Jillian Tamaki Sketchbook

The Boys and the Subway

2008-07-02T10:24:00.003-04:00

People often ask me for directions in the subway. Even though I know my way around rather well, I still have to defer to Arthur very often. Yet it seems people don’t trust the advice of a preschooler. They should.

Christoph Niemann's story about his kids and the New York City subway. I wish I was so well-versed.

Since Sarasota

2008-07-02T08:59:00.000-04:00

(click for larger view)

Beep bloop beep beep

2008-06-30T22:25:00.002-04:00

Test your knowledge of Movie Robots.

HIJACKED!

2008-06-25T13:06:00.002-04:00

Hello Friends-

So my email is totally, totally messed up due to Spammer Hijacking (my term). Ugh. So if you have sent me an email in the last day, I didn't get it. I had to erase my inbox (the post-millennial version of a personal apocalypse). Should be okay now. Or try jntamaki (AT) Shaw (dot) com.

Gon' Away

2008-06-24T18:08:00.001-04:00

I'm off to Florida for a few days. Yes, Florida. I can hardly believe it myself.

Perverts

2008-06-22T16:16:00.000-04:00

Feminists

2008-06-22T11:01:00.001-04:00

Fan Art Results!

2008-06-19T12:17:00.006-04:00

That was my response every time someone sent me a piece of fan art. I was totally floored by the effort you guys put into your pieces and I think I am now addicted to getting "presents" in my email. So, THANK-YOU! It was so freaking difficult picking "winners". But here they are:

Jeremy Sorese, the creator of this particularly hilarious piece (I've dubbed it "Window of Indecision (in Grey)", will get Skim, some buttons, and a Gilded Lilies book.

Annie Wu (above) will receive Skim, buttons, and a small print, as will Thomas Pitilli:

Oof, it was so hard to choose. Please view ALL the entries here. Thank-you to all participats. If you'd like to contribute fan art, even if it's sans prizes, I'd love to add it to the gallery.

Oh Happy Day

2008-06-17T20:04:00.000-04:00

Happy Wedding, Happy Pride!

Wow!

2008-06-17T10:26:00.002-04:00

I am getting some AMAZING entries to the Skim Fan Art contest! Details a few posts down.

I am now throwing in some additional prizes. Top three will get the Skim book and Skim buttons. One will get a Gilded Lilies book, and the other two will get a small giclée print.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter.

Tonal Studies

2008-06-17T10:23:00.004-04:00

Occasionally I try to draw without lines, to varying levels of success.

WIN SKIM!

2008-06-15T21:49:00.003-04:00

So I have three copies of Skim to give away. We couldn't sell them at MoCCA due to a tiny bit of cover scuffing, the odd bent cover, or other minor imperfection. So let's have a little contest!

I'm ripping off Hope Larson's Fan Art contest she held a few weeks ago for her new book. Send you SKIM-INSPIRED art in to me by Wednesday and I will post the winners (plus a link to your site) on Thursday. I'll make a little section in the "Books" area of my site where I'll post ALL entries. I hope you send me something! Email me at jill (AT) jilliantamaki.com .... please?

Here is a preview link, for character reference.

P.S. Everyone's welcome to send me stuff, but unfortunately I can only send books to North Americans. There IS a recession on, y'all.

Blue Bulldogs

2008-06-13T18:26:00.000-04:00

What It Is, Lynda Barry

2008-06-12T14:19:00.003-04:00

So I started tucking into my MoCCA stash. Fun! Like a lot of you that attended the con, I bought Lynda Barry's new book What It Is. It's sort of a manifesto, memoir, workbook type thing. It's very inspirational. It's about breaking down mental blocks and connecting with our imagination and memories. And tapping into that lucid space of just CREATING already... without the self-consciousness and "need to please" hang-ups we all have.

As working illustrators, I think we really lose that lucidity and sense of play. How can we not? Our job literally commodifies what we love. "How lucky! You get to sit around and just draw all day!" Snort. However, I think that child-like sense of play is really important. That's where the sketchbook and personal work comes in, I suppose.

Lynda Barry audio slideshow (featuring pages from book and author commentary) and NYTimes article.

What It Is on Amazon.

P.S. Also check out Hope Larson's new book Chiggers, if only for amazingly sensitive character gestures (luckily, you'll find much more to love in addition... I promise).

Thank-You!

2008-06-10T11:35:00.005-04:00

Hi guys,

Sorry it's been a bit quiet around here... I've been totally wiped from MoCCA last weekend! Here's a picture of Mariko showing off our table (obviously before the crowds hit and the room rose to dangerously hot temps!).

If you came out to visit us, THANK-YOU! A lot of you mentioned this blog, which absolutely thrills me. And lastly, it was great to talk about Skim and finally be able to show it to people! Yay!

Cosplayer

2008-06-05T16:01:00.003-04:00

This was originally to run in WIRED magazine, but the article got killed. Wah. I think this is a cute piece and I was pretty psyched about doing a watercolour for $$.

2008-06-05T15:49:00.002-04:00

Okay, this post is completely unrelated to illustration, but I wanted to draw your attention to a very important issue in our city. I don't want to get all political, but I cannot support this cause strongly enough and feel moved to recognize the heroic men and women keeping us safe on our streets.

Comics, Comics, Everywhere!

2008-06-04T15:19:00.004-04:00

If you are even a tiny bit interested in alternative comics and are anywhere near New York City this weekend, you must check out MoCCA Festival in Soho. Mariko and I will be there selling our book Skim plus some other goodies. Come and say hi to us! We will be on the Skylight room, table S8.

Here's all the info, including a list of exhibitors.

Tiananmen Square Op-Ed

2008-06-04T09:07:00.002-04:00

Here's an Op-Ed piece that appears on today's NYTimes Op-Ed page. Read the article here. AD Brian Rea.

Lunch: Mom's Salad

2008-06-03T16:52:00.005-04:00

This is a salad thing that I learned from my mom who, along with my sister-in-law, is probably the best home cook I know. It's also one of those things you can make when you need to clean out your fridge.

Chop up vegetables. This can include, but is not limited to: red onions, peppers, cucumbers, hearts of palm, steamed green beans and artichokes. Add a vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Squeeze a lemon over top. Maybe let it sit for a little bit.

I put it on couscous or, in this case, polenta. It really doesn't take long! I also added some feta on top. Yum.

Failed Comic Game

2008-05-30T23:48:00.001-04:00

So Sam and I were going to play a game where I drew the panels and he filled in the word balloons. But then I did this and it just seemed better left ambiguous. Click for a larger version.

SPD

2008-05-30T12:15:00.003-04:00

Hey, I won this thing(!):*

*A Society of Publication Designers Gold Medal! For this piece. Thanks to Leo and Arem at the New York Times Magazine.

Dinnertime

2008-05-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

NYTimes Health Illustration

2008-05-29T17:31:00.002-04:00

Speaking of colour, here's a piece I did for this week's Health section of the NYTimes. It printed fabulously, probably due to the very saturated and bright colour scheme (images on newsprint are automatically dulled down quite a bit). Something to remember for next time.

Colour Schemes

2008-05-29T09:29:00.004-04:00