Riposte Card No. 11: Eager eggs!

Or, George Carlin by James Braithwaite

James Braithwaite is an Oscar-nominated illustrator, animator, writer, tea-towler, newsletterist at The Bathwater, and creator of January’s Riposte Card, which riffs on this excellent joke:

“If you can’t beat ‘em, arrange to have them beaten.”
— George Carlin

We can all agree that the Bill and Ted franchise would be immeasurably poorer without Carlin. Subscribe via the button below to get these adorable eggs mailed to your house this week!

Here’s a look at Braithwaite’s drafts, as well as a meta sketch he shared with me and that I’ll share with you, because that’s how this whole darn human comoedy keeps perpetuating itself.

And here’s his Obligatory Questionnaire:

What's your go-to item in a well-stocked stationery store?

I am a complete sucker for buying new sketchbooks. I have to tamp down the growling desire to buy new ones, because I have a looming stack that is threatening to fall and squish me. 

Where do you go for inspiration and/or information?

I have always been hesitant to absorb too much inspiration. I worry if I go around ambiently hoovering up inspiration, it will inveigle itself into my work without me realizing. I wonder if that's creatively cramping my own growth, but it has worked so far. I have recently, however, broken down a few drawings of illustrators I really admire (thinking Searle and Scarry at the moment) to absorb how they approach a scene and shift my literal and figurative perspective. 

Is there one joke, witticism, or aphorism you live by?

Live by. No. But one I would get tattooed on my leg? Maybe. . 

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana" Groucho Marx

What's the best thing to put on toast?

My friend once asked me why I was being so stingy with the butter on my toast. "Pretend you are French. Put it on like a slice of brie," he said. My life, and my arteries, have never recovered from this comment. 

What work are you most proud of, and how can people support it?

This is a tough one. I find that as soon as I have finished a work of anything, I immediately forget about it and move on. This has not helped me in the marketing department of my career. So, I think I'm most proud of what I am working on right now. I'm making a series of kid's books with my friend José Lourenço and running a fledgling arts and comics school for kids called Hot Pizza, with my friend Julia Dault. They can support it by going to Hot Pizza Studio, and signing up for a class, or buying a tea towel, totebag, or other such nonsense on my site and keeping me in butter.