J. James McFarland - Friendly Belligerent

Monday, January 25, 2016

Dragon Face Lady

This is a commission for a client.

She wanted to be portrayed as a dragon,
and so she is! She made me an awesome face to draw.

I was trying to channel Jeff Smith's Big Red Dragon a little bit
as I went through this sketch, and the wings are my favorite wings ever.

- J.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Anakin's Face

So there are quite a few Vader covers I have sitting around here!

This is only the third sketch cover I have ever made. The first two have gone to auction, for the Aurora Rise charity auctions. This one, I'm going to sell myself.

Here it is.

Ebay is strange new territory to me.

So, the moment captured in this drawing should be pretty easy to remember from the movies. I took the liberty of a fairly large point of departure.

Two points of departure, if you want to count the gloved hand. I worked hard to have that hand fade back into the background and putting a glove on it might fool around with the effect.

- J.

Monday, January 18, 2016

311 Book - flashback from 2012

So, here's a book I made from start to finish:

I built a 30 page "311" fan book. I never advertised having made it, it never got documented in my portfolio. In a tale of "scope gone MAD" I took on a $500 commission in 2012, and then it turned into what should have been a $3k project.

I basically got bullied into never stopping work on it. So, four years later, here's the cover for the unfulfilled "311" fan book I built.

It was actually print-ready... I had started work on the second of FOUR of these, having never collected the initial confirmation fee, before I got the nerve to stand up for myself.

Don't ever work for free based on promises. Work for pay based on being paid.

- J.

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

Go to Work

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.