The Fine Art of Copying
Style is what's left when you've tried and failed to copy somebody else. Put a little more positively, style is what emerges after...

Masters on War: Sargent vs. Dix
If you know a little about the history of art, you have probably heard of Sargent. He's known for his portraits of society ladies, done...


Safe, conventional work is a ticket to oblivion.
I read that in a little book by graphic designer George Lois. I remember it always--especially when my painting falls short of what I...


The Romance of Deep Time
For two years I've been working on a picture book about Chinese dinosaurs called Forest of the Feathered Dragons. It's a way for me to...


EC Comics: Art, Violence, and Misogyny
What follows are some postmortem thoughts on David Hadju’s book The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed...

Comics on the Depression: Art vs Corporate Propaganda
Kings in Disguise and On the Ropes–by James Vance and Dan E. Burr–are two of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read. They convey the...

Art & Fear (A Review)
As a writer, I’ve read many, many books about the writing process–from Stephen King’s On Writing to Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Art...

Who Needs Art–my latest on counterpunch.org
Who Needs Art? When Obama mocked art history, he revealed the extent to which people in power hold the arts in contempt. Here’s my...


Teaching for Transformation
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/09/teaching-for-transformation/ A new article in counterpunch about what teachers can do to bring...


Review: Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe
This book might as well be a diary of postwar capitalism and its toxic effects on art, culture, and collective dreams. Sean Howe’s book...

