Bodie Troll

Hi all,

This Thursday BODIE TROLL #1 comes out written and illustrated by amazing cartoonist, Jay Fosgitt. Bodie Troll is an all ages comic about a grumpy troll named Bodie.

Jay asked me to do a pin-up for the series and I was super excited that it got put into issue 1. So get to your local comic shop and pick yourself up a copy this Thursday!

I will be attending c2e2 with some familiar faces and Jay will be there with copies of issue 1 as well. So stop by the weekend of April 26-28 and say hey!

oh and btw here's my print I did for the book:

Come play the alphabet!

Hi all,

It's been a bit quiet on this side after DanCon 2012.  I'm not slacking that's for sure, I've been busy working on a multitude of projects.

Can I take the time to say that I have a Kickstarter going for my new book, Heart.  I think you should all check it out, donate and pass it along!  I have a widget that I added to the right that show's the campaign's progress and sure do hope you click on over once you've read this post.

Ok, I am happy to announce the newest edition to the WIWL family:

That's right, WIWL is tackling the alphabet.  After I released a successful Coloring book, I wanted to keep helping kids learn in a fun way.  I thought about what else I could put a WIWL stamp on and I came up with an alphabet book.  I was going to call it The little Alphabet Book.  It was going to focus on little things, objects, animals, etc.  Even the letters were going to be kept at lowercase.  A book where they can flip through and learn their letters.  It was also going to be the first book that wasn't named like the other books.

I thought about it some more. After doing four books I wanted to keep going in that direction of having the kids interact with whatever I put out.  I wanted something fresh.  So I scratched the book idea and decided to do them as flashcards.  That way kids can learn the order of the alphabet too.  Parents can shuffle the cards around and ask them to put it in the correct order.  Now when I did research, I noticed that some of the alphabet sets were pretty random.  I like to have themes for my projects, like the coloring book was focused on sports, events, seasons, and holidays.

When I was thinking of the project as a book I noticed some of the little things I picked were toys and games.  I eventually decided on the idea of things you can play as the theme for these flashcards.  The only things I kept from  the initial idea were it was going to be lower case focused and the name was not going to precede the original title, When I Was Little.  The name Playing the Alphabet came much later...actually I think it was during one of Nicole and I's brainstorm conversations at the end of Dan Con last month.


So the way the cards are going to be shown are like this:

The front is designed with the letter and an image showing the letter being "played":

The back shows what it is, so k is for kazoo.  Here are some more samples of fronts, I tried to keep it a good mix of boys, girls, and everyone activities.

I had a lot of fun creating these and hope that the kids will have fun with the cards.  My plan is to have some sets available for the upcoming c2e2 show in Chicago.  The cards will be 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and come in a clear case.

Hope to see you there!

I got gum. There's gum...

...and that post title was brought to by Sandra Bullock in Speed.  (movie nerd five!) Anyways I felt like it was time for a new header image up top.  I like to change it up once in awhile it helps keep things fresh and lets the reader(s?) know I'm still very much into anything and everything WIWL. 

My first header was a generic design that came with blogger that I used as a block template.  I didn't do anything fancy but cut and paste some images from the first book into the grid segments.  I liked it so much at the time that I made a business card version.  Eventually I got tired of it because it felt like the student version of me designed this.  It lacked the fun and silliness the books were all about.

The next header was an idea taken from a page in When You Were Little.  I had done an image where I drew my first completed drawing and was surrounded by crumbled up pieces of paper.  I thought it would be a cool idea to take that page and rework it so it's of me actually drawing rather than holding a piece of paper.

Here's the page followed by the design of the header:

I thought this image was great and it gave the people look at my blog an idea of how pages look in the series.  Now after doing a header this way, I thought it would be a cute idea to consider the header as a page in a book or a Signature print.  I can do a quick drawing and throw up a fun yet slightly embarrassing memory of myself.

If you notice my art style has changed slightly.  Something I started to do more since the release of Coloring. I am using inked lines and really making them sweeping and curvy.  It gives the drawings more sense of movement and the lines really flow through the entire image.  I like to make the outer lines thicker and use thinner inks to almost enclose the details within the fluidity of the heavier inks.

I am inking these drawings pretty heavily I wanted the colors to be simple.  I wanted it to look like a cartoon and use very little brush work in Photoshop.  This is different from how I color the books because I don't ink my drawings and I really like to put a lot of details in the color work with brush effects, gradients, and etc.  Since the next WIWL project ISN'T a book (whaaaaa) I really wanted to move away from the series' style and expand upon the ink work I did in Coloring.

Here's the finished image for the header above and the look you can expect from the new WIWL:

Also, going back to that slightly embarrassing but fun memory of me. Yes, I did get gum stuck in my hair.  Yes, I also did rock the bowl cut.  Can you say Booty Traps?

.

Mutant Cactus debuts the "little SUPERS" with Ghost Rider.

My good friends over at Mutant Cactus wanted to turn my 8x10 prints into buttons. The first of our little SUPERS line came out today featuring the Ghost Rider print I did a few weeks ago for DanCon. Most of the print that I've done will be converted into these little SUPER buttons but we have some new material in store for later in the year.  I'm so excited to be collaborating with them! Click on the pics to buy your set and browse the rest of their shop.

Drop by every week to see what else they have lined up.  They already released some great Dragon Ball Z pins and Hello Kitty featuring the amazing 8bit Artwork of Victor Dandridge.

The Rider is coming to DanCon 2012!

As the convention season starts for me I will be creating some new 8x10s over the year.  They will premiere at different conventions but I will carry them with me where ever I "con".  The older prints from 2009 and 2010 will eventually make its way on to my store as they sell out at conventions.  The idea behind that is so that I don't have the same 4 prints every time you pass by my table.

With that being said, the first print on my list is Ghost Rider.  In honor of the new flick that is coming out this February I will be debuting this at Dan Con in March.  This image will also be part of Mutant Cactus' 52 week release schedule so be on the look out for that!  Check out his sweet ride:

Where have I been? What to expect in 2012!

I apologize for the lack of updates but during the winter season I tend to hibernate with my new projects.  I did announce a new book and I am really excited about the project.  Since it's not WIWL related you can read more about that over here.  As far as WIWL is concerned I am still actively involved with that.  I will still be touring with the Coloring book as earlier conventions missed out on it's summer of 2011 release.  I am also going to be releasing buttons of my  8x10 prints under my good friends, Mutant Cactus.  I am extremely excited about this collaboration so please check them out for all your button and magnet needs! 

I am currently developing two final projects for the WIWL series that are sure to amaze.  I can't say anything because I want them to be a huge surprise and if everything goes well, one will make their debut in May.  *FINGERS CROSSED!

I hope to have more Drawing workshops in 2012 as well as participating with more organizations that are all about kids and comics.  I am excited for the year and what opportunities may open up.  When I Was Little will never go away and I hope you are okay with that.  It's all about going beyond books...it's about evolving the brand.

Mid Ohio Con 2011

This weekend I will be attending the Wizard World Mid Ohio Con!  I will be at table 1324 in Artist Alley!  UPDATE:  Here's the new map,  Artist Alley is set up on two floors this year? anyhoo I got top bunk ...apparently #1324

I will also be debuting a new 8x10 print.  I actually had a lot of requests for Thor so I thought to end the year with the God of Thunder.  Enjoy!

A small hiatus and plans for the future...

With the completion of the fourth book, Coloring When I Was Little, as per usual I started thinking about what is next for WIWL.

I know I had mentioned in a prior post about wanting to end the series. That hasn't changed but with the positive response from the coloring book, I think I can find a newer and even more fantastic way to evolve the series so that it can still continue w/o reusing the same formula of the first three books.

So that being said, I have two big When I Was Little projects to go out with a bang. One of which I laid out on the ride home from Derby City Comic Con. From there I will make the transition into a different outlet to tell the stories.

I have some other book ideas that I have put on the back burner for quite awhile so I could focus on finishing this coloring book. Now that it is out of the way I want to go back and finish them. I will be taking a tiny hiatus from When I Was Little in order to complete these other book ideas.

Don't worry it won't be too long of a hiatus as I will still be doing 8x10 prints, Signature Prints, and promoting Coloring throughout the rest of the con season and book events I have planned.

I hope to come back next year with two new When I Was Little projects for you. So stay tuned!

' Til next time kids!

I ran... to Derby City

A couple months back I got an email from Eric Banister who said he was putting a comic convention together in Louisville, KY.

He really like my worked and wanted me to do some promotional material for the show to put in libraries and local comic shops around the area.

I showed him two concepts that he both really loved. This one ended up being the poster which captured the "kids about comics" theme he was going for and the other concept was of The Flash racing a Derby Horse.

It turns out that he was a huge fan of The Flash which ultimately lead me to doing this new 8x10 that I wanted to debut for this show.

I had a great time making it and I hope a lot of you Flash fans out there dig it, Eric included.


I ran... by ~happyfestivus on deviantART

Coloring When I Was Little

After making When You Were Little I was thinking of what the next book should be. I really loved the participation that came from the last book and I wanted to think about how I could go bigger with that. Then I realized that the younger audience could participate even more if they had more to do in the book. So I decided to put together a When I Was Little coloring and activity book.

Filling the content was easy. I had thought about doing theme books, like sports, holidays, but I felt the ideas weren't strong enough on their own. I also decided to make the book bigger, filling it with matching games, connect the dots, and lots of coloring pages.

It's black and white, 8 1/2 x 11, and thicker...about 60 pages.

With the title of the subject, I can't really bury the lead I tried to...but yes, I made a coloring book!

Oh by the way here's the cover to Coloring When I Was Little!

...I ate a lot.

Hello,

This past weekend I tweeted that I wanted to do a new print for Summit City to go along with the new business cards I am getting done. I am still working on the new When I Was Little book and I'm hoping to have it done by end of June. So with that being said I thought a new print would be a great addition to all the things I have to offer for the upcoming Summit City show. This print will be a vertical 8x10. I tend to do two new prints one vertical and one horizontal. I will be working on a new print for Derby City and that one will be the horizontal.

I know I wanted to do a villain from the comic universe this time out. It's hard to make certain villains fit in the theme of the When I Was Little prints. I think the rogues gallery from the Batman universe is the easiest but I did not want to keep doing Batman villains every time. So after racking my brain suggesting characters like Mystique and Sinestro (how can fear be cute?), I had a vision early this morning.

I seriously had a dream drawing the Silver Surfer scooping up a planet and feeding it to a baby Galactus, the devour of worlds. I woke up and did this today.

Creative spark comes from the strangest places at the strangest times. Either way I'm really happy at how dopey and goofy and cute this print looks. I hope you guys dig it.


I ate a lot... by ~happyfestivus on deviantART

PS - Don't forget I'm taking commission pre-orders for Summit City. Just take a look at the convention info and give it a go!

A look into the new...

One more post before I turn in for the night. I tweeted two hours ago that I was working on new pages for the next When I Was Little project. So I thought I'd share some info on that as well as future plans with the series.

I really liked the audience participation with the last book and for this next project I wanted to have a bit more fun with that idea...but you won't see me at a con with a submission box this time. Also it will be tiny bit different from the previous books but it will still have a lot of call backs to those three.

I plan to finish this one mid year and get started on what will be the final When I Was Little. This last one will not only evolve the ideas but it will also bookend the series.

Right around the time the last When I Was Little comes out I hope to have another book idea finished. It's one that I've been playing with for almost two years now and I feel like I've spent too much time away from it. So I have to turn my multi-task skills to +11 and really get cracking this year.

I think there will still be more When I Was Little ideas to come from me, just not in book form. I feel like this series has been my pre-school and I'm ready for kindergarten, big boy pants and Snoopy underoos.

As promised here's a little snippet of the new project:

Buttons!

My good friends over at Mutant Cactus were kind enough to make some When I Was Little themed buttons which I will be debuting at the 57th St. Book Fair this coming September.



And please if you haven't yet, go check out Mutant Cactus, they have some great stuff for sale and even have their own web comic, Blue Collar Invasion!

Thanks MC!

Character Design and updates on books to come.

I've been on an art funk and I'm slowly coming out of it. Did a bit of character designing for a new story idea I've been tinkering with. These designs are for a main character I had in mind, a little girl with a giant treasure chest on her back that she wears like a back pack. Now, this isn't the new book I've been tweeting about. That book is written and I've been doing some art style tests and character designs for that as well. That goes into production July/August and I hope to fish it around some publishers. Wish me luck! Anyhoo here are some concepts I've been playing with:

Here's some concepts for a story in the works...WAY in the works. It's fun to play.




P.S. - New blog header! YAY!

Final PrevYOUs

Hello friends,

I finished illustrating my third book and it's being put together as we speak. (er I mean as we blog) I'm hoping to order a proof this weekend as the process is quite tasking. I'm kind of nervous buuuuut I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get it right on the first try. (I sometimes go through two or three proofs before I get it just right) Well either way, I thought I'd offer up some final previews for you before it gets put together. I've also been getting my books in as well so I'm getting organized before c2e2 which is a month away.

I also brain farted some sweet ideas for comic book prints to sell at the conventions as well. Must.....draw........more.

Preview Too!

Hello!! I have been working hard on trying to get this book done and I have a deadline that I want to stick to. It's been rough but it's also been a lot of fun working on these pages for you guys. There's some really cool stuff coming your way and here's a look at the new batch. More to come!!! Enjoy weekend!













P.S - I have some announcements to make in a few weeks, so please stay tuned and hit me up on all the usual spots. (facebook, blog, email, etc)

A little sneak peek!

A couple weeks ago I made the announcement that I'm attending SPACE. This week, I thought I'd share a sneak peek at some of the pages I've been working on for When You Were Little.

The goal is to have it done before the convention, wish me luck!!!

Interview from the Mid-Ohio-Con brought to you by Comic Related.

I had a great time recording an audio interview for Comic Related @ The Mid-Ohio-Con. My interview starts at minute 13.

A big shout out to Mutant Cactus...

...for mentioning me in their recent blog post about the Mid-Ohio-Con. Check out their custom buttons and their Tales of Awesome. These guys are great! And I'm proud to wear the mutant cactus button on my messenger bag. Thanks guys!

Introducing "When You Were Little..."

Hi all!

New look, new book!

I wanted to give fans of the book series a chance to give feedback AND participate in the creative process with me!

So, I'm looking for your help, I want to know what you did when YOU were little. Please feel free to email me at wheniwaslittle@gmail.com or just leave a comment on this post.

Let's keep it clean cause its for the kiddies but YES shoot me your "when I was little..." and yours might be picked to be a page in "When You Were Little..."

Thanks so much for participating and I'll keep you posted.

I haven't decided on what the chosen people will get, maybe a signed copy along with a personal sketch!

The book won't be possible without you. So start posting people!

- Justin

PS - Also, I created a facebook group so if you're on there, send me an invite request. Once you join, you can post your ideas right on there.