Local maestro of minimal space Warren Craghead is halfway through his 30 Days of Comics project, for which he’s been creating a four-panel comic every day in November. 30 Days of Comics was started by artist Derik Badman as the visual answer to National Novel Writing Month, and this year he’s been joined by a whole host of artists from around the world. Some of Craghead’s favorites include Jason Overby (Oregon), Wesley Osam (Iowa), Simon Moreton (UK), Allan Haverholm (Sweden) and an artist from Brazil who draws under the moniker thaleslira.
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Craghead drew his November 1 comic while looking at video from inside the cockpit of one of the cars in the Australian Grand Prix. As with the rest of Craghead’s work, the piece takes its energy from spontaneity, and from an imagistic, non-linear approach to narrative. Of course, even on-the-fly comic artists have trouble finishing projects, and this month, Craghead has enjoyed the focusing power of the daily deadline, as well as the company of other artists working on the same project.
If Craghead’s comics are hard to pin down, it’s because they insist on being both accessible and cryptic at the same time. He’s created stories inspired by the poetry of Wallace Stevens and Guillaume Appollinaire, done a series of mail and street art based on the idea of "the world as a sketchbook," and produced a number of DIY books that can be downloaded, printed out and put together from the comfort of home or the furtive boredom of the office. His latest project featured images he drew from live feeds of the Arab Spring, many of which are no larger than Post-It notes.
You can follow Craghead’s progress through the rest of the month here. Which reminds me, how’s that novel coming along?