On the work itself

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Some two thousand year old clarity from Marcus Aurelius:​

“Those obsessed with glory attach their well-being to the regard of others, those who love pleasure tie it to feelings, but the one with true understanding seeks it only in their own actions…. Think on the character of the people one wishes to please, the possessions one means to gain, and the tactics one employs to such ends. How quickly time erases such things, and how many will yet be wiped away.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS

If your happiness is dependent on factors you can't control you're setting yourself up for a never ending string of heartache. You can't control how a project will be received. And even if something is successful, the spotlight has an attention deficit disorder, and soon moves on to something else.

However, by focusing on what you do have control over: your effort and how you do the work itself, you'll always have a sense of contentment.

And that is something that can't be wiped away.

-Jake

Polychromatic Motorbikes by Mikee Atendido

in

From the Concept Art Division

I think these colorful motorbikes by Philipino artist Mikee Atendido are pretty fun. Got a nice Moebius vibe to them.

More of Atendido's art here: LINK

-Jake

The Alien Monuments of Stanisław Szukalski

From the Sculpture Division

​Moebius once said, "I am a nexus of universes. I belong to a class of people - I'm not alone in this- whose hand and eye are antennae, sensitive to a certain type of reality."

I feel like Szukalski is right there with him on that. He's one of a few artists who I feel like are living in a different reality than all of us, and we get glimpses of the universe they inhabit when we look at their work.

It's his sculptures particularly that haunt the recesses of my thoughts. They're human made, yes, but feel like they were discovered in an archeological pit on a long abandoned planet light years from here.

If you'd like to see more and learn more about this captivating artist here's some resources:

Struggle: The Art of Szukalski: LINK​

Official Website: LINK​

Nice gallery of images here: LINK​

There's also a documentary about this guy on Netflix that I'll have to check out one day.

-Jake

Lybian Battle Trucks

From the Office of Wheels

While doing research for the Spaceships book I remembered seeing photos of these civilian trucks that were repurposed for guerrilla warfare. A quick search took me to the website of Venice based, British photographer James Mollison.

I also found this short, but fascinating read: The Toyota Pickup Truck Is the War Chariot of the Third World.​

It's about the Toyota War of the 1987 Chadian-Libyan conflict, in which Chadian troops in nimble Toyota trucks were able to trounce the Libyan's with their tanks. Over 7 Libyan soldiers were lost for every Chadian.

Anyway, I love the aesthetic of these vehicles. There's a pinch of Mad Max to them and a dash of DIY. Looking at it thorough a concept art lens there's some creative design decisions being made here that I'd never think of.

You can see more here: LINK

-Jake

A Cloaked Traveler

in

From the Art Department

Yesterday, I finally took some time to do some Inktober drawings. As I was searching for ideas of what to draw I remembered I started the month with a cloaked character and thought I should return to that character.

This drawing is for Day 30: Gear, so I gave him a bunch of electronic equipment to carry. I have no idea what this guy is doing with all this stuff...but something is starting to brew.

I just shared some sketches and a little secret trick that I'm kind of embarrassed I used to design this guy over on the PATREON.

PATREON: You can see all the behind the scenes stuff and more like the start to finish creation of the SPACESHIPS book and other art, including secret stuff I can't share publicly. Sign up here: LINK​

On acting your age

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I don't know if it's good or bad, (it's probably bad) but I'm slightly obsessed with what people are able to accomplish at what age. Every time I have a birthday I look up stuff like "how old was Patrick Stewart in season 1 of TNG?" He was 46. Or "how old was Miyazaki when he started his comic Nausicaa?" He was 41. Or "How old was was my dad when he had me?" He was 32.

Then I start measuring my success in relation to other's success, that's the bad part, there is this pressure that in order to fit in I should be doing things by a certain age: should I have a kid by now? Should I have X amount saved for retirement by now? Is it too late to learn the piano? Am I too old for animated shows?

What I'm trying to remind myself is that every person has their own strengths and liabilities that they have to deal with, and the only person you should measure yourself against is the one in the mirror.

This advice from expert advice giver Light Watkins resonates with me:

“The advice shouldn’t be to act your age. It should be to act your spirit. Your age may try to prohibit you from dancing like that, or starting over, or trying something new. But your spirit would never do such a thing. If something feels aligned, your spirit wants you to go for it, whether you’re 15 or 85. Acting your age makes you fit in more, while acting your spirit will indeed cause you to stand out—in a bad way to people who act their age, but in an inspiring way to those who act their spirit. Try acting your spirit from time to time, and you can see for yourself which path makes you feel more alive.”

— Light Watkins

Act your spirit, not your age.

-Jake

Peter Foti's Scratch Built Masterpieces

From the Office of Scale Models

I've got a soft spot in my heart for scratch built models. Seeing stuff like this in person at model shops, cons, and galleries always stops me in my tracks.

Boston based model builder, Peter Foti has some amazing skill when it comes to cutting plastic and slingin' glue.

More photos and projects here: LINK​

His blog: LINK​

Twitter: LINK

-Jake

The Haunting Industrial Landscapes of Edward Burtynsky

in

From the Photography Desk

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's photos pop up in my feed from time to time and I always think they're from sets of dystopian sci-fi films, only to discover that nope, it's just the world we live in right now. :(

That said, they're great reference for locations in my comics. Faire feu de tout bois, right?

Check out a heap of photos on his website here: LINK​

(Though I think his photos are truly meant to be seen as large format prints in person in a gallery; which I hope to be able to do some day!)

-'Jake

Wayne Barlowe's Aliens

in

From the Concept Art Division

Those first two images are of the first art book I ever owned. My dad was always on the look out for interesting books to get my young imagination fired up. He found Wayne Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials at a used book store and gave it to me when I was about 10. It was an instant treasure. I flipped through that book so much it fell apart. My solution was to punch holes in it and put it in a 3 ring binder. Even then, the book was loved to near death. (I have no idea what happened to the cover).

A few years later I discovered a second alien book called Expedition which blew my teenage mind away again and altered the way I think about creative projects. If you were to sequence and map my creative genome you'd find a strand of Barlow in my DNA.

Recently I discovered Barlowe worked on one of my favorite films: Avatar.​

I'm not sure how 12 years went by without me knowing this. I guess I never checked out the Art of Avatar book, which is a terrible oversight on my part. Won't happen again, I promise you that.

All of this to say, Barlowe is one of the greats, he's a bottomless well of inspiration, and you should familiarize yourself with his trippy, beautiful/ugly, and otherworldly art if you haven't already.

More on his website: LINK​

(Also, he helped design the Kaiju in Pacific Rim!)

-Jake

Drawings Round Up

in

From the Art Department

Here's a few drawings from this last week or so. Top one was for Day 10 of Inktober: Crabby.

Bottom three were done at Lightbox Expo for friends.

I posted process images on Patreon this week, as well as gifting all my patrons a digital copy of SPACESHIPS.

SPACESHIPS is finished and at the printers right now, so books will be shipping out sooooon. So excited!

PATREON: You can see all the behind the scenes stuff and more on the creation of SPACESHIPS and other art, including secret stuff I can't share publicly. Sign up here: LINK

-Jake

On tasting the moment

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I thought this quote by Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh (who died in January at the age of 95) on life sums up my feelings right now:

"When you are a young person, you are like a young creek, and you meet many rocks, many obstacles and difficulties on your way. You hurry to get past these obstacles and get to the ocean.

But as the creek moves down through the fields, it becomes larger and calmer and it can enjoy the reflection of the sky. It's wonderful. You will arrive at the sea anyway so enjoy the journey. Enjoy the sunshine, the sunset, the moon, the birds, the trees, and the many beauties along the way. Taste every moment of your daily life."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

I gotta remember this. Life's too short to be in such a hurry all the time. Gotta take those quiet moments when they come, because you won't always have the option.

(Source: Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society via James Clear)

-Jake

Inktober 2022 Week 1

in

From the Art Department

Week one is down! ....and I only had enough gas in the tank to do three drawings. I'm usually pretty amped up to do Inktober every year, but this year that Inktober preparation slot was filled with doing the Spaceships book. Maybe now that the files are sent off I can get caught up on it!

I'm posting process stuff weekly over on the patreon. And this month, Patrons are going to receive a digital copy of the Spaceships book. Great time to sign up: LINK​

-Jake

On writers block

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Great youtube interview with singer songwriter John Mayer here: LINK​

The part that stuck out to me was his take on writers block at 4:19​

"Writer's block is when the two people inside of you (the writer and the reader) when the reader doesn't love the writer....And so writer's block is not a failure to write, it is a failure to catch this feedback loop of enjoying what you're seeing and wanting to contribute more."

His answer to solving that problem is to write when you're ready to sit down and go for it. I can't believe that's what he actually does...but maybe it works for him. He is one of the greatest songwriters of this generation...but:

Ehhh...I'm not sure that's great advice, though I like the idea that writer's block (or creative block) is the creator and the consumer not jiving with each other.

My advice is the consumer inside of you doesn't always know what it wants, and the creator needs to show up and make something regardless of how the consumer in you is feeling. For long term creative sustainability you're going to need to let the creator be in charge. You can't just show up when the consumer in you is excited and motivated.

-Jake

The French Communist Party Headquarters

in

From the Architecture Desk

The French Communist Party headquarters in Paris designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer looks like a set for a sci-fi film. Georges Pompidou, the right-wing French president at the time this was built had this to say about it “it was the only good thing those Commies have ever done.” haha.

I think it's pretty cool too. Definitely good inspiration for making set pieces more cool.

You can read more about this place here: LINK​

-Jake

Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Catalogues

From the Arts and Culture Unit

I just discovered Propstoreauction.com. Every year they have a massive auction of movie props and the best part is you don't have to shell out any cash to appreciate these things because they have high resolution photos of them from all angles compiled in these beautiful auction catalogues that they let you download for FREE.

Check these out, lots of great reference for fan art, or creating your own IP. Also, just fun to see how these things were made by admiring the details up close.

Download the 2018 PDF here: LINK​

Download the 2019 PDF here: LINK​

Download the 2020 PDF here: LINK​

Download the 2021 PDF here: LINK​

Download the 2022 PDF here: LINK

-Jake

The Stone Hand

in

From the Art Department

I've been so focused on spaceships since May that I haven't really drawn much else (besides freelance stuff). Yesterday, did a livestream on the Inktober IG account for Kuretake, who's one of this years Inktober sponsors. Yeah, it was also a paying gig, BUT I just got to draw something different that wasn't attached to anything and that was nice.

I used this pen set, which it GREAT for inking controlled lines that have a little life to them.

Work continues on the Spaceships book though! I finished the last of the comic pages and they're off to the colorist. Skull Chaser makes an appearance in the book!

I posted the comic pages over on Patreon this week, including ALL the process sketches and my tricks to make work go faster.

You can see all the behind the scenes stuff and more in the creation of this book, including secret stuff I can't share publicly. Sign up here: LINK​

-Jake

On reading

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I'll just close today's newsletter with this quote:

“There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag — and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty — and vice-versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.”
—Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook​

(via Austin Kleon)

Monograph by Chris Ware

From the Office of Dusty Old Books

Last, and biggest, book today is Monograph by Chris Ware and this book is BIG.

Chris Ware's comics actually make me depressed, which I know for some people is the point. However, I can't get over the mastery of the medium on display in his work. He's a fine artist who chose comics as his medium, and this book is like a portfolio of a quarter century of art making by one of the greats.

Ware doesn't just make comics, he makes sculptures, and books, and all kinds of little side projects. It's a shocking amount of material on display here; sketches, original scans, notes, photos, all a testament to his work ethic and prolificacy. These photos don't do it any justice.

You can grab a copy here: LINK

-Jake

Wednesday Comics

in

From the Comics Division

The second biggest book of this bunch is Wednesday Comics published by DC Comics. This was an experiment/oddity and the brain child of DC artist/editor Mark Chiarello that came out in 2009.

The idea was to get 12 of the industry's most creative artists to write and draw 16 full newspaper sized page stories that would be released as a newspaper each Wednesday. It was a phenomenal undertaking and produced some incredible pages that really pushed what you can do with comics storytelling.
​
After all the newspaper editions came out the collected it in a large format book a year later.

Available on Amazon here: LINK

-Jake