Your Dreams My Nightmares

If you missed it last week, Kali and I did an old-fashioned radio interview with our friend Sam, who runs a really terrific interview series with artists and illustrators. If you've ever wanted to hear Kali or myself talk about ambition, fantasy art, or work habits, you might find it interesting. You can listen to it here, and do check out the rest of Sam's terrific series. There's lots of great insight from some of the industry's top tier and also us.

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Additionally, if you ordered a copy of Treasure Chest and it hasn't arrived yet, sit tight. I still have to draw in a bunch of the books, but I'm optimistic that they'll all be in the mail in the next couple of weeks.

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ALSO, I'm starting to transition fully over to tumblr, so I check that out if you want more signs of life. Social media, man. 

Treasure Chest reprint

Hey guys, I'm reprinting this thing. I'm taking preorders so I can gauge how many copies I need to make -- I'll leave this up for a week or so and then get a-printin'.

Each copy will be signed and doodled in, you know the drill.

UPDATE: Ok! Thanks, everyone. I'm shutting this down so I can get printing. May open it up later if there's interest.

Treasure Chest Interiors

Trail Rations:  SOLD

Wineskin: SOLD

Gold coins: SOLD

Potion of Clarity: SOLD

Crab Claw: SOLD

Copper Sword: SOLD

Canopic Jar: SOLD

Judgemental Skull: SOLD

Flamberge: SOLD

Iron Greatsword: SOLD

Dwarven Brand: SOLD

Necromancer's Robe: SOLD

Mage's Hat: SOLD

Bezoar: SOLD

Ham Hock: SOLD

Hornet Mace: SOLD

Swordbreaker: SOLD

Sea-Lord Helm: SOLD

Mysterious Orb: SOLD

Turtle Shield: SOLD

Terrible Candle: SOLD

Hand of Glory: SOLD

Golden Shovel: SOLD

Boots of the Wind God: SOLD

Summoner's Bell: SOLD

Strange Keys: SOLD

Archer's Cap: SOLD

Haunted Bone: SOLD

Desert Goggles: SOLD

Glowworms: SOLD

Fishing Hooks: SOLD

Gilded Leaves: SOLD

Dragoon's Sabatons: SOLD

Djinn: SOLD

Driftwood Staff: SOLD

Sage's Turban: SOLD

Orcish Scimitar: SOLD

Stone Knife: SOLD

Waystones: SOLD

Cloak of the Vampire King: SOLD

Demon Horn: SOLD

Acorn Hammer: SOLD

Abyssal Bell: SOLD

Ice Brand: SOLD

Beating Heart: SOLD

Goblin Shield: SOLD

Dwarven Bow: SOLD

Goblin Cleaver: SOLD

Draught of Ogre Strength: SOLD

Sentient Crystal: SOLD

Giant's Axe: SOLD

Cyclopean Half Helm: SOLD

Platinum Chalice: SOLD

Assassin's Cowl: SOLD

Arrows: SOLD

Berserker's Shoes: SOLD

Jeweled Scarab: SOLD

Everburning Torch: SOLD

Bomb: SOLD

Ancient Tome: SOLD

Bag of Seeds: SOLD

Chitinous Cuirass: SOLD

Cursed Ring: SOLD

Thunder-Lizard Skull: SOLD

Gloves of the Master Thief: SOLD

Climber's Kit: SOLD

Albatross Bow: SOLD

Spiked Gauntlets: SOLD

Sneakers: SOLD

Sealed Scroll: SOLD

Sahauagin Totem: SOLD

All drawings are done in sumi-e ink and pencil. The originals are all 4.5x6" and don't have the text, which was added digitally for the book.

Treasure Chest is for sale!

OK! SPX is officially over and I have a few Treasure Chest zines available. Each book will be signed and doodled in. Prices after shipping are $8 US and $10 international. Original ink-drawn interior pages will go up later in the week, and I'll ship everything out next week, so if you want a book and an original, I'll bundle them together when I send them out.

US/International US Shipping $8.00 USD International $10.00 USD 

SOLD OUT! 

Thanks, everyone!

SPX

I’ll be selling this stuff (along with prints and stuff) at tables G8/G9 with Kali Ciesemier, Andrea Kalfas, and Jimmy Giegerich this weekend at SPX in Bethesda, MD. Come stop by?

Hello.

Are you going to SPX? Great. 

Additionally, are you an adventurer? Terrific. 

Treasure Chest is a 24-page black-and-white zine with a sparkly gold screenprinted cover. Inside are all the items and equipment YOU, brave adventurer, have earned by braving the wilds and ruins of the world. Each book contains different loot, so there’s no telling what you’ll end up with.

You can grab one of the books for $5, and you can grab one of the original ink-drawn interior pages for a cool $20. Sound good?

I’ve got a bunch of books to sell at the show, and if there’s any left over, I’ll put them up online.

Cloud Computing

This is a quarter-page illustration for last week's issue of Network World magazine. It accompanied an article about the different ways that companies can utilize the cloud, specifically how it can connect different types of devices.

Haircut

Drew this between jobs a little while ago and had been tinkering with it for too long. Not sure if it's totally done, but I'm moving on.

Hodor

Also! I did a swap with Vera.

Bran and Hodor, from A Song of Ice and Fire. Some of my very favorite characters from that series.

Skully

I did this little dude for Mike Mitchell (who I’m sure you all know). How in the world could I resist drawing a skull who is also a little dude?

I have been doing more ink drawings lately, so keep on the lookout.

Diane

“Diane,” a small contribution to Andrea Kalfas’ Twin Peaks zine, “Damn Fine Coffee.” While watching the show I liked to pretend that Cooper’s recorder wasn’t on, and that Diane was just his name for it. Like it was some kind of stress release to talk to it and gather his thoughts. 

Ink and digital.

Viral Language

I had an illustration in yesterday's New York Times Business Section (alongside Kali, which is sweet). It was for an article called Coining Terminology for Life on the Web, and it was kinda about how startups try to either invent or appropriate bits of language that they think will "go viral." Ok, cool.

Thanks to AD Minh Uong for the job.

Ad Map

This map ran in last week's issue of Adweek, accompanying an article about thriving ad agencies in small markets. Maps are exhausting, but you can fill them with little goofs, so it evens out.

Thanks again to AD Nick Mrozowski, whose name I can now spell without issue.

Pokemon Battle Royale Prints!

Hey! You can buy a cool limited edition print of that Alakazam drawing I did for the Pokemon Battle Royale Show. Only 15 of 'em! Only $40! How neat.

Buy buy buy!

Stability

This is a new drawing for SooJin Buzelli at Plansponsor magazine. The article this accompanies is about how stable investments are performing better than their peers. So, obviously.

Super exciting lineup of illustrators in this issue, including Dadu Shin, Nick Iluzada, Josh Cochran, Joohee Yoon, Victo Ngai, David Jien, Chris Silas Neal, Marc Rosenthal, Red Nose Studios, and EVEN MORE. Yow!

Thanks again to SooJin for the call.

What Were Neanderthals Like?

I recently worked with John Sandford at Muse Magazine on a feature article about the characteristics and lifestyles of Neanderthal man. 

How easy would it be to recognize a Neanderthal if you ran into one at a bus stop? Our Neanderthal here is characterized by his heavy brow, long nose, wide brain case, and primitive reading material. Homo sapiens are notable for their hot dog skateboards, bubblegum, handheld videogames, and a propensity for putting shirts on dogs.

Neanderthals may have been smarter than we typically give them credit for.

Life sure was rough for these guys.

Alakazam

This is my finished piece for the Pokemon Battle Royale show held next month at the Light Gray Art Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota. Alakazam is some kind of psychic jackal, I think? 

There will be a few prints of this dude available at the show if anyone is planning on attending. From what I've seen, it's going to be a great show.

I drew this a few weeks before Moebius died, and it kinda ended up as a weird tribute to him. Kali bought me "40 Days Dans La Desert" a year or so ago and it's been one of my favorite books ever since.

Something in the Air

I have a two-page spread in this week's edition of Adweek Magazine, accompanying an article about retails businesses using subtle perfume as a sort of olfactory branding to draw people into their stores.

Super quick turnaround on this guy -- assignment comes in Friday night, final goes out Tuesday night.

The magazine is printed with scratch-and-sniff ink over the perfume areas, which is grass scented. Fun!

AD Nick Mrozowski

55/52 - A Frog

And we end on a selfish note. After doing all of these drawings for other people, I was getting pretty bummed out that I didn't get to keep one of the set, and I figured I could stand to do one more. This is my D&D character (who I'm picking up after I finish DMing). He is a psychic frog.

So, that's the series. I'll hopefully have some more of this stuff to put up in the not too distant future, but for now, that's it. If everything goes according to plan, I will have a book of these drawings available at SPX in the fall, and I'll sell them online afterward.

Hope you enjoyed the series!

54/52 - Braid

Second to last!

53/52 - Sludge Knight

Self portrait as a knight.

52/52 - Ogre

You know he's a bad dude because of the spikes and skulls and stuff.

Because of a few APs, this series will continue through the week before it's done forever.

51/52 - Skull

I think this was the last one that I did? Maybe.

ANYWAY, the numbers say I only have one more of these to post, but you can't always believe numbers.

50/52 - Orc

Orcs have pig faces. Don't trust anyone who tells you otherwise.

49/52 - Sahaugin

Sahaugins are fish lizards from the bottom of the sea. Aquaman has met some, probably.

48/52 - Bard

This is the bard in my D&D campaign, who is a party dwarf of the finest caliber.

47/52 - Bugbear

Bugbears are the biggest and meanest members of the goblin family. Here, I made this handy chart: