MoCCA Fest 2018: Roz Chast

Cartoonist Roz Chast has been contributing to the New Yorker since 1978. She was a guest of honor at this year's MoCCA Arts Festival. Some eleven pieces of her original art were on display at Metropolitan West. She was interviewed live in front of a very appreciative audience by Gil Roth for his Virtual Memories Show podcast. On Sunday she participated in a panel session. My final acquisition at MoCCA Fest 2018 was a copy of Ms. Chast's What I Hate: From A to Z (2011) which she signed and inscribed to me at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund table. My work is done here.

Roz Chast
What I Hate:  From A to Z
New York:  Bloomsbury, 2011

Personalized by Roz Chast

Roz Chast

What I Hate

Pre-Existing Conditions
Roz Chast
Original art
The New Yorker, December 9, 2013

Pre-Existing Conditions
Roz Chast
The New Yorker, December 9, 2013

Yenta Theatre Presents:  Waiting for Godot
Roz Chast
Original art
The New Yorker, November 28, 2016

Yenta Theatre Presents:  Waiting for Godot
Roz Chast
The New Yorker, November 28, 2016

Ode to Hamantashan
Roz Chast
Original art

The Houseplant Cemetery
Roz Chast
Original art
The New Yorker, December 19, 2016

The Houseplant Cemetery
Roz Chast
The New Yorker, December 19, 2016

Roz Chast in conversation with Gil Roth
April 7, 2018

The Virtual Memories Show #268

Roz Chast Live

Note:  Hamantaschen are pastries made for the Jewish holiday of Purim. Was Ode to Hamantashan ever published and, if so, where?

This week's posts have been devoted to the books and animation art I obtained at MoCCA Fest 2018. I had a great time but I feel I should have bought more.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Roz Chast

Gil Roth

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Attempted Bloggery's Ode to an Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018: "Your Face" and "Homer's Face" Animation Drawings by Bill Plympton

Animator Bill Plympton makes his films the old-fashioned way, drawing each and every image on paper himself without the assistance of in-betweeners. "Your Face" is his iconic 1987 film that was Oscar-nominated for best animated short. This year saw the television premiere of a short parody version of the film, "Homer's Face" for the opening couch gag on "The Simpsons." Mr. Plympton showed up at MoCCA Fest in April with a stack of assorted animation drawings, highlighted by a pair of closely-matched drawings from the two films. How often does an artist take the trouble to curate drawings for collectors?

Bill Plympton
Animation drawing
"Your Face" (1987)

"Your Face"

Video still at 1:29

"Your Face" (1987)

Bill Plympton

Bill Plympton
Animation drawing
"Homer's Face" (2018)

"Homer's Face"

Video still at 1:07

"Homer's Face"

Bill Plympton

'The Simpsons"

Season 29, Episode 13

Couch gag

"3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage"

Bill Plympton
Animation drawings
"Your Face" (1987)
"Homer's Face" (2018)

Plymptoons
DVD signed by Bill Plympton



Note:  David Apatoff wrote an excellent piece about Bill Plympton at Comic-Con on his Illustration Art blog back in 2014. Don't miss it.

This week's blog posts are devoted to the signed books and original art I acquired at MoCCA Fest 2018. This is Bill Plympton's first appearance on Attempted Bloggery. The artist's website is here.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Animation Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Headstrong Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018: Draw Stronger by Kriota Willberg

Draw Stronger by Kriota Willberg is a book of practical ergonomics for the cartoonist. Naturally, I picked up a copy at MoCCA Fest and had it personalized by the author. The result can only be called...disarming.

Kriota Willberg
Draw Stronger:  Self-Care for Cartoonists & Visual Artists
Minneapolis:  Uncivilized Books, 2018

Personalized by Kriota Willberg

Note:  This week's blog posts are devoted to the medical (and other) books I acquired at MoCCA Fest 2018. Kriota Willberg is new to Attempted Bloggery, poor thing. Ms. Willberg has a dual interest in cartooning and medicine, a combination that works for her but that I personally would never condone.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Posturing Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018: R. Sikoryak's The Unquotable Trump

Chameleon cartoonist R. Sikoryak has appropriated the styles of many famous comic strips in his inventive Masterpiece Comics. His new oversized book features a prodigious array of satirical comic book covers, channeling first the Incredible Hulk from Marvel and moving on to a breathtaking variety of other comic book styles. He uses these covers throughout to illustrate the words of the most "unquotable" President in history. You must have already guessed whom that might be.

R. Sikoryak
The Unquotable Trump
Drawn & Quarterly, 2017

Personalized by R. Sikoryak

Note:  This week's posts are devoted to the (comic) books and art I obtained at MoCCA Fest 2018.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

R. Sikoryak

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Smashing Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018: Not Waving But Drawing by John Cuneo

It is said that Bach could improvise at or above the level of his musical compositions. John Cuneo, I would argue, produces seemingly spontaneous sketchbook drawings that are at least as intriguing  as his finished illustrations. It's a good bet that the artist's sketchbook drawings are unlike anything else you have encountered. They are intensely personal yet broadly relatable, arcane yet accessible, erotic yet grotesque, morbid yet hilarious. To me, they somehow recall the sketches of Heinrich Kley and Auguste Rodin in their technical prowess and ability to surprise, yet they have an esthetic and a character that is all their own. And now we have a book full of 'em!

John Cuneo
Not Waving But Drawing:  Dark Thoughts, Lightly Rendered
Seattle:  F.U. Press, 2016

Signed and personalized with a drawing by John Cuneo

Note:  David Apatoff's unsurpassed Illustration Art blog is as fine a place as any to learn more about the work of John Cuneo. He always loved larking.

This week's posts are devoted to the fascinating items I collected at MoCCA Fest 2018.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

John Cuneo

MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Uncensored Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018: How to Read Nancy

You only think you know how to read Nancy.

Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden
How to Read Nancy:  The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels
Seattle:  Fantagraphics, 2017

Signed and personalized by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden

Note:  This week's posts are devoted to the books and art I picked up at MoCCA Fest 2018. Ernie Bushmiller and Mark Newgarden are new to the blog today.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Paul Karasik

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Explicatory Index

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MoCCA Fest 2018

This past April 7th I eagerly returned to Metropolitan West for MoCCA Fest 2018, the annual independent comics festival conceived by the defunct Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and now under the auspices of the Society of Illustrators. The Society does an absolutely outstanding job, frankly. I missed last year's festival and have not been able to forgive myself, so I made sure to attend this go-round and to allow myself some more time than I had two years ago when I last visited, albeit too briefly.

Naturally no comics convention anywhere is devoted to the kind of art I follow and strive to promote here on the blog, but that's not really a surprise, is it? Comics conventions, as I understand them, seem to be overrun with superheroes and celebrities as the entire industry gets subsumed by giant Hollywood studios. What I like about MoCCA Fest is that the creative artists, known and more commonly unknown, are front and center. The world of independent comics is likely to remain mostly off my personal radar, but I can enjoy the energy and enthusiasm that is everywhere at this festival even as I concentrate on the very specific art I am passionate about.

I researched my visit well this year and therefore knew in advance there would be plenty on tap to tempt me. I resolved to narrow my focus slightly and avoid those books with signed bookplates that are becoming more and more a staple in particular at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's table. There, when I encountered a volume by Seth calling out to me with a signed bookplate, I was ready to move on instantly despite my great admiration for the artist and anything he puts his hand to. Instead I would focus on getting books signed and personalized—preferably with small drawings—by the growing number of artists and authors whose work I devotedly follow.

Despite my strategic planning, I didn't really foresee the difficulty I'd have carrying around my haul. I therefore improvised and treated myself to a Society of Illustrators tote bag which I thought was pretty snazzy although it still wasn't big enough to carry everything I wanted. (For that I might need a rucksack.) Next year's organizational challenge for me will be to see whether I can find the tote in time for MoCCA Fest 2019.

JooHee Yoon
MoCCA Fest 2018

JooHee Yoon
MoCCA Fest 2018 program

Society of Illustrators tote bag, $12

Note:  Rest assured my trove of loot from MoCCA Fest 2018 will be presented here over the course of the coming week.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Seth

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Drawings

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Bookplates

Attempted Bloggery's Indie Index

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