Strip Search, Episode 48 — Bob Eckstein Talks Museums

Bob Eckstein may, by his own admission, not have especially enjoyed being dragged to museums by his parents as a child. But something changed along the way, which is readily apparent If you take a look at Bob’s new book, “Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums.” It features 155 beautifully painted depictions of more than 75 museums in North America, accompanied by stories that help get to the essence of what makes them so special.

Bob Eckstein

Creating the paintings wasn’t as difficult an undertaking as it sounds, according to Eckstein. “What I did was based on what the museum called for — I simply was the background music to the beautiful museums. And I just kind of tried to lend my skills to what was needed,” Bob says. “But I was very much a secondary person in this whole process, in the sense that the museum itself told me what style I should try to do."

Bob spent about as much time tracking down the fascinating stories behind the museums that he included, several of the best of which he shared in the latest episode of "Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast." See highlights from the book, below, and listen or watch to hear our discussion about museums, Bob's painting technique, and (for good measure) some real talk about the future of cartooning and the newspapers that have historically been their home.

And if you want to pick up "Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums" (and why wouldn't you?), Bob recommends your local independent bookstore or, if you live out in the hinterlands with no bookstore in driving distance, bookshop.org. Meanwhile, contact him and tell him you heard him on Strip Search and he'll waive the fee for his paid newsletter. How can you beat that?

Comments

Introducing Strip Search, the cartooning podcast

Hello all! Welcome to Strip Search, a new podcast where we'll be interviewing cartooning professionals and talk comic strips: their history, classic comics, the current state of the industry, and comics to watch out for. If you're a cartoonist or humorous illustrator and want to appear on the podcast with Dave and Pete, email us at petpeevescomic@gmail.com .

Strip Search, Episode 41 — Jimmy Craig

When most comic strip animals talk, they don’t exactly scream “realism.” It was hard to imagine that Garfield was speaking for most cats when he declared his hatred of Mondays or his love for lasagna. But the animals that populate “They Can Talk,” the wry, brilliant weekly webtoon by cartoonist Jimmy Craig, don’t just sound authoritative — they’re downright relatable. And fans of both comics and animals are clearly listening to what Craig’s creatures have to say. In the seven years since he launched the strip, it’s amassed 615,000 followers on Instagram, 658,000 on Facebook, and has spawned two books; the latest, “Are You Gonna Eat That?” from Ulysses Press , hits shelves this month. Listen or watch below as we catch up with Craig to talk about talking to the animals, and them talking back. You'll find samples of his work at the bottom of this post, and for more you can visit Jimmy's website, theycantalk.com , or his Facebook and Instagram feeds. (Plus, for his standalone New...

Strip Search, Episode 52 — Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney (right). A self-described failed cartoonist, Jeff Kinney spent eight years developing his first “ Diary of a Wimpy Kid ” novel after syndicates passed on his daily comic strip. Within a few years after that, he found himself with a hit book series and a movie in the works (the first of many), and he’s since become the steward of a worldwide franchise that shows no signs of abating. Plus, he gives back every day to his community of Plainville, Massachusetts, via his bookstore, An Unlikely Story . How cool is that? For some reason, Jeff sat down with London & Chianca for a wide-ranging interview on Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast. In the middle of an international tour in the wake of the publication of his 19th “Wimpy Kid” book, “Hot Mess,” Kinney talked about his love of comic strips, where “Wimpy Kid” came from, how he wound up in Massachusetts, his input on the “Wimpy” movies, his drawing methods and tools, and much more. Listen or watch b...

Strip Search with London + Chianca

Search This Blog