Portland Tree Lighting, 2008, digital photograph.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

Vampirella, 2008, graphite with digital color.

Had I submitted a design to Project Rooftop's Vampirella ReVamp, it might've looked like this. (Click here for entire, footed figure.)

Vampirella created by Forrest J. Ackerman and developed by Archie Goodwin, Frank Frazetta, and Tom Sutton. Vampirella, the distinctive likeness thereof, and related elements are trademarks of Harris Publications, Inc.

Excerpt from For the Love of Mice, 2008, ink.

In the previous post I mentioned that I'm joining several cohorts from the PNCA comics intensive to collect stories we conceived during Jessica Abel and Matt Madden's leg of the course. Yesterday we turned in our work for assembly. It was great to see the finished pages, cleverness all around!

I think the book should be ready for sharing mid-December. At that point I'll try to tempt you with a copy. In the meantime, please enjoy the first scene from my contribution to the collection (above).

Late-Summer Life Drawing, 2008, graphite.

How I spent my summer vacation (and the first month of autumn):

At the office I found clever ways to stretch and bend. My current patron superhero must be Plastic Man.

I attended some great concerts! In mid-July I saw Aimee Mann with local favorite Blind Pilot at the Aladdin. In mid-August I saw Brandi Carlile at the Oregon Zoo. In September I heard the Oregon Symphony perform Beethoven's Ninth and just last week I saw Randy Newman at the Aladdin.

I saw a pair of music-related films, which I recommend to you without reservation:

• Touch the Sound (2004)
• The Visitor (2007)

Character study, 2008, ink and graphite.

Looking behind: As told in a prior post (July 7), I attended the PNCA comics intensive. Looking ahead: Several students from the class, including yours truly, are collecting content to share with one and all. The image immediately above contains development sketches for my li'l contribution to the book.

Superman Despises Your Meaningless Existence!, 2008, mixed media.

Holy cow! I can't believe my luck!

I managed to get my hands on the spread pictured above, which features the following items:

• a super-rare Action Comics cover
• a page of crisp original art
• a pristine pair of finger-puppet playsets

Here's a closer look at the page:

Detail of Superman Despises Your Meaningless Existence!, 2008, ink.

What's that? Doesn't look authentic?

Okay, okay, you got me!

These items were created during the second leg of my PNCA comics intensive. Prompted by an excerpt from My Dinner with Andre, we explored visual narrative on and off the comics page. Local artist Daniel Duford guided our exploration.

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Batman created by Bob Kane. Superman and Batman, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics.