FOR THESE and OTHER TITLES BY J. DANIEL ABEL, JUST CLICK "ONLINE BOOKSTORE" ABOVE. ALL WILL APPEAR BY DIGITAL MAGIC.
BRAIN DAMAGE - And Other Graphic Oddments
All singing, all dancing and all color. This collection of poster graphics by J. Daniel Abel has been re-worked from original B/W designs into psychedelic polychrome, suitable for blacklight reproduction or retinal fatigue. Mount them on the ceiling of your Volkswagen mini-van, crash-pad, or collapsible bamboo yurt to create a transformative environment.
Full Color - 79 pages $23
BADLANDS - Etchings and Other Landscape graphics
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35 years of collected landscape graphics by J. Daniel Abel. See the blog pages for more information
85 pages - Premium stock - 24.92 plus shipping
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WALKABOUT - A Graphic Novel by J. Daniel Abel
Many years ago, an old man embarked upon his long and last journey.
"Walkabout blurs the line between life as it really is and the legend we dreamy poets and artists hope to leave behind. Part historical narrative, part visionary landscape , part epic, part dream, Walkabout demands repeat readings, both to ponder its allegory and to marvel at Abel's electrifying art." Ashley Holt
9 x 7 - 64 pages - B/W - $12
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BLACKMARKS - REVISED EDITION
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Revised and expanded 2024 edition. A graphic monograph in the "blackspot" linocut manor, by artist, printmaker and professor of Art History, J. Daniel Abel. It is nothing less than a comprehensive portfolio of the artist's recent work, mainly from the nation's two bleak years of pandemic. The prints are bold, choppy and uncompromising, Abel's subject matter has few brackets. Everything, from punk rock to film noir, are subjected to the artist's recasting in rawboned black and white. Often as not, the result is an expressionistic annihilation.
11x 8.5 - 109 pages, 100 illustrations B/W $12
RANK 'n FILE - Life and Death For the American Underclass
“The subjects in Rank ‘N File are the working poor, the migrants, the incarcerated, the unwed mothers, the homeless vets, the drug addicts, and the rest of the poverty-line warriors who make up half of the American population. Their individual stories are largely tales of defeat, dreams that faded, lovers who left or died, illnesses that wrecked livelihoods, hopes that live on, and resentments that never die. Abel’s portraits, crackling with kinetic pattern and anatomical celebration, eagerly betray his kinship with these people. His craftsmanship in delineating the unlucky reveals that his aim is not to fetishize the poor and working classes as an anthropological study, but to remind us, as so many collectivists and humanists before him have, that we’re all one mishap away from telling the same story, even if our gated communities with trimmed hedges convince us otherwise. This is a portrait of us” - Ashley Holt
Paperbound - 9x7 - B/W 98 Pages - $12
THE LAST WORD - 86 American Epitaphs
*From the introduction by Thomas Larson - “The idea is brilliant. ( no wonder the author gives himself credit in the byline ). Write epitaphs, in a few lines of pithy poetry, draw the departed’s portrait in antique black and white, evocative of ancient relief cutting, throw in birth/death dates for epoch and life span and Voila!. A collection of utter simplicity and mesmerizing effect. What could be more deflating to our egotistical nature than this gallery of dreams deferred and defeated by the absurdly talented California caricaturist and draftsman, J. Daniel Abel”.
Paperbound - 9 x 7 - B/W - 98 pages - $12
CHIAROSCURO
A graphic monograph of dark and dangerous visions from the windowless studio of J. Daniel Abel. Consisting entirely of "Chiaroscuro Drawings" or dark and light media on toned paper, a technique about 500 years old. It went out of style in 20th century and is now making a slow comeback for its evocative, sculptural look. In this collection, Artist and illustrator, J. Daniel Abel informs a dreamscape of lost worlds and small monsters.
Paperbound - 11 x 8.5 - B/W 88 pages - B/W $12
J. DANIEL ABEL - PEOPLE WITH NO CLOTHES ON
Teacher, draftsman and professional illustrator J. Daniel Abel offers a unique and personal take on classical figure drawing that pulls in elements of caricature and expressionism without losing the thread of his traditional, academic training. This book documents his development, from journeyman to master, with over 100 examples.
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Paperbound - 8.5 x 11 - color - 94 pages - $26
As of this writing, I have made about 10,000 drawings give or take, and those are just the ones I didn’t burn. I suspect the impulse that drove me to this deranged level of graphic production was some form of exotic mental illness but I won’t explore that theory. Rather than allow my large and very unedited heap of wood pulp to bask in useless retirement, and because it represents most of my life, I have resolved, after ruthless selection, to make something cohesive out of it. The best examples, I’d say, are are worthy of preservation. This is book 1 of 4 volumes. The rest are to be published at a later date.
Paperbound - 8.5 x 11 - Color - 88 pages - $21.
NEWSPRINT - The Graphic Art of J. Daniel Abel
This book is a personal selection of my published illustrations. All were printed at the tail-end of pulp graphic's golden age, 1984 through 2007. So, why this book? Nostalgia? Oh... Certainly. But mainly, I’m reluctant to let the best of my commercial art wither unto dust in a file drawer. Also, the marginal, sometimes awful, reproduction that defined pulp lithography in those bygone days is redressed in this fine volume - digital reproduction on premium stock. Detached from the decades old stories and reviews they once informed, some drawings have held up quite decently. They addressed a crazy quilt of every subject random chance could imagine, from space aliens to Mozart, but I never tossed off a job indifferently and I bled for some jobs. I always felt that if I was getting paid money for something it had to be the best I could do. Sometimes it was.
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These graphics, near as I can tell, were the times.
8.5 -11 - B/W - 88 pages - $12
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WILLIAM GLEN CROOKS - PEOPLE WITH NO CLOTHES ON
Companion volume to "J Daniel Abel, People With No Clothes On" The life drawings of friend and mentor, William Glen Crooks, are organized in this volume. Crooks was a trained, classical draftsman, like the kind they don't make anymore. He possessed a marvelous eye for accuracy, anatomical structure and character.
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A technical breakdown of his nearly lost, old-school technique concludes this book.
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Paperbound - 8.5 x 11 - color - 82 pages - $24
Let's hear it!
