Issue 196
Hello,
Work has been solid lately. I just delivered the first 100 pages of the graphic novel I'm working on. Can't wait to tell you about it when the publisher gives the OK.
Things are also coming together for the reboot/glow up of SVSlearn.com. We are going to be taking our teaching to another level. More on that next month.
Lots of great stuff to share today, so let's get to it. Here's FIVE things I thought you'd love as we roll into the weekend!
Enjoy!
1) Dragon and Robot
From the Drawings Unit
I didn’t want #Smaugust to fly by me without doing at least ONE dragon.
To be fair, I drew this in 2023 but never scanned or colored it. Originally, the plan was to have it in the ROBOTS book, but after I laid the book out I realized there really was not spot that fit this illustration.
Then I saw the smaugust art challenge and really wanted to do some dragons for it, but I was too busy with a graphic novel I'm waist deep in to do an art challenge. So I pulled this drawing out, extended the bottom of it and threw some color on it.
Full process post over on my patreon: LINK
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2) Pre-Jurassic Park T-Rex Designs
From the Division of Prehistoric Studies
You know what I love? Pre-Jurassic Park t-rex designs:
Back before artists were armed with science and without a major blockbuster influencing dinosaur culture, we got a ton more variety in the interpretations of these animals. Each artist had free reign on what a Tyrannosaurus Rex could look like, because who really knew?
Some leaned into the "terrible lizard" vibe, while others embraced a more lumbering beast look. Artists weren't burdened by realities of physics, anatomy, and physiology and we were the direct benefactors of a cornucopia of amazing and scary designs.
These designs ranged from goofy:
to unhinged:
Somehow these things freak me out way more:
Imagine this absolute unit chasing you in a jeep:
This spicy thing does not skip leg day:
Here's what this all boils down to: The older I get, the more I value creativity and emotion over accuracy and realism when it comes to illustration.
3) The Dieselpunk Anthro Fantasy World of Reagan Lodge
From the Illustrators Division
I've known Reagan for years. We go back to the FLIGHT days. He's an incredibly skilled artist and is pouring all of that ability into WYIT a 200+page graphic novel that should be on your radar.
Reagan's style is a harmonious combination of Franco Belgian comics aaand something I can't quite put my finger on...like 1960-70s-Disney-Anthropomorphic-Milt-Kahl.
It looks great, and I can't wait to read this thing when it comes out.
Check out Reagan's Website: LINK
All his socials here: LINK
4) Honda Motocompo Upgrade
From the Office of Wheels
In a effort to redesign the Honda Motocompo (LINK) into something contemporary, industrial designer Mitch Silva created a cassette-futurism masterpiece.
His idea is to take a Honda Monkey (LINK) and give it a sleek angular look that evokes the Honda Elite scooter (LINK).
I think this is such a solid design and would love to incorporate more of this aesthetic into the spaceships and robots I'm working on.
More designs here: LINK
5) On Bear Hunts
From the Inspirational Thought Unit
There's a book I read maybe nine hundred times while my kids were little called "We're going on a bear hunt." It's about a family who's going on a hike through nature hoping to find a bear. They encounter all kinds of roadblocks and impediments like rivers, snowstorms, and tall grass.
Each one of these things can't be avoided. There's no way to go around them, over them or under them. The only way to make progress is to go through them.
This is like baby's first lesson in stoicism.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way"
.” -Marcus Aurelius
This was written 2000 years ago by the most level headed emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius studied the stoics and put their words into action. He kept a pretty good record of these and we are lucky to have his journal survive to this day.
The point of Going on a Bear Hunt and this quote is that if you want to accomplish something that seems insurmountable there's no way to get around the fact that you just have to start and see it through to the end.
Painter Vincent Van Gogh understood this:
"I am always doing what I can't do yet in order to learn how to do it."
Source: Letter to Anthon van Rappard (1885)
Every project that has pushed me out of my comfort zone has made me a way better artist/writer/creator/business guy. I used to turn the other way or pivot when I sensed things were going to get difficult, but now when I get that feeling I march straight into it knowing that it will transform me into who I want to become.
You need to cultivate these scenarios in your life if they're not already being handed to you.
One last quote on this:
“That’s the thing about writing. Every time I think I’ve figured out how to write, I discover that actually, I’ve just figured out how to write the thing I just wrote, and I have no clue how to write the next scene, the next story, or the next book.” Maureen McHugh
That's a reminder that it never gets easy, and that's the point. Go on bear hunts, brave the tall grass, the rushing rivers, and the blowing snow.
That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and hope you have a great weekend!
-Jake
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I love pre anatomy drawings of animals, like when someone asked a medieval artist to draw a shark or something they've never seen before. Also that motocompo is SEXY
Jurassic Park? Hmmm, for me dinosaurs have always had 3 different categories
-DinoRiders
-Dinosaucers
-Dinotopia