Bad Teeth Books 5 - Draw Some More

Glenn over at Bad Teeth Comics now has the esteemed distinction of being the first person to contact me about submitting an independent art book to the Rowan Morrison Art Books Blog and then actually following-up and sending me the book. This feat is made all the more impressive as it was originated halfway around the Earth from the marsupial producing country/continent of Australia. While I couldn't guarantee that I would like what was being sent to me, I have total support for anybody putting there work out there on their own. Like I've said, "Bad art is better than no art". And, I have even more respect for anybody willing to flow me some free goods.

Luckily, Draw Some More, the 5th book from Bad Teeth, is neither "bad art" or "no art" and is quite easy to enjoy. It presents a broad creative vision incorporating comic strips, pop-culture video stills, snapshot photographs, art installation views, graffiti photos, original fine art, skateboarding, and other tasty tidbits. While the mix of subjects and mediums might initially seem a bit disconnected from each other, the more time I spent with this book the more cohesive a vision it became. A portrait of an artist, his influences, and the subsequent expressions began to emerge. Most importantly, it was a vision I could relate to. I feel like I've been drawing from the same collected, popular influences... comic books, skateboarding, hipster art, video games, sarcasm, the movies of my youth (Nightmare on Elm Street, Robocop, Goonies...), partying, and junk food. This connection is all the more pleasing when I consider this artist and I have lived on opposite ends of the planet.

However much I might understand these inputs, I still feel this book presents an undeveloped statement. It has all the exciting rawness and excitement of a young artist, but it lacks the refined vision and thoughtful craftsmanship of experience. The artistic mediums represented in the book (street art, pop reference, party photos, comic strips) don't really support one another. Someone without a context of the wider scope of "hipster art" would get lost pretty fast. When any artist puts it ALL out there, the danger of being viewed as a "jack-of-all-trades, yet master of none" is present.

In my opinion, the weakest link in the book is the Hamburger Eyes-esque photographs. Maybe it is just me, but I've seen all these photos before. Someone puking... check. Someone tagging... check. Ugly old person in public... check. Tattooed hardcore singer on stage... check. I think the overall book would have been stronger without these, but maybe it's just me getting bored with that stuff.

The object itself is 5.5" x 8", 100 pages, perfect bound, black and white (with color cover), printed on various tinted papers, with most pages either being full-page or bisected into two images. Other than web links, there is no publication data or writing at all. I would have preferred straight-up white paper, and maybe an edition numbering, but that is just me nit-picking. My interweb research has come up with a retail price of $15, but I don't know if that is in US greenbacks or Oz-dollars (AKA dollaradoos), and what the difference would be either way.

In summary, Draw Some More stands tall in the world of art zines and is a fun and fascinating work from a young artist working in a lot of mediums. I look forward to seeing the evolution (and hopefully some refinement) in the Bad Teeth books series (the next one is already in the works and slated for a mid-2008 release). Unless it has a picture of some dude in a hotel room with a bunch of cash fanned out on the bed in front of him... in that case I'm over it. Let this book inspire you to stop waiting for whatever it is you are waiting for and put your art out there. Hell yeah.

Order your own copy of this and some other Bad Teeth books and products at the Bad Teeth web store.

other links for Bad Teeth Comics: website - myspace - blog