Asian Heritage Month 2011!

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

It’s May, which also means it’s Asian Heritage Month! Every year for the Asian Reporter’s special Asian Heritage issue, I’m tasked with coming up with a main illustration for the issue. I documented some of the struggles with coming up with an illustration on the brownpaperbag blog last year.

This year went a little better than last year, and I’m pretty happy with the illustration:

Of course, you might notice that I approached it conceptually the same way that I did the piece I did for the Local 5 show.

Like I’ve said before, I like to recycle! Even ideas!

News/Art Dump April 26th

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

I had a pretty busy week last week, so I didn’t really get to post at all, but I thought I would sort of do a dump of some things that I’ve been meaning to post about.

First off, a couple of weeks ago, was the Stumptown Comics Fest, at which I did a lecture on Pacing & Rhythm in Comics. I was pretty nervous and kicking myself for not picking an easier topic the day before while I got the presentation together. The reason I was kicking myself was because I kept wishing I picked a topic a little less abstract, and a little easier to make concrete. Anyhow, I really have a passion for the subject, and in the end, I think that helped me get it done.

I was pretty nervous until I hopped up on stage, when my teacher instincts took over. Anyhow, the lecture went really well – it was standing room only, people seemed engaged, and there were questions asked. Good times.

Since I’m looking to get back into teaching, I was thinking of making a section on the website for resources for educator and librarians for teaching comics. I’ll probably record and post a version of the lecture up there. I’ll keep you updated.

Also, here’s an illustration I did for the WW last week. You can read the article here.

Also, the initial pitch for the Searchers got turned down. It got me pretty bummed out for a little but, but I’m not discouraged. I still feel like I have something there that should be fun to read, fun for me to draw, and very personal. I think it does mean that I’m probably gonna slow down the production on it for a bit to work on some other things at the moment.

Oh, and one more thing: THERE IS ONE LAST DAY TO BID ON ARTWORK FOR THE AUCTION FOR THE WSD! There are still lots of good pieces that don’t have any bids on them. Go bid on some of those pieces right now!

‘Pressure & Release’ linework preview

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

So there’s an art show happening next month at the Local 5 gallery featuring art by people that work at Powell’s. The theme is ‘Pressure & Release’ and people were asked to give an honest portrayal of ones working experience.

I’m doing a piece, and I’m going to try to paint it with some simple washes. With high probability that I will screw it up, I scanned it in as insurance so that if worse comes to worse, I can color it digitally.

Anyhow, here’s the linework. I’ll post the finished piece, whether it turns out well or not, just so everyone can see how it went.

Also: There are still a lot of great pieces available at the auction for WSD. The auction got extended another week, too! Check it out.

Fall 2010 Macmillan catalog

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

So I got a package from First Second today! It was the Fall 2010 catalog, and it’s pretty awesome to see Americus in there.

It won’t be out until August 30th, but it’s still exciting to see all the little things building up to its release!

Pacing & Rhythm lecture at Stumptown!

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

Hey! Are you going to be at the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend? Are you looking for something to do between 1:00 and 2:00 on Saturday? If so, swing by room A104 and keep me company during my lecture on pacing & rhythm in comics.

Here’s the little blurb:

Pacing and Rhythm in Comics — The flow and pace of your story is just as important as the drawings or dialogue. Join local cartoonist Jonathan Hill as he talks about pacing and rhythm in comics. Using examples from his upcoming book with writer MK Reed (Americus, published by First Second), and examples from various other cartoonists, Jonathan will be discussing ways to think about pacing and rhythm using it as another tool to enhance your storytelling.

Hope to see you there!

Showdown!

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

Had some work for the WW this week. You can read the article here. It was pretty fun to draw, plus I got to fit a Neil cameo in.

Also, my friend and fellow illustrator Diane Rios has some work in this week’s issue, too! Make sure to pick up a copy if you live in Portland.

I might try fooling around with painting and what not this week. I have some other projects to work on, but I kind of want to get away from the stuff I’m normally working on and build some new neuro-pathways. We’ll see.

Online auction for WSD [UPDATED!]

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

UPDATE: The auction will be extended another week until April 27th.

Read this post to participate in the online silent auction to benefit the Washington School for the Deaf!

Continue reading →

MoCCA Apathea print

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

Here’s a quick mock-up of a print that MK & I will be doing as a promotional thing at MoCCA, which she will be attending. The colors might not be final, but the jist of the image is there.

End of post crazy rambling: While working on this, I thought of something, which I’ve thought of very frequently while I’ve been drawing lately. I’m horribly, incredibly dependent on line. I’m horrible at thinking in terms of shape and form. It’s something that I really, really need to work on. Might be worth it to play around doing some exercises that involve practicing developing that.

Last minute Americus pencils

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

So like I mentioned before, I had to do some last minute editing changes for Americus this week. Some of that included drawing new pages. I had to send them pencils to make sure that everything was exactly how they wanted it to save myself some redrawing if it wasn’t. It’s not very often that I document pencils, so I thought I would share them here.

I know, they’re pretty boring and look just like my inks. Ha. I guess there’s a reason I don’t really document them.

[Note: These pages will be added to the end of the climax of Chapter 2. If you want to read the entirety of this scene, you can read it online here.]

In case you were wondering, there was one last change that had to be made, and that’s the portrait in panel 5 on the first page. It needed to be a more natural picture showing the Burns family happy, not a posed family portrait.

Also, if you haven’t gotten the chance, Jason & I played the casting call game with Americus the last two weeks on the Save Apathea blog. We have an both indie and Hollywood versions of the film. He made two really awesome posters for each version. I can’t express how awesome they are. Check them out. They’re good for a laugh.

Mixed Media FTW!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Jonathan Hill

Still busy writing, though we got some last minute editing requests from :01 regarding Americus, which goes to the printer in three weeks. Just when I keep thinking it’s all done and done there’s still more to do. Looks like it’s crunch time!

Though I will say that I’m kind of happy because I have been itching to draw some pages, even if they’re for the book I thought I finished, and I think the changes proposed will really, really help the book be better.

Anyhow, got some work for the WW this week. Nice to do some drawing and take a break from writing, and to also break my new brushes in.

And yes, those are real, scanned eraser shavings, found in plenty below my drafting table. Though i had to digitally color them to match the eraser the teacher is driving cause they were originally white. Does that count as mixed media?

Don’t forget that I’m still taking art donations for the upcoming online art auction to benefit the Washington School for the Deaf. Get more details here.