Cropped Will Cardini artwork

August 10th, 2012

Avant Geek at the Phoenix Trade Depot

Filed under: Events — Tags: , , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:41 am

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.

July 31st, 2012

Do I Self-Fund, Crowd-Fund, or Submit to a Publisher?

Filed under: Comics Process — Tags: , , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 10:23 pm

This past Friday my particular corner of the comix internet blew up over this Comics Journal post where Dan Nadel heavily criticizes Kickstarter in general and the Secret Prison #7 Kickstarter in particular. I’ve been riveted to the ensuing shitstorm in comments threads, blog posts, and my Twitter feed. I feel compelled to post my thoughts here.

Click here to read the rest.

July 27th, 2012

Birthday

Filed under: Admin — William Cardini @ 7:57 am

My birthday was this past Sunday! I’m inching closer to the big three-oh. I’m actually looking forward to putting my twenties behind me – I’ve always wanted to be a cranky old man.


Face paint by Melinda Tracy Boyce; photo by Aaron Whitaker.

Glade got me this awesome customized messenger bag:

She did the Jim Woodring embroidery based on Sublime Stitching designs (I think the site is sold out).

July 24th, 2012

Vortex #3 Cover Preview

Filed under: Inspiration,Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:06 am

I’ve started Vortex #3. Here’s a possible cover:

I’ve been looking at classic Jim Starlin mind trips for inspiration. Like Page 52 from the collection The Life and Death of Captain Marvel:


This page is from #28 of Captain Marvel. I got this scan from this blog post.

Here’s that Starlin page with Frank Santoro’s golden section diagram:

Look at how all of the lines converge in those two light blue/white panels in the center. And that center diamond perfectly frames the skull! Frank’s made me a believer!

July 20th, 2012

Sammie

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:31 am

July 17th, 2012

“The Miizzzard ATTACKS the Munchies” Preview Panel

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:30 am

This past weekend I finished my contribution to the food-and-eating themed comics anthology Digestate, edited by JT Yost. My comic is a four-paged story called “The Miizzzard ATTACKS the Munchies.” Here’s a preview panel:

I may have gone overboard with patterns for my comic but I think it’s a fun one. Yost has put together a truly impressive collection of cartoonists for this book, check out his blog for a full list and sample images. Digestate debuts at this year’s SPX.

July 13th, 2012

New Character Design for Frog

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:21 am

Happy Friday the 13th y’all!

For my comic for the food and eating comics anthology Digestate, edited by JT Yost, I worked on a new design for my recurring frog character, check it out:

Frog has appeared as the Miizzzard’s psychopomp in my unfinished minicomic series Hyperbox, as the manifestation of a shamanic curse in Froghead Hangover, and was the star of the comic I drew in college for The Daily Texan. This is what Frog used to look like:

I also like to throw random frogheads into my drawings and paintings. Digestate debuts at SPX 2012.

July 10th, 2012

Comics on Sale at Domy Austin; Reviews

Filed under: Press — Tags: , , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:19 am

Hey ya’ll, I just dropped off the Josh Burggraf-edited psychedelic sf anthology Future Shock at Domy Books here in Austin. Check out the cover:

Future Shock cover

Future Shock is 44 full-color pages of freak out sf short stories by the main man JB, Anuj Shrestha, Pat Aulisio, myself, and Victor Kerlow, drawing comics solo and collabo. I’m really excited by what Josh has done with this, but don’t take my word for it, check some words of praise from Tim Callahan in a post-MoCCA review roundup on Comic Book Resources. The anthology is $7. I also restocked Vortex #1 and #2.

In other news, comics by both me and Burggraf got reviewed by Rob Clough on High-Low in a roundup of “odd genre minis”. Clough has this to say about Vortex #2: “Working big and using so many decorative patterns gives this issue a psychedelic feel, yet one that’s grounded in rock-solid and simple layouts.”