Here is the short version: I want to expand my audience and I’d like you to help. I will give this piece of original art away next week to SOMEone who does SOMEthing, which I will reveal to you in just a few column inches.

To anyone who links to this blog post, or retweets my tweet linking to this post, I will stick your name in a hat and draw a name out next Tuesday, February 9. Let’s say at noon. That’s pretty much it. Most of the time my blog will sense links to it and list them as “trackbacks;” but it’s probably better to let me know, either in the comments section below, or by email at dusty[at]dharbin[dot]com.

One entry per person; I won’t be upset if you retweet every once in a while, but it won’t earn you additional “chances.” It might earn you the opprobrium of your various Twitter audiences, so be careful with that. Let’s not spam anyone, especially with MY GOOD NAME!

The art itself is from a couple of years ago; it’s the original drawing I did while planning the–apparently difficult to understand–strip I posted this week. I will say that, while I obviously like the new version better, this one still looks pretty good, much less mortifying to me than I thought it would be. It’s about 12.5″ x 7, ink on bristol, and looks sharp.

Okay get on out there and make me famous! And thank you in advance for your kind help!

UPDATE! Lots of response to this; I’ve decided to extend the cut-off to Wednesday February 10 at 4pm EST, AND, if my follower count hits 750 on Twitter by then, I’ll give away THREE pieces of art instead of one. So get out there and pimp me suckaz!

Hey did you guys know that I set up an Etsy store recently? Oh yes, it’s true. I’ve been selling stuff on there, like DHARBIN! #1 & 2, NUTTED!, T-shirts, all that kind of stuff. But now I’m starting to put up my originals for sale, which is exciting, since they seem to be selling. I’m thinking I’ll throw them up in small groups from week to week, 5-7 at a time. Of the five I put up on Monday, only 3 are left, so you’d better get cracking. Here’s an example of one of them:

If you know my good friend J. Chris Campbell, he apparently really wants someone to buy this page for him for Christmas. I agree that you should do this thing. NOT ONLY THAT, but if someone buys it specifically for J. Chris, I’ll put another little surprise in the box for him, so you’ll get DOUBLE value! Holy! Guys I have to tell you, as someone who has worked in the comics industry since 1996, this is quite a deal. You are really going to feel bad if someone who ISN’T J. Chris purchases it, aren’t you? SO WILL I (not that bad, though, I’ll still be getting PAID, C.R.E.A.M. [Cash Rules Everything Around Me]).

This Friday is SPX, one of my favorite indie shows of the year, second only to TCAF. I’ll be appearing for the second time as a cartoonist, as opposed to a conventioneer or a retailer.  SPX is also great because a TON of my comics friends will be there, so it will for sure be a vast party, spreading all across the Marriott hotel lobbies, conference rooms, bars, and out into the streets, the cartoonist-littered streets. 

THINGS THAT WILL BE HAPPENING:

I will have two new books, sort of–one is all mine, a teeny minicomic version of my “8 Different Ways To Get Nutted” comic, printed in full color. Did you know that printing in full color is super expensive? Well it is. I need to get a publisher for these things, because WHOA NELLIE.

Oh but that’s not the half of it! SPX will also see the debut of Papercutter #11 from Tugboat Press, which I have a one-page strip in. Do you like copyright infringement? Well then you’re gonna love this strip! Papercutter #11 also includes longer (better? sniff) strips by Amy Adoyzie, Jon Sukarangsan, and Lisa Eisenberg. So what I’m saying is, you need to buy this thing.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, the Nerdlingers! Last year I was awarded a Nerdlinger Award (For “Greatest Gentleman/Greatest Smile in Indie Comics”, natch!) and so this year I get to award someone else one. I won’t say who yet, but they’re super awesome, I thought really hard about it. Double sweet–I got to design the actual award label (the award is a label affixed to a bottle of REAL BEER), which was fun–I need to do more lettering design, I love it, I could do that stuff all day no problem. Here’s some early versions from my sketchbook, but the final looks a little better:

Those badboys will be given out Friday night at Atomic Books in Baltimore, and I will be there. I believe some different people are reading their comics there as well? You can find out more right here (scroll down a little).

I think that’s all for now–I’m super excited. I’ll maybe have a t-shirt too, but we’ll have to see on that one. I’ll be set up with my bro Scott Campbell at table D-1, right next to Partyka bros Matt Wiegle and Shawn Cheng, and pretty close to AdHouse bros Chris Pitzer, Lamar Abrams, and Josh Cotter. This will for sure be a brodown of legend, and all of us will be accepting free drinks all weekend with no hassle. Bring it on!

Oh my lands! It has been a little bit since my last post, but all with good reason, dear friends inside of my computer. I have been very busy doing the following things:

1) Redesigning my website, where I will store a ton of things that you can look at, many of which you can purchase from me. Also other cool stuff. Also:

2) Gearing up to begin producing a weekly strip, to be published on said website (see item #1).

3) Wrestling Wordpress as I try to figure out how to install it right onto my site, so I can host this blog there instead of here. If anyone knows how to do this, I would be greatly in your debt. I feel like I’m close, but their “famous five-minute installation” is kicking my keister. If I were 12 I’m sure I could do it in my sleep. Is this what getting old feels like? I would be happy to draw something or do some other favor in return if anyone can help me.

4) Installing my new (!!!) Intuos 3 6″ x 11″ Wacom tablet, which I purchased in order to more quickly/intuitively add colors or grey tones to cartoons (see item #2).

5) Continuing to sketch in and ship out copies of good ol’ DHARBIN #1 to people. I just now added 8 new sketches to the Flickr set I have devoted to this sort of self-aggrandizement. As opposed to all the other self-aggrandizing sets I have up there. I only am scanning the ones I like okay–if you got one that is crummy, then I do apologize. Occupational hazard.

Chaos ensues during Beatles sing-a-long.

Ah, early October. The campaign ads were only 1 out of 3 of each commercial; I was one month into a thus-far TERRIBLE 35th year of living; and the Small Press Expo was going on in Bethesda, Maryland. Wall-eyed artisans have labored in the mountains for lo, these 30 days, producing two shockingly mediocre tablets, containing therein a record of the Marylandish goings on.

But I’ve said too much: if you have already voted, I exhort you to go and view these delightfully inoffensive inscriptions: you deserve it. If you have not voted, or did not vote, your punishment is to send me $8 for a copy of DHARBIN #1 (shipping included). Only in this way can your sins be expiated. If you were planning on voting for the other guy, then not even DHARBIN #1 can help you…

Is it shameless self-promotion? Perhaps. Is it an obvious attempt to wrest money from you? Certainly. But regardless of the reason, I thought I’d mention that I’ve been posting some of the sketches I’ve been doing in the front of minicomics I’ve been selling, over on Flickr. My favorite one thus far is that bearded dude up above.

I’m just saying.

To review: you may purchase a copy of the 28-page comic for $5, and I’ll ship it to you for an additional $3. Also available is a sweet print and Superior Showcase #3. Follow those linkns to learn more. I’m late for work.

Many have wondered how if it would ever be possible, but at last I have figured out how to use the “Internet” to sell things. I call it “d-commerce”, after of course myself. To the victor go the spoils, after all.

You may expect an exhaustive account of how I was able to plumb the binary depths of the Information Superhighway later, but for now let’s concentrate on this new, exciting invention: I suggest you immediately test it out by buying things from me.

But what to buy? Allow me to make three suggestions:

1) DHARBIN #1
My first ever minicomic, done in a terrible rush before SPX 2008. I have reprinted this badboy with some spiffy cardstock covers and a slightly altered design (not to mention altered price. Each one comes with an original sketch on the first page, an example of which you can see above. Not all sketches will be satisfactory, but some will be exemplary. Five bucks apiece, plus another THREE if you need it mailed to you. There is a greater chance of exemplary sketches for mailed copies, as I feel terrible about this higher price. But not that terrible.

2) SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #3
Good ole Chris Pitzer published me for the first time ever in his esteemed anthology. Fortunately this issue also includes Jim Rugg, Brian Maruca, Laura Park, and a cover by Roger Langridge, so even if you tear my 12-page story out and line your parakeet cage with it, you’ll still be getting an excellent value at just $3. I encourage you to buy this with DHARBIN #1, giving you more for your $3 shipping charge.

3) 26 CARTOONISTS I HAVE RECENTLY MET AND LIKED PRINT
This will look excellent on your wall, trust me. It’s a signed and numbered edition of 100, 11″ x 14″ print of a surprisingly popular thing I drew a few months ago. I’ve put it on fancy-dan paper to make it seem even more important. Best of all, it’s only $5, which is a steal; especially compared with the high price of my mini. I’ll ship it to you for another $3, rolled up in a little tube.

If you would like any or all of these things, drop me an e-mail at dusty{at}dharbin{dot}com, and we’ll work it out. I ship the books in expensive bubble-wrap envelopes that I bought for just this purpose. If you live around Charlotte somewhere, let’s do “the deal” in person, and save me that time and you that money.