February 2012
14 posts
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rghayati asked: QUESTION 1: What kinda shoelaces you talkin' here?
Anonymous asked: What are you listening to?
So I complained a lot in a post, went to lunch and came back to my apartment. In that time I received nearly 200 messages from complete strangers. All of your support is both startling and humbling. I bitch and moan so much about the “faceless masses” of the internet, that I have a habit of forgetting that there are people out there that actually do in fact give a shit.
That being...
Anonymous asked: In highschool, I had a really terrible art teacher. He was pretentious, arrogant and imposed his own beliefs about art on all of his students, as if to mold them into a little army of scribbling morons. As a result, I have a really bad view of artists in general, I can't go to a museum and enjoy a painting without thinking "what's this asshole trying to say?" What do you think?...
Anonymous asked: I realize you hate questions and any kind of interaction whatsoever, but what you said here was a little confusing "And hey if you are going to reblog an artist’s work, please credit them accordingly." You do realize the artist is automatically credited when people reblog, right? They click on the image or some part of it and it automatically redirects as long as the artist...
Anonymous asked: Mister Woodson, Do you think you'll be making prints for the adventure time work anytime soon?!! It's like 2 of my favourite things, merged into one awesome print.
Anonymous asked: hi I really want to be an illustrator/ tattoo artist and i absolutely love your work your an inspiration to me, real random question but in the picture of you what kind of reptiles do you have? :D
doubtfulguest asked: Hi I was wondering if you had any good tips for getting back into drawing(intermediate level)? After art school I ended up the soul sucking route of paying off my bills via retail and I'm still there. The plan so far the plan is to brush up with Andrew loomis' anatomy book and people watching-drawing but I was wondering if you had any other suggestions?
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January 2012
9 posts
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33 Questions Sort of Answered
So after having a complete throw away piece amass nearly 7,000 notes, gaining nearly 2,000 new followers, and being asked more questions than I could ever have time to respond to…I decided that the best way to handle all of this is to do a quick little Q & A to tie up any possible loose ends. And yes, unfortunately the entirety of this list is based on real questions asked to me by...
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In The Year 20XX
I spent the entirety of 5th grade drawing Mega Man. It was 1994, and Mega Man 4 had just come out. This was back when Nintendo Power was still king. I think I carried the issue where they explained the boss order around for months. I just couldn’t stop drawing the characters over and over and over. I was obsessed.
But the funny thing is, I hadn’t even played Mega Man 4…and I...
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Butterfat Studios
I am taking a break from drawing highly emotional racially charged super secret project scenes, and late 80’s video game characters to let you know about a great opportunity!
Esther Garcia, my good friend and tattoo artist (who has been previously mentioned on this blog, and has done the majority of the work on me) is having a special this coming week of taking on single session tattoos....
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Dude, we're totally dying!
If Adventure Time existed when I was a kid, I can promise you that I would be a much different sort of illustrator than I am now. From left to right:
Cone Kid, The Jiggler, Starchy, Jake, Lumpy Space Princess, Gummy Guy, B.M.O., The Snail, Finn (with tufts of Princess Bubblegum’s hair), Choose Goose, Tree Trunks, Peppermint Butler, A Duck, Candy Cane Guy, and Hot Dog Princess
And since...
December 2011
3 posts
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One Thousand
It was recently pointed out to me that I am incredibly close to having 1000 followers for The Canary (only 12 left to go in fact). I was thinking that maybe I would have a giveaway for the 1000th followers and maybe send them something nice if they were into it….so uhh if you get a creepy message from me about wanting your address, please don’t be too frightened.
I should really learn...
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The Bees'll Make Honey In The Lion's Head
I drew this a few weeks ago and kept it on the shelf for a while before posting it anywhere. Unfortunately due to the quick in and out of being an illustrator, I am used to rushing to finalize things….which in all honesty, deciding when something is done or not is one of the hardest parts of my job. So I have been trying to make a conservative effort not to rush finalizing personal...
Honey In The Pot, Wheat In The Fields.
So as expected, I completely failed keeping up my end of the bargain of keeping this blog fresh. But unlike in the past, I actually feel kind of bad about it.
Work has been crazy the last month or so, but unfortunately it is all stuff that I either can not show or is too mundane to peak anyone’s interest. But that being said, I do have a handful of personal projects chugging along in the...
October 2011
2 posts
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October Doldrums
It’s been a while since I posted on here….not for lack of content, but more so lack of motivation. Hopefully I can snap out of it instead of doing what I always do and leave my blog unmaintained for months on end. I have been pretty busy with work and ignoring a social life. I keep falling through on social plans, and it has gotten to the point where no one really expects anything more...
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The Innkeepers Poster For Sale
Earlier this week I received 50 copies of The Innkeepers poster I did for Mondo posters a few weeks ago. They look fantastic and are now for sale in my long forgotten BigCartel shop.
And while we’re talking about posters, I totally forgot I had a number of these posters I did for The House of Blues years and years ago still lying around. For those interested, they are also for sale in...
September 2011
3 posts
Hollywood Reporter & Mondo Posters
I have talked a lot recently about Manga Studio and how in many ways it has made my life a lot easier. Mainly what I mean by that is for certain jobs and certain situations, it makes things a lot lot faster.
The other week I was asked by The Hollywood Reporter to illustrate an editorial piece on celebrity poker. With the help of Art Director Peter Curry, I really dove head first into this one...
Questions Lost In Time and Space
I have a habit of ignoring questions that are asked to me through Tumblr. A lot of them are too short for me to want to devote an entire post to, and the rest are just pretty silly. I decided to take some time and try and respond to a good handful of them here. Hopefully I can answer more than one person’s question with just a single response. But please don’t think I don’t love...
Glum Glum
A sneak peak of something in the works.
Expect some new posts and new work in a few days.
August 2011
2 posts
Manga Studio EX and Thieves' Guild Tattoos
I realized I havent really posted much of anything over the last few weeks. I have been super busy with a handful of projects that I can’t be showing off anywhere. It is one of the downsides to being an illustrator…when I am working on something I am really excited about, I am not able to show anyone!
What little down-time I have had from WORK work, has been completely consumed with...
How to Make an Ass Out of Yourself In Front of...
So you know how in Legend of Zelda, you bust your ass for days running around, collecting heart containers, wrestling Gorons, turning into a pink bunny, cursing Tingle’s existence, get tired of being called a “small fry”, shed a tear every time that little fuck with the flute turns into a log, cursing Eponia’s existence, and basically having a hell of a time with two thirds...
July 2011
5 posts
Totally Sweet Tatz & Rad Ass Rock n' Roll
This blog post has nothing to do with “totally sweet tatz” or “rad ass rock n’ roll”. The above drawings were done for the always lovely Stephanie “Moustache Daddy” Brown, who I will apparently be……tattooing in the next couple weeks? Yeah, I guess I am going to be like learning to tattoo like maybe possibly for realsies. It’s an odd...
New York Magazine | The Death of Rock n' Roll
I did this last night for the lead article in New York Magazine with the always wonderful Raul Aquila behind the Art Direction wheel. The article was on the death of rock n’ roll, but due to time and dimension constraints we weren’t really able to explore this too much. However, I am pretty pleased with the final outcome. Not only does it get the point across pretty clearly, but the...
Hoosier Ho-Down
I went back to the homeland until the end of the week. I will be back in full force shortly.
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Adobe Illustrator Is Worthless
No, I am serious. It’s worthless. Remember a few months ago when I said I was experimenting with Illustrator to see how it could possibly help me in my normal routine? Well, the verdict is out…and it cant. I have spent hours and hours and hours with AI and other than a tool for distraction, I find it far too frustrating to use for anything else…especially on a tight deadline....
Anonymous asked: Hi Matthew,
I'm a drawing major in my last year of college, and more than anything in my breathing body I want to become an illustrator, but I'm at a loss for what to do beyond self-promotion tactics. I've got the online bit down, but I don't know a whit about finding clients, or how an illustration agency works, if I need one, or about working with the music...
I'm a drawing major in my last year of college, and more than anything in my breathing body I want to become an illustrator, but I'm at a loss for what to do beyond self-promotion tactics. I've got the online bit down, but I don't know a whit about finding clients, or how an illustration agency works, if I need one, or about working with the music...
June 2011
11 posts
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Blood Orange
I had a little bit of downtime last night, and what started out as a pretty ridiculous sketch turned into this finished piece. I have had prints on the brain recently, and with the soon to be unveiled new Thumbtack Prints (with BIGGER prints!) I have been trying to make pieces specifically to be sold as prints.
As much as I love this simplified screenprinty coloring style, I have been having...
Things I Bought This Weekend For Barely Any Money
My good friend Logan runs Aosta Furniture, which is a mid-century furniture dealer and restoration project which I help with from time to time. This weekend he had a booth and the Randolph Antique Market here in Chicago. I tagged along, but promised myself I wouldn’t spend any money….and well….get me around antique tools and mid-century furniture, and of course I am not going to...
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Saint Louis Magazine & WIRED Magazine
I finished this piece this morning (along with 3 others) for Saint Louis Magazine. The articles were on geriatric care, reevaluating pain prescriptions, a stroke robot (!!), and the image above was for an article on non-for-profit world healthcare organizations. I have drawn a lot of doctors in lab coats looking serious over the years, and this job was a nice departure from the usual medical...
Comic Book Soul Mates
Me: “Instead of a werewolf, could we just have a cannibal? Is that a sufficient replacement?”
Her: “Yes please! But can the cannibal be the son of a whore and a coyote?”
This is why Becky Cloonan and I are comic book soul mates. 12 years strong.
Matthew Woodson and the Exorbitantly High FedEx...
I matted, frames, and shipped my Harry Potter piece to Gallery Nucleus yesterday. This is the first time since high school I have seen my work presented nicely, let alone not collecting dust in a flat file that I never even bother to look through. It’s amazing how a little bit of touch up and matting board can really like a piece look…well, presentable.
Unfortunately I will not be...
Baby Elephant pt II
I picked this up last friday from The Pixel Mint here in Chicago. Mat Lombardi (who apparently prints for Thumbtack too) did a fantastic job, and I really couldn’t be happier with the final outcome. I have never seen my work printed this big! I am so used to magazine tear-sheets, with sloppy color correction and cheap printing. Seeing this really makes me want to do more prints!
I also...
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Matthew Woodson and the Chamber of Secrets
This is my submission for the Nucleus Gallery Harry Potter tribute exhibition. To be honest, I am a little fuzzy on the whole thing, but I guess I will just wait and see what comes of it. This is about 18 inches by 12 inches, and is straight india ink on bristol. I made a conservative effort not to use any Pro White, because it looks absolutely dreadful in person (not scanned) and I wasn’t...
Sunday
Thirteen hours on a Sunday well spent. Especially considering that ten of the hours were while watching the WWII in HD documentary on Netflix. More on what this is later.
And now, back to work that I actually get paid to do.
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Goodbye Northlanders
I initially started to write this post in response to all the questions I have gotten about the new shift with DC and the cancelation of Vertigo books like Northlanders. But really, I have no place commenting on these things. I have just recently gotten back into comics after a ten year hiatus, and as far as being “in the industry”…well, maybe a pinky-toe in. Leave these questions to...
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The Cannibal
I have been meaning to draw this for a while. It was one of those drawings that I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like from the get go. Though once I was finishing it up, I got kind of caught up on the distress of the coloring. There is a fine line between too much and not enough, and I always feel like I am just barely stepping over the line in either direction.
This drawing came about...
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Matthew Woodson and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1
This is just a test of me trying to work out some ideas. I was recently informed of a Harry Potter tribute gallery show, that I am working on contributing to. The problem being, I have no idea what to draw! There is so much that I love about the series, it is really hard for me to just pull out an element or two and put it done on paper. I have drawn out like five different ideas in the last...
May 2011
9 posts
Deer/Dog
The aforementioned Deer/Dog, that kicks me in my sleep and ruins my hardwood floors. Panels like the top one on page 15 of The Hunt would have have been impossible without the help of this snaggletoothed bastard.
Oh, and Tumblr….make it so you can upload photos into message responses. It would save me from posting pictures of my dog as their own posts and making me look like a loser.