This is a reflective essay about my comic Thin Air, about the counter-intuitive fact that trees build themselves from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. They are built from exactly the same stuff that breezes past their trunks! This essay describes my research process, including my view that van Helmont was actually a bad scientist.
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This is a reflective essay about my comic Type III. I describe the underlying concept of ecological succession, and reveal how I decided that Mount St. Helens should form the backdrop to my comic. I also mention real-life examples of Type III systems, such as the Kalundborg Eco-Industrial Park.
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This is a reflective essay about my comic Purpose. The comic was hugely influenced by the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. This essay shares the headspace I was in when writing Purpose.
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This is a reflective essay about my comic St Matthew Island, which is one of the most popular items on this website. This essay describes my research process, including the real life story of St Matthew Island’s reindeer.
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Ishmael by Daniel Quinn was my favourite book that I read in 2011. Broadly about the concept of ‘sustainability’, it is a book about the author’s quest to understand the deep reasons why our civilisation acts in destructive ways.
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Earlier today I launched my latest cartoon “The Problem”. It came after a period of writer’s block, and features imagery inspired by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
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