American Gladiators!

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Dress Up Action Figure!

The January blahs may be setting and some of us (those who live in cold countries) might feel like we're stuck indoors until the weather warms up. But there's no reason we can't have a little fun while we wait for spring! Today I offer you an alternative to curling up in your comforter and reading/watching tv for the next four months...lets all play with Logan, the Paper Doll!

The instructions are simple: Save Logan and his clothing onto your hard drive. Print out the pages onto any ol' paper (I use photo paper with a matte finish for a firmer paper doll). Carefully cut around Logan and his clothing with a pair of safety scissors (kids, ask a parent for help). Dress and undress Logan as often as you want!

You can make up fun scenarios for your Logan Paper Doll! Maybe he's going out on a date and needs to get dressed for a night at the bars! Or maybe he's washing his motorcycle on a hot summer day! It's all up to you!

You could even print out extra t-shirts and colour them with pencil crayons or markers! Add your own designs or favourite logos! Or even create your own outfits by carefully tracing Logan! The power to have fun these cold winter days is completely in your own hands!

best,

j.

p.s. More clothing will be forthcoming soon. As well as some blank templates for you to colour more of your own clothing.

Aquarius!

It's the dawning of a New Year and the second to last of the Horoscope pin-ups. I have Gemini left to draw and then...then I can begin my merchandising bonanza :)

I've noticed, as I look over the drawings, that I have slimmed down the backgrounds considerably as I progressed. I also maintained a more uniform shape in these later pin-ups. I actually think I like the earlier size better because you got more background behind the character...on the other hand these later pictures fit a whole lot nicer on the 9" x 12" canvases.

Okay, Geminis, you're up next. Hope I don't disappoint!

Happy New Year, folks.
j.

Sagittarius!

I bet you thought I'd completely forgotten about the Horoscope pin-ups, didn't you? Well, for a while there I think I did. But now my work is all caught up and I find myself with time to finally finish what started a whole year ago! I'm a little ashamed it's taken me so long to get all of these done.

While this isn't exactly a holiday image it is the sign for December...at least until the 22nd. Aquarius is also inked and awaits colouring leaving me with Gemini as the last.

Putting together a sketchbook was mentioned in my comments and I'm really considering putting all of the Horoscopes into a book, along with the sketches that lead to each final. I welcome any thoughts you guys might have on what you'd like to see.

Happy Holidays, all.
j.

Sketches!

In between paying gigs I try to sketch from the plethora of "reference" material I've got. These drawings are from those sessions. The guy with the hammer is from the Taschen Physique Pictorial collection.

These guys were from photos found online. Usually I only have time for a few drawings, just enough to loosen up, before I have to start working on something "real" (meaning with a deadline and what pays the bills :)

And now I want to encourage everyone who hasn't already done so, to get the new collection of Harry Bush artwork "Hard Boys". I just got my copy yesterday and it is GLORIOUS! I love the care that went into reproducing his delicate shading...often you can even see the patches and taped over areas of the drawings where Harry would constantly revise his art. The bio info is also well put together. It's sad to read that someone with such beautiful artwork was unhappy in his daily life. He reminds me a little of ol' Alex Toth in his seclusion and grumpy correspondence.

Buy this book or put it on your Christmas list...you will not be disappointed!

best,

j.

My Fellow Canadians.

I had a request recently for a shot of Wolverine just hangin' out...with no shirt on. So this one's for Andrew S.
What I think is great about drawing Wolverine is that you don't necessarily have to show him with his claws popped or even draw him in costume for it to be Wolverine. He's all about the attitude and the hair.

j.

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! I think of all the holidays it's my favourite. What do I like most about Halloween, you ask? I like the decorations on people's lawns. All the skeletons, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, giant spiders and cobwebs, bales of hay, ghosts, bats and all that stuff. And the costumes, the getting all dressed up and going out to Halloween parties. And I love the horror movies on tv. So many of them I can't watch any more than a few minutes of or I won't be able to sleep at night!! For example, I've never seen all of the Exorcist. Only bits and pieces throughout the years...all in spurts before I have to change the channel. That movie is too much scary for me.
I prefer the classics. The movies made before gore and fake blood got to be so real looking. The original Night of the Living Dead still scares the pants off me. The Wolfman with Lon Chaney Jr. is surprisingly scary for an older film. And of course I love the Frankenstein and Bride Of Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Creature From the Black Lagoon (all time fave).
Lately every Halloween I've kind of established a little routine...put on Sleepy Hollow (good creepy music by Elfman, and good creepy atmosphere by Rick Heinrichs (production design) and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (I looked 'em up), and I carve pumpkins. Then cook up the pumpkin seeds, dress up myself and my dog, and wait for kids to ring the bell for candy!

*sigh*

I can't wait for Halloween!

Hope you all have a good one! And feel free to share favourite scary movies or traditions. I'm always looking for some new old favourites!

j.

Fruitbat!

Here, finally, complete in glorious black and white is my own take on the old "Batman and Robin are gay" storyline. I originally presented the first page and coloured cover art on my blog back here. Well, I finally found photocopies of the original art and scanned it all in for you.
Once again I'd like to clarify that this is PARODY and rather silly parody at that. See my original post for my thoughts on the Batman/Robin cliche. I hope you enjoy this little tale of bondage and boyfriends.

P.S. Way back during TCAF I was interviewed by one of Mondo Magazine's editors, Owen. The interview is now online. You can check it out here, if you'd like. We actually spoke for quite a long time that day...mostly my fault. I'm a big digressor.

j.

IronJaw! Colours by HvH!

This is the coolest! I'm thrilled to post this drawing of Iron Jaw because it was superbly coloured by the immensely talented HvH! I love the fiery background and the textures on the ground and Iron Jaw's skin. The lighting on the axe, too, is great! I encourage you to check out HvH's blog (click his name and you'll magically teleport there) and also to pick up his portfolio and comic book "In the Blink of an Eye". You can get both through Class Comics website or your neighbourhood gay book store or gay friendly comic shop. I've loved HvH's stylish work ever since we found each other through the Blogoverse and I'm really honoured to have him colour one of my drawings.

Oh, and you should also check out Iron Jaw at the link because there are some gorgeous Neal Adams covers at the Atlas Comics site. And I just realized 'pon reading the site info that I actually have every issue of Iron Jaw published. There are only five so it's not that hard a collection to complete. :)

best,
j.

Follow the North Star!

There was a lot of Northstar talk all over the net last week or the week before. Mainly that his recent death inspired Novelist Perry Moore to write "HERO". I'm looking forward to reading the book eventually.

I'm an Alpha Flight fan but gotta admit that Northstar was not my favourite character. He was too much of a jerk. I much preferred Puck and Sasquatch (is hairy men a recurring theme here? :) They were more fun...although as written by Byrne they did have their dark sides. Puck was in constant pain because of his dwarfism and had to meditate daily in order to deal. And Sasquatch turned out to be a creature from another dimension who inhabited the body of Walter Whatsisname. One day I'd love to do an Alpha Flight story or two where the characters just have some good old fashioned fun! I think our Canadian Heroes deserve it!

And in my story Guardian wouldn't be dead yet!

j.

Play of light!

I had a drawing lying around and in a moment of unrest coloured it up in Photoshop. Usually I light my drawings really simply...you really can't get too complicated with flat colour :) And this is still simple lighting but I tried throwing the light from a lower angle. The background is more than a little lame but I hope you'll forgive me.

The drawing is referenced from a pose found in the Physique Pictorial collection. I love those books.

j.

Cro-Magnon Men!

I've been working on lots of work stuff lately and haven't had much time for personal drawing...but when I do, for some strange reason, I've been drawing cave men. Maybe it's because of the Cro-Mags in the Jett Vector free comic day story, or because of all the great cave men types drawn by fellow blogger Paul Conrad, or maybe it's because I've been watching my Flintstones DVDS. Whatever the reason Cavemen are on my brain and now they're here on my blog.

I tried to come up with a variety of body types and personalities for these guys just as a way to push my drawing a little. I tend to rely on a few standard head shapes, hair styles and bodies when sketching men leading to a sameness. Hopefully over the next couple of busy weeks I'll draw a bunch more thus creating a whole army of beefy cavemen.
While sketching I started picturing a Saber-toothed caveman and had to draw him. I always love drawing the big underbite jaw and this guy's is huge! He'd probably poke his own eyes out with those chompers!

j.

Jett Vector: TCAF part II

Toronto comic arts festival has come and gone. It was exhausting but completely successful. I sold a bunch of my canvases, a few t-shirts and most of my comic books. Eventually I'll make the Beefcake canvases available through my blog.
This was the coolest thing! A six foot tall Jett Vector stand-up for my display area. A bunch of the guys had their characters made into giant cut-outs as well and our room looked awesome! See below for my area. That's Rob Coughler of Butternut Squash fame looking through my portfolio.

And here's the real Jett Vector. Or at least his hair! This guy was tall and thin and I contemplated asking him to pose with my character...but you never know how someone will react to such a request. As it turns out I saw him again at the Queers in Comics panel later that same day. That'll teach me to just take a chance.

Thanks to those who made it out (sorry that all my American and European friends couldn't make it). I did one Jett Vector drawing the whole weekend...for Edward. Otherwise I was much too busy to sit and draw. Now I feel like sleeping for a week.

best,

j.

Jett Vector: Toronto Comic Arts Festival!

This weekend, August 18th and 19th, if you're in the Toronto area and love comic books you might want to check out the Toronto Comic Arts Festival! You can find all kinds of information here.
Finding me should be easy...I'm in the RAID room along with all of the Transmission X guys (a super collection of talented artists). I'll have a bunch of artwork on display and for sale. In fact check out the picture below for a glimpse into my little art sweatshop! There the canvases are printed, mounted on a frame and varnished for that professional shine! That's JETT VECTOR at the bottom of the image, waiting to be mounted.

I'm also doing a few panels on Saturday but all the rest of my time will be spent in the FUN room hanging out with my artist pals and meeting exciting new people! Please stop by and be one of those exciting new people!

best,

j.

Pride Guy!

In June I mentioned that I got a few pictures of some Pride hotties. This guy was especially delish! To me, anyway. He had that perfect combination of confidence, tight jeans and questionable sexuality that I like in a guy. And nice hair, too.

I tried to capture all of those admirable qualities in my drawing...but since I feel like you might also like to see the real deal I'm including a few of the pictures I snapped. My first photo post (I think).

In other news, my trip to San Diego has come and gone. Lots of fun hanging out at the beach and the Comic Convention. Although the latter is insanely out of hand lately. The convention is tremendously huge making it near impossible to see everything. In fact I missed more than a few of my friends because I just didn't have the energy to navigate through the crowds. Fortunately most conventioneers know which bar to hit after the con and I saw my pals there. If you're ever at a convention where Phil Jimenez is a guest make sure to stop by and say "Hi" to him. Phil is one of the nicest guys in comics and I always love hanging out with him.

I also met Mark Andreyko, writer of DC's Manhunter. Also a great guy. I sort of announced during Darwyn's spotlight panel that I'm going to be working on Jett Vector after we finish with our final few issues of the Spirit. I'm pretty excited to be doing a creator owned project again and can't wait to unleash Jett on the publishing world!

Hope everyone is still having a great summer.
best,

j.

I'm a little late for Canada Day but I hope you guys won't mind me posting a few drawings of our famousest of superheroes. I wasn't a fan of Wolverine at all as a kid or a teen...not until Hugh Jackman did his thing in the movies did I ever even pay any attention to the character. And yet I didn't draw the Hugh Jackman Wolverine. I chose this costume because I used to have an X-Men colouring book and Wolvie was in the yellow and brown on the cover. I think I used Indian Red to colour his boots and gloves, etc. on the inside pages (and please forgive my referring to the old crayon colour label...I don't know what Indian Red has become but I'm pretty sure it ain't still called Indian Red).
Plus my brother had the Secret Wars Wolverine action figure...so it's really the only costume I'm familiar with.

Eventually I'll probably draw Wolvie in the costume Frank Quitely gave him for the Grant Morrison run. That particular outfit is very beefcake friendly! :)

Hope you're all enjoying your summer.

j.

Toronto Pride!

Hey guys, it's Pride week here in Toronto! And quite a few other places as well, by a lot of blog accounts. We've been having incredibly hot weather here...and I don't mind a bit. Actually, I do mind it because T.O. gets a lot of smog alert days and it's no fun riding your bike when the air is poor. But I much prefer the heat of summer to winter's bitter chill.

Last weeks Antebellum Toon Fetish gallery opening went swimmingly, according to those who attended. Aman kindly shared with us his coverage on his blog. Dronio also posted a link to his Flickr page of pictures. Thanks guys, for sharing those with us. Looks like the opening was lots of shirtless fun! :)

So Happy Pride, everyone. My next update might be photos if I get some good shots. I'm always on the look out for the Real Jett Vector!

best,
j.

Ape King: Part Two!

So, I'm in my very first big gallery show!

I was invited by Glen Hanson to contribute some art to the TOONFETISH exhibit at the Antebellum gallery. I feel pretty honoured to be included, to say the least. If you check out the list of contributing artists you'll find the talent level is pretty gee-golly high! :)

Rick Castro, the gallery owner asked for art work to be (preferably) explicit and in colour. Well...you guys all know about me and my "No Explicit Artwork" prudishness. And the only colour art I do anymore is on the computer...but for this show I really, really wanted the art on display to be an original and not a digital print out. So I went with black and white with an attempt to bring extra texture and juicy linework to my inks just to help the image stand out. Hopefully I succeeded.

I encourage anyone in the L.A. area to stop by the gallery and check out the art. I truly wish I could see it all myself but deadlines are more important than ego trips! On the 16th of June Glen Hanson is going to be holding some kind of "Naked Drawing Salon". If you want to go you must register in advance (check out the link to the gallery above). Frankly I wish I could be there for that, too. :)

If anyone does go to the gallery please write and tell us all about it.

One more thing...as I said before the Ape King looks like Damien Crosse to me. And the other little guy kinda ended up looking like Wolverine. In fact if I were to draw Wolvie I'd probably refer to this drawing here as my template.

best,
j.

Peter Parker: Househusband!

Oh gosh, like ages ago a funny comic book blog I check out had a thing or two to say about the ginormous amount of sexism in comic books today...especially in regards to its merchandise. The particular item in question was a statue of Mary Jane doing laundry (click here...warning female anatomy on display).

I understand completely the problems some might have with that little chunk of resin. Especially the thong. And especially, especially the Pearl Necklace ("Tee hee! Giggle! MJ's got a pearl necklace! You know what that means, right?") SO for Rachelle's enjoyment I turned the tables and drew up this...

Now, if Marvel ever decided to do a statue of Peter doing his laundry in a pair of underoos you wouldn't hear so much as an eye roll from me. I'd maybe even buy it (if the art it was based on was decent, that is).

One more thing...the brown things on the floor are clothes pegs...not dog poop. They kind of look like dog poop with the image all shrunk down so I'm just telling you they're clothes pegs.

hugs,

j.

Ape King!

This here is a portion of a bigger piece just completed for the Toon Fetish gallery show going on in L.A. in June. The piece is being framed even as I write this and I only hope I'm able to get it down there in time. Fingers crossed it'll go over well. I'm in with a super talented group of artists so I'm more than a little nervous about the whole thing. So, the King kind of reminded me of someone although I didn't intentionally try to render a likeness...but I think his eyes and brow remind me of adult film star Damion Crosse! :) I confess I dig Damien's look although I have never seen one of his films...scout's honour!!

Also, check out this bit of awesomeness! Thanks to Jared for the terrific job and to Francois for linking me up with the link!

best,

j.