Colorado Springs part 2

Here are a few of the commissions and show pieces I completed during this con...

Batman sticking out his tongue, which was fun.  A few years ago at Rose City Con (if I remember correctly) I was asked to draw Batman with a Beard in a sketchbook.  The page before me was Matt Wagner and a few pages behind me was Levi Skeen, who is a cool guy and talented who is from my hometown of Spokane back west.  He inked some of my pages for his comic when I was twenty, or twenty one.  Thereabouts.

The next one is Slenderman, from a game apparently called Slender.  When I took the commission I thought that maybe Slenderman was the protagonist character... but as I was drawing it out it became more obvious to me that he was probably chasing the player... ooooo beware.

Lastly an arctic black ops Turtle.  Which one is it, hmmmmm?  I think I'll be developing this into a large print eventually.  Too fun.

- J.

Colorado Springs 2014

The Colorado Springs Toy and Comic Con is held twice a year, and is a charity benefit each time.

This event always seems to be a nice, solid investment on my time in terms of sales, marketing, and of course, fun!

This last weekend, I definitely was able to experience the most lush and relaxing tabling position I have ever been in... it was such a treat to be under natural lighting and have a slight breeze carrying through to keep me focused.  Tabling at a show can normally be so weary due to white noise and artificial lighting... what a nice change.

- J.

Sustainance

Last year my good friends in SE Portland put on an art show.  It was about "food" but otherwise open ended.  Now, this was a group which I was a part of for three plus years, probably over four years, and which I continue to visit every time I come to town, so I had to do something big and fun.

The final product was an image of two disturbing lovers, and it seemed to be some kind of alright to me.  It was a 3 foot by 4 foot acrylic painting, and I painted it flat on my big picnic table in my back yard, which was in the desert.  The heat was in the 100s that week, which was AWESOME for laying down layers quickly.

I also got crazy sunburned.  Ick.  Well, it happens all the time for me I guess.

I sent it in the mail in a tube, rolled up with the top brace bar and a bottom weight bar, as well as the ropes to hang it, and popped some grommets in it to make it all come together.  Couldn't figure out any other way to ship it for display, but it's a format I'm definitely going to use again one day.

This is a really great group so if you are ever down there in SE I encourage you to check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Night-South-East/189282047780291

http://fosterpowellpdx.com/2012/04/09/meet-your-neighbors-zack-kosta/

- J.

Mitch's Girls

Here is a commissioned piece which was a blast to put together.

Originally Mitch and I discussed doing this as two smaller pieces back during the 30 Characters challenge for this year...  ultimately the project was pushed back due to his scheduling demands.  So, now the piece became a two character piece and became much, much larger.

The original art for this piece is about 17 x 15, which is a pretty big scale.  The women pictured are his girlfriend and her best friend, so it was important to me to get the facial features correct.  The request was to display their friendship and to make them into superheroes.

When I asked him to some input on their "likes" it was given to me that Lauren loves cats, and Anne loves Abraham Lincoln.  I didn't feel comfortable making a Catwoman design or a genderswapped Honest Abe since I only met the girls once, so I worked that into their picture.  The bubbly shapes on Lauren's costume have everything to do with this RAD 1920's jewel and chain necklace which she wore in one of the reference pictures, and I went kinda "standard James" thinking for Anne's attire.

Fun stuff! 

- J.

Bar / Speakeasy

This is the bar set up I designed to help with backgrounds in the first, inked issue of Maize.

I really wanted each part of the bar to look unique.

- J.

New York 1927

This is New York.

In researching old photos, I was intrigued by the presence of large groups of walkers in the streets.  The vehicles were very sparse. 

It should not be a surprise that so few people were driving I suppose. 

- J.

Christmas Gifts

Christmas is silly.  It is a great time to make something new for someone.

I try to take advantage of the opportunity!

This thing was huge.  I had a little help with the curtains, and my wife painted the tan into brown.

This was for my niece Angil, as the A at the rooftop indicates.  The dog is her dog, the one on the backboard that is.  I discovered a few buttons which made sounds in this thing, so it got some fresh batteries, and the address above the door is one which she knows so that's a thing too.

I picked up a lot of little things to add, like the tv on the roof, the tea set, the trees, and the *ahem* machine gun emplacement.  (She has a rad brother too!)

The best dollhouse ever made.  It was fun.

- J.