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BY JEN VAUGHN - The date was December 9th, 2011 when cartoonist and Center for Cartoon Studies professor Alec Longstreth shaved off his beard and shaggy do. A promise to himself in 2008, he decided to chart his progress through pictures of his hair and beard growth, called The Basewood Beard, that would undoubtedly remind him daily of his commitment. Living in a small town with a beard as his shadow, Longstreth went from industrious Fellow of the school to an instructor of both summer workshops and graduate classes to the Acting Director (while James Sturm takes a much-needed sabbatical) . Even after all the excitement, he is still growing and evolving, deciding to learn watercolor on the side.

August 1st, 2008 and Alec doesn’t at all look like a prison inmate. He answered a lot of questions throughout the three years of hair growing: do you get food caught in there, is it hot, what does your family think? And he bore it all with quiet grace. But now that Basewood is done, he is moving on and was nice enough to answer some questions for The Beat! Venture on to read more about the amazing cartoonist Alec Longstreth. Now that you have lived through the coldest part of winter, do you miss your beard? I’ll admit, the beard did do an amazing job of keeping my face warm. I’ve tried a bunch of different scarves, and nothing even comes close to protecting my face like a bunch of long facial hair.  That being said, I do not miss the beard.  I’ll take that cold morning slap in the face, and gladly.  The beard was a constant reminder to me about how long Basewood was taking, and that I needed to finish it.  Now each morning when I head to the studio, the cold air against my face is a reminder to take everything I learned from Basewood and to apply it to my new projects.

It’s done! 100% of Basewood finished

You’ve mentioned your next project in your classes before but can you tell the public a bit what it is about? Well, I intend to keep self-publishing Phase 7 for the rest of my life.  I’ve got all kinds of stories I will to tell, but the one I’m working on right now is a three-part story all about my favorite band Weezer (to be released in Phase 7).  The other big project I’m working on is going to be a webcomic.  It’s a fantasy story for kids with wizards and dragons and lots of bad puns.  I’m currently workshopping the first storyline (about 100 pages) with the CCS seniors.  Once I’ve gone through and tightened up the script, I’m going to build up a hefty lead before I start posting online, which will hopefully b