PRINTS + HOLIDAY SALES + FREE STUFF

Lots of new items, sales, freebies, and a drawing for timely orders over in my SHOP! I'll have more info on all these 2012 projects soon!

ROOSTER INTERVIEW

I did a recent interview with Boulder-based Rooster Magazine. We discussed life as an illustrator, inspiration, my recent gallery showing with wife Shannon Bonatakis, Paper Diamond, and more.

I'M NOT DEAD, I PROMISE!!!

Guys, I'm terribly sorry for the lack of posts as of late. I just married my art school sweetheart Shannon Bonatakis a few weeks back, and things have been hellaciously busy. BUT I have a bunch of posts piled up now, so expect a post every day this week, and some more cool stuff I'll be able to talk about very soon! Eyes peeled!

NEW LIFE, NEW WEBSITE

Big news! For the first time since the day I turned 15, I don't have a job! I've decided the time is finally right to go full time freelance illustration, and I'm chomping at the bit to make the best work of my career. My fiancee Shannon and I will also be packing up and moving to Denver for a little change of pace. And you can look forward to some sketch-a-day action and lots of new art coming right up.

Coinciding with my newfound employment status, I just relaunched my entire online presence including my shiny new WEBSITE, a facelift for my BLOG and STORE, new ways to FOLLOW, and tons of never before seen content. Go! Look! Wish me luck!

TERRIBLE YELLOW EYES FEATURE

Got my WTWTA piece featured on Terrible Yellow Eyes on Friday. If you haven't seen this amazing collection of super pro fan art, I'm on my way to come slap you personally. Better head over now to avoid the humiliation.

TWITTERCRITE!

Why the change of heart on Twitter? Well, despite my highly reposted loudmouthed rant on the media nuisance that is Twitter, I've decided to be on the right side of history. My hate for CNN's coverage of uneducated brainfarts and celebrity waste products is still intact, but what some people are doing to use Twitter is pretty great. People like my good friends at Cypher13 who developed TWEEEEET, a designer/artist Twitter aggregator site I've been following since it's inception. My decision is to not let my hate of the worst Twitter overshadow the good, and I'll still promise to shudder every time I hear the word "tweet".

"About to eat dinner! ROFLROFLROFLROFL!!!!!"

FOLLOW ME

MIDFINGER MAG FEATURE

I just got a feature in the July/August issue of Italian web mag, MIDFINGER MAG®

The magazine features photography, fashion, music, movies and art from around the world, and has featured illustrators such as Xiaobaosg, John Lee and McBess. Those guys have been great. Grazie Marco! 

WHAT'S GOOD

I've added my favorite arty RSS finds to my blog page under 'what's good'. You can shortcut or subscribe to it HERE. Primarily, I'm marking the posts for myself (so that I can reference them in the distant future), but feel free to benefit from my obsessive daily hours of panning for gold.

By the way, what sites are you reading religiously these days? I'm always in need of some added inspiration. No more gay porn Jack... please.

FAIL!

So between working full-time for an apparel company, steady freelance work, "normal human" responsibilities and sketch-a-day, I am freakin' beat kids. So you'll notice that my page conveniently no longer says "sketch-a-day", and that's because I reluctantly tap. I'll continue to post sketches, progress shots, thoughts, inspiration, etc. but I was really feeling bad about not posting daily and that's no good. Time to get my biz in order.

So now I'll be focusing on making the work I need to make, and not worrying about posting little things I'm not all that crazy about anyway. I just took on a big project co-creating an animated series (that I currently can't talk about), my shiny new website is about to get taken off the back burner, and I have new illustrations and merchandise in the works. Good stuff! I'll keep you all posted for sure. Sorry I'm a huge pussy and my truly quick sketches aren't worth posting. Let's get a sketch-battle going soon. I'm down.

-JH

VEGAS

Taking off for 2 days to do recon at MAGIC fashion and apparel trade show. By this time tomorrow I should be up 50k. By this time next week I should be retired. C'mon black!

Sketch-A-Day Challenge

My buddy and illustrator extraordinaire Thom Glick has invited me to partake in his daunting Sketch-A-Day Challenge. So in 2009 I'll be doing my best to post daily with oven fresh sketches, technique studies, brainfarts, and random tidbits that might have never seen the light of day. I'm really hoping to sharpen my skills and learn through this process, and also to have a venue for all the half-ideas and progress shots I'd never normally post on Joyengine. This is solely a device for my experimentation and growth as an artist, so please don't be shy and give some feedback! Thanks!