Jim Woodring's giant ink pen unveiled

Our pal and frequent guest blogger Glenn Fleishman attended the unveiling ceremony of Jim Woodring's 7 foot tall ink pen. Glenn provided this brief account of the event:

It was a hoot.The experiment was a mixed success. Jim was pretty game: he wanted to share the agony and ecstasy of the first time. Control is difficult, and he'll need to mess with ink formulations more. Over a couple hours, he clearly mastered it, but the pen body weighs 25 pounds -- it's a real load.
I drew with it! He was asking us to ask questions while he was working, and I asked him something and he offered the pen. I took it! Very fun. Jim seemed pretty relaxed despite saying how miserable he was to have put himself in such conditions! Very happy to answer questions from everyone.

Don't miss Glenn's other photographs of the Nibbus Maximus event, which Glenn posted on his Flickr stream.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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whizse

I guess he’s one of the few who really does buy ink by the barrel?
therantguy

I hate to sound like a troll…but I am REALLY getting tired of seeing these articles in my RSS feed. This has got to rate amongst the silliest endeavors ever. It’s a novelty pen, big whoop. Will the news cover me if I decide to paint with my nose?
- Glenn Fleishman
  
  It’s a technological and artistic endeavor by a really talented guy that has no real point. It was silly and fantastic and strange. Which has a relationship to Woodring’s art.
  
  When did BoingBoing readers get so serious?
- mathdemon
  
  Not with your nose. But with your penis, you might have a chance through the Submitterator.
- Mark Frauenfelder
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RPvfJXh-n0
- Orion Salvaje
  
  Nah! that’s already done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfYXgPDaFzo
- Hools Verne
  
  If you were half as talented an artists as Jim Woodring, maybe. Seeing as how you will never be half as talented as Jim Woodring because the man is actually a god, don’t get your hopes up.
tim140486

I also suggested to him that he try using it over the shoulder ha! Here is a video I took of the event – Highlight, Audience- “Mr. Woodring is your pen hollow?” Jim – “What kind of question is that?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEbf0tN_f1w
Mert

I would have missed this event (even though it took place at my daughter’s school), if BoingBoing had not pointed it out – Thanks!
I took some photos (in 3D no less!) and posted them to my occasional blog, Euphonia: http://euphonia.us/wp/?p=200. A great time was had by all.
Brainspore

I hate to sound like a troll…but I am REALLY getting tired of seeing these articles in my RSS feed.

Well just imagine the confusion of all Twitter users who wanted to know when the giant pen was coming. It turns out that #giantpeniscoming links to another subject entirely.
Anonymous

Isn’t it curious how oversizing an ordinary object makes it comical or amusing through absurdity?

And isn’t it even more curious that we never get tired of making things which are comically large?

~D. Walker
Egypt Urnash

I got to draw with the Maximus too! It was awesome. Frustrating and difficult, but awesome.

I took some photos too: http://picasaweb.google.com/egypturnash/NibbusMaximus#

If anyone out there has photos of me trying to use the Maximus I’d love to see them – I was the girl with the long pink hair and the red sweater.
- Glenn Fleishman
  
  Shoot, I must have left before you used the pen!
- CoffeeBlack
  
  I was one of the last people to get to use the pen before they packed it up, a very memorable experience. Personally I loved this event, it reminded me of the event we used to have when I was in art school. Small, very cozy community gatherings where people could come together and enjoy creating and talking about art without the pretentiousness found in most gallery showings, which are mostly for the benefit of people intending to buy or trying to make themselves feel more important or cultured by associating themselves with art.
  
  This event felt more like it was meant to be appreciated by artist, doodlers, and people who really cared about the art and the experience. Not to mention that it was just great fun using and seeing others try to wield a 7 foot pen.
  
  Here are the pictures that I managed to take:
  
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=306819&id=501979001&l=016539a6b2
Godfree

There’s video as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEbf0tN_f1w
Vanwall

Needs a shoulder strap doohickey.
- Glenn Fleishman
  
  I asked him about that. He was thinking about a sling or strap, and thought it would restrict his movement too much. But it might happen!
Rhonan

I wonder if that pen will be available from penisland.com?
Steven Stwalley

Woodring is one of the modern world’s greatest artists, I think. More coverage from The Comics Journal here:

http://www.tcj.com/news/jim-woodrings-nibbus-maximus-with-video

Also, check out this fantastic Woodring pinball backglass that was just manufactured!

http://www.nuprometheus.com/frank/frank.html
Ratdog

Weird to see Scott Kurtz in that Flickr stream. I forgot that he moved to Seattle.
- Glenn Fleishman
  
  Which one is Scott Kurtz? I believe he and I were exchanging messages on a cartoonist’s forum (about my article on The Oatmeal). I had no idea he lived here. Small world.
  - Ratdog
    
    On the 14th image of the Flickr, he is the guy looking at his cell phone (possibly taking a photo). He is left to the guy with the shirt that says Oslo and the guy with the camera.
    
    He only recently moved, according to posts from his site. He is sharing an office with the Penny Arcade guys.
forgeweld

How very cool. It’s a grand concept, well executed, and his technique with it is bound to grow quickly. It looks like he’s responding to a universal impulse, and he might want to look at this to see if a paradigm shift is in order as far as large scale inking goes.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTY1ODgxMTY=.html

The Nibbus Maximus is gorgeous, though.