Lackadaisy Archives - Fablepaint

Accomplished the biggest jump of my career yet over the weekend. At Further Confusion 2023, our trailer dropped.

I’ve been working on an independent film called “Lackadaisy: The Animated Short” for about three years now, muscling through historical horror to get to a small celebration of personal significance. This project has been–to date–the largest single thing I’ve worked on with my name so largely featured. I’m far more accustomed to stepping backwards into the shadows and letting my skillset speak on my behalf. But alas, the age of the Internet demands my face be seen on occasion.

Table 116A at Dealers East at #FurtherConfusion
I got posters, books, pins, and animation playing! pic.twitter.com/rYMZRTGgzr
— Fable Siegel Lackadaisy Director (@fablepaint) January 13, 2023

That said, where as once I might’ve felt some reluctance to make a public appearance, the Covid-years have taught me to treasure human interaction more keenly. And I can’t deny the appeal of trying to arrange an attractive table space. It requires an artful eye of its own.

pictured: Cactus Friend guards the Lackadaisy merch corner

I had a similar set up at BLFC in 2021, the only other convention I’ve been to recently. And I was happy to expand upon it. It must’ve been successful too, as I think I hit the Lackadaisy aesthetic so hard that I had a few people mistaking me for Tracy herself. And following the trailer drop panel–in which I showed the trailer to an audience of over a hundred attendees with the crew calling in virtually–I had the bright idea to include my camera at the table. So some crew members and Tracy herself were able to sit at the table with me on the last day, a lil pair of Robocop eyes I was free to stick wherever comfortable.

Painting examples, poster paint and ink wash

That made up for some of the loneliness of table lock (the unfortunate condition in which a dealer finds themselves unable to leave their position for fear of losing sales). With the trailer announced, now everyone knows our final timeline. And sales help me float for the next couple of months while we wrap it up.

Thank you Tracy and Spike for sending Lackadaisy merch my way to exhibit and sell. I owe you and then some. Thank you also those at the convention who commissioned paintings from me.

Definitely treasuring a moment to lean into my traditional skillset. Painting evokes a kind of zen in my brain difficult to otherwise achieve.

A fursuiter, beanie dragon, and Green Naruto figure

And they present a welcome break from the mad flurry that was getting the trailer ready.

Io9 / Gizmodo Article: Hit Webcomic Lackadaisy Gets the Animated Treatment

There’s a feeling I get when I’ve been at a task for too long. It’s like I’m pulling a cart along a dirt road and the wheels have worn grooves into the earth so deep that there’s no deviating from the journey. And no matter how happily I pull that little cart, I end up yearning for the wilder trail the path used to be. Overgrown with vegetation, tiny rocks catching against the spokes and wild animals cutting across my path.

Times like that, I have to take a little mental break. The trail has to go fallow. But I can’t afford to let it rest for long. That cart must get down the road. But on occasion, I pause to toss some water on the weeds.