Paper Planes

Jun 20

“Please be kind to your neighbors”

  There’s a little bar in Seattle’s University District that I walk to every Wednesday evening so I can draw with my fiends. The bar is Cafe Racer, and on the last Wednesday morning of May, something terrible happened there. Six people are gone forever now, and a really great fellow is in the hospital. There’s no good reason for any of this, and it still makes me cry to think about.

Over the last three years, I’ve made a bunch of drawings of people and things in Cafe Racer. I never really planned on sharing most of these drawings, but these past couple weeks have had me looking through these old pictures in an attempt to make sense of things. Racer has been such a happy place for me and so many folks in Seattle, and the people there are such a dear group to me; there really is no place quite like it. I’m posting some of these old drawings now, in hopes that they’ll be a reminder of better times at Racer - the kind I remember fondly and hope to have again.

  To Leonard, a speedy recovery. And to Don, Kim, Joe, and Drew: we miss you so …  

For the survivor and families of the victims: http://www.caferacerlove.org/

May 12

This is the interior art of the previously-mentioned Landlord’s Daughter album. More details to come.

May 11

This is the cover art to an upcoming Landlord’s Daughter album.

Mar 15

For St. Patty’s day this year, I’ll be doing live stunt drawing at The Mix, along with friend and artistic colleague Billis Helg, as part of the Stay Tuned St. Patty’s Party. The event features our longtime musical associates Landlord’s Daughter, as well as We Wrote the Book on Connectors, and classic TV show theme song rock cover band Stay Tuned.

Doors open at 8 PM and there’s an $8 cover. Also, due to the coinciding holiday, the show will be 21 & up (sorry kids).

Oct 21

Also in upcoming events: I will be a guest stunt drawer along with comics super-friend Billis Helg at the next Landlord’s Daughter concert. The event poster (above) features some of my artwork with design by Landlord’s Daughter frontman Sean Michael Robinson. The concert is Friday night (October 28th) at Cafe Racer in the University District, so stop by if you’re in the neighborhood. I will draw you something nice while you listen.

Sep 20

My pals, the Sundance Kids, are about to go on tour. Here’s the album art I did for their latest, Trippy Rippers. They have a tumblr here.

Sep 2

Gaga - why not?

Apr 13

There’s a Landlord’s Daughter/Old Bottle Black concert coming up on April 23rd at Cafe Racer in the University District. Fellow artist/friend Kaia Chessen and I will be accompanying the music with live stunt drawing for the evening. Pictures start at 8 and sound at 9 - hope to see you there!

Feb 18

Beyond Rainbows: Radiohead Portrait. Colored Pencil, Digital. 2011.

About two years ago, on a cold Minneapolis night, my friend Brandon asks me, “Hey Carl, do you like Radiohead?”

“What? No! What the the hell is a Radiohead? Is that like The Facebook?”

So Brandon goes over to his computer and starts playing In Rainbows, track seven.

“Wow,” I say. “This woman has a beautiful voice.”

“Uh, actually it’s Thom Yorke’s voice. He’s the lead singer and he’s a guy.”

“Oh.” I say. “Well he has a very beautiful voice. And yes: I guess I do like The Radiohead.”

Anyway, Radiohead released a new album today. As a strange coincidence, I finished this portrait of Radiohead earlier this week.

Apr 23

I just completed work on an eight-page short story for an as-of-yet untitled anthology my friends are putting together. The story is called “A circle before we all go under”, and you can read the whole thing online here. I’ll have more details on the print edition as it gets closer to materializing (probably sometime next month).

Also, interested parties can now purchase a copy of “No One’s Looking”, the Landlord’s Daughter album featuring my artwork, by going here. For eight bucks, it’s a steal.

All the best.

-C

Paper Planes

Drawings and comics by Carl Nelson