Cropped Will Cardini artwork

November 18th, 2011

Final E.A.S.T. 2011 Weekend at the Hensel Hypercastle

Hey y’all, this upcoming weekend is your last chance to come by the Hensel Hypercastle during E.A.S.T. 2011 to see Glade and I’s art. Just like last weekend, we’ll be open from 11am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday. We’re Stop #121 on the tour, 1807 East 22nd Street.

Here are some shots from last weekend:

Hensel Hypercastle entrance
Here’s the front door. We’ve got Glade’s Welcome to the Hypercastle print on the door, a new artwork by her above the TV, our Christmas tree (out a bit early, we know), and a spinner rack of Glademade cards.

Hensel Hypercastle comic table
Our coffee table is chockful of comics. Most of them are for reading but a few are for sale. I’ve got comics I’ve drawn (such as my latest, VORTEX), comics by fellow GCPM members (such as Kid Space Heater by Josh Burggraf and Lords ov thee Black Sun by Mike Miles), two issues of the GCP’s poetry/comics anthology Catch Up, and various issues of anthologies that I’ve been in (Math Fiction, Candy or Medicine, Smoke Signal, Taffy Hips, and Secret Prison). Come by, chill out on our couch, and feel free to flip through everything.

Hensel Hypercastle prints
We’ve got almost all of the prints from our Hypercastle print show at Austin Books and Comics and every print we had for sale last year.

Mark P Hensel studio
I switched out the artwork on my walls in my studio.

L Glade Hensel studio
Glade has some birthday banners on the walls of her studio.

I hope to see some of y’all this weekend!

September 20th, 2011

Labor Day in Louisville Part 1: Summer/Fall Catch Up Issue

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: — William Cardini @ 9:49 pm

This past Labor Day I took a trip to Louisville and hung out with GCPM members Jeff:


Jeff likes to put my high school artwork on his walls for some reason.

And Chuch:

I also got to meet some members of the Louisville branch of the GCP for the first time (no pics sorry).

What’s really exciting is that Jeff had stacks of the Summer/Fall issue of our literary/comics magazine, Catch Up, ready to mail out to contributors (click here for a full list):

Catch Up table

The Summer/Fall issue has a poetry book and a separate, full-color magazine-sized comics section. They come bundled together in a nice brown paper bag screenprinted with our logo. Here’s a shot of my copy:

Catch Up closeup
Mike Miles did both of the covers. I edited the comics section and drew interior illustrations for the poetry book.

You can buy a copy to this issue or a one-year, three-issue subscription at the bottom of this page.

September 13th, 2011

“Please Save Maria Kondratiev” Art Show with Music by Katie Mullins and Zine Library

This Saturday, starting at 7pm, my friend Alison Kuo is hosting an art show at her space in Brooklyn called “Please Save Maria Kondratiev” with music and a zine library. The artist is Maria Kondratiev, here’s a drawing of hers from 2008:

Maria Kondratiev sketch
“We Can Use Him” sketch by Kondratiev from her blog.

The musician is Katie Mullins.

Because the show coincides with the Brooklyn Book Fest, Kuo is also organizing a zine library with chapbooks by James Yeh, illustrated by Andrew Bulger; interview and other booklets by Temporary Services; prints by Rand Renfrow; and comics by yours truly, Jak Cardini, Josh Burggraf, and Mike Miles of the Gold County Paper Mill; and others. I wanted to have a new zine but I didn’t finish it in time, so I sent a bunch of my old stuff, including the last issue of Catch Up.

Come check it out! There’ll be drinks and food, but please BYOB and bring your friends. The space, Darling House, is located at the corner of Broadway and Union – Lorimer JMZ, Broadway G, or a ten minute walk from the Lorimer L. Look for the glass door, ring top buzzer.

November 9th, 2010

Catch Up #2 for Sale

Catch Up Louisville #2 is finished!

This issue, which was designed by Robert Bozwell, features comics by me and Noel Freibert; poems by Jim Marlowe, Jak Cardini, Miranda Walton, Adam Day, and Michael A Frick; flash fiction by DT Fullen and FR Freibert; and two cover variants by Josh Burggraf:

Josh Burggraf Variant Covers for Catch Up #2
Josh Burggraf Variant Covers for Catch Up #2

You can buy Catch Up #2 online here, in Austin at Domy Books, or in Louisville at The Makery and Ultra Pop.

Catch Up is presented by The Gold County Paper Mill.

We are currently accepting submissions of writing and full-color comics for an online version of Catch Up. Details are here.

November 5th, 2010

Order Caketrain #8

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:16 am

Caketrain #8, which comes out this month, contains a collaboration between me and Jak Cardini that continues our “Impossible Objects” series, where I illustrate lines from JC’s poems. Here’s the cover:

Cover for Caketrain #8
Cover for Caketrain #8

You can order the issue here.

If you’re curious about “Impossible Objects,” we made a zine (called Impossible Objects #1, natch) which is for sale on the Gold County Paper Mill etsy.

October 12th, 2010

Review of Hypermorph on The Great God Pan Is Dead

Robert Boyd reviewed my show Hypermorph at Domy Books Houston on his blog The Great God Pan Is Dead. I appreciate his thoughtful review, you can read it here.

In his review, Boyd quotes my description of the Hyperverse from the press release and then says that his “first reaction to this is that it seems pretty dumb.” Ha! I can dig that. Boyd goes on to say that, what makes my approach to genre dumb is that, unlike the Fort Thunder artists that I am (all-too clearly, I know) influenced by, my work lacks does not take genre ironically or satirically. Well, that’s true. I definitely take genre, even the most ridiculous parts of it, extremely seriously. If you want me to get all metaphorical on you, I feel like I do live in, to quote my description of the Hyperverse, “a realm filled with immensely powerful inhuman beings who battle over worlds with strange geologies and hoard advanced technologies” where “mountains shift from molten to crystal between moments and clumps of rock are inhabited by malevolent intelligences ready to hurl face-melting spells,” a cosmos of constant flux, “of constant magical warfare.”

I mean, look at these photos by Edward Burtynsky:

I’m just reflecting the world as I see it.

And I have a response to Boyd’s final question:

So, if creating boyish sci-fi worlds is an aspect of the whole Fort Thunder aesthetic, can we say that aesthetic is inherently male? And if we accept that, is there a female counterpart? And if so, are plush frog heads a part of it?

I definitely wanted Glade to be a part of my show. I’m well aware of how much of a “boy’s club” all of the collectives that I am a part of (Totally Wreck, The Gold County Paper Mill) slash admire (Okaymountain, Fort Thunder), with some exceptions, are, and it’s something that I don’t like about them. All I can say is, I am going to make sure that my first long-form comics narrative passes the Bechdel Test.

August 20th, 2010

Josh Burggraf Inks

Filed under: Artwork — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:44 am

Last week I posted this sketch to my flickr:

Unbeknownst to me, my buddy and fellow GCPM member Josh Burggraf decided to try his hand at inking over my pencils. Check out the dope result:

I especially dig all the details that he added to the Miizzzard at the bottom.

June 29th, 2010

Secret Prison #2 Needs Your Help!

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:12 am

Two members of the GCPM, myself and Josh Burggraf, got into the second issue of Secret Prison! Here’s the totally dope cover by Benjamin Marra, who will also have a two-page comic in there:

Secret Prison #2 needs your help to happen. They’ve started a Kickstarter page where you can donate to get copies of the issue or ad space. I’m offering up my services to anyone who wants a custom ad drawn for them for the second issue of Secret Prison, leave a comment or contact me at mark p hensel at gmail dot commm if you’re interested and we can work out the deetz.

Josh has already drawn one for the Gold County Paper Mill and the second issue of Catch-Up, check it:

Finally, here’s a preview of my comic (I think it’s the best one that I’ve drawn yet) to pique your interest:

May 4th, 2010

Preview of My Comic for Catch-Up #2

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:00 am

I’ve been working on my comic for the second issue of Catch-Up all last week (and the week before). I’m still coloring but I thought I’d throw up a preview, here it is:

The comic features Jak Cardini, Dr. Chuch, and the Miizzzard, three members of the Gold County Paper Mill. It’s based on the performance art that we used to do, here’s a choice vid:

I’ll let y’all know when the issue is available.

April 24th, 2010

Sketches for a New Comic

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: , , , , — William Cardini @ 12:54 am

I’ve been working on a new comic for the next issue of the magazine Catch Up, which is produced by the publishing/art collective that I’m a part of, the Gold County Paper Mill. The comic features some members of the GCP, so I’ve been doing some sketches to figure out how I want to draw them.

Here’s Dr. Chuch:

Here’s Jak Cardini:

Here’s some other sketches related to the comic:

Jak Cardini, Dr. Chuch, and I used to do performance art together. You can view some videos documenting those performances on my youtube channel, which will give you a preview of the comic. They’re also available for you to own on the GCPM DVD, which is for sale on our etsy.