Justin Parpan Blog

Winter Wonderland

2011-11-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here's some visual development I did for a recent JibJab short called Winter Wonderland. I was trying to explore the way different periods of the day changed the color and mood of the arctic setting featured in the short.

--Justin

Monster Skateboards!

2011-11-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Toxic Candy recently did a series of skateboards with me based on some of my monster characters!

Kamen Ryder vs Super Sentai Show

2011-10-30T21:13:00.001-07:00

My contribution to the upcoming Kamen Ryder vs Super Sentai Show taking place at the Q Pop Gallery November 12th.

--Justin

Bill Murray Show at Gallery 1988

2011-10-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here's my contribution to the Please Post Bills Show at Gallery 1988, a celebration of the awesome films of Bill Murray! The show opens November 3rd at the galleries Melrose Location.

"This is an Adventure."

Super Freak

2011-10-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

Some visdev I did a while back for a new JibJab Halloween video called Super Freak.

And here's a taste of what some of the finished BG's look like.

--Justin

My Big Foot Sightings

2011-10-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

JibJab recently gave us a few days to explore some personal projects. I've been wanting to do some mix media illustrations, so here's a couple of the images I came up with.

--Justin

2011-09-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here's another scene I forgot to add from my Birthday's Stink short.

Birthday's Stink

2011-09-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Some images for a birthday animation I designed for JibJab. You can check out the short here! Kevin Elam did the awesome animation for it.

--Justin

Small World Show

2011-09-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

My contribution to the small world show at the Gallery Nucleus this Saturday. Special Congrats to Joey on an awesome book and a great looking show!

--Justin

John Muir

2011-09-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone's favorite naturalist John Muir!

Monument Valley

2011-08-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick study of some cool rock formations in Monument Valley, Utah.

--Justin

New Big Foot vs. Yeti T-Shirt

2011-08-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

This new Big Foot vs. Yeti shirt design is now available on etsy. Check it out here!

--Justin

Now for Sale!

2011-07-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

All my new shirts and prints are now available in the old shop!

San Diego Comic Con!

2011-07-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

If you’re attending Comic Con this week and want to swing by the booth to say hello then this is your lucky day because here’s a map that can help you with your journey! I have a ton of new prints and cool monster shirts available, so I guarantee the journey will be a fruitful one.

See you soon!

--Justin

Comic Con 2011

2011-07-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

Here’s a piece I made for the Trickster event taking place across the street from Comic Con this year! The print is an edition of 10, so you can also snag a copy at my Comic Con booth. You can find me at booth 2206 near DC Comics!

--Justin

Comic Con 2011

2011-07-18T23:25:00.001-07:00

Here’s a few of the new t-shirt designs I’ll be selling at this week’s San Diego Comic Con!

Large Marge and Yuki 7!

2011-07-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of participating in two really cool gallery shows’ coming up this month. The first is the Pee Wee Herman show at Gallery 1988 opening on July 29th. A smaller print of my Large Marge piece will be available at Comic Con!

The second show this month is my good friend Kevin Dart’s Yuki 7 show at the Q-Pop gallery opening on July 16th! I posted the piece on my blog a few months back.

Billy Bones

2011-06-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Billy Bones is the newest monster in my series of Customizing Monster Kit Prints and will be available for purchase at next months Comic Con! You can check out the entire series of characters below which of course are all for purchase in my etsy store.

Happy Monday all!

--Justin

Tiny Werewolf

2011-06-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Soon I'll be showing you guys a bunch of new stuff for next months comic con, but until then here's a tiny werewolf.

--Justin

appalachian waterfall and desert mesa

2011-06-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Here's another round of Landscapes.

Forest and Desert Evening

2011-05-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm having a major dry spell with my work lately...everyone has a week or two like that I'm sure, so I drew these landscapes in an attempt to break free. Lets hope it works.

--Justin

20th Anniversary of Edward Scissorhands

2011-04-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is the piece I did for the Edward Scissorhands 20th Anniversary show that's THIS Saturday, April 16th, from 7-11pm at the Gallery Nucleus. So if you're in the area, and want to see tons of amazing work (including this exhibition upstairs, which I'm super pumped about) then you should come on out and say hello! I will be there part of the night, along with my brother Josh, and many other artists.

See you there!

Monsterpalooza

2011-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Trish and I went to Monsterpalooza in Burbank. Haruo Nakajima was there, the actor who portrayed Godzilla (among many other famous monsters) and was signing autographs for anxious fans. However, at 82, one can't really be expected to have the same kind of energy as a bunch of 20 years olds, so I found the scene pretty hilarious. Enjoy!

Bigfoot Birthday Party

2011-04-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

As a special treat, last week at work we got to do a new event called "The JibJab: Lab" where you get two work days to basically do whatever you want. It can be for the company, it can just be for yourself, but it should be something that inspires you.

As many of you know, I love cryptozoology, especially Bigfoot, and I've always wanted to try my hand at comics. So I decided to combine these two loves in a birthday eCard starring my favorite furry friends (and perhaps a ruggedly bearded version of myself?) By the way, the 16mm Patterson film is amazing, if you haven't seen it.

Mark Twain

2011-03-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here's an illustration I did of Mark Twain- one of my favorite authors, and one of my favorite rides at Disneyland, the Mark Twain Riverboat.

Fun fact: A recording on the other ship that sails the Rivers of America, the sailing ship Columbia, explains that they shout "Mark Twain" to let the crewman know that the water is deep enough to sail through. Anyway, enjoy!

Robot Summer

2011-03-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've been working on and off on this sketch whenever I had some time, but now it's finally done. I was inspired by Terrence Malicks' Days of Heaven poster.

In other news, I'm working on some new pieces for a few shows, including Edward Scissorhands and The Coen Brothers show, along with finishing up some freelance work, so I'm very busy, but in a good way. Hope all of you are doing well, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So Long to Ya, 2010

2011-03-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

This post has been a long time coming, but here's my work for the Year in Review short "So Long to Ya, 2010." This was a really awesome short to work on because it was collaborative and we really got to work with our hands a lot. Puppets, sculptures, set building, lots and lots of visual development... I worked on a little bit of everything for this one, which was great.

Our former Governator himself- Arnold!

Some sculptures I made for one of the scenes- General McCrystal and Hamid Karzai, who was holding a big sack of money.

Rahm Emanual, our former White House Chief of Staff, in concept and final puppet form. (Puppet by Mr. Mike Chiechi.)

The Incorrigible Glenn Beck.

A scene concept for when they sing about Immigration.

Some concept for the Healthcare Repeal.

Some character concept work on Vice President Joe Biden.

I also painted the JibJab logo to go with Mike's JibJab guys puppets.

This was some of the most fun I've had working on a short. I'm currently working with Mike on a new project, too, so prepare for more awesome puppet madness soon. Here's the short in it's entirety!

Mike has a Blog!

2011-02-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

So, my good buddy and coworker, Mr. Mike Chiechi, has started a blog for all his puppet-making mastery! I've worked with him on a few shorts, if you remember Cave Worms, and the most recent JibJab Year in Review ("So Long To Ya, 2010!"). Here's a few behind-the-scenes photos. (My hoodie blended right into the green screen.)

Yuki 7

2011-02-15T21:32:00.001-08:00

Here's my contribution to my good friend Kevin Dart's latest book, Yuki 7 Looks That Kill. This time around the amazingly talented Elizabeth Ito penned a terrific story to accompany Kevin's illustrations, and I have to say it's going to be a fantastic book! It's due out July 16th with a release party at the Q Pop Gallery in China Town, so be sure to show your support!

Justin

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Here's some recent BG work I did on a valentine production at JibJab.

This is a color script for some of the key scenes.

2011-01-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a story sketch for something I've been writing lately.

Justin

IS THIS THING ON? at Gallery 1988

2010-12-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here's my contribution to the the upcoming Is This Thing On? Show at Gallery 1988.I was assigned the very funny Steven Wright for the show. The opening reception is Friday the 7th at their Melrose Location and the show will be hosted by Funny or Die, so you know it's going to be a fun occasion!

Happy Holidays all!

Justin

2010-12-18T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'll be working on my piece for this show all weekend. It might be a late night tonight!

Justin

New Steve Zissoue Print!

2010-11-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

Reprints of my new Steve Zissou print are now available for purchase on etsy.

The Bad Dad's Show

2010-10-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here's my contribution to the Bad Dad's Show taking place at the Lopo Gallery October 30th in San Francisco, a show celebrating the films of Wes Anderson. Rushmore and Bottle Rocket were two defining movie experiences for me when I was a kid, along with all Anderson's proceeding work like Life Aquatic, so this piece was a lot of fun! I have a Dignan print ruffed out that I want to tackle next!

--Justin

The Bad Dad's Show

2010-10-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the flyer for the upcoming Bad Dad's Show in San Francisco next weekend. I'll be posting my contribution soon so please stay tuned!

Justin

BoingBoing

2010-10-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

BoingBoing did a cool post about the Haunted Mansion Show over the weekend!

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/09/art-inspired-by-the.html

the Ghoulish Guests of the Haunted Mansion Show

2010-10-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a painting I did for the Ghoulish Guests of the Haunted Mansion Show at the Harold Golen Gallery in Miami Florida. The piece is approximately 16 x 20 inches in size and was done using ink and acrylic. It was a real pleasure making this poster by hand after years of using the computer to make my illustrations!

The show opens Oct 9th and runs through Nov 6th

--Justin

Halloween at JibJab

2010-10-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some fun postcards I made at work over the past year or so. Thanks Mike and Alan for the use of your severed heads!

Justin

Monster's Vs. Robots show!

2010-09-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a print I made for the Monsters Vs. Robots Show at the very cool OhNo!Doom Gallery in Chicago. The show opens October 2nd and runs through the 30th.

--Justin

Blowin Down The Road

2010-09-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

Drew this while listening to some good old Woody Guthrie.

--Justin

2010-08-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I always like to start off my mornings by listening to David Lynch report the weather. It cracks me up every time!

--Justin

Tiki Oasis 2010

2010-08-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a few snapshots from last weekends Tiki Oasis 10. The show was a great success and I wanted to thank Trish and Josh for all their hard work. Thanks guys!

Here's a few of the plush tikis Trish made for the show. Some of them never made it back home to Los Angeles for unknown reasons. Sad story but true.

I'm already looking foward to next years show.

--Justin

Tiki Oasis

2010-08-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend is a convention I've been looking foward to all year long, maybe even more then the SD Comic Con, which is saying a lot!

The show is the 10th annual Tiki Oasis Extravaganza in sunny San Diego. It's a weekend of fun, music and partying...hopefully with a Mai Tai in hand....at the beautiful Crown Plaza Hotel, and I'm thrilled to be exhibiting my work at the shows marketplace. Trish Tatman will also be on hand selling some great work like plush Tikis and shrunken head keychains, so everyone should really swing by and say hello!

Speaking of the almighty Tiki, you should also head on over to my brother Josh Parpan's blog where he's posted some preview images for a children's book project we've been working on together for a few years now. I wrote the manuscript way back when I was a student at CalArts, and I'm really excited to see the awesome pictures he's contributing.

Nice work Josh.

2010-08-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

I drew this last night while listening to Neil Young's score from the film Dead Man. I've been in a sketching mood lately, so you'll be seeing more of these loose paintings in the next couple of weeks.

--Justin

Cave Worms

2010-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Every once in a while at JibJab a few of us get to collaborate on an offbeat little personal project. Cave Worms was one of the recent projects that I made with my good buddy and master puppeteer Mike Chiechi. Our friend Alan Cook filmed and photographed the short and Devin Bell consulted us quite a bit on the fabricating process. It's a rather strange addition to the Jibjab library, but I find it's quirkiness pretty charming. Mike and me describe it as our David Lynch style ecard for JibJab.

Here's the visual development work I made for the project.

I crafted the underground set piece out of Paper Mache and lots and lots of clay and sculpey. I wanted it to feel like an old Peter Gabriel claymation video.

Alan did a nice job lighting this guy as well.

Although that's me holding the puppet for a lighting test, Mike did all the puppeteering. The guy is a puppet wizard!

Here's the miniature cityscape I made. I used X-Mas lights to create the glow of the windows and it really added to the Ed Wood charm of the whole set piece. Again, Alan did a very nice job photographing it.

In all it was a really fun project to work on. Fine work Mike and Alan!

--Justin

Comic Con

2010-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

These past couple of weeks have been really busy trying to prepare for Comic Con. Here's me being busy...fun, right?

With that said, the Con is finally here tomorrow evening and as always I couldn't be more thrilled! Here's a nifty map Trish made that will help you scour your way through the nerdy depths of the convention hall in search of my table!

See you soon!

--Justin

San Diego Comic Con 2010

2010-07-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Summers in full swing folks, and you know what that means? Yes, it's once again time for the great migration of nerds, geeks and freaks to make their way out to sunny San Diego for the all mighty Comic Con! I'll be there once again at table F8, so please come by and say hello.

Here's the new prints I made especially for the show this year.

And for those who can't make it to the mighty Con, no fears. You can now purchase everything at my new Haunted Cove store on Etsy!

That's all for now. hopefully I'll be seeing a lot of you in San Diego next week!

Ray Bradbury

2010-06-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

In honor of Ray Bradbury’s 90th birthday, animation producer Steven Paul Leiva is putting together a collection of artwork that will be presented to the author in the form of a printed book. For my contribution I decided to make some book covers for my favorite Bradbury stories. This is a wonderful project and I encourage every one in animation to help celebrate the life and work of this amazing American writer.

--Justin

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here's something I made at JibJab for Earth Day. The official JibJab blog is also offering the illustration up as wallpaper for your computer desktop. You can check that out right here.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

--Justin

Scary Velvet Clown Painting

2010-04-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a postcard me and Trish collaborated on at work. I'm a big fan of those creepy velvet paintings of weird bits of americana like Elvis and manic depressive hobo clowns, so the artwork for this was a lot of fun. My computer was also full of a lot of scary reference material for the illustration, so I think a freaked out a few of my coworkers in the process.

--Justin

Best Friends Forever!

2010-04-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Something I made at work a while back. Happy Easter Weekend everyone!

--Justin

2010-03-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

I have Lizard Men on the brain lately.

--Justin

Lounge Lizard

2010-03-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

I recently started work on a Vegas Lounge Lizard print for Comic Con, something inspired loosely by the characters in Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the subsequent movie based on the book, so I've been sketching a lot of crazy lizard characters lately.

--Justin

Lava Man

2010-03-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a warm up sketch I did last night before starting work on some new prints for comic con. I'm back in the swing of things and putting in the late night hours so I can finish a bunch of cool stuff for the summer conventions, so be sure to check back soon for art and updates.

Happy Friday.

--Justin

2010-03-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

A quick drawing I made while brainstorming some new prints for the upcoming Comic Con and Tiki Oasis shows.

--Justin

The Mothman

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick sketch I did of the Mothman, a legendary creature seen in the sky's of West Virginia in the late 1960's. The monster was often observed around an abandoned TNT factory on the outskirts of the town of Point Pleasant, and some believers suspect the creature could be some sort of animal mutated by the chemicals inside the factory gates? Spooky stuff!

--Justin

Leprechaun Angry!!

2010-03-12T18:10:00.000-08:00

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up I thought it appropriate to post this postable I made at work the other week. The idea was a collaboration with fellow JibJab designer Trish Tatman, and I think it turned out pretty funny.

--Justin

Metropolis

2010-03-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is a drawing I made for my friend Nick based on the Maria character from the movie Metropolis. If you have a sec I also highly recommend you check out Nick's Cinema Analysis Blog which offers some great insight on classic movies and ideas about filmmaking.

--Justin

Drawings of Monsters

2010-02-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

zombie-a-go-go!

2010-02-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

Here's something I made at work this past week. The postcard marks the fourth or fifth time I've drawn a burning city at JibJab, which would be fine if not for the fact that all these projects were ideas I pitched to the art director. I wonder what that says about me? I guess all those Godzilla movies I watched in my youth left an impression on me.

--Justin

The Trip Westward

2010-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

I posted an account of my recent travels across country on my photo blog. If you guys are interested in things like old roadside Stuckey's and decrepit Calico ghost towns, then I would highly suggest you swing on by!

The Trip Westward

JibJab

2010-01-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of new postcards I made at work. Also, if you haven't seen JibJab's new short, Never a Year Like '09, you should definitely check it out. The short was done almost entirely in camera, and I think it came out pretty great!

--Justin

The Highways a Callin'

2009-12-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

Posting has been a bit scarce lately, and there's a good reason. I'm currently working on a book project with Josh Parpan, and doing more writing then drawing lately. I'll be talking more about this book project in the future, and until then, I leave you with a drawing from my notebook that I colored last night. It's an appropriate image as well, because I'm about to depart on a weeklong road trip across the country, driving from Indiana to California in a pickup truck. It should be a good way to spend the vacation.

Happy Holidays

--Justin

2009-12-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend I'll be selling my books, prints and toys at Unique Los Angeles, a cool craft convention in downtown LA. I'll be at Booth 4014, right next to Trish Tatman, so if your in the area and want to check out some great artwork and craft fun, please swing by!

This is going to be a busy weekend because The Hey You Guys Charity Event is also happening on Saturday Night. I have a print being auctioned off and I'm really excited to see the screening of Ghostbusters. It'll definitely be a fun night!

--Justin

Hey You Guys!

2009-11-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

The "Hey, You Guys!" charity event is coming up on December 5th. It's a swell event that works with Donors Choose, an online charity that supply public schools with some much needed cash for supplies. The event is at the Rialto Theater in beautiful Pasadena. It starts with a screening of Ghostbusters and ends with a silent auction where you can bid on some cool pieces of art created by talented folks in the animation industry. I hope you can all make it out to this really cool event!

I chose one of my favorite movies, PeeWee's Big Adventure for the subject of my contribution.

--Justin

Coming soon, hopefully!

2009-10-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a little poster I made for a bad grind house style film I want to make some day. It's about a giant monster called the Road Hog that feeds on the tourists traveling through the middle of nowhere deserts of California. The movie will have bad actors in it, along with a soundtrack by John Carpenter hopefully.

2009-10-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

Two very cool links this week:

The official JibJab Blog is offering up a few of my designs for your desktop wallpaper pleasure. Here!

The "official" Montauk Monster Blog showcased some of the drawings I made of the beast a few months back. My life is now complete. Here!

The Scythe

2009-10-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

The Scythe is another one of my favorite stories from Ray Bradbury. You can find it in his collection, the October Country. It's about a man who inherits a small farmhouse and discovers he's the heir for Death's job. Each blade of grass in the surrounding fields is a human life, and the character is tortured by an urge to reap the fields with his scythe.

I other news, Ape Con is coming up this weekend in San Fransisco. I'll have a table again this year, so I hope to see some of you real soon.

Happy October,

--Justin

Cartoon Brew

2009-10-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

I was in Seattle this weekend, so I missed this post on Cartoon Brew. Looks like Jerry not only plugged the Monster Mash short but my blog as well. Very cool news to come back to!

Here's the post.

The Monster Mash

2009-10-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

I recently had the pleasure of working on a Halloween short that was just released on the JibJab site today. The short allows you to cast yourself as a famous movie monster and utilizes some cool new JibJab technology.

The short can be viewed on the JibJab site!

Here are some of the backgrounds I created along with the logo I made for the short.

The bottom one is a bit of development art.

2009-09-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

'The Jar' from Ray Bradbury's collection of short stories, 'The October Country', is one of my absolute favorites. The book is filled with beautiful ink drawings by Joseph Mugnaini, and really captures the bittersweet childhood memories of the Halloween season for me. I made this after recently rereading the story.

Drawn!

2009-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

The cool website Drawn! did a nice post about my Customizing Monster Kit characters today. Check it out.

Thanks for the post John.

--Justin

Big Foot, the Legendary Hipster

2009-09-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Legendary monster known as Bigfoot haunts the frontier forests of Portland. He spends his days and nights whizzing through the woods on his skinny fixed gear bicycle while whistling a favorite tune by the Decemberists. But folks of the Pacific Northwest shouldn't fear this giant beast, because he's a vegan and the very thought of eating human flesh grosses him out.

You can find him in the Goblin Fish Press store later tonight, along with the new Space Cases print and Yum Yum Temple t-shirt!

--Justin

2009-09-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone likes a big old hug every once in a while, even the enormous and deadly creatures of the deep. Doesn't this beautiful embrace leave a nice warm feeling in your gut?

Happy Tuesday afternoon everyone.

--Justin

A New Banner has arrived!

2009-08-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Don't be afraid folks, change is good. This leads me to the topic of today's blog post, a brand new shiny banner! Yes, it's true, I've finally updated this thing and replaced the ancient dusty old banner with something a little more current.

Enjoy the new banner smell folks!

Here's a ruff version originally set in the late evening.

--Justin

Tiki Oasis in San Diego this weekend!

2009-08-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Before I go into details about the Tiki Oasis, I wanted to talk about Comic Con which happened a few weeks ago. It was by far my favorite year vending at the convention. Here's the quick recap: We sold a ton, had fun doing our usual after hour hangouts with friends, Josh, Joey, Trish, Elizabeth and The Fleet Street Scandal Boys, and I even sold a Teen Wolf print to one of my all time favorite directors, John Landis. It was an epic Con!

Now about the new convention. The 9th annual Tiki Oasis is this weekend in San Diego, and I have a table this year. Here's a brand new print I made exclusively for the Tiki Oasis event.

I'll also be selling a second edition of my sold out Yum Yum Temple shirt. It'll be a great show! You can purchase both items on the Goblin Fish Press store next week.

Have a good weekend all.

--Justin

Post Cards

2009-08-06T11:28:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the lack of posting lately, but I'm still recovering from Comic Con and now in full swing working on stuff for the Tiki Oasis convention I'm vending at in two weeks. I'll give you all the details about that one soon. Until then here's a new postcard set I made that's now available on the Goblin Fish Press store.

--Justin

Crazy 4 Cult Show Recap

2009-07-19T01:32:00.000-07:00

Here's my piece for the Crazy for Cult show at Gallery 1988. The gallery space was a little tight and humid from the amount of people packed inside, but it was so much fun! A few highlights from the show were definitely Israel Sanchez's piece from one of my favorite films, Rushmore, and of course Scott Campbell's Great Showdowns piece.

Hopefully I'll see some of you at Comic Con next week. So until then,

--Justin

Crazy 4 Cult Show this Thursday

2009-07-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

If your in the greater Los Angeles area this Thursday I think it would be awesome if you swung by the Gallery 1988. It just so happens that on Thursday the 16th that particular gallery is holding their annual Crazy for Cult show. I was asked to join the show and of course had to choose one of my favorite John Carpenter cult flicks, They Live! I grew up in the 80's seeing the video box cover for this movie at the Warehouse Video Rental store and had to pay homage!

Here's the ruff design of the illustration. I'll post the finished piece this Saturday along with some snapshots from the show.

until then,

--Justin

Yuki 7 Show Recap

2009-07-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the Nucleus Gallery finally held the long awaited Yuki 7 show which featured the works of Kevin Dart and various artists he asked to join in the fun. I'm happy to report the show was a complete success! The turn out was huge, and best of all Kevin sold a ton of Yuki Books and most of his featured prints. My own print also sold, which was of course extremely flattering.

All the work featured in the show is included in the Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7 Book. You can purchase it now on the Fleet Street Scandal site.

--Justin

Yuki 7 is Almost Here!

2009-07-02T10:02:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that Kevin Dart's Yuki 7 show is coming to the Nucleus this Friday! It's going to be a really swell party with some incredible artwork, music, cool people, and of course free martinis. It'll be a great way to start off the long July fourth weekend and I hope everyone can help celebrate the coolness of Yuki 7!

--Justin

2009-06-25T10:08:00.002-07:00

So things have been a little crazy lately. I'm in two shows this summer, the Crazy for Cult show at 1988 and of course my pal Kevin's Yuki 7 Show at the Nucleus. I've also been working on some cool business for Comic Con, so look forward to new Goblin Fish products like postcard sets and screen prints from my brother Josh!

On top of it all I have my day job at JibJab in Venice, Ca. The above postcard was something I made at work the other week.

--Justin

2009-06-17T22:57:00.001-07:00

If I could give you all high fives for checking out this work related blog post I would. But since I can't, I'll just say a simple HI to you all. So yeah, hi, and thanks for swinging by.

Also, I'm on Twitter now, so feel free to follow me if your interested in my work updates and late night ramblings.

--Justin

Montauk Monster number 2 & 3

2009-06-11T11:53:00.003-07:00

Some people say I'm more then a bit obsessed with the mystery of the Montauk Monster, and that I might have a problem with my new found addiction. But I'm not admitting I have a problem. I can quit drawing these nasty monster carcasses whenever I want!

--Justin

2009-06-04T09:52:00.001-07:00

This is something new I did at work. I was watching a certain Wes Anderson flick the week I made it.

In other news, I have a table at the Handmade Brigade in Cerritos, CA this Saturday. I'll be selling some new Goblin Fish Press goods and look forward to seeing some of you there. It should be a swell occasion!

--Justin

2009-05-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Montauk Monster, Number Two

Have a good weekend everyone.

--Justin

2009-05-28T10:34:00.002-07:00

"A Kiss From Tokyo" Theatrical trailer from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

Isn't this trailer absolutely amazing!

It was an honor for me to take part in Kevin Dart's epic Yuki 7 project. Be sure to check out the show at the Gallery Nucleus on July 3rd. It'll be the first time you can purchase the book and see all the amazing artwork created. It's going to be a swell time!

--Justin

2009-05-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I did a bit of fan art to commemorate the discovery last week of a second Montauk Monster corpse on a beach in Long Island. Strange stuff, right?

--Justin

2009-05-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Seeing that it's still Monday I thought I would post this postcard I made at work. I know the card is making a bold statement, but I hope you all agree with me on this one?

--Justin

2009-04-27T10:22:00.001-07:00

As of late I've been focusing on some of the brand new work that I'll be revealing at this Years Comic Con. I'm really excited and can't wait to post some of it! Until then here's something new I made during some recent down time. This blog has had a surprising lack of dinosaur based works, so I apologize and hope you enjoy!

Until next time,

--Justin

2009-04-09T10:09:00.003-07:00

Here's a postcard I made at work the other week. I kind of became obsessive about Big Foot sightings as I was working on it, and found myself searching the web for every grainy snapshot and hoaky YouTube video I could find. It all definitely sucked me in, especially the famouse Patterson film shot in the 60's.

--Justin

Presenting a shiny new Customizable Monster!

2009-03-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the 80's flick Teen Wolf, but if I had my own stab at the concept the scruffy teen would look something like this. He's a hot rodding Werewolf from the wrong side of the tracks who spends his full moon nights hunting cool cats and helpless young vixens though the local high school!!! He also strikes a rather alarming resemblance to cartoonist and father of the Rat Fink, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

Be sure to look out for more brand new characters in the Customizing Monster Kit line. These prints will be available at the upcoming San Diego Comic Con 09, and of course through my online, Goblin Fish Press Store.

Until next time,
--Justin

The Great Ozwald

2009-03-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a collaboration I recently worked on with the awesome Trish Tatman. While eating food at a little diner in Venice Beach I did a quick sketch of my usual breed of aquatic cyclops monster. A few days later Trish turned the drawing into a very cute 10 inch tall plushy dude!

Hopefully in the future there will be more collaborations like the Great Ozwald.

Also, In honor of St Patrick's Day I present a strange little project I was put on at work. I was asked to take some of my fellow coworkers and transform them into Leprechauns for our recently released Leprechaun Bailout video. The results were all rather disturbing, but still a lot of fun.

Check it out on the official JibJab Blog

--Justin

Yuki 7

2009-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked by my friend Kevin Dart to contribute to his amazing Yuki 7 book and show at the Gallery Nucleus. For those not familiar, Yuki 7 is a far out fictional movie franchise Kevin created. In his own words, "Yuki is the ultimate hip 60’s chick. She’s sexy, her clothes are to die for, and she can beat any man or woman in a game of cat and mouse. In the world of espionage, no one can keep a secret from her and no one can resist her charm."

I think that nicely sums up the world of Yuki 7. Here's the poster I made for the finale film in the Yuki franchise.

This is the synopsis of the film:

Secret Agent Yuki 7 is dispatched to Greece after a fleet of nuclear submarines vanishes in the waters of the Aegean Sea. The mystery leads Yuki to the remote island base of Dr. Calamari, a French oceanographer who controls the predators of the deep with his strange and unnatural sciences. With a legion of underwater monsters at his control, the doctor captures the war machines of the world in a bid to create an atomic super weapon with the capacity to flood continents- codename: Manta Ray. In her ninth and final film, Yuki 7 must stop the Doctor before he initiates a terrifying age of aquatic dominance upon the world!

Here's a bit of visual development I made early on for Yuki's nemesis, Dr. Calamari.

And Here's the finale ruff version of the poster.

The show opens at the Nucleus on July 3rd at 7:00PM. It will be a swell occasion and I hope everyone can make it.

--Justin

Shriner Madness!

2009-02-12T10:13:00.002-08:00

Work at JibJab and my contribution to the upcoming Yuki 7 show at the Gallery Nucleus have pretty much consumed my life as of late. To make up for my lack of posting I made this picture for you.

--Justin

2008-12-24T22:35:00.001-08:00

I'm back home for the holidays, and it feels nice to relax and drive to some of my old hangouts and haunts. Today I took a trip to Palm Springs. I saw the Cabazon Dinosaurs and went into the San Jacinto Mountains via the Ariel Tramway. It was a good day.

Speaking of Palm Springs, here's a recent Postable I made at work with that specific town in mind.

Happy Holidays everyone,

--Justin

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T23:46:00.001-08:00

Since I had nothing Thanksgiving oriented to show you, I thought I would share something I made at work for Halloween.

Ape Con!

2008-10-30T19:45:00.001-07:00

Howdy All! This weekend is the very cool Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. Me and my talented cohort, Josh Parpan will be seated at the Goblin Fish Press table number 519 where we will be selling our prints, books and toys! While your there be sure to also check out some of our ultra talented friends:

Kikutowne (539)
Fleet Street (333 & 334)

It's going to be a swell weekend, and I hope to see you guys there!

To celebrate Halloween I also wanted to show you something I made at my day job. This was an exciting little project I made at JibJab with our genius stop motion animation wizard Devin Bell.

Gorgon the Destroyer – Sarah Palin @ Yahoo! Video