The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Le Sketch is the idea of the moment: why waste the paper trims that are cut off from normal print jobs (after the pages of a book are cut to size), when you can use them to promote good comic art?  That’s what American cartoonist Matt Madden and Portuguese designer Paulo Patricio thought when they set up Le Sketch, a series of small portfolios in harmonica format, published at irregular intervals and in even more irregular sizes.  And what’s more, it’s freely available at a number of comics stores across Europe and the US.

So far, there have been six issues of Le Sketch, with the most recent one dedicated to the work of Stephen Weissman. We met up with Matt and Paulo, but since Matt is a very busy man, Paulo did most of the talking.

(“C’est free! C’est Chic!” Le Sketch #2, with work from Matt Madden, in the distinctive concertina format)

WL – Le Sketch is one of those concepts that, as soon as you see it, makes you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself, first.  Who initially came up with the idea for it?

PP – I always have been fascinated with visual thinking processes, like diagramming, drawing, sketching or doodling.  So, I like to see what people have tucked inside their notebooks. And when comes to a cartoonist or an illustrator’s notebook, it’s a bit like looking at the other side of their work. And you get the chance to see a lot things done freely of any limitations or style restrictions.

But, to make a long story short, one day I was hanging around with Jorge Alderete, he showed me his notebook and the idea of doing something with it never left my mind.  Later, I talked to Matt about that; we contacted Jorge and the first issue of Le Sketch was out.

WL – How did you Matt and yourself meet ?

PP – We met here, in Porto, in 2001. I worked in Porto’s comic book convention [which is now defunct]  and we curated an exhibition together featuring Highwater Books cartoonists. That’s how I met Matt. Beyond work, we shared common interests, and that has helped our friendship.

WL – What was the idea behind the harmonica folding system design?  Is it true that this was meant to use excess paper from other print jobs ?

PP – Yes, that’s true, actually. Excess trimmings and leftovers from regular print jobs defined Le Sketch’s size and format, and that lead us to the harmonica folding. You’ll also have noticed that the size of the individual booklets varies slightly – it all depends on the size of paper avaiable.

The harmonica folding was a solution at hand and it worked great for the project. You can easily say that it’s now part of the identity of the series.  We have the support of a local printer now, but we prefer to stick to the format. People love it.

WL – How do you go about selecting the artists ?

PP – Sometimes Matt suggests a name and I agree, or vice-versa. And since we are in the same wavelength when comes to taste, it’s quite easy to agree.

WL – And how do you go about selecting work for each artist ? Sometimes it seems that there’s more of a concept behind them (as is the case, for example for Peter Kuper’s)

(Le Sketch #4 featuring work from Peter Kuper)

PP – We understand that it’s hard for an artist to come up with a selection of only eighteen sketches.  After all, he probably has hundreds of sketches and doodles. To make things easier for all of us, we follow a simple process: we ask him or her to select about 24 sketches, from which we select the final few and take the editing from there.

Naturally, artists can also develop and deliver a concept, like Kuper did with his self portraits. Nevertheless, there is always a “visual”, or even “narrative”, concept behind each issue.

WL – What’s the reaction of the artists to the books?  And the public?  Do you know who picks up this stuff?

PP – Until now, artist’s feedback is always very, very positive and encouraging. And when they give copies of Le Sketch, everybody as a really good reaction to it. The public as well: we get plenty of e-mails and “thank you” postcards from different places, like Philippines or Brazil for example. In the places we have Le Sketch, we encourage them to give copies to people who buy alternative or independent comics. So, that’s our public.

Besides that,  Matt is the “diplomatic front” of Le Sketch in the US. That helps a lot to have direct feedback from different sources.

(the latest le Sketch, #6, featuring sketches from Steven Weissman)

WL   – What’s in stall for the future ?

PP – This is a very slow paced project, with lots of budget restrains – which we hope we can overcome finding sponsors. For 2009, we are planning to release four issues. And for the future, we would like to become a small publisher and release limited editions and other items, always having sketches as our main focus.

WL – Thanks, guys!

Find out about Le Sketch at these fine outlets on the official site.

Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium where he is trying to convince two of the country’s greatest exports to come together and print mini comics on waffles. You can read more on his Ephemerist blog.