ITSP Blog
November 29, 2009
If you haven't checked out the ITSP Blog recently, you might want to have a look. I've been posting a history of my shadow puppet work with lots of artwork to go with it. I'm adding a banner to the left side for easy access.
Flight Volume 7
November 22, 2009
I'm excited about my new story for Flight. All my stories in Flight so far have been silent but the one I'm creating for Flight 7 will feature prose. Words are adding a whole new layer and I love playing with them.
The story should be 34-38 pages when it's completed. So far I've done 20 pages. I'm confident that between my work for Electronic Arts and Fixed Fluid Fragmented, I'll somehow manage to get it completed before the end of the year. Flight is a perfect playground for my ideas and I'm glad it exists.
Props should go to editor/contributor Kazu Kibuishi who spearheaded the project. Kazu's new graphic novel series, Amulet, is burning up the sales chart. You should definitely check it out, it's a great read and a feast for the eyes. The gorgeous Flight covers featured above are also the work of Kazu.
Incidentally, Kazu and his talented wife Amy, just gave birth to their first baby! Congratulations are in order!
Haffner Press
November 14, 2009
I'd like to say that publisher Haffner Press is a class act. Their books are truly works of art. Each massive tome archives some of the very best stories from the pulp science fiction magazines. The books are extremelly well layed out and produced. Top quality hard cover, archival, smythe sewn: The definitive editions. I've been gradually getting them.
Currently, I'm reading the work of Edmond Hamilton and his wife, Leigh Brackett. This stuff is inspiring! I love it!
Hamilton had amazing enthusiasm and imagination. He wrote far out science fiction from the mid nineteen-twenties all the way through the late sixties. He is generally acknowledged to have created the space opera genre, along with E E "Doc" Smith. His stories have extreme scope and were very revolutionary at the time. What we see in movies now that is supposedly cutting edge, Hamilton wrote that stuff back in the nineteen-twenties and thirties.
Brackett wrote hard hitting planetary romances with verve and emotion in a polished and mature style. George Lucas was so impressed, he hired her to write the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back.
Going to Barbados with Boris
November 1, 2009
I will be lecturing about animation in Barbados on February 12, 2010.
The event's website went up a few days ago and to my surpise, I saw that one of the other guests is fantasy art legend, Boris Vallejo.
I found this out as I was reading Gateway by Frederik Pohl which sports a cool cover by Boris. The book is an astounding read, by the way. Funny how the universe works...
Anyhow, I look forward to meeting Boris and his wife Julie Bell, sharing some knowledge with the people in Barbados, as well as spending time visiting the island.
Bellingham Comicon Coverage
October 22, 2009
A few days ago, I was asked to submit some artwork to publicize the Bellingham Comicon. To my surprise, my images were used on the cover of two of our regional newspapers.
The Cascadia Weekly used the cover of my book Parables. They have an on-line version of the newspaper, so you can check the write-up on page 22 by going to this link.
Take Five is the entertainment section of Bellingham's prime newspaper, The Bellingham Herald. They used a still of my upcoming video game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, as well as insets of Rex and ZED for their cover layout. With all this nice coverage, hopefully the convention will be a hit. Hope to see some of you on Saturday at the big event!
Rabbit Tattoo
October 17, 2009
Here's a picture of a tattoo that was sent to me by someone named Cha. And this is the original drawing I did about ten years ago (which of course in reproduced in my book Insanely Twisted Rabbits).
Bellingham Comicon Exclusive
October 11, 2009
I will be a guest at the Bellingham Comicon on October 24th. To make the event extra special, I have printed fifteen copies (POD) of The Saga of Rex. This compiles all the material that have been published in Flight so far. The book is 160 pages! First come, first served.
The Fang and the Feather
October 2, 2009
Last year, I was contracted by writer Sabina Spencer and producer Gary Kurtz to create production designs for a movie pitch based on Sabina's first book in her Purple Planet trilogy, The Fang and the Feather.
I was flown to London where I spent four days brainstorming with both Sabina and Gary, as well as animation director, Richard Bazley. When I returned home, I proceeded to create over a hundred color illustrations as well as dozens of black and white sketches inspired by Sabina's tale.
Purple Planet Productions has publicly released a few of the images I created, so I thought I'd add them to my on-line gallery. Click here to check them out.
Free Shipping Within the USA
September 27, 2009
We've done some modifications in our store's shipping rate structure. To start with, all orders within the USA (retail and wholesale) will now ship free of charge.
We've also modified the way we calculate shipping for our international customers, which should be much fairer. So, if there's an item you've been interested in, this might be a good time to get it!
On a side note, you might want to check out the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet blog, where I'm retracing my history with shadow puppets in a series of posts.
