Fake Irish Blessing

Beard Madness!

The selection committee has chosen the best beards from this year's highly competitive field. The last four out were Leo Tolstoy, Zach Galifianakis, Ben Bernanke, and the dude from Iron & Wine. As this blog's resident bracketologist, I forsee some intriguing second-round matchups: Jesus battles Darwin over who has more convincing bumper stickers, Shel Silverstein challenges Dumbledore to see who brings more magic to the hearts of young readers, and Abe Lincoln and Kenny Rogers duke it out for control of The South. 

To order as a poster, email gsnider11@gmail.com. More details here.

Literal Concert Flyers

Caution: do not try to attend any of these shows. The venues are real (some of the finest drinking establishments in Kansas City, MO and Lawrence, KS), but the dates are fictional. As for the bands, well... I think you may have seen many of them in concert yourself. 

Soundtrack for Living

Want to purchase this as a poster? Details here, or email gsnider11@gmail.com. I will include the actual soundtrack in CD-R form. Tracklist still to-be-determined, but it will likely include John Coltrane, Keith Sweat, The Beatles, and The Wu-Tang Clan. 

Monsters!

This Friday, I'll be drawing ferociously (alongside a formidable group of local artists, architects, and designers) for a great cause: The 2nd Annual Monster Drawing Rally, sponsored by Women in Design-Kansas City. All proceeds from the sale of drawings will benefit Synergy Services, a non-profit violence-prevention program. Here are the details, straight from the Facebook event posting:

Parade of Horrors

Have a Rockin' Presidents Day

In celebration of Presidents Day, that often-ignored semi-holiday, here are a couple of drawings from a simpler time (college) when I had faint aspirations of becoming a political cartoonist. Aside from a handful of greats, most political cartoonists have been victims of the declining newspaper industry that no longer values their contributions. This is unfortunate - I think it's still a noble and essential profession. It may just be in need of a few new ideas, a new publishing platform, and better self-promotion.  

I've drawn a few cartoons that I think put forth some well-reasoned political stances. However, I'm not going to bore you with them here. I realized early on that my strengths lied not in biting partisan commentary, but in the obscure fusion of political caricature and pop culture reference...

       

Seize the Coloring Book

My New Yorker Cartoon Phase

Just as most teenage boys go through a Led Zeppelin phase, most young cartoonists go through a New Yorker cartoon phase. This was an early attempt at drawing in that trademark style. I've mostly recovered from my Led Zeppelin phase, but I still have visions of my drawings appearing in the same hallowed pages as a Roz Chast or Charles Barsotti cartoon - ideally in the middle of some impenetrable article on Mideast foreign policy.

The Insecure Chess Set

Productive Snow Day

The Library

I spend an inordinate amount of time browsing the shelves of Kansas City's downtown public library. To the staff there, I'm probably known as the weird guy in scrubs who lurks about the children's section and always leaves with more novels and compact discs than any one person could hope to consume. I've accepted the fact that I have a book problem.

Childhood is Like a Punk Rock Song

When I drew this comic last year, I ditched my trusty Rapidograph for more expressive brush pen lines and pencil scratches. I recently went back and colored it. Hopefully the results are somewhere between a Xeroxed punk zine and a coloring book. Or like a guest appearance by The Clash on Sesame Street.  

Would you like an 11"x17" print of this or any other comic on the blog? Click here for details on ordering. 

A Cure for Social Anxiety

Twin Blog

My twin brother Gavin also fashions himself an artist/blogger. This makes sense: we've been copying each other our entire lives. He draws concert posters for his own band, South Sea Island Magic, which can be found at revolutiongetsindustrial.blogspot.com. If that wasn't enough, he blogs for his architecture firm, el dorado architects. Here's his latest: