My DragonCon 2013 Schedule

DragonCon, the annual geek con is almost upon us again.  This will be my FIFTH year in attendance (!) and this year, I feel a little bit better prepared for it.  I'm going to be on a few panels talking about what I've been working on and also imparting some information I've picked up along the way as an artist and podcaster.  I'm also going to be a presenter at this year's Parsec Awards, which will be my first time doing anything like that!

If you're going, try to make it one of the panels I'm on and say hi.  I'd love to see you there!

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Title: Podcast Track Kick Off!
Description: The Podcast track kicks off the weekend with a talented panel of podcasters discussing the state of podcasting and beyond.
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: 203 - Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: The Art of the Interview
Description: A panel discussion with veteran podcasters discussing their methods for securing and interviewing guests on their podcasts.
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: 203 - Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: Comics Coast To Coast LIVE
Description: Brian Dunaway talks with the creators of TenState, an action-packed comic series by writer Tom Merritt of TWiT & artist Len Peralta of Geek A Week.
Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: 203 - Hilton (Length: 1 Hour)

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Title: Super Powered Revenge Christmas: A New Graphic Novel
Description: Bill Corbett and Len Peralta talk about the making of the new epic Christmas comic book.
Time: Sun 04:00 pm Location: Hyatt Regency V (Length: 1 Hour)

I'll also be doing sketches during the whole weekend and selling Geek A Week cards, and signed copies of the books "There's A Zombie In My Treehouse" (with Ken Plume and John  Robinson) and "Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children" (by Trace Beaulieu).

Looking forward to it!

Br/Ba

I've been posting these everywhere. I love Breaking Bad and I am happy it's back, yet sad to see it go.  I did this drawing of Walt which is available in my online store.

I also did this drawing of Jesse. Ten minutes.  I'll probably do more as the season rolls along.

The Non-Committal Gift Certificate

So last night, I made a comment on Twitter, half-jokingly, that I was going to create a gift certificate that allowed people to give people the promise of a gift without actually giving them a gift. (It sounds more cold-hearted than it actually is.) This came about from me thinking about Black Friday this weekend and all the sales and madness that goes along with it.  Firstly, I'm flabbergasted that this is happening again - and so soon!  (Didn't this just happen last year? Sheesh!) Secondly, I find it hard to believe that, given the current state of the economy, that there are people rushing out to spend all this money on expensive gifts. Money that a lot of people simply don't have.  (At least the people around me don't have it. I don't know about where you're standing.) The very thought of having to shop for my wife and family this Christmas curls my hair, not because I don't love them and I don't want to supply them all with lavish presents, but I simply cannot afford to do that.

So I got to thinking, what if I gave my wife a gift certificate? I would love to take her on a weekend trip to Chicago, but realistically, this goal is out of reach financially.  Given my graphic designer chops, I was going to make a gift certificate or a raincheck to give her on Christmas day, Then I started thinking, what would this certificate say?  How about this, I thought:  "Hey, honey. Let's go to Chicago. Or something."  That's romantic, right? I felt like I was back in college and picking up my date on a bike.  Maybe my wife could stand next to me as I rode the bike to the airport to get on the imaginary plane that I booked.  Yeah, that's not working.

So, I mulled it over and with a little brainstorming help from my friend. musician Marian Call (one of the most hard-working people I know and someone who always has brilliant marketing ideas), we coined the phrase "Non Committal Gift Certificates."  I spent the afternoon laying the certificate out and you can now download THIS FREE VERSION of the certificate:

It features a cute little drawing of a bunny riding a scooter because A) who doesn't want to see that? B) It is pretty awesome and C) It's the only thing I could think of on a short timeline, 

So, go ahead and pass the certificate along, print it out and give it to as many people as you choose.  Hopefully it will be taken in the same tongue in cheek way it was intended and - in a perfect world - the recipient will be handing you his or her own copy of the NCGC. 

And because I do design and illustration for a living, I've decided to add a customizable version to my online store.  For just $10, you can have me draw something fun and personalized in the "Bunny Area".  This way, for a nominal fee, you can actually hand someone a custom drawn piece of art instead of a pre-made PDF.  This option is perfect for the people on your list who will not get a huge hilarious kick out of the message of the NCGC.

So, please consider this my early holiday gift to you all.  With any luck, the economy will start turning around and Christmas will be saved!!  But in the meantime, we have this option.

Happy Holidays!

Now It Can Be Told: My Comic Con Exclusive

Hey gang! Comic Con is this week!  I will be there from Thursday- Saturday doing at various locations around the con basically hanging out and seeing friends.  But mostly, I will be there supporting my first ever Comic Con Exclusive!

Over the past few months, I've been tweeting about an exclusive that I was doing for Comic Con for Discovery.  Today, I can let you know what the exclusive will be...(drum roll)...I have been working on an exclusive Comic Con only Geek A Week set of the MythBusters!

(loud cheering)

That's right. I was hired by Discovery to create a brand new original set of Geek A Week cards for Comic Con. Here's a quick peek at them.  It's six original cards with brand new backs written by Storm of Paul and Storm.  (That's right I said six - this includes a new card of good ol' Buster.)

And because many of you have asked me about whether or not these cards will ever be packed with that cardboard-flavored piece of gum that old school trading cards always come with, I've gone and done one better and had three stainless steel tags created for the sets.  Each set comes with one of the following tags. (FYI, "CONFIRMED" is the chaser tag as there are only a *very* limited number of them made).  Check it out:

Pretty awesome, eh? 

The bad news is that due to unforeseen circumstances, these awesome Geek A Week/MythBusters Geek A Week sets will not be available until after Comic Con at the Discovery Store.  (You can order the other exclusive MythBusters Geek A Week set here, though.)

The good news is that I will have a limited number of these Comic Con Exclusive MythBusters Geek A Week sets at Comic Con!  If you're going to be there, here's how you can get one.

Follow me on Twitter at @jawboneradio.  I'll be placing these sets at various places around Comic Con and giving photo hints of their whereabouts. If you find one, @ reply me so I can retweet it and I know you've found one.  There may also be some Discovery street teams handing these out at the Con as well. Know that the CONFIRMED tag is the chaser, so if you get one of those you are super cool and have definitely gotten a rarity.

I'll also be tweeting about where I am at Comic Con all weekend long and if you find me and say you've seen my tweets, you can grab a set of these cards for yourself.  (I'll be doing a signing on Friday with ThinkGeek at 2PM. That's one place you'll be able to get them.)

Remember, this is the only way you can get these exclusive sets for right now, so good luck! So happy to have worked on this and so happy to get them into people's hands.

Original 50 vs 50 Pen and Inks - AVAILABLE NOW

Whoa! It's been a while, I know. We are planning on recording a show soon, for those of you who are still with us. There is certainly a lot to talk about and the next show will be jammed packed. But in the meantime, I want to talk a little about my art project called 50 vs. 50.

For the past two months, I've been drawing heroes and villains for people with the hopes of making enough money to make it to make it to San Diego Comic Con. The good news is that I was able to sell all 100 drawings. The better news is that I am making the original pen and ink drawings available for sale to all those who purchased!

Unlike some artists, I still haven't made the switch to all digital yet. I still draw all my artwork on Bristol board, scan it in and then color digitally. This means after I scan in the drawing, it just ends up on the floor of my office never to be seen again. I'm a big fan of original art because I feel it tells a story. You can see the pencil sketching, the mistakes, and the notes to myself about what to fix in post online. Occasionally, you will get a failed sketch or two on the back of the bristol board that didn't make the cut.

I am making all 100 pen and ink drawings available for sale today. The drawings will be signed by me and can be personalized if you specify it. When you order, just let me know the name of the drawing you are interested in and I'll package it up and send it off to you Priority Mail.

If you would like your original signed pen and ink 50 vs 50 drawing, simply use the paypal button below to purchase. Make sure you list which drawing you would like in the special instructions field.

Got a question? Leave it in the comments and I'll do the best I can to answer it.

What Am I Worth? A Rant By Len Peralta

I wasn't going to let this bother me, but it does and I feel I need to address it. I was going to write a silly diatribe on Twitter about what happened to me this morning, but I felt this needed a bit more weight. A proper blog post is in order.

This morning, I rolled out of bed, checked my Twitter mentions and I get a tweet that says this:

@jawboneradio I understand that art is expensive, but do you have to charge a jobless HS student upwards of $115 an hour for monster art?

First off, by this person's own admission, they are jobless. So I wouldn't put monster art on such a high priority. But whatever, to each his own. Secondly, I don't charge anything near $115 an hour. If I did, I could probably take some time off for once in my life. I'm hoping to charge that, one day, and I can assure you, it's not going to be without a greater or equal amount of sweat equity to get to that point.

But even if I did charge $115.hr, what the hell does it matter? I looked at my roster of commissions over the past few weeks and as far as I can remember, I didn't "charge" this person anything per hour. I only charge people who commission me to do my work. And if you're going to query me for what it would cost to do a piece or artwork or several pieces of artwork, I will tell you. If you think I charge too much, then you are free to look elsewhere. If you really want my art, then maybe we could work something out. Trade or barter for services has been an acceptable form of payment on occassion. But I hardly think it's fair for this person to say I have some nerve to charge "upwards of $115/hr for monster art."

Like any artist or musician, I spent a lot of time crafting my style, my workflow, my art. I feel I've done a lot of work to come up with a price that is not only fair to me, but to my family as well. I am the primary breadwinner in a family of eight. Now, I don't expect a jobless High School student to appreciate this fact, but I'm working my ass off to provide for them. I have a mortgage and bills like everyone else. I've spent a great deal of time over the past five years establishing my reputation as an artist. And I'm extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to find people who not only appreciate the work I do and like it, but are willing to pay me cash dollars for it.

I give a lot of content away for free. All of Geek A Week has been free for you to enjoy (or not enjoy) and I'm not charging you a red cent for any of it. Just last night, I posted an image of Quorra from TRON all because I wanted to share my art with you. FREE OF CHARGE. I have been doing Live drawing events on the net and you can watch me draw for free. There is an entire YouTube Channel devoted to just me drawing art. You can order a FlipFace from me for as low as $10. If you want to commission me for an ORIGINAL PIECE OF ART - NOT A DIGITAL FILE, prices start at $35. If you want something more complicated, then I'll have to judge how long it will take me, what is involved in creating the art and I can quote you a custom price. If you want to hire me for a week to create pieces of art for you, my cost is $1200/day*. Certainly there is some price point in there that you can fall into.

The end is this: If you like what I do and you want to have a piece of it for you own, then I'd be happy to talk to you. There are lots of ways to enjoy my art and if you save up, you can afford a piece of your own. Just don't get on Twitter and complain how "expensive" I am when you have no idea how much time and effort goes into what I do. I think I speak for all artists when I say valuing oneself and your services is one of the toughest things for an artist to perfect. Don't make it harder but de-valuing the art.

And yes, I know I should take it easy because, after all, this person is just in High School and perhaps doesn't know any better. But these people grow up and become the de-valuers of the future. You gotta nip it in the bud sometime.

Cheers.

*Not really. But I thought I would throw that out there anyway.

Tent Town: A New Graphic Novel Project

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to work on a graphic novel.

I have worked with other artists and writers on some projects and they never really got off the ground properly. I have had a lot of concepts running around in my brain, but I knew I wasn't ready to tackle the project or else it was so involved, I didn't know if I would ever have the time to do it properly.

Over the summer, I had posted some concept sketches that I worked on for an idea that had been gelling for about 2 years. The concept was born out of ideas of fear of loss and impending poverty. The climate of the nation's financials didn't help anything, so it just sat there waiting for some life to be injected into it.

Fast forward to Atlanta and DragonCon 09. While at dinner with CNET's Tom Merritt, the topic of conversation turned to graphic novels. Tom had always wanted to work on one but couldn't draw. I always wanted to work on one, and while I could write, I needed a writer who could navigate science fiction territory better than I could. Hence, the project Tent Town was born.

It should be made clear that this project is NOT, I repeat NOT an ongoing webcomic. This is basically a way for Tom and I to work on a project together and see where it takes us. If the response is positive, we'll continue. If it's lukewarm, we can always move the project to the back burner. This is strictly for the fun of it. And sometimes, you just have to work on projects like that.

A big thanks to Tom for agreeing to work on this with me. The story is certainly developing and we look forward to showcasing it in the coming weeks.

GastroSquad: The 40 Person Tactical Eating Team

So I was driving home from my networking meeting this morning and my thoughts were a mishmash of both Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and lunch. I usually start thinking about lunch around 9 AM. What to eat, where, if anywhere to go. I had also just come off an evening of watching the Travel Channel's Man Vs. Food which featured an incredible double-dipped roast beef sandwich from Brennan and Carr in Brooklyn, NY. To die for, or so it would seem, as I have never actually eaten one personally. But I digress.

My kids had been watching Man Vs. Food and they saw an episode featuring an eating challenge that involved consuming a 190 lb. hamburger. Apparently, the host Adam Richman could get together a team of 40 people to consume this gargantuan burger (which apparently required 16 hours just to cook the meat. Unbelievable.) Adam got together a collection of people to help him with the challenge including some roller girls, a pro wrestler and, for some odd reason, the band KISS. They all failed to eat the burger.

Which got me to thinking. In order to really conquer a challenge like that, you need to assemble the right people. A team, if you will. So I decided to illustrate this said team, and call them GastroSquad: The 40 Person Tactical Eating Team. I am looking for input from the internets on who would be on this team and what their specific class and skillsets would be. I would be happy to draw the best ideas and make them part of this team. So feel free to comment here or on Twitter and Facebook and help me assemble the GastroSquad!

WootStock Art

WootStock Official Poster Art
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

A quick post here to talk about Wootstock happening Oct 19, 20 and 21st in SF and LA. My friends Paul and Storm are putting on the event with the help of Wil Wheaton, Mythbusters Adam Savage and a bunch of other cool guests. My involvement? Not much, really. Except I was able to design this totally awesome gig poster and T-Shirt for the event in the style of one of my favorite artists, R. Crumb. If you're anywhere near the area, definitely do make it to the second SF show or the LA show. Thanks to the aformentioned celebs for allowing me to share a bit in their coolness

My New Art Site: FlipFace!

Gah! More mindless self-promotion! If you haven't been following me on Twitter or on Facebook, then you probably would have no idea that I just launched a new art site called FlipFace. Here's the deal: custom avatars by me for $10. This isn't create your own avatar, or send your picture in and get the photo turned into a vector file. This is a real cartoon done by me for you. So far, thanks to the help of some online friends, the response has been very favorable for FlipFace. And I'm very happy with the reactions. So get with all the cool kids and order your own Flipface today!

In other art news, Monster By Mail's Summer of the Super-villain is slowly coming to a close. Thanks to all those who ordered one from me. It was certainly a lot of fun and I just might do it again. Monster by Mail will be going through an overhaul in the coming weeks and there will be a special promotion I'm working on that should be a lot of fun! So stay tuned for it.

Thanks for all your support of my art sites. My family and I truly appreciate all you've done. :)

THE PROPER POST: There's A Zombie In My Treehouse

I was checking back on the archives of this blog and was shocked to see that I never wrote up a proper post for "There's A Zombie In My Treehouse" the book I did with Ken Plume of QuickStop Entertainment and John "Widge" Robinson of Needcoffee. I blame the fact that the book was released in the midst of our move/house sale/vacation/housewarming party/school phase of the year. So blogging had to take a back seat. I know I had twittered about the book, so in my mind, I had blogged about it - micro-blogged at least. But sometimes things need more than 140 characters of chat. This is one of them.

The book is a labour of love that started in the summer of 08. I received a call from Ken, who received my name via Paul of Paul and Storm. He and John were looking for an illustrator on their book project and had had little success engaging an artist. Me, being the no one artist I am, heard the words "zombie, kids book" and "illustrate" and I jumped right on the chance. I didn't know exactly what I was signing up for, but I knew it sounded cool enough to give it a shot.

Make no mistake, it was tough work. Hours of illustration, character sketches, conversations, revisions, layout changes, more layout changes and even more revisions and layout changes. But in the end, I feel the book is exactly the way I envisioned it would be. Wonderful black and white pencil art with a hint of odd and creepy permeating the story, penned wonderfully by Ken and John. As the Brits (and Ken) would say, bloody brilliant.

On podcast episode 251, I chat about meeting former Python and film director, Terry Gilliam. The biggest compliment I have ever received was about the art in the book. Terry Gilliam, a man I respect for his artistic vision and a person who has been so influential in the kind of art that I do, said he loved the art. He loved it. If that's not a testimonial you can abide by, then this book is not for you. If it is, then I highly recommend you check out the book for yourself and add it to your collection. And I'm not saying this only because I drew the pictures for it. I'm saying it because the book is full of the kind of awesomeness that I hope to continue offering throughout the rest of my career and life.

In the coming weeks, I will have actual physical copies of the book for sale that you can purchase from me personally. I will even sign it, if you are into that sort of thing. You can also pick up the book online here. And if you come to Cleveland or if you and I are one day at the same place at the same time, I can sign it then. Or pose for a picture with you and the book. Whatever tickles your fancy.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the book. And if you don't pick it up, then you're not a real fan of our show then, are you?

How's that for guilt-tripping?

UPDATE!
Signed copies of the book (by both authors Ken Plume and John Robinson and myself) are now available to be purchased directly from me. Just click below! Shipping and handling is included in the price.

New Theme For Monster By Mail! SUPERVILLIANS!

Ah yes, It's been two years since I first decided to open Monster By Mail and start selling my artwork. And it's also been a while since I've done a full-fledged theme. But all that will change when I start "The Summer Of the SuperVillain!" That's right. Simply name your Supervillain and I'll draw them. It's as easy as that. I'm looking forward to what kind of Villains will come out of this project. And please be creative with your names. It's your creativity that helps drive the art. So go ahead and start ordering your own Supervillain today!

Art Reflected Back

Every once in a while, I'll get an e-mail so cool, so amazing, that it leaves me a little off-balance due to its sheer awesomeness. Today, I got one of those e-mails.

Seth is a guy who is a fan of my monsters. Apparently, he's been watching the videos with his kids and checking the site to see if I've done anything new. Well, his kids were so in love with the videos of my art, that he decided to take a stab at drawing homages of my art not only to do something creative, but also to impress his kids. Coulton had always talked about the odd feeling of seeing something you have created reflected back in someone else's creativity. This is the first time that my art has been reflected back at me like this and I was a little taken aback. You can see my original art and his takes on my art below. There is something very Warholesque about this process and truly I am humbled and amazed that anyone would take the time to redraw something that I have created in their own way.

Anyway, just wanted to share this pretty awesome moment with you all.

Original Signed Artwork Available on Ebay

For all those interested, the ORIGINAL pencil sketch artwork for the Zombie Clown print that was sold during Red Nose Day is available right now on Ebay. It is signed by me with all proceeds going to benefit Comic Relief. Go forth and bid now!

Music, Art and Love

I do a lot of art for people. A lot of the time, I don't really get to see the end result. Case in point. My friend Jonathan Coulton enlisted me a while back to create a cartoon of himself for his guitar picks. A interesting job to be sure. I didn't even know the guy used picks, when he played, but okay. I'll humor the guy and draw a cartoon of him. Well, I sent the art to him and never got to see the end result. In fact, the few times I saw him in person, I asked him if he had any on him to spare and he didn't or HE SAID he forgot.

Time passes and I get a tweet from one of my followers asking me if that was my art on the JoCo guitar picks. I regale this poor follower with my 140 character tale of woe. He in turn, sends me a link to blog post about someone who is perplexed by the caricature of JoCo. The post includes a photo of my art.

I quickly type in JoCo's URL, hoping to chastise him on his own turf. Then I see he has posted an awesome video by an Israeli musician named Kutiman, who has basically remixed YouTube to make awesome songs:



After watching this video and the many other videos at this site, I'm okay with being snubbed by Jonathan. Oh hell, I can't stay mad at the guy. He's such a sweetheart! HUGS!

Anyway, enjoy the linkage.

Red Nose Net Zombie Print Preview

Red Nose Net Zombie Print Preview
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

I will be taking part in Red Nose Day on March 13th. This is a day encouraging doing something funny for a good cause. It was started by the Brits and the tradition is being continued here with Red Nose Net.

My contribution to the cause will be a limited edition zombie clown print that will be available for sale for ONE DAY ONLY - March 13th. Here's a little preview of the image. Also, you can take part in Red Nose Day as well, by creating something humorous and funny online during the day. More info can be found here.

Remember, the print will be for sale for one day. So stay tuned for progress as I get my art done.

Flight of The Conchords Poster Contest

Flight of The Conchords
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

I am entering the Flight of the Conchords poster contest with this little entry. I spent way too much time on this poster and probably should have been doing something else. And I'll probably end up doing more. But for now, it is what it is.

While I'm on the subject of contests, a huge congrats go out to Adam Koford and Marcus Parcus, two of the original hobo artists who won this years New Yorker Eustace Tilley Contest. As you may remember, I won with one of my entries in last years contest. I missed out on the deadline for this one, mostly because it wasn't run through Flickr. But I love all the winning entries, especially Marcus' Watchmen-inspired image. Too cool!

More Wil Wheaton

I decided to make Wil Wheaton more or a fan by doing some art of him. This cartoon is based on this infamous photo, which incidentally I used as a Caption This a long time ago. Hope he likes it!

Incidentally, Photoshop decided to crap out before I could save this drawing, so looks like I'll have to rebuild it again. Ah well. At least I was able to grab a quick screenshot of it. So is life.

Far Side Re-Enactments

Far Side cover
Originally uploaded by entitee.

What a brilliant idea. See em all here.

Also, I miss The Far Side. :(

Awesome Overload

Over the weekend, my friends Paul, Storm and JoCo met MythBusters host Adam Savage in San Francisco. In honor of their meeting, I was asked by Paul to create an artists rendering of it. Paul was also supposed to hand Adam $20. The $20 thing didn't happen, but the artwork was handed off to Adam. And here is the visual proof.

I gotta say, so far this year has been full of awesomeness. And I owe Paul and Storm and Coulton for a lot of it. Click to see the bigger pic. And click here to see the art up close.