Thursday City News

Severed Limbs

2019-03-25T20:18:00.002-04:00

I haven’t taken the time to post an update here since I ran the Kickstarter.

If you don’t know, and why would you unless you’re a proximal few?,

SEVERED LIMBS is complete,

and it came out beautifully!

I am always criticizing my work from the perspective of the newest thing,

but I rest assured with this one that I made something to the best of my abilities at the time,

and that my increased abilities now, would not exist but for that effort.

And until the next one is done,

feast your eyes on this beaut!:

2018-05-22T12:39:00.000-04:00

I recently finished a new book entitled Severed Limbs. It's 144 pages of fantastic fantasticized fantasy. The book is about a prophet, or a madman (depending upon your perspective), who suffers a serious injury from a divine Hemingway cat* and sets out for restitution. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s not really about the ending. It’s about the journey. I would sincerely and profoundly appreciate if you would consider helping me transform Severed Limbs into a beautiful book.

I have set up a KICKSTARTER campaign where you can learn all the lavish details here at this extremely inelegant URL, just click it:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1661720183/severed-limbs-a-comic-book?ref=user_menu

I know it feels like we're living through the end times these days. Everyone is confused. Everyone seems to hate everyone else. We're all pretty sure we've descended into chaos, and it's "those people's" fault. Whoever those people are for you. It can easily appear that expending efforts on frivolous things like comic books is a waste of time and energy. But I would argue that the opposite is true. There is no better time than chaotic times to throw your hat into the ring and create something, or study a creation, or support a creative endeavor. What better way to confront chaos than to generate novel ideas and principiate future possibilities? To cultivate the best in humanity?

*A Hemingway cat, if you didn’t know, is a polydactyl. It is said that Ernest Hemingway bred these extra toed guys and now pretty much all polydactyls can be traced back to him. Weird right? Also, probably not true, but he definitely had a hankering for the extra toed.

Shabazz Palaces

2017-05-09T12:07:00.000-04:00

Sub Pop just announced a collaboration I’ve been working on with Shabazz Palaces. I did the art for their next album and we collaborated on a book that will accompany the album. You can read about it at Sub Pop’s website.

Fragmentary and chaotic: posts from the Abyss

2016-02-10T12:02:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s been a while since I have published a new blog post.

I have been re-thinking my entire approach to the dissemination of my work and my focus has mostly shifted to more efficient methods of social media broadcasting, such as Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter. While Blogger has developed a mobile-device friendly app it is still not nearly as expedient as those others. I have actually enjoyed taking the time to sit and write something for my blog in the past, but increasingly I spend very little time at my desktop outside of email communication and art making. I have two growing boys, and running a household, while also managing a flourishing art practice, is proving to be quite demanding on my time.

However, I do have designs for continuing the blog. I’m just not certain in what capacity. I think I may try to convert it to a place for more lengthy essays. And, probably more excitingly, into a place to publish my comics work before it is printed. That will require some research and strategy however. I have seen a few people use Blogger as a vehicle for web-comics, but I am not certain it is particularly suited to it.

Anyway, I have been working on quite a number of projects lately. I recently completed the inks on a 131 page tome titled “Severed Limbs.” The next few months will involve scanning, digital edits, coloring, and shopping around for potential publishers. If I cannot find a publisher willing to take a risk on a relatively unknown creator I will publish it myself as I did with “The Moth or the Flame.”

I am also hoping the weather warms up soon, so that I can get back to work on a massive mural I started last year entitled “Mysteries Rising: a surreal adventure through our neighborhood.”

I have several chldren’s books in the works, another mural, a comics anthology, some video and music stuff, and more. Besides that I have been working on preliminary stories, character development, and plot outlines for a collaborative animation project with my buddy Brantley. For now the details of that will remain undisclosed, but suffice it to say that things are quite busy here in the studio of Sunrays Disincorporated Omninational.

More one day.

Nate has arrived!

2015-08-15T15:16:00.001-04:00

If you have an iOS device go download Nate's Ascent and help him ascend.

Nate's Ascent is coming

2015-08-07T20:07:00.001-04:00

I have been squirreled away all year working on a video game app for mobile devices named Nate's Ascent. It's about a boy, a former child soldier, Nate. When a gargantuan alien space craft is discovered, abandoned, Nate goes from expendable to necessary…

Isn't that intriguing enough?

The game is a side-scrolling sci-fi/horror story. It combines a gravity-flipping-jumping-game with a space-exploration-mystery told in comics form.

I co-created the game and contributed all the artwork in collaboration with fellow co-creator, Andrew Knight, who programmed all the programming.

We are very proud of our creative efforts and eager to share the game with you. If you're into that sort of thing. Hell, even if you're not.

Nate's Ascent is available in the app store on August, 08 2015. View the trailer and some other info here: www.natesascent.com

We are also having a release party for the game, if you are in the Atlanta area, at Criminal Records on August 13th from 6-8pm. Poster below.

By the way I have a few new social media personas:

instagram: jehosephatsunrays

tumblr: jehosephatsunrays

twitter: phatSunrays

Holy Day: Got your cyanide capsule ready?

2015-07-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

Realizing they would not make it back to Earth in time, Thorsten and Nik Nik infiltrated a desert planet death cult just to gain access to the pinnacles necessary to broadcast their birthday wishes to you, Brother Cucumber.

Unreasonable Expectations

2014-12-13T08:52:00.002-05:00

I showed the last post to my son and asked if he liked it. He said:
"Uh. Will you draw Castle in the Sky now?"
"All of it?"
"Yes, all of it. Will you?"
…
No. The answer is no.

The Future Expires Us

2014-12-10T14:01:00.001-05:00

I was hired last year to work on a mural for the new offices of an Atlanta design/advertising studio. The title and theme of the project was "The Future Inspires Us", their corporate motto. After several rounds of preliminaries the project got the kibosh, because of changes in the managerial structure at the firm. Basically the person who took over had no interest in executing some other dude's project.

So it goes…

But I was revisiting the sketches today and thought they were worth posting online. So here they are.

Thaumatopia

2014-11-21T19:27:00.001-05:00

Strap on your goggles.

Local art issues

2014-10-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine gave me a heads up that I was referenced in this week's Creative Loafing online.

It looks like they used a pic of me working on my mural from last year's Living Walls Conference to illustrate a post about art issues in the city. Check it out. If you live in Atlanta and care about art this article will be of particular interest to you as there is a proposal on the table to require private residences and businesses to vet planned art through the city. If it went through it would mean if you wanted to paint a mural on your house or put a sculpture in your yard you would have to clear it with your neighborhood groups, city officials and City Council first.

From my perspective this is absurd and an infringement on our constitutional right to freedom of speech, in the name of potentially avoiding the possibility of offending someone in the future.

We'll see what happens.

And since you need something to look at, here is the birthday card I made for my niece this year. Gangsta Monkey in Paradise:

Evergreen

2014-10-15T16:46:00.001-04:00

Was Fred's evergreen roll spiked by Basho?

Maybe.

Basho would deny it.

A page from the upcoming cosmicomedy Severed Limbs.

Reality?

2014-07-16T09:51:00.001-04:00

How can you be so sure?

Process progress

2014-06-11T21:59:00.001-04:00

A few process shots from my ongoing revisions of Severed Limbs. Fred gets a rude awakening.

What you were made for

2014-05-29T19:46:00.001-04:00

Another sketch.

Move it!

2014-05-26T13:33:00.001-04:00

Another little watercolor sketch.

A Sea of Solitude

2014-05-20T14:45:00.001-04:00

A sketch for no reason.

Sun done gone down?

2014-02-12T16:23:00.003-05:00

Late?

The Deserts of Muldune

2013-11-03T13:59:00.001-05:00

Blazing through the deserts of Muldune.

Blazing orange and candy purple skies.

Burnished orange and charcoal purple lands.

Smell of sun charred alien skeletons.

Aroma of wilted wild cactus flower.

Scent of tri-racer fuel and stirred desert silt.

Seasons change

2013-10-30T11:50:00.001-04:00

Well, it seems eons have passed since my last post. Empires have risen and fallen. Generations have come and gone. Blogs are no longer hip. Oh… wait, that was already the case when I started blogging.

There has been much to blog about since my last post, but I am finding raising a child and trying to also continue one's life to be quite the acrobatic challenge. I have a couple of big projects finished in the last few months, and several more in the works, but any time I have to sit at a computer and write about it is time I would rather be spending at the drawing board. So, it finally occurred to me to download blogger for my mobile device. There is a much higher likelihood of posting while waiting for food at a restaurant or whatever, than being in my studio right next to my beckoning drafting table.

Anyway, here are some recent sketches. I am in the gestation phases of my next big project after my upcoming book, Severed Limbs (should be done in the next few months!). These sketches are some ideas for that.

Enjoy.

Yeah well…

2013-07-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

Yeah well, today is my brother and closest friend's birthday.

Upon reflection I realize I have never thought of him as my "baby" brother. He's just my brother. He always has been as far as I can remember. He was always there. And when he wasn't I have no idea where I was.

We share food. We share ideas. We share needles, of course. We share BLOOD. And so much more.

I love you bro.

Better late than never. The prequel.

2013-05-21T11:35:00.001-04:00

Well, I designed this birth announcement within a few weeks of Augie’s birth last year with the intention of mailing them out. We never did that. So, rather than have it never be seen I figured I would just post it here.

One year and four months later.

Enjoy.

Bringing up baby

2013-04-16T11:02:00.000-04:00

New illustration in the New Yorker coming up. Be on the lookout for it in the 29Apr13 issue. This one is for a MoMA screening of the classic comedy “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

Better late than never?

2013-01-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

I made this for the holidays and never posted it.

So, now I am posting it.

GAZE upon it.

Where did you sleep last night?

2012-10-02T11:24:00.003-04:00

Tater Tot,
Be careful.
Don’t go into Those Woods alone.
Those Woods are filled with creepy crawly things.
Those Woods are dangerous.

"Awww, I’m not afraid of Those Woods.
Those creepy crawly things are my buds."

But Those Woods are dangerous.
People disappear in Those Woods.
There are Gangsta Monkeys in Those Woods.
And creepy funky wizards.

"Aww, I’m not afraid of Those Woods.
I’m a Gangsta Monkey myself.
And I jump rope with creepy funky wizards.
I’m going to Those Woods.
And I will roast marshmellows with Those Creeps.
It’s my birthday."