{"id":16329,"date":"2023-09-26T15:27:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T19:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=16329"},"modified":"2023-09-26T15:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T19:27:06","slug":"episode-556-patrick-mcdonnell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-556-patrick-mcdonnell","title":{"rendered":"Episode 556 – Patrick McDonnell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 556:
\nPatrick McDonnell<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_556_-_Patrick_McDonnell.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“I feel like I was The Watcher; I was witnessing \u2014 without interfering \u2014 this book happen. . . . The Watcher is the changeless witness to the changeful mind.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>What’s it like to put out books with Jack Kirby and the Dalai Lama in the same year? Legendary cartoonist & artist Patrick McDonnell<\/a> rejoins the show to talk about his amazing new books THE SUPER HERO’S JOURNEY<\/a> (Abrams ComicArts), his collaboration with the Dalai Lama, HEART TO HEART: A Conversation on Love and Hope for Our Precious Planet<\/a> (Harper One), and more! We get into the secret origin of The Super Hero’s Journey<\/em>, the joy of getting to play with the comic-book characters of his youth and remix 1960s panels & pages with his own art & story, how he made a spiritual book disguised as a Marvel comic, and why the best art is when your mind is not involved. We also talk about the making of Heart To Heart<\/em>, Patrick’s combination of minimal (but gorgeous) art with the Dalai Lama’s words to tell a story of ecological survival, getting to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharmshala<\/a> (& finding some bliss), and the struggle of drawing a cartoon version of His Holiness and his small nose. Plus we discuss the approaching 30th anniversary of his MUTTS<\/a> comic-strip and how Patrick keeps finding inspiration & fun in making it, how making books and paintings allows him to flex and play with his art, the ways making a comic strip parallels making haiku, the experience of showing his paintings at a big<\/em> exhibition at OSU in 2021<\/a>, and how purposefulness suffuses Patrick’s art & life. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go read The Super Hero’s Journey<\/a> and Heart To Heart<\/a>!<\/p>\n

(And go listen to our 2017 conversation<\/a>!)<\/em><\/p>\n

“I just did the Baltimore Comic-Con, and everyone who bought a book got not only my signature, but I also did a little drawing. And that was one of the happiest days of my life, just sitting at a table drawing Marvel superheroes all day.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n