Bridget Zinn and her novel POISON

To begin with, forgive the long dormant blog and thank you for reading it through its dust covered and cob webbed state. While I have been busy working away on several ambitious projects (and I promise news about them will follow as I'm allowed to discuss them), in the meantime, the reason I am here now is to discuss something so very important: the release of a wonderful novel by a dear, sweet lady that is no longer with us. The novel is called POISON, and the sweet lady was my friend Bridget Zinn. 

 
Not ever having done anything like this before, I first want to say that leading up to this book's release has been a long time in coming and Laini and I -- and those who were lucky enough to have known her better than us -- are thrilled to see it hit the stores at long last. It goes without saying that we wish she were here to see it, and after losing another writer friend to cancer several months before Bridget, for a while it felt like the kindest, purest, and most thoughtful among us were being pulled away one by one.

But I don't want to focus on anything negative here. Bridget certainly didn't. She was always one of the happiest people I've been around, and her up-beat nature is evident in her fun debut novel. And I'm not alone in my praise for it. The official reviews have all been VERY deservedly praise-filled, and I'm excited for others to have a chance to now read it for themselves. So, please be among those newcomers yourself. If you are local, come to A CHILDREN'S PLACE this Saturday at 6:00pm to hear Laini and other local authors read from the novel and then do a group signing of POISON on Bridget's behalf. If you are NOT local, but would like to have one of the signed novels I mentioned, the store will be taking phone orders to ship.

Furthermore, there are more cool things going on that people are taking part in. Go here for more information.

Lastly, if the fact that almost two years after her death those who knew her are joining forces to spread the word about her book release isn't enough to give you an impression of how lovely she was, here's a quick, small story about what she was like. After approximately two years of fighting a cancer that arose aggressively and out of left field in 2009, Bridget sent me an apology for not getting me a birthday gift in time for my April 25th (2011) birthday. I had had no party, and I'm not someone who normally asks for -- or expects! -- gifts from my friends on holidays. But dammit, Bridget not only remembered my birthday, she actually felt guilty about being a little late wishing me a happy day. She then further remedied that by sending a gift and a card. Perhaps that sounds like a small act, but I am still in awe of her kindness and grace during her trying time, and the fact that she thought of me at that time wrenches me in the chest to this day.  But ... it also gives me a reminder of the sort of person to strive to be. Thank you, Bridget.

Vacation sketches

It may be clear to some, but for those who it's not, the artist Jean Giraud (more widely known, I believe, as "Moebius") was an influence on the cowboy theme and style on a couple of those drawings. More on that in a moment. You see, my wife, daughter, and I were traveling in France for a few weeks recently and it's difficult to not be influenced by the countless ways in which art and design are applied to just about everything there. In short, I was constantly inspired and in awe and we cannot wait to return to France hopefully soon and often. Anyhow, I knew that graphic novels (or "bande dessinee") were not only MUCH more respected and widely accepted as a valid form of literature by the masses in France, but I had NO idea that even just about every location that you can buy a magazine has at least one or more graphic novel for sale. Crazy! (from an American perspective). Even within the Pantheon, at their gift shop, the FIRST thing visible was a poster, display table, and stacks of a recent graphic novel (granted, it was about the Pantheon, but there were OTHER bande dessinee available there too). So for those who know me, it goes without saying that I visited several "comic book" book stores while in France and while I didn't end up buying any Moebius books (out of the, ahem, number of books I did buy), perusing large sections of the shelves that had books by him did have an influence on me. Particularly the "Blueberry" westerns that he illustrated. Simply put, beautiful stuff! There were a number of other sketches, and I'll post some more non-work-related ones another time perhaps. Also, some (GOOD!) news will be coming too, but until then, cheers!

Whole dang pages

Since the art-sampler for Laini's book (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) has been out for a few months now, I believe I can show more than I've teased. Here's two full-pages from the eight-page sampler. These were a blast to work on and it was difficult to stop myself from illustrating the whole (brilliant!) novel!

Cheers!

More sequentials

More sequential snippits

...a continuation from my previous post. More to come!

New sequential snippits part 1

Despite my lack of posts, I've actually been very busy. Some artwork I still cannot fully post publicly, but as long as I refrain from showing anything TOO revealing I believe (?) it's a-OK. Anyhow, here are a few snippits from sequential panels of a publication I had the EXTREME honor of being a part of (to be specific, a bound sequential/comic book sampling of a few chapters from my wife Laini's newest book DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. It was done for her UK publisher and only available there.)

Sketchbooking once again

Another sketch before turning in.

Sketchbooky-wooky

A sketch before turning in.

Sketchbooking

Forgive my long absence. Many (good!) life-things going on, not the least of which has been me tackling some major home renovations in a new (very old!) home that we bought this winter. But all the while I've been working on art as well and here are some recent sketches I did for fun. Once I know it's OK, I'll post some art I've done for other projects. I'll also soon (ish!) be posting some artwork prior to the San Diego Comic Con. If anyone's still out there, thanks for reading. Cheers!

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