Ben Claassen III

About Ben Claassen III (from Wikipedia):Ben Claassen III is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_artist" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">comics artist</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustrator" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">illustrator</a> originally from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">New Orleans</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Louisiana</a> who frequently works with non-traditional media such as stencils, long exposure photography, sign painting techniques, and the use of stop-motion animation via a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Camera" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Game Boy Camera</a>. He is best known for his illustrations in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil_Wheaton" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Wil Wheaton</a>'s first book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Barefoot_(book)" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Dancing Barefoot</a>, illustrations in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Washington Post</a>, and for the comic strip, DIRTFARM. DIRTFARM has appeared in several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_weekly" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">alternative weekly</a> publications, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_City_Paper" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Washington City Paper</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_City_Paper" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Baltimore City Paper</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Reader" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Chicago Reader</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagens_Nyheter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Dagens Nyheter</a>, Antigravity Magazine, The St. John Sun Times, and the Chattanooga Pulse. Claassen co-created and illustrated killoggs.com, which was an early social media site started in 1999 that has since gone private. In addition to his other work, Claassen keeps a daily comic journal, does work as a freelance illustrator / graphic designer, and paints large paintings (which are on permanent display at Galaxy Hut in Arlington, VA &amp; Spacebar in Falls Church, VA).About DIRTFARM:DIRTFARM is a comic strip written and illustrated by Ben Claassen III that has been published in several alternative weekly newspapers since the fall of 2004. The newspaper industry has been in steady decline over the last two decades, so this Patreon page has become the comic's main outlet. Thank you for checking this out and reading this!&nbsp;I hope I can make this page (&amp; it's INSTAGRAM counterpart @dirtfarm) worthwhile of your subscription. Please get in touch with any special requests.HISTORY:&nbsp;DIRTFARM got its start when a cartoonist named P.J. O'Ross handed down a space in the Washington City Paper where his comic STINKFISH had run for 5 years previously. STINKFISH (previously titled DIRT WOLF), was originally placed in the paper as a paid advertisement. It ran for three months at $300 a week before the editors of the City Paper ultimately decided to just let O'Ross have the space. DIRTFARM retains the same size &amp; shape of a STINKFISH comic &amp; has also preserved several other design elements. DIRTFARM has a few recurring characters, but the comic doesn't rely on recurring characters heavily from week to week. Each comic is written more like an illustrated standup comedy bit. Individual comics depict a wide range of themes including social critique, comics about relationships, work stresses, riffs on holidays, personal stories, the mocking of trends &amp; current events, and every now and then has gotten political (but rarely). The comic has a unique format which allows it to be split into a variety of panel configurations (unlike most other syndicated print comics). Individual comics are more often than not split into 4, 6, or 9 panels depending on how much space a theme demands. Over the years it has run with as few as 1-3 panels and as many as 20-30 tiny panels. Each comic contains a header, a main body, and a footer which typically float on top of scraps of ripped paper on top of a black background. The header usually contains some type of logo (typically introducing a main character), a title (which outlines the main theme), and some type of meta joke inside of a "Fold this" bubble in the top right hand side. The body contains the main comic which sometimes contains a linear story and sometimes is just a series of non sequitur vignettes riffing on the main theme. The footer contains a bottom comic which works as an afterthought or extended punchline to the main comic, or sometimes stands alone and is unrelated to the main comic. This format is very flexible, and in the past has included things like internet contests, clip &amp; save coupons, challenges and games, and once even an illustrated response to a prison inmate who wrote in asking for love advice behind bars. DIRTFARM was drawn by hand using a brush and a variety of pens during it's first 15 years, but has switched to being sketched by hand and "inked" with a Wacom tablet. Layouts are formatted with Adobe InDesign. Text is sometimes hand lettered, but more often is set with a typeface (depending on deadlines and time constraints). Most of the comics run in black &amp; white, but a few have been in color. The drawing style is very simple with most characters displaying a lot of extreme facial expressions and gestures.DIRTFARM is currently published in the following newspapers:• Antigravity Magazine (New Orleans)&amp; has previously been published in:• Washington CityPaper (D.C.)• Baltimore CityPaper• Chicago Reader• Chattanooga Pulse• Knoxville's Metro Pulse• St. Johns Sun Times (Virgin Islands)• Baltimore Magazine• Hum Magazine• Dagens Nyheter (Sweden)• Magic Bullet (comic newspaper)• Mutant zine&amp; on the websites:• killoggs.com• bendependent.com• Mutant Funnies (Atomic Books)• Seattle Stranger websiteAWARDS:• 2007 - Alternative Association of Newsweeklies Award (3rd place)&nbsp;• 2006 - Bmore CityPaper Comic Contest (1st Place)• 2005 - Bmore CityPaper Comic Contest (2nd Place)Launched in October of 2004.Updates sporadically. Several posts a month, or lately, as much as time will allow...Thanks for reading!

Free

<ul><li>Access to patron-only content</li><li>Sneak peek sketches of upcoming releases</li><li>A huge THANK YOU! Doesn't seem like much, but $1/mo ($12/year) means a lot to me and goes a long way in the inspiration department. Just knowing that people care enough to donate is enough for me to I keep this thing going. Seriously. It's wonderful : )</li></ul>

FAPPY LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above + </li><li>High-quality PDFs of any strip emailed to you. Just get in touch with specifics.</li><li>Process/behind-the-scenes </li></ul>

MANATEE LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above + </li><li>You'll receive a signed high quality print of any comic in the archive by mail after 2 months of subscription (one time only). Just email me which one you'd like.</li></ul>

BIRTHDAY BEAR LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above + </li><li>You'll receive a t-shirt after 3 months of subscription (one time only)</li></ul>

BALDIE McEAGLE LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above +</li><li>You'll receive a random piece of signed original art in the mail once you've entirely forgotten about it after 12 months of subscription (receive one each year of being a subscriber! - hopefully right before xmas as a MYSTERY PACKAGE)</li></ul>

MONSTER LEVEL 1

<ul><li>All of the above +</li><li>You'll receive a signed high quality print of any comic in the archive by mail after 1 month of subscription (one time only)</li><li>You'll receive a t-shirt after 2 months of subscription (one time only)</li><li>You'll receive a random piece of signed original art in the mail once you've entirely forgotten about it after 6 months of subscription (receive one each year of being a subscriber! - hopefully right before xmas as a MYSTERY PACKAGE)</li><li>Get your HEAD DRAWN as a logo / avatar (killoggs style) to be owned &amp; used however you like after 18 months of subscription (one time only)</li></ul>

MONSTER LEVEL 2

<ul><li>All of the above +</li><li>You'll get a credit on the site &amp; in any printed works that are published throughout the year (after 12 months of subscription)</li></ul>

DIRTFARMER LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above +</li><li>Get your HEAD DRAWN as a logo / avatar (killoggs style) to be owned &amp; used however you like after 12 months of subscription (one time only)</li><li>You'll get a credit on the site &amp; in any printed works that are published throughout the year (after 6 months of subscription)</li><li>WRITE YOUR OWN DIRTFARM COMIC &amp; I WILL DRAW IT - Possibly as A GIFT for someone? (after 12 months of subscription)</li><li>RANDOM ADDITIONAL SURPRISES EVERY NOW &amp; THEN </li></ul>

DIRTFARMER PRO LEVEL

<ul><li>All of the above +</li><li>RE-PUBLISH STRIPS IN YOUR OWN PUBLICATION (starting immediately and lasting as long as you're a subscriber)</li></ul>

Ben Claassen III

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