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July 10th, 2009
02:24 pm - Zubby Darkstalkers Tribute
I finally got around to posting up my Darkstalkers Tribute art piece of Hsien-Ko, the Chinese ghost. For those of you who don't know the character, she has all kinds of weapons and silly items up her sleeves that she attacks enemies with.
Like with my Street Fighter Tribute pic from last year we were free to interpret the character our own way, which was a blast.
We're still taking online orders for the limited edition hardcover edition of the book for another 3 days, so if you want a copy and aren't attending Otakon, San Diego Comicon, Toronto Fan Expo or PAX, this is your last chance.
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July 9th, 2009
11:06 am - Mardi Bras this Friday
This Friday in Toronto is the breast cancer charity fashion/cocktail party known as Mardi-Bras (see, it's like Mardi-Gras, only it's for breast cancer research... so it's about bras instead... you get it :) ).
UDON was an official sponsor last year and we're back again. This time out we have a bunch of prizes included in the raffle at the event.
Yup, you can see there a hardcover Street Fighter Ultimate Edition book in that pile, LONG out of print and very rare. Copies on ebay regularly go for a couple hundred bucks, sometimes more. There's also other artbooks, powerfoil issues and much more than what's shown in the photo. The only way you can win is to attend the event and snag some raffle tickets. Support a great cause and you can win!
Click the Mardi Bras link above for details. Check the Mardi Bras blog for other prizes to be won, the multitude of great sponsors and more.
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July 8th, 2009
10:21 pm - Baker & Taylor Interview
I have another interview about UDON's Manga For Kids line of books, this time for the Baker & Taylor "Cat's Meow" Newsletter. There are some neat questions about bringing manga over to North America and graphic novels as a gateway to more reading.
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July 4th, 2009
09:38 am
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. It's the summer crunch and I've been a bit overwhelmed with things to do. I'm done teaching for the summer, which is quite nice and gives me more time to concentrate on UDON stuff as we head into convention-heavy July.
On the list currently:
• Prep for Otakon and San Diego Comicon UDON booth stuff
• Work on special Capcom convention material for San Diego Comicon
• Artwork for Magic the Gathering Online
• Artwork for an as-yet unannounced Capcom project
• Colouring test material on a potential future project I'm excited about
• New artwork for Legends of Zork. Not sure when this new material will go live.
• Getting caught up on marking Seneca projects
• Finishing a report on our Seneca China trip
• Working on a proposal for a collaboration that may come down the road. It's a longshot, but could be cool.
Beyond that, I've been chilling with Stacy and also playing a bit of inFamous here and there.
August is looking a bit more reasonable. Stacy and I are looking at taking some kind of road trip or small get away. Not sure where just yet.
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July 2nd, 2009
09:25 am - UDON at Anime Expo 2009 This Weekend!
I won't personally be there, but here's the info for other people who will be at the show this weekend:
UDON Crew part of the Crunchyroll booth at Anime Expo!
UDON is attending Anime Expo this weekend July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but the big news is that we’ll be premiering the convention exclusive Darkstalkers Tribute hardcover at the show! We only have a limited number of copies at Anime Expo, so make sure you grab one early if you're attending!
Tribute artists at the show include UDON’s Omar Dogan, Long Vo, and Matt Moylan. Also attending the show as a guest of honor is Yasuhiro Nightow (creator of Trigun), a friend of UDON who also contributed to the Tribute book.
Book Synopsis:
Darkstalkers, Capcom’s horror/anime fight-fest video game property, is a fan-favorite among gamers worldwide. Now illustrators, animators, comic artists, manga creators, pros and fans alike have come together to produce nearly 300 pages of all-new artwork celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Darkstalkers franchise. This video game art gallery is packed with beastly creatures, sexy temptresses, and a hefty helping of inspiration, energy, and excitement!
Check out just a few of the hundreds of exciting pieces from the book:
        
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June 26th, 2009
03:56 pm - Zork Video Trailer
Jolt Online has just released a Legends of Zork video trailer prominently featuring artwork from my team and I. Check it out:
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June 16th, 2009
06:06 am - Jet Slag
For those of you who have never experienced 12 hour jet lag... let me describe it for you.
Day 1 is usually pretty good. You fool yourself into thinking that this time it's not actually going to bother you. You wake up feeling happy to be home, eat your meals, sleep and smile.
Day 2 is where your body pulls out the rug from under you. Your stomach growls at odd times and you feel an overwhelming desire to nap in the mid-afternoon. If you do nap, it is deep and intense, with surreal dreams instantly taking over even if you only close your eyes for a few minutes. Cue the drool. Your body is not your friend any more.
Day 3 is the pain. Body aches, massive waves of sleepiness slamming into you out of nowhere, stomach snarling all the time. When you do feed the beast it just hates you for it. You're a moronic pilot and your body is the ineffective mech suit you're re-learning how to drive.
Day 4 is zombie day. You want to sleep all day and a mild headache looms on the edge of your mind. Surliness/irritation is a bonus effect. Sleep is like Gollum's precious but the aches in your head and joints keep you from fully enjoying it.
I could barely keep my eyes open last night and coma-ed out by 9:15pm. I woke up at 5am but I think I'm past the worst of it. Fingers crossed.
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June 12th, 2009
11:00 am - Back Home From China
I made it in the door last night and into Stacy's happily waiting arms. Yay!
The all day flight stuff was a chore, but I'm happy to be back and getting reorganized/readjusted this weekend.
Due to popular demand... I've uploaded the 2 scorpion videos to YouTube for easier public consumption outside of Facebook. Share them with a friend or two:
Scorpion Time: Before the Munching
Scorpion Time: Yum
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June 10th, 2009
11:44 am
The week has flown by. It's Wednesday night here in Beijing and tomorrow morning I'm on a plane heading home.
We returned to the University of Harbin on Monday to deliver a presentation to their students about the Ryan film, Seneca and Animation in North America. It was fascinating seeing similarities and differences in the students at Harbin.
After lunch we toured classes in session and spoke to instructors at the school about the program. Some of the instructors are Chinese natives and others are North Americans who have come over to teach on contract - different perspectives, different expectations. I've learned a lot on this trip about education, public speaking, inspiration... a lot of unexpected little revelations.
That night we had dinner with the University Administration and then chilled out in the hotel lounge discussing everything we'd taken in about the school and the possibilities.
Tuesday morning we flew into Beijing, dropped our stuff at the hotel and then swung over to the infamous Silk Street Market.
The Silk Street Market is a mall with 7 floors and over 1700 vendor stations for all kinds of shopping - clothes, electronics, shoes, jewelery, fabric, tourist knick-knacks... you name it. It was one of the craziest things I've ever experienced. The vendors yell, poke, sometimes even physically pull you into their areas to try and sell you things. They give you an item, insisting that you buy it, and then refuse to take it back haggling with you over prices on things you don't even want. They compliment you, sing at you... you can't imagine the noise and chaos of it unless you experience it for yourself.
All the prices start off around what you'd pay for something in North America after money conversion... but then the haggling starts. Sometimes you can push them down to 1/4 or 1/3... sometimes even more if you spin it right. If they think they can trick you they'll overcharge the Hell out of you but if you're careful you can get some unbelievable deals and have a really fun time. If you go in looking to play with the whole thing and aren't in a rush to get particular items, it's a great time.
Walking out and feeling exhausted, we grabbed some food near the hotel and then, after the sun went down, we ventured off to the Wangfujing market. Wangfujing is one of the infamous spots where you can get crazy snacks like silkworms on a stick, starfish, scorpions... we went in joking about mowing down on a scorpion and, surprisingly, before the night was through Sean and I had both done it.
PHOTOS HERE
Deep fried scorpion is crunchy like a burnt cracker, then goes gooshy like you bit into a cherry, but it's salty instead of sweet. Lastly, there's a weird texture in your mouth as if you're eating stiff grass or something as you chew through the legs and tail. Now you know.
This morning we were whisked off to a tour of the Great Wall of China. I honestly can't type an adequate description of the experience in a way that does it justice. My legs are sore, my body aches and yet the experience was downright euphoric as we made our way up to the top of the Badaling portion of the Great Wall. Majestic and humbling.
GREAT WALL PHOTOS HERE
Pulling our tired bodies out after dinner for one last night of sightseeing, we went to Hou Hai, the lake surrounded by hundreds of bars and restaurants. We weren't feeling too much like drinking given how tired we felt and the early morning flight coming up, so we just wandered, taking in the cacophony of music and lights.
Afterwards, we walked back towards the main street to get a taxi, but were distracted by what we came across. A large open area near the entrance to Hou Hai had become a massive synchronized dancing area. Another part had groups of 5-6 people using hacky sack style footwork with a feather tipped rubber-wrapped spring. People were dancing, laughing, playing together because they could. There were no age barriers or egos, just a community enjoying the beautiful weather together. I've never seen anything like it. We took pictures and smiled for a while and then, without warning, we were brought into the fold. Sean and I kicked around the 'foot dart' while Laura Jo and Robin were brought into the massive group dancing. It felt like something out of a Broadway musical and was the perfect final touch of magic before I head back to Canada tomorrow.
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June 7th, 2009
07:44 pm
It's Monday morning here in China while you guys enjoy your Sunday evening time.
The past two days have been pretty crazy. We had meetings all day Saturday, getting a quick tour of the University and then looking at student work, meeting some staff and discussing curriculum, scheduling and seeing if there was enough overlap to have our two schools interact on some level (maybe even partnership). It's involved, complex and I could feel my body getting really tired by late afternoon as I tried to adjust to the 12 hour time shift. We covered some initial ground, decided we'd continue on Monday and called it a day.
That evening we had a special banquet dinner with the Dean of the University. She's also the wife of the Governor of this province, so we were treated really, really well and, after a special tea ceremony, ate a wide variety of gourmet dishes that included goose liver, sashimi, grilled fish, marinated eggplant, donkey meat dumplings and mango jelly.
Heading back to our hotel for a couple more drinks and good conversation, I collapsed in an exhausted heap.
Sunday was our day off and a chance for us to tour the city and take in the local culture. Harbin is close to the northern border of China and was controlled by the Russians in the past, so there's a lot of Russian architecture/influence around the city. Russian gift shops and vodka abound. Harbin is China's tenth largest city, with a population of 9.4 million people (over 10 million if you count outlying areas). To give you some perspective on that - Toronto has around 3 million (5.5 if you including outlying areas) and is Canada's most populated city. Most locals here look at Harbin as a medium-sized city in comparison to Beijing's 17.4 million people. Crazy stuff.
After wandering and shopping, we saw a group of portrait artists set up in a public area. Their skills were readily apparent and when I asked about pricing, they were charging the equivalent of $5 for a full colour 25 minute pastel portrait. Intrigued, I sat down and let one of the artists draw me. Harbin isn't exactly a tourist heavy city, so we were already getting stares as some of the only Caucasians around... but once we sat down and let the artists draw us, a huge crowd formed. It was really odd. Suddenly we were like celebrities and the artists there had a slew of business from locals who wanted to watch and also be drawn after us.
Once my portrait was done, I was disappointed/amused with the results - even though the artist had examples of very sensitive and beautiful portraiture, he didn't accurately portray me at all. He smoothed out my features and idealized everything to try and make it extra-flattering, but it just ended up looking like I was a teenager with perfect skin, shimmering eyes, red lips and nary a wrinkle. We assume it's because he didn't want to offend me, but I was honestly hoping he'd accurately portray what he saw instead of making me a member of New Kids on the Block or something. Still, there was much laughter for the rest of the day as our crew discussed how undeniably "pretty" teen pop star Jim was. I'll have to scan that piece when I get home so that all of you can join in the horror.
PHOTOS HERE
After a tasty dumpling lunch (7 people mowing down on food and beers totaled out to about $20 - crazy) we were told we were heading to the Tiger Park. The Manchurian Tiger Park was amazing and horrifying at the same time. Over 500 tigers and other big cats in a massive complex with van tours and a winding walking path fenced in so you could get close to the animals. I've never seen anything like it. The animals had a lot of space to roam and seemed well kept overall, but it also seemed really cruel and unusual as the staff threw live chickens into areas so the tigers would shred them to death for our amusement. Hard to describe in a brief journal post here.
TIGER PHOTOS HERE
A multi-course Chinese dinner back at the hotel, a couple more drinks and I crashed again.
This morning I'm awake and getting prepped. We're back to the University for more meetings. Sean and I are doing a presentation on Seneca and the Ryan film this afternoon. Not sure how many students will be in attendance. After that, not sure.
Gonna shower and snag some breakfast here.
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June 5th, 2009
05:26 pm
My body just kicked me awake at 5:30am here. I did sleep some on the plane so it makes sense, but I'm hoping the time change won't kick my butt too badly by the time we get to the evening.
I arrived in Harbin last night around 9:30pm. Seneca's International rep for Asia picked me up at the airport and brought me to our hotel - The Shangri-La Harbin, which seems fantastic so far. After a quick shower and change, I hung out with Sean, Laura Jo and Robin and got caught up on the meetings and tours they've been on since they arrived a few days ago. It sounds like even though this trip is short, it's going to be memorable.
Okay, time to get cleaned up and ready for a full day touring the University and then heading to a formal banquet in the evening. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post some photos later on today/tomorrow as well.
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It looks like some of the outreach Stacy and I did at BookExpo America is already starting to come through. Here are some links:
Graphic Novel Reporter has an interview with me about UDON's Manga For Kids line here that is getting extra press and linkage around the net/comic news channels like here, here and here.
The same site also has us listed prominently under their Hottest Graphic Novels for Kids Summer 2009 article, which is fantastic.
Manga For Kids also makes an appearance on the Librarians Hot Fall Graphic Novels list that came out of the BEA panel of the same name.
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03:53 am
I arrived in Beijing about 45 minutes ago and got my boarding pass for Harbin with no hassle at all. Yay!
It's almost 4pm on Friday here (while back home it's almost 4am on Friday).
A group of giggling nurses with masks on came onto the plane to take everyone's temperature and we had to walk through a temperature scanner to make sure there were no cases of Swine Flu on the plane but it didn't take long, all things considered.
I'm currently sitting in a "Business Center" with my laptop. It took a bit of finagling to get the network to work but it's cooking now (as expected, China has controlled IPs so I had to get an assigned one instead of just plucking Wi-Fi out of the air).
More soon, assuming I have internet at my hotel in Harbin.
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June 4th, 2009
03:53 am
I'm back at our hotel in LA, just finishing re-packing my luggage for China. My flight leaves crazy early and I'll be flying for 14+ hours, so it's going to be a looooong day tomorrow.
E3 went quite well. I'm sorry I won't be there for the last day of the show. We had a bunch of business meetings, more good social interaction and, of course, lots of games to play. Not having a booth was fantastic. I loved wandering around and just taking it all in. The show was a bit smaller than last time I went, but was still impressive. It blows my mind how much companies spend on their booth and promotion at these shows. I know they want to impress their peers, the buyers and the press, but geeeeeez... so crazy.
2 trips down, 1 to go...
I'm nervous about the trip to China and feeling a bit homesick. I hope it all goes well and that the jet lag doesn't wreck my brain.
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May 31st, 2009
10:22 pm - BEA is Done
Stacy and I have wrapped up BookExpo America stuff today. Meetings, social events, chatter... BEA is an odd show because, unlike regular conventions where we're selling books, this con is all about trying to set up deals that may pay off down the road; Convincing book buyers to carry our wares, explaining our product to librarians, improving our relationship and communication with our distributor, increasing our presence and goodwill with other comic publishers. It's a lot of social work without any clear wins in the immediate sense. In turn it feels a bit weird, sometimes awkward and other times really straight forward and fun. All in all, it's exhausting in a different kind of way.
The show was definitely smaller than when I came two years ago. Publishers weren't giving out galleys as freely and there was a general sense of unease about publishing as a whole as everyone holds on to see how badly the economic problems will affect their orders. Graphic novels are a relatively bright spot amongst that gloom, though obviously we've got all kinds of troubles of our own to weather.
The social end of things was sweet. Great conversation and food abounded. This is the first time I've had an enjoyable time in New York as a whole and felt like the city was more than just expensive, overbearing and dirty. This afternoon I saw some genuinely wonderful things and felt like we actually engaged a wee bit of the chaotic fun that New York is famed for.
Tomorrow I zip over to Los Angeles for E3. Looking at the schedule Erik has lined up for us, it should be quite the vortex. Wish me luck.
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May 24th, 2009
09:33 am - Travel Trio
I haven't posted in a while... everything's been jetting along. Sorry about that.
My birthday flew by on May 18th, Monday of the Victoria Day weekend here in Canada. I had some friends over on Sunday night and we did it up right. Cocktails, video games, singing and hanging out. Stacy made a Superman cake and Watchmen cupcakes to go with the DVD set and book she bought for me. Awesome.
Work wise I knew that July was going to be pretty crazy but it seems that late May/early June are equally nuts. In fact the next three weeks look like they may be vying for the "Crazy Zub Travel" title.
I'm off to New York very soon for BookExpo America, North America's largest publishing convention. I've been before and it's a doozy - publishers galore, big events and great people. In addition, we've set up other meetings with book related people in New York and general social stuff. Then, with no time to head home inbetween, I'm zipping over to Los Angeles for E3, the big professional video game conference. UDON has some important meetings lined up with clients and I need to be there. Should be fun.
Those two trips, back to back, would be more than sufficient, but...
...Seneca is sending me to China right from Los Angeles.
There are some schools over in China that are interested in having us consult on their animation programs or partnering up with us and I'm headed over there to check them out along with one of the other coordinators and the Dean of Communication Arts. We'll be roaring through multiple stops in 5 days all while trying to squeeze in a bit of tourist-worthy sight seeing and shopping. Between the two other stops and jet lag I'm sure I'll be pretty punchy by this point in the adventure.
I'll be home on June 10th but will try and post photos and interesting anecdotes along my three-pronged uber-journey. It's the Zubby Travel Hat Trick and I hope you follow along.
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May 14th, 2009
10:19 pm - Post-TCAF
TCAF was classy and well done with a load of foot traffic and community interest. It's exactly the kind of well thought out creator-centered event that comics need to look mature, engaging and legitimate.
Socializing was great, the art was inspiring and having company staying here at the house was fun too. All in all, a pretty stellar weekend.
I sold quite a few of my Photoshop tutorial booklets, which was nice. Several people have mentioned that they're interested in buying one and having me mail it out to them, which is a nice surprise too. Since I did such a short print run on them and they're full colour on glossy paper they are pricey but, if you'd like one, I've put together a Paypal link below where you can snag it:
The booklet covers some colouring techniques for Photoshop that I've found useful over the years.
• $15, includes shipping.
• 28 pages, full colour with lots of images.
• Information on scanning, prepping line art, layers, building proper colour Flats, custom brushes and more.
• Two types of colouring methods covered - cartoon cuts and softer blended digital painting.
• I'll sign your copy of the booklet and sketch in it too.
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May 8th, 2009
07:29 pm - TCAF Coming Up
TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival is on this weekend and I am stoked!
UDON is launching their Manga For Kids line at the show with the first three books available for purchase. Stacy, Matt and Erik will be manning the UDON Kids table making a big splash with young readers and librarians.
I have a couple guests staying at my place - Steve Rolston and Jason Thompson, which is very cool. We stayed up chatting industry and art last night until the wee hours. Tonight Ryan's throwing some kind of webcomic party of doom, which should also kick butt.
The National Post asked me a bunch of questions about comics and the show. They've done these Q&A's with a bunch of the show guests so make sure you check them out.
I didn't want to say anything until I was sure I'd have them at the show but now that it's secure, I'm happy to announce that I'll be selling a mini-sketchbook filled with linework and a special full-colour booklet all about Photoshop colouring techniques. Here's the cover:
I've been wanting to do a tutorial book for a while, so pulling this together (at a breakneck pace) is quite a thrill for me. Inside is 28 pages of colouring techniques, file prep and general working suggestions for Photoshop-ery that I hope people will find useful. I go through a step-by-step process on scanning, prepping line art, building flats, using custom brushes and more.
If you're not attending TCAF, you will regret it! The guest list is stellar, the panels they have lined up look great and the festival is FREE... yes, FREE.
GO.
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May 5th, 2009
10:04 pm - Uh-Oh the Crow
I contributed a little comic strip to the Beguiling's wonderful kid friendly Comics Festival Free Comic Book Day giveaway issue.
Here it is:
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May 1st, 2009
08:21 pm
• Utopia Kingdoms is now up and running, with art by the same crew who worked on Zork with me. Good stuff.
• Our promo art for the re-release of Marvel VS Capcom 2 for Playstation Network and XBox Live is finally out, with more to come.
• My good friend Howard Tayler is compiling a fun book of dungeon mastering advice with classic fantasy/RPG author Tracy Hickman called Xtreme Dungeon Mastery. He asked me if I'd be up for colouring a cover piece he drew and I happily accepted the assignment. He wanted a simple cartoony look, much like my Zork stuff. Click the link to check it out.
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10:42 am - Post Calgary 2009
The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo went amazingly well, as per the usual. Great people, great sales. If you're a pro and you don't want to exhibit at that show next year, you're crazy-pants.
Barbecuing on massive grills up in Banff/Canmore while snow pummeled us was epic:
Needless to say, Stacy and I had a fun weekend.
May is here, TCAF looms ever closer and the summer promises to be ridiculous. I'm excited (some times a bit afraid too) and pretending that I'm ready for it.
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