Ever have one of those days?

Okay, so it's actually been a great day and a great week, but that title just seemed too good to pass up for this piece that I'm working on for White Wolf :)

Happy weekend all!

Jim

Kidlitosphere 2008 Conference (t-shirt design!)

I did this design for the aforementioned conference. Click here for more info about this second annual conference coming up in September in Portland, Oregon. And click here for an AWESOME design that Laini did!

Ciao!
Jim

Bow-chicka-wow-wowww-Pt. 2 (and a dude with a spear)

Lock & Load

Bow-chicka-wow-wowww!

Hmm, wasn't sure how many "w"s to put in that last warble sound effect. Too many? Not enough? Hmm. Feedback welcome.

Anyhow, here's a snippit in progress (prior to inking and watercolor washes) for a White Wolf 1970's werewolf hunting piece for one of their upcoming RPG books. COOL! Sideburns baby! YEAH!

Gaming cards

A couple of clipped portions from larger pieces I'm doing for some White Wolf gaming cards.

Golfer...ASSASSIN!!!

Another piece for White Wolf but I added some tones to it just for fun (seems to be a pattern for me, yes?).

The Office

I've been finishing up a few of the White Wolf pieces today while listening to season 4 of The Office on Hulu.com (a legal & free collection of a bunch of TV shows online) and while I really liked the season every week this past year, I freaking LOVE it now. It's weird how the "No way! That's ridiculous!" moments when we watched them the first time made me just lose it today. Geez, so many laugh-out-loud moments. Absolute genius.

...a little bit later & still in progress...

I decided to use these White Wolf pieces to experiment a bit (I hope the A.D. doesn't mind!). Digging it so far...

White Wolf art clipping (in progress...)

Again, part of a bigger piece with a tone slapped on cuz I thought it looked kind of cool. I'll post the full finished piece when I'm done...

Tattoo design

This is a picture of one cool dude. His name is Kyle, and while we've never met, I can attest to said "cool"ness because of his kind online support and words over the past almost 4 years. When Laini and I had THE DROWNED published by Image Comics in 2004, he was quick to contact us to express his enjoyment of what we'd created and even put up some supportive message board threads on various comic book sites publicly praising the book -- like I said, cool guy!!!

We've touched base here and there over the past few years and a few months back he hired me to design this tattoo for him (as seen in the surprisingly awesome "Constantine" movie). The symbol is called "The Sulfur of Perfection" and is used with very cool results in the flick.

Anyhow, I know that others have gotten tattoos of my work, both by hiring me (awesome!!) or by swiping designs (still very cool) but to further along Kyle's "cool guy" rep, he followed through and sent me a pic of the tattoo once he got inked. LOVE IT! Thanks Kyle!

**(If others "out there" have gotten tattoos of my art and are reading this, feel free to e-mail me photos of the results! It's a cool honor indeed and I'd love to see them!)**

Werewolf art snippit

Just a quick post with a snippit from a larger piece for White Wolf. Don't worry, the paramedic being chased gets away in the end. (But, he was scratched by the werewolf, so...)

New favorite (almost) cussing rant!

Here's another small portion of a White Wolf piece that I couldn't help adding some colors to. Ultimately this'll be inked instead and printed in black & white just like the last posted piece.

As for the blog post title, yesterday I was listening to one of my top 5 favorite podcasts, Fanboy Radio, (they cover movies, comics, video games, etc. -- all things nerdy) and the host (Scott Hinze) said my favorite new cuss-rant: "What the crap, mother-crapper?!" HA! Cracked me up as I was drawing. So...use it often and pass it on! ;)

Art & ramblings

Working on a few different projects right now, but here's a clipping of some pencils for a White Wolf job I'm squeezing in (like I've said in the past, they're just too fun!). Even though the finished piece will be inked and ultimately printed in black & white, I couldn't help it, I had to toss some quick colors on part of it just for fun.

Saw "The Incredible Hulk" with a buddy of mine the other night. Hmm, about what I thought it would be (about 6.5 stars out of 10). It was better in parts than I thought it would be but it was also worse than I thought in parts. The mysterious scientist friend of Bruce Banner that's introduced about 2/3 of the way into the movie just stood out as TOO corny and badly acted (which is weird because that actor's usually good in other roles). Worth seeing on the big screen though in my opinion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jim

7 Years! (well, actually almost 10)

That image is basically a character study I'd done for one of the stories for our upcoming illustrated novel LIPS TOUCH (with Arthur A. Levine Books), but (!) that's not what the illustrations will really look like, AND she's cut from the actual piece I did and plopped onto a digitally manipulated pic of an outdoor mountain photo. Anyhow, just thought it looked kind of cool AND didn't spoil anything from what the art in the book's going to really look like.

As for the post title, it's in reference to our 7 year wedding anniversary (but 9 years 8 months as a couple) that lands on today but was celebrated yesterday. Here's us at dinner at our still reigning champ restaurant Bombay Cricket Club:

Me staring down my favorite drink, the tasty (and deceptively dangerous!) Snake Shake:

And Laini eating onion naan. Okay, so maybe this isn't how she eats it (it really isn't), but it kind of looks like I interrupted her chowing down, huh:

We didn't go with the traditional "copper or wool" 7 year anniversary gifts. Instead, I tried to get some sculpture from the awesome local artist Ingrid Hendrix (but nothing that she had available felt anniversary appropriate--still fantastic stuff nonetheless, but they didn't quite say "I love ya!"), same goes for our amazingly talented artist friend from L.A., Ver Mar. Seriously, both of those artists produce incredible pieces but it seems like they sell everything they make as soon as they're done! Crazy. So, I went on Etsy and found a GREAT selection of very cool sculptures that I knew Laini would LOVE. Only one has arrived in time for the celebration, but the others are on their way. Here's the first to arrive, made by the Ohio artist Michelle Steele. She's just begun her sculpting career, but she's sold everything she's made too within days of putting them up for sale:

And awesome awesome wonderful Laini got us Radiohead tickets for later this summer! My FAVORITE band of all time, but I've never seen them live -- I'm told that they're about the best band ever to see live so I'm SO excited! Thank you wife o'mine! And now I'm not having to live vicariously through Lori and her hubby or Steph and her hubby! Take that you two! ;)

We left dinner and went to see a VERY well reviewed play that I won't name. Mainly because neither of us thought it warranted those stellar reviews. Sigh. Don't you hate it when you go to do something on a big day or a special occasion and it just falls short? We did get a few laughs from the play, but it was mostly just awkward and not very well written (plus one of the actors made you want to strangle him whenever he delivered -- no, YELLED! -- one of his lines. The female lead really stood out though as being better than what she was a part of).

Anyhow, it didn't spoil the evening and I suppose it DID give us something to say "Really?" to one another about for a while to come. ("Really" as in: "That's the final script for this production...really?")

Art and a Heart Shaped Box

The above is a quick piece I did today since I was going a little bonkers doing just rough sketches and thumbnails for a couple of different projects all week and I was itching to take something to a bit of finish (even if it's only roughly so). I drew and painted it from a photo I took of a friend of ours (Cameron) several years ago in Portland. We've lost touch with him since then, but on the off-chance you're reading this Cam, get a hold of us man, it'd be great to catch up!

Also, Laini's mom gave me a scary book a couple weeks ago that I tore through (and now Laini's doing the same). It's called "Heart Shaped Box" written by Joe Hill. I can't recall offhand the last ghost story I read OR the last book that actually scared me just a bit, but this one definitely did. He manages to weave in enough unsavory macabre details that make you feel a little icky reading it but they help create the mood and texture of the main story pretty masterfully. Check it out...if you dare!

White Wolf inks - pt. 7

...last one for now. (Edit: I should point out that I used a pic I had of my talented and very creative brother-in-law Alex for reference for the main character in this one. It doesn't quite capture him, but it's close I think. By the way, all of the pieces I've done recently are for the "Hunter" gaming manuals (not sure when they'll be coming out though...)

Oh, and we saw "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" today and really enjoyed it! I suggest it to anyone liking the other Judd Apatow-ish movies (he produced this one).

White Wolf inks - pt. 6

...a clipped portion from a piece featuring a warlock politician...

White Wolf inks - pt. 5

This is a cropped portion of another White Wolf piece, or better known as "Attack of the giant naked dude rampaging through the streets!"

White Wolf inks - pt. 4

...a clipped part of one more...

White Wolf inks - pt. 3

...and another...

White Wolf inks - pt. 2

...another one...

White Wolf inks

This is a portion of one of my previously posted pieces, only now with some inks & a quick hue added for some fun.

More later...

Western Washington SCBWI Spring Conference 2008

Laini and I got home late last night after one fanTAStic 3-day trip to Seattle! (well, Bellevue, WA to be exact). We were attending the above-titled conference and while we would have had an unbelievably good time regardless, being first-time faculty made it even more special and fun (and stressful too I must admit! :) A HUGE "Thank You!" to Sara, Jolie, Laurie, Jaime, and countless others in organizing such a successful event!

Here's a small photo collage from some of our good times this weekend with just a fraction of the amazing people we had the pleasure of interacting with:

Our weekend was made so tremendous by being able to spend time with so many kind and talented folks. A GIANT special thanks to Arthur Levine of Arthur A. Levine Books for spending so much time with us to discuss Laini's upcoming book that I'm (YAY!) doing the art and cover on--fun and exciting brainstorming sessions that I'm so thrilled to be involved in! The top left pic is of Arthur, Laini, and me on the last (sniff sniff) day of the conference. Always so sad to say goodbye to Arthur and see the conferences end!

We also really enjoyed spending so much time with Laurent Linn (Art Director with Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers) and sharing our mutual appreciation of cool dress shirts for men. Word on the street was that he knocked everyone's socks off with his Sunday afternoon presentation. That's me with him (in the middle) on the upper right-hand pic. We were enjoying lunch with the very artistic David Hohn and a table full of other amazing talents.

In the next row of pics is the very successful and SO fun to talk to agent Kate Schafer, (Laini and me), Jolie Stekly and Sara Easterly (2 of the main uber-organizers of the weekend), and the busy author Royce Buckingham (when does he sleep? So many books and screenplays on the horizon for him!). To the right of that pic (and in the center of the next row too) is Laurie Thompson, who also is very much responsible for such a smooth and HUGE conference weekend. As you can see in that second pic with her, my birthday fell on last Friday and I was treated to some surprise b-day Mochi at the sushi restaurant we were chowing down at that night! Thanks for remembering SCBWI ladies!!!

The 3rd row of pics has Laini with the very dance-y, REALLY fun, award-winning Author/Illustrator Margaret Chodos-Irvine.

The last row has the SO sweet and kind-hearted award-winning author Kirby Larson, and the talented and FUNNY Jaime Temairik in the first pic, and a plethora of others with yours-truly in the final frame. They include the cool agent Stephen Barbara, author/illustrator Jim Averbeck, the fun and influential Elizabeth (Fuse #8) Bird, Jaime again, the always smiling and sweet Kim Baker, the author Joni Sensel, and Sara Easterly again. (It should be noted that the last photo I just described was taken during the drinks night on Friday and MAN can Laini and I par-tay it up! (At least we planned to.) Knowing how INSANE we can get at a club, we opted for leaving at about 10pm instead of the inevitable getting-kicked-out-at-3 a.m. if we would have let loose (yeah right! :)

Also, Laini and I each had "breakout workshop sessions" that we put together and presented (thus the "stress" I mentioned above). Public speaking doesn't make me too terribly nervous, but I wanted to provide some valuable information to others that were hoping to make the most out of their conference weekend -- I hope I was helpful in what I covered. Thanks to those who took the time to attend and participate, it was GREAT fun! Here's a panoramic pic from the front of the room of some of those in attendance (a few more trickled in as I spoke & thanks to you too!):

While I covered a variety of basic career info, some conference attendee tips, and some "what makes a good cover" info, hopefully my over-arching message of "MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TIME AT THE CONFERENCES YOU ATTEND!!" hit home. And for those of you wanting to write or make art professionally, I can't recommend strongly enough that you attend conferences like this as often as you can afford to (and really, you can't afford not to...)

Thanks!
Jim

Mexico trip, family, and friends

Laini and I just returned from Mexico (southern Mexico actually, and the state of Chiapas to be exact). For those not familiar with that area of the Mexico, check out some of the info on Wikipedia. In a word, WOW! Strangely, almost no Americans travel to Chiapas, tending to visit Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and the like (which I'm sure are great too), so we mostly met travelers from within Mexico (traveling from Mexico City or Monterey), Germany, Italy, France, and Israel while visiting and exploring what we could of the region in a little over a week there. We also managed to squeeze in some visits with family in CA while we were there too (some of those pix are mixed in above).

Instead of our travel-norm of doing things more leisurely on our own -- finding opportunities to sit and draw the surroundings for hours and days -- we opted for day tours with small groups and sometimes a guide to give us more of a chance to get places we normally couldn't--mostly because this was going to be a shorter trip, but also because, as I said, there were certain places we just wouldn't be able to access on our own. Pretty much without fail we were overwhelmed with the kindness from the locals, amazed at the rich colors of the buildings, and blown away by the beautiful textiles and leather goods. For anyone looking for a little bit of an exotic location to go on their next vacation I can't recommend Chiapas enough! Our home bases were primarily San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque and there's SO much to see I only wish we could have stayed longer, or could afford to go back very soon! But alas, there're things to do in the "real world" that we need to attend to! Back to work! (which is fantastic too, don't get me wrong! :)

And for more pics about our trip and Chiapas in general, check out Laini's blog. She'll be doing several posts about our trip and the area we explored over the coming days.

Be well everyone...and do some traveling yourself!

Tigers in progress...

This is a clipped portion from a larger piece of something I'm working on. The piece isn't quite finished yet, but I'm having a lot of fun! I have to be mysterious about it for now, but hopefully I'll be able to show more clipped portions of pieces sometime soon. Anyhow, I've learned that I really LOVE drawing and painting animals over the past few years and I'm excited at some upcoming projects for the opportunity to do more!

Jim

...another White Wolf piece in progress...

...of a faceless angel hovering over/protecting a modern-day holy knight of the church.

some White Wolf "Hunters" art in progress

Above and below are some more White Wolf pieces in progress at the penciled stage. I'll be adding a few more pieces here in the next few days (probably) and then once I've done some painting and inking (and maybe a small bit of digital tweaking) I'll post some of the finishes. Many of these pieces are a bit edgy/PG-13 as they are depictions of human "hunters" who are at war with demons, witches, and ghouls in one of the fantasy worlds within the White Wolf universe. Creepy fun! :)

Charlie Huston rocks!

Just a quickie to say that I finished the the "Henry Thompson" trilogy written by Charlie Huston. They are as follows: CAUGHT STEALING, SIX BAD THINGS, and A DANGEROUS MAN. As I wrote in a previous post, I wasn't sure if I'd like these as much as the SO good Joe Pitt vampire P.I. books, but now I'm completely torn on which I enjoyed the most (for similar and very different reasons).

Anyhow, I just wanted to publicly tip my hat for the man. He's got 2 trilogies out as well as a stand-alone that came out last summer (next on my list) and another book due in September. Quite an accomplishment considering his first book came out in 2004.

I should have some new art to post shortly. Until then, read some books, watch the final season of The Wire (YOWZA!) and check out the FX series (now on DVD) "Damages" -- solid serialized TV!

Bit more art and 30 Days of Night

One more clipped portion of art and a character pose for an upcoming White Wolf book. Always a lot of fun!

Saw "30 Days of Night" last night, and while it was missing certain story elements that could have made it stronger and more compelling, we enjoyed it more than we'd hoped (we gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix). It even gave me a creepy nightmare last night that is too weird to explain, so I won't even try. For any horror movie fans that aren't afraid of a little blood (okay, more than "a little"), check it out!

Art and Charlie Huston

Here's a clipped portion of one of the previous images with some ink and washes added.

Oh, and I'm on to the author Charlie Huston's other (non-vampire) novel series that begins with "Caught Stealing." I wasn't sure if I'd like it as much as the others (which were GREAT) because of the lack of vampires and zombies, but so far it's quite a page-turner. If you're looking for well-written, edgy, gritty noir that'll grab hold of you for some escapism, then I highly recommend his books!

Happy weekend all!

Jim

Some Art (and Gone Baby Gone)

These're some small cropped clippings of art (at the pencil stage -- there's more to be done indeed!) for a fun White Wolf book I'm working on amidst other projects. These books are always a lot of fun!

Also, has everyone out there seen the movie "Gone Baby Gone" ? Laini and I Netflixed it and watched it last night and WOW we enjoyed it SO much! It has much more of a noir feel to it than I ever imagined. Plus, I'm such a freaking sucker for movies/novels/comics where the main character isn't necessarily the baddest in the room, but they sure as hell aren't about to take any crap. It makes me want to re-watch the clever little movie "Brick" from a year or two ago.

Along those noir lines, lately I've been reading the Charlie Huston novels featuring the vampire P.I., Joe Pitt, AND having a weekly "Revenge Movie Night" with the guys (okay, and a few girls too sometimes), so I'm feeling very immersed in that vibe lately...and it's gooooooood! :)

Later!
Jim

BANG! and bass

First off, many thanks to those who left kind comments about our baby news (!!), to all those who sent e-mails and called, and for the generous gifts that we've received already too! Amazing kindness out there, so thank you again! We're very excited!

Secondly, I've been hired on to a VERY cool book project that I'm pretty sure I can discuss fairly soon, but I'll just say that it involves one of my all time favorite authors, creepy kids, and aliens! The deadline will probably come up pretty quickly and I'll see if I can post some art in the near future.

Lastly, the drawings above are just some images that I'm using as part of two gifts for some great friends of mine -- but they don't blog, so this shouldn't result in any spoilers (I hope!).

Be well!
Jim