Thursday, April 25, 2024

the art of Chris Ware



why chris ware?

(american, born, 1967) ware has exploded into the world scene with a personal message supported by highly original images. 

he's a cartoonist known for his Acme Novelty Library series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels Jimmy Corrigan, Building Stories (2012) and Rusty Brown (2019). 

his work explores themes of social isolation, emotional torment and depression. he often refers to himself in the publicity for his work in self-effacing, even withering tones. he is considered by some critics to be among the best currently working in the medium.  ware has developed a language of simple & yet powerful graphics. 

this is very important for you:

Rusty Brown, Ware’s first graphic novel since 2012’s Building Stories, is anchored by the inconsequential events of a single day in a school in Ware’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, in 1975. It tells the interwoven stories of the titular pre-teen bully magnet and a handful of characters with whom his life, however glancingly, intersects. As readers of Ware will have come to expect, it’s mordantly melancholy and drawn and plotted with extraordinary precision.

what are ware's influences? 

1. Winsor McCay (Little Nemo in Slumberland), 



2. Frank King (Gasoline Alley), 


he recreates both,


ware's work for NYTimes:


ware for the the new yorker:



what's ware secret? 

* look for your own experiences &
* transform your world into statements about the human condition,
* execute clear, accesible drawings,  
* think like the child you are,
* vernacular = universal,