Magic Hour

Zip A Tone

2009-06-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Zip A Tone, an adhesive shading film that was cut by hand and applied to artwork, ceased to be manufactured somewhere around May 1992. I'm picking this date only because of the death notice printed in Eightball No.8

Zip A Tone has been on my mind because I recently received "Two Eyes Of The Beautiful" from Ryan Cecil Smith, who is currently living in Japan. Some equivalent of Zip A Tone (in virtually unlimited variety) is still widely available in Japan, despite the advent of the computer. "Two Eyes of the Beautiful" is all about Zip A Tone, from simple dot patterns, to trees and foliage......even buildings.

Indeed, it is pretty easy to recreate the same effects of the adhesive sheets in Photoshop. Kevin Huizenga frequently employs this technique.

But comics from Japan are the main place that I see lots of Zip A Tone (or its digital equivalent) these days. The combination of the dominance of B/W pages and the use of assistants probably helps.

DRAGON HEAD by Minetaro Mochizuki:

20th CENTURY BOYS by Naoki Urasawa:

However much I love the work of the above artists.....their use of tones is an embellishment. The work might suffer without the additional tones, but it would remain fundamentally readable.

Which brings us to this piece:

Whenever Zip A Tone is mentioned, I can't help but think of Matt Wagner's "Heist", printed in BATMAN BLACK & WHITE #3.

Could this piece have been done on the computer?
I suppose so.

Could this piece exist without the fields of tone?
Absolutely not.

In these pages, Wagner barely uses any outlines at all, and cuts out areas of tone without "containment lines". Take away all the tones and the artwork would be virtually unreadable. When I asked Ryan why he wasn't just applying the tones digitally, he replied that although the computer was probably more efficient, it was a lot of fun carving up the sheets by hand. I think this shows in "Heist" as well. There's a real sense of physicality to these pages.

"Heist": a true Zip A Tone tour de force.

Cymbals Eat Guitars B/W Version

2009-06-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

I basically obliterated a lot of the inking with colored pencil after this.

Lettering

2009-05-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hot Wheels

2009-05-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

Alex Toth is, by far, one of my favorite cartoonists.
I found a copy of a "Hot Wheels" comic last week.
Didn't Toth draw some of these?
I flipped it open to this page, and did not have to check the credits.

Alex Toth died three years ago today.

RIP

Flower-Corsano Duo: The Four Aims

2009-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

I just received some copies of the double LP by the Flower-Corsano Duo, entitled The Four Aims. I had the pleasure and honor of doing the artwork for this recording. The LP has 3 extra tracks and features a gatefold drawing as well. I would love to post an MP3 of my band with Chris Corsano when we were teenagers, but unfortunately, it would be more embarrassing for me than him, so it remains buried in the world of the cassette. You're better off buying the Four Aims, which is great.

Cymbals Eat Guitars

2009-05-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on some LP art for Cymbals Eat Guitars. Here's a rough sketch of the cover.

West Side Improvements

2009-05-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have a 12 page piece in SYNCOPATED, which was officially released today. My piece is about the tunnel under Riverside Park.

I spent a few months on this one, and I'm really proud of it. There's a release party coming up on June 5th at Rocketship.

Gus Powell

2009-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

I just got this week's issue of the New Yorker. I was struck immediately by the photo in the "Goings On About Town"......enough so that I stopped working on a Magic Hour page and drew the photo in my sketchbook. The photo is by Gus Powell. I also liked the Lunch Pictures on his site.

Rhonda

2009-05-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Site Update

2009-04-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

I added some illustration work and sketches to my website:

www.alexholden.com

David Letterman Holds My Artwork Sideways...

2008-06-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

but then he figures it out.

Safety First

2008-05-19T06:48:00.001-07:00

Ms. 45

2008-01-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

For the Super Trash Film Festival in Portland OR.

Hot Off The Press

2007-10-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

Zebulon Flyer

2007-07-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

A flyer for my friend Ryan.

Copying Stuff...

2007-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Thomas Roma's Found In Brooklyn

Blutch's Total Jazz

Tiger Attack Prevention.

2007-06-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Balthus

2007-05-31T17:41:00.001-07:00

Without a doubt, Balthus is one of my favorite artists. "The Mountain" is one of his best paintings, and it is at the Met.

Street Play

2007-05-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Street Play by photographer Martha Cooper has been a great reference for Magic Hour.

Uncle Louie

2007-05-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

A Report from Leo.

2007-04-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

I drew this on the flight back from San Francisco.

Magic Hour #2 Is Done

2007-04-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. One more page to ink tomorrow morning. But the rest is all printed, so it will be available at APE, coming up this weekend in San Francisco. In addition, Magic Hour #1 has been upgraded to a slightly larger size to keep everything nice and neat all year.

If I can keep this up, Magic Hour #3 will be ready for MOCCA in June.

Magic Hour #2 Pencils

2007-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Magic Hour #2 will be available at APE in San Francisco April 21-22.
Here are the pencils for page 9-10.

Bronx Zoo

2007-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

Magic Hour #1

2007-02-05T21:36:00.000-08:00

I just finished Magic Hour #1 in the nick of time for Angouleme 2007. I had a great time hanging out with Dan Zettwoch and Alvin Buenaventura.

It has two stories.

"Stay Out Of The Gorgon Yard"
Ricky, Nate and Leo completely fail to stay out of the Gorgon Yard.

This was originally drawn and printed as a poster to sell at the MOCCA Arts Festival in 2006. I redrew some elements and chopped it up into a mini format for Angouleme. Here is the original poster:

"Black Eye Eddie Is Back!"

Uh oh.