Though it does not come naturally to either of us, Robbi and I do our best to run Idiots’Books as a business. We have a spreadsheet on which we keep track of how much we take in and how much we spend. The numbers are a dizzying affair. We have a sense that we are breaking even, but results are inconclusive. Let’s just say, I’m not yet ready to quit my day job.
In spite of our constant wrestling with financial realities, Robbi has decided that the time is now to give away some art. I asked her why, and she said she thought it “would be nice.” I asked her how we were planning to leverage free art into personal gain, and she said that she wasn’t interested in that sort of thing. In spite of my deliberate attempts to squeeze every nickel out of every single thing that Robbi draws, she sees Idiots’Books as a nice sort of small press that promotes beauty and champions the everyman.
Blech, I say. And phooey. And fie.
But Robbi is always right (one of the governing mantras of my life), and so I will tell you her plan: once a month or so we post an original illustration and send it forth with no exchange of dollars to some reader of this blog. All you have to do to proclaim your interest is post a comment to this entry. We will choose at random among those of you who do. I suggested that we award the prize to the cleverest response, but apparently Robbi has no use for cleverness. She just wants to give away some art. It rankles to my very core.
So comment if you are interested, and when you do, feel free to write anything. Even “fie” will do the trick, as will “phooey” and “blech.” I already have my comment prepared, and it involves all three of these words.
Here’s the aforementioned free art, a little ditty called But it Feels Like Autumn, the third in the series of unexpected images that Robbi drew the other day.
And here’s a detail. I like how when you look up close, it just becomes a pile of paint.
Disgustedly, I await your comments. We’re giving you a week to come up with something to say. We’ll announce the winner next Tuesday afternoon.
in the last couple months, i’ve been trying to keep track of such numbers for my comics and things, not so much to see if i’m breaking even as to determine how long i can continue to lose money at the current rate before needing to get a real job and/or resort to some unsavory means of income augmentation. this new practice made for a rather miserable first day at mocca, where one’s losses can become devastatingly apparent if one chooses to notice them.
i turned to my table-mate, artist/philosopher neil brideau, and, hoping to commiserate, asked how he was doing. “awesome,” he replied, disconcertingly. “i’m surrounded by comics!”
so armed, my second day was considerably more pleasant.
which is to say, i’m completely, absolutely, 100% with robbi on this one, at least half the time. (the rest of the time, i’m kind of hungry.)
Kenan – that’s way more than “Blech. Phooey. Fie.”
You’re fired.
Lovely
yo
My favorite are the black ink spots.
The colors scream 1960’s to me. I think its the shade of orange mixed with the blue and brown.
I love my earth tones.
My comment is “want”.
Well, I am delighted to line up for free art. As well as for not free art. It will be a nice diversion from my current pastime of bidding up Robbi’s weekly auction without ever actually winning anything.
fart. wet fart.
found you from Ephblog… have not won any Ebay auctions yet so happy to try for the random type of win instead.
Fi. Fooey. Bletch. Ick. All done!
Ronit, I provided three perfectly acceptable words to use when commenting on this post. “Lovely” was not among them.
Marigold, I wish that Robbi had been willing to let me award the prize to he who provided the most insightful comment. You would already have won, the rest of the week bedamned.
Jessica, your comment seems to have cut off after the first two letters. I’m assuming you meant to write, “Your assumption that Robbi is always right is wrong. Man up, already.”
As for the rest of you, thanks for getting the ball rolling. I look forward to giving one of you some free art.
Phooey.
(and huzzah! FREE THINGS ROCK!)
oh, it’s so beautiful!
Free stuff is great. This illustration reminds me of the dwarf trees along the Taconic Crest Trail in Williamstown.
Since Robbi commented does that mean she’ll be included in the random drawing?
(and I guess that goes for Matthew too.. phooey)
Matthew: I was hoping to win in the category of “shortest comment”
Complimentary complementaries?
Cool.
Thank you, Robbi, for giving a voice to those of us with nothing witty or clever to say.
X
Stella, Way to go, crushing Jessica’s dreams of leaving the shortest comment!
As I have no delusions about leaving witty comments, I must say, I’ve recently discovered you and Robbi and enjoy the banter almost as much as the art.
Jennifer,
Good banter IS art. That’s why it’s more fun when more people jump in the ring.
Matthew
Gorgeous, takes me back to crisp New England falls.
<>
Damn.
Weird, I meant to quote Matthew in those brackets:
“Stella, Way to go, crushing Jessica’s dreams of leaving the shortest comment!”
Jennifer – when Matthew BEGS for more people to jump in the ring like that, you can tell he’s losing.
Jeremy – I like it when people call me “Gorgeous”. It makes me feel like Marilyn Monroe, before Matthew drew her. You were calling ME gorgeous, right?
Jessica,
Technically, someone could submit a comment with zero characters, trumping Stella, but I think I’d have to cry foul. That wouldn’t, technically speaking, be a comment, would it? We might have to consult a linguistics expert, who could argue that the absence of utterance is, in fact, utterance.
But such an argument might be too heady for this blog.
Matthew
Please?
Free art is my favorite kind of art!
Count me in! And if any British people named Scott comment, just ignore them. I mean, he’s okay, but I don’t know that he deserves free art.
mmmmm
Seriously? You’re giving this away? Am I on candid camera?
Thanks so much for giving us a shot at this beautiful piece!
I love you guys.
Diane,
Perhaps you missed it, but the winner will be chosen at RANDOM. This flattery will get you nowhere. With me, at least. Robbi will probably fall for it.
Matthew
Sweet. But you really ought to bait-and-switch us for something lesser and put this one up for auction to rake in the big bucks. If everyone in this comment thread bids thrice, you’ll do nicely.
Hmm.. highly suspicious. This doesn’t seem very American to me.. giving something away for nothing at all?.. usually you guys have pages of small print just to buy a newspaper never mind win something for ‘free’.
And why are people kissing your ass? ‘Beautiful piece’, ‘please’, ‘gorgeous’.
Blech.
whatever, robbi, that’s the last time i half-heartedly defend you sorta.
Goodness gracious me, I can’t beleive that Matthew has a job where they take pics of you and post it on a work website! That’s like a real job! I actually gasped out loud, it took me by such suprise. I mean, I don’t really know you all, but I was wondering how you could afford to live so lavishly the way you jetset around to Canada and such. Now the jig is up.
Peggy – yeah, the low-rent situation doesn’t hurt either. We are lucky to have Matthew’s job (only half-time) and my parents (full-time, but with babysitting and homesteading benefits) to make this three-ring circus work. That being said, it just means Matthew does TWICE as much work as we thought. He’s making me look bad…
I’m fairly sure that real jet-setters would have flown to Toronto.
Neat idea! And with that I say:
Dibs.
Recent graduate desires inexpensive-yet-quality art in an economy that threatens to devour all of her part-time minimum wage income.
Have a great summer!
I love art.
I am also a graduate student (read: dirt poor).
This thread reminds me of the game we played at the end of Pictures & Words with the books, the drawing pad, and lots of grabby hands. Those were the days…