JOIN THE DISCORD!

From the Office of Special Announcements

This week I put together the JP Central Discord Server!

The vision of JP Central is to have a non-algorithmic influenced place to share interesting things you have created or found online and in real life with the mission to be:

- a spark for keeping your imagination wild

- a repository for creative ideas

- a center of accountability for your projects

It's still very new and you can smell that fresh discord smell when you join, but the community there is already fun and cool.

JOIN HERE: LINK​

I'm devoting a channel to this newsletter, so if you want to openly discuss anything from the newsletter with other people here, do check out the Newsletter channel.

There's also a special secret section for patrons. Nice discussion happening in there.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY HERE: 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

On Genius

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I would say that your job as an artist isn't to make a living with your art, and it isn't to focus on perfecting your craft, and it also isn't to make a contribution to society that blows peoples minds. Those are all byproducts of doing your job. What you should be primarily concerned with is just creating.

How then do you make something that exceeds expectations, elevates your ability, and in the end pays you? Ryan Holiday has some advice on that from page 43 of his book Perennial Seller:

"You don't have to be a genius to make genius--you just have to have small moments of brilliance and edit out the boring stuff."

- Ryan Holiday

In other words, show up and create every day. Over time the brilliant stuff (those things that inspire, elevate, and are valuable) will rise to the top. All you have to do is create.

-Jake

Jimny Rod

in

From the Office of Wheels

Munich based les83machines specializes in in unique modifications of cars. I really love this rodded out Suzuki Jimny they designed. This is just a render, and as far as I can tell hasn't been realized beyond the computer screen. Fun design, color choice is solid, great car.

See more photos here: LINK​

-Jake

OlliOlli World Concept Art

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From the Concept Art Division

I guess I'm late to the game with OlliOlli World since this marks the THIRD installment in the Olli Olli franchise from Roll7 games.

I love this neo-adventure time style and how they applied it to a game. Solid world building work here by Spanish concept artist Germán Reina Carmona.

He's posting all of his concept art over on Art Station, in what looks like will be 12 installments.

Installment 1: LINK​

Installment 2: LINK​

Installment 3: LINK​

Installment 4: LINK​

-Jake

Samurai Courture

From the Fashion Desk

​Jun Takahashi is an avant garde Japanese fashion designer and the founder of the fashion brand UNDERCOVER. (Of which I'm pretty sure I'm not cool enough to wear)

His Fall 2020 Menswear line was inspired by samurai culture and the samurai films he grew up on. It caught my attention when I saw one of these photos on Pinterest. Some really good reference for character design here.

See the rest of the show 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

Edo Era Giant Mech Battle

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From the Film and Animation Division

This is fun. You know I love robots right? I think I can trace some of that love back to this 80's anime anthology of robot stories called "Robot Carnival." I didn't see this until it somehow made it's way to my friend's house in the form of a bootleg vhs when I was in highschool. I was blown away at the inginuity and creativity of all the stories.

One that stuck out the most to me was "A Tale of Two Robots." It features a giant steampunk japanese robot battle inthe middle of a Edo period city. So fun!

You can watch the short here on YouTube: LINK​

Or if you have Prime you can watch the entire anthology here: LINK

-Jake

On Deciding Your Future

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I keep coming back to this theme of what you do now directly effects what you become in the future, that our daily decisions actually have lasting impact. I think it's because I'm middle aged now and can clearly see how I am both benefiting and suffering from daily decisions I made 5, 10, and 20 years ago.

I like how this concept is succinctly said here:

People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their future.

-F.M. Alexander​

Now I'm looking at 20 years from now, thinking about what the Jake in 2042 wants to be doing and enjoying and deciding what habits I need to extinguish and what habits to cultivate in order to live happily in that future.

-Jake

Want a Free Antarctic Exploration Vehicle?

in

From the Office of Wheels

Check out this beast. Kind of like a mobile lab, it was designed to travel 5000 miles and a crew of two could live in it for an entire year without any outside support. Unfortunately it was lost to the inhospitable world of Antarctica. Last seen in 1958!

Might have to get some freinds together and go down there and find it! Haha.

More info here: LINK​

(Thanks to friend of the newsletter Kevin for this tip!)

-Jake

GO INCREDIBLY FAST

in

From the Air and Space Division

This short 5 min video is the perfect mix of science and fiction. It's all about how we will travel to other planets in the future and shows just how hard it will be to get there with the technology we have now. It's meant to inspire people to "dig deeper and learn more."

Beautiful images and maybe the coolest depiction of warp drive travel I've seen.

Watch it here: LINK​

By Erik Wernquist​

-Jake

Space Winnebago

in

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

If Venus had Water

From the Office of Cartography

I love maps and can get lost in them imagining myself exploring cities and wilderness I'll never realistically get to visit in person. This started when I was a kid, and continues to this day on google maps.

And a confession: I sometimes look on the map to see where shop orders are going. Especially if it's someplace cool, like Japan or Israel.

All this to say, that one of my favorite map niches is the "Adding Water to Dead Planets" niche. Saw this map of what Venus would look like if it had the same amount of surface water as Earth. Looks like the people there would be a seafaring bunch. Lots of islands!

While we're at it, here's the moon:

Maps by Alexis Huet. More here: LINK

-Jake

On Investing

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

"Think about what you want today and you'll spend your time.

Think about what you want in 5 years and you'll invest your time."

-James Clear (Newsletter)

My typical day planning stems from what I want to get done that week. When I plan my week, I based it on what I want to get done that quarter. My quarter planning is based on a year plan. Planning for the year is informed by a 5 year projection of what I'd like to have accomplished.

It has taken me YEARS to figure this out. And I still fall into the habit of thinking what I want this day, instead of thinking about the future.

I think this applies in every scene in your life. Take a moment this weekend and think about where you want to be in the spring of 2027 with:

  • Your relationships

  • Your projects

  • Your health

  • Your finances

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Plan your days accordingly.

-Jake

Calum Alexander Watt's Gyrobikes

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From the Illustrators Division

Calem Alexander Watts has been one of my favorite concept artists for over a decade. He's got a great style. I'd describe his style as French ligne claire meets American concept realism. I was really excited to see his designs for the recent Star Wars films.

These gyrobikes are just killer. Love the look and style of these. Would absolutely want to cruise around the desert on one of these beasts. though... I'd hate to fix a flat tire on that thing.

Website: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

-Jake

Page Ones

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From the Comics Division

Found a nice collection of "Page Ones" of comics. The first page is supposed to grab you by the eyeballs and shove you into the story. Tradition is to make them bold, splashy, and informative. They carry a lot of weight, and are probably the most important part of the comic...besides the cover.

Common tropes are:

  • The main character is very large in a cool pose

  • The title of the story is s a part of the environment, or taking up a prominent spot somewhere on the page

  • Characters are often caught in the middle of the action

  • There's a lot of exposition, either spoken or narrated

  • Credits for the creators are found somewhere on the page

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Here's a nice twitter thread where I found this link. Lots of examples of compelling first pages posted here: LINK​

Page Ones Pinterest Collection: LINK​

-Jake