Hello!

It's spring break here so I took a few days off this week and drove the family over to San Diego for some salty air and fish tacos. It was nice. While I was away there were some exciting developments at JP Creative International Corporate Headquarters:

After a couple years of putting this machine together (based on some instructions from an old Dead Sea scroll we acquired on one of our field trips) we finally turned it on. It used about 1000x more energy than we had calculated, and the results were...unexpected. I can't tell you what it manifested yet...because we are still processing all the data, but early reports are we created a new life form. OR we brought a life form from another dimension here, not exactly sure yet.

Regardless, please keep this a secret until we figure out exactly what's happening!

Ok, got some cool stuff to share with you this weekend. Hope it finds you safe and sound.

Enjoy!

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1) Missile Mouse and the Raven

From the Making Comics Division

Chipping away at the comic. Here's a page with Missile Mouse in his new suit. He also now has a cut in his ear from some scrape he got in a few years ago. So fun drawing this character again, and to have him be in a story. Can't wait to finish this thing and share it with you!

I should have Issue #1 one available in my shop this month, then I'm Kickstarting the full trade in April with Issues #2 and #3 coming out in May and July and the book shipping out after that.

It's time to join the Patreon: Patrons are getting frequent updates on this comic, including more behind the scenes stuff. They've also read the full comic in both roughs, pencils, and now inks as I finish them.

I'm also sharing other art and sketches and stuff related to other projects. It's a treasure trove of information and cool art. When I finish this comic I'll have an exclusive special edition Artist Edition PDF for patrons.

Join here: LINK​

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2) Becorn Photography

From the Office of Small Things

Bird is a former LEGO designer turned pro photographer of miniature fantasy scenes. He crafts these sturdy little acorn folk in inquisitive and adventurous poses then waits for birds and other animals to interact with them to snap the perfect shot. The result is a peek into a fantasy world that exists right under noses.

Bird calls these guys Becorns. This would pair well with a viewing of Epic by BlueSky Studios, though I like the peaceful world of these little Becorn characters better.

Website: LINK​

Print shop: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

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3) Whale and Shark Subs

From the Concept Art Division

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I remember back when I was a kid watching an episode of DuckTales where there was a killer whale submarine and I thought that was just about the coolest thing I've ever seen up to that point. I spent the rest of the afternoon drawing it, including a cutaway of it. I'll have to go find that drawing and see if I still have it.

When I saw these whale and shark subs by concept artist Sheng Lam it rekindled those feelings I had as a kid watching Ducktales. These are just about the coolest thing I've seen recently.

There's more here: LINK​

And do check out the rest of Lam's work here: LINK​

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4) Fort of São João Baptista

From the Exploration Unit

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Here's a cool fort in Portugal I discovered online. How perfect is this??

This place was once a troubled monastery (pirates and bad weather) and was eventually abandoned. Then the king of Portugal was informed that it would be a great place to have a fortress, so he ordered construction on that and in 1678 they finally finished it.

I'm pretty sure this is the foundation of a thousand different environment concept designs for castles, fortresses, and evil lairs. Would love to visit this in person some day.

Here's more info about it: LINK​

And here's a informative guide to visiting this island: LINK​

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5) On Telling the Right Story

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

I recently watched Walk the Line about Johnny Cash's sordid life of drug abuse, philandering, and reckless life decisions all the while trying to make really good music. It's a by-the-book biopic, with great actors, great writers, and great filmakers operating at the top of their craft. I liked it. Cash is a flawed and broken man who is able to find a way to heal, and ultimately help others through his natural abilities as a singer/songwriter.

I especially liked its theme as stated by Cash's older brother in the opening scene. The two boys are laying in bed, and Johnny is lamenting the fact that his brother is so good, while he is such a bad kid. His brother reads the bible every night trying to know it front to back. His reason:

The film then goes on to break that idea down and build it up again through the events of Cash's life. He crashes and burns when he believes the wrong story about himself, but when he finally learns the right story about who he is, and who his story connects with he's not only able to help himself, but actually help others.

As a storyteller your reason for writing and drawing and crafting worlds and characters is to ultimately help others. Stories are how people process and digest the messiness of life. They offer a roadmap for healing. If you are failing to do this as a storyteller it might be because you aren't telling the right story.

So how do you tell the right story? You have to tell a story you know and you have to tell a story you believe.

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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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