Art Swap 2013: Your Trip to New Orleans

New Orleans: it's all t-shirt shops and restaurants.

Jesse Roessler submitted this week's final Art Swap entry, the story behind his five-page comic and 
 postcard collection, Your Trip to New Orleans:

You resist the urge to reach out and touch the gator.

The inspiration for the postcard project came from a good friend of mine coming to stay. As we were going around town sightseeing (as well as doing touristy things such as a swamp tour), I started thinking about what makes visits to the city unique and what parts of the experience are consistent across visits. It can seem that whatever odd things one comes across are actually quite normal thanks to their consistency.

St. Louis Cemetery #1. "All the graves have to be above ground," the guide explains. "We're essentially standing on water."

The comic is a bit of lagniappe (the term used down here for "a little extra"). I've been making poorly drawn, loosely plotted comics since I was bored studying for an AP Art History exam in high school. The theme is, well, my frustration with having to answer the question "why did you move to New Orleans?" as if there were one solid answer.


Jesse Roessler is currently a graduate student in clinical health at Loyola University in New Orleans. You can read more of his musings and adventures at his blog, crawfishclovis.

That's all the Art Swap projects for this year, and I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who participated, followed the weekly blog entries, retweeted links, shared Facebook posts, and in general spread the love.  Watch for info about next year's swap in late winter or early spring.  

Interested in joining for 2014?  Post in the comments, e-mail ianmrogers[at]hotmail[dot]com, or hit me up through the usual channels.

Art Swap 2013: Pillow Creatures

Eden Scheans's Art Swap project appears as a normal set of miniature pillows on one side...

...with sharp pointed teeth and asymmetrical button eyes on the other.  Each one has a name and comes with a set of personality traits listed in the pocket of the mouth.  My Tolkien-esque wilderness scene creature (top photo, second from left) has a penchant for folk music and rich food:

Name: Lawrence
Fave Food: Trail Mix
Likes: Bird Watching
Dislikes: Tourists
Fave Beer: Guinness
Fave Band: Mumford & Sons
Vices: Psychedelic Mushrooms

In addition to her talents as a seamstress, Eden also co-founded a her own cotton candy business, Fairy Floss Northwest.

Art Swap 2013: Soldiers of Love

Joe Handschiegel was going to give everyone a set of boobs for the Art Swap, but circumstances, alas, did not work out in his favor.  His backup plan was this set of army soldier paintings in all different colors, though two prints featured hearts only.  How's that for symbolism?

Why read a boring bio of Joe when you can play along to an interactive Easily Distracted game show based on his hobbies and adventures? (Click on Episode 8.)  He also has his own IMDB page.

Art Swap 2013: The Interquest Explorer Treasure Hunt

Hidden among the prints and the photos and the calligraphy, each Art Swap envelope contained a scrap of paper with this image:

Those who followed that link embarked on an online scavenger hunt of epic proportions, a hunt that takes them through the internet's most popular hangouts and darkest corners, with every step testing the explorer's creativity, cunning, and skill with a mouse.  One clue leads to another, and the puzzles are sometimes obscure, usually funny, and always full of animator Jeff Gill's trademark doodles.  Successful explorers will earn themselves a prize, and the final reward (I won't spoil it here!) is well worth the effort. 

What are you waiting for?  Give it a try - Click this link to get started!

Good luck in your quest.

Jeff Gill is a for-serious animator who's worked on South Park and other shows, and whose cartoons, doodles, and musical stylings can be found scattered about the web:
Animations on Youtube (sample below!)
More animations on Vimeo
Goodbye Spacebar, a daily blog of doodles
Songs Jeff made up in his car while stuck in Los Angeles traffic