RED SHIFT RENEGADES #1 DROPS

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From the Making Comics Division

The first issue of Red Shift Renegades, my self-published sci-fi comic, is now available in my online shop for download. It's digital only for now.

I was this close to launching a kickstarter for the print version of the first 3 issues which will be coming out over the next several months, but I had a change of plans and decided to postpone that kickstarter.

I have an extended explanation on the Patreon of some pretty exciting things that are happening behind the scenes with this book. You can read all of that here: LINK

Can't wait for you all to read this explosive first chapter!

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Accepting New Patrons: Patrons are getting frequent updates on the comic I'm making, including more behind the scenes stuff. They've also read the full comic in both roughs, pencils, and now inks as I finish them.

I just dropped the Red Shift Renegades title logo reveal plus a detailed breakdown of how I designed it. You don't want to miss that.

I'm also sharing other art and sketches and stuff related to other projects. It's a treasure trove of information and cool art. When I finish this comic I'll have an exclusive special edition Artist Edition PDF for patrons.

Join here: LINK

-Jake

On Imperfections

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Have you ever created something and while looking at its finished state could only see where the project was wonky in places. Where it fell short of the vision? Where the parts that failed to live up to your expectations glaringly obvious? Perhaps you were satisfied with the outcome, but not thrilled with the execution?

I like the outlook on dealing with this let down of reality vs vision when it comes to your work. From Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland:

For Charles Darwin, evolution lay revealed when a perfect survival strategy for one generation became, in a changing world, a liability for its offspring.

For you, the seed for your next artwork lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece.

Those imperfections are a signal that your work is wanting to evolve. Maybe the faces you draw, or the dialogue you write, or the way you manage a project isn't as good as your inspiration. Your next piece of work is a chance to lean into that flaw and make it your style.

​Kirby wasn't a master at anatomy, but he leaned into the energy his peculiar faces and limbs had made it into a distinctive approach to drawing that was ALL his.

-Jake

TO ZO

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From the Illustrators Division

TONČI ZONJIĆ ( pronounced tawn chi zawn yitch) or just To Zo for short is a Croatian illustrator based in Canada and I think his work is just so darn good.

This comic is one installment of a series he calls A+M about a couple of space robots (cyborgs?). You can read the rest of them here: LINK​

I spent about an hour last Friday just soaking in all the work on his website. The man is PROLIFIC. His style is a beautiful marriage of Toth and Ware and Caniff.

Check out the rest of his work here:

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

-Jake

Batman Ephemera

From the Department of Interesting Collections

I found this amazing album on Flickr of 60s and 70s Batman ephemera, toys, and miscellany. I mean, c'mon that scalloped school binder at the bottom?! It's something I would have flipped out over in first grade. Pretty amazing design.

My favorite here is that Japanese Batmobile model box. The bat-tipped kanji are perfection.

I love this era of Batman because it wasn't so dark but FUN and more importantly weird. I the modern trend to make superheroes grittier and more realistic has its place but the more you sacrifice the weirdness of superheroes for more reality the more ridiculous a man wearing a batsuit becomes. Also...can Robin please come back?​

The sweet spot was the animated series in the 90's. I've said it before, but if we had a live action version of that I'd be in Batman heaven.

These images are all a part of the personal collection of Donald Deveau and there's three pages of this stuff you can check out here: LINK​

The rest of Deveau's collection is like a middle 20th century pop culture museum. Good stuff!

-Jake

The Faroe Islands

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From the Photography Desk in cooperation with the Exploration Unit

This place is amazing. The Faroe Islands is a rocky and rugged archipelago in the North Atlantic. The 18 volcanic islands are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. I would love to visit this place with a sketchbook.

Hamburg-based photographer, David Altrath photographed this incredible landscape in 2019. Looks like the perfect spot to hide out for a summer and just center yourself. Do some fishing, mow the roof...you know, Faroe stuff.

You can see the rest of the photos here: LINK​

And more of Altrath's fabulous work here: LINK​

And his Instagram: LINK​

-Jake

Skull Chaser and Vodrogo

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From the Drawings Unit

I drew this a few months ago for my buddy @vodlines and forgot to post it. As you know, I’ve been working on a new Skull Chaser comic and while going through my archives of art to find cool images of him I found this and forgot I never shared it online.

This was penciled digitally, printed out and inked traditionally, then scanned in and colored digitally, then printed out and photographed. Phew!

--

Accepting New Patrons: Patrons are getting frequent updates on the comic I'm making, including more behind the scenes stuff. They've also read the full comic in both roughs, pencils, and now inks as I finish them.

I just dropped the Red Shift Renegades title logo reveal plus a detailed breakdown of how I designed it. You don't want to miss that.

I'm also sharing other art and sketches and stuff related to other projects. It's a treasure trove of information and cool art. When I finish this comic I'll have an exclusive special edition Artist Edition PDF for patrons.

Join here: LINK​

-Jake

The Nutty Bubblepunk Vehicles of Luigi Colani

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From the Department of Interestingness, Office of Wheels

Luigi Colani was a german industrial designer active from the 1950's until the 2000s. Clearly ahead of his time by pushing the boundaries of design in every project he took on. Looking at his work I feel like I'm seeing a future that never was. I had seen this guy's work for years while growing up. (I wanted to be a car designer when I was a kid) but had forgotten about him until I saw his Super Truck in my twitter feed: LINK

I found a nice online repository of all of the vehicles he designed: LINK

Here's a few of my favorites:

On Resources

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

The French have an expression: "faire feu de tout bois" which translated means "to make fire out of any wood." This is the fundamental principle of my concept of filling your creative bank account.

Every experience you have whether directly (seeing the pyramids for example) or indirectly (watching a documentary about the pyramids) is creative fuel. But it doesn't need to be amazing experiences like traveling someplace exotic or seeing an inspiring movie or reading an incredible graphic novel to fuel your ideas. Creative capital can come from anywhere...even from the crappy day you might have had last week.

Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges says this about it:

"A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art."

Next time you're down, or in an unfair situation, or you keep screwing something up, take stock of it, audit it, and see where the gold of an idea is. Pair this with last week's inspirational thought: perhaps you now have the right story to help someone.

-Jake