FCBD 2018

I attended Free Comic Book Day at Aw Yeah Comics-Skokie on the first Saturday of May. I had a great time drawing along side comic buddies, Art Baltazar and Alejandro Rosado!

Check out some photos and a behind the scenes video I shot on the day! Hope everyone had a wonderful Free Comic Book Day.

Month of October Recap

OCTOBER 5-8 - This was my first time attending New York Comic Con. It was also my first time visiting this city and I wanted to share this experience with my lovely wife. The convention itself took up a majority of our time there. We only had a few hours on each day to really site see.

The convention was absolutely insane. So many people piled into the Javits Center wanting to experience the fun of comics and pop culture. I did not have a whole lot of time to walk the show floor but that was a good problem to have as the Artist Alley felt like a convention of it's own.

I was table neighbors with the wonderful Sara Richard who was the absolute best. It was great to see her work up close. Truly astounding. Behind me sat the always hilarious Kurt Wood Dot Com, the fastest "drawer" in comics, Scoot McMahon, and the Aw Yeah Comics crew of Art Baltazar and Franco. It felt like being at C2E2 which was great since I missed that show earlier this year.

I was able to shoot some behind-the-scenes while at the show and even snuck in an art drop on the third day. 

OCTOBER 20-22 - Towards the end of the month, I did the Grand Rapids Comic Con. I was actually pretty disappointed in the turn out for this show. Coming off of a huge success that was NYCC, I was hoping to ride a momentum into GRCC, which has always been profitable in years prior. One of the best things about GRCC, was visiting with the fan base I've built over the past four years I've attended.

Another truly great thing that I did at the show was film an episode of Art 2 Heart with the insanely talented, Angel Onofre.

OCTOBER 1-31 - Also all-month long, I was doing the daily drawing challenge, INKTOBER. Created by Jake Parker, Inktober is a way to challenge yourself by drawing one ink drawing a day for the entire month as a way to improve your skills and develop positive drawing habits.

My project for this year was to do a follow-up to last year's concept, The Murder Balloon. So I decided to take this year's prompt list and do a drawing of The Murder Balloon killing a character based on the word of the day. I plan on collecting the images into a book for next year's convention season. Here are a few of the images I did:

Month of August Recap

The month of August was a busy one for me starting with my gallery at the Orland Park Library. During this month the library showcased my art, which celebrated my ten years of self-publishing and making cool stuff. You can check out this behind the scenes video:

AUGUST 5 - The first of FOUR conventions I did in August was Comicopolis in Lockport. I always love attending this show because I feel like the show runners know how to really draw in a crowd and they utilize all of the floors. They even took a chance and added outside tables, food trucks, and live entertainment that paid off in a big way for everyone involved. I also shot an episode of Art 2 HEART with Dave and Rene of Instant Press Comics.

AUGUST 11 - The library scheduled a Meet The Artist event where people can show up, look at my gallery, and ask me questions. I had a wonderful time speaking and some close family and friends came out to share the moment with me.

AUGUST 12-13 The second comic show I did was a new one, RETCon Chicago. This two-day show really celebrated a diverse group of comic creators and I was among some of the best in the indie comics scene. I'm really excited for the potential this show has.

AUGUST 14 - I submitted to the Ghost City Comics Competition in the One Page Comic category. I had a great time creating something fun for this competition. It not only challenged me, but it sparked ideas for a future comic. Good luck to all the creatives who entered! Finalists will be announced September 1st.

AUGUST 17 - Hot Topic along with Kevin Smith was having a contest to design a tee-shirt for the upcoming Jay and Silent Bob Reboot film. I'm a huge fan of Kevin Smith and didn't want to miss an opportunity to throw down on this with the potential to be flown out for a walk on role in the movie and some cash. Why not, right? Not sure I can share the piece I did yet but maybe when the judging is over.

AUGUST 19 - The third show I attended was also a new comic show entitled, Fandom Fest. This one took place at the Niles Public Library. I met a lot of families new to comic book shows and had wonderful conversations with author, Lisa Maggiore.

AUGUST 24-27 - The fourth and final show was Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. This was a long four day show. The Thursday and Friday night crowd was pretty sparse. Thankfully I kept busy on the weekend with two Doodle To Drawing workshops. One on Saturday and one on Sunday. It was nice because I had an overhead camera so people can see what I was drawing. This definitely helped drive people to my table and I got to interact even more with the attendees. I ended my show by recording some Art 2 HEART episodes with creators Gavin Smith, Leo Perez, and Jon Lennon.

AUGUST 26 - Also on Saturday night, I had a signing for the Thing Art Book, published by Printed In Blood, at Chicago Comics. I was really excited for this event because I got to see and hold the book for the first time since it was released. (Still waiting on my comp copies.) All the Chicago creators who did something for the book were there including Jim Terry, Angel Onofre, Tom Kelly, and Jonathan LaMantia who helped set up the whole thing. A big thank you to Chicago Comics for having us at the shop and to all the customers who bought a book and got it signed by all of us.

I'd say it was a pretty packed month of making comics, showcasing art, and conventions.  Next up, I go back to teaching at the end of the month. In October, I attend New York Comic Con for the first time! I'm super excited and nervous but really looking forward to it.

Drawing Pups w/ Ali @ The BCO Social

Earlier this month I was invited to draw the dogs of Bucktown at their community block party and social event.  Along with fellow artist and super friend, Ali Cantarella, we braved the heat and drew dogs for two hours.

We had a blast drawing dogs of all kinds and meeting with the locals. Thanks to the BCO for having us and to all the wonderful dogs that sat and posed and played with us. You can read all about the event and the Bucktown Community Organization by clicking on this link.

For MORE photos of the sketches I drew, click here OR follow me on Instagram: @whenuwerelittle to see all the art I've been up to.

Thanks!

- J

PRE-ORDER WHEN WE WERE LITTLE NOW!

RELEASE DATE: MAY 2017

Justin Castaneda presents the final installment of his When I Was Little... picture book series, When We Were Little!

This 72-page collection contains some of the best pages from the previous books now with updated art-work. It also brings together artists and writers from the worlds of comics, music, and design! 

Collaborators in this book:

Aireen Arellano

Lnk Bacani

Tressina Bowling

Ali Cantarella

Dustin Carson

Victor Dandridge

Dave Gruba

Angel Onofre

Leo Perez

Shawn Pryor

Eric Rampson

Mike Roll

Alejandro Rosado

Justin Stewart

Kurt Wood

Rachel Young

This is a pre-sale listing. This book will ship in May 2017. All sales are final. 

BONUS PRE-SALE ONLY offer!! Only available with purchase here! Orders will come with a WIWL Mystery Print Pack (Valued at $20) which includes 4 randomly selected 8"x"10" When I Was Little Prints featuring some of your favorite superheroes and villains when they were little!!!

Click the cover to pre-order yours today!

#jdropsart: Disney Springs, Orlando

I was in Orlando, FL for the holidays and I met up with my friend, Mike Roll, to leave some art behind at Disney Springs! We had such a great time and I snapped a few photos from the day.

I also shot a quick video and uploaded it to my YouTube channel, you can view that here.

Later in the week, I went to Universal Studios and visited the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. I was absolutely captivated by the theme park and really felt immersed in the world they built. 

While I was there, I was able to leave behind a couple of art drops which were found that same night. It was a great way to end the year or making art and sharing art!

I look forward to building up my brand in 2017 and working on projects that are absolutely fulfilling. One of those projects is the last installment of my children's book series entitled, When We Were Little.

PocketCon / Full Bleed 2 THIS SATURDAY

Here's all the info for the two events I will be at tomorrow (Dec.5th):

Location: Chicago Art Department RM 100

1932 S. Halsted, Chicago, IL

Time: 12pm-6pm

* I will only be there til 5pm

Location: International School of Comics

1651 W. Hubbard St. Chicago, IL

Time: 7pm - Midnight

#WeeklyWhenUWereLittle

During the last 24 hours I had this creative brain fart about Periscope and social media in general (don't worry that's a positive thing).

For those not in the know, Periscope is an app where you can live stream video from your smart phone and users can log on and see what you see.

So the last few Periscope videos I did went over pretty well and I enjoyed doing them and interacting with whoever was watching.

From there, this snowball effect happened and I was left with this: social media programming, FREE creative content just for YOU. 

It's simple. All you need is your smart phone, click the follow button on whatever social media you are into, and you can see what I'm up to everyday. And if you dig it, share it!

So your #WeeklyWhenUWereLittle is this:

Monday's: #HyperlapseMonday is a timelapse video of the artistic process taken with the video app Hyperlapse. 
- Posts on Instagram and YouTube

Tuesday's: After School is a weekly web-comic I do with fellow creator, Victor Dandridge. They are the mini-adventures based on the print comic we do, Wonder Care Presents: The Kinder Guardians.
- Posts on Tumblr and Twitter.

Wednesday's: The Pull Box is a bi-weekly show where I talk about the latest comics I am into and we discuss what everyone picked up for New Comic Book Day!
- Posts on Periscope.

Thursday's: #TBT w/Me is a show where I take a look at old sketchbooks and you can ask me questions like, "Why do you like drawing Alf?" Watch my art style evolve as we go through the pages together.
- Posts on Periscope.

Friday's: Draw, Monkey! is a show where viewers can tune in and from the jump suggest a character for me to draw. I talk about my process and show you what tools I am using as we go from roughs to a finished drawing.
- Posts on Periscope.

*So I hope you tune in and find me on your various social media outlets! Use the following hashtag: #WeeklyWhenUWereLittle

Post: Alsip-Merrionette Family Friendly Comic Con

This past weekend, The Alsip-Merrionette Library put on a wonderful free comic con as part of their summer reading program this year. It was a really well put together show and something that has the potential to grow like that of Comic Book Mania at the Elgin library.

I had a blast and sold a few HEART books which always pleases me! I got to hang out with Dave Gruba of Instant Press Comics and the amazing Angel Onofre all day the show. The convention had all kind of things for kids from prize games, a photo booth, and free caricatures. At the end of the con, I donated some books to the library as a thank you for holding the event. I even got to do some #cardBOREDsketches for the box.

Post: Appleseed 2015

Earlier in May, I attended the Appleseed Comic Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I also had the pleasure of staying with my good friends, Justin Stewart and Tressina Bowling. We recorded an episode of their podcast, Sequential Spirits which had special guests too, from Victor Dandridge (writer on Wonder Care Presents: The Kinder Guardians), to Ren McKenzie, and Mason Easley. It was incredibly fun but very, very NSFW.

The show itself was a lot slower than most cons I've been to. I did get some groovy commissions which you can check out here. Also did a few art drops but again no one stopped by the table to claim it. Victor's girlfriend Adrianna spotted it, but left it for some lucky kid to find.