Issue 195

Hello,

I've been neck deep on the big graphic novel project I'm working on with Scholastic. I can't really talk about it yet, but when the time comes you won't be able to get me to shut up about it. Haha.

The rest of my time has been working on SVSlearn 2.0 which will be launching in November. I'll be sharing more about that as things start to solidify. It's going to be soooo cool!

Okay, here's FIVE things I thought you'd love as we roll into the weekend!

Enjoy!

STAYING IN THE LOOP:

• 3PP Podcast: How Do I Overcome Comparison?​
• 3PP Podcast: 11 Questions You NEED to Ask Your Art Director​
• 3PP Podcast: A Career in Comics with Sanford Greene​

1) The ROBOTS Books are HERE!

From the Special Projects Unit

The SPACESHIPS Book has a sibling!

This book was planned, designed, kickstarted, built, printed, and shipped out in the last 12 months and now I have copies for the shop: LINK​

The plan has always been to pair a book about spaceships with a book about robots. It took about 30 months to actually realize this dream, but we made it. It's a testament to how chipping away at a thing little by little does indeed produce results.

My favorite part of this book is the sci-fi noir private detective story I mixed into it. That was so fun to write and draw.

Get your copy here: LINK​

-----

ON PATREON:

A complete breakdown and lessons learned from my officially rejected book proposal: LINK​

I'm posting my process for all my art on the patreon. If you'd love getting more behind the scenes content and learn a little more how I approach creativity, project management, and business strategies I post over there at least one a week. Consider signing up!

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​

2) Soviet Submarine Escape Suit

From the Department of Interestingness

I love these Soviet/Russian submarine escape suits. They look like dieselpunk spacesuits.

More detailed photos here: LINK and LINK​

3) If Michelangelo made Pulpy Sci-fi Adventure Comics

From the Illustrators Division

​

LOOK AT THIS MAN'S ART. You guys, I'm feeling a little woozy and I'm not joking.

Lewis LaRosa is an comics and paleo-artist based in Georgia, USA. He's one of those artists that make you want to pick up a pen and hone your craft. Sometimes, though you just gotta put the pen down and soak in his tones and lines.

These drawings are for a project he just kickstarted called TANKERS: LINK​

You can see much more of his work here:

Instagram: LINK​

X: LINK​

4) When the Twingo Goes Wild

From the Office of Wheels

There's a a 2,500-Mile Dakar-Style Rally That’s Only for the Renault Twingo and it looks unbelievably fun. It's called the Twing Raid and it's giving me Toriyama vibes: cute cars, fantastic locations, and fun characters. I think there's a comic story here.

More about this on the official Twing Raid website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

5) On Urgency vs Importance

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

Recently I spoke at the ASU Institute of Religion on my tenets of creativity.

One of the tenets is understanding the difference between urgency and importance.

The problem with making art is its low urgency but high importance. That's why it's so hard to finish our personal work.

​

Think about this as you're planning out your week. Make sure to leave some time for those important, but not urgent things in your life.

One hack I've found to incorporate some urgency into the art making is to set a deadline for yourself that's linked to an actual event, like a convention/trade show, a holiday/birthday, or a kickstarter/shop launch date.

This points back to the Algebra of Creativity I wrote about last month and one of the key elements of creativity is accountability. Being accountable to someone other than yourself is one of the best ways to bring some genuine urgency into our art making.

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)

​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

Weekend Reading:

​

​CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed​

by Taschen