Year: 2014
Good Friday Animation
This is a little animation I made years ago for Good Friday.
Throwback Thursday – April 17, 2014
Charcoal sketch from 2000 when I was going through my “return to the womb” phase.
Map sketch from 2000.
Life drawing sketch from 2002.
Life drawing sketch from 2002
Dodo Comics #4 Out Today!
Its New Comic Book Day!¬†Dodo Comics no. 4 is out today! Enter “RAVEN” at checkout for 10% off¬†http://buff.ly/1n6737u
Grant Thomas’ Film Influences
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I was intrigued by Brainpicking’s article,¬†David Bowie‚Äôs 75 Must-Read Books. ¬†I’ve long assumed that as artists, much of our work reflects a bit of our artistic diet. ¬†We ingest various forms of art and their influence is exuded in our own productions. ¬†I’ve seen a lot of movies. ¬†Most of them were bad. This is not a list of every movie I have ever seen, but it is a list of films that I’ve sat up and taken notice of. ¬†Some have directly impacted my work in comics. (In other words I’ve tried to imitate as best I could.) ¬†Some may take root and flower later. ¬†I might even be influenced by the countless bad movies I’ve watched. (wink)
I tend to shy away from listing my favorite movies and books.  Mostly, I am paranoid that Facebook and other sites use these lists to generate advertisements and other data mining ventures.  However, since this website is Рah hem- created purely to promote my artwork, why not use my own preference to further my own artwork. (grin).  My website is mostly read by other artists and friends, so perhaps this will give you insight into my creative process and you might find one of these films useful for yourself.
I have no way of deciding which films are the most important to me, so they are listed in chronological order.
sketch!
Two Monsters Drawings Made for My Students
Throwback Thursday – April 10, 2014
Years ago, my friend named his son Augustin Bear, so I made this in his honor.
An early cover design based on Beatles Help! album cover.
my first check from Fantagraphics Books: publisher of the World’s Greatest Cartoonists. (Remember that next time you need to address something to me.)¬†Also . . . my last check from Fantagraphics.
The cover of the first My Life in Records mini comic.
50% off Everything in the Store!
One day sale on Wednesday, April 9. Enter the code “NCBD” at check out for 50% everything in the store
The Story Behind the Story
Even though the Winter of 2014 was brutally cold here in the Midwest, the Winter of 2013 was much harder for me.
You see, I am not a full time artist.  I am primarily an elementary art teacher and the 2012-2013 school year was one of the most difficult of my career.
I had been teaching art out of a small half-sized room for 8 years when I was asked to empty my room and teach “art-on-a-cart” in the classrooms to make room for a new Kindergarten class that was being added to the building.
I was demoralized. There had been talk of an addition being built onto the school and I was promised a full sized room to replace my tiny quarters.  I had begun gathering resources and dreaming of what I could do in a larger workspace.  Now, with the addition two years off, I was left with no classroom at all.
