The Winner

I found Karl Stevens recently on Instagram, and followed him just because his drawings were gorgeous. I’m a big fan of R. Crumb, Bernie Wrightson, Nina Bunjevac, people like that, I’ve always been fascinated by crosshatching and the range of effects you could create in black and white. Karl Stevens is in the league with those guys when he wants to be. The book isn’t all black and white, though. Another thing I always loved was how somebody like Bill Watterson could combine his line art with very delicate water color, and Stevens does a lot of that here with beautiful water colors in some sections.You should really buy the book just for his illustrations, so it was a pleasant bonus to discover that he’s also a great writer, and very funny. This book is basically a collection of shorts, although they flow together nicely to create a cohesive exploration of the book’s themes, but the format allows him to do pieces on everything from his tedious dayjob to short stories about werewolves and fairies and demons. There are also a number of very beautiful portrait drawings of his wife, and his short observations about her are full of obvious genuine affection that gives the book a very touching emotional undercurrent, so if you’re paying attention it’s not just the sometimes bitter humor or the fantasy bits, there’s a real core to what he’s saying here.This book is great, so go buy it.

I love this book. I'm an artist so I appreciate quality stuff. And Karl Stevens knows how to draw. Not just that, he knows how to mix it up, with lots of styles and media ( as in mediums). Hands on, analogue, time-consuming drawings of the every day. He sort of tells stories, in that most only take a page or two, and it's usually him complaining to his wife about how lost and confused he feels. My suspicion is if he really complained this much his wife would have left him ages ago. But I get the divided whole of art creation and making it work in the real world. Also if you go to Tumblr he posts what he is working on almost daily so you see work in progress. He is crackerjack good at crosshatching, with a crow quill. Not much room for error there. If you're into graphic novels and what something that is quirky and really good artistically and doesn't have any superheros, try this.