“You cannot alter your fate. However, you can rise to meet it.” - Princess Mononoke
Happy birthday Miyazaki san, you grumpy old brilliant man!
Princess Mononoke was the first Miyazaki film I saw. Back in 1998, shortly after it came out, my friend @monkeyfeather brought a VHS of it to work and we watched it without a dub and without subtitles. I was entranced by its beauty and audaciousness. I immediately became a fan and wanted to see more films by this studio. I don’t blame Miyazaki for wanting to retire all the time. These things are hard to make and it is an embarrassment of riches to have all the films of his we do have. That said, if he has it in him to make one or two more of these, I wouldn’t mind one bit.
Fan Art
On Doing Commissions
At the beginning of the month I tabled at Emerald City Comic Con, my favorite con to attend btw.
I don't normally take on commissions because my day-to-day is pretty packed with projects and jobs. However, when I'm at a con I use it as an opportunity to take on around 10 commissions. This is because I'm away from my family working all weekend anyway, I might as well fill the in the time gaps with drawing something. Not only does this make the con a better financial return on my time out of the studio, but I get to make something cool for someone.
This is also someone's chance to play art director. They get to be a part of the creative experience by imparting their imagination on my drawing skills. And together we come up with something wholly unique: an artifact that acts as the ultimate memento of that event and that particular thing of which the commissioner is a fan of.
With that, I thought I’d share some recent commissions I did for fans at Emerald City Comic Con.
Robo-pug
Mech-Hulk dropped his coffee
Kikaider, from an old seventies Japanese show that I was not aware of until a fan asked me to do my take on it.
Spent waaaay too much time on this one, but it was for a friend, and worth it.
Miranda from Mass Effect. Thought it would be cool to do her in a more cartoony style since she's always portrayed pretty realistically.
Wake with the commissioner's dog Pip. (I actually did this on in my studio before Emerald City, as a special request)
Sometimes you just want a picture of a raccoon with a remote controlled car.
Venom-Thor! I thought this was a pretty creative idea this guy had me do.
This were a lot of fun. It had been over a year since I last did commissions like these.
If you're interested in getting an original pice of art from me, I post drawings in my shop from time to time. If you're wanting a commission, definitely hit me up at a con, (I'll be at Denver Comic Con in June) or shoot me an email. I'll let you know if I have the time in my schedule or not.
-Jake