Mundane Moments as a Caped Crusader

Lynda Barry, Batman and Me.

This past year I have been focused on crafting my own stories - writing them, drawing them. I’m trying to get as many of these stories to a “finish-line,” as much as possible. Which to me means a shareable format.

A warmup for storytelling and sketching that has really resonated with me is; Drawing Moments of Your Day as Batman. That boring task you had to do that maybe felt incredibly mundane, really does look awesome when you see Batman perform it. Not only do I make myself laugh while scribbling down a memory, but I really do feel better about myself and many times, more accomplished.

I mean, this is what I look like right now while writing this,

Awesome, I know.

My first year of CalArts, I was introduced to the work of cartoonist Lynda Barry. It was 2008 and there were a lot of other things going on, blah blah blah - it’s now 2024 and I just got back around to reading, seeing and really understanding what Barry was saying. What It Is.

I’ve been in a deep dive and have been collecting her books to read and have binged all readily available talks/lectures on YouTube. In Barry’s “Making Comics,” she really breaks down accessing personal creativity into consumable nuggets - all with the goal of getting you, the reader or a classroom of students to start telling YOUR stories. After working through several of the prompts, it makes total sense to me why it was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2019 and why the New York Times called it; “the self-help book of the year.”

Here are my moments as Batman¹,

I have been using a talens notebook with a parallel pen and watercolor then touched digitally.

I have enjoyed this exercise and sharing these images. These moments are 6 months old, and compiling them into a shareable format beyond just in my sketchbook has been a meaningful practice. I’ve been working on future articles and short form stories. If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you too can look like Batman on the lookout for mail².

1. A note on Batman: I grew up with Batman: The Animated Series and Kevin Conroy is the voice I hear when I think of the Dark Knight. My choice for the live action films is Batman & Robin, I know, I know - the least popular, but for me it ticks all the boxes for campy callbacks …. and this is why my Batsuit has nipples. Batman is a registered trademark of DC/Warner Brothers, all rights to them. This is meant as fan art for educational purposes.

2. This is a free post and a handful my future posts and musings will be free. I have enabled a paywall for my newsletter and some future work will be behind paid subscriber paywall. I’m working on making these posts a regular thing and if you are in the position to support my work, thank you. Free forms of support include sharing my work with friends and/or checking out my small business - Busy Hands Studio - handcrafted artist supplies. I used a small 4-pan palette to mix my watercolors.