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I read Keef's stuff for free..How does he make any money?"

K Chronicles.com Blog

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

*UGH...I SPELLED "QUEUE" WRONG IN THIS WEEK'S STRIP...

*OUR ESS EFF APT. IS PRACTICALLY EMPTY NOW..
..it's echoing. *Sigh* We'll miss this place. The landord's wife made us a great last meal of Korean BBQ. Mmmmmm. And we managed to sell away all of our big stuff. Thank the maker for Craigslist.

*KEEF MEDIA WATCH..
I'm doing a live podcast with the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE on Thursday along with a few other African-American artists from the Bay Area. I'm supposed to be there at 11am, so I suppose it'll start at 11:30am Pacific. It's Black History Month, so I'll be getting interviewed a lot.

I also got emailed by CNN.com to grade the U.S. on the progress made by African-Americans in a variety of areas. It sounds like they asked all these really cool folks like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the like. I'm honored to be asked.

The neatest thing this week so far was getting interviewed for this website for cheap bastards called wisebread. post this link in yer browser:

http://www.wisebread.com/keith-knight-of-the-k-chronicles-keepin-kool-on-the-cheap

*MORE OF MY FAVE SAN FRANCISCO MOMENTS..
-The Clarion Alley Mural Project Street Parties

-Commiserating with Brownie Mary on the steps of San Francisco City Hall

-Receiving a call from the late, great Herb Caen about my first San Francisco event titled "Herb Caen Must Die!!"

-Salon.com's holiday Party circa '98 where I tried to figure out how much unagi I could eat in one night

-Watching the Red Sox fans scare the Giants fans at SBC/PacBell park

-Hosting Southern Exposure's annual fundraising event dressed in some sort of fuzzy green flourescent jacket

-Teaching Media Literacy at Balboa High School in '96

-Visiting the Mitchell Bros. O'Farrell Theater where the old man who worked the door told us that one Mitchell Brother killed the other a few days before

-Youth Hostel employee appreciation parties at the Edinburgh Castle

-Bay to Breakers..(A sort of baby Mardi Gras on Fell St!!)

-The Young Scandinavian Club!!
posted by keith at 12:19 AM

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

*SOME OTHER FAVORITE SAN FRANCISCO MOMENTS..
-Meeting Maya Angelou at Masonic Auditorium

-Going to a wake full of strippers and cartoonists at the Edinburgh Castle

-Catching the Beastie Boys with some new band (Cypress Hill) at the I-Beam (LOOONG time ago)

-Getting locked outta my apartment and going downtown in my pajamas and slippers to look for my roommate

-Beatin' down this clown who elbowed the Wifey on the 38 Geary

-Getting a Marginal Prophets sticker up on the wall behind the cash register at Tommy's Joynt (it's still there!!)

-The annual Last Gasp Holiday Party

-Gettin' profiled by four different cop cars whilst waitng for the 33 at Fulton and Arguello

(I'll be posting a lot more of this stuff over the next few weeks..so stayed tuned..)

*MAN, THIS MOVE HAS BEEN SORTA CRAZY..

Apologies for delayed replies and delayed art concerning the Coup fundraiser. It's still going on and I will get back to you concerning all of your requests..

We now have a place in San Francisco AND Los Angeles...It's only for 30 days, but I figure I can boast about it for this very brief time.

Our first night in L.A. was spent at a fundraiser for 826LA, an offshoot of the organization I'm on the board of up in San Francisco. It was called a "Night of Best Intentions". A celebration of comedic actor Seth Rogan, and the charity that he may someday do.

It was put together by Judd Apatow, the dude who did "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Freaks and Geeks". It was hilarious. He got all these famous folks to do stuff. Will Ferrell opened the show with Dave Grohl. Ben Stiller and Edward Norton did stuff (and sat at the table next to us). Garry Shandling and Ted Danson did stuff. Video tributes were done featuring Jack Black, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock and more..

We were telling everyone there that this was our first night in L.A. And everyone was like "Whoa..This is a great first night for you.."

I said "Isn't it always like this?"

*EMAILS OF THE WEEK..
Keith-

Just heard your Fanboy Radio show. Fantastic. You came off really funny and real. On behalf of the entire Los Angeles based cartoonist community...I say: WELCOME TO LA! (I in no way can speak for the entire community). I do alot of the artwork for FanBoy Radio (as well as being an indie animator: www.jimlujan.com).

When I heard your MJ impersonating days, I thought "That is a person I can relate to....mama say mama saw ma makusa".

You rock! Your strips are amazing. Glad I finally found them. Best of luck. Feel free to drop me a line sometime.

-J.

(yuh..I was on this cool podcast called fanboy radio(http://www.fanboyradio.com/)..I think it's still up on the site. can you tell that i'm drunk and watching the Pats game while I'm being interviewed?-kk)

Keefe,

Back in the 1975, San Francisco flats not only came with no fridge,
they came with no stove! You went down to S. Valencia and bought
them at the used appliances stores there. We paid $110 for a used GE
fridge (70's brown), that finally gave up the ghost in 1998. Best
deal I ever got.

Good luck in LA, Keefe.

Regards,

E.

Hi Keith,

How are you?
I just wanted to seek some advice from a
sagacious fellow such as yourself.

Um. I have a question regarding art schools and
illustration programs. I know you're from Boston
originally, and one school that offers a
professional cert. for illustration is the Art Institute of
Boston. Is this a good school? Are there others you'd
recommend?

I already have a BA in Studio art and Art
History, but hadn't taken a lot of drawing courses. I also
don't want to get a MFA or anything. Just have enough
education to improve techniques and networking.

thanks,
D.

(this is the answer i gave.-kk)

D..

I've been away from Boston for so long, I don't
know what to recommmend.

I think any art school is good because they give
you the facilities and equipment and naked models to
draw. Is one better than the other? Mebbe on
paper. Mebbe by reputation. But I really think
it's how much you take advantage of the campus
you're on.

I went to Salem State College. The art program
there was incredibly small..but I took advantage
of it. That's all you gotta do.

Good luck!

Keef
posted by keith at 12:37 AM

Monday, January 15, 2007

*POST RELEASE PARTY REPORT...
Man oh man oh man..The "Are We Feeling Safer Yet?" party at the Cartoon Art Museum was a killer event!! A ton of folks showed and a good time was had by all. Folks were greeted at the door by my man Jeff Grubler, who recreated the cover comic on a lifesize scale. Hip-hop instrumentals were provided by Mad Marc Weidenbaum in the first gallery and back gallery. And the Wifey manned the mighty merch table with an iron fist. Attendees were treated to a slideshow and a screening of the K Chronicles movie. And large amounts of beer and wine were consumed.

Late in the game, the Cartoon Art Museum surprised me with a cake that had a reproduction of the cover made of frosting. And it was chocolate. (goes great with beer)..

Celebs in da house: Julia Wertz (the Fart Party), Paul Madonna (All Over Coffee), Lev ("Tales of Mere Existence"), Mistress Jet (of KUSF), Davy Rothbart, co-creator of Found Magazine, comic writer Harmon Leon, super artist Steve Leialoha and artist/writer Trina "You'll be back" Robbins..

It couldn't have gone better. Thanks to all the volunteers at the Cartoon Art Museum..'specially Summerlea and Andrew..And a shout out to Monty G. who showed up with a ton of balloonage.

I'll be posting photos soon...
posted by keith at 1:03 AM

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

*PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR THE DELAY..
in replies and filling orders. The Wifey and I have been spending all of our time searching for a place in L.A. and we FINALLY found one. It's in the lovely Palms neighborhood in West L.A., just north of Venice Blvd. and Culver City.

Now comes the hard part..

The next few weeks will consist of us purging our stuff to make the move from a luxurious rent-controlled palace to a one bedroom spot. I will be selling as much krappe as I can for CHEAP at this weekend's book release at the Cartoon Art Museum. See you there!!

*EMAILS OF THE WEEK..
Keef,

I feel like I got smacked around after reading the
strip Gravestones and Nightsticks. I really wonder
now how the family of that man that was killed at his
bachelor party feels. The story is being slowly
forgotten, but they will never forget it, for them it
will always be front page news. What an awful feeling
it must be, to have to wake up every day, realizing
they can never see him again.

I believe the mark of a Great Artist, is when their
audience has to keep coming back to view the same
material, maybe not even realizing why.
The Why I think is the need to make sure you haven't
missed anything. You have a talent for making people
stop and think, there is a lot more to this strip than
humor; the humor draws you in, warms you up, and helps
to make you more receptive to the issue of racism.

I think the issue of racism will always be an issue,
as long as we look at each other as white people and
black people, instead of just as people.
The use of the colors white and black bring out all of
the stereotypes behind the use of these colors to
identify someone.

With that Keith, I want to say Thank You! you really
have challenged my perspectives, and made me think in
a way I never would have, if I didn't read your stips.

Some one should kick your butt up to the big time,
your talent and perseverence in working on these
isssues should be recognized on a national level.

Sincerely yours,

Greg H.

Dear Mr. Knight,

I enjoyed your strip this week and thought I'd drop you this note, since I was born in Los Angeles, lived there for 23 years, and then moved to San Francisco for 20 years after that. I write to you from Chicago, my current home, so hopefully my advice is now unbiased. I see both cities, from my vantage point here, as historical products of the California Gold Rush when tolerance was conferred on one and all through a freak accident of history (it wasn't, what bloodline you were from, it was what you could do and be).
Someone (Herb Caen maybe?) once wrote that Los Angeles and San Francisco are locked in a bitter rivalry, but only San Francisco is aware of the fierce struggle of the two cities. That really sums up the reason for the strong reaction you are getting from your SF pals.
So Keef, go to Los Angeles and you will have a fine time. You will be not far from the beautiful Santa Monica mountains and canyons (Topanga, Malibu, + Tuna canyons) , and some beaches that are far, far finer than the Bay Area's. Go to the Getty museum or LACMA and give a big "ptooi" in the face of anyone who says there's "just no culture there."
In general, there is always something amusing happening there, the adrenaline level is higher in general and can prolly kick a cartoonist's a$$ into a higher gear.
Good luck to you and your career and don't look back, it sounds great!

-G. in Chicago
posted by keith at 1:45 AM

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

*EMAIL OF THE WEEK...
Hi Keef, just a hello from a fan. You're one of my favorite cartoonists (a very small list - I have 2 1/2 favorites.) I love K Chronicles for the sharp observations and social commentary ... and I love the way you draw it. Wonderful use of black and white, positive and negative space. Each page is its own little piece of artwork in itself. I first caught on to the Chronicles through Salon.com. I always look forward to reading/admiring your work!

K Chronicles make me happy ... **grin** Thank you Keef .....

e.
posted by keith at 11:31 PM

*K CHRONICLES/L.A. MOVE SHOCKER!!
Yes, the rumors are true...After 16 years, I am leaving the Bay Area. We're receiving a TON of emails from folks down in Los Angeles, offering advice on neighborhoods and such. We know the eastside is great, but there is a job opportunity for the wifey in Culver City, so we're lookin' out there. The less driving we gotta do the better.

*WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
It means I need to get rid of a ton of Krappe. I need cash for the move. Cold hard cash. So my upcoming book release party at the Cartoon Art Museum (655 Mission St. San Francisco) on Saturday, Jan 13th is gonna be a BLOW-OUT!! Books, original art, prints, bags, posters, CDs, mugs will be CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!! And there'll be plenty of free shite too... IF YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT COMING TO ONE OF MY EVENTS, IT'S THIS ONE...

*THE COUP FUNDRAISER CONTINUES...
I'm drawing a lotta people and their pets this week...Remember: I'll draw anything on an 81/2 by 11 piece o' bristol for $100 and I'll send you a print of any comic for $50 and I'll donate half to Hip-Hop group the Coup.

*THERE'LL BE A LOT MORE TO REVEAL IN 2007...YOU'LL SEE...

*GO SEE "CHILDREN OF MEN" YOU FOOLS!!
posted by keith at 12:18 PM

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