Comic Con 07 Rocked!

Kei: Thank You to everyone who came down to our booth at the con! It just gets bigger and bigger every year, I can't wait till the next. We're glad to say we had a successful con-- we sold out of almost all our books and prints! And what a great time we had hanging out with old and new friends.

We had dinner one night with 30 of our friends at this churrascaria called Rei do Gado, one of the best resturants in San Diego! As you can see from the bill we ate very well! If you ever swing by San Diego, you have to try this resturant, they have the best brasillian steaks in town!



Bobby: Honestly I had so much fun hanging out with everyone, it almost made me want to move to California!

For me, fondest memories were always at dinner. On Tuesday Kei and I arrived in San Diego and rented my favorite car (Mustang) and peeled down to the Hilton, checked in and went to Denny's. Had a nice quiet dinner and conversation and decided to go to Sea World! Animals always amaze me so the trip was off to a good start. I haven't been to see world for over 20 yrs!

Wednesday we met up with our ImagineFX friends that came all the way down from the UK and enjoyed a nice little meal at a swanky Chinese restaurant called "Red Pearl" I believe...

Then came Thursday night - Brazilian BBQ. How the heck did a little party of 10 grow so fast??
Here's a list of some of the lovely company we were lucky enough to dinner with that night:

Freedom fighter Alberto Ruiz and his lovely daughter Megan

Our good friend Dan Merisanu - great supporter of all independent art book publishers and all around nice guy

Octavio Rodriguez - Imagine Vin Disel meets Robin Mitchell... and then put a sketchbook in his hands.. hehehe. jk.

Sean "Cheeks" Galloway - My half-Taiwanese brother! First time I met him, he completely surprised me by speaking Chinese to me! Multi-talented indeed

Kandrix and Laurie - a couple of our fellow Canadians!

Matt Stewart - another awesome artist from Canada!

Francisco Herrera and his lovely bride to be

Our good friend Stephen Silver of course

Deanna Marsigliese - another awesome artist from Canada!

Martin Hsu - fantastic artist and designer!

Vin Teng - INCREDIBLE sculpter

Pascal Campion - Flash animating GENIUS!

Our buddy Patrick Morgan!

Our friend John Giang from ILM

Our friend from wayyy back Robin Mitchell and many many more.... my head is spinning just trying to remember everyone. Better stop before I throw up. I think I'm still full from all the steak. Anyhow it was wonderful to share a meal with such a talented group of people.

The next day our little crew (Dan, Robin, Deanna, Silver, Cook) ended up going out to Bella Luna with our new friends Donnachada, Scott Wright, Jeremy Bernstein and Morgan Kelly. They are part of the wildly talented animation team at Dreamworks. Can't wait to see Kungfu Panda! Later on that night we had the pleasure of even more company from Dreamworks Maggie Kang and Griselda Sastrawinata and their friends. Unfortunately Kei and I had to call it a night at 1:00am... we were exhausted that night.

Saturday was a very long day at the con. By the end of the day my throat was getting a bit sore from talking so much. It was nice to share a meal with a nice dinner with Justin Ridge and his crew, Alberto, Matt Stewart, Silver and Heidi, Kandrix and Laurie. Afterwards, it became party time at the Marriott. I don't drink very often at all but the vibe was great that night so Kei and I decided to party it up a bit! Good times indeed.

Sunday we had dinner with our buddies Dan Merisanu and Robin Mitchell and our new friends Pascal Campion's crew. Afterwards, it has become a bit of a tradition to get together with Robin and reminisced about old times and new times and took a few minutes to just sit around and be thankful for all that is good in our lives. A very nice ending to a great trip.

The collection..
There were so many beautiful books this year. Too bad we couldn't take even more with us!
Out of alllll the books we received, here's my top ten list:

Chris Sanders - this one was only $10! I couldn't believe the amount of amazing sketches in this book. It is a MUST HAVE.

Bill Presing - let me put it to you this way... we bought 3 copies because it's THAT good. If anyone is wondering who got his number 1 of 100 limited edition verisons... it was me hehehe... Kei got number 21 of 100.

Jakob Jensen - Love love loved the humor in this one! Beautifully drawn and superb sense of humor. Genius!

The Ancient Book of Myth and War - I got the limited edition. It's wonderful to have an original piece from Scott Morse, but not only that... the book is signed by all four contributing artists - Morse, Romano, Shank and Wragg. Beautiful illustrations!

Dean Yeagle - Mandy's Shorts. Always loved Dean's Mandy drawings. Incredible poses! But this one is his best one yet! Hardcover and in full color this time!

Donnachada Daly's Crush - Here's a real gem! There's true genius in his simplicity.

Pascal Campion - There's so much beautiful artwork in there that you really have to slow it down and stare at every image to really appreciate it.

Gabriele Pennacchioli - AMAZING storytelling!

Robin Mitchell was nice enough to give me a book even though he knew he didn't bring enough. Wonderful drawings!

Louie del Carmen - is in my top ten list as well but his Steel Noodles book got me too interested and ended too fast. What a tease!! So now I'm going to have to bug him to get the next issue done.

Martin Hsu - Wonderful illustration and style!

Humberto Ramos - Awesome style, awesome artist and all around nice guy!

Francisco Herrera - Amazing comic book sketchbook!

Patrick Morgan - Loved the robots!

Kevin Dart - his first book! A must have.

Alberto Ruiz - These are always automatic purchases for me. Love this man's art!





Sea World was wicked!












best trip yet,
Kei & Bobby

Some *must save* links!
Darryl Young
Bob Rissetto
Kandrix & Laurie
Jim Zubkavich
Craig Berry
Martin Hsu
Tae Soo Kim
Goro Fujita
Donnachada Daly
Jakob Jensen
Jeremy Bernstein
Scott Wright
Morgan Kelly
Pascal Campion
Deanna Marsiglisese

I Pity The Fool (obvious post title #115643)

Back from Comic-Con. Sick. So sick I haven't finished reading Deathly Hallows yet. Tonsils looked like pastrami yesterday. Somewhat better now. Post-convention round-up on Friday. For now, another commisioned TV character:

click above for larger view

Same technique as previous two. Complete sentences next time, promise.

Online Art School - Schoolism.com

Online Art Classes - Schoolism.com

Here's an interview I recently did with the Character Design Blog --> LINK

Classes available for registration:
Character Design by Silver





The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler



Digital Painting with Bobby Chiu





Please visit SCHOOLISM for more details.

LIKE A FORCE OF NATURE, COMIC-CON IS UPON US AND NOTHING CAN WITHSTAND ITS UNHOLY MIGHT

Here it is, a giant post plugging all the projects that my friends and I are involved with for Comic-Con. To start, the most basic information for those who dislike reading long posts:

I will be at Comic-Con International in San Diego from July 25-29, You will be able to find me at the Big Boss Comics table in the small press area. Our table number is N10. And please visit our friends, the Tired Girls at table N4.

As promised, I have two illustrations to cover the week's posts, which simultaneously act as plugs for my convention projects. Convenient and diabolical, yes? Click images for larger view.

The first up is the cover of the sketchbook that I'll be selling. The lovingly rendered characters on that cover are (from left to right) Mer-Man astride Panthor, Whiplash, and Beastman, as rendered by me when I was about 9-years-old. The guts of the sketchbook, however, contain my modern day work--including a lot of uncolored line art from the sketches that go up on this blog, but also debuting a number of pieces that have yet to appear. The sketchbook, titled Action Figures I Wanted as a Child, & Other Assorted Drawings, is 40 pages, with color cover and black and white interiors, and sells for a mere $5. FYI, the real version of the cover doesn't have the watermark with the blog URL across the cover.

Next up, is art from both the front and back of a free promotional postcard for my comic-in-progress, The Legend of Cog. For more on the progress and status of Cog, please check out the website (and you can read the first 8 pages for free). I will also be selling copies of the first "issue" of The Legend of Cog, which is basically a black and white ashcan preview that gives you the first 24 pages of the story. The ashcan goes for the neglible price of $1.

In addition to the Cog postcard, I also put together a free promotional postcard to promote this very blog. The art, of course, is taken from this post, which I spruced up with some type and background elements.

Beyond my personal projects, I've got some stuff going on with the day job, as well. One of the give-aways at the Bongo Comics booth will be a mini-comic promoting the return of Futurama. I penciled the comic over Bill Morrison's layouts.

Also, I will be speaking on a panel. Actually, I will probably do everything in my power to not speak, but I will be sitting on the stage, with the other people on the panel. The reason I'm on the panel is that I'm pencilling a 6-page story for this year's Treehouse of Horror comic, written by none other than the uber-funny Patton Oswalt himself. Patton Oswalt couldn't make it to the panel, but I'll be there, and I'm just as funny and talented. BWAHAHAHAHAHA... well, we all had a good laugh about that. Anyways, here's the info about the panel from Comic-Con's website:

Thursday, July 26, 2:00-3:00 Bongo Comics Sneak Peek— Bongo Comics offers a mouth-watering preview of upcoming projects featuring The Simpsons and Futurama. Managing editor Terry Delegeane and creative director Bill Morrison host a panel featuring the writers and artists who create the comics and books based on Matt Groening’s phenomenal TV shows. Find out what’s in the future for Futurama Comics and what to expect in Simpsons Comics and Simpsons Super Spectacular. Plus, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Tone Rodriguez (Violent Messiahs), and Gerry Duggan (The Last Christmas) will be on hand to talk about their terrifying contributions to this fall’s star-studded issue of Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror! This is a ”must-attend” panel for all fans of The Simpsons and Futurama—and anyone looking for a place to sit down! Room 3

My tablemates from Big Boss Comics have got plenty of goods too. First up is the Big Boss Comics Was Here anthology. For a measly $10, you get 100 whopping pages in black and white, with a gorgeous color cover by Andrew Tunney. The Kid Justice story I mentioned a few posts ago is in there, with a humble "cover" by yours truly, and awesome interior art by Vinny.

Speaking of Vinny, he'll be selling the latest issue of It's Ninja Time, a quirky action-packed comic that I dearly love. Vinny will also be selling color sketches, many of which you can see on his blog.

Big Boss is also promoting Josh's new comic Necessary Evil, which is in the August Issue of Previews, and will be on sale in October, published by Desperado Comics. The cover for issue #1 (as seen in the flyer to the right) is by the superb Dustin Nguyen, who's a pretty big deal over at a little company you might have heard of called... DC comics. O_O

And don't forget about the Tired Girl Collective. They were quite a hit last year, and they're back for more. Jodi will be packing buttons and various hamster-related paraphenelia. Sherri will have a book called Johnny Popcorn and a book called Momfight! (Surely, your interest must be piqued by now!) And Ren will be there with clever and surreal cards, nerdcore totebags (see below), shrinky dinks (yes really), and more!

So, in summary. If you are in San Diego this week, go to the convention and visit:

• Big Boss Comics (table N10 in small press)
• Tired Girl Collective (table N4 in small press)

If you are not in San Diego this week, or when you get back from San Diego, visit:

• Legend of Cog
• Big Boss Comics
• Josh
• Vinny
• Tired Girl
• Ren
• Jodi
• Sherri

Phew--I'm off to the convention! Back to the normal hi-jinx next Tuesday. Have a great week everyone!

San Diego Comicon - Table A5. Who's going??

Hi All,

It's that time of year again, where artists from all over travel from all over to go to the San Diego Comic Con.

For those that have never been there, this comic convention is so BIG that we just call it "Comic-Con."

It's sooo big that if you are standing in the middle of Comicon, you can't see any walls! Only the ceiling.

It's sooooo big that you NEED more then one day to see the whole convention.

It's sooooooo big that you'll probably get lost just wandering around the place. Not to worry though... all you need to do is remember one important letter and one important number.

A5 - We'll be happy to give you directions :)

Can't wait to see everyone again!
So where's everyone else sitting? Leave your info in the comments so we all know!

Alberto Ruiz H3
Bill, Jeff Pidgeon, Scott Morse booth 4800
Cheeks - E2
David Colman - H5
John Nevarez - H9
Jose Lopez - H somewhere I believe...
Justin Ridge - 1035
Louie del Carmen - ??
Kevin Dart - E4
Patrick Morgan - H somewhere I think...
Octavio Rodriguez - ?? with Louie del Carmen I think...
Robin Mitchell - E9
Stephen Silver - H6

Imaginism Studios (Bobby & Kei) A5

Here's some more pics for our next book "Dragon Sketches"
These original sketches will also be available for purchase at the con starting from $65.

Wherein I talk about my friend's new comic, and ramble on a bit about next week's blogging schedule.

I had originally planned to post a Harry Potter sketch to commemorate the release of the final book in the series, but something even more interesting popped up this week--

My comrade Josh Williamson's comic, Necessary Evil is being solicited in this month's Previews catalog! The comic is pencilled by Marcus Harris, inked by Vinny Navarrete and colored by Winston Suk. Josh created and wrote it, and Desperado is publishing it. Oh and did I mention that I did the character designs for the main cast? I'M MENTIONING IT NOW.

Please ask your local comic shop to order a bunch! Previews is out next week, and the first issue of Necessary Evil ships in October. It's a great comic, and I hope you'll all give it a try.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting some more of my Necessary Evil art and telling you all some more about the comic itself. But for now, here is a pin-up/mock cover that I created for Josh when he first asked me to design the characters:

click above for larger view

So, next week, is the big San Diego Comic Book Convention, which I have alluded to. Technically, it's known as Comic-Con International, but I rarely hear people call it that. In fact, people usually just call it Comic-Con, with no qualifiers. The epic proportions of the convention are such that no qualifier in the human language would be appropriate. But I digress.

I will be gone at the convention for most of next week, which means I'll be away from my precious computer and internet connection, which means no post on Friday. HOWEVER! I would never abandon you, dear reader--which is why on Monday, I will be putting up a huge mega-post, containing two pieces of brand new art to cover the entire week's posts. And it is no coincidence that these two new pieces will both be terribly relevant to the wares that I am peddling at Comic-Con.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL--in addition to plugging my own projects, I will also be plugging the projects of my chums and cronies, who will be peddling their own wares at Comic-Con. Please stay tuned!

Post Script: The aforementioned Harry Potter post will go up sometime soon after the convention, probably with a review of the book.

Jason Seiler Caricature Classes Online

2008 is going to be an exciting year.

There are going to be some amazing teachers joining Stephen Silver and myself at Schoolism.com.

This is one of them - JASON SEILER

His class "The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler" is coming January 2008.


Here's a snazzy little video I took off his BLOG

I am out of clever and/or relevant post titles.

(Posted early, as I'm still doing a few last minute things for Comic-Con...)

Another from the commisioned project where I was asked to illustrate a few distinct TV characters. This time, a Sleestak:

click above for larger view

Drawn in pencil and inked with a Tombo brush pen and Sakura microns, meticulously touched up in Photoshop to make it look like I know what I'm doing, and then colored (in Photoshop). On the one hand, the lighting on this one is too subtle and unfortunately stops just shy of "moody." I wish I had taken it further, particularly on the face. On the other hand, I'm still pretty happy with the way I translated the Sleestak into a cartoony style, while keeping it recognizable.

Digital Painting Class September 20th is open for registration.

Digital Painting Classes with me are now open for registration!

Classes start Thursday September 20th, 2007.
Lessons: 9
Assignments: 9
Duration: 14 weeks
Fees: $798 USD
Pre-Requisites: None. This course is for any skill level.

Seats available: 15

Please check out SCHOOLISM for more information.

On another note, San Diego Comic-Con is quickly approaching. A couple of months ago Arthur Suydam asked me if there would be any original sketches available for purchase. Well, I'm not one to say no to an artist like Arthur so I've been taking apart my sketchbooks and preparing a little collection to sell at Comic-Con. Kei and I will be at Table A5 so if you're coming to the show, come on by and say hi!

Here's some of the sketches that will be available.


These are a couple of sketches from our next book "Dragon Sketches"

the Strange Behavior Challenge

Here are some concepts for a new piece I'm working on. It's for Cgtalk's new "Strange Behavior" Challenge! more updates soon..







-Kei

K.J. stands for...

As Comic-Con preparations have me somewhat busy, here's another older piece, done for the cover of a mini-comic called Kid Justice:

click above for larger view

The actual Kid Justice story was written by Josh, drawn by Vinny, and published by Big Boss Comics. Incidentally, the Presidential seal in the background of my cover was snagged from one of Vinny's panels inside the comic. The story (and a black and white version of my humble cover) are going to be included in a Big Boss Comics anthology, which will be on sale at Comic-Con. More on that (and my other Comic-Con happenings) as Comic-Con gets closer.

August 7th Schoolism digital painting classes are FULL

August 7th digital painting class is FULL.

Next class will begin September 20th, 2007.
Registration begins Monday July 16th, 2007.

Join the mailing list and you will be notified once new classes are open for registration.

Bobby

Animation Mentor Newsletter

Hi everyone,

I'd like to give a special thanks to our friends at Animation Mentor. I'm featured in their Newsletter this month! Along side my buddy David Colman.

In case you've never heard, Animation Mentor is by far the best online animation school out there. They have real professionals teaching their classes. That's what art teachers should be... real pros that are successful at what they do.

Check them out and sign up for their classes!

You can see the article HERE

Bobby

Quick Post, and a Plug

(Posted early, as has become my habit...)

From a commisioned project where I was asked to illustrate a few distinct TV characters. First up, Eddie Munster:

click above for larger view

Drawn in pencil and inked with a Tombo brush pen and Sakura microns, meticulously touched up in Photoshop to make it look like I know what I'm doing, and then colored (in Photoshop). This piece is actually a bit older, but I think it holds up decently.

But enough about me--remember this post? Well Charles has completed the mystical fish's extensive background story, entitled "The Children of Gods," complete with an appendix explaining some of his references and influences.

• Check out the blog of Charles AKA Lord Shen
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Act I
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Act II
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Act III
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Act IV
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Act V
  
• Read The Children of Gods, Appendix

It's really an excellent piece of writing, so go read it! Go!

Bigfoot 's New Friend or Yeti 's New Friend?

Hi all,
Here's a piece I did call "Big Foot 's New Friend" but now that I think about it... shouldn't it be called "Yeti 's New Friend"? It's just that I like the words - Big Foot. It just sounds funnier.
I did this initially as a demo for my digital painting class on SCHOOLISM (Shameless plug.. sorry about that) but after looking at it for a while I thought Big Foot looked lonely so I put in a little buddy for him.

Anyhow it's a painting about love and friendship :)

I also submitted this to Exotique 3 so wish me luck guys!

By the way, anyone interested in the August 7th Digital Painting Techniques class... there are 2 spots left.

Bobby

And some more must see links!
Thierry Martin
Eric Canete
Dustin Nguyen
Dan Panosian
Jeff Matsuda
Joshua Middleton

EXPOSÉ 5 - Excellence Award for Big Bad Bunny Eater

Yay for the Big Bad Bunny Eater! It one an 'EXCELLENCE' award in EXPOSÉ 5 for the 'Humorous' category. Thanks very much Ballistic Publishing!





And here's some links you won't want to miss!
Adam Rex
Enrico Casarosa
Victor Navone
John Beatty
Francisco Herrera