Issue 177

Hello!

Last weekend we spent the day in Sedona, AZ soaking in some sun AND shade while playing in a treelined creek. That place is gorgeous. It was a nice break from the grind.

This was one of those weeks where everything kind of falls in your lap at the same time. Clients, SVSlearn, and family all needed extra attention, which means I neglected to signal boost my kickstarter and saw pledges slump a bit. It's okay, because I've got a feeling this thing will really finish strong.

Here's 5 things I thought you'd find interesting this weekend.

Enjoy!

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LATEST

I do all kinds of things that never end up in the newsletter, so this spot in the header here is just a quick run down of what I've done recently that I didn't want to devote an entire segment to:

• I'll be at the Tucson Comic Con in September: LINK
• I'll have a table at LIGHTBOX in October: LINK​
• Robot Roll Call Reel: LINK​
• Podcast Episode 168: Can I Make Money As An Illustrator?​
• Podcast Episode 169: Should I Quit My Day Job for Art?​
• Podcast Episode 170: Making Money Online as an Illustrator​

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1) Getta Pizza Da Future!

From the Special Projects Unit

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I designed a t-shirt for the Robots book campaign. I love a good t-shirt and have made a few over the years, so this isn't my first rodeo. Excited to get this one made and put on my torso.

In my book Robot Crimes Investigator, Ryder, visits a Papa-Bot's Pizza to get a clue about the case he's on.

So I thought it would be fun to make a t-shirt for the pizza business that builds out the Robots universe a little more.

This shirt is exclusive to the Kickstarter so if you want to add it to your pledge, or back it at the T-Shirt level, you gotta follow the link:

BACK THE KICKSTARTER TODAY!

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BACK THE KICKSTARTER TODAY!

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PATREON: We are working our way through a multi-part series on launching and running a kickstarter. Today I posted about how to effectively repurpose old art to make something cool and new.

Patrons are seeing concept art, the process posts, the writing posts, and everything that goes into making these books. Here's the breakdown of how I made a complex cover illustration like this, with multiple characters:

Sign up now: LINK​

The amount of support on my Patreon ebbs and flows, but always hovers around 125-130 people. We are now at 137! So close to my goal of 140 this month.

If you sign up this month I'll give you any of my digital artbooks of your choice. Just DM after sign up and I'll send you a download link.

You also get a 15% discount in my shop, and at the end of the month some patrons get all my working files to learn from and pick apart. Sign up here: LINK​

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2) 1980's Futuristic Motocycles (Akira​
​From the Department of Wheels

Found this rad write up of iconic two-wheeled rides from the 80's. I'm in this phase now where the stuff that looks futuristic now is so ubiquitous and Artstationy (like a tacticool facade glazed over everything), that when I see actual engineered machines from the pre-digital age there this tangible coolness to them that I want to replicate in my designs.

I love the odd bulges and angles with slick thickline paint jobs. Perfection!

Check out the full article here: LINK​

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3) The World of Calpan

From the Concept Art Division

Over the past year or so I've been watching Chinese VisDev artist Claude Z build up a portfolio of images that flesh out his world of Calpan.

I don't know what the story is, or what he's planning on doing with this, but I just think it's a fascinating peak into what seems like a fully realized world that Claude Z visits from time to time.

I'm anxious for more, and if he's ever able to collect these into a book, I'll be first in line to get one.

See the rest of his work here: LINK​

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4) The Wild Diversity of Marine Worms

From the Flora and Fauna Unit

I found this fascinating collection of worm photographs deep in the depths of Behance. They're taken by Russian photographer Alexander Semenov who specializes in underwater photography.

These things spark my imagination but also give me major creeps. I'm not quite sure if these rainbow skinned freaks will guide me to Valhalla or crawl into my ears and eat my brain. So...they're perfect.

More here: LINK​

Semenov's portfolio: LINK​

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5) On the secret

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

A friend of mine shared this with me recently at just the right time. I've been frustrated that I have to do all this client work along with all of my commitments to SVSlearn to pay the bills. When really I'd love to have the freedom to just clear my plate of all of that to work on a comic book that may or may not make any money.

It was a reminder that working on it an hour at a time may not seem like much, but it's far and away better than it languishing in my imagination while I wait around for a wide open schedule.

I knew this once! I just needed it to smack me in the back of the head again and say "do it!"

(via @dankoe)

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That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and hope you have a great weekend!

-Jake

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My sponsor for this newsletter is…me. It's me, because I'm not accepting sponsors for my email list, and don't plan to any time soon. Really, I'd just like people to buy stuff from my shop. If you like this newsletter, you can support it a few ways:

​Order something from the shop (Best)

​Back a kickstarter when I launch one (Also Best)

​Support me on Patreon (Second Best)

​Share the newsletter with a friend (Third best)

​Shop for art supplies using my affiliate links* (Fourth best)

Mention it on social media (Fifth best)

I'd appreciate any of these when you can. Thanks!

>>Any amazon link I post is an affiliate link<<

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Me telling my kids about CDs: LINK​