Tom Neely’s Art Behind The Blot

Cartoonist Tom Neely, based in L.A., has an intimate, if somewhat scornful connection to our beloved little burg. The artist graduated with an MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute in the year 2000, and participated in several shows in the local galleries. “I was in all these classes that taught us how to be conceptual assholes who don’t produce any actual art, when all I wanted to do was learn how to be a better painter,” Neely admitted in an interview with Tom Spurgeon for The Comic Reporter with a disarming sincerity. He also pointed out that Philip Guston’s work was one of the things that inspired him to follow his calling, “…break away from the pretentious bullshit of my art school surroundings and start making paintings of my comics.” Among other greats that informed and inspired Neely’s art, he names Lucian Freud, George Crosz, and this reviewer’s personal favorite Egon Schiele. Indeed, Neely’s art bares a sign of like-mindedness with the latter, especially in his hauntingly touching Werewolf series. Neely was awarded a Promising New Talent Ignatz Award in 2007 for The Blot (I Will Destroy You)—his first graphic novel. The Ignatz Awards, named after the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman, recognizes outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The ballot is created by a panel of five cartoonists and is then voted on by the attendees at the annual festival. “’The Blot’ follows a nameless everyman who, while dealing with the fallout from a doomed relationship, is stalked by a mysterious black splotch. As the story unfolds, this shape-shifting blot appears as a harmless cloud of ink, a faceless demon, a source of strength and an inescapable darkness, testing our character in a new way with each metamorphosis,” states Neely’s website, www.iwilldistroyyou.com. Neely’s artwork shows in Los Angeles galleries and publishes in dozens of magazines, literary journals and on album covers. It can also be seen and purchased (mostly in authored giclee prints) on his website. Photo: Tom Neely’s “stare.” Image: Tom Neely "Everyone else has left."