Don MacDonald

I’ll be at Arisia in Boston this weekend. Arisia is a general interest SF/fantasy/comics/anime convention. I’ll be talking about non-fiction comics on Friday, non-superhero comics on Sunday, and I’ll be giving a pen/ink/watercolor comics workshop on Sunday as well. I hope I’ll see you there! Here’s the full schedule. There’s a lot going on.

In case you didn’t notice (it’s kind of subtle up there on the menubar), I’ve added a links page* where I’ve highlighted eight artists whose work I enjoy. If you’re not there, or you know of someone you think I’d like that I’ve omitted, let me know in e-mail or via Twitter. I will be [...]

I decided to take a moment in between Chapters 7 and 8 to look back on the things I’ve posted this year, it being the holidays and all. I’d kind of like Chapter 8 not to fall into the black hole of the holidays, so I’ll be starting it next week. Then again, maybe I [...]

For your enjoyment, a panorama of pages 128 and 129, joined together by the magic of computers. Click on the image above to see it in its full widescreen glory. Enjoy your weekend!

Here’s another master study, about 40 minutes, a detail of HMS Duke from Nicolas Pocock’s Battle of the Saintes . See also my Parmigianino study from a couple of months back.

I am working on a linked list of the websites of artists and writers who I fell are worthy of your consideration. Since it’s not quite done yet, I want to draw your attention to John A. Walsh’s excellent Go Home Paddy right now, because he is in the last week of a successful Kickstarter [...]

By popular request, a new poster, with today’s daily affirmation from The Prince, chapter 18. Click on the image to get the full-size, printable picture.

The New Inquiry has a fascinating dialogue on the role of the reactionary in conservatism, featuring Corey Robin, author of The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism From Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, and Daniel Larison, writer and editor at the American Conservative. Corey Robin’s thesis is that a central goal of conservatism is “to defend power and [...]

So. I made this. I find that if I don’t keep track of where my time is going, I tend to find myself wondering at 11:30pm where the evening went. I used to just keep track on a sheet of notebook paper, but I figured I could have some fun with it. I based it [...]

The original sketch:   First stamp:   First stamp refined:   Sketch for second stamp, with pencil indicating changes I wanted to make:   Second stamp, which I made by printing the first stamp onto a fresh eraser as a guide. Do you see my error?   Second stamp, finished. There will be another iteration [...]