Thee Oh Sees poster

The High Seas is still in operation but now as a sort of promotions company/occasional record label, our latest venture is bringing over San Franciscan pop/folk/psychedelic outfit Thee Oh Sees. Oh boy!

I'm really big on alligators at the moment, they've totally superseded octopuses as my favourite aquatic animal to draw. I wanted the poster to look super summery so gave my gator a pool to lounge in. This one was done in my customary manner of scanning in pencil layers,  I love the textures it gives but it means it takes 20 or so scans and tons of layers.

Some recent new (old) books

This one has some great cartoons by French modernist, it's pretty hard to find any info on a lot of these guys other than what is in the brief index. These are elegant little cartoons, no superfluous lines or words.

Bil

Jacques Dropy

This one is just signed 'Nicolas' and there doesn't seem to be any info about  them in the book, mysterious!

Pouzet

Rene Chag

Siné is one of my favourite cartoonists in the book AND you can even find info about him, in English even, on Wikipedia even!

Another scene by Siné

William Steig is now best known for creating the character Shrek (which the films were later based on) but he was a cartoonist and illustrator his entire life. The Lonely Ones is one of his earlier books of cartoons for adults (published 1942), each page has a singular figure, generally in some form of torment although not exclusively and a small caption. The style is pretty different to his later stuff, I prefer it but then again I'm on a modernist kick at the moment, such good brushy lines!

I can't express it.

Who are all the others?

Revenge is sweet

Recent sketchbook gators

Sketching on the plane

A selection of treasure gleaned from far away places

A limited edition Lilli Carre screenprint from the San Francisco zine fest. This makes me so happy.

#1 and #3 of the Talamaroo comics by Alabaster, also from the SF zine fest

Raser Ma Tête by Joe Villion from Le Petit Mignon, Berlin.

Raser Ma Tête is all in German but it's pretty easy to follow what goes on. Printed in eye-popping highlighter orange and green.

Die Drei by Benedikt Ruger, also from Le Petit Mignon.

It's a wordless zine about planks of wood which have a existential crisis, top notch stuff and lovely wood textures.

EARTHBARF by Jangojim. Jangojim is Belgian but I met him at the SF zine fest. Volcanoes as the earth vomiting is a winning concept.

Showing off my model boats and white horses, neither of which are new. The anchor is new though, it's from Mystic Seaport, ooOOOoo.

This fellow twirls about too much to be of use for an actual corkscrew, but he is a fairly new acquisition, from the not-so-far away Grey Lynn.

Elvis clock with rockin pendulum legs from Memphis, Tennessee.

Canada and the USA