Drawings Unit

Dragon and Robot

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From the Drawings Unit

I didn’t want ​#Smaugust​ to fly by me without doing at least ONE dragon.

To be fair, I drew this in 2023 but never scanned or colored it. Originally, the plan was to have it in the ROBOTS book, but after I laid the book out I realized there really was not spot that fit this illustration.

Then I saw the smaugust art challenge and really wanted to do some dragons for it, but I was too busy with a graphic novel I'm waist deep in to do an art challenge. So I pulled this drawing out, extended the bottom of it and threw some color on it.

Full process post over on my patreon: ​LINK​

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ON PATREON:

I'm posting my process for all my art on the patreon. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes content and learn a little more how I approach creativity, project management, and business strategies I post over there at least one a week. Consider signing up!

Join the Patreon

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: ​LINK

-Jake

Robot Round Up

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From the Drawings Unit

Here's most of the landscape robot illustrations I did for the robots book.

The great thing about books is landscape images look amazing in them. The thing that stinks about social media is landscape images look small and insignificant.

I find myself being drawn more and more to art books, like I used to be before I got my phone. You just can't replicate the experience on a glass screen.

This book is out now digitally. Available here: LINK​

I'll have print copies available in July!

Special thanks to Tate Parker and Anderson Carman for helping me out with colors on these.

Get my 8 book bundle for $60: LINK

I'm posting my process for all my art on the patreon. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes content and learn a little more how I approach creativity, project management, and business strategies I post over there at least one a week. Consider signing up!

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK

Robots, Robots, Robots

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From the Drawings Unit

Last Friday I delivered the last 9 pages of the comic to my colorist, and wrapped up the art duties on the book!

I'm So happy with how it's looking. I sent the pages off to a few friends of mine who make comics and the feedback I'm getting is that it's my best work yet. 🙏

To celebrate, here's a hot plate of new robots to feast your eyes on:

Get a front row seat of the ROBOTS book creation on Patreon: LINK​

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PATREON:

I'm posting my process for all my art on the patreon. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes content and learn a little more how I approach creativiy, project management, and business strategies I post over there at least one a week. Consider signing up!

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK

Robot Technology

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From the Drawings Unit

Been working on the Robot technology section of the ROBOTS book and I love how these are coming together.

This is just a taste of what's in the book! I'm pretty excited about how it's all coming together. More sneak peeks to come!

See the rest of the Robots Technology Section on Patreon: LINK​

-Jake

My Long History of Space Witches

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From the Drawings Unit

I'm currently building out the Robots book and one section is about these personal assistant bots that I've been putting in my comics. They're like floating Alexas, but they have their own AI and personalities. I came up with the concept way back in 2004 when I drew a short story called "Lucy Nova" about a space biologist and her side kick who documented everything they were discovering:

In the robots book I'm highlighting the assistant bot for this space witch character I keep coming back to:

I started thinking about where the idea for this witch came from and I remembered it has it's roots in some concepts I came up with over 20 years ago.

In 2002 a guy reached out to me about drawing his sci-fi Wizard of Oz story. I was too busy at the time to draw a full comic*, but I told him I would do the character designs. He didn't have a lot of money to pay me, but he ran a t-shirt printing company and said he could pay me in shirts. So I made a deal to do the art for 100+ shirts. I gave him a Missile Mouse design to print on them, and then I sold those on my website (via paypal) and made a nice profit.

Here's one of the designs I made for him:

I always loved this idea: jet pack monkeys and a leather clad witch with a rocket broom.

A few months later I did this design:

And that just kind of stayed in my head until about 7 years ago when I designed this witch with a magic-punk broom.

The idea of combining technology with a witch festered and grew in my imagination and then a few years ago I made this little drawing:

I thought that maybe this could be a fun character to fold into my Red Shift Renegades universe.

A year later I did this drawing, developing the character further:

Then I revisited the character again in 2021 with this drawing for Inktober:

I'm not sure what her entire backstory is. I know she's well connected in the Red Shift underworld. Does she practice magic? Is she an interdimensional being like the Star Catcher? Or is her past more prosaic and she's thirsting for weird adventures?

Who knows!

-Jake

*The guy he ended up finding was a young, inexperienced Ryan Ottley who would go on to draw Invincible, Spider-Man, and Hulk!

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PATREON: This was originally posted to my Patreon in September. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes posts like these (at least one a week) consider signing up!

Join the Patreon

The amount of support on my Patreon ebbs and flows, but always hovers around 125-130 people. I'd like to get that up to 140 this month. If you sign up this month I'll give you any of my digital artbooks of your choice. Just DM after sign up and I'll send you a download link.

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

Recent Sketchbook Stuff

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From the Drawings Unit

Over the years, as client and personal project needs picked up, I have started to draw less and less in my sketchbook. I used to finish 3 sketchbooks in a year and now they are taking me well over a year to finish.

What I noticed is that when I did have a moment to sit down to draw in my sketchbook I had forgotten how to do it. I had forgotten what a sketchbook was for. It seemed like a waste of time...time that could be spent working on my to-do list. None of my drawings were creative or exciting. They looked forced and unimaginative.

About halfway through this year I realized I hadn't had any NEW ideas. I've been rehashing old ones and executing on past ideas. It dawned on me that my lack of sketchbooking was probably a culprit. I decided to rediscover my sketchbook and recapture its power to be a place of exploration and fun. The drawings above are the first fruits of that.

I'll get more into my sketchbook philosophy in another email, but for now, just wanted to share these drawings.

PATREON: If you want to see ALL the sketches, reference material, and prelim drawings I'm doing that go into the creation of drawings like these, become a patron today.

If you sign up this month I'll give you any of my digital artbooks of your choice. Just DM after sign up and I'll send you a download link.

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK

-Jake​

Moonbreaker Concept Art

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From the Drawings Unit

A couple years ago I was brought on early on to do concept art for the recently released game Moonbreaker.

I recently got clearance to share my concept art online so here's a few images of a massive piece I had a ton of fun creating.

I started out doing a couple rounds of character designs, but they moved me on to designing some scenes and world building. This first scene shown here is supposed to be one of the capital cities of the universe and I tried to pack in as much story and detail as I could in there to make it feel like a lived in metropolis. I based it on my many trips to NYC where you have opulence and squalor living on top of each other, and a middle class just trying to get to work without getting in the way of each other.

You can see the rest of my Moonbreaker Concept Art here: LINK

-Jake

The Transfer and the Messengers

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From the Drawings Unit

I've been working on these pieces on and off over the last month or so. I felt like my portfolio needed some fresh art, and I want to add some cool prints to the shop this year.

I'm exploring style and color with these. With the Messengers illustration, I designed it to look good in a kid's playroom or bedroom, and the other I was inspired by Mobieus and the Vaporwave microgenre.

These are available in the shop now starting at $20: LINK

PATREON: The amount of support on my Patreon ebbs and flows, but always overs around 125-130 people. I'd like to get that up to 140 this month. If you sign up this month I'll give you any of my digital artbooks of your choice.

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

Dusk Bunnies

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From the Drawings Unit

The dusk bunnies come out at sunset. Can you spot all of them hidden throughout? There's 26 of them.

This is my 3rd winter in AZ since moving here in 2019 and while I love the sunshine, I miss those big snowy days we'd get in Utah and Connecticut. I think this piece is me working through those feelings.

I've been working on this on and off since December and it went through a handful of iterations before landing on a fox and a boy fishing. I knew it needed one more little element to make it special, and the idea of the dusk bunnies came to me. (Alison coined the name, brilliant!)

These little guys are like mini-abominable snowmen, the size of rabbits. They are curious fur-balls who come out at dusk, and are mostly harmless unless threatened. Here's a bunch of sketch explorations of them:

I made this into a print for my shop! It's available in three sizes and ships out immediately.

PATREON: Join now and see how I make illustrations like Dusk Bunnies from start to finish. Every week I show patrons the process of at least one drawing. At the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

New Years Pigs

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From the Drawings Unit

I know we are two weeks into the new year and nearing the end of the shelf life of saying "Happy New Year," but I didn't get a chance to say it to you yet, so HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Did you know about new years pigs and gnomes? Apparently this was a big thing 100+ years ago (might still be, I don't know). In a lot of Northern European and Scandinavian traditions, pigs are a symbol of good luck and prosperity. I guess gnomes are also a part of the Christmas tradition in those northern lands and so you see a lot of gnome and pig Christmas/New Years Cards.

I thought I'd do my own this year...and I let the weirdness of the subject matter wash over me. Which resulted in me coming up with a pig wreath.

Alison and the kids gave it mixed reviews. So I didn't post it on IG, but I thought you'd like it.

Here's a bunch more pig and gnome cards I found online. There's more here LINK

PATREON: Join now and see how I make my illustrations from start to finish. Every week I show patrons the process of at least one drawing. At the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK

Space Fairies

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From the Drawings Unit

Exploring the idea of what sci-fi fairies might look like. I want to sneak these guys into red Shift Renegades some how.

I'll be starting work on issue 2 in December. Picking up right where issue 1 left off.

PATREON: Join now and see how I made these illustrations from start to finish. Every week I show patrons the process of at least one drawing. At the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

-Jake

Spaceship Melange

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From the Drawings Unit

Here's a bunch more spaceships I've been cleaning up and coloring for the book. A rough layout is finished for the book so now I'm going in and polishing each spread.

As I was making this image I had all the spaceships overlapped and I thought it looked kind of cool:

I call it a "Spaceship Melange." This spacetime quantum anomaly used to happen a lot around super massive black holes until the invention and installation of gravitational vector alternators on most star ships.

-Jake

SEE-THROUGH CUTAWAY PRINTS

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From the Drawings Unit

This is something I've wanted to try for years, but never had a good excuse to do. I absolutely LOVE cutaways and overlays and this weekend while I was working on the latest cutaway for the book I thought, "Why not make this an ultra-cool handcrafted print set?" I made a few samples and they are just so darn cool, so I decided to make them add-ons for the Kickstarter.

Each print comes with TWO sheets:

1) A vellum see-through overlay with line work only:

2) A giclee print with the full color cutaway drawing for the base:

When you combine them, the effect is captivating. I find myself just staring at this print, then flipping the sheet up and down:

They are 11x14 inches which is a standard frame size you can get at Target, or Michaels, so you don't break the bank framing this thing. And boy do they look cool framed:

Here's a close up:

These are hand-crafted in my studio and you can add it on to your pledge for $65 each. Or if you want all three, I have a buy 2, get one free deal.

Available EXCLUSIVELY through the Kickstarter.

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

Cutaways

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From the Drawings Unit

This week I drew more spaceships, haha. Current obsession is drawing cutaways of the ships I've designed. These are all going into the book.

Someone asked me if I actually know the mechanics and engineering of what I’m drawing and the answer is yes…kinda.
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I've looked at enough airplane cutaways to have a good idea of what things generally are. Here’s some things to remember when drawing a cutaway:
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- Draw support structure first
- Add fuel source and powerplant - and avionics (these are all dependent on each other so connect them
- Squeeze in life support systems
- Fill in gaps with wires and tubes and other tech
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If you like this kind of stuff you’ll love my new book: SPACESHIPS!​

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

SPACESHIPS, SPACESHIPS, SPACESHIPS II

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From the Drawings Unit

If you can't tell, I'm having too much fun drawing spaceships lately.

Been cranking these out every day this week for the kickstarter. They seem to sell pretty quick, which makes me so happy! Expect more as the campaign rolls on this week.

(I made a guide on how to manage your pledge and add an original art piece: LINK)

-Jake

What if Indiana Jones and Magnum P.I. were chipmunks?

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From the Drawings Unit

CH-CH-CH-CHIP AND DALE!
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These guys are a couple of my favorite characters from the 90s. The Rescue Rangers show was hugely impactful on my art and directly inspired my MissileMouse comics. Love these guys!!

Still need to see the new movie. I hear it's actually good. Is that so?

You can watch a live stream of me drawing these guys here on IG: LINK​

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By the way, I'm getting a TON of positive responses to my new Renegades comic. If you haven't had a chance to read it, you can snag a digital copy here:

DOWNLOAD MY NEW COMIC HERE: LINK

-Jake

Star Wars Art Dump

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From the Drawings Unit

It was Star Wars day on Tuesday...but if you're like me, every day is Star Wars day in your heart. I decided to do some Star Wars fan art to celebrate. I'm really into Revisionist Star Wars and love taking a stab at what alternate versions could look like.

What's cool is the more I do my own unique take on Star Wars the more it informs me on how I should do my own work, Like Red Shift Renegades.

By the way, I'm getting a TON of positive responses to my new Renegades comic. If you haven't had a chance to read it, you can snag a digital copy here:

DOWNLOAD MY NEW COMIC HERE: LINK​

-Jake

Space Winnebago

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From the Drawings Unit

I remember going on the LONGEST space road trips to Europa every summer in one of these. Dad fuel the thing up. Mom would pack a bunch of freeze dried lunches, and off we'd go.

This was one of those designs I wanted to try and color both digitally and traditionally. Did the color version on the Patreon hangout we had earlier this month.

DOWNLOAD MY NEW COMIC HERE: LINK

Sukova Gang Members

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From the Drawings Unit

I paused making comic pages for a day to design some characters for the Sukova gang. They're a group of bandits and outlaws who terrorize small asteroid mining communities in the Red Shift Territories. I'm making a short 10 page comic where the Renegades are all trying to snag one of these guys.

This short comic is something my agent needs to get a book deal, so I have to do it asap because she's waiting on me. I thought I'd release it as a freebie for you guys once it's finished as well. I should be able to wrap that up next week, then get grinding on Issue 2 of RSR right after that.

Posting work in progress on the patreon: LINK​

Watch this weeks livestream of comic making: LINK

-Jake