A Piece of the April

Hello all! Now, first things first, I want err'yone to be aware of my new website (you may have spotted a link above to the right) called Kaminskivision. It's my online portfolio site, so feel free to drop a comment there and tell me how you like it or just to say hey. My facebook fan page, twitter, and tumblr are also around if anyone didn't know or is interested. I try my best to update often.  Also here's some new fan pages on the face of book which everyone should like as well, fellow cartoonist society member and awesome illustrator Michelle Miller, and fellow cartoonist society member and awesome illustrator Chris "Patch" Patchell's "I Put the Can in Cancer" book fan page.

Well, here's a chimp to break this self-promoting schtuff to get the real meat of this post.

Anyways! I just wanted to post the most recent COPOUT comic I've done. With the year winding down, I wanted to push this comic a little more than I usually do with the COPOUT stuff. I got the idea to do this comic while walking home after a night at the bar around 3 am. The original idea was to have as many bread puns as I could fit, but I eventually realized that would have been incredibly stupid (however hilarious to me). So this is the current end product, it still needs some more editing in the inks. Some of the faces are a little wonky and need some touch-ups. Oh, and 100 internet dollars to whoever spots the line lifted straight out of Star Trek. Is it bad that most of my knowledge of 30's gangsters comes from Star Trek?

Beer Cans and Art Jams

Did some sketches at Bob and Barbara's bar the other night with fellow cartoonists Michelle Miller and Jeffro Kilpatrick. We had a good time making fun of the d-bags who eventually crowded the place. If you want to view the whole set, you can check 'em out on my facebook page linked here. While you're at it, you should fan my facebook page if you get the chance or like my work.

~James

2012 Ely

Poster art by Andy Hood

Every year, my school's/University of the Arts' illustration department holds a juried exhibition of the senior students' thesis works called the "ELY Exhibition". Here's the website's description:

 "This annual competitive exhibition features the work of the entire senior class of Illustration majors, giving them the opportunity to show their work to thousands of people. Endowed by its namesake in 1964, the William H. Ely Award for Excellence in Illustration is a juried exhibition featuring work ranging from CD jackets to concert posters, magazine spreads to elaborately ornamented surfboards. Cash prizes are awarded for the top three entries."

This year was judged by 3 artists: Jon Bartlett, Joe Devito, and Dan Blackman. There were 4 prizes given out and 4 honorable mentions. Every piece submitted to the gallery was extraordinary and everyone worked their asses off. Unexpectedly, my pieces were chosen for first prize.

A major congratulations to John Thomas, Kelsey Niziolek, Leah Romero, Michelle Miller, Nancy Hill, Crystal Ben, Andy Burger, and, well, everyone! It was a seriously great show.
I know I've uploaded some of the progress on these, but here are my 4 finished pieces:

~James

Hank: The Once and Future Kaminski

Some of you already know, but last week my dog of 14 years, Hank, passed away. He was the best pup in the world, and had a true Kaminski personality. Our family loved him dearly and he will be missed.

Hank stuck with me, even through the horrors of Fester's Quest.

He lived a good, long, full, life. He traveled several states and thusly pooped in them. He protected our yard from the evils of cats, bunnies, squirrels, and airplanes. He was always there and brought us a lot of happiness. Growing up with him around, I tended to use him as a drawing subject a lot. Here are the last sketches I drew of the pooch a few weeks before his passing:

 

As a final send off from me to him, I drew up a sketch of him and one of his first nicknames from way back in 1998 "Hank the Tank".  He'll always be my favorite dog and part of the Kaminski family. Rest in peace buddy.

~James

Breakwater Experiments

The other night I attended a concert for the Philly-born funk band: Breakwater. A friend of mine turned me on to them, but you may better know them from the guitar riff sampled from the song Release the Beast used in Daft Punk's Robot Rock.

The show was great and had me thinking up a gig poster for them in my head. So today I decided to diddy-up the design and try out some techniques illustrator-extraordinaire Christine Larson taught me over the summer (here's her quick step-by-step).
--I'll give you time to check out her site linked above on her name there, because you seriously should....Go on...GO I SAY!
So anywho, I wanted to test out some of those aforementioned techniques. I gave it a go and this was the result:

Of course, this was more of an experiment than a necessity to making the piece. The type needs a lot of tending too, maybe even a whole re-do, but I thought the piece as a whole came together pretty nicely. Leave some feedback or comments or something; would love to hear some critique.
~James

Coloring the cover, and pages 7 and 8.

Coloring the cover right now:

Almost done! Can't wait...

Pages 5 and 6

New pages. Getting it done, son!