My interview with Clements had me in stitches.
Clements had me in stitches. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

You may have seen Frida Clements's prints and gig posters on merch tables at indie rock shows. She draws up these intricate, muted, figures of flora and fauna that you can stare at for hours—some bright bit of color snags the eye, and the level of detail holds your attention.

The publication of Have a Little Pun: An Illustrated Play on Words marks her entry into the world of books. Some of the puns are smart-dumb, some are good-dumb, some are dumb-dumb. You can decide for yourself which is which tonight at 1927 Events, where Clements will be reading from her gorgeous book of illustrated puns.

Shes reading from this book tonight.
She's reading from this book tonight.

I sat down with her at Montana, where we knocked back a few mules and talked about her book. Then I challenged her to a drawing game called "Three-second Animals." The bartender judged. Find out who won after the jump.

What draws you to the pun? Bahahahaha — okay but seriously. Puns are the highest and lowest form of art for me, and so I wonder what brings you into the world of puns? Is this just a game to you? Because I am INTO this.

The puns began purely by accident. I had been invited to a sketch night at Hattie's Hat in Ballard, then got the date mixed up and when I showed it was a ghost town. Calendars are a challenge for me – I joke and blame it on artistic temperament, left-handedness, having more important things to think about (like Einstein!), but it's really been a lifelong struggle that is very real. Humor has always gotten me through, however. So I went home that night and sketched a whale, then spontaneously hand-lettered "OH WHALE" underneath, which instantly lifted my spirits. More ideas began to flow and the whole thing quickly turned into my "puncrastination project." It became a really fun mental challenge to pair clever word play with my illustrations, especially since up until that point my work had always leaned a bit more serious.

Did you give yourself any pun constraints? Was there a pun you thought about drawing / writing but couldn’t or didn’t want to include for some reason?

I try to keep them to two or three words. The charm of these illustrations is the fact that they're not hitting you over the head with the joke, and a lot of them need to be said out loud to really work. It's kind of a slow "aha" on a few different levels. Many of the puns were just inspired by phrases I found myself saying on a daily basis. The only puns I didn't include were ideas that came to me after the book was complete, which is just how it goes.

Can I rip out pages and frame them and put them on my walls or would that fuck up the integrity of the book?

It's your book, man! But I sell screen-prints of them in a few different sizes on my site if you want to keep it nice. (fridaclements.com)

::::Pun challenge::::
Please pun on the following words, if you can:
Car.

Keepin' It Wheel.

Buckle.

What A Waist.

Chicken.

Poultry Reading. (That one's for you, Rich!)

This book combines fun language play with illustrations. Did you learn anything by mixing literary forms with visual forms?

I've been a graphic designer for longer than I've been an illustrator, in the professional sense, anyhow. I think communicating visually is definitely how I lean, but there's something about including language that takes it to the next level, especially the thrill of coming up with a good pun. It's like finding that magic 7-letter-triple-word-score-bingo in Scrabble. The biggest surprise has actually been the reaction to the work, which has been overwhelmingly positive. I'm proud of this little book, it was a lot of fun. And I hope it does really whale.

Now we shall play a game of Three-Second Animals. The rules are simple. The judge calls out an animal and then we have three seconds to draw that animal. The judge determines the winner.

My drawings are on the left. Clementss drawings are on the right. Im still pissed about her rhinoceros beating my Dr. Seuss rhinoceros, but I won the battle of the little animals overall, so I cant complain.
The bartender called out "raccoon," "tiger," "turtle," "big-horned sheep," "shark," "octopus," "bat," "kangaroo," "bear," and "gorilla." My drawings are on the left. Clements's drawings are on the right. I'm still pissed about her "rhinoceros" beating my Dr. Seuss rhinoceros, but I won the battle of the little animals overall, so I can't complain. Buster Kinkon

Since the last game was close, the bartender suggested that we do a longer, ten-second version of the game. We gripped our pens and trained our eyes on her. She looked back at us and said, "Moose."

My moose is on top. Clementss moose is on the bottom. I CONCEDE.
My moose is on top. Clements's moose is on the bottom. I CONCEDE. Jack Dorito