Tonight we’ve invited one of Tacoma’s most prolific illustrators, Mr. Stan Shaw, into our temple lounge for an intimate conversation about his art, his life and his dreams yet to be realized. A reclusive and mysterious cartoonist, on odd numbered days (spirit willing), you can see him in the peripheral of a  C.L.A.W. sketchbook open swim meeting… he’ll be the tall, dark and scimitar wielding gentlemen reminiscent of Morgan Freeman’s character from the 1991 film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Really, there is no mistaking Mr. Stan Shaw.

CLAW: Describe your methods of art production. Do you use a wacom tablet directly in Photoshop? Or do you sketch then pen+ink first?

STAN SHAW: Basically, I use tricks learned while traveling with Circus folk and grifters. But I do favor a few tools. My personal favorites are crow quill pens, Hunt 102 and the Intel Mac. I’ve worked conventionally (pen and ink, brush, cow chips, airbrush, pencil) and digitally (Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, Sketchbook Pro, and InDesign) switching between a mouse and a pen stylus. I give clients fairly tight sketches for approval or feedback then develop from there using whatever tool or method works best for the project.

As far as comics go, look and speed are two big factors. For an Oscar Wilde story in Graphic Classics, I did very, very rough, tiny thumbnails in pencil, then went directly to producing final art in Painter. That went blindingly fast. (Thanks for reminding me.) For “Near Art” in City Arts, there were a bunch of steps: rough sketch, script, rough with lettering, tight pencils, blue-line pencil, corrections, inked art, colored art and finally, lettering. Slow going: two hours vs three days.

When I create art for myself, I work however. There’s usually some procedural experiment going on. Or inebriation.

CLAW: You have worked with graphic giants like Art Chantry; your name invokes trembling from within the creative forces behind Beautiful Angle. How did you get to be so awesome? PART II: On a scale from 1 to awesome, how awesome are you.

STAN SHAW: Part I: Clean living and vitamins. Part II: Awesome is like a box of chocolates. There’s always the unexpected nut inside. Or, god forbid, some unidentifiable goo. I think Art, Lance and Tom are awesome. I find what they do so inspiring that it makes me want to do better stuff. (I feel a tremble coming on.)

CLAW: Stan Shaw is a name synonymous with attractively drawn people, especially the ladies. Describe your moral perspective when it comes to nudity. Where do you draw the line (if you know what I mean)?

STAN SHAW: Moral perspective about rendering nudity? People are more willing to laugh at nudity than drool over it. Except for fans of internet porn (Mark, you know who you are.). Off the record? My cartoon characters look better in clothes.

CLAW: What projects are you currently working on? What are some of your favorite projects? What is your take on the Obama with Hitler-stash phenomenon popular with republicans and other crazy people?

STAN SHAW: Current Work? Top secret wet work covert operations for a certain large software company to the north.

Fav Work? I like fun. I like cool. I like to think and challenge my abilities. I’ve been illustrating a weekly political column for The Village Voice. That’s interesting. Mostly, though, I like work that pays since, you know, Illustration is how I make my living.

And I’m always looking for work: Please contact hey@drawstanley.com for a free estimate. Or share your budget, we’ll figure something out.

The Obama with the Hitler stash is real old school political cartooning stuff. But it lacks any real creativity. You can put a Hitler-stash on anything. (Try it at home! Kids, ask your parents first!) A more creative move had Obama sporting Vulcan ears.

For the record, I turned down a gig that was Obama-hatin’.

CLAW: Why wont you join CLAW already? What are you afraid of… ? Stowe?

STAN SHAW: We should all be afraid of Stowe. He’s permanently connected to a computer via his Wacom. Maybe he’s a cyborg? Besides, HE DECORATES CAKES! That can’t be a good sign. And you’re mistaken. I am a member of CLAW, just not in the way most members become members, you know, by actually joining. And I don’t wear the fez or pay the dues or go to all the meetings.

for more information on Mr. Stan Shaw visit http://drawstanley.com or subscribe to his blog feed here at http://www.drawstanley.blogspot.com/

But wait there’s more!

SPECIAL ‘STAN SHAW’ BONUS ILLUSTRATED CLASSIC LITERATURE COMIC (pdf download)

The Great Northwest Pumpkin Crab

Are you feeling dead? Rejuvenate yourself by attending this week’s Open Swim. The CLAW (Cartoonists League of Absurd Washingtonians) will be having their Open Swim this Wednesday evening. The Open Swim is for both member and non-members. Anyone who wants to be part of the festivities is welcomed. Besides the usual hijinks of doodling and preparing the path for the robotic overlords, there just might be a secret ceremony performed. The time and location are:

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. October. 28th 2009
The Mandolin Café
3923 S 12th St
Tacoma, WA 98405
(In the New and Improved back room, to the left of the performance stage.)
RSVP if you can, space is limited. Feel free to bring a friend, but as this is an adult only event, no kids.

Mark Monlux, RR Anderson and James Stowe ready themselves for battle.

When John Munn, owner of Comic Book Ink, opened his fine establishment to the members of The CLAW, we were under the illusion that he would only be able to fit in six illustrators. And with only three CLAW members participating (Mark Monlux, RR Anderson and James Stowe) and the store staff, it was thought we might be several hours of quiet and semi-lonely work. How wrong we were. A pack of teenage girls with endless idea and topics to fill the night took up residence at one table. Lone wolf cartoonists with no affiliation to anyone found tables and chairs. And there was an endless stream of customers came through. Most of those folks were bringing food to Stowe who offered to draw anyone who brought him grub into the strip. There were dozens upon dozens of store, and home prepped baked goods stacking up. I’ve not experienced such a sugar high since Halloween ’73. The place was filled with food, people, chatter, and a lot of potential distractions for are steady competitors.

A Gaggle of Giggles.

Regular participants and fans of the Frost Park Chalk Challenge dropped by, as did other CLAW members, and fans of The CLAW, to cheer on the competitors. All were directed to the Student Scholarship Fund Jar to make a donation. We are happy to report that during the 24 Hour Comic Challenge the fund grew from $100 to $368. Warren Caves, owner of Tacoma Art Supply, provided the largest contribution of $200. Many thanks to all those who stuffed a bill into the jar. All funds donated to the Student Scholarship during 2009 will be awarded to our next scholarship winner in 2010.

James Stowe and RR Anderson hard at work.

While the veteran Mark Monlux was a favorite to finish first with two previous 24 hours under his belt, his page count quickly fell behind early in the competition. And he would not regain ground. Meanwhile Stowe manages to produce each page just under an hour. He even had time to allow Kevin Freitas to establish a video feed from Stowe’s desktop and webcam to www.feedtacoma.com. Who exactly was watching Stowe draw at four in the morning we don’t know, but there were six viewers. And there were additional viewers during the sane hours. Even with the time taken to do computer tinkering Stowe managed to finish first and before the deadline. His victory dance was a thing of beauty. RR Anderson managed a final push in the last hours and completed the challenge as well. Even one of the girls from the gossiping horde at the next table completed her work under the deadline. Sadly, Mr. Monlux disappointed us all by only completing seventeen pages. He will carry his shame until he has a chance to redeem himself at the next competition.

The CLAW was proud to participate in the 24 Hour Comic Challenge. We thank Comic Book Ink for hosting both the event and us. Postings of the various stories created will be posted once we figure out the best was of dealing with file sizes. Meanwhile, here are some links to the story art posted at the artists’ websites.

Link to Stowe’s Comic.

Link to Monlux’s Comic.

Link to RR’s Comic.