​

Hello!

Halloween is this weekend! Or as my son accidentally coined it: "All Hallows Ween"

I laughed so hard at that, and still chuckle every time I think about it. Speaking of Halloween, here's my swipe file of cool Over the Garden Wall fan art I pulled from the internet: LINK​

Whatever you end up doing this weekend, have fun and stay safe!

Ok, here's 5 things I thought you'd like to see. Enjoy!

1) Inktober final week!

From the Drawings Unit

Really having fun with all of these drawings. Excited to color them and use them in the book I'm making for this spring.

I'll also be selling these late next week. They'll be up here: LINK​
​
You can see past drawings I've sold here: LINK​

2) Jack Kirby Double-Page Spreads

From the Comics Division

Found this nice collection of Jack Kirby double-page spreads over on Flickr: LINK​

Remember the quote from last week about taste and how if you think something is ugly now that's what you'll be into 5 years? Well, my appreciation for Jack Kirby's art is exactly that. I was NEVER into this stuff. Thought it was ugly and naive. But now I eat it up. This love for the "King" comes as I've been doing a deeper research comic page layouts and story structure the last few years.

I went through this phase in my twenties and thirties where I thought of comics as essential fancy storyboards; that each panel represented a frame or shot in a movie. But the best comics, the comics that really move me are those that embrace everything a movie can't do.

Kirby knew this in his bones, and these spreads are great examples of him putting it down on paper. These have more in common with baroque ceiling paintings than they do with anything you see in a film. They each tell a primary story, but there's plenty of other smaller stories and vignettes within them to keep you on each spread for a minute longer.

Just another reason I love this medium!

Lastly, I just love Kirby's wonky anatomy. It's so powerful and packed with emotional punch. I used to think great comic art had to be grounded in a tactical understanding of anatomy, physiology, perspective, and mechanics. Now I'm way more into something looking interesting than correct.

Btw, If you want to read a great biography on Kirby, I loved this one: LINK​

3) Professor by day, sculptor by night

From the Flora and Fauna Unit

​

I discovered the work of molecular biologist D. Allan Drummond.

Drummond spends his days doing research on the evolution of protein synthesis. In his free time he makes these cool metal sculptures of invertebrates and cells.

These guys all look like they could be little robot drone things from some guided age inspired alien race. That cell sculpture definitely looks like some sort of alien hand held tech device. I think it's remarkable how just changing the materials on something can make them look so different.

IG: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

4) Palace on a Rock

From the Architecture Desk

​

Came across this while looking something up on Wikipedia and following a few links landed on this page. This cool rock palace in Yemen is called Dar al-Hajar.

There was an original structure on the rocks built by a scholar in the 1700s, then in the 1920s the Imam built a summer palace on top of it. (reminds me of Emperor's New Groove)

I'm always up for some cool looking ancient architecture. Would love to see this in person...if only Yemen wasn't a hot mess: The State Department strongly advises NOT to travel there due to "COVID-19, terrorism, civil unrest, health risks, kidnapping, armed conflict, and landmines."

Lots more info and photos here: LINK​

5) On Fear

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I watched Dune last Friday. HOT DANG. What a great movie. If you have the opportunity to see it in a theater, go. It's one that really does benefit from being shown on a BIG screen. I saw it in IMAX, and it was intense.

After watching it, I cracked the book open and began reading it again.

So this week's thought comes from those early pages of the book:

This is used in the story of DUNE as a litany to be repeated in stressful situations. I like this quote because it doesn't say not to fear things. It says to use that fear to give you power, to bolster conviction, or strengthen resolve. It reminds us that to give into our fear is to override our rational decision making and to act impulsively.

Each week you bump up against things that might strike fear in you. Remember, that fear is not you, you are in control and when it passes, the fear will be gone and you will still be there.

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

-Jake

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)

​Share the newsletter with a friend (Second best)

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

Mention it on social media (Fourth best)

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

​

​