Jinx the Monkey :: Drip!

Freehand marker drawings

2012-02-01T09:02:00.000-05:00

I've been doing more freehand drawing lately—with markers, in particular. The guy above I drew with a regular old purple crayola marker. It's a fantastic tool to draw with—glides across the page smoothly and enough control to allow for a tapered line.

This weirdo I drew with a similar style black marker that I picked up years ago in college. Sturdier tip—great control. When you put ink to paper without a definite plan, you improvise from your bag of drawing habits with the hope of inventing something new. Put away your pencil, your eraser, your UNDO. Let what happens, happen. It's great for filling up a page of quick doodles, too.

(click this image to view large)

// warm enough //

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

When I drew this last night it was 15 degrees fahrenheit. I'm waking up now—it's a whopping 11 degrees. Still no snow in Boston, though.

A Winter Scene

2011-12-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

I drew this as a gift for our newest member to the FableVision team, Polly Searles!
I just added some color to it tonight. The year is finally winding down, and it's finally getting cold in Boston. Now, if only it would snow.

Stay warm. And have a Happy New Year!

I hear beards are in.

2011-12-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

Favorite Music of 2011

2011-12-13T01:08:00.000-05:00

2011. Where did the time go? Are you done with your holiday shopping? Are you done with your Top 10 Lists? I didn't think so. Let's dive right in, as I'm sure you have plenty more important things to worry about.

Much like last year, two albums battled it out for the top spot. The rest fell somewhat easily into the list. But if you're me and you put anything up against Yeezy... Yeezy wins. Hats off to Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), though—for one hell of an album that I'm sure will top a lot of lists this year and hopefully win him a Grammy or two. Heck, he's great on Watch the Throne, so everyone wins.

My TOP 10 Albums

Jay-Z and Kanye West
– Watch the Throne

Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Toro y Moi – Underneath The Pine
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
Neon Indian – Era Extraña
SBTRKT – SBTRKT
Cults – Cults
tUnE-YarDs – w h o k i l l
Panda Bear – Tomboy
Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Other albums of note:

The Beach Boys – The SMiLE Sessions
Whether or not this is how Brian Wilson would've assembled it in the late 60s is beside the point. I consider it a privilege to finally hear the original studio recordings. And they're great.

Laura Stevenson and the Cans – Sit Resist
I good friend turned me onto her music, and now I'm doing the same. She has a great voice—nearly made my Top 10.

Jim Guthrie – Sword & Sworcery LP: The Ballad of the Space Babies
Candy Claws – Dreamland Soundtrack
Jürgen Müller – Science of the Sea
Tycho – Dive
The above four albums are instrumental and mostly electronic (a few are soundtracks). I often play them while working. I can't say enough about Candy Claws, who are one of my favorite groups at the moment. Play 'Sword & Sworcery' by Superbrothers if you haven't already, too.

The Roots' Undun seems promising, but it's too early for me to give it a spot.

Finally, I mined a ton of individual songs from music blogs this year—a lot of them from Said the Gramophone (consistently, one of the best). So, be sure to check them out.

As always, more than anything else I'm curious to know what everyone is listening to. Feel free leave your favorites in the comments. I'm also on last.fm (bobjinxmusic) if you want to follow along next year.

Here are my lists from previous years: (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006)

FableVision turns 15!

2011-12-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

We had one heck of a party last night in Boston, ringing in 15 amazing years for the company I've been working at for over 7 of those years, FableVision Studios. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us! We also unveiled a new studio reel which we should have up on the site shortly. It's possible (perhaps?) that you haven't connected me with the company, or that you've never heard of FableVision. I'm currently the Director of Art & Animation, where I lead a truly extraordinary and inspiring team of illustrators, animators, and designers. Alongside producers, writers, and developers, we create educational games, websites, books, and animated films for learners of all ages. I couldn't ask for a better job or a better team.

Over the years, more than a few of our projects have made their way over to my blog.

For an immediate sampling check out the FableVision search label:

--> FableVision Projects

(which will bring up those posts—do it!)

To commemorate the anniversary, team member (and friend) Naomi Greenfield thought it would be fun for folks to interpret the company logo in their own way, and to present our concoctions to the company founders as a gift. So last weekend I figured out a way to work monsters and creatures into the mix.

The connection to the logo is more evident in color.

I can't say enough about this company, and how privileged I am to work here amongst superstars of individuals. I'd especially like to thank and our founding team: Peter Reynolds, Paul Reynolds, Gary Goldberger, and John Lechner. It's a studio defined by its people; I can't say that enough. It's why I look forward to going to work every day. To that end, an enormous thank you and congratulations to all FableVisionaries past and present. And equally, thank you to all of our collaborators and clients over the years.

To keep up to date with our projects, news & events, and studio antics (with even a few cameo tweets from me), be sure to follow us on twitter @FVStudioBoston. Also, if you have a story to tell, or your own educational mission, don't hesitate to write me directly.

Happy 15, Fablevision!

/ update / FableVision + Monsters // pink

Heeby Jeeby Comix #3

2011-11-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

Hey folks! I'm only going to plug this once before the holidays, and I realized I haven't mentioned it over here on the blog, yet.
Heeby Jeeby Comix #3 is available for purchase via my online store.

32 Pages | Full Color

Our newest issue offers up eerie stories, glow-in-the-dark boogers, ice cream capers—there’s even a comic about dinosaurs! It features work by cartoonists David DeGrand, Dan Moynihan, and myself—including the Brain pacifier gag and the 8-page comic 'The Cave'.

I still have copies of issues #1 and #2, so if you're new to Heeby Jeeby you can order all three in a bundle to save on shipping. I also sign and doodle in the back of each book. Our stories are for all ages and could make for a fun gift this holiday season. Thanks!

// greeted by the durquil //

2011-11-20T22:31:00.001-05:00

// mola mola 4 //

2011-11-08T23:32:00.001-05:00

... yep, another one. People need to know.

(previously 1, 2, 3)

You should check out the FISH Nathan Stapley drew and posted to twitter. {{shudder}}

// spazzzzoooooooo //

2011-11-08T19:12:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure a few of you follow me on twitter (@bobjinx), so you may have already seen this spazzy weirdo. I drew him (her?) last night—set it aside, and then came back to it right before bed.

...and unapologetically started messing around in Photoshop.

// x3 //

// double trouble //

// the computer made me do it //

That last image is best viewed by computers from 1982 and surprisingly, by certain species of dinosaur! (sorry, humans—but it's okay, because they can't read comics).

For those of you who don't already, these days you can follow me on Google+ and Tumblr, too.

A November offering

2011-11-07T19:29:00.000-05:00

I love this time of year. Clocks falling back, brisk morning air, the sounds of Thanksgiving music everywhere I go. Anyway, here are two creatures you may see tromping around post-Halloween. Looking for candy. Stuffed with candy?

// bllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh //

// puffed birdo //

Nursery Rhyme Comics ... For Adults!

2011-10-31T20:00:00.000-04:00

The folks from First Second Books recently asked me and a few other cartoonists featured in Nursery Rhyme Comics (see earlier post) if we would take on the task of illustrating some not-so-nursery rhymes. It seemed like a fun assignment! Editor, Chris Duffy, pointed me to this pleasant piece of poetry:

Round about, round about,
Maggotty pie,
My father loves good ale,
And so do I.

So that's what I illustrated—right? You can view this and the other cartoons by Aaron Renier and Vanessa Davis over at TOR.com. Not to mention the fun rhymes that go along with them.

I inked and colored this in Flash—here's my pencil sketch:

...and a few variations (I always prefered the first one, though).

Happy Heeby Jeeby Halloween!

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, a new comic for Heeby Jeeby Comix.
You can also view it on my comics site, here.

Pumpkin Carvin' Party 2011

2011-10-23T12:14:00.001-04:00

Last night we had our 4th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party—which this year perfectly coincided with my birthday. We had a bunch of friends over to knife into some orange gourds. Here you see us setting them up.

Hit the lights!

I'm really happy with the variety this year from some very talented folks.

Another assembling of the freakish lot. And now for some close-ups...

Pumpkins by Matt Boehm and Ellen Crenshaw.

A beautiful skeleton with a flower in her hair, by Tami Wicinas.

A stoic looking dude, by Dan Brennan.

This crazy character is by Hannah O'Neal. Great teeth!

A friendly feline by Heeby Jeeby's Dan Moynihan.

Two great pumpkins by my wife, Loren Lee, and Liz Chrastil.

And my contribution!

These are the 4 pumpkins that have been selected for this year's aging process. You may remember this evil soul:

Here are his mummified remains, a year later. He's a keeper!

(recall this post from last year: The Story of 3 Pumpkins)

Thanks again to everyone for coming out!

And here are the line-ups from years past (2010, 2009, 2008).

// update: I created a combination image of all 4 years of pumpkins, which you can view over at my tumblr.

Inktober is here again.

2011-10-17T21:27:00.000-04:00

It's the month that comes only once a year, and by the decree set forth by Jake Parker (king and ruler over all that is Inktober), I've cracked open a much-neglected sketchbook and put INK to paper. Anything goes. Here's a small dent...

Ink forces you to commit in ways unlike other mediums. Something is black, or it isn't. And in a sketchbook, there is no turning back. Take these next two pages:

There are plenty of things I don't like about either of them, but there they are (numerous decisions I want to take back in plain sight). But there's no starting over on paper. Computers let you get rid of all those marks you don't like, instead of building on what you have. It's a very different way of making a drawing. And as much as I'd like to be able to go in and redo certain marks and strokes, I like that I can't.

If Adobe is listening, I would highly value the ability to password-lock the UNDO feature (thereby disabling COMMAND-Z). Set it on a timer, or something. (THE HORROR!!)

Trust me—it wouldn't be such a bad thing. The reason why you NEED undo is because the computer doesn't always get it right; it doesn't always translate your true intent. When you make a mistake on paper, it happens at your control at the tip of your brush or pen. The computer attempts to process your input, and there's a gap that exists between your brain and the screen (especially if you're still on an tablet, like me). One day that barrier will no longer exist, and then we'll remember the benefit of making a line and leaving it.

If you're traditional when it comes to inking, you have all sorts of methods in place for corrections (even if they're digital solutions), but I bet you're much more comfortable with your mark-making. If you're all digital, I challenge you to work with ink. Even if just for the next couple weeks. It's a good exercise to shut off the editing part of your brain—to just keep making marks until you're done. And then you move on to the next thing.

(don't ask.)

Elastic Character Design

2011-10-04T23:29:00.005-04:00

So, we're looking at about 2 days since John K's animated intro to The Simpsons aired on Sunday night—and the effects haven't worn off on me yet. If you haven't already, definitely watch the couch gag...in a number of places (1, 2, 3), and read the interview he did with Amid Amidi on Cartoon Brew.

There are so many ideas to take away from the couch gag and the interview. Too many to discuss; all equally compelling. But one big point-of-interest is this notion of 'on-model' animation and drawing—where you follow a strict set of guidelines and formulas to recreate a character so that each drawing is consistent with the next. John K demolishes the rules that normally govern production on The Simpsons, and even breaks the internal rules of his own concoctions. He is explicit here in saying to avoid consistency.

(image courtesy Cartoon Brew)

This has HUGE implications when it comes to the production of animation—namely, whether or not to allow animators to distort or give individual voice to the drawings they create. And also, how consistent you want a character to appear from shot to shot. Some shows and directors allow more freedom than others. Most studios today arguably follow a rather strict 'on-model' approach (to which I might credit the impact of the productization of characters for merchandizing). The need to develop a system is understandable when you have a number of artists working in production.

It also got me thinking about how this applies to comics—where artists are also making an effort to draw the same character over and over again from panel to panel.

I will speak to my experience.

Here, a character is born—in multiples, as I posted a year ago.

No one drawing represents the character. Each drawing is a study in the design I'm trying to work out—which I do by moving the character around and giving him different expressions.

Fast forward to this summer, when I decide to feature a version of him in a comic called The Cave. You can read the full 8-page comic, here.

We all understand the importance of maintaining a certain amount of consistency so that the reader can follow the character from one panel to the next. But I try not to set hard rules for myself, because it's important to me that the acting of the moment drives how I choose to draw the character. I don't create a model sheet to figure out turnarounds. Instead, I get to know the character with each panel and with each requirement.

As an exercise, I've stripped out an assortment of images from this comic, isolating the character and giving him a uniform color treatment (in the comic, the lighting and mood required a variety of colors).

I would argue, with a good deal of certainty, that you should have no problem recognizing that this page features drawings of a single character. Sure, color acts as an aid, but that is a big part of his design in the comic—and definitely helps bind one drawing to the next. Even without color, he should be fairly recognizable as one character.

There are rules to his design, but they are not absolute. Features morph, eyes change shape, and arms may lengthen or grow a little. (He's a cartoon character after all.) Sometimes he has defined elbows, sometimes he doesn't. And again, no one drawing defines absolutely what he looks like. His design is the combination of all of these drawings and the variations within them. Which is why I'd call this an elastic character design, one that accommodates freedom for unique expressions and poses. The design is not rigid—allowing room for variation and fluidity from one drawing to the next. That said, the variation here is pretty conservative. It's not like I've given him square eyeballs in one drawing or he loses his lips in the next.

Comics are different from animation in that you see multiples of a character at the same time on the same page. But you can still get away with a certain amount of variation, just like you can in animation, and preserve the essence of the character.

Bringing this back to John K...he has reminded us that a huge part of what makes cartoons fun to look at is this elasticity in characters. I think he's challenged us all to think about what that means, and how far we can really take it.

Nursery Rhyme Comics

2011-09-27T21:47:00.010-04:00

Those close to me have already seen one of the few copies I have, but in case you haven't heard, First Second Books has put together a spectacular collection of comics created by 50 cartoonists called Nursery Rhyme Comics. Due to land in book stores on October 11th!

Edited by the one and only Chris Duffy (of Nickelodeon Magazine and most recently, SpongeBob Comics fame), the book features 50 timeless nursery rhymes! That adorable cover art you see above: by Vera Brogsol; book design: by Colleen AF Venable. We owe a great deal of thanks to Calista Brill and Gina Gagliano from First Second, as well.

So, who's in it? Well, I am! In addition to what is a truly astounding line-up of cartoonists:

Nick Abadzis; Andrew Arnold; Kate Beaton; Vera Brosgol; Nick Bruel; Scott Campbell; Lilli Carre; Roz Chast; JP Coovert; Jordan Crane; Rebecca Dart; Eleanor Davis; Vanessa Davis; Theo Ellsworth; Matt Forsythe; Jules Feiffer; Alexis Frederick-Frost; Ben Hatke; Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez; Lucy Knisley; David Macaulay; Mark Martin; Patrick McDonnell; Mike Mignola; Tony Millionaire; Tao Nyeu; George O’Connor; Mo Oh; Eric Orchard; Laura Park; Cyril Pedrosa; Lark Pien; Aaron Renier; Dave Roman; Marc Rosenthal; Stan Sakai; Richard Sala; Mark Siegel; James Sturm; Raina Telgemeier; Craig Thompson; Richard Thompson; Sara Varon; Jen Wang; Drew Weing; Gahan Wilson; Gene Luen Yang; and Stephanie Yue—with an introduction by Leonard S. Marcus!

No joke, right?

We were all given a nursery rhyme. I got "Little Boy Blue" —the first panel of which you can see below.

In review, this book should be arriving at your local bookstore any week now. Nursery Rhyme Comics is of course available online (for pre-order, even, right now!). It's the kind of book that will be sure to please the littlest of kids, and the biggest of comics fans. (I know my niece likes it!)

Boston folk: I'm scheduled at some point in October to make an appearance at the Boston Public Library to help promote the book. More to come on that!

New Brain comic for Heeby Jeeby

2011-09-27T20:59:00.003-04:00

Hop over to Heeby Jeeby to read a new brain comic.
Over at my tumblr, too! It's a one-pager.

// nothing left //

2011-09-16T20:18:00.000-04:00

I drew this in Flash last night and splashed some color on it. I'm not sure what he's eating. I was thinking of it as a sugary mush from a fruit or a hive—not as sticky and thick as honey...but kind of like honey.

By the way, I have a Tumblr now: http://bobjinx.tumblr.com
It basically mirrors this blog (I may do something different with it at some point). I do like that it posts images big.

Be nice to cartoons.

2011-09-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

Brake for Brains

2011-09-07T09:45:00.003-04:00

(click on this very tiny image to view large)

Tides

2011-08-28T22:16:00.004-04:00

I got out to the beach a couple times this summer.
A good time to get away from work, and be inspired.

I've had tides on the brain, too.
Especially after a trip up to Acadia in Maine.

// ashdance //

2011-08-17T22:27:00.003-04:00

Ash, from Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Created for FANARTICA.

Google+ Art Dump

2011-08-14T00:21:00.015-04:00

I've been posting stuff on Google+ these days (look me up). Not always public, though. Here are some of the things that took the form of oddballs and imagery:

// male bird, showing off //

// mix and match //

// lurch //

// loco //

// doods //

// watch the brain //

In all seriousness, I highly recommend you take Google+ for a spin. (I'm having fun with it, anyway.) More comics, soon.

Jellies on the Brain

2011-07-28T23:44:00.001-04:00

New on Heeby Jeeby: The Cave

2011-07-25T23:47:00.004-04:00

You can read all 8 pages of it, here.

UPDATE: And here, on my comics website.

Enclose

2011-06-24T13:24:00.003-04:00

For today's 'What the Doodle?' on Creative Juices.

Quick story: I almost lost this image to Flash Limbo when my file went corrupt on a system lock-up. This is where you click on the .fla, and Flash politely informs you that it is unable to open the file. Period. Gone for good. GAME OVER. Well, this time on a whim I tried swapping the file extension to .jpg, and then back to .fla. And when I tried to open it, it worked!—but only for a few moments until the file would crash. So, I published it as .swf to get the artwork out, and then re-imported the .swf into a new Flash file. It worked, image saved! So, it's worth a shot if you find yourself in a similar (horrible) situation.

I leave you with this thought: Wouldn't it be cool if you were inking a drawing on paper and it all of a sudden vanished (POP) from the universe? No, it wouldn't. This is what is fundamentally bad about computers. Your artwork doesn't exist anywhere outside of those 1s and 0s. Artist, beware.

Bobby Flynn and the Conjoined Panels

2011-06-16T23:20:00.020-04:00

I'm speaking to a class of first-graders tomorrow about comics, so I spent a little time this week digging through some very old work. You may remember two earlier posts from 2009, where I showcased artwork created by a 9 to 12-year-old 'Bobby Flynn' (1, 2). If not give them a read—they're good for a laugh.

In particular, I came back to this Ninja Turtle book I created when I was around 12—Volume #17 of the Bobby's Comics series. I'd been drawing comics for maybe 2-3 years by this point, and this was one of my first attempts at a color comic book. It's a continuation of an earlier series of comics I drew where stuffed animal Ninja Turtles came to life.

Upon closer inspection, what really stood out to me were these 'pairs of panels' that kept popping up—basically, two panels connected by a little tube to tie together an animated sequence of drawings. I've circled two instances, below.

I thought, how funny and weird a device! I first wondered if it were possible that I'd seen this elsewhere and copied it, but I have a hard time recalling seeing any such comics device even now. Because, there's really no need for it, right?

But on these pages scattered with so many little squares, I can see how a grouping convention like this could have arisen. There's one on the spread below (top right).

I figured I'd dig for some evidence to see if I could have invented this quirky little device on my own.

This, is Bobby's Comics Volume #1:

It dates from 1989—so I was probably about 9 years old when I drew it. The inside page warns of age restrictions.

The first comic, which I've grouped as a sequence of images below, occurs over a series of pages—functioning almost like a flipbook. It shows a turtle mutating over 5 drawings.

Click to view large

It's practically animated, right? Weird, because this remains to be one of my favorite aspects of comics today. Your brain fills in the gaps for you. Still awesome to me.

Next, a few pages from Dino Nauts (also in the first issue):

Anyone remember Dino Riders?

That's what these guys are like, only better. Because, when they get shot with a beam of energy, they turn into robots. With more angles and sharp points. These are two drawings from two separate pages that I've spliced together. Again, very cause and effect.

(Just wanted to show you the Triceratops and T-Rex before we move on. RAD!)

I went on making comics like this for awhile. They were really more like illustrated stories with word balloons. Below are a couple of pages from the Ninja Blobs (featured in Bobby's Comics Volume #3: 1990):

Here, I cut out the turtles altogether. All you need is slime and ninja gear.

Same fashion. A drawing spanning a 2-page spread. Turn the page...

...and you see what happens. Before and after; somewhat animated.

Some time that year (now, I'm about 10), I converted over to a the more formal 'panels on a page' approach to comics. This page spread is from Zorts (Bobby's Comics Volume #9).

There's so much happening on this page that I must've felt the need to use arrows to direct you where to go. Notice the pairing up of three images to show the blast shooting out of the ship.

To create the illusion of movement, I decided to group images that occurred in rapid succession inside of a box. Really, almost like a picture frame. You'll notice all of these panels have a thick border around them.

This next spread is from Zorts 2 (Bobby's Comics Volume #12):

Each page uses one of these framed devices to group connected images. On page 12 is a double paneled 'picture frame' showing the back of an ambulance opening up. And on page 13 is a triple paneled 'picture frame' showing the character waking up. In both cases, I was trying to create the illusion of movement by pairing images together inside of a bounding box.

Which leads me back to this guy:

How do we get here? I have one theory. Around the time I started to use a pen to ink over my pencils, I switched from a thick border frame to a single line frame. I still had the same desire to connect actions for quick movements, but instead of using a picture frame, I started using a tube to link 2 panels together.

Conjoined panels.

I used these the same way I did the ones with a thick border, except I never seem to pair more than two at a time.

Here's another comic book called The Racoons, created around the same time as the Ninja Turtles book. At this point, it's about 1992 (I'm twelve?).

Can you spot all the conjoined panels above?

This page has a large one—spanning the full width, with a noticeably thicker connection tube.

I'd like to think these 'conjoined panels' naturally evolved as my own little device. But who knows, maybe I did see them used elsewhere, and copied them. I've looked, but I haven't found evidence yet (specific examples, anyway). If you can point me to some comics that use them, I'd love to see them. It's such a weird thing that could only be useful on a page with a lot of stuff happening (as a device to help guide the reader).

Before I wrap up, here's one page I was REALLY excited about after I drew it. I remember showing it to my Dad, declaring it the best thing I'd ever drawn.

To which he replied something in the way of, "if you keep drawing, you'll make something even better." At the time, that seemed impossible (I loved this page!). But I'd say there was a shred of truth to it.

Thanks, Dad!

Finally, the official 'comics seal' I used in Bobby's Comics.

Mucky

2011-06-10T11:24:00.001-04:00

My laptop came back from repairs last night (new logic board!) just in time for me to quickly work up something for today's What the Doodle: Mucky! ...Hard to pass that one up.

Check out what everyone else did here.

A Pair of Archaeocyathids

2011-05-27T09:48:00.006-04:00

These guys are reef-builders from the early Cambrian—525 million years ago! Though, they didn't have eyes (I couldn't help myself).

And as these things go, a few other color experiments.

Heeby Jeeby @ MeCAF

2011-05-20T00:48:00.007-04:00

The Heeby Jeebys are descending on Portland, Maine this weekend for the Maine Comics Arts Festival (MeCAF)!

This will be my second year attending, and Dan Moynihan will be joining in the fun as well. In fact, we'll be doodling FREE Monster Drawings and giving them away to everyone who stops by our table!

Of course we'll have plenty of Heeby Jeebys for sale, prints, and more!

Sunday, May 22, 2011 from 10am - 5pm
at Ocean Gateway in Portland
(located on the waterfront)

Admission is only $5 and kids 12 and under get in FREE!!!

dripwalk

2011-05-17T23:21:00.002-04:00

An 18-frame cycle.

Cat Rackham meets Mola Mola

2011-05-12T07:53:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was declared International Draw Cat Rackham Day by one such Nedroid. The world listened—I set on my course as soon as I got home from work and fired it off last night.

This image was inspired by the doodle Steve Wolfhard (creator of Cat Rackham) drew in my book at TCAF.

(looks like he didn't get away, Steve...try as he may.)

There's a pretty awesome set growing over on Flickr with contributions from various artists.

Also, be sure to check out all the Cat Rackham comics online, and look for Steve's new book out with Koyama Press, 'Cat Rackham Loses It!'—easily one of my favorite pick-ups from TCAF.

Cloudy Collection + Ed Emberley

2011-05-11T11:19:00.007-04:00

While I mentioned the newest Cloudy Collection would be debuting at TCAF this past weekend, it just officially went live to the rest of the world. (WOOOO!)

The theme of the collection is 'Monster Parade'—here's my design:

a photo of the the 4-color screenprint...

and the set of all 15 of them!

The official word from Cloudy Collection:

Ed Emberley and fourteen of his biggest fans have also created set of screen prints, also titled 'Monster Parade'. All 15 four-color images are on 4″x6″ paper, and come wrapped in a custom, die-cut, letterpress slipcase, printed in purple. The colors on the prints are matched to Ed Emberley’s wonderful Make-a-World book, in green, blue, red, and black. This edition is limited to 100 hand-numbered sets, and includes art by Ed Emberley, his daughter Rebecca Emberley, S. Britt, Tad Carpenter, Maura Cluthe, Becky Dreistadt, Bob Flynn, Meg Hunt, David Huyck, John Martz, Caleb Neelon, Heather Ross, Souther Salazar, Bwana Spoons, and Nate Wragg. And don’t miss the bonus fold-out print by Cloudy Collection curator, David Huyck.

View the collection of 15 prints --> here!
(there are only 100 sets, so I'd hurry if I were you)

There's also a four-layer, 8″x10″ letterpress print by Ed Emberley himself. See the website for more details.

A huge congratulations goes out to David Huyck for organizing such a unique collection of artwork. Tons of hard work and planning surely went it to this. And a very special thank you to Anne Koyama (of Koyama Press) for helping to fund this Cloudy Collection edition.

I have to say, I'm very honored to be alongside all of these amazing artists, especially Ed, who inspired me when I was a kid, and still does today.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival! (continued)

2011-05-04T21:55:00.013-04:00

So, you already know about Koyama Press and 'Root Rot' (see previous post). Here's what else is on the agenda for TCAF 2010.

The Cloudy Collection is debuting a new print edition featuring Ed Emberley (info). There's a limited edition (250) 8" x 10" letterpress print by Ed, and 15 four-color 4" x 6" "Monster Parade" -themed screen prints (100) with art by Ed Emberley, his daughter Rebecca Emberley, S. Britt, Tad Carpenter, Maura Cluthe, Becky Dreistadt, (myself), Meg Hunt, David Huyck, John Martz, Caleb Neelon, Heather Ross, Souther Salazar, Bwana Spoons, and Nate Wragg.

You can find these prints at the Koyama Press table (142-144).
Be on the look-out for Cloudy Collection founder, David Huyck, who we can thank for this awesome collection of prints, with funding from Anne Koyama.

I'm also on an Adventure Time panel (info)

Comics & Animation:
A Conversation with the Artists of Adventure Time
Panelists: Michael DeForge, (myself), Andy Ristaino, Steve Wolfhard, and special guest Creator of Adventure Time Pendleton Ward! —Moderated by Phil Rynda
Location: The Pilot, 22 Cumberland Street
(across from Toronto Reference Library)
Time: Saturday, 2:15 – 3:15

You can find me at Table 154. Look for the brain!

I'll be sharing a table with Graham Annable—we're basically sitting at Doublefine row with artists including Scott C., Nathan Stapley, and Joe Lambert to name a few. Crazy times await.

Of course, the Heeby Jeebys will be out in full force!

You can pick up signed copies of issues #1 and #2.
And I'll have the usual assortment of prints & extras for sale.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival
Saturday May 7th, 9am-5pm
Sunday May 8th, 11am-5pm
at the Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada

Admission is Free.

Everything you need to know can be found on the official website.

See you in Toronto!

Root Rot @TCAF

2011-05-03T20:40:00.017-04:00

If you follow the comics world, you probably know that an amazing event is about to happen this weekend in Toronto: TCAF (otherwise known as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival). This will be my first year attending (bio!), and I have a bunch of news and info to unleash on you over the next few days.

So, let's start with 'Root Rot'.

...a forest themed anthology co-edited by Michael DeForge and Anne Koyama. I was invited to contribute a 2-page comic, the first page I'm sharing below.

Contributors include:
Jon Vermilyea, Derek M. Ballard, Dan Zettwoch, T. Edward Bak, Robin Nishio, Ines Estrada, Lizz Hickey, Mickey Zacchili, Jesse Jacobs, Jason Fischer, Hellen Jo, Angie Wang, Greg Pizzoli, Joe Lambert, Bob Flynn and Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos. Book design by Diana McNally.
Softcover, 72 pages, Color
 
Here's a fantastic interview/review combo over at Squidface & the Meddler with a ton more information and images from the book. Definitely have a look.

There's also an officicial 'Root Rot' release event at TCAF from 10:15 - 11:15 in Learning Center 1. Featuring: T. Edward Bak, Michael DeForge, Ines Estrada, Bob Flynn, Jesse Jacobs, Hellen Jo, Joseph Lambert, Diana McNally, Robin Nishio, Angie Wang and Mickey Zacchilli.

Inés Estrada, Mickey Zacchilli and I will be drawing. And there will be artist signings & giveaways!

If you're attending TCAF, you would be crazy NOT to visit the Koyama Press table (142-144). The publisher, Anne Koyama (the coolest, kindest, most genuine and supportive publisher you'll find in comics today) is debuting 7 new titles this weekend. More info here.

Lastly, here's a little something I drew up:

My interpretation of the Kick Ass Annie logo.

A number of artists and cartoonists have taken a stab at it, which you can view over at this Flickr set. I have to say, though, nothing beats the original design by Aaron Leighton.

That's all for this TCAF update. A couple more will follow.

The REAL story of the Easter Bunny

2011-04-24T09:51:00.011-04:00

You may remember this post from last year, where I told of the family legend of the Easter Bunny. Here's a quick retelling:

One Easter Eve, long ago, one of my uncles witnessed a tall skinny creature lurking in the den of the house. It was the Easter Bunny—he had a purple diamond at the center of his forehead. It looked around, and then suddenly, a beam of purple light shot out of the diamond, filling the Easter baskets one by one with candy and treats. ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! And then it disappeared into the night.

My dad told me this story when I was a kid—explaining that my uncle had once told it to him. As you can imagine, it basically scared the hell out of me (but in a good way). It definitely kept me in bed until daybreak (compare to bolting out of bed at 1 or 2 AM on Christmas), because I wanted nothing to do with this rabbit. Imagine, not a jolly old man, not a short little bunny, but a creature lurking around in your home.

Well, I caught a glimpse of the Easter Bunny last night.

It turns out, they come in multiples—a species of creatures that disperse over Planet Earth on Easter Eve.

*thump*

*thu-DUMP*

hssssssssssssss!

This one is getting ready to power up the crystal.
I wouldn't get in the way of the beam if I were you.

Are there any children scurrying about?

So, now you know.

Next Easter, be sure to watch over your little ones...

Greetings

2011-04-22T00:13:00.002-04:00

Heeby Jeeby Comix #2

2011-04-19T07:50:00.005-04:00

I updated my comics store yesterday and wanted to let you know that Heeby Jeeby Comix #2 is now available to purchase online via PayPal. This means you can order directly through me, and I can personalize your book with a doodle and such.

Visit my purchase site or click the "buy now" button.

Heeby Jeeby Comix #2 is the second installment of comics created by four bizarre cartoonists: Dan Moynihan, David DeGrand, Chris Houghton, and Bob Flynn. This latest offering includes a new batch of Halloween stories and an assortment of weird, twisted, and funny comics for all ages.

32 Pages | Full Color

heebyjeebycomix.blogspot.com

Of course, copies of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 are still available—so if you don't have either issue now is your chance to get both, and save on shipping.

Thanks!

Candy Coral & Grandma's Cookies

2011-04-14T08:13:00.003-04:00

SpongeBob Comics #2 has landed in a comics shop near you! The cover art is reason enough to pick up the second issue—with this killer Rat Fink inspired illustration by Brian Smith, colored by Mark Martin.

By the almighty powers of Neptune, I somehow have 2 comics in this issue. One made the back cover, and the other is a 2-pager.

Below is the sketch I drew to pitch "Grandma's Cookies".

From there, I did a more refined drawing in Flash. I thought it would be easier because I could move things around—really work it out digitally without having to do a ton of erasing or redraw.

This comic kicked my butt. It was a tough exercise in creating flow (literally, a path) through an illustration.

Once I figured out the drawing (I would consider this the pencils stage), I then inked over it in Flash for a tighter finish.

Finally, color.

"Candy Coral" started out as a one-pager.

But my fearless editor, Chris Duffy, wanted me to expand it to 2 pages so we could open up the tongue section. A great call, on his part.

I made a bunch of drawings for the 4-panel montage where SpongeBob and Patrick get all twisted and tied up. These are a few that we dropped, or further refined.

I particularly like the one where they are tripping on their own tongues (above), but I'm glad we replaced it with the super-stretched tongue knot. I try to keep it loose even when I'm sketching in Flash. This is what I like to call "scrawl"—where I draw fast and quick to pack as much energy as possible. The challenge is to retain that life in the final inks.

I had fun drawing all the various poses and expressions for the comic, but this is probably my favorite.

Here are the final colors. United Plankton Pictures adds all the dialogue, lettering, and sound effects with Comicraft fonts.

I finished reading the full issue last night. There are a lot of fun comics in this one, by artists & writers including James Kochalka, Andy Rementer, R. Sikoryak, Derek Drymon, Gregg Schigiel, Jacob Chabot, Robert Leighton, Molly Dolben, Scott Roberts, and Rick Neilsen. Well worth $2.99 and supporting your local comics shop.

If you're lucky, you still may be able to find copies of issue #1 (also amazing), which included my GlowSponge comic.

Thanks for reading!

Got my comics hat on!

2011-04-07T07:50:00.003-04:00

See you at MoCCA Festival this weekend!

Table B21. Heeby Jeebys, prints, and more!

See you at MoCCA!

2011-04-04T19:35:00.008-04:00

We already announced it over at the Heeby Jeeby Comix blog, but I'm reposting over here (with new photos!).

We'll be officially debuting Heeby Jeeby Comix #2 at MoCCA Festival 2011 this Saturday in New York City. You can be the first to get a copy of our latest 32-page full color print edition, chock-full of all new weird and bizarre comics.

Look for Dan Moynihan and I (in monster form) at Table #B21

We'll have plenty of copies of both issues on hand, assorted prints, and much more. So be sure to stop by and say hello. We'll even sign and doodle in your book! The festival runs Saturday and Sunday (April 9-10) from 11am-6pm at the Lexington Avenue Armory, 68 Lexington Ave (Between 25th &26th Streets) in New York City.

More info and ticket prices at the MoCCA Festival website.

Handrail

2011-04-01T11:24:00.002-04:00

For today's "What the Doodle?" on Creative Juices.

Hallucigenia of the Cambrian

2011-03-31T00:00:00.008-04:00

For the past few months I've been working on-and-off on a side project with my friend, Taryn Johnson. I'm all wrapped up in the sheer weirdness that is the Cambrian sea. With Taryn's aid, I've been learning about all sorts of extinct species, my favorite of which is probably Hallucigenia, pictured above. Do a quick google search on this critter and you'll see what I mean. For awhile paleontologists weren't even sure which side was up, and they still don't agree on the front from the rear. Some even theorized it to be an appendage of a larger unknown organism! Anyway, I encourage you to read up—he (she?) is a fascinating little guy.

Here are some pencil sketches I did while reading a book by Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful life: The Burgess Shale and The Nature of History (link).

Here's a more specific study of an especially cool species, Anomalocaris. A fierce predator and a relative giant of its age, measuring a meter in length.

More studies of Hallucigenia, 0.5 to 3 centimeters long by comparison.

We've been planning a short animation that will basically take you through a continuous pan of the ocean bed‚ displaying all sorts of bizarre sea life from the Cambrian explosion.

The idea is to have objects in the foreground track at different speeds as you move along (for a multiplane parallax effect).

Even though she's been playing the role of chief Cambrian expert, Taryn is a great artist in her own right—check out this Jellyfish she painted! She'll be designing creatures as well and leading the animation effort in After Effects.

It's all very much a work in progress, and it has been fun to experiment in a slightly different style. I'll be sure to share the final product when it's completed.

Until then, look to nature for inspiration!

Pencil dump

2011-03-24T22:22:00.001-04:00

I was clearing off the work desk to get started on some comics—figured I'd scan and post some pencils I've had kicking around.

And a few selects of some of the shorties.

Working this guy into a comic.

Oh, great.

2011-03-12T16:57:00.002-05:00

Spring has sprung.
(Don't forget to do that thing to your clock tonight.)

Window

2011-03-04T11:06:00.001-05:00

For today's What the Doodle? on Creative Juices.

The Story of 3 Pumpkins

2011-02-20T15:22:00.003-05:00

It's the end of February, and some of the snow is finally melting away here in Boston. Which means it's time to give you guys an update on this year's group of jack-o-lanterns. Here's the earlier post that documents their creation (Pumpkin Carvin' Party 2010).

And for those unfamiliar with my tradition of aging pumpkins, here's a little context from years past (1, 2).

I made a better effort this year in documenting their deterioration.

Above, we have pumpkins A, B, and C (left to right). These photos were taken as soon as they were placed outside, though A got a head start by a week (B and C were carved on Halloween). So, we're talking late October.

Now, I'm going to walk you through highlights of each specimen (photos taken from a span between November and December 2010).

Pumpkin A: Nov 5; Nov 7—the later because I wanted to catch'em wet.

Pumpkin A: Nov 22; Dec 12

Pumpkin B: Nov 7 (the glisten really brings out the horror)

Pumpkin B: Nov 22; Dec 12

Pumpkin C: Nov 7; Nov 22
This guy fell over on his own accord.
(which makes his demise particularly tragic)

Pumpkin C: Dec 4; Dec 12

This was the last time they were photographed together (Dec 12).

We got dumped on with snow for the greater part of January, so I neglected to document them as much as I would've liked to. As the cold sets in, they basically harden and shrivel in size. Snow and water (freezing, unfreezing) only help to suck the color out of them. Though I have no photographs to show for, I did notice at one point that I lost Pumpkin B. I suspect it blew off in one of the many snow storms, and got buried.

Fast forward to today: February 20, 2011.

I walk out to the porch to find neither of the remaining pumpkins.
(SHOCK! HORROR!). Except for this unidentified specimen:

(which I believe is Berney and Liz's pumpkin, tucked under a table—it rotted to nothing soon after Halloween).

It occurred to me immediately that they probably blew off in the powerful windstorm we had over Friday and Saturday. So, I looked over the edge...

...and found what appeared to be the remains of Pumpkin C in the storm drain.

Which, upon closer inspection, I can be almost certain of.

I peered further over the edge and noticed another pumpkin, 3 floors down, nestled on a shrub. What I saw when I went downstairs surprised even me:

I can't make this stuff up. This is where it landed. I KID YOU NOT. Right next to my landlord's lawn ornament. Next to two frightened plaster children. This is exactly how I found it.

I reached out to touch it, and it AWOKE.

(shudder!)

Pumpkin A. I found its stem nearby in the snow...

...and reunited them. The evil forces within him, resurrected.

A horrible specimen.

The pumpkins at this point are as stiff as wood. Light, dry, and easy to handle. Pretty cool, actually. I'm surprised this guy stayed so well preserved. My previous attempts mostly yielded flattened pancakes.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Until then, protect your children...

Breeze

2011-02-18T09:26:00.004-05:00

Here's a quick comic I drew up last night for today's What the Doodle?, on the Creative Juices blog.

Sometimes you guys ask—I inked this in Flash.

Smooch!

2011-02-14T13:57:00.010-05:00

Happy Valentine's day!

I owe you guys an update on the aging pumpkins.
Will post photos, soon.

Also: Valentines from 2009 and 2008

AND... Pumpkin Valentines from 2010!

Everybody KNOWS...

2011-02-10T22:09:00.007-05:00

... I'm a heeby jeeby monster!

Hey! BIG NEWS: I just sent Heeby Jeeby Comix #2 off to the printer! Turnaround is about a month, so look for a release sometime in March. This harry guy above is a rendition of, well...myself. Each of the four of us drew monster portraits for the inside cover of the book.

Also, I just posted Dan Moynihan's cover art on the Heeby Jeeby Blog --> sneak peek!

Dan and I will be tabling at MoCCA in April, so if you you're attending you'll have shot of getting your grubby little claws on the new book.

GlowSponge

2011-02-10T00:04:00.011-05:00

SpongeBob Comics are back! Issue #1 was released on February 9th, so head on over to your local comic shop and grab a copy while they're hot! This new series is published by Stephen Hillenburg's United Plankton Pictures, distributed through Matt Groening's Bongo Comics Group, and is edited by none other than Chris Duffy (former Senior Comics Editor of Nickelodeon Magazine).

The cover design for this issue is by one of the best SpongeBob artists in the business—Sherm Cohen. He has process up on his blog, so check that out.

And I snuck a little something in there as well. Below are my pencils for a one-page comic called "GlowSponge." I handled story, pencils, inks, and this time I was invited to do color as well.

I opted for flat colors, as that's what I normally use.
And they let me!

I have to say—flipping through this book makes me feel like a tiny slice of Nick Mag is back. And that's a good feeling. Look for the next issue in April, as these will land every two months. I have a couple more comics that should arrive in print soon.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

SpongeBob Comics #1 features 32 pages of all-ages material, retailing for $2.99.

SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg says: “All the stories will be original and always true to the humor, characters, and universe of the ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ series.”

It includes work by: James Kochalka (Johnny Boo), Hilary Barta (Fear Agent), Graham Annable (Grickle), Gregg Schigiel (X-Babies) and Jacob Chabot (Mighty Skullboy Army), Bob Flynn (Heeby Jeeby Comix), Bob Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics), Mark Martin (Tantalizing Stories, Nick Mag), Rick Neilsen (Nick Mag), Andy Rementer (Technology Tuesdays), Corey Barba (YAM), David Lewman (TV shows that you have seen!), Wes Dzioba (Star Wars, Nick Mag), Vince DePorter (Scooby Doo!), Robert Leighton (The New Yorker)

Heeby Jeeby: Playdate

2011-01-19T23:34:00.003-05:00

My latest one-pager for Heeby Jeeby Comix.

You may recognize these two kids (previously).

I've mentioned that we're currently putting together the second issue of Heeby Jeeby Comix; this comic will be included. The guys are working on cover designs at the moment. With any luck, we'll have it off to the printer by the end of this month!

Master of the Mola Mola

2011-01-13T21:56:00.005-05:00

Legend has it, a small number of crazed individuals have been able to quell the hideous beast.

And in doing so, they became masters of the mola mola.

Read my original post: Beware the Mola Mola (from a year ago).

UPDATE: Photos from the OCEAN-themed Art Party at FableVision

Little Robots (and animated GIFs!)

2011-01-09T22:20:00.031-05:00

A "Happy 2011!" is probably in order, but there's another reason to celebrate: This is the 300th post over here at Drip!

So, I've called in these little robots to kick off the festivities. I actually thought I lost them when my hard drive crashed last summer, but was able to retrieve them. They are from a project I did a year ago for my pal Tim McCandless over at Bandolier Group. I designed and animated a bunch of little robots to go along with a flow chart. Most are in a panic, until they discover the new and easy way to fulfill rewards and rebates. I'm not sure how we settled on robots...

Here's a quick way to view the animations (requires Flash):

--> Robot Animations
(look for the gray dot in the top left to toggle between 2 screens.)

Because I've been on an "animated.gif kick", I worked feverishly for more than a few hours today, converting a handful of these Flash animations into self-contained looping gifs. Whether it interests you or not, the challenge being that most of these robots were built with nested movieclips. If you know Flash, when it ain't a .swf, you need to turn all your movieclips into graphics. (UGH.) But I accomplished it, diving into one movieclip after another, and calculated mathematical things like Least Common Multiples to get them to loop properly.

Now that I've delayed (and bored) you by reading, most of these buggers should've loaded! So, let the party begin!

There you have it. Animated GIFs!
The future is NOW!

Interview on Strange Kids Club

2011-01-03T17:21:00.010-05:00

Rondal Scott from over at Strange Kids Club contacted me before the holidays to do an interview, and he posted it today! Rondal describes the blog as "an online hub for assorted strange, geeky and otherwise nostalgic content." There's a lot of fun content for sure, including articles on video games, comics, toys, and movie reviews. He asked some good questions (and posted some of my artwork, HUGE), so stop by if you're interested:

--> Strange Kids Club interview

Also, as 2011 gets underway, I'm slated for quite a few festivals this Spring. I found out a week ago that I got accepted as an exhibitor into this year's Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF)! So... look out, Canada! Heeby Jeeby is coming to get you! In addition to tabling there, Dan Moynihan and I will be at MoCCA in April and are looking to register for the Maine Comics Arts Festival (MeCAF) in May.

We're also pulling together artwork for Heeby Jeeby Comix #2, so look for an official announcement on that soon.

bird_loop.gif

2010-12-30T00:21:00.007-05:00

In 3 steps: one scrawl and two inks (one simple, one detailed).
Couldn't decide. Look, Mom! I made an animated gif!

"Drip" for Heeby Jeeby

2010-12-28T22:22:00.023-05:00

I posted this comic about a week ago on Heeby Jeeby Comix but thought it proper to repost over here (with process) because after all, this blog is Drip's namesake! So, in case you didn't make it over to Heeby Jeeby, here it is again:

Below is some of the sketching that went into writing this 2-page gag. I typically write in doodles. "Drip is awoken by vacuuming birds and retaliates."—that doesn't get me very far until I work out the individual drawings. Often, the drawings come before I've figured out the story.

The vacuum crew: big bird, little bird (circled).

And my pencil rough on copy paper, where I plan everything out.

Drip is an older character (spawned from a sketchbook around 2003), so I'm glad he finally made it into a Heeby Jeeby comic. If you're interested, here's an old post where I explained some of the story behind him --> (Drip!).

And finally, below is the comic I drew for ARGH!#5 in 2008, where Drip made his first major appearance. I noticed the quality in this earlier post wasn't so great, so here it is larger, less compressed, and hopefully easier to read (4 pages in two spreads).

This was when I was predominantly inking with nibs; now I use a brush pen. More info on ARGH! at its website, if you haven't heard me mention it before.

Kids

2010-12-28T00:15:00.003-05:00

A little leisurely doodling in Flash tonight—it's been awhile.
Below is the scrawl that got this pair started.

See you all in 2011, if not before then!

splluurrshh

2010-12-17T19:19:00.003-05:00

I have a new comic up on Heeby Jeeby, featuring Drip!

Favorite Music of 2010

2010-12-05T20:07:00.043-05:00

It's become a yearly ritual to sort through my favorite albums come the first week of December. Now, it's silly to sort and rank things—let's just get that out there. And you're probably sick of seeing these lists already. But if you care about something, like I care about music, it's a good way to wrap up the year and especially fun to look back on.

This year, two albums rose to the top: Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Sufjan Stevens' The Age of Adz. Which is interesting, because the last time Sufjan released a monumental album (Illinois, in 2005), so did Kanye (Late Registration). That year, I was torn between the two. But this year, it isn't even close. It is ridiculous how much I love Kanye's new album. Not to mention G.O.O.D. Fridays. I'd say he is my favorite artist/musician of the moment. The man, the music—argue with me all you want. Ha!

So, you know my #1 and #2 spots. Here's where the music landed.

My TOP 10 11 Album picks*

Kanye West
– My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern
Toro y Moi – Causers of This
Robyn – Body Talk*
Caribou – Swim
Blackbird Blackbird – Summer Heart
The Apples in Stereo – Travelers in Space and Time
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Chromeo – Business Casual

*Edit: After listening to Robyn's new album, it definitely should've made the final cut. But I didn't think it fair to bump anyone out, so I now have 11 albums.

Because it's always hard to cut it off at 10 11, here are some other good ones from this year:

Best Coast – Crazy For You
Candy Claws – Hidden Lands
(for these guys, check out In the Dream of the Sea Life from 2009—better, imo)
Ratatat – LP4
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Vampire Weekend – Contra
The New Pornographers – Together

And some albums that are newly growing on me:

~~Robyn – Body Talk~~ (bumped up to the list!)
The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

As always, I'm curious what everyone else is listening to, so PLEASE leave your favorites in the comments.

If you think you share some of my musical tastes, look me up on last.fm (bobjinxmusic)

Here are my lists from previous years (2009, 2008, 2007, 2006)

and FINALLY, here's the censored version (for Walmart):

weirdo flower tippy tappy

2010-11-30T20:28:00.004-05:00

Double post today! A few inks from over Thanksgiving...

The later, not to be confused with tappers.

An old birdhouse comic

2010-11-30T19:28:00.007-05:00

I've been very busy as of late (but what else is new). I hope to be able to share some new comics with you soon. In the meantime, here's a comic that's nearly six years old—from 2005, I think. I'm pretty sure it was the first comic I drew after a 2-3 year hiatus, post my college strip, Blake. At the time I was all about this little birdhouse character (you may remember him?). I still have a longer story planned for the guy if I ever get around to it.

Ricochet

2010-11-05T12:01:00.001-04:00

For a new What the Doodle? over on Creative Juices.

Discovery

2010-11-04T00:19:00.011-04:00

I have another comic for you this week, which may ring a bell if you keep up with the blog. This comic, called "Discovery", is a 10-pager I co-created with Dan Mazur for the Boston Comic Roundtable's Inbound #5: The Food Issue. Here are some earlier posts (about the book, and my process).

Again, Dan approached me with his script (no dialogue, but he described the pacing and imagery throughout). I signed on immediately, because it was right up my alley being wordless and whatnot. It was a perfect collaboration in every way imaginable.

So, here goes...

If you like what you read here, there are plenty more fantastic food-related stories by Boston comics artists in the book—a 176-page black & white trade paperback featuring over 25 comics! I wholly recommend it. Click over to the BCR website to buy a book for only $12, and help support the Boston comics community. Thank you!

Inbound #5:
The Food Issue

And for all you locals, copies are available at many Boston-area comic shops and locally-owned bookstores, including Million Year Picnic, Harvard Book Store, New England Comics, Brookline Booksmith, Comicazi, Hub Comics, and Comicopia.

Also, the Boston Comics Roundtable is hosting a release party this Friday night (November 5th) from 7-9pm at the Atomic Bean Cafe in Cambridge. Original comic art will be plastered all over the walls. People will be signing books. And I'LL BE THERE! More info, here.

Halloween Comic: Process

2010-11-03T00:29:00.026-04:00

When I was cleaning off my work table tonight, I collected some scraps to show some process for my latest comic. Thank you for your responses, and for supporting the bunch of us this Halloween season—which marked the one year anniversary of Heeby Jeeby Comix. If you haven't seen our new batch of comics yet, head on over.

The idea for this comic came together through doodling. Sometimes it's as weird as that. I was drawing cats and pumpkins, and the one in the upper right here struck me as kinda fun—I wrote "Lucky Cat?" and counted off nine lives.

I explored the idea of a cat interacting with a pumpkin, keeping the nine lives in the back of my mind. Again, working on paper. Drawing. I can’t emphasize this enough — I think a lot of us live in our heads too much. I’m guilty, as I’m sure many of you are, of lying on the couch staring at the ceiling, forcing ideas to come. Sometimes they do (for me, an idea will arrive on the bus ride to work when I’m lucky). But by drawing (or writing), you invite randomness and play to enter into the process, which you can spin into events and story elements. I’ll run an idea by my wife, too — talking out your ideas can help things coalesce.

Here's a key drawing: A cat on a cell phone, which spurred other ideas (a pumpin getting very annoyed). And after much spiralling, I had a story.

Below: my early thumbs, where I plot out panel layout. Here, the thought occurred to make it a scrolling webcomic (which I thought would lend itself to falling). But because our intent is to get these comics into book form eventually, I structured it in 4 pages over 2 spreads.

Then, on copy paper, I rough out the panels to scale (but smaller), and scrawl out the comic, loose.

These are the drawings that inform everything—where I try to infuse the most energy and life.

I mean, this is a mess.

But it gets me to where I need to go. I transfer this scrawl onto bristol, which I refine in my final pencils, and then ink.

Something is always lost in the process. But I consider it my job to retain as much of the life from the scrawl as possible, by limiting the steps. Here, scrawl to pencil to ink.

Then, it's time to color. Sometimes I have the color worked out in my head as I'm drawing. More often, I work through multiple color attempts.

Purple, red, and orange? This is my flats stage, where I block in quick colors as I paint things in. This wasn't working.

Then I realized the cat would need to be dark for the ghost-cats to contrast as light (knowing they'd be transparent). So I reversed the value field (background lighter, cat darker). But the colors still weren't reading night. And were a bit duller than I wanted.

Eventually I landed here (above). Which is a kind of primary color scheme, with the addition of some neutrals. Orange and brown were added later. Once I mapped out the color space for the free-fall panels (with the blue night sky), it appeared I had something. Comics are funny in that the color scheme needs to work across the entire comic. Sometimes I leave it for an hour or two and come back to it, to make sure nothing strikes me as looking off. It's all about solving various elements of the puzzle.

Here's the full comic below.

So, that's basically how this comic came together. Leave any questions or comments you have, and I'll try to answer them. Thanks for following along!

RORR!

2010-10-31T14:52:00.004-04:00

Just in time for Halloween (barely!)...

Go read my newest comic for Heeby Jeeby!

Dan, Chris and David all did comics this week, so be sure to read the whole bunch of them (including the batch from last year!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Carvin' Party 2010

2010-10-24T11:35:00.004-04:00

Last night I hosted the 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carvin' Party at my apartment. We had about a dozen friends over to celebrate. This is what October is all about, folks!

Here a a few pre-candle photos; this grinning bunch includes mine on the left and Taryn's on the right.

Renee carved an adorable pumpkin this year! Nice touch with the ears :)

Tami did some crazy work with negative space. Wait until you see this one lit (below).

And then—lights out!

Here's an overhead.

Ryan carved one of the most intricate grins I've ever seen.

Eric used an electric dremel for a mean looking Jack Skellington.

Jack-o-lanterns by Jesse and Sara. Sinister!

Keith did a great tribute to Mignola. Wild on negative shapes.

Tami's, too. It really comes to life!

Here's mine.

Taryn's eyes look ablaze!

Hannah's just cracks me up :)

And a close-up on Renee's heart.

Here's to another great year!
I still have a couple more pumpkins to carve—we'll probably save them until Halloween (one for me; one for my wife, Loren).

Thanks for coming out everyone! And here are pumpkins from previous years (2008, 2009).

Including a few solo pumpkins of mine (1, 2)

BOO.

2010-10-19T23:57:00.002-04:00

Inbound #5: The Food Issue

2010-10-16T13:24:00.007-04:00

(click image to view larger)

I just got word that Inbound #5 is now available for purchase through the Boston Comics Roundtable. It's a 176-page b&w trade paperback, and also features the 10-page "caveman comic" I co-created with Dan Mazur (process art previously). From the BCR website:

Boston’s comics creators are serving up
a piping hot stack of stories!

Our best and brightest comics artists come together in Inbound #5 to share their reminiscences, fantasies, fears, and love of food. From the deeply personal to the fantastical, this book explores our complex relationship with what we eat.

When did humans first learn to cook? Why are we sometimes attracted to the most repulsive cuisines? Is it possible to turn into the food you eat too much? Inbound #5 takes you from the historical tales of fishwives and cheese-chasing to the beautiful and evocative legends of food handed down from the gods.

I should add that my friend Ellen Crenshaw drew up a fantastic cover! You can see the full illustration over on her blog. And the outstanding layout and design is by (once again) Shelli Paroline, who also has a comic in the book.

If you'd like a copy, it's all yours! Hop on over to the BCR website to buy a book ($12), and help support the Boston comics community. Thank you!

Buy a copy, here --> Inbound #5

UPDATE: For all you locals, you can find a copy at many Boston-area comic shops and locally-owned bookstores, including Million Year Picnic, Harvard Book Store, New England Comics, Brookline Booksmith, Comicazi, Hub Comics, and Comicopia.

Contributors include: E.J. Barnes, Eric Boeker, Jerel Dye, Franklin Einspruch, Patrick Flaherty, Bob Flynn, Joel Christian Gill, Andrew Greenstone, Danny Gonzalez, Raul Gonzalez, Beth Hetland, Erik Heumiller, Allie Kleber, Braden D. Lamb, Cathy Leamy, Jackie Lee, Jesse Lonergan, Dan Mazur, Mar-T Moyer, Line O, David Ortega, Shelli Paroline, Adrian Rodriguez, Roho, Aya Rothwell, Katherine Roy, Adam Syzm, Laura Terry, Jason Viola, Rebecca Viola, Katherine Waddell, Ryan Wheeler, and Andy Wong.

color play

2010-10-13T20:42:00.006-04:00

Here are some rough color studies for a side project I'm working on with my friend, Taryn Johnson. We're basically going with my first instincts (top row), but I have a lot of fun exploring other options just messing around in Photoshop, which often spawn other color ideas.

Norman Saunders: Illostribute

2010-10-11T09:54:00.013-04:00

Over the summer, illustrator Toby Thane Neighbors asked me if I'd like to participate in a new collaborative blog he'd started called Illostribute. The idea for the site is to pay tribute to famous illustrators and fine artists by "investigation through interpretation." And he's been able to gather up quite the impressive roster artists, including regular contributor Nate Wragg. I missed the first few rounds because I was crazy busy, but was able to carve out some time in September for the current artist, Norman Saunders.

You can see the full post --> here

...which details Saunder's career as one of the most renown pulp fiction illustrators, creating more than 800 covers in his time—and includes well over a dozen outstanding tribute illustrations.

I began my investigation by poring over cover after cover of Saunder's work. There are many great resources, including this one over at PulpArtists.com. After much searching, I settled on the Mars Attacks trading cards he co-created for Topps in 1962—a good online index of those can be found here. This is apparently the set that inspired Tim Burton to make his movie of the same name. I chose the image on the left because it features one of Saunder's trademark women in distress, and of course, because I knew I'd have fun drawing the alien.

Here's the sketch I started with.

Which I then scanned and inked in Flash.

I imported the inks (with transparency) into ArtRage, where I did all of my painting and coloring. Above is an in-process screen shot. As always, I highly recommend this program for digital painting.

And the final rendering, which I imported into Photoshop to design the typography, added texture, and to crop it to match the trading card (see image at the top of the post).

The process of visual investigation was definitely a fun one, though I'd consider it a cover or tribute more than a unique re-interpretation. Still, it was enjoyable to take one of his images and remake it. Plus, I normally work in flat colors, so moving the paint around and rendering the forms was a welcome exploration.

For more on Norman Saunders, there's a great book out by his son David Saunders, published by The Illustrated Press. Shane Glines has great praise for it, too.

Multiples

2010-10-08T23:44:00.009-04:00

Here's a little guy I was hammering away at the the other night.

Bob and Dan @ MICE

2010-09-23T23:37:00.002-04:00

The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (better known at MICE) debuts this Saturday from 10am-6pm at the Art Institute of Boston. Dan Moynihan and I will be tabling with plenty of comics and oddities. Dan did this fantastic poster, as well!

I'll have the usual ensemble of ARGH! and Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 (a few copies of inkbook, too)

As a little something new, I made up couple dozen prints of some of my illustration and cartoon art. Dan's revealing a treat as well.

We'll be signing books and doodling up a storm. Admission is free, so if you like comics you can't go wrong. Again, Saturday September 25 at AIB (right in Kenmore Square). We hope to see you there!

Tappers

2010-09-16T20:08:00.000-04:00

Heeby Jeeby Comix --> Direct

2010-09-11T22:58:00.028-04:00

Howdy, folks! This is a quick post to let you know I've decided to sell copies of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 via PayPal. This means you can order directly through me, and I can personalize your book with a dopey drawing or the like. So, if you don't have a copy yet, now is your chance.

Visit my purchase site or click the button below.

You can still purchase through our print-on-demand distributor, ComiXpress. Which is especially good for large orders. Just keep in mind that they may take a little longer to get to you. Thank you!

Inkdump

2010-09-09T23:24:00.002-04:00

I just realized I'm more than a year in on this sketchbook (first post)

Here's another dump of selects.

I promise to get some color work up. Lately I've been all brush and ink.

And I'd like to fill up this book before the year is out. Almost there!
You can see a bunch more by looking up my sketchbook label.

Back to school

2010-09-06T19:32:00.005-04:00

Labor Day used to mean something else entirely.
(where I come from, school normally started a day or two after)

Dan Moynihan has a brand new "back to school" themed comic up on Heeby Jeeby today, so check that out, too.

Cartoonists Descend on Ottawa

2010-08-31T12:40:00.012-04:00

I apologize for the void that has been this blog as of late (more drawings, comics and animation to come soon). I've had a very busy summer which just culminated with the art show David DeGrand and I co-curated at the Canteen Gallery in Ottawa. The opening was this past Friday night, August 27th.

"Seduction of the Idiots"

Here's the show blurb that David wrote up
(he also designed the poster):

Comics have long been accused of transforming young, impressionable children into savage maniacs incapable of existing as productive members of society. This is of course, completely ridiculous. At worst, comics warp fragile minds into wanting to become cartoonists themselves, which is arguably slightly better than the juvenile delinquent scenario. In any case, comics are here to stay, whether uptight citizens like it or not. The artists on display in “Seduction of the Idiots” are all examples of what can happen when comic and cartoon addiction is not dealt with early enough. Let this art show serve as a warning to parents everywhere; know what your child is watching and reading every second of their lives. The last thing you want is to be the parent of an idiot.

I had the pleasure last week of viewing and hanging a stunning body of artwork by some of my favorite cartoonists, illustrators, and animators. I get to see everyone's work online, but nothing beats seeing the real deal. In order of appearance, the artists in the show included John Martz, myself, Michael DeForge, Chris "Elio" Eliopoulos, David Degrand, Kaz Prapuolenis, J.R. Goldberg, Rebecca Sugar, and Dan Moynihan.

I didn't have the best camera on hand, but I snapped a few photos right before the opening (which can be viewed larger by clicking on them).

(Left to right) John Martz, Bob Flynn, Michael DeForge

Chris "Elio" Eliopoulos, David DeGrand

Kaz, J.R. Goldberg, Rebecca Sugar, Dan Moynihan

...and here's a smattering of close-ups.

I had a great time at the opening—many thanks to everyone who attended. The show is up until September 12th, so be sure to stop by Canteen on Dalhousie if you happen to be in the area.

A bunch more thank-you's: First, to all the artists who accepted our invitation and took the time to create and prepare artwork for the show. I realize how much time and effort goes into this (having been in other shows), so it's immensely appreciated.

Of course, a big thank you goes out to Inaas Kiryakos, who invited David and I to curate the show in the first place. It was a bit of a mad dash to get everything ready for the opening, so thanks for helping us reach the finish line!

A HUGE thank you to my wife Loren, who was an enormous help designing and hanging everything when we arrived in Ottawa. I definitely couldn't have done it without her. She also snapped this photo of me (yes, this is what I look like).

And last but not least: DAVID! Thank you for all your help, ideas, and inspiration along the way, bud! The two of us definitely plan on doing another show in the future.

I hope to revisit Ottawa, soon!

Related linkage that features artwork from the show:

J.R. Goldberg
Dan Moynihan
John Martz

* UPDATE:

Here's a short interview I did with Diane Bond of Apartment 613 about the show. It's an arts and culture blog which covers events in Ottawa.

Heeby Jeeby Week!

2010-08-09T21:47:00.005-04:00

Avoid the Future is a remarkable comics blog run by the amazing Martin & Judith, where they serve up reviews and interviews of small press and indie titles on an international scale. They asked Chris, Dan, David and I if we'd be interested in doing a group interview around Heeby Jeeby Comix. We said yes, and the result will be trickling out at a steady ramble this week on their blog—dubbed "Heeby Jeeby Week".

So, be sure to check us out, and read the truly original content Avoid the Future has to offer—a growing collection of thoughtful reviews and engaging interviews.

*Here's the full interview, in three parts:
Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

Homo habilis

2010-08-07T08:57:00.012-04:00

Last weekend I finished coloring (graying, really) a 10-page comic for the upcoming issue of Inbound, an anthology published by the Boston Comics Roundtable. I had a comic in their previous book. The photo above is a snapshot I took when I was about halfway done inking.

I put the final touches on the comic this week, completing a great collaboration with writer (and comic artist) Dan Mazur—also marking the longest comic I've created in awhile. I shared an early sketch in this previous post. Here's the final rendering (page 5).

Inked, with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.
(this is my untouched scan)

and my preliminary sketch (before pencils).

Finally, here are some concept "caveman" sketches—more specifically, Homo habilis—the species at the center of this tale. I ended up going a bit more realistic than I normally would; the story warranted it.

I believe the anthology will be printed in the fall—after which I'll share the full comic.

Senses Characters

2010-07-29T18:47:00.017-04:00

(click on these guys to see'em bigger)

I have some new character art and designs to share with you! If you follow the blog, you may remember a series of animations I posted about a year ago from a project we developed at FableVision for the Denver Museum of Nature & Science called "Top 10 Traumas on the Trail." If not --> here's a refresher (with plenty of animation to watch). You can currently see that project in a fantastic exhibit at the museum called Expedition Health.

Well, the awesome crew from the museum came back to us with a request for a sequel! (I was of course, ecstatic!... There are few things I love more than combining animation and science). This new series of shorts features the same hiker with a new friend—and this time they're learning about how the makeup of our DNA alters how we perceive various sensations.

I started by revisiting earlier designs of the hiker character, and coming up with a few more. The original, who we call Spikey, is in pink.

We ended up going with (B), but realized we'd need to add ears so they'd be able to, well...hear.

Next, I designed some environments. Below are stills from a few of the opening segments. We start outside at stops along the trail, and then enter into the body to explain the scientific process. These are all painted in ArtRage, which is an app I still highly recommend.

And then it was on to the senses characters. We needed all 5 of them (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing). I thought it would be most fun to have the characters become the body part that perceives the sense. Here's an early composite sketch.

There's also a bright little character named Poly (short for polymerase, which is an enzyme that reacts with DNA). We think of her as the engineer responsible for reading the blueprint of your genes. Some early sketches of her, below (we went with C):

And last but not least, the Brain.

(like I really needed to design another brain character...YES!)
He's the guy all the senses report to.

*Update: FableVision animator, Hannah O'Neal, asked me to dig up the alternates for the Brain. She inspired version (D) with a doodle she passed over to me. So many brains, so little time.

And here they all are in the final character lineup.

One more image to toss at you: a test that I did to make sure they worked on the background concept (devised to be a cool little factory & command center inside the body).

That's all for now! I like to think of these little sense guys as cute cousins to my weirdo brain character. I'll share a few of the final animations in the near future.

Seduction of the Idiots @ Canteen

2010-07-22T19:33:00.004-04:00

A bit of fun news to report: My bud David DeGrand and I are co-curating a comics and cartooning art show for the Canteen Gallery in Ottawa. This is the same gallery that featured my Caucus Race illustration in a group show back in March. I'll post more information as the show nears, but as you can see we have a pretty amazing lineup of cartoonists, including the crew from Heeby Jeeby!

David gets full credit for the show poster and the name, "Seduction of the Idiots" (meant to be a play on the infamous book, Seduction of the Innocent).

For now, pencil in the opening date, August 27th—especially if you'll be in and around Ottawa. It'll run until September 12th.

Where is my mind?

2010-07-15T01:00:00.008-04:00

The brain is on the loose over here at Drip! I'm not sure how, but he got into the banner. Which is alright, I guess. If you missed him on Heeby Jeeby, here's his debut comic:

...which has now been dubbed "Brain Freeze." I kind of like "Cubed", too. Especially because I built this comic from a 4x6 square grid (if that sort of thing interests you).

I definitely plan on doing more comics with him, so be on the lookout.

And as a brain BONUS, this fellow just arrived in my inbox.

...who was delivered and drawn by the one and only Trevor Van Meter! WOW! That's one damn fine root beer float. I'm certainly not going to discourage pin-ups and "brain art" like this. The invitation is open!

Trevor has a leg up on me because he actually gives his characters awesome names. You may have heard of his creation, "Crappy Cat."

Hop over to this website to check him out—and PLAY THE GAME (which is hilarious and insanely well-crafted). I mean it. Play it. You can even download a FREE iPhone app featuring Crappy Cat comics. Comics on a phone, you ask? YES.

So, that's your dose of brain for today.

Heeby Jeeby @ Hub Comics July 18th

2010-07-11T09:48:00.015-04:00

As the flyer states, Dan and I will be signing copies of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 at Hub Comics in Somerville, MA on Sunday, July 18th. A week from today! (flyer art by Dan himself)

If you know anyone who lives in the Boston area, please pass the word along. Especially kids! It should be a good time. We'll be drawing and doing collaborative comics as well.

I dropped off a dozen copies of the book last week, making Hub the first retail location to stock Heeby Jeeby Comix!

Here's the official Facebook event for more info.

"Bob Flynn and Dan Moynihan, both formerly of Nickelodeon Magazine, and now of Fablevision, have teamed up to form the wacky, kid-friendly 'Heeby Jeeby Comix.' Heeby Jeeby was a big, sell-out hit at the Maine Comic Arts Festival this year, and is a lot of fun for all ages."

Ice Cold Root Beer Floats!

2010-07-10T15:57:00.005-04:00

Just what you need to beat the heat!
Go read my new comic over at --> Heeby Jeeby!

Spears and brains

2010-06-22T22:45:00.002-04:00

With June winding down, I'm getting back into making comics. Here's a page (penciled rough) from a comic I'm working on with Dan Mazur (writing). It's shaping up to be a 10-pager, which is one of the longer comics I've tackled in some time.

And then there is this brain guy.

He's been throwing a fit because all he does is stand in as my Twitter/Facebook/Flickr (etc) avatar. So I'm working him into a comic...or two. If he behaves.

One last thing:

A public service announcement.

My hard drive crashed over the weekend. I put it to bed and it died in its sleep. All my data was wiped out, just like that—ZAP! Fortunately, I had all my artwork backed up on an external drive.

So PLEASE, back up your work. It happens.

Carat (bird)

2010-06-18T10:09:00.004-04:00

For this week's What The Doodle?
On FableVision's Creative Juices blog.

Inking.

2010-06-02T22:34:00.003-04:00

More from the sketchbook I've been keeping.

These last couple pages are from tonight.

You can see a bunch more from this sketchbook over on Flickr.

Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 available for purchase!

2010-05-29T09:40:00.013-04:00

Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 is now available for online purchase through our print-on-demand distributor, ComiXpress.

BUY HERE

or you can click on this fancy graphic I designed.

The book is 32 pages, full color, staple bound, and includes all of the Heeby Jeeby Comix you've seen posted on my blog, alongside plenty of comics and gags by Dan Moynihan, Chris Houghton, and David DeGrand. For more pictures, check back at my unboxing photos.

Let me know if you have any questions while ordering. ComiXpress tells me orders take about a week to process and ship. And you should be able to use PayPal. Also, they ship internationally* for those of you outside the United States.

If you are a retailer interested in stocking Heeby Jeeby Comix #1, ComiXpress offers the book at a base 35% discount with FREE SHIPPING. More info on that here. I believe you just have to create a retailer account.

*UPDATE: They apparently only do Priority Mail 6-10 day shipping for international orders. So I may be handling those myself at a lower/slower shipping rate. Email heebyjeeby (at) jinxthemonkey (dot) com and I can contact you when this is set up (it may be awhile).

*UPDATE 6/6/10: We just cleared it with ComiXpress, and International Shipping at First Class rates (lower/slower) is now available during checkout. Doing a quick estimate: Canada is about $2.77, Europe is a little over $5. For most orders in the US, it's a little over $2 shipping. Hope this helps, and thanks again!

Finally, to break up all of these Heeby Jeeby updates I've been bombarding you with, here's something I doodled up last night when I was hanging with my bud, Roho. Just the usual rambling inky mess...

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Thank you! (MeCAF round-up)

2010-05-24T08:30:00.003-04:00

I'm back in Boston after a thrilling weekend in Portland, Maine! Tabling at MeCAF was a blast. I met all sorts of wonderful people, and we sold out of the first print run of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1. There were 28 copies sold—I saved one for myself and my parents. The kid turnout was phenomenal! (For the festival as a whole, too). It was the first time I got to see kids reading Heeby Jeeby Comix, and I couldn't be happier with their response. I'd say I sold about half the books directly to kids (with their parents funds and approval). The other half went to my comics peers which I have to say a huge thank you to.

I was manning the table for most of the day (the kids kept coming!), and we were in the lower section so I didn't make it up to the larger room as much as I would've liked to chat it up and buy comics. Apologies if I didn't swing by your table. The comics I did get a chance to sneak out with are phenomenal (two by James Hindle and Joseph Lambert, in particular).

The biggest thank-yous go out to my wife Loren Lee-Flynn (seated beside me in the photo above), Renee Kurilla (who I shared the HeebyJeeby/Zebrafish table with), and Keith Zulawik. Also thanks to Maribeth Bush for taking this photo of the four of us.

Again, thank you to everyone who made it out to support comics this weekend in Portland, Maine. Huge kudos go out to Rick Lowell and his team from Casablanca Comics for organizing and running a near perfect event.

I'll be ordering the next batch shortly, and I'm still collecting a running tally. So if you're interested in a copy, send an email to:
heebyjeeby (at) jinxthemonkey (dot) com . I will file away your request and get back to you when online purchasing is available. Thanks!

See you at MeCAF!

2010-05-20T21:52:00.012-04:00

The Maine Comics Arts Festival (MeCAF) is just a few days away, so I'm in a mad rush to get everything ready. If you don't know much about the festival, here's a blurb and a great poster designed by Jeff Lemire and Brian Wood (both are headlining the event).

The Maine Comics Arts Festival returns to Portland this weekend to celebrate the comic book art form. Over 100 comic writers, artists, publishers and cartoonists will be attending the second annual event on May 23 at Ocean Gateway on Portland's waterfront...The festival is not a typical comic book convention in that there are no stores or dealers set up selling books. Instead, the exhibitors are the creative people behind the comics. The artists will have their own work on display and available for sale. The mix of writers and artists covers a wide spectrum and includes many best-selling and award winning comic creators.

So, if you're in the greater New England area, you almost have no excuse but to make the trek to Portland. I'll be sharing a table with the immensely talented Renee Kurilla—so be sure to look for us both!

I'll have the first edition of Heeby Jeeby Comix in supply (30 copies, to be exact), as well as issues 2-6 of ARGH!, the Spanish comic anthology which I'm a contributor to. Tons of those, infact—keep in mind they are super rare imports!

I also printed up a new sketchbook zine which I'm calling "inkbook." I collected a bunch of brushpen inks and printed a 28-page stapled booklet of drawings. You can view most of the original pages over here on Flickr.

Once again...

MeCAF is Sunday, May 23rd from 10am-5pm.

Admission is a mere $5, and best of all—KIDS UNDER 12 GET IN FOR FREE! There's all sorts of fun panels on Saturday at the Portland Public Library (schedule), but remember the main event is on Sunday.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to collecting up some mighty fine comix!

Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 (PRINTED!!)

2010-05-18T20:07:00.007-04:00

Fresh from the printers, folks! And by a twist of funny timing, the box arrived a day before I got back from a trip to Chicago. So I had to wait a whole day to fly home and see them (today). I opened the box moments ago, and snapped some photos.

Here's a side-by-side with the original cover art.

The inside cover introduces the creators and lists a very special dedication—which you should be able to make out if you click on the photo.

One of many spreads featuring comics by Dan Moynihan.

An especially gross comic by Chris Houghton.

A spread abound with comics by David Degrand.

and here's the first spread of my "Cereal World" comic.

32 pages of comics!

FULL COLOR!

As I mentioned in this earlier post, I'll have the first 30 copies on-hand at the Maine Comics Arts Festival this Sunday (May 23rd). We'll soon have copies available to purchase online. Look for updates here and at Heeby Jeeby Comix.

UPDATE: I'm keeping a running tally of people interested in a printed copy of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1. If you shoot me an email at: heebyjeeby (at) jinxthemonkey (dot) com , I will file away your request and get back to you when online purchasing is available. Thanks!

Heeby Jeeby Comix #1 (cover art)

2010-04-30T00:30:00.009-04:00

First of all, apologies for being so absent from the internet as of late—let alone this blog. This has been one crazy-busy-fun month for me, and wrapping up April has meant getting the first issue of Heeby Jeeby Comix ready for press. Over the past week I collected up all the comics from Chris, David, and Dan. We have a 32-page full color book at the printer right now; we're using ComiXpress for starters because (A) they are affordable for color, and (B) they offer print-on-demand. More to come on that.

The guys were kind enough to offer me the cover, but I didn't get around to drawing it up until this past Sunday (my first available window in a long time). I had the concept in mind (creatures reading comics), so I started in Flash by mocking up a quick color study. I knew I wanted to use "heeby jeeby green" throughout. And because we really want this book to appeal to kids, I also knew I wanted a blend cute and weird—not to have it be too bizarre or gross.

Then, it was off the computer to the drawing table.
(I've uploaded these higher res than usual...so go ahead and click on them)

And inked up (below is the raw scan).

I couldn't be more excited to get our first shipment of books, due to arrive just before the Maine Comics Arts Festival (MeCAF) which I am attending on May 22-23. This will be your first opportunity to get your hands on a copy of Heeby Jeeby Comix #1. Because of rush order fees, I could only afford 30 books this time around, but we'll be looking into print-on-demand distribution through ComiXpress (leading to a simple "BUY" button to click on the Heeby Jeeby Comix blog).

If you're local to New England, I highly recommend MeCAF. It is a near perfect comics event—only in its second year. This will be my first year with a table. I'll have tons of ARGH! Comics (imported from Spain) in addition to other goodies. See you there!

Easter Bunny

2010-04-04T09:22:00.001-04:00

I was on Twitter and Facebook last night, relaying an Easter story. It goes a little something like this:

When I was a kid, my dad told me the Easter Bunny was a tall and skinny creature, with a purple diamond in the middle of his forehead. On Easter eve, he would come into your house and shoot a purple beam of light out of the diamond—filling the Easter baskets one by one with candy and treats. ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! My dad said one of my uncles witnessed it happening (who told him, and now he told me).

It basically scared the hell out of me. Don't get me wrong, I loved what the Easter Bunny brought—but the idea of a humanoid rabbit with a diamond on his head definitely got me thinking. I was scared enough by the idea of a magical bearded man in a red suit coming into my house; the Easter Bunny was a creature. I didn't risk getting up early—normally staying in bed until morning.

After typing away last night, I figured I should take a stab at drawing one of these rabbit creatures. This is one version I came up with. It would be fun to do a proper illustration some day....purple it up with the beam of light.

Thanks, Dad! and Happy Easter.

The People in My Neighborhood

2010-03-26T12:27:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, David Huyck asked me if I would design a print for the first edition (Volume 2) of his ongoing Cloudy Collection project. The latest edition went on sale moments ago (Noon ET, 9am PT), and includes a set of 4" x 6" letterpress prints by 7 AMAZING artists: David Huyck, Dustin Harbin, Scott MacDonald, Laura Park, Claire Robertson, Dave Taylor, and myself. Read all about them on our bios over --> here.

This edition is available to purchase for $35
(free shipping US & Canada!!) -->

Cloudy Collection (Volume 2 Edition 1)

A portion of the sales will go to The Nature Conservancy.

You can also subscribe to receive all 4 editions in Volume 2 (to be released this year), and receive a cool t-shirt designed by David Huyck and Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos.

Each edition is a limited run of 100 print sets. Here's an example of the first edition from a year ago which sold out pretty quickly. We all work in the same color palette (light blue and charcoal), with a theme—this one being "Who are the people in your neighborhood?"

I had a blast working on this drawing. These guys are my friends! I inked it with a brush pen on paper, and prepared the color plates in Photoshop. You know, it's odd that the colors ended up being so close to the blue/gray/white palette of my Jinx the Monkey website. It makes the "neighborhood" that more familiar to me.

Here's a photo of the actual print:

Congratulations to everyone involved–I can't wait to receive my copy of the edition. Remember, there are only 100 sets! Maybe one of them has your name on it.

Cereal World

2010-03-21T08:54:00.002-04:00

My latest comic for Heeby Jeeby Comix.

"Cereal" pencils

2010-03-14T19:33:00.004-04:00

I spent the better part of the weekend penciling my latest comic for Heeby Jeeby Comix. I have all 4 pages pretty much ready to ink—here's the first as a bit of a teaser.

I've been bad about keeping up with the rest of the Heeby Jeeby crew (2 months since my last comic!) So check out what Dan, David, and Chris have contributed if you haven't visited in awhile. With any luck, look for my new comic this week.

CUTE!

2010-03-01T20:56:00.005-05:00

My friend Wes Dzioba commissioned me to draw up some cute food illustrations for his newborn son's bedroom (congrats on baby boy, Wes!) I know what you're thinking—what's gotten into this Flynn guy? Believe it or not, I don't have to draw gross things all the time. I enjoy drawing cute characters as well.

Wes and I worked out the scenarios together—the hotdog/corn combo was mine; sushi/wasabi was his clever idea.

They're cute enough to eat, aren't they? ;)

By the way, you should remember Wes for his amazing job coloring the SpongeBob comics I worked on for Nick Mag.

Beware the Mola Mola

2010-02-20T19:51:00.021-05:00

This is no joke.

These creatures exist.

This is the ocean sunfish, otherwise known as the mola mola. They are the heaviest bony fish in the ocean—weighing upwards of 5000 lbs! HUGE! Just look at the diver by comparison.

They've been spotted off the shore of Boston.
They may even live in an ocean near you.
And they creep the hell out of me.

It all started when I was a kid. The thought of swimming with fish scared me to begin with. When I would go swimming in the lake, I'd imagine fish gracing by my feet, ready to nibble away at me—especially if I swam out over my head.

I was reading about fish in an encyclopedia (this was what we used before Wikipedia, kids), when I came across an illustration not unlike this:

http://www.feenixx.com/sealife/fantastic_fish-poster.htm

"The Fish of the Ocean" it was called—a full page illustration showing fish of all shapes and sizes. And there is was. It was labeled "Ocean Sunfish." I just couldn't make sense of it. Its body design is so bizarre, it defies explanation: no tail fin; two huge fins jutting out the top and bottom. The drawing was larger in scale than what is shown here.

But this is where the real freak-out kicks in. I imagine a scenario where I'm out in the ocean, snorkeling, when off in the distance I see a white shape that grows larger. And larger. Before I know it, I'm swimming alongside one of these...fish. In fact, the horror is pretty well simulated in this video. The beast appears around the :54 second mark.

Watching this sends chills up my spine.

It should come as no surprise that no one takes my fear seriously. My wife has known about it for some time, and was thoughtful enough to buy me this:

They are not CUTE.

Mola mola will kill your family according to one group of enthusiasts.
(thx @Tarynosaurus)

So...I was tweeting about how I can't stand these mola molas the other day. The taunting continued. And then one fellow (@Abraxas579) thought maybe I could overcome my phobia by drawing one. It was an intriguing proposal, and I do enjoy drawing gross things, so I decided to take him up on it.

Some preliminary sketches.

WAIT! How'd that get in there?

I landed on this drawing. And then inked it. But I prefer the pencil.

I guess I have a better appreciation for their awkward body design now. But you won't catch me in the water with one any time soon.

Fear the mola mola. As I do.