From the Exploration Unit
Known as the "Blue City" because of the distinct shade of blue most of the buildings are painted in, Jodhpur is located in Thar Desert of the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan aka, the middle of nowhere.
These photos were taken by French photographer Florian Delalee who travels Asia taking photos that capture what it feels like to be there.
More photos of Jodhpur here: LINK
-Jake
From the Office of Robots in cooperation with the Office of Scale Models
I found a great scratch builder of robots on twitter. He's based in Japan and goes by スエキチ(ケロッグ) or @surume0407. As far as I can tell he only posts on twitter. There's no website, gallery, or art account for his work, so you're stuck scrolling through his twitter feed to find all of his amazing works.
These are all cobbled together from other kits and some custon sculpted components he makes himself. Really incredible and inspiring.
More here: LINK
-Jake
From the Friendship Unit
My buddy, co-host on the 3 Point Perspective podcast, and partner over at SVSlearn.com, Lee White has just launched his Kickstarter project.
I'm not just a friend of Lee but also a HUGE fan of his illustrations. He's been talking about doing this for years and lately has been working on it behind the scenes. I'm so excited to see all of this come together in this project.
I love the unique take he has on the subject matter. Each one of these card has been re-thought from the ground up. I don't really know much about tarot decks, but Lee explained ti this way:
"The more modern use of the cards is they just give you a topic to think about and how it relates to your life. The cards aren't magical or tell the future or anything like that. They are more like themes to meditate on and use in the way that fits your life."
You can check out the project here: LINK
-Jake
From the Making Comics Division
The explosive first chapter of RED SHIFT RENEGADES is out now! And I do mean explosive, there's, like, 3 of them in there.
This first issue introduces Missile Mouse, Skull Chaser, Star Princess Aven, and the C.A.T. Bot and sets them on trajectories that will eventually converge with each other in an epic cosmic brawl.
ORDER AND DOWNLOAD NOW: LINK
My colorist Anderson Carman really knocked it out of the park on this one. I feel like we are both firing on all cylinders here. This is not a comic you're going to want to sleep on.
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Accepting New Patrons: Not only are Patrons getting under the hood updates on the comic, but they actually got this comic for FREE as a reward for their support. I don't make a ton of money on Patreon, but it is enough to turn down some work so I can MAKE MORE COMICS.
Become a patron and you also get to join a community of like minded people who love this kind of stuff, you get to do live hangouts online where we draw and shoot the breeze, and you get to give input on current and future projects.
Join here: LINK
-Jake
From the Art Department
Artists online have been posting their sketches vs the final art. I thought I'd join in. Always cool to see where something starts and how it ends up.
This print is available in my shop: LINK
-Jake
From the Inspirational Thought Unit
For many years I put off doing my comic SkyHeart because I felt like I wasn't ready to do it. I knew it would stretch my abilities, perhaps beyond what I was capable. I felt like I needed to prepare a little more, get a little better, level up a little more before I took it on.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, has this to say about doing something that stretches you.
There will never be a perfect time to do something that stretches you. If you were ready for it, it wouldn't be growth.
After 15 years of putting it off I realized I might never be ready. It dawned on me that perhaps act of doing SkyHeart was going to be the thing that made me level up and be ready to do the book.
When I figured that out, it decided to just dive in and do it, and boy, was I grateful. It was by no means a perfect comic! However, I leveled up as an artist, it was a self publishing success with 3000 copies sold, and it boosted my confidence as a creator. There's way more to the story, but the lesson learned was I shouldn't have waited 15 years for the perfect time.
-Jake
From the Reading Desk
I made a goal this year to actually read all the comics I’ve bought but never read. And to not buy any new graphic novels. The goal was even more specific: read a book, screenplay, or graphic novel a week.
And as of earlier this month I had only read ONE.
So this month, every time I wanted to reach for my phone to check social media, the news, or messages, I reached for a comic instead.
Here's what I read:
TMNT books I, II, and III.
This is where it all started. These collect the first 10ish issues of the Turtles. I hadn't read this since I was a teenager and it was amazing to be reminded of how much these books have influenced me. It also rekindled a love for the Turtles that has been somewhat dormant, though never extinguished.
I was also reminded of how fun these books are, and the secret sauce of making good comics which I will get into another day.
Get copies here: LINK
RADIO SPACEMAN: MISSION TO NUMA 4 #1
Mike Mignola writing a story about a space skull character??? SIGN ME UP! Drawings by Greg Hinkle are so much better than they needed to be to pull this off. Can't wait for issue 2.
Get your copy at your local comic shop.
THE WITCH OF WICKERSON by Derek Laufman
I highlighted Derek back in November and talked about the kickstarter for this project and how cool I thought it was to do a smaller "graphic novellas" instead of these epic 200+ page stories. This approach directly inspired doing a shorter story for Red Shift Renegades.
Well, I finally got my copy of The Witch of Wickerson and it is just plain delightful. REally impressed with the whole thing. Laufman is a real pro.
Get your copy here: LINK
I actually got this book on audible and listened to it while inking Red Shift Renegades. If you've seen the Social Dilemma on Netflix this book covers a lot of the same ground.
What was interesting to me was reading the author's experience of doing a three month detox from the internet by going to a secluded seaport village with out anything but some books, a laptop (with internet disabled) to write with, and a dumb phone for emergencies.
The author sets up the problem, shares loads of reports and data to back it up, then offers some solutions to fix it. Pretty well done, even though I don't entirely agree with some of his conclusions.
Get it here: LINK
Honestly, if you feel like you've got an attention problem due to your phone or internet you're better off reading this book: LINK
-Jake
From the Machines Division
Photographer Luca Casonato put together a nice gallery of colliders he's photographed. I love machinery and interesting tech. Colliders are some of the wildest stuff out there. What's great about these is they're designed by engineers with the needs of project and the constraints of the technology as the motivating factor of the design. And yet there's still a distinctive beauty to them.
Eating lunch with a friend yesterday and we were talking about jets. He brought up that they look like the way they do not because we designed them that way, but because we discovered the best shape needed to get the job of flying accomplished. There's a beauty to function.
Colliders are the same way.
See the rest here: LINK
-Jake
From the Flora and Fauna Unit
I keep finding images of these little suckers popping up in Pinterest and Twitter. They're not alien life or mutated lab experiments, these are little shrimp cousins that live in oceans and lakes. One of these is from Lake Baikal, the oldest lake on earth. Creepy and cool, I do take a little comfort knowing they're very small.
To me these look like inspiration for monsters in a future comic I'll be working on.
You can read more about them here: LINK
Or this New Scientist article: LINK
And here's a cool paper on how one of their legs evolved into wings in insects: LINK
-Jake
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
From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting's Office of Environment Design
I love these images of the Utah desert in the snow.
(Photos by Emilie Hofferber) I miss Utah!
From the Division of Prehistoric Studies
The Lion-man, which is between 35,000-40,000 years old is depicted here as being a child's toy. Maybe the oldest action figure? THUNDER BEARS HOOOO!
(Painting by Tom Björklund, via @TomBjorklundArt)
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
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
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
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
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
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:
