Booklist chooses Lips Touch!!

Laini and I were very excited to hear that Booklist (which is the digital counterpart of the ALA's (American Library Association's) Booklist magazine) has chosen LIPS TOUCH as one of their 2010 top 10 YA Romance novels! And it was also pretty flattering that they used my cover art for the list's logo. We're both very honored! And congrats to all of the other books and creators mentioned (including our awesome friend L.K. Madigan and her wonderful novel Flash Burnout. Go Lisa! And also our super-talented friend David Levithan and his novel Will Grayson Will Grayson!). Go here for the full list.

Sorry for the lack of activity here as well. I've been working on a few projects, but they're all at the "You can't show anybody" stage either because they're under a non-disclosure agreement by the publishers, or because they're collaborative pitches that those involved don't want to share to the masses until they're further along and seen by publishers. Anyhow, I hope everyone has had a great summer. Cheers!

Art snippit

A snippit of art from a story that may see the light of day in the (near? distant?) future...

Morning sketch

Drew and painted this over coffee early this morning (for fun) and messed about in Photoshop with it. The 2nd two are clearly digitally manipulated whereas the first is a straight scan. Not sure which I like best...probably just the initial before I touched it with Photoshop. Hmph.

Fractured Fables comics anthology has hit stands!

The short story Laini and I did for the Shadowline/Image Comics anthology has hit stands this week (the first two panels from the story above). While we won't be attending the San Diego Comic Con this year for the official signing (dangit! That con is TOO much fun!), as I understand it, most bookstores should be carrying it if you're interested. Also, I've added the book to my site here over to the right (click to purchase). Again, it was an honor to be asked to contribute to the book and we're thrilled to be among some great creators. Cool beans. And thanks to Jim Valentino (Shadowline's publisher and Image Comics V.P.) for the invite!

Cheers!

Some adorableness and some art

First, the adorable (11 months old already. Yikes!)

And secondly, some art:

So children actually DO take up some time after all (doi!)

Well, I'd whole-heartedly planned on a total website redesign with tons of new work uploaded, but those lofty goals are, alas, not meant to be for now (*see post title!!*). I came to the conclusion that my work time was better spent, well, working, than on a redesign, but I still managed to upload some of my recent work. I'll get the remaining "Color" gallery dead links connected soon too (most, but not all are operable. The samples of my artwork for the novel LIPS TOUCH will be linked to full pages soon...I'm pretty sure at least). In the meantime, here's my new "Home" page, but I plan on rotating that image around every few months.



Much is being worked on and much is brewing (woohoo!), and Laini and I are having a blast with our li'l Clementine and her first summer in the world!

Thanks for checking in!
Jim

Up early working and listening to...

...some old PJ Harvey. One of my all-time favorite musical talents. Wow she's awesome:



(But why does Blogger crop YouTube clips? What the heck?!) (***Update: Thanks to "Somebody" for leaving a comment for me showing me how to fix the vid-squish. Much appreciated!***)

Art snippit

Messing about searching for the look of a project that might be forthcoming (how's that for ridiculously -- probably unnecessary -- vagueness?).

WIP - pt. 2

So I decided to make the next step be some oil paints. It felt gooooood. Here are a couple of pics after about 90 minutes of wet-in-wet. Not the best pictures, and although you can still see some of the watermedia and charcoal in the piece, the camera didn't really pick it up. I'll save some of that underpainting stuff along the way and hopefully the final scan (once dry!) will pick it up for the blog.

Work in Progress - post 1

I'll try to scan this as I go to keep track of the progress for the ol' blog and post the same zoomed-in snippit along the way...

Sketchbook

Sketchbookin' once again

...with juuuust a touch of Photoshop at the end.

Goth Girl Follies (3rd installment)

GGF part 3!!


Again, go here to Barry Lyga's site for a collection of the strips (with higher-rez versions too).

The sketchbookin' continues

Sketchbookin'

I'm loving this sketchbook by "Global Arts." Great paper texture for drawing and it takes watercolor, gouache, and charcoal beautifully. Now I just wish we were headed on a long overseas trip so I could do some travel sketch pieces. Sigh...

Goth Girl Follies (2nd installment)

Another strip from collaborating with the prolific and super-talented Barry Lyga:

And a link to his site that has a collection of the strips (with higher-rez versions too).

Sketchbookin'

And now, Barry Lyga and I take over...THE WORLD!!...

...or we at least release the fun collaborative strip we worked on for his AWESOME novel "Goth Girl Rising" (which is the sequel to the AMAZING novel "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl"). Barry was nice enough to hire me to do a few of these strips, and working with him was nothing short of an honor and a pleasure -- I mean, I was a fan before we met and now I get to work with him? How cool is that? Anyhow, I hope we get to work together again. For now, here's the first strip in the series, as well as a link to his site to keep track of the upcoming installments. (Oh! And buy his books! They're all fanTAStic!)

Our PBS-Plus Television interview (yikes!) for LIPS TOUCH

We're just happy that we didn't freeze up too much on camera and sweat all over the place! Thanks to the WONDERFUL host of "Back Page" Jody Seay, the director Eric Gleske, and their awesome crew and staff! We had a wonderful time!

Birthday art gifts for friends

Two of my best friends had a co-birthday party over the weekend, so I whipped up a couple of pieces of silly art for them and figured I'd show them here because (1) I haven't posted near enough art on here lately, and (2) I can't really show any of the art I've been working on lately so this will have to do for now.

As you can see, one friend is into boxing and the other is into punching old-timey criminals. OK, not really (the latter), but it was an image that just came to me. The "We're From Japan" word balloon is referencing the AWESOME band he's in. Super talented group of guys.

Reading Neil Gaiman to your baby will get you noticed!

I was contacted by a representative of the Frisco (Texas) Public Library after my interview with the AWESOME Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog, asking if they could use the picture of me reading to Clementine on their promotional brochure for their "Books for Babies" program. I couldn't say "YES!" fast enough! What an honor! They have this fanTAStic program that's a partnership between the library and other organizations that provides a board book and information on nurturing readers for new parents for EVERY baby born at the Centennial Medical Center in Frisco, Texas. We have a similar program here in Multnomah County and we LOVE it!

Anyhow, thanks to the organization for contacting me (and Clementine!) and whether it's a Neil Gaiman picture book or not, read to your kids! And use (and appreciate!) your public library!

(Ooh, and in other Neil Gaiman-ish news, Laini's second DREAMDARK novel, SILKSINGER won one of the same awards that the former's Graveyard Book won last year! Namely the Middle Grade Fantasy/Sci Fi 2009 CYBILS Award! Congrats to Laini!)