Michael Sieben - zines 2003-2005

I was introduced to Texas artist and illustrator Michael Sieben quite a few years back from various internet surfings. I found his skull-and-skateboard drawings immediately accessible. His work showed a sense of humility, humor, and wit that I totally identified with. His drawing talents were plentiful, but it was the simplicity and playfulness of his work that spoke to me.

Not long after my initial exposure to his artwork I began to see it popping up here and there in Thrasher skateboarding magazine. His work perfectly suits skateboarding illustration with plenty of humor, bold outlines, violence, monsters, beer, sarcasm, and anthropomorphic animals. To put it simply, he was making the art I wanted to make but lacked the talent to.

Sieben's artwork has grown more popular and wide-spread with every passing season. His characters adorn products from the likes of Toy Machine, Volcom, Crownfarmer, Bueno Skateboards (which he also is somehow invested in), Vox footwear, SxSW propaganda, and Thrasher (whom he writes articles for as well). I don't know how long he'll be able to hold out against mainstream apparel brands, but you know it's coming. He also co-owns Okay Mountain gallery in Austin, the sequel to Camp Fig.

Anyways, a few years back I did some zine swaps with Sieben and let it be known that he hooked a brother up. Let's take a look:

First up is 2003's From the Cubicle. This is a mini black-and-white xerox zine of Sieben's demented doodlings during his office job which, I assume, took place in a cubicle. It features his usuall assortment of misfit monsters and sins-against-nature, plus clever jabs at the executive working environment. I really love this zine. It is simple in content and style yet accurately encapsulates the need to secretly unleash artistic creativity in an unsupportive environment. Dare I say it is heroic.

Next up is Black and White Don't Pay the Bills. This zine features a smattering of Sieben's illustrations for various skate-related ventures in their original pen-and-ink form. All this work was published after being painstakingly colored with digital methods, so this zine shows the power of the original artwork. The drawings are bold and beautiful, looking almost like woodcut prints. They are the kind of drawings that make you want to start drawing. It is also a nice glimpse at some illustrations for local newspapers or limited run t-shirts that you weren't likely to come across on your own.

Sieben has created a boat-load of work in other collaborative publications like Hitten Switches, Pretty Deece, or the recent debut of Volcomics. He probably has lots of other self-published zines from this era as well, but these are the two I have. He is a pretty friendly guy so if you email him I bet he will write you back.

So, these are zines from my personal stash so you aren't going to be able to have 'em for yourself. But, if you stay tuned, the next Rowan Morrison blog will feature two new, deluxe Michael Sieben zines (one of them which you still have the possibility of owning)! In the meanwhile, you can procure your own copies of Hitten Switches (with Sieben and Travis Millard) here and the Pretty Deece collabo-zine here.

Links: Thrasher interview - mail-Michael-Sieben-sent-me website!!! - interview on fecalface.com - bloggity blog-blog with lots of photos by Sieben himself