is an attempt by Janković, Jason Leivian (proprietor of Floating World Comics and one third of the publishing collective Press Gang), and others to bring that type of festival to Portland October 19th through 21st.

The Projects postcard

Today is the final day that you can contribute to the Kickstarter campaign for The Projects and as of me writing this (at about 10pm CST on Thursday) they still need a little under a thousand. Please spread the word and throw some cash in if you can! I think this is a really interesting idea. My favorite part of going to a con is the panels and talking to other comics enthusiasts – sitting behind a table trying to sell my comics can be exhausting. The Projects changes that dynamic by centering all of the comics sales in a pop-up shop and having a lot more panels and live art.

The Projects poster

I’d love to see something like this happen in Austin, is anyone else into that idea?

August 28th, 2012

Paper Party

Filed under: Life — Tags: , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 9:36 pm

My wife is opening up a shop called Paper Party in Domy Books in Austin. She’s going to sell stationary, art, party supplies, and gifts.

Paper Party screenprinting picture
A photo by Glade from when Glade and Laura were screenprinting Paper Party/Olive tote bags for the preview party.

Paper Party is going in the former Domy gallery space alongside a vintage and handmade clothing and accessory shop called Olive, run by our friend Laura Uhlir. There’s still going to be a gallery but it’s moving to a different area. Paper Party and Olive Vintage set up a sneak peek of their shops this past weekend. They’ll be open every Tuesday through Sunday starting on September 1st.

Paper Party preview
Two photos of the Paper Party sneak peek by Glade.

Watching all of the store items trickle in the staging area in our house has been fun. I think Paper Party is going to be fantastic and I’m so proud of Glade! Running her own boutique has been her dream for years and it’s finally becoming a reality. She’s supporting other craftspeople by selling their stuff on consignment and working to source sustainable and reusable party supplies.

Photos of Glade in her studio by Laura Uhlir
Two photos of Glade in her studio by Laura.

I’m so lucky to be married to be such an awesome lady. You should check out this profile of Glade that Laura posted on her Rad Lady blog. Laura took a bunch of beautiful photos of our house.

August 24th, 2012

Five-Eyed Office-Dwelling Cat-Demon #3

Filed under: Artwork — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:37 am

Here’s a drawing:

Five-Eyed Cat Demon #3

You can see all of my five-eyed office-dwelling cat demon drawings here.

August 21st, 2012

The Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock

Filed under: SF Reviews — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:42 am

Last week I stayed up late almost every night devouring The Dancers at the End of Time trilogy by Michael Moorcock. The three books are An Alien Heat (1971), The Hollow Lands (1974), and The End of All Songs (1976).

An Alien Heat written by Michael Moorcock cover by Mark Rubin and Irving Freeman
Cover by Mark Rubin and Irving Freeman. This is the edition that I read, I picked them all up in the clearance section of Half-Price Books.

The setting is Earth at the end of time, and humanity has achieved immortality, seemingly inexhaustible energy sources, and highly advanced technology that you can use to create anything imaginable by manipulating power rings. But because the human race has been around for millions and millions of years, concepts that are so integral to our lives like work, religion, philosophy, art, and morality have lost all meaning. So instead of using their nearly unlimited power to create great monuments or explore the galaxy, our descendants throw elaborate parties where they try to one-up each other and have casual sex regardless of gender or familial relation.

An Alien Heat written by Michael Moorcock cover by Sue Greene
Cover by Sue Greene. Also from my personal library. Moorcock books always have great covers.

It’s never made clear exactly how humanity came to this point of ultimate decadence but it reminds me of the Stanislaw Lem short story “Altruizine,” collected in his fantastic book The Cyberiad. In this story, the constructor Klaupacius travels to a planet with a civilization that has attained the Highest Possible Level of Development (H.P.L.D.). Instead of doing advanced scientific or altruistic works, the inhabitants of this planet (which is shaped like a cube) loaf about in hyper-intelligent sand and only pick their noses or scratch their butts. Eventually, after some coercion, an inhabitant of this planet explains that the H.P.L.D.’s tried astro-engineering but gave up after deciding that there was really no reason to remake nature – “Would the universe be a better place if stars were triangular, or comets went around on wheels?”. The H.P.L.D.’s then tried to make all sentient beings in the universe happy but discovered that it was impossible to do so. Therefore, they’ve given meddling up and just lay around observing and pleasuring themselves.

An Alien Heat written by Michael Moorcock cover artist unknown
Cover artist unknown. I saved the best for last. From Michael Moorcock’s personal site.

So, probably with a similar outlook, the inhabitants of the Earth at the end of time only party, trying out different styles, ideas, and experiences out of an unquenchable desire for novelty. Of course, if Moorcock’s The Dancers at the End of Time was only this elaborate setting, the trilogy would quickly become boring. The conflict comes from time travelers that end up stranded in this idyll and find it disgusting debauchery but are unable to escape because of the nature of time travel in this cosmos. The protagonist, Jherek Carnelian, the last man born from a womb (rather than created as a fully-formed adult), and thus a darling of this future society, decides that his latest affectation is going to be falling in love with one of the time travelers, a woman named Mrs. Underwood from a 19th century suburb of London. The interplay and misunderstandings between Jherek and Mrs. Underwood form the comic core of these novels. Every interaction between a delight to read. And the plot is fast-paced. Moorcock throws up marvel after marvel, twist after twist. I highly recommend this trilogy. I get the sense that it ties in loosely with Moorcock’s multiverse. The protagonist’s name, Jherek Carnelian, echoes that of one of the Eternal Champions, Jerry Cornelius, a hip spy and provocateur. I’ve only read Elric so I’m not familiar enough to catch any other references but I plan on reading more Moorcock soon, including a short story collection in this same setting.

August 17th, 2012

I’m on Pat Aulisio’s New Podcast

Filed under: Inspiration — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:46 am

Pat Aulisio has started a podcast where he talks to his friends. Although everyone who’s been on his show so far is involved in comics, the podcasts have mainly been about movies and tv shows and other things.


Photo from Pat’s announcement about his podcast (Pat’s yawning on the right).

Yesterday he posted his episode with me, click here to check it out (Update 1/15/2017: The podcast is gone.).

We talked about a bunch of stuff, including:

  • Living in Texas


Marfa Lights by Erica Lambertson Philippe (2011).

  • Marfa Mystery Lights
  • William Cardini’s secret origin


A photo from a performance I did with Lanneau White back in January of 2007 (I’m in a Miizzzard costume). Click here for more on the Miizzzard’s beginnings in performance art.

  • Performance art and performing comics


My favorite Philip K Dick book (and therefore one of my favorite all-time sf books). Cover art by Peter Gudynas.

  • SF books, comics, movies, and TV shows

August 14th, 2012

Making Progress on Vortex #3

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: — William Cardini @ 11:37 pm

I’m in a deep groove of working on Vortex #3 right now.

Here’s a quick preview, cropped from a page I just finished drawing but haven’t added patterns to yet:

Vortex #3 Preview Panels

My goal is to have Vortex #3 ready for BCGF (I’m on the waiting list, so I’ll be there either as an exhibitor or attendee).

August 10th, 2012

Avant Geek at the Phoenix Trade Depot

Hey y’all, I’m selling copies of Vortex #1 and Vortex #2 at the Avant Geek art show at the Phoenix Trade Depot here in Austin.

The show opens this Saturday, here are the deetz:

P.S. Thickness #3 (and Sean T Collins and I’s contribution in particular) is mentioned on Episode 4 of the Comic Books are Burning in Hell podcast (audio is NSFW). Jog name drops my old, never completed comics series Hyperbox. You can read some of HB on my Flickrstream.

P.P.S. Did y’all know that I have a personal tumblr where I post drawings and that Josh Burggraf and I run a Gold County Paper Mill tumblr?

August 7th, 2012

The Quest of the Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip

Filed under: SF Reviews — Tags: , , — William Cardini @ 9:14 pm

I just finished the fantasy trilogy The Quest of the Riddle-Master, written by Patricia McKillip. The three books are The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977), and Harpist in the Wind (1979). The trilogy is a beautifully written story with many twists and turns. I won’t spoil any specific plot points but I’m going to discuss the story generally in this review.

Harpist in the Wind by Patricia McKillip cover by Darrell K Sweet
Cover art by Darrell K Sweet. I’m not really a fan of Sweet’s Wheel of Time covers but I dig this one. From my personal collection.

Click here to read the rest and see some of my spoilery fan art.

August 3rd, 2012

Sketchbook Page

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:33 am

It’s a bit ironic that I posted about my local independent bookstore being a great alternative to Amazon earlier this week, because I went into Bookpeople looking for the latest release from one of my favorite sf authors and they didn’t have it and couldn’t order it, and it’s right there on Amazon. It just came out though so I’m going to give them some time and check again.

Anyway, here’s a sketchbook page:

Ever since I redesigned my main frog character I’ve been trying out a bunch of different ways to draw a frog. Also, I want to figure out a good Miizzzard-like design for a female character.