Fun_GreatRichardAffair

I went to a great rock show this past Sunday night, these are my sketches.

The show featured pretty much my top three favorite "Neat Yale Things" (on the left bar). These are, of course:

Great Caesar and the GoGetters
Richard Miron
The Sandy Gill Affair
As well as a band called Suitcase of Keys. They've got a really great song called "Fallen Leaves." The only downside to the lineup was that Great Caesar was short several GoGetters...

So it's always great whenever these guys perform but for once the audience is actually worth mentioning: the audience was one of the RUDEST groups of people ever assembled.

They seriously would not shut up! It's not like these were strangers on stage; these were people most in attendance knew somehow--why would you disrespect them by treating them like elevator music?

Completely unbelievable.

But in any case...I did sketch some of the nicer audience members, and even met someone who likes my artwork, which is always nice.

This girl had an interesting hat and bright red pants.

The first sketch was a girl in this cool flannel get-up with a beanie brooch or something.

The second sketch features a girl with an incredibly fluffy hood. It was huge.

Sidenote: man, The Sandy Gill Affair has some serious toe-tappers.

This is Mr. Miron, who weaved through the crowd before and after his set. I strained to hear him most of all because people just would not shut up. So frustrating.

He's playing a show in February, and I hope to make it over, so I can actually hear him this time, and maybe get a better sketch.

Although he did play THIS, which made my day!

The violinist was great, too, of course.

In conclusion, here's a Work-in-Progress of a drawing I've been working on. This fellow wasn't at the show, but he is the subject of my very first drawing of 2009, started on the 1st, and very near completion now.

Clue: it's terribly awkward whenever he's around, no fault of his, of course.*

*Technically, this means it could be anyone...even me.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.Supernauguration

Everybody, quick--don't shut up about inauguration day!

Zero Like Me #9: Supernauguration
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 4.

Fun Facts: If you know me, you know I love my sports and my politics. I use keyphrases in my head, such as "Zero Ethos," meaning "having no credibility." I have yet to encounter another chibi Harkness. Also, I had to look up who was in the Superbowl--did you know there are Cardinals in football?!

Well, I missed the cut off, but I kind of want this to run Wednesday anyway, since the people who it's meant for may very well be at the inauguration.

I may well just shoot for Wednesdays from now on, since it's actually more convenient, and was even my first choice last semester. In any case, here're the pencils, inks, and final.

I wonder why the first view of this post came from Harvard...?

Reuxben

Herald_mc.RomanceDawn

Welcome to this semester's weekly undergrad comic, Yale Herald Series 4: Monsta Crash.

Shelving a sequel to this, Monsta Crash was inspired by Houston Calls' "Elephant and Castle" and The Cure's Dragon Hunter's Theme.

Easter Eggs: "Lang" in the trees (another memorial dedication), happy/sad little trees, 1st Crash in panel 1.

Fun Facts: Ticket Hag Hillary, named for the politician, not the Fresh Prince character, is Mr. James' sister. I lived in FB01 freshman year, and it was the greatest/saddest year of my life. An old drawing influenced Farnam's design.

I hope this more heavily-comedic series works.

Next Comic: Here

Reuxben

YDN_sls.Kuro

It's been a while, but here's another Sick Little Suicide for the Yale Daily News. This one is about change.

Easter Eggs: "Yale," "pika" in the Newz, "woot" in the YDN. Also, these character designs were based on four JE people, including a Republican who I'm sure wouldn't appreciate being associated with pro-Obama sentiments.

Fun Facts: Sports and politics are totally my passion. Also, this was supposed to run Tuesday, so it was way more timely.

Gosh, it's weird to see it printed so huge.

Reuxben

YDN_zlm.Family

Nyao is light on her feet.

Zero Like Me #8: Family
<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 4.

Fun Facts: Screaming louder does not help you prove your point any better.

So due to a bizarre series of events, we've had to postpone Tuesday's YDN comic, but on the bright side, that allowed me to scan the main steps in making a comic.

After pencils, I just ink the lines uniformly. I also begin indicating with pencil what I want to use hatching on for a grayish color, as well as what I want to be solid black.

Finally I set in heavier lines on what I want to stand out, and fill in shades.

That's it,

Reuxben

Fun_zlm.HourlyComic1

I saw this over break and decided I wanted to try doing an hourly comic for one day.

I was planning to do one on February 1st, but someone pointed out the site to me recently, which made me think to do a sort of test run today, plus I need to practice drawing Zero.

Since this is only a test, rather than work from my entire waking day, I set a midnight cut off because I actually do have some work to do...So here's a special Zero Like Me: Hourly Comic Special, based on a true story.

<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-

As with any in-post image, click to enlarge.

Today's phrase of the day: See Wood.

I have one of the Master's favorite pieces of art, I think; it's missing from our basement display of its sibling works, and he had the series in the Swing Basement, too, so I think he likes the series, too.

I picked the same one out at the beginning of Freshman Year during the Master's art rental period.

...man it's cold.

Really cold...

And I'm hungry.

More on that in a second.

In the meantime, I'm working on a "real" ZLM.

I think it's due next week.

Oh, a note on how I made this: every hour of my day served as inspiration for one of these minicomics.

I started at 4pm and caught up by the 10pm episode.

This cold-related stuff is true.

Someone turned off the heat during break, and I don't know how to turn it back on.

It is FREEZING! in here.

I probably shouldn't have done this hourly comic...I need to get to work.

I also have to work on my new Herald series, almost done with principal character design!

...ugh...and I have to Blue Book...it's a fun chore, but I don't know how much control I have anymore as a literature major.

I just want to draw.

And have warm hands.

Reuxben

Fun_HoneyRon

Just a few more hours before heading back to Yale! Also...I'm on a tumblr thing. [Update: I'm back, now with a photoshopped banner.]

Well, this is a profile shot of R. Ronald Ronnard Ronnington V, the snobbish roommate from Blue Type: Society, and latest Milk and Honey recruit.

Easter Eggs: Ronnington brand shoes.

Fun Facts: The Y stands for Yallerby University, an ancient, rich, and powerful institution.

I googled "preppy" stuff during Thanksgiving break to help draw this guy and found some pretty funny stuff out there.

Did you know Yale and Connecticut are the preppiest?

Take Ivy,

Reuxben

Fun_Pangolin.6-7

Page Six

This is the finale for my Lit. 'nar final, a comic called Pangolin Falls.

Easter Eggs: Pokeball.

Fun Facts: This page was fun to act out. I forgot to draw the action lines in the last panel!

By the time I finished this page, I was so exhausted, and had been drawing for over 24 hours straight, riding two cans of Monster.

But there was just one page left, and there was no getting around it.

Fortunately it was supposed to be ridiculously simple...like a victory lap, I guess. I even finished with enough time to do a cover.

Page Seven

We were both wiped out from the marathon work, so no one noticed Lynn's absent final line, where she shouts from her house then is struck by a story idea.

Easter Eggs: The Kappa made off with loot from the reject mail pile before fleeing in terror.

Fun Facts: I thought it'd be cool if we could both draw, so we decided my collaborator ought not only to letter, but also draw for Lynn. Rock.

Thanks: Zoelle, Professor Bulson, LITR439: Graphic Forms, Yale, Davenport College, Toshihiro Ono, Eiichiro Oda, Humberto Ramos, Bill Watterson, and many more mentioned and unmentioned throughout these Pangolin posts.

So that's Pangolin Falls. Finally back at Yale Wednesday!

Reuxben

Fun_Pangolin.4-5

Page Four

And now the penultimate post featuring Pangolin Falls, my literature final.

Easter Eggs: 2501 (one of my favorite phrases I picked up in Japan), Dan of "Be Square" fame.

Fun Facts: This room is based on my collaborator's suite; one of this project's highlights was hanging out in Davenport all day/night/day, including an acting session for Lynn's door-opening sequence in the D'Port DMAC.

I got worried when the first few panels just wouldn't come out well, but the clock was ticking.

Page Five

Visualizing difficult poses got easier with a partner to help out, rather than my photographing myself or staring at myself in a mirror.

Easter Eggs: JE desk, DC nook.

Fun Facts: I'd hit my 24th hour at this point, so it became harder to keep Lynn on model. Shoulda dug into my Monster supply earlier...

Reuxben

Fun_Pangolin.2-3

Page Two

Pangolin Falls continues with a layout homage to the incredible Winsor McCay to unveil our creature, a noble little kappa.

Easter Eggs: The shadow in the biggest left panel is our hero, the kappa.

Fun Facts: The creature was originally a pangolin, but I pushed for a kappa for simplicity (and fun)'s sake, although the kappa's hair proved to be a hassle!

I'm not too handy with sound effects but took the opportunity to invent some. The middle bottom panel is based on a pose in a Yakitate!! Japan sampler. The final panel pose is based on how dogs shake off water.

Page Three

This page is Eisner influenced in the way we have seemingly identical stuff (like trees) shift perspective and usage between panels.

Easter Eggs: Loria is the name of the building our class met in, Kira's from Chushingura and/or Deathnote, Ono sweatpants.

Fun Facts: Lynn Zee's first name comes from pangoLIN, her last name comes from my collaborator's first initial. I used my gummy eraser to figure out Lynn's pose; really happy with how it turned out.

This page was probably the most fun.

Happy New Year,

Reuxben

Fun_Pangolin.0-1

Cover Page

"Pangolin Falls" was my final paper for LITR 493: Graphic Forms, Fall '08.

This was my first time collaborating on a comic, and although all the meticulous planning took place well in advance, the actual, physical drawing took place mostly in the last 24 hours; I had to budget only about 4 hours per page!

So after a couple Monsters, no sleep, and a camp out at the Davenport computer cluster on a rainy Thursday night slash sunny Friday afternoon, I finally penciled in this final page, the cover, which happily took under half an hour.

Page One

The original idea involved a pangolin, so as a testament to how radically this project changed from all our original concepts we kept the seemingly random title.

Unfortunately, my original of this page, which had the correct lettering, has gone missing, leaving only this proof version, relettered by me (we had thought it appropriate if I penciled only the non-Lynn text).

Easter Eggs: 493 is the seminar's class number.

Fun Facts: This is my favorite page so of course it is the one that gets lost.

Canadian geese, eh?

Reuxben

Fun_FallOutStrokes

These are two graffitis from summer break. First up is a Strokes piece for a Strokes fan.

This is the replayable version:

And here's a couple of Fall Out boys for someone who got to touch Pete Wentz! Their new album took a couple of listens to really get into, but it made my Christmas list. Bonus points for mentioning the Ivy League, pretty neat.

And this is the replay:

So there you go. My hobby when on break: graffiti. But more people really need to get the graffiti app...

Reuxben

Penny_LittleRedSanta

Here is an illustration for a last minute short in the Penny Dreadful's first issue this year.

Easter Eggs: "LOL" in the boa.

Fun Facts: I couldn't tell who was speaking a sarcastic sounding line in the draft they sent me so I wasn't sure how to dress the kid; they also never used pronouns so I went with a girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood because I was writing a paper on that story for my Tales of the Strange lit 'nar (Perrault vs. Grimm).

As an added bonus, here's an updated color version I did this past Saturday night, my last night at Yale for Fall '08.

Fun Facts: I haven't used markers to really color in years, but I used every one that came in the little pack my brother got me for Christmas last year. This is also the first time I've really posted on-theme for a major holiday...kinda (the story was about Santa trying out Halloween).

Merry Christmas!

Reuxben

Fun_WhyDraw

I really don't like being so upfront like this, but I don't want to regret not putting this out there if it would lead to some personal improvement, so, regarding my reclusive nature, please consider the following:

Thursday night someone who humbles me with the amount of effort he's invested in me, asked me point blank why I draw.

In a one-line nutshell:

I draw because I believe drawing will solve all my problems.
But there's a bigger answer, too. It starts like this: Michael Gerber once came to speak to us at the Record and said something incredible. Although he was speaking to a room of writers, the sentiment extends to artists of any sort. He said,

There must be something fundamentally broken in ourselves to have a desire to recreate the world just as we wish.
As another preface, I also recommend listening to Chris Ware's intro segment on This American Life, which is incredibly relevant to me, as is his Jimmy Corrigan book, too.

So why do I draw? This is an overshare in no particular order:

-I can't talk to people, but want to, and drawing is the most comfortable way for me to open up since I don't know how to approach people otherwise
-I can't do anything else; I need to get better so I can be a pro because I'm not cut out mentally or physically to do any other kind of work
-I hope to become famous so that people will have to come to me (fans into friends into more), and I won't have to do any of the nerve-wracking socializing work
-I'm in control of more through drawing than through anything else
-I can safely be as fictitious or true as possible
-I can break ice or introduce myself passively in frightening group settings
-I can retreat behind it when I'm nervous or uncomfortable
-I can express my opinion without rudely imposing on people
-I can assert or defend my self-worth through others' approval

Whenever there was show and tell in elementary school, I always brought in artwork. That's how I used to get people to talk to me without having to start up a conversation.

I like to joke that I'm the only person who could lose a popularity contest to himself, since I always assume I'm pretty boring, but if for some reason you do want to get to know me, please know that I really dislike beginning conversations and usually need others to take the initiative.

The thing is, though, when people do approach me, it really weirds me out, and then I begin wondering why they are talking to me, which invariably kills the conversation. But please know that I don't mean to, I'm just that bad at socializing and need practice and patience. Even if it's something important to me, I'd rather write an email than talk to someone.

So the take-away here is that I am probably scared of you and have difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations, relationships, or anything else beyond myself. And so I rely on drawing to help me interact and relate with humans.

Thanks for your time, patience, and support,

Reuxben

Fun_TheSpaceRock

Here are sketches from The Space's rock show in Hamden, CT last night.

We arrived just as Goodbye Terminal was wrapping up, but they sounded great (top right guitarist).

I went for The Sandy Gill Affair, who did just great, although it sounds like they changed the intro to "Winter In Westchester" from its old "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" sounding version. Anyway, I might be a jinx for them because they always have really weird audio whenever I'm around. Their first song was really wacky, but they recovered fast and well.

Article 19 had some incredible songs (top left, Seth Green guy).

The final singer, minus her saxophonist, was a tedious listen, reminiscent of the anti-climactic finish at last year's Battle of the Bands.

Frankie concluded my drawing session, but not before getting some audience shots. The center guy was even kind enough to talk to me. He asked me a question I'll answer on Monday.

Also, many people enjoy wearing those hiker hook keychain deals.

Reuxben

Fun_GreatC

This is a sketch that didn't come out too well. With that in mind, I won't say who it's supposed to be, but you can listen to his genius here.

In personal news, I went to this psych study today.

It was the most disturbing one I've ever done.

They pointed guns at my face.

Yale 2013, come to Yale: they point guns at your face (but in a good way, only not really).

In even more personal news, jack kelly offers these bonus comics.

I don't think they'd print this in the Herald.

Everyone needs a hug, jack kelly. Everyone.

Reuxben

Penny_Jackalope

This is a jackalope for the Penny Dreadful.

Our semester finale should be out by now...

In any case, when next we meet, I'll be done with Yale Fall '08.

Edit: Hey Yale 2013 is on its way to being formed! Congratulations!

Reuxben

Fun_BoardingSchool

Finally done with that Lit Comic, but for now, here are some more whiteboard drawings, which I drew over Thanksgiving break while in the ghost town of JE.

First up is a man in black. I was really hungry at the time, and didn't know what to do for food, so I drew food in the background.

Fun Facts: I don't usually drink soda ever.

And then here's a little Zuko.

Math final tomorrow. Then a paper and then we're done!

Reuxben

Fun_Table42

This is a costuming exercise featuring our Quarters Crisis heroes, originally meant to be a restaurant scene with Ben ordering a table for two.

Easter Eggs: ELLEGARDEN and Makishimamu Za Horumon!

Fun Facts: Ben is short and wearing a jacket based on one of my Spanish classmates. Also, I bought both bands' CDs in Japan, in Japanese.

Erregahden wa doku desuka? Yosh!!

Strawberry, strawberry pie.

Reuxben

Fun_PangolinConcept

This is a sketch of characters for my lit seminar's final paper, nicknamed "Pangolin," which'll have a comics component.

If everything went perfectly, the first day of finals would also end my semester. But it'll still end shortly after that, just not before Reading Week tears me apart.

It's 4am, I'm working on my impossible math/art project; cue no sleep.

Reuxben

Herald_QC.Beginning

Last change: Ben loses everything.
Now change 13!

That's it.

Easter Eggs: Change 13 in panel 1, thanks in final panel.

Fun Facts: Ben's shirt logo means irony, the series theme (nothing actually happens).

THANKS: ロト６で３億２千万円当てた男, JAPN S-275: Japanese Cinema and Culture, Eiichiro Oda, Toshihiro Ono, LeSean Thomas, Chamba, J, LITR439: Graphic Forms.

I'm sure people simply picture-view here, which is fine, but I would sincerely appreciate feedback via any method; I really need to know how I'm doing.

Also, WRITERS: I'd love to collaborate on a comic over break; please contact me if you'd be interested in working on a comic.

..So this comic basically defined my semester week to week, a key memento from Japan, but I don't really cling to it, which makes me think it's sort of like MCR's Black Parade: admirably high concept but not as enjoyable as prior work; I didn't even feel anything after finishing inks. Next semester's a return to punk rock.

Here's jack kelly's season ender, "monopoly."

So again, Quarters Crisis feedback would be wonderful, email or whatever; everyone's a stranger to me, so I already don't know you and won't look you up.

Reuxben

Record_PokemonHunter

"The Pokemon Hunter," for the Yale Record's Sustainability Issue.

I haven't really felt too happy with my Record work lately, but this one's an improvement.

Easter Eggs: Pushing the owl on screen 1, "Wah" on screen 2.

Fun Facts: This is my second Record piece involving pokemon (Charizard was a boring choice made only for readability's sake), and only my second actual Record comic.

Reuxben

YDN_ZLM.ArtMan

No, Jack Wills, I will not buy your clothes.

<- Previous Comic...Next Comic ->
-First Comic-
Easter Eggs: "Yale" in panel 1, end of semester "Thanks" in panel 2, and jack kelly everywhere.

Fun Facts: I want to make a j< THIS?

Ok, that's it for the YDN for now.

Until next semester,

Reuxben