Thursday, 6 December 2012

JIM WOODRING


“I always liked cartoons, but I never read comic books except for Mad magazine. I wasn't a superhero fan or anything like that. When the underground comics of the ’60s came out, though, I thought they were great. That really opened my eyes to what could be done with that medium.”[1]

Jim Woodring grew up in what he describes as a “stupid little town called Glendale” [2]. He describes the environment he grew up in as a “fantastical environment” where the skies were blue, men wore suits and hats and the cars were big American lead [3]. Jim Woodring’s childhood was his earliest apparent influences in his work. It consisted of an assortment of psychological behaviours including; paranoia, hallucinations and other types of psychological and neurological malfunction [4]. Woodring described the age between one and twelve as the age of eyes because everything he saw had eyes [5]. There was an Art and Music library with a “Moorish architectural motif” and he would go there after school and read art books and listen to music and that is where he got all of his artistic education from [6]. When he was a teenager he moved up the coast to Washington because he “wanted to live where there is a chance of being killed by a bear” [7] and he actively ate wild mushrooms without knowing if they were poisonous or not [8]. Before he even smoked a cigarette or drank a beer he took LSD at the age of 20[9]. He recalls his first LSD experience as the most horrible experience of his life; “It incapacitated me for days before I could do it again. I took quite a bit of that stuff until it stopped doing what I wanted it to do.” [10]

He was heavily influenced at a young age by a Russian/American illustrator called Boris Artzybasheffother [11] and ‘The Golden Book of Science’, illustrated by Harry McNaught. McNaught drawings gave Woodring all the basic information about rendering, colour, mystery, melancholy, sound in drawings, and the beauty of science [12]. Other influences later on in life included cartoonists such as George Herriman, Windsor Mccay, Cliff Sterrett, Norman Lindsay, The New Yorker cartoonists, Jack Davies and Mad Magazine. Although he doesn't draw like these illustrators he extracts ideas behind volume, expression, negative space and applies it to his own work. He feels that they would appreciate other artists doing this [13]. He has also been influenced by fine art techniques in the 17th century Dutch painting, he admires the skills needed because of his lack of mastery in that area[14]. His black and white patterning is more sophisticated now than it was in ‘Jim’ this is because of the wavy line used in ‘Frank’ that Woodring uses constantly now because it is so distinctive and chaotic[15]. He spent a lot of time trying not to do ordinary things because somebody else would do it. When he was younger he had an obsession with drawing lobsters however he stopped drawing them once he found out Salvador Dali had an obsession as well and he was afraid that people would think he was “ripping him off”. After that he has tried to find a basic shading technique which he can turn into something distinctive. [16]

“One of the best memories of my life is contemplating that first finished drawing and realizing I had cracked the code, that I could make drawings like this whenever I wanted”[17]. He describes this stage as 'The age of Jim' which is all about his ego from when he was 12 until he was 40. Now he is in 'The age of Cake' which he describes as an elusive and corrosive death cake and his work is reflected from this. The work appals and frightens him and he hasn't developed a vocabulary for this stage yet [18]. Woodring has developed a vocabulary of shapes that he sees in nature, for example marks that you see on a cobra’s hood or imaginary shapes that come to people in dreams. He creates a hybrid shapes from the real and imaginary shapes “to fulfil a specific purpose in the story” [19]. For years he said that Art was his religion, religious impulses that manifest themselves in art but now he embraces God and the unknown mysterious. "Seeing holes appear in your arm and disappearing into mathematical equations. Spirals and fractals devour you and you face your disintegration in a terrifying way.”[20]

Woodring has been heavily affected by his childhood aspirations; he was fascinated by them and terrified. He didn't want to forget, he was fixated on them and spent most of his life trying to keep them alive. Consequently, his social life suffered. “I wouldn't let those childhood wounds heal. The tunnel kept trying to close behind me, and I kept forcing it open so I could remember those primordial things, the way that the world seemed to me as a child. It’s been a vocation for me to keep that view intact.”[21] A lot of imagery from the old Jim comics and stories, such as ‘Dinosaur Cage’ and ‘Screechy Peachy,’ came directly from delusional episodes. Woodring wanted to keep these hallucinations prominent so he dabbled in hallucinogens such as LSD. When that no longer did what he wanted it do he took a drug called salvia divinorum which has been described as the most powerful natural occurring hallucinogen, which he believes it is. He was convinced he was dying and had been taken to another reality. When his wife spoke to him he heard thousands of voices coming out of her. He describes it as a very alien experience. This experience had an effect on his work and this is shown in drawings such as ‘Life After Man’ this was heavily influenced by this event. “The question of what is happening, things we can’t perceive but which concern and affect us”. Woodring uses drugs to see these answers for a limited time. “Art and drugs are really similar they show you places but won’t get you there.”[22]

Woodring describes himself as a story teller rather than a cartoonist. He writes out the story in words so he knows where it’s going and what is in it. Typically when he draws out the comics there are no words at all. He has to write it out in a way which gives him clues of what he is supposed to draw. At least three drafts are written during the writing phase because that is where he does all of his correcting. Once it is finalised he describes the process as mechanical, it’s just a matter of breaking down the pages into a sequence that he wants, laying it all out and drawing it. “All the corrections, stumbling and tears happen in the writing phase”[23]. In his writing he sets the stage; bring the forces together, and then whatever happens he records it. “Though ‘Frank’ has amazing and terrible experiences, he never learns anything. It would be a catastrophe for the story line if he did. He would stop acting like a child. Knowledge extinguishes the flame of curiosity. He makes things happen, but he’s also protected from the consequences of his actions.”[24]

He has an extensive work schedule, often working 10-12 hours a day. Woodring doesn't have a set goal because sometimes a page is very complicated and will take two days to draw and other times he can do 2 pages a day. His schedule isn't a set output schedule it is more of a time schedule which is hard to meet sometimes as it is difficult for him to force himself to sit in a chair all day and draw especially if it’s nice outside [25]. Woodring explains he works the best when he is enthusiastic about life in general if he is pessimistic or ill it is hard for him to draw. His only ritual for drawing is to get up early in the morning and start as soon as possible because feels he works best in the morning. The time it takes him to write a story can vary. He can write a short story in an afternoon but, on the other hand he has recently began to do 100 page stories and they generally take 2 weeks to write because they are a lot more complex, and the longer the story the more he questions the integrity of his work. Some problems Woodring faces with these books such as sub plots and the story being dragged out. It takes him 2 weeks or more to have the story firmly in his mind. [26]

Woodring tries to avoid doing warm up exercises he feels like the first take is the best take. If he warms up too much he then feels his best minutes are behind him. He draws on a sheet of Bristol with a hard pencil and then he tightens up the hard pencil with a soft pencil and goes over it with dip pen and Indian ink [27]. “The pen is extremely difficult to master but ultimately allows for an extraordinary degree of expression. The well-constructed pen and ink drawing is a monument to perseverance, requiring tremendous patience and control. I am thrilled by the challenge of creating such drawings in public and introducing new audiences to the allure of the medium.”[28] 

He does not consider himself a surrealist, he hadn't even heard about Surrealism until he was in high school [29]. However he has always loved work where you cannot see the actual subject of the picture that the artist has managed to capture the emanations in a certain way. He best describes it as a fluorescent light. You cannot see the UV rays but you can see when they make certain objects glow. To him surrealism has that glow, you can’t see what is lighting up the picture but you can see the light coming out of the picture. For example a De Chirico painting of a rubber glove and an artichoke, it’s not about the artichoke and rubber glove it’s about the emotions that they convey which are too complicated to be shown directly and they have to be shown in this strange symbolic way and that’s the kind of work Woodring likes to do. It is hard for him to explain how it is when he knows when he is on the right track but he feels a certain sense of disengagement, where work comes to him automatically. The best work he does is when he is not thinking about it, his work relies heavily on his subconscious. He describes it as “taking down dictation from some silent voice, if I think too hard, if I plan to consciously my work get’s very weak”. He has these random moods where he can access thoughts and ideas which he can’t ordinarily access and this is when he most enjoys his work, when he is less overtly participating in it. The messages are the strongest when he is in-between the state of dream and consciousness but they are also the most incomprehensible. He describes the feeling like watching a movie as it is intense, disorientating and frightening. If he had to depend on his conscious mind to make a living in a logical, sociable and ordinary environment he wouldn't be able to do it. [30]

Woodring describes his art as being synthesized he has had to work hard to get his style however he has always been able write the way he does. Frank became a wordless comic as an outcome of an exercise. Mark Landman asked him to do a three to four page comic which had unfamiliar twists but looked like a regular comic. He decided to make it unfamiliar by avoiding language because it becomes culture-specific so by removing the language he could focus on communicating the essentials and making it timeless [31]. Woodring work was originally autobiographical in his magazine ‘Jim’ however it shifted with ‘Frank’ to non autobiographical, Woodring says it was completely contrived. Woodring keeps and dream journal now and retells them in comic form. [32]

Woodring applies his work in the form of books, toys, writing, animation and comics and his audience varies from children’s books to complex graphic novels. His most well known works are his generic anthropomorphic character Frank (occurred often in his children’s books) and his dream based comics which he published in his magazine ‘Jim’ (Frank also appears in Jim). Woodring first started in the creative industry in 1979 as an animator after being persuaded by his friend to work for Ruby-Spears animation studio [33]. His ambition however was not to be an animator, he feels he wasn't good at it so he stuck to storyboards mostly which he also feels he wasn't good at. While working there he learned how to do cutting and staging. He dragged down the whole operation with his constant whining because of his terrible attitude towards the job. He had this attitude because he hated the industry, the shows and the fact that everyone could draw better than him and that made him envious. [34]

While working at Ruby-Spears he began self-publishing Jim which he describes as an ‘auto-journal’ it consists of free-form writing, comics and dream art. He was introduced to Fantagraphics Books in 1986 and regularly published the series Jim. Woodring has produced a range of books which include ‘Weathercraft’, ‘The Frank book’ and ‘Congress of Animals’ [35]. The Frank comic stripes he writes out in 5 minutes but then takes 2 weeks to draw this is because he writes out actions that Frank does rather than a story however when he writes text it takes him 45 minutes to do [36]. Woodring’s toys are manufactured by Sony Creative and are sold in vending machines in Japan they are also available online [37]. Woodring worked with Ryder on the Freaks series for Fantagraphics and when Ryder moved to Dark Horse he offered Woodring to write an Alien series with him, Killian Plunkett did the illustrations. Woodring feels it wasn't the best writing he had done and wasn't entirely happy with the whole series. Woodring did try to make the book extremely disgusting, just so people would notice it. [38]

Surrealism surrounded Woodring when he was young and developing his artist skills. However, he says he was never influenced by Surrealism [39]. He grew up with underground comics from R.Crumb which influenced him majorly and the hippie scene which he embraced the music, love and LSD, when he was in high school he worked for a hippie tabloid called ‘Two Bit Comics’[40] although he never classed himself as a hippie he was glad he had a taste of the culture [41].  The LSD influenced his work and gave it a psychedelic look. However, it is not entirely the same as psychedelic art, this is shown by his black and white drawings which is the opposite of psychedelic art at the time consisted of with its bright overbearing colours. His black and white drawings have these strange living creatures appearing in it however these creatures have a sense of normality to them as they have similarities to real world creatures and are commonly mistaken as actual living animals such as ‘Frank’ being mistaken for a cat. His works still have an extraterrestrial feel like some psychedelic arts however it is done uniquely and is portrayed in a different way therefore he doesn't class it as psychedelic art. He didn't change his style to be based on the hallucinations from the LSD, like Surrealism those experiences confirmed and expanded his ideas rather than providing those [42]. His work has a sense of normality since his buildings were based on real architecture for example buildings  that were used in ‘Frank’ was based on Brand Library in Glendale, California which was close to where he lived when he was a teenager[43]. He would also place objects from everyday life in his stripes, however every time he put an object in it was never without deep thought as he wanted the reader to feel as if they were in another time and universe and he never changed the focus of his work to become a psychedelic artist [43]. Woodring became influential and unique in the underground comic world however he was not the leader of the underground comic movement it is lead to believe it was American cartoonist Justin Green with his comic ‘Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary’. [44]

After watching/reading many interviews with Jim Woodring I can conclude that he contradicts himself quite a few times and it feels as if he is disconnected and vacant from reality this attitude reflects in his work. He is often vague and nonsensical therefore it is hard to extract information from his interviews which also backs up his anti social tendencies since he has spent most of his life dedicated to keeping alive his childhood aspirations and focusing on his art. You can see the influences from ‘The New Yorker’ in his work such as ‘Frank’ which is has been done in a comic strip way almost as if you would find it in a newspaper. Other artists such as Shaun Tan and George Herriman have similarities to Woodring not exactly in style but how they create alternative worlds. Herriman’s Krazy Kat has similarities with the lines in the background to create an atmosphere which gives it a sense of a different universe. Herriman like Woodring has the comic strip design to his work. It is simplistic but effective for example as it is concentrating more on the story line rather than the images. Woodring has taken a lot of influence from Artzybasheff this is especially shown in Woodrings charcoal drawings. In the book ‘As I see’ the section ‘Machinalia’ has a drawing where the facial expression on the machinery is very similar to some of the warped faces that appear in Woodring’s book ‘Frank’. It is almost as if Woodring has given his hallucinations the faces of Artzybasheff’s work and created a storyline out of them. Jim Woodring’s work is unique since it is mostly formed from his hallucinations which are a personal experience which cannot be mimicked. He mastered the art of illustration so he could put down his dreams into a reality. Woodring pushed himself creatively especially when he did a live art-plus-guitar collaborations project with Bill Frisell. Woodring likes having new experiences and wants to keep learning new things [45] as this keeps his child frame of mind intact. I read his ‘Frank’ book in one sitting and afterwards I felt like I had personally taken drugs and felt motivated to try and draw from my imagination and try to expand my work more, think outside the box to try and create interesting imagery like Woodring.

Footnotes

1.        J. Heller, Jim Woodring Interview, July 8, 2010, http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/
2.         E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of drugs video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
3.        Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Artistic Education video interview, shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
4.        W.Foxglove, http://www.jimwoodring.com/about/
5.         E. Pêra, Jim Woodring and the age of cake video interview, shot at Amadora comics festival, October 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP0oSaUQn5E&feature=related
6.        Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Artistic Education video interview, shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
7.        E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of drugs video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
8.        E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of drugs video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
9.        E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of drugs video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
10.     E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of drugs video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
11.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Artistic Education video interview, shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
12.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
13.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Artistic Education video interview, shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
14.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
15.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
16.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
17.     The believer, All contents copyright © 2003-2012, Jim Woodring interview, http://www.believermag.com/exclusives/?read=interview_woodring
18.     The believer, All contents copyright © 2003-2012, Jim Woodring interview, http://www.believermag.com/exclusives/?read=interview_woodring
19.     J. Heller, Jim Woodring Interview, July 8, 2010, http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/
20.      E. Pêra, Jim Woodring and the age of cake video interview, shot at Amadora comics festival, October 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP0oSaUQn5E&feature=related
21.     The believer, All contents copyright © 2003-2012, Jim Woodring interview, http://www.believermag.com/exclusives/?read=interview_woodring
22.     E. Pêra, Jim Woodring and the age of cake video interview, shot at Amadora comics festival, October 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP0oSaUQn5E&feature=related
23.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Breaking down his process as a cartoonist and storyteller , shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
24.     The believer, All contents copyright © 2003-2012, Jim Woodring interview, http://www.believermag.com/exclusives/?read=interview_woodring
25.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Good Moods produce Good Work , shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
26.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Good Moods produce Good Work , shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
27.     Infra.TV, Jim Woodring: Tools of trade and the charm of the first take , shot at Melbourne Writers Festival 2011, http://inframe.tv/people/jim-woodring.html
28.     D. Pescovitz at 11:33 am Thu, Jul 15, Jim Woodring's giant dip pen project, http://boingboing.net/2010/07/15/jim-woodrings-giant.html
29.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
30.     E. Pêra,  Jim Woodring and the age of surrealism video interview, shot at the Amadora Comics Festival, 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBokgY7Ekw&list=UUeKw2_2kQaXKaPmWtftzhKg&index=30
31.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
32.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
33.     Wiki, Page last modified 20 November 2012 at 10:26, Jim Woodring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Woodring
34.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
35.     Wiki, Page last modified 20 November 2012 at 10:26, Jim Woodring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Woodring
36.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
37.      Strangeco, September 20, 2004, Jim Woodring, http://www.strangeco.com/Features/woodring.html
38.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
39.      E. Pêra, Jim Woodring and the age of Surrealism interview, shot at Amadora comics festival, October 2005  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlrXJFDLUDc
40.     J. Heller, Jim Woodring Interview, July 8, 2010, http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/
41.     G.Groth, Fantagraphics, Woodring interview, http://www.fantagraphics.com/images/stories/artists/interviews/Woodring_Interview_TCJ164-revised.pdf
42.     P.B, Jim Woodring interview, http://toomuchtodream.net/jim_woodring_interview
43.     J. Heller, Jim Woodring Interview, July 8, 2010, http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/
44.     Wiki Page,  last modified on 2 June 2012 at 18:21, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binky_Brown_Meets_the_Holy_Virgin_Mary
45.     J. Heller, Jim Woodring Interview, July 8, 2010, http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/

Bibliography

Picture Reference

1st Image
Title: Life After  Men
Source: http://www.boingboing.net/filesroot/divinorum.jpg
Artist: Jim Woodring
Media used: Charcoal

'Life After Men' is where you can see the most similarities between Artzybasheff and Woodring's work. Woodring created this piece after an experience on a powerful drug called salvia divinorum. It is his insight into the world as if it has been ripped open for a few minutes and then closed over again this is what influenced this piece of work.

2nd Image
Title: Machinalia
Source: http://www.boingboing.net/filesroot/200805290954.jpg
Artist: Boris Artzybasheff
Media used: Pencil

This piece by Artzybasheff most resembles the work of Woodring. The similarities between the face of the mechanical claw seem reminiscent of Woodring's strange symbols that appear in many of his works. In the book 'Frank' when Frank takes gets distorted in different forms the faces that are drawn by Woodring could be seen as Artzybasheffs work.



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