This message is a year overdue, but if anyone is still checking this, I am no longer posting here. Please checkout SubmarineSubmarine.com for further news, art and comics updates. There is a Comics Page with several full comics to read for free, an Illustration Page, and a Sketches Page. And there is also information about my two books, I Will Bite You!, and Annie Sullivan: and the Trials of Helen Keller.

Thanks,
Joe

I opened up a shop. The SubSubShop! There you can find the following watercolor sketches.


Watercolor on Bristol
8.25" x 7.875"


I have started keeping a "sketchbook" of loose pages of bristol in addition to my regular bound sketchbooks, so now I can sell pages if they end up okay.


Watercolor, and India Ink on Bristol
8.25" x 7.875"


I still doodle without any real planning and do everything straight in ink or paint.


Watercolor, and Pen on Bristol
8.25" x 7.875"


Buy these at the SubSubShop.
There should be more on the way. I'll keep you posted.

PS. I have also been making adjustments to this blog, I apologize if there have been any necessary posts in your RSS feed reader this afternoon.

I was scheduled to be in Charlotte, NC. at Heroes Con this weekend, but due to blah blah blah I have changed my plans. It truly breaks my heart to not go to Heroes this year, it would have been my fourth year in a row. This show has become a staple in my convention season and a great way to give myself perspective on my place in the comics world since this is the only superheroey con I currently exhibit at.

Those of you attending, be sure the check out everything in Indie Island, buy everything new from AdHouse, and go to a Richard Thompson panel.

Above: a screen-print I did for CCS, advertising their presence at Heroes in 2010
Below: a print I did advertising my presence at Heroes in 2009
(note: subsequent versions of this print have slightly different colors and no "Heroes Con 09")

I made these prints recently. If you're interested in buying one let me know. Joe(at)SubmarineSubmairne(dot)com.


8.5" x 9.125" full-color digital print on ivory cover stock
$10 (price includes shipping)

And I also have the original art available too:

6.875" x 7.5" watercolor on bristol board
$75 (price includes shipping and a copy of the print)

and here is a detail of the original watercolor:

Just a reminder that you can still sign up for The Center For Cartoon Studies' Summer Workshops. They have been doing these workshops for a long time now and this year they are offering more than ever. Tons of info HERE.

Above is the poster I designed. It was weird doing it because I wanted it to feel summery, but I did it months ago when it was gloomy and sunless here in Vermont. Looking at it now, in the midst of VT's beautiful Spring transformation I am tickled by how over-the-top I went with that lemon-yellow: I REALLY needed that sunshine! And a popsicle too.

Below is a photo of a printed version of the poster. You can't really tell by the photo, but this version is enormous, about 4 feet tall!

Above is a preview of the Helen Keller story I'm currently working on. It's my full-time job right now and I have tried to avoid doing anything else. However, here are a few of the side projects that I did end up doing (happily) over the last year:


I am very proud to have six full-color pages in the next issue of MOME (#22, the FINAL issue). Being in Mome is an absolute dream come true.






drawn with nibs and pens, the color stuff is watercolor.
Mome 22
(I think it's coming out sometime this summer?)


I have a two-page full-color story in Root Rot, a forest themed anthology edited by Michael DeForge and Annie Koyama. I haven't seen it yet, but it's surely going to be amazing.


drawn with a g-nib & ink.
Root Rot
(debuting in May at TCAF)


I have a ten page black & white story in Sundays 4. This issue of Sundays was edited by the lovely Chuck Forsman. The book is a real gem!




drawn with a nib & ink.
Sundays 4
buy a copy here


I also have a two-page black & white story in Jose-Luis Olivares and Melissa Mendes' endlessly endearing KIDS anthology.


drawn with a nib & ink
KIDS
buy a copy here

I made a page for my book. You can find it at the top of my blog, or right HERE. There's a bunch of photos of the book and this video preview and all the other info on the book you would ever need.

My book is debuting this weekend at the MoCCA Festival,
taking place Saturday April 9th and Sunday April 10th 11am-6pm
At the Lexington Avenue Armory
68 Lexington Ave (Between 25th &26th Streets)
New York City


I Will Bite You! and Other Stories is 128 pages
2-color throughout except for 1 full-color signature
Pre-order HERE


If you're in the area come check out the show and stop by row H and say hi.
My publishers, Secret Acres (who have recently blogged about their time at CCS) will be at H14 where I will be most of the time, signing books and sketching sketches. Please come by and buy a bunch of books so my publishers will feel their putting up with me is justified.

Speaking of putting up with me, I'll also be at two other tables at MoCCA. The SUNDAYS table is at H15, right next to Secret Acres. This last week I grew my first gray hair while inking and coloring pages for my next book during the day, and printing and binding Sundays4 in the nights (among whatever else I have going on in the rest of my life).


This first gray hair is a physical reminder of my anxieties and stresses, but it also matches the single white hair on my dog's back, bringing me one step closer to being one of those owners who looks just like his dog, which makes me smile.


Something else that makes me smile? SUNDAYS4, the newest baby from the Sundays Anthology collective. This time around Chuck Forsman handled the majority of the editing duties, selecting the theme and sequencing the contributions, and organizing pretty much everything that needed to be organized. Damien Jay, a contributor to the book, designed the gorgeous covers, while Alex Kim and I screen-printed them and bound them with Chuck down in the CCS lab. We used the faux-square binding I came up with a few years ago for the Sundays2 book. Here's a process description with the Sundays3 book.


Sundays4 (Forever Changes) is 134 B&W pages from 21 contributors
hand-pulled screen-printed covers (3 colors on the front, 2 on back)
digital color inside covers
limited to 300 copies, each one hand numbered
binded with love
If you're not going to be at the show you can order a copy HERE.





Also debuting at MoCCA and also at the Sundays table will be KIDS, an anthology edited by José-Luis Olivares and Miss Melissa Mendes.


KIDS is about kids, and it's very good, I just read it last night.
KIDS is 68 B&W pages from 13 contributors
B&W cover with hand stamped title letters!


A few tables up at H11 I will also (I swear I can be at three places at once. You'll see!) be at the One Percent Press table with my buddy JP Coovert. This is probably where I'll have most of my mini-comics and prints (previewed below). Ol' JP will have three brand new prints and part two of his new fantasy series There Must Be More (above). Check part One HERE. As most of you have seen, JP's work is spiraling out of control with freshness and innovation these days. He's always been good, but these days... damn.


Now, it'll probably just be me and JP at the OPP table this year, but we'll still have stuffs from our guys Stephen Floyd, James Hindle, and Alexis Frederick-Frost, including Alexis's comic Courtship of Ms Smith which was just nominated for the 2011 Kukoc Award. He's in good company with that nomination for sure. Vote HERE.



Next to OPP will be the Tugboat Press/Alec Longstreth table at H10. I won't be at this table, but Alec and Greg Means will be, and you will probably want to be. Make sure you have the most recent Phase 7 issue and the latest Papercutter, of course, but also keep an eye out for issue two of Alec and Jon Chad's Drop Zone zine, their expertly designed and produced pinball themed zine, which was recently nominated for an Expozine Award for best English Zine (I think. I can't seem to find the link now, but I'm pretty sure I'm right).


I don't have the time to list all the other friendly tables right now, but I assure you there is endless talent over at row M.

I remember there being a lot of grumbles about last year's show, mostly from cartoonists complaining about the expenses and certain hiccups in the way the show was run, and I'm sure there will be things to complain about this year, BUT I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. I'm very aware that comics aren't for everyone, and I know that my comics aren't for everyone that comics are for, so it's refreshing to be able to connect and talk to you guys who do read my comics. I'd love to hear your feedback, to learn a thing or two about what works and what doesn't and why. I need to justify this gray hair!

Come by and say hi!

(that's what I look like)

I Will Bite You! and Other Stories has arrived from the printers and is now available for PRE-ORDER via Secret Acres.

Info from the publisher:
128 pages. Two-color interiors (black & yellow) with a 16 page full-color section.
Includes "Turtle Keep It Steady," "I Will Bite You," "After School Snacks," and a couple new stories.
Books will ship Monday, April 4th.

I will be at the MoCCA Festival in NY next weekend (April 8th & 9th) if you want to pick up a copy from me in person.

The book and I will be at the Secret Acres table (H14). I will also be at the One Percent Press (H11) table and the Sundays (H15) table (who will have the new Sundays 4, more on that later).






I'll post more previews of the book later leading up to MoCCA.