I had a dream or should I say, I could not sleep the night I posted the whole thing about the brush. When my conscience bothers me that much, I try to adjust everything as fast as possible. I just had no peace after posting it. But I am glad you got to read it. Robert W. Cox
April 21, 2009 12:09 PM
R.Crumb, I noticed has since, the time of our last encounter, circa 1988, has returned to the Pen. His brief period using the brush was brilliant but probably inconvenient to say the least, I dont know that for a fact but....... With the brush and India Ink, one must be careful to wash the brush after each use, as India Ink has shellac in it, causing everything to harden pretty fast. Hence, your tech pens would get permanently clogged using India ink, they say do not use india ink actually but when you use it with a brush or crow quill nib, you must be sure to use soap and water to clean the hairs and water to clean pen points after each use or kiss that brush/nib good bye. And since Crumb's pen and inks sell for around $4000 plus a piece well, if it aint broke dont fix it.
Anyway, he did emulate my brush style in 1984 in order to satire it for a fabulous piece he printed in Zap 10# 1984. We spoke a few times on the phone from 1985 till 1988, he gave me permission to reprint his satire of my comics in sequel in the Safe Comix, published by Graphic graphix in 1988. He only asked for $25 bucks a page as I re call. I asked him if he had a copy of His Sketch Book in comic book form and he sent me a personalized signed copy with in three days. (Amazing, thank you Robert) This was after I left Chicago (Cornerstone Magazine) and before Robert and his wonderful, brilliant wife Aline, moved to France.
If you get to revisit Crumb's movie, you will see them packing up their house in Northern California. A person could actually call R. Crumb on the phone at his home there by looking it up in the local phone book. I know, because that is how I called him up for an interview for Cornerstone Magazine that never got printed. I had to barter with that Robert Crumb Interview tape to buy time for my family with the editor in 1985. She took the taped interview and never published it. I got a safe haven till June of 1986 but never was allowed to publish anything of importance at JPUSA again. I was extremely marginalized after that whole incident with Crumb. The funny thing was, that while interviewing R. Crumb, he just all of sudden came out and said to me that my days at JPUSA/Cornerstone were numbered. He told me the die had been cast and I would be moving on soon. I was rather stunned by his prophesy about my future at the time. And probably more shocked when it all came true with in the same year. I did take my copyrights with me and last Fall finally created the Graphic Novel RESISTANCE: The Life Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer published by Bootleg Comix.
If there was one thing I learned and took with me from Skip Williamson. Jay Lynch, Robert Crumb and the entire Underground Comic scene it was, that my work was mine, and my copyrights of everything I do, belong to me, regardless. Thank you Robert, for challenging me that day back in 1985, I finally did my art for the sake of just doing it. Oh yeah and if you don't wash your brushes out, they don't work too good, I finally gave up the Brush and went back to the Pencil in 1989 and did some of my best work with Pencil Lead, my fingers and an Offset Heidelburg Kord One Color Press
Wait a minute! What happened to that post about Robert Williams' brushwork? Did I hallucinate that?