Skull Chaser Arcade Machine

I had the fortunate opportunity to be a part of a unique show for Gallery Nucleus called PHANTASY ARCADE. From the website:

“Phantasy Arcade is a unique art exhibition concept born out of quarantine. Featuring a coupling of artist and musicians, each artist created work for an original, non-playable, 1/6th scale arcade cabinet. Musicians simultaneously created original music based on the artists' concepts. The collection is a miniature arcade that evokes nostalgia for things that never were.”

When I was asked to participate, I immediately knew I wanted to do something with Skull Chaser. Here’s what I came up with:

This was so fun to do as an art project, but all I want now is to actually PLAY Skull Chaser. I imagine it being a side scroller like Metal Slug. Each level is a different planet where he chases down a criminal and takes their head for a bounty. He’s then able to spend his credits on power ups and improvements to his ship.

This thing is actually available for purchase, and possibly the coolest part of it is it comes with its own THEME MUSIC, written and performed by George Shaw.

Check it out and ORDER ONE here: LINK

-Jake

My Top 5 Christmas Books

From the Office of Book Acquisitions:

Christmas is just a couple weeks away and things are really getting cozy here at the Parker home. The tree is up and dressed, stockings are hung by the chimney with care, lights are strung up around the roof, there's ginger cookies on the counter, and Alison got out the big stack of Christmas children's books for us to read. The kids are too old for these books, but whatever, we all love reading them no matter what age we are.

I thought for this week I'd share my 5 favorite Christmas children's books. These are books I find exceptional, both in story and art, and think they belong in every home library. I wish I could show you all the art inside of them! You'll just have to check them out from the library, or order them for yourself to see all the amazing illustrations.

And of course I'm always on the look out for good Christmas books. If there's one you think I should know about, one that you love and read every year, let me know!

1) The Broken Ornament by Tony DiTerlizzi

I'm a long time fan of Tony DiTerlizzi. Tony is a remarkable storyteller and illustrator. His characters are infused with life and magic. This book only came out last year, but I can see it becoming a classic. In this book, Jack accidentally breaks an ornament releasing a fairy who turns the house into what is essentially an extension of the North Pole with elves, reindeer, snowmen, and more filling up the rooms.

Tony's website: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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2) I'll Be Home For Christmas by Holly Hobbie

Holly Hobbie is a master of watercolor and this book is one of her finest. I look at some of these illustrations and scratch my head at how she thought to work the paint that way, and how I would've screwed it up. What's most impressive about her art is the light. A good chunk of the story in this book happens under moonlight, and somehow she makes those pages as vibrant and bright as the interior shots.

Holly Hobbie's wikipedia page: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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3) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Illustrated by Carter Goodrich

My copy of this book has seen better days, it looks like someone spilled eggnog on it or something. This is a special book. Charles Dickens used to do readings of a Christmas Carol for public audiences. (Can you imagine attending one of those?!) When he first started doing these they took 3 hours for him to read an edited version of the book. The more of these he did the more he trimmed and refined the story down. Keeping just enough to have the dramatic effect he was going for without any of the fluff, he got it down to a hot 90 minutes. He recorded all of these cuts and changes in his personal hand-annotated prompt copy of the book, essentially making the perfect read-aloud version of A Christmas Carol, and that's what was turned into this book.

And that would've been enough to make for a great little Christmas book, but then the publisher went and got a young Carter Goodrich to illustrate the thing, and he just knocked it out of the park. Goodrich would go on to design characters for almost every animated film from 2005 and on. I'd really like to see this story animated with the characters he designed for this book. Amazing.

Carter Goodrich's portfolio: LINK

Get the book here: LINK (out of print, you can only find used copies)

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4) When Santa Was A Baby by Linda Bailey, Illustrated by Genevieve Godbout

I just got this book a couple weeks ago. I had been made aware of Godbout's work from a Mary Poppin's book Alison got me from Disneyland. When I was looking her up I saw she illustrated a Christmas book, so I bought it as a little treat for myself. Godbout has a vintage 50's flair to her work. Her edges are soft, her colors are rich, and her shape language reminds me of Mary Blair.

Genevieve Godbout's portfolio website: LINK

Get this book here: LINK

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5) Santa Calls by William Joyce

This copy has been well loved over the years. I probably owe it to myself to get a new one. This is, hands down, my favorite of all Christmas Books. It has mystery, adventure, and peril. It has a beautiful message about friendship and loyalty. It's filled with clever details, and artistic flourish. (I mean, just look at that monogram on the cover, would ya?) This is what a picture book should be, if you are ever looking for an example.

William Joyce is also one of my all time favorite creators. He's a storyteller at heart with southern charm (he's native to Louisiana) and a unique 1930's meets space-age visual style. He can spin a yarn with the best of them, and even his Instagram account is filled with stories on every post. If you ever want a master class in how to compose an image for a square canvas, study his books.

I also have the honor of calling him a friend. We met back in 2003 where I was an assistant of sorts on some projects he was doing, and we've kept in touch all these years.

William Joyce's Website: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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That's it! Hope you are able to hold these books in your hands some day. Merry Christmas!

-Jake

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

From the a big filing cabinet in the back of the office

Some real gems in here like:

- Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.

- A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier.

- Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. But acquiring experiences will.

LINK

Antique Steam and Gas Engine Show 2009

From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Photography Desk

I'm really happy this guy brought his camera to the 2009 Antique Steam and Gas Engine show in Vista, California. Fascinating to see these dinosaurs of mechanics on display. I've actually seen a few of these models in person. I visited Boise Idaho once and at the convention center in town there they have 20 or so tractors on display around the parking garage.

I love tractors because there's beauty in their utilitarianism. Their engineering is on display with little attempt to hide it under an aerodynamic fuselage. These things are meant to do a job, and a not very glamorous job at that, and they look the part.

Lots of images here: LINK

Pablo & Jane and The Hot Air Contraption by José Domingo

From the Office of Book Acquisitions

I bought this book several years ago, and its dense images just captured my imagination. I WANT TO SEE MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS. I love how each page is filled to the brim with interesting things to look at and as I read, I just get lost, wandering around inside his imagination. Well done, Jose!

Found the project page for the book that the illustrator posted on Behance. Worth a look: LINK

Mix Up At the Lab

From the Art Department

This is what happens when you put the Dino DNA lab right next to the Robotics/AI lab.⁣

Japan's remotest torii gates, as captured by Ronny Behnert

From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Photography Desk

Striking photos of Torii Gates.

Photographer Ronny Behnert uses long exposures to get these shots, and I assume some photoshop to eliminate background elements. Regardless, the effect is mesmerizing. Looking at this gallery lowers my blood pressure, and helps me to pause and reflect a little about the veil between the mundane and the sacred.

Check out more of Behnert's INCREDIBLE photography here: LINK

Via (@UrbanFoxxxx)

The Crystal Weapon Tribe of Prehistoric Spain

From the Department of Interestingness:

Just found out about these 5000 year old crystal weapons archeologists found in a series of megalithic tombs in Spain.

They found the remains of 25 people inside the tombs, and it is believed that all of the people owned the weapons collectively, meaning that they did not belong to one individual specifically.

More info here: LINK

Okay, now I want to incorporate crystal weapons into a character design, or figure out how to fit it in one of my stories.

-Jake

Drone shots of Mont Saint Michel

From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, in cooperation with the Department of Interestingness:

A fog covering the ground makes it look like it's floating in the clouds: LINK

Slow fly through of the various streets: LINK

Both of those are just to warm you up for THIS: LINK (prepare to be blown away)

-Jake

It's tough raising baby dinosaurs

Hope you're doing good. There's so much amazing stuff in the world. Yes, we've got problems that need to be solved. Lots of them. But don't lose sight of all the good and cool around you. I try to follow Mary Oliver's advice:

Instructions for living life:

• Pay attention.

• Be astonished.

• Tell about it.

My goal is to remember what I've seen and pass that along to you. My hope is it inspires you to go make and do good and cool things as well, so that there's even more of it to share. In that spirit, here's a recent illustration I made for fun.

Started out as an Inktober52 prompt drawing for "Tail" and then I liked how it turned out so much I decided to color it.

You can see process stuff like this, including videos and hang outs all the time on my Patreon: LINK

Thanks,

Jake

Vacation Drawings and...burnout?

I just got home from a 10 day, much needed family vacation. It’s been GO GO GO here for months, because my work didn’t slow down when Covid hit, it kind of ratcheted up a couple notches. Plus having all the kids home ALL DAY made things a bit harder. Deadlines don’t care.

Every summer we go stay with my wife’s grandma in a sleepy little town on Long Island. It’s not a flashy vacation, there’s no itinerary, no zip lines, no dolphin swimming, no nice restaurants, and no helicopter rides over volcanoes.

We watch sail boats go by as the tide rolls in and out. We try to outdo each other’s crazy dives off the dock. There’s lots of reading, and napping. Going to town to get ice cream is an event. We play memory, rummicube, and farkle. The most exciting thing on this trip was that a dogfish washed ashore and we debated whether it was a shark or not.

It’s juuust right.

For most of the vacation I didn’t even crack open my sketchbook. I did some reading, I did a bunch of staring out the window. At night I watched movies with my kids. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is write postcards from wherever I’m at and mail them to unsuspecting friends. I did a bunch of those.

I think I really needed this vacation, because I just felt burned out.

Drew this box bird thing up there on my flight home.

This was one of those “just let the pencil guide your way” kind of a drawing. There’s no backstory here, no reason for it other than I hadn’t drawn much for 10 days and I felt like I should probably get warmed up for re-entry.

I did two other drawings towards the end of our stay at Grandma’s:

Now that I’m home I’m feeling better, feeling creative, and anxious to get to work on stuff.

It made me realize I’ve been exhaling for way too long and needed to inhale big time before I passed out.

Here’s a family photo we took Sunday. I love this gang! Just wanted to show you the reason I work so hard; its to support these guys in everything they’re wanting to do.

-Jake

Question: I’m curious, what do you do for vacation and how do you avoid, combat burnout?

The Ruins of Fabbriche di Careggine

A 12th c. village in Tuscany submerged under the artificial Lago di Vagli since the construction of a dam in 1946. Occasionally seen when the lake is drained during maintenance work, it could resurface again in 2020.

This is definitely the location of some kind of necropolis or portal to another dimension.

Ghibli "What ifs"​

​It's not a huge trend, I can honestly only find a handful of them on the internet, but Ghibli "What ifs" might be my favorite genre of fanart​.

Basically, you just take a cool IP, any will do, and you reimagine it as if it were a film by Miyazaki. 

Here you go:

Ghibli Star Wars by Lap Pun Cheung​​​

Ghibli Dinotopia by DoonDraws

Ghibli Dragonball by ErisDraw3D

Ghibli Legend of Zelda by Matt Vince

And Ghibli Breath of the Wild by Miavern

-Jake

Chomp Bot

From the Archive Unit:

I have only been working on NDA stuff the past couple weeks which means I haven't had a lot of time to do anything in my sketchbooks or any personal work. I haven't posted on IG for 14 days. Which is a LONG time for me. Then I thought, why not just go through the archives and post older stuff. I don't think many of my newer fans have seen the older stuff, and the old fans might like seeing things from a years and years ago again. I had my son go through my folders and start putting together a bunch of art from the archives to start posting online from time to time.

One of my favorites he found was this Chompbot drawing from 2012:

I used to draw in pencil ALL the time. I loved it. Then I got into brush pens. But seeing this again I'm thinking I want to pick up the pencil again from time to time.

This was for box art from the CHOMPBOT resin kit I did with @industriamechanika. Everything turned out so great with that project was a lot of fun to see it all come together.⁣

-Jake

Video of a Great Black-Backed Gull swallowing a Rabbit whole​

This ​is insane. One the one hand it's like something you'd see in a cartoon, on the other hand it's one of the most metal things I've seen a bird do. And I used to raise chickens. 

My chickens LOVED mice. Seeing them fight over one was like watching a bunch of t-rexes tearing apart a goat. It wasn't pretty, but I couldn't avert my eyes from the carnage. 

I'm a huge fan of birds, both modern and prehistoric. And a bird's gotta do what a birds gotta do to fill it's belly. With that, here's the video of a Gull swallowing a rabbit whole. How he doesn't choke on it is a mystery to me.

LINK

I Stand Against Racism

The past couple of weeks has been a time of self-evaluation. Taking time to learn from the experiences of others and confront my own understandings and views. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my family, my kids, my spouse, friends, and people I do business with about how we can be better and do better.

As the protests eventually subside and public attention moves to other matters, I will not forget my commitment to understanding and overcoming racism.

In the middle of all of this I keep coming back to this quote:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.“

Martin Luther King Jr wrote those words while in a jail cell in Birmingham Alabama.

I endorse King's message and in that spirit and without ambiguity:

I stand against racism.

Beyond what you see online from me, I am striving to promote equality and decency in every interaction I have. I am doing this in every corner of my life, not simply what you see posted online. I believe that what I do and say in person, when I step away from the computer, is much more important and has more influence than what I do and say here.

My hope is that if each of us does this our generation's legacy isn’t racism, prejudice, discrimination and hate but loving one another.

-Jake

DRAWINGS 5 Books are finished!

I’ve been chipping away at all the rewards for my Kickstarter project and am happy to announce that the books have been printed, paid for,m and are being shipped to my home! They should arrive in about 40 days.

Check out these advanced copies the printer sent out to me:

Front and back covers designs

Skull Chaser comic pages

Character design spread

Spaceships!

So happy with this book. You're going to love it!

Order now: LINK

-Jake

Great White Zeke

From the Friendship Unit:

My oldest friend, Tim Boyle, has launched a kickstarter for his quirky, fun, and beautiful book about a baby being raised by a great white shark. LINK

Tim is one of the most creative people I know and is also incredibly prolific. He's always creating things. One time he had a few weeks off work, and bought a bunch of lumber and made a life sized allosaurus sculpture in his mom's yard. He's always drawing something or building something and has been a huge inspiration to me my entire life. (We met in kindergarten). On top of it all, he's incredibly kind and generous.

Follow him on IG: LINK

And go back his Kickstarter: LINK

The Cannonball Run

From the Office of Wheels

I've been thinking a lot about the cannonball run lately. It's an unsanctioned race to see who can get from a garage in New York to a hotel in Los Angeles. LINK

It’s on my mind because the record has been beat 6 times since the US lockdown. The fastest being 26 hours and 38 minutes. LINK

I've always had a proclivity toward cars and odd races like Dakar and Peking to Paris. I love that the enterprising spirit behind them. The logistics, the car mods, the personalities that take these things on are all so fun, and makes me want to do a racing comic some day.

-Jake

The most important archeological discovery this year?

From the Department of Interestingness

Saw a tweet about what "could be this year's biggest discovery" an almost entirely intact Roman mosaic villa floor:

My wife and I were wondering how that gets covered with so much dirt over the years. I dug down into this. Apparently, the soil in any given place absent of human activity grows about an inch a century.

But where does soil come from? Organic matter that does erode away is some of it, but here's something I didn't know: Rain exist because of dust particles in the atmosphere. The particles give something for the atoms in water to latch onto. Every time it rains a small layer of dirt is deposited on the ground. (I wonder if that's why my car is so dirty after it rains?)

I assumed all this dust just comes from the earth itself; kicked up in dust storms and what not. But here's possibly the most interesting thing you'll learn today: As much as 40,000 tons of space dust arrives on Earth every year.

That means that even planets made entirely of water would still have rain fall...though not as much as you think. The earth weighs 13,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds and 40,000 tons is only something like 0.001% of the earth's mass. Our planet isn't really gaining mass at a significant rate, and a water planet probably isn't absorbing enough dust to make rain storms a common occurrence.

What is really cool about water planets is at their core is naturally occurring ice VII. Ice VII is, as I understand it, ice that has become crystalized so that it's indistinguishable from rocks. The only place scientist have found it naturally on earth is inside diamonds.

So...back to this Roman floor they found. How cool is that?

-Jake