Dr. Ph. Martin's

Becca Solow gave me a set of Ph. Martin's concentrated watercolors last time I saw her, and I've been playing with them some. They're vibrant. I like what I get out of 'em. Still feels a little unfamiliar, but I'm getting used to making bolder choices.

Haliku

So this is where it went.

Also, if you're looking for a soundtrack to this image, I recommend The Mofos.

Haliku pencil

did this sketch on bristol at dinner tonight.


This guy's origin was a drawing I did for my brother Aidan. I think there's more to him than that drawing, so I'm seeing where it goes.

Sometimes you draw something that ends up sticking with you; this is one of those. I always liked the muse take on creativity, the idea that inspiration comes not from within one's self, but from somewhere else, somewhere hidden but for those rare moments when a spark gets through and ends up on paper. This is one of those cases where I feel like there is an idea somewhere telling me to give it a face and a name. So I try to pay attention.

Orcus/Submit to Satan

My friend Thom asked me to contribute to his heavy-metal-themed art zine Submit to Satan. This is what I made for him: The head on the monster is an orca skull (a.k.a. killer whale), and they're named after Orcus, underworld god of unpaid debts, or something. There's also a metal band named Orcus it turns out, but I listened to some samples on iTunes and didn't really like it.

Anyway, here it is.

Bike Blog NYC logo

I did a logo for Michael Green of Bike Blog NYC:


It's also a great case study of my process. Michael came to me with a very clear idea of what he wanted: handlebars and stem, fists clenching the grips, visible knuckle tattoos in classic tattoo lettering, with "NYC" on the head tube. With this information, I gave him a few variations from which to mix & match his ideal:

The feedback he gave me was very specific (which I always appreciate) as to which elements he liked and wanted to see in the final product. With some faith that he'd be able to envision the final result from a sketch, I sent him the pencil rough of the final logo:

He loved it, so I went ahead with the ink, and there you have it. The final result, with some minor tweaking in Photoshop, is what you see above.

And that's how I do it.

Badge Design for Dead River Company

My buddy Lindsey is in Brooklyn's Dead River Company and asked me to design a badge for the band. Here it is:

John Prolly Adventures

I made a comic about John Prolly:

See all three pages in full-size at nickjam.es.

More guys fighting

(I saw Taken)

Spacesuit

This reminds me of the kind of stuff I drew when I was a kid.

CHE LA ink

I've been working with Jim Mahfood, David Brodell-Lake, and Ray Ting on a new project called CHE LA. Not gonna say much more than that for now, but here's a preview:


More as it develops.

For a Film

Illustration for a screenplay pitch - client wanted Nigerian militants with future weapons.

Tracklocross Flyer

Made this quickie for Mattio and Drew's race this year. The content was inspired by Luke Stile's photos of the first race in 2008, which I helped plan.
When I have time, I'm going to color it. I'm thinking brown mud, gray cyclist. Keep it simple.

Comic: Dick Jones in Body Modifications

Just finished this today.

Comic Preview

Quick preview of something I'm working on (in progress).

Happy Valentine's Day

Maska Linework

I found this great Russian helmet and decided to start a drawing around it.

Saturday at NYCC

Dan Bones (pictured) wasn't able to get a day pass, and wasn't interested in waiting outside to buy one off someone leaving for the day, so he got some breakfast with me in the food court, looked over the programs, and then went home to work.

Alexa and Brandon had urged me to go see the Wolverine: Origins game preview, and it was as ridiculous as they promised. I'm not much of a gamer but I'm excited to see more of that. After the Wolverine preview, I caught up with Brandon Bird, and hit up the Image booth where Ming was behind the table promoting Comic Book Tattoo, for which she did one of the 50 stories. It looks great, and it's always nice to see a friend's work in print.

I also chatted with Meredith Gran, creator of Octopus Pie, at the Dumbrella booth for a bit. I've been reading her comic for a while. When she saw my work, she mentioned Jim Mahfood, who I hadn't heard of, but I saw his work at the Nerdcore booth. Model Justine Joli was there for the Nerdcore catalog, I'd actually seen her last weekend at Ellen Stagg's birthday party, but I talked with her for a moment, then met Jim Mahfood himself, a really nice guy who I'd like to stay in touch with. I was actually familiar with a lot of his work without having known he was behind it.

I left Javits around 5p and made a quick stop at Gowanus Studio for dinner and the first screening in their film series. I left a bit early to make Jim Mahfood's gallery reception at YUME Gallery, where I met up with Brandon and Alexa.



I did not return to the Con on Sunday - two full days of it is overwhelming. Until next year...

Friday at NYCC

Friday: I hit up two panels, one on self publishing, one on the transition from script to pencil work. Tomorrow I'm going to a panel about page layout. I'm still riding the fence about whether or not I want to make comics. I'm curious about what it would be like to draw something someone else wrote, but it would have to be something I felt strongly about. We'll see. Drawing something that I've written would be very satisfying, but I'd have to start with writing something.

I ran into Alexa Rose, Brandon Bird, Ming Doyle and a few other people who I only met in passing on my way out, and Alexa and Brandon and I went for a drink and some dinner near Penn Station.

Alexa Rose


Brandon Bird and myself

Headed back tomorrow, hopefully with Dan Bones, if I can get a hold of him tonight and make sure he wakes up early enough.

American Spectator February Cover

Picked up a copy at a newsstand today.