J. James McFarland - Friendly Belligerent

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Westword Comic 2015

This was my submission for the Westword Newspaper of Denver from 2015.

It was a personal take on what Colorado means to me. Very gratifying to have it go up and be seen.

- J.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

I want to Live

This is a piece submitted to a magazine about meditation and other practices.

The juxtaposition of bright pink flower with the solemn, drab surroundings was intended to be self-illustrative.

- J.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The beginning of September, I set up shop in a brand new studio space.

Upon awakening the first day there, I chose to leap to my feet, race to my drawing table, and begin an extensive work day. Only... that's not what happened.

Fatigued, exhausted and confused, I could not move for nearly an hour and a half, so physically and mentally drained from the prior months of moving. Staring, staring at the ceiling.

Knowing the power of setting a strong mental predisposition to the new surroundings, I determined to capture that moment instead. Thus, still worn and weary, I went straight to my table and captured that moment.

This has gone on to be both my fall 2015 business card image, and also the cover to my 2015 Rose City Comic Con print portfolio for Portland in September.

I'm rather fond of it.

- J.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Aura Gaia - Aurora Rise 2015 (pt 5)

This is an explanation of Aura Gaia.

Lord Know is the antagonist of Aura Gaia. He is evil. (He apparently likes Facebook.)

A technological ruling authority, Lord Know can see all you do, through the lens of himself and his many bodies. The character established himself first on Facebook, directly speaking to expected guests of the 2015 Aurora Rise event. Revealing himself 10 days prior to the event, he led with a string of confirmations that you "have been a good human" and acknowledging you for staying "subservient."

Next, Lord Know began a series of posts explaining that his "Gardeners" would be coming through your "zone" soon, and to follow their directions. Eventually, one of these masked Gardeners began to address the same online users, the guests of Aurora Rise.

This character was Aura Gaia, and she would use her own account online to slowly reveal the actual cosplay of Krista Kirkpatrick's creation over the next five days. This would allow for the philosophies and world of "the future of the Techno-Ecology" to be explored.

- J.

Aura Gaia part one - http://friendlybelligerent.blogspot.com/2015/11/aura-gaia-aurora-rise-2015-pt-1.html

Aura Gaia part two - http://friendlybelligerent.blogspot.com/2015/11/aura-gaia-aurora-rise-2015-pt-2.html

Aura Gaia part three - http://friendlybelligerent.blogspot.com/2015/11/aura-gaia-aurora-rise-2015-pt-3.html

Aura Gaia part four - http://friendlybelligerent.blogspot.com/2015/11/aura-gaia-aurora-rise-2015-pt-4.html

Aura Gaia part five - http://friendlybelligerent.blogspot.com/2015/11/aura-gaia-aurora-rise-2015-pt-5.html

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Aura Gaia - Aurora Rise 2015 (pt 4)

This is an explanation of Aura Gaia.

Here is a look at the thought process which took my design from start to finish.

I truly feel that the final product character which Krista Kirkpatrick and myself created was a strong blend of uniqueness, originality, and out-of-the-box thinking. It was very important to avoid falling into conventional genre tropes, and this should demonstrate that ideal fully.

- J.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Aura Gaia - Aurora Rise 2015 (pt 3)

This is an explanation of Aura Gaia.

One of the stipulations of the Aurora Rise 2015 Cos/Art Competition was the creation of a "3 paragraph backstory" for the original character.

Never one to back down from a challenge, in addition to the formal 3 paragraphs, I also made a 3 page comic for inclusion in our character presentation booklet.

Largely tongue-in-cheek, it was important to have some reverence for the character, trapped in an absurd world.

In this way, I could illustrate out the understandings of this future world, the characters and villains within it, demonstrate the importance of the social understandings of the people, and Aura Gaia's place within it.

- J.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Aura Gaia - Aurora Rise 2015 (pt 2)

This is an explanation of Aura Gaia.

When Krista Kirkpatrick and I began brainstorming, I immediately set the pace by making sure that we were brainstorming together. However, I wanted it to be largely based on her own character interests, and so I was pushing the collaboration "back and forth" in a manner to develop the character along her own preferences.

The character was eventually settled upon as a plant-based, nature powered woman... of the future!

Before we had any designs started, we had the basic understanding of the character. As she developed, I would set about designing the backstory and the world around her, as well as her partners and the antagonist.

- J.