MICE 2013 poster

The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is coming up in just a couple weeks. This year the festival is expanding to two full days, September 28 and 29. I was asked over the summer if I'd be interested in designing one of the posters, and this is what I came up with. Nothing too high concept—just a cute little mouse reading comics in a cozy nook of the forest.

I inked it in Manga Studio. Below is a postcard version with Shelli Paroline's overlay design. You might see them in and around Boston if you're lucky. Pick one up!

I'll be sharing a table with Dan Moynihan—with the usual assortment of comics and prints. I'll also be doing a workshop on character design, Saturday morning at 10:30. More info on that here, along with other scheduled panels and workshops. What else... I did a cover design for a monster anthology which will be debuting at the festival, too. More on that, soon.

A-Camping We Will Go!

I have a new story in SpongeBob Comics #22 (in stores now!) and it's camping-themed. Around this time last summer, comics editor Chris Duffy asked me if I'd be interested in doing a comic with a poster spread in the middle—basically, a giant illustration. I'd just gone camping with some friends out on the Harbor Islands in Boston, so this is what I came up with. Below are a bunch of images which you can click to view larger, including the camping spread, which works as a pin-up poster.

I'll talk about color first, and then get into some of the sketches. Color has become increasingly important to me, which is sort of weird to say because it's always been important to me. But it's become an even bigger focus. I put a lot of energy into drawing, but I labor—probably over-labor—on color. I made a lot of specific choices going into this illustration. One may not seem like a 'color choice', but I decided early to stick with as much black line as possible—notable exceptions being the constellations in the sky and the blue line around the glow-jellies. I tried to balance bright yellows, blues, and pinks with neutral purples, browns, and greens. Some of these decisions may be at odds with official SpongeBob color branding (most characters use a colored line, and we're all familiar with flowery blue sky), but I always strive to stay true to the character designs and Bikini Bottom universe, which is full of campfire underwater-type gags. Not sure what to call it, but I had this image in my head of old Boy's Life and National Parks artwork, without any particular references in mind.

Here's my first sketch comp. A few interesting things to note—the 'claw' shadow in the lower left was originally supposed to be the enlarged claw of a little crab. But all sea animals in SpongeBob (besides the jelly-fish) usually take on humanoid forms. Besides that edit, everything else got in, which is great. I went with the Plankton bug-spray gag because it was more funny than the hammock. Staging it at night also meant I could use pockets of light to direct the flow—highlighting the individual gags.

Even though I've been doing most of my inking on the computer, I feel strongly about working the pencils on paper. I stuck two sheets of 11x17 copy paper together with tape, where I planned the whole composition, scanned it, and inked it in Manga Studio. You can see below, after talking with numerous folks including pals Chris Houghton and Dustin Harbin, that aliased bitmap lines are the way to go. I've made the switch 100%—and Manga Studio is perfect for inking directly in this mode. So much cleaner. This is also the first illustration I properly trapped and prepared for CMYK press, and it totally paid off. The comic printed beautify. Nice and sharp, and the colors are as close as I would ever expect.

This issue (#22!) features the likes of Maris Wicks, James Kochalka, Stephen DeStefano, and Joey Weiser to name a few. There’s more to my comic than what I'm sharing here (it has a beginning and an end), so pick up a copy if you see one at your local comics shop. My spread is smack in the middle.

snow walk

In between all the projects that occupy my time these days, I've been trying to find the space to doodle, to play—to explore ideas. Usually these windows are brief. Lately I've been using them to play around with color. I keep coming back to color as the part of illustrating and cartooning that intrigues me the most. I rack my brain about color. I obsess over color selections. I work hard at color, way more than I do the drawing part. It can change the mood of a image—bring added life, draw attention to things. Because I stick with flat colors as a general rule, each color plays a purpose.

I overthink it for sure, but it's always a good exercise. I'm not sure if either of these are successful, but I chalk them up as interesting. The second one is from a little while ago (posted on tumblr), but it hasn't made its way over to the blog.

// mother and child // color study

SpongeBob Jelly Hive: Process

(click to view larger image)

I have a comic in SpongeBob Comics #17, now available on the shelves of your local comics shops. It's a great issue, with a choose-your-own adventure comic, so be sure to snatch yourself a copy.

Now for some process, for anyone who's curious. It all starts with a pitch. This time I was invited by editor Chris Duffy to pitch a 2-page spread related to jelly-fishing. I write in pictures, so below are some of my early ideas for gags and the layout of the illustration.

My thinking was to use a large jelly hive to contain cutaway-view panels—so that you could follow SpongeBob's journey room-to-room, reading left to right. Once the concept was approved, I started to block in shapes and forms, keeping in mind important restrictions like the page fold. I drew right on top of a print-out of the page guides.

And then I did an additional refined sketch on paper. I worked in enough detail to get approval on the drawing before I started inking.

At one point I was going to do it all brush-on-paper, but I'd inked a lot of my recent SpongeBob comics in Flash, and decided that would be the best route. (These days I'm doing most of my inking in Manga Studio.) I'm pretty sure I worked in Flash MX, even though this screenshot is CS3. I work on a layers for different items (separating characters from the background, just to organize things for any adjustments). I keep the sketch layer on the bottom.

And below are my final inks. (You can click this one to view large)

At this point I bring everything into Photoshop, where I do all my coloring. I archived an early color step, blocking in the characters and basic color ideas.

Then I go in and polish everything up. I used colored lines, which is an added step of work. The printed version includes dialogue panels and labels for each room of the jelly hive—added after I deliver my final file.

One of the wild things about publishing is that sometimes it can take a year for what you draw to make it to print. I started working on this comic in January of 2012, so it's great to finally see it in crisp printed form. Nothing beats it! Though, it's admittedly looking pretty old to me. Thanks for reading!

i heart you

Merry Christmas

All dressed up for the holiday season.

Biomimicry

At FableVision, I often get to work with museums, which is the best! Even better, when I'm given the chance to work with museums directly engaged in teaching the public about Science. We were recently approached by our friends across the channel, the New England Aquarium, to help develop an app on Biomimicry. The project is part of a larger initiative on Global Climate Change and Ocean Education.

The New England Aquarium, collaborating with other aquariums across the country, is leading a national effort to enable aquariums to effectively communicate the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on marine animals, habitats and ecosystems. Our goal is to build on visitors’ emotional connection with ocean animals, connect to their deeply held values, help them understand causes and effects of climate change and motivate them to embrace effective solutions.

What is biomimicry, you ask? It's when we look to nature for inspiration, examining systems and organisms to find ways to solve challenges and improve technology. An example you've probably heard of is Velcro, the hook-and-loop fastener system inspired by the tiny hooks on sticky burrs.

The app in development will be used by staff interpeters to get people thinking about the importance of our relationship with nature. We're still doing early testing, but in this post I've included a series of illustrations I created to introduce each topic on biomimicry (in a fun way). The above image of the whale shows how wind technology is looking to the contour of humpback whale flippers to improve the energy effiency of wind turbines. Seriously, look it up!

Below are other examples...

involving solar technology inspired by trees (this one is a mangrove),

fuel efficient cars inspired by the design of the boxfish,

cement production mimicking the way coral uses CO2 to create their skeletons,

and a coating for ships which prevents barnacles from attaching—inspired by sharks!

Like I said, we're still in the testing phase, but you'll soon be able to see this activity playing on iPads on one of your upcoming visits to the aquarium. Cool, right?

// hide //

Happy Halloween!

// walking light //

Bravest Warriors at NYCC 2012

It's already well underway, but for those of you heading to New York Comic Con this weekend, I’ll be part of the official Bravest Warriors launch, signing the NYCC exclusive issue of BOOM! Studios Bravest Warriors #1 with Breehn Burns (series writer/producer) at Jim Hanley’s Universe in Manhattan from 6pm - 9pm, Friday night. Open to the public! No pass or badge required.

I drew the limited edition cover (above) specifically for this event, so it'll be your only chance to get your hands on a copy. There will be a sneak peek screening of an animated episode of Bravest Warriors as well. So, come say hello!

More information here and here.

In other news.... 

.... THIS happened.  (braaaiiiiiiinnnnnnn ... )

A Winter Scene

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!

FableVision turns 15!

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

Nursery Rhyme Comics ... For Adults!

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).

// nothing left //

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.

Enclose

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.

Mucky

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.

Cat Rackham meets Mola Mola

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

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.