Have been working on drawings inspired by various financial articles - particularly this article by Michael Hudson. Have made a drawing around a quote from this article:

At the same time I’ve been working on building a collage generator, with the idea of generating backgrounds that I can use in my drawings - or maybe as a way of speeding up my drawing process. If I can get a machine to do some of it, then why not? But mostly I’m interested in the ubnexpected results that collage throws up.

Here’s the generator (only works on Firefox): http://davemiller.org/tools/collage_generator/

And here are a few collages I made today:

The next step is to pull all this together - drawings and writings - into a booklet -story.

Always found Posy Simmonds really talented. Here’s an interview in the Guardian.

‘A graphic novel is like a film. There are close-ups and long-shots. You choose the location and the props. You do the make-up and the lighting and you get the characters to act.’

This week cartoonist Mark Fiore made Internet and journalism history as the first online-only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize. Fiore took home the editorial cartooning prize for animations he created for SFGate, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle.

I spoke with Fiore about his big win and plans for his business. Fiore is not on staff at the Chronicle, or anywhere else; since 1999, he’s run a syndication business, selling his Flash animations à la carte to TV, newspaper, and magazine websites for about $300 a piece. (The price varies by size of the outlet.) In a typical month, he might have about eight clients. Before 1999, he ran a similar syndication business for his print cartoons, using a lower-price-per-image, higher-volume model.

When I asked about the next phase of his business, curious if it will include a mobile element, Fiore said he’s definitely hopeful about mobile devices. “I think the iPads and anything iPod to iPhone — to maybe a product not made by Apple — will be good or could be good for distributing this kind of thing,” he said.

I especially liked Donald Parsnip’s Daily Journal newstand - what a good idea - a small daily - front page news.

Great discussion on RSS/ feeds/ networked stories/ comics/ Eliza - all my interests. I should get back into this!

Austerity pictures
To take this project further - am only part way through.
I want to make handouts - A5 size- really cheap laser colour prints double sided- have picked out the best ones - these 13 - and do a big run of each(500?):
–> Bonuses are back!
–> casino (version 1)
–> Gucci
–> Aspiration
–> Celebrate
–> Bingo
–> Charitable giving
–> Privileged
–> Casino (version 2)
–> Socially useless
–> Strip for the bankers
–> Trickle down hope
–> Greek riots

- maybe double sided A5 or A6 - leaflets
- with explanatory text on one side
- & info on each : http://davemiller.org/projects/bailouts_bonuses_austerity/
- & each handout leads them to my Etsy shop, to purchase large prints

I’ve found a printer in Margate that can do A5 1000 copies double-sided for £18.95. Trouble is - it’s in Margate!

Why do this?
- for publicity and sales - each print leads them to my Etsy shop (get the prints ready on there - describe/ label so that easily identified)
- as a political art gesture - engaging with the perpetrators. I’ve engaged with the victims so far - shops/ pub/ working club in south London (I need to document this) and - now I want to deal with the people who caused the crisis/ and those who profit from it.
- as an art event/ performance - record it/ video it?

Cheap prints
- do research - where?
- can I do this really cheaply - I’ve found that cheap prints distort the colour, but generally looks ok, sometimes even better - depends on the settings.
- experiment with cheap printing - what’s possible - and how it alters the products, and the art

I’ve recently been showing prints of my austerity series of drawings. I want these drawings to be things that people will want to possess and own, yet make people think and question, even stir up trouble - in a positive way. Ideally I want them to be seen and owned by different sides of the struggle: by the Bankers, the rich elites but also by ordinary folk. I aim to show and sell the drawings in different formats and prices in suitable locations.
To achieve this, so far I have shown prints in two South London shops, and am showing in the South Norwood & Woodside Social Club, and the Albert Tavern, a pub in South Norwood, as part of “snaf”.

The next challenge is to show them in places where the bankers go. This may be in a gallery near or in the City, near the Bank of England would be fun, or a restaurant or pub that bankers frequent. This could prove a little tricky to arrange, but am going to try. I want to stir them up, try to get a reaction. I also want to hand-out pamphlet versions on the streets, or place drawings into free newspapers (Metro for example).

Why graphic novels are more than picture perfect

Four leading political cartoonists reveal what inspires them.

Today I put up 5 framed pictures in the South Norwood & Woodside Social Club, as part of the South Norwood Arts festival, running from 12-18 July. It’s a bit of an obscure place to put them, but I thought it was fitting, as it’s where local working people come to relax, and I think they’ll relate to the pictures. I hope they read the texts I’ve provided, explaining each work, and then they should make more sense. These are A2 size digital prints, and am trying to sell at £85 each, so hopefully get a sale. I know I should be showing these works at the right level, which is probably a serious gallery, to get the right price and recognition, but I want my work to be seen by ordinary folk, not stuffy art people.