Karl Stevens visited my graphic novel course to talk about his art. My students and I had a vibrant discussion of his collection Whatever the class before his visit, and they asked many perceptive questions of him when he came to class. He spoke to us of his intensive crosshatching techniques, the kinds of materials he uses, how long it takes him to do a strip (and how long it takes him to do his watercolors and oil paintings, all in a similar photo-realist style); he also spoke to us of his love of the Old Masters, especially Rembrandt. Generous and personable, Karl even gave us all a demonstration of his working process by sitting at a table at the front of the classroom and inking part of his latest Failure strip. As I'll tell my students this week, when we see it in the paper, we'll be able to say, "He drew part of that in my class!" Thanks again, Karl.

Looking forward to this Sunday's reading at Outpost 186 in Cambridge at 3 pm. Matthew Derby, Kristen Iskandrian, and John Dermot Woods are reading as part of the Small Animal Project Reading Series. (John co-edits the journal Action, Yes which will have two short prose pieces of mine in the upcoming issue. He's got a new book out which I can't wait to see; check out his blog, too, which often has the latest on cutting-edge comics and graphic novels, as well as on other innovative/experimental fiction, art, etc.)