The old-fashioned way.
Ukiyo-e Heroes (浮世絵ヒーロー）breaks down the anatomy of a Japanese woodblock print in their latest project update. Looks beautiful — and exhausting!
Anatomy of a Woodblock Print
Printing begins soon!
You can order your print here:
http://www.ukiyoeheroes.com/products-page/woodblock/the-hero-rests-woodblock-print/
Stories from the seas.
Book of Da takes readers on a strange adventure to the bottom of the ocean. Illustrated in bold black and white, this graphic novel ties together elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and mythology to tell the story of a mysterious being who controls the emotions of the seas.
LA Art Book Fair starts today.
We’re at the inaugural LA Art Book Fair this week, celebrating the world of art-in-print on Kickstarter.
More than two dozen Kickstarter-funded projects are represented, encompassing everything from Paul Mpagi Sepuya’s major monograph, STUDIO WORK, to cartoonist Will Laren’s $7 zine, Slurricane #3.
In LA? Drop by MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary space and check out some printed matter in person, now through Sunday.
Eat your environment.
Foraging and Feasting celebrates local foods by identifying wild edible plants and offering recipes for their enjoyment. The collaboration of a botanical illustrator and a veteran herbalist, this cookbook doubles as a field guide to the edible outdoors.
Mythical creatures.
Lilou the cat is entranced by the Bestiarium, a hand-made mobile project inspired by animal depictions and medieval myths.
Four artists, one project.
An artist-run publishing project, Benign Kingdom showcases the work of independent comics creators. The Spring 2013 edition features four artists’ books, available individually or collected in a box set.
Black and white and read all over.
Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher, acclaimed editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine, is celebrating 35 years of visual satire with a retrospective book.
Arabic ABCs.
Designed by a crafty mom, these fun flashcards teach the Arabic alphabet through a set of 28 colorful animals.
Koloud Tarapolsi was frustrated while trying to find a cute and engaging Arabic alphabet poster for her kids, so she took matters into her own hands. The Arabic Alphabet Fun Flashcards are the happy result. Say marhaba to our Project of the Day.
Small wonders.
Four new projects with clever ideas and modest goals caught our attention over the weekend. Standing out as great examples of Kickstarter ideas on a tight budget, these creators are all seeking less than $1,250.
Created by 24-year-old artist and writer Sam Maiden, Reboot is the first issue of a new comic-book collaboration. Maiden describes his true love as writing and producing comics, and his Kickstarter project is his first attempt to realize his dream in print.
Dalek v Enterprise is a highly ambitious lark: A race to the stratosphere between the spacecrafts of Doctor Who and Star Trek. Creator Karlos Fandango’s previous Kickstarter project successfully sent a TARDIS to space and back — despite an unexpected detour up a tree — and he says that this new sci-fi adventure will be his last in the series.
Sling piping-hot dim sum as fast as you can — it’s Dim Sum Robot #1: Mecha Food Cart Action! This delicious little game puts you in charge of a robot food cart as you prowl the city, fly across buildings, and launch dumplings to happy patrons from across the street.
Repeat creator Ray Sumser is an artist obsessed with cartoons. His ongoing project to catalog the “cartoon universe” has been entirely inspired and funded by his Kickstarter backers.
It’s always exciting to see so many creators realizing little dreams in a big way. Discover more small projects on Kickstarter right here.
This was our pact.
The Whole Story is a pay-what-you-want collection of new comics.
DRM-free and creator-owned, The Whole Story took a good, hard look at digital publishing and went in the opposite direction. Up above, take a look at a couple of preview pages from the Winter 2013 issue, featuring Ryan Andrews.
First look.
A sneak peek at the back cover of Emergence, a new comics anthology from the Pacific Northwest.
We couldn’t be more excited to ring in a new year, filled with new projects and new bursts of creativity. Here’s to 2013! Now let’s go exploring.
EMERGENCE back cover.
Artist credits to: Theo Ellsworth, Sean Christensen, and Amy Kuttab.
This is my boomstick.
An unholy mashup of two pop-culture icons, Hail to the King, Baby! is an homage to both Elvis and Army of Darkness.
Designed by rock poster artist and illustrator Dave Berns, this poster pays tribute to cult-favorite leading man Bruce Campbell, who’s played both the hapless hero of Sam Raimi’s horror flick, and the King himself in Bubba Ho-Tep. Hunka hunka burnin’ undead: All hail our Project of the Day.
Happy New Year!
Remembering Manhattan.
Animator and illustrator Eric Rosner reaches back into the collective memory to create illustrations of New York City in the Gilded Age. His current Kickstarter project focuses on a few blocks of Manhattan that witnessed seismic cultural shifts in the span of just 30 years.
Making a Plymptoon.
Legendary animator Bill Plympton is trying something new: A feature film made entirely from more than 40,000 hand-painted frames.
Plympton is currently funding his seventh feature film, Cheatin’, on Kickstarter. A grown-up tale of jealousy, revenge, and murder shot through with Plympton’s surreal sense of humor, the film would never stand a chance in a traditional studio system. But with 175 backers behind him and counting, the artist’s most ambitious project is our Project of the Day.
World of Refractoria.
Jeff Beebe created his own world.
Refractoria is an imagino-ordinary world that is equal parts autobiography and pure fantasy, heavily inspired by the visual language of the original Dungeons & Dragons. Jeff’s fantastical cartography is beautiful, as are the denizens of Refractoria, who are both impeccably dressed and totally badass.
