Thursday, May 15, 2014
Matt Dembicki's Magic Bullet interview
Matt Dembicki on Public Radio talking about new Wild Ocean book
Endangered Sea Creatures
Wisconsin Public Radio's The Larry Meiller Showhttp://www.wpr.org/listen/578651
http://mp3.wpr.org/download.php?f=mlr140514g.mp3
Friday, April 25, 2014
'Wild Ocean' exhibit at Art-Enables starts May 10
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Pictures from Smudge Expo
Monday, March 10, 2014
The Comic Age on Smudge
[Smudge! Expo 2014] A Great New Event! Plus We Were Pirates, and Dear Mr. Watterson
By Alex Lupp
Yesterday I attended the very first Smudge! Expo, and I hope that it will be the first of many. It was a lovely and very creator focused show, the kind we need more of, especially as the big conventions grow into larger and larger media spectacles....I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, and only wish it had lasted longer than just a single day – an in depth description of my day-long venture follows below. [Read more]
Friday, December 27, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Writing contest for 'Trickster' prize
Monday, September 30, 2013
Fantastic Forum on DC Conspiracy's exhibit at Artisphere
Ulysses Campbell
Fantastic Forum· Sep 28, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWQS6Ax7n8E&feature=youtu.be
Matt Dembicki, Evan Keeling, Eric Gordon and Jake Warrenfeltz of TheD.C. Conspiracy talk about the group during the artists' reception for its Comics Making Workshop at Artisphere in Arlington, VA.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Institute for the Arts summer program
Monday, July 15, 2013
District Comics nominated for Harvey Award.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Welcoming Matt Dembicki to the ComicsDC family
Saturday, August 25, 2012
District Comics booksigning pictures
I've finally got my pictures of the District Comics booksigning at One More Page online.
Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo have theirs online too. They did a spy story in Georgetown for the book.
Here's an annotated version:
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Big Planet Comics Orbit Newsletter - July 20, 2012
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Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Meet a Local Cartoonist: Jason Axtell
I met Jason Axtell at the Big Planet Comics launch party for Magic Bullet #4. Axtell had just finished coloring Matt Dembicki's Mr. Big story for its reissue this summer, and Matt made a point of introducing us. I'm glad he did as Jason's put quite a bit of thought into answering my usual questions. I personally look forward to catching him at a con so I can buy a set of his comics, as seen on the right...
Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?
How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?
1978. Jersey, originally.
Why are you in the Washington sphere now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?
I moved here after spending nine years in the south, primarily Savannah, Georgia. After a failed relationship, a layoff and my general distaste for the southern "hospitality" I decided I had enough and needed to get out of there. When the Art Institute of Washington (in Arlington and Sterling) hired me on as a full-time instructor three years ago, that was all I needed to hightail it out of the south. Though I still like to visit some friends down there, I don't regret leaving it. The DC area is more to my liking. I live in the Vienna/Oakton area.
What is your training and/or education in cartooning?
I earned a BFA in Illustration from VCU and an MFA in Sequential Art from SCAD. Neither really focused on 'cartooning.' VCU trained me in traditional as well as digital media, and mainly as an illustrator. But since I started out trying to be a cartoonist and comic artist, a carry-over from my high school days, much of my early work yielded a mix of both cartoony and painterly aspects. SCAD trained me as a visual story-teller, allowing me the chance to hone my illustration techniques while also applying them to a comic format.
Who are your influences?
Too many. Primarily my Uncle Dick (not a joke) and my good friend Ben Phillips. I've known both since about the age of 6 or 7. For years I didn't know much about my Uncle except that he was a teacher and a painter. He taught at University of Memphis for 30+ years. When I was young he gave my parents a few of his paintings, which my parents proudly framed and hung in our dining room. Every night I would look at them and try to decipher them. He was an abstract artist that experimented with line, color and shape, frequently going through different phases and evolutions in his art. My favorites as a kid dealt with his attempt at capturing the effect of light and color in water. It wasn't until I was older and in the midst of earning my MFA that I began to delve a little deeper into what he was all about. Other people in my family have demonstrated terrific artistic and creative talents but for some reason I'm the one that pursued it to the similar lengths that he did. It wasn't until the last few years of his life that I really tried to figure out where he was coming from as an artist. It took a few visits and recommendations (Kandinsky, Rothko, Matisse and Guston) before I became aware of how he saw the world and what he was trying to do with his art. It was a profound discovery and a tremendous influence that I would not have made had it not been for him.
Expand my boundaries a bit outside of the 2D art. It appears that 3D art, software and graphics are the thing which pits me with the Neanderthals of the art world.
Not sure. I worked on the Family Guy comic but you wouldn't know me from the billion other artists that worked on that book. My first publication, "The Strange Fungus in Mr. Winslow" always catches people's eyes at cons (almost literally - the cover was billed by my late friend Jeremy Mullins, "The best cover EVER!"). "Reasons I Should Not Be On A Talk Show" is another con favorite. My last real publication (before this summer's colorized version of Matt Dembicki's "Mr. Big") is a comic strip called "Strays 'N Gates."
What work are you most proud of?
A portrait of my Uncle Dick I completed after his death. You can see it on my web site in the "Illustration" section.
Every so often I think about how much fun it would be to create my own interpretation of Ghostbusters and MegaMan. There's so many crappy manga versions of MM out there that I feel it, like much of the comics universe, needs a facelift. And while I have a few of my own stories on the backburner I, for some reason, have a really clear image of TC Boyle's Drop City in my mind. Done in the right style and format, I think that would be a great book!
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?
Hard to tell. It's already changed so much since I went to school that I feel obsolete in so many ways. I'd like to think the digital revolution that we are still experiencing won't kill off the old fashioned book, that people will still paint and draw with pencils and brushes. That there will still be room for doing something that doesn't involve a computer. But then again, I've spent the last week almost completely glued to my computer for various purposes, so my hopes are dwindling.
The museums and extensive list of restaurants and places to visit. I didn't get that in Savannah. Here, it seems that there's always somewhere we've never heard of that peaks my interest.
The f*ck*ng traffic. What else?
As much as I love the National Gallery of Art and National Portrait Gallery, I always seem to take friends and family to the Natural History Museum instead. I don't mind. It is quite fun there.
Do you really want another list? It's probably start with Tara Thai or The Melting Pot.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Jan 14-15: Gigacon at Art Institute of Washington
Their Facebook page has a post with the schedule which is:
Jan 14th
10 Panel discussion with all the guests
11 Panel discussion with all the guests
... 12 Lunch
1 Portfolio reviews and Demonstrations
2 Portfolio reviews and Demonstrations
3 One on one with the invited guests
Jan 15th
10 Portfolio reviews and Demonstrations
11 Portfolio reviews and Demonstrations
12 Lunch
1 One on one with the invited guests
2 One on one with the invited guests
3 Alumni panel discussion
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Matt Dembicki skirts child-labor laws and has son selling comics at SPX
Beth Scorzato
Spandexless Sep 22, 2011
http://www.spandexless.com/2011/09/spx-talks-adam-dembicki/
They talked to other people too:
SPX Talks: Alex Robinson
Alex Jarvis
Spandexless on Sep 21, 2011
http://www.spandexless.com/2011/09/spx-talks-alex-robinson/
SPX Talks: Aaron Diaz/Dresden Codak
Alex Jarvis
Spandexless Sep 21, 2011
http://www.spandexless.com/2011/09/spx-talks-aaron-diazdresden-codak/
SPX Talks: Box Brown
Alex Jarvis
Spandexless Sep 20, 2011
http://www.spandexless.com/2011/09/spx-talks-box-brown/
SPX Talks: John Allison
by Alex Jarvis
Spandexless Sep 20, 2011
http://www.spandexless.com/2011/09/spx-talks-john-allison/
Thursday, July 28, 2011
DC Zinefest
The DC Zinefest hopes to create a space for zine makers, writers, and self-published artists to share their work with each other and with the city of Washington, DC. By providing an opportunity to expo, workshop, and interact with zines, we strive to build and support a thriving DIY community. The zine expo will take place on July 30, 2011, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Stephen's Church in Washington, DC (map).St. Stephen's Church is a short distance from the Columbia Heights Metro stop on the Green Line. Comics-centric exhibitors include Katie Omberg, Carolyn Belefski, Matt Dembicki, Dave O'Shell, Max Weinstein-Bacal, Our Friend The Atom, and Ryan and Jillian.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Comicsgirl reports on "Mr. Mendoza’s Paintbrush/Trickster event at Busboys & Poets • 03.30.11"
Editor Matt Dembicki also pointed out this blog post on Trickster that talks about how Peter Kuper did the initial cover for the book
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
March 29: Dueling comics events
Also on March 29, Ben Katchor is at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Here's their PR:
The Picture Stories of Ben Katchor
Tuesday, March 29
7 p.m.
Members $12; Public $15
Hailed by The New York Times as "the most poetic, deeply layered artist ever to draw a comic strip," Ben Katchor has collected both a cult and mainstream following for his wry, perceptive, and slightly surreal comic strips of urban life. The author of The Jew of New York and Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District, Katchor's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Forward, and Metropolis. The first cartoonist to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, Ben Katchor discusses his first book in more than 10 years, The Cardboard Valise (Random House, 2011)- the whimsical graphic novel which follows the intertwined lives of three characters who travel to the fantastical nation of Outer Canthus. A book signing follows the talk.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
March 29: Trickster cartoonists at Busboys @ Poets
On March 29 I'll be at Busboys and Poets (14th and V in Washington, D.C., 6:30-8:30) discussing 'Trickster.' Joining me will be 'Trickster' contributing artists Michael Auger and Jacob Warrenfeltz, as well as Christopher Cardinale, illustrator of 'Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush,' who will be talking about that fantastic book.