This February First Thursday meet Seattle’s finest cartoonists associated with “Friends of the Nib”, a weekly cartoonist’s salon founded by Jim Woodring (Jim, Frank) and Bob Rini. Formed over a year ago, “Friends of the Nib” meet each Wednesday at Café Racer, near Woodring’s Ravenna home. “I wanted to create an informal meeting place for young artists to draw comics and network,” he explains. “I’ve only recently met most of the artists, and many of them aren’t professional cartoonists. Anyone can participate.” Many successful cartoonists regularly attend to mentor aspiring artists.

Portland art lovers are invited to view their latest show here at Floating World Comics. Cartoonists are also encouraged to bring their pads and pens for any impromptu drawing sessions that may take place!

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 7th, 6-10PM


(poster by Scott Faulkner and David Lasky)

Founded by visionary cartoonist Jim Woodring and Bob Rini, “Friends of the Nib” is a modern cartoonist salon. Cartoonists participating include: Jim Woodring, Bob Rini, Kinoko, Dalton Webb, Mark Campos, Matt Tamaru, Sara Spink, Angela Stork, Max Clotfelter, Scott Faulkner, and David Lasky. Schedules permitting, all artists plan to attend the event.

Jim Woodring (http://www.jimwoodring.com/) once told The Comics Journal that the desire to draw something that “wasn’t there” was always of “paramount importance”. His work still has a very surreal and dreamlike quality that is best represented in his newer paintings and his popular Frank comic strip.

“The ancient myths and folk tales of all cultures which have been preserved for so many centuries have meaning for us today because the fantastic elements in them are rooted in immutable reality. The Frank stories belong to this class of literature.”
-Francis Ford Coppola

Bob Rini (http://www.robertrini.com/) is an artist whose work is inspired by classical art as well as offbeat popular illustration, film noir, illuminated manuscripts, sideshow banners, cigar bands, Mexican wrestling posters, and foreign and domestic currency.

Kinoko (http://www.kinokogallery.com/) is an artist with love for printmaking and illustration. Her work has been featured in Anteism, Tablet Magazine, Yeti and in self published works. Kinoko is also an electronic music producer and dj.

Dalton Webb (http://www.mrmanifesto.com/) makes a living as a game designer, as well as a cartoonist and illustrator. His interest in design and illustration lies in the “old school” way of thought, and amassing a library of old lettering, illustration and art books that range from the 1900s to the 1970s.

Mark Campos has worked as an artist on many DC and Marvel comics but also on indy hits like Naughty Bits and his own anthology Moxie, My Sweet which features artwork by fellow Nibsters, Dalton Webb and David Lasky.

Matt Tamaru (http://www.matttamaru.blogspot.com/) founded Plexipixel, an animation, game dev, web dev, and digital design company in Seattle. Their animators have been honored with Flash Forward and Addy Awards for their innovation and creativity.

Sara Spink is the creator of the experimental film ‘One Dog Walking’ which was inspired by research into Mexican art and culture. To explore her own journey through life, she created a skeleton dog as a mixed-media sculpture, which she then used in short, experimental animations combining stop motion animation, time lapse photography, and pixilation.

Angela Stork (http://www.angelastork.com/) is a cartoonist and painter who graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design in 2005. She has since worked for Last Gasp and Fantagraphics Books, assisting in the production of their Peanuts and Dennis the Menace HC collections.

Max Clotfelter (http://www.scubotch.com/maxinfo.html) attended the Savannah College of Art & Design and graduated with a MFA in Sequential Art in 2004. His comics are available from the comic collective and distributor Scubotch website.

Scott Faulkner (http://www.vinylsaurus.com/index.html) is a publisher of mini comics and has appeard in Matte magazine and SPX anthologies.

David Lasky (http://www.davidlasky.info/) co-created Urban Hipster, a popular indy comic from the 90′s with Greg Stump. He’s illustrated song lyrics by Belle and Sebastian, “The Last Days of Joe Strummer”, and also a miniature version of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’.

If you are interested in obtaining an interview or providing coverage of this event please contact Jason Leivian. A selection of digital imagery is also available in a variety of formats.

Floating World Comics
20 NW 5th Ave 101, Portland, OR 97209
Store hours: Everyday 11-7pm