soulMaid debut in New York

soulMaid, the independent film my friend Jeff Maccubbin helped create is playing in NEW FEST 2007 (New York's Gay & Lesbian film festival)! Come check it out. I created a short animated segment for one of the chapters of the film, so I can't wait to see my drawings on the big screen. I hope they look good that BIG...

The official screening of soulMaid is on Saturday, June 9th at 10:30pm. Tickets are $13.


Here's a synopsis:
"Almost tailor-made for our new NewFest LateNight series, this campy comedy features an off-the-wall plot, cute boys running around in their underwear, and a unique production style – different directors each completed an individual chapter. In soulMaid, we meet Moses, a cute, sweet young gay man who makes money by cleaning apartments in his underwear. When he experiences an apparent religious vision while having a seizure, he finds himself preparing for the bizarre second coming of an entity named Glintentica. Can his roommate, Ruth, and the man of his dreams, David, bring Moses back to reality? Or will Moses convert them instead?"

Preview my animated segment here.


To find out more information about the festival, visit NEW FEST 2007.

See you at the movies!

You don't look anything like your profile!

Okay, I'll admit it. In the past I've tried online dating. Although, I found that the people you meet don't always resemble how they were advertised. Has this ever happened to you? Was your experience anything like my illustration?

Thank goodness I'm in a relationship now!


In other news, the recent death of a well known reverend is causing Teletubbies everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief.

Read more about this kind, compassionate, churchgoing fellow here.

More Puppet Show Backgrounds

This season the puppets venture to a bunch of new places: a creepy attic, an orchard, the dentist's office, and even inside the mouth of one of the puppets! These were fun to create. Mary Blair definitely influenced that orchard background.

In Context

As a friend pointed out, it's always easier to judge an illustration when you see it in context, so I'm posting the illustration below as it ran in print. I think the designer did a nice job of matching the text with the art. Usually, they disappoint me. I hope to do more editorial assignments!

Your naughty, naughty computer

I'm creating some illustrations that deal with online betrayal. Do you have any related stories to share with me for inspiration?

Are YOU a blurker? Practice blogenfreude? a blognonymous reader? Everyone with a blog knows these people exist. Will my real readers please stand up, please stand up? I dare ya... just to say hi.

Adding it all up

My ongoing wrestle with the art of illustration continues, folks. I'm constantly trying to hone in on a more complete and consistant style for myself. I want my work to exude 100% Justin: 50% style and 50% substance. BOTH are important. I've seen plenty of work that falls on either end of that spectrum. Hopefully, I'm landing somewhere in the middle.

Lately, I've been dedicating myself to three major endeavors: the kid's TV show, the Betty Boop project, and various illustrations for the gay weekly.

Breaking it all down, I probably spend my time and energy on the various endeavors as follows:
70% kid's TV show
20% Betty Boop project
10% gay weekly illustrations

This seems like a good breakdown, but I find myself wanting to merge the parts into a whole. You see, each slice of the pie fulfills a different need. The kid's show fulfills my quest to do something instructive and inspiring for others, the Betty Boop project fulfills my desire to do something more conceptual and artsy, and the gay weekly illustrations... well... I suppose they fulfill a need to service a community. The plan, my friends, is to eventually merge all of these goals into one focused concentration!

Until then, I decided to post a whole slew of illustrations I've done recently for the gay weekly. While I don't know if I consider these my best pieces, I think most of them do their job while still remaining true to me. The tricky thing about these assignments is that they accompany a column that usually focuses on sex and sexuality (it gets old after a while). While drawing dirty pictures is fun, I find that it doesn't lead to much income as an artist, so I've had to be subtle and delicate with the issues conveyed in these assignments. Hopefully, the following drawings illustrate their point without being too tasteless!


Can you guess what this one is about?


How about this one? That face on the screen looks predatory, yes?


Pull up a chair, because they'll probably get sillier and more suggestive as we go...


This one's gotta' be obvious.


I wonder what kind of personal accessory this one's about?


Are you feeling like a virgin or a whore today? Or both?


Don't you hate size comparisons?


Need I say a word?


Alright, time to clean up.

How to catch a bunny

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! This blog is becoming heavy on pictures and short on words. It's not because I haven't had thoughts to share... I just can't seem to find the time to write them down!

Oh yeah...the puppets

As much as I hate it, this season I have to create more foreground "walls" to conceal the puppeteers on the kids' show. Last season we used very few of these, and it was nice to work free of constraints. But it seems these "walls" and "shelves" come in handy when you're doing anything with characters that have no legs! Last season, their lower bodies were cut off by the bottom edge of the screen, and it really limited us to keeping all the action along the bottom edge. With tiered walls and shelves, we can utilize more of the screen with our puppet acting! Above is one of the first redesigned rooms for this season. I just can't help going overboard with all the little details! I'm really diggin' how the robot and "Super Squirrel" on the shelf turned out. I wish I had a playroom like this...

(Click on the image if you'd like to enlarge it.)

Mary Had a Little Plan

Here's more of my designs from the kid's show! I think Mary, here, looks a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit mischievious. This was a quickie cover for a prop of a children's book. We're discouraged from using written words on the props, so I had to illustrate that it was the story of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" without writing out the title.


And speaking of Marys, I've been looking at a lot of background art by the unsung, ingenious Mary Blair. She was a BRILLIANT color stylist and background designer who worked with Disney.


Stylistically related to Mary Blair, Kirsten Ulve had an exhibit here in the city that I saw the other day. It's amazing stuff, and I'm contemplating dropping some dough and buying a piece. We'll see. Check out her art because she's a true modern day Mary Blair!

Seeing that I'm surrounded by so much talent here in New York, I gotta' step up my work. I'm determined to make this season of the show much better than the last. Here's some background sketches from the episodes to come...where the characters visit an orchard, the dentist, and even the prehistoric era!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

I want to wish a very special birthday to my grandmother, Mimi, who turns 80 today!


I hope you have a wonderful day, because you are the most wonderful grandmother in the whole world.


You have always been so sweet, kind, generous, thoughtful, warm, and loving.


I've always loved your stories, sense of humor, and playfulness when we would play boardgames.


I think everyone aspires to turn 80 and be as beautiful, elegant, gracious, worldly and wise as you are.


You've given me your love, your time, your drawing experience, and you've even given me asthma medication when I was in need. That's the kind of grandmother you are, you know just what to say and do at all the right times and I appreciate it all. I always think about you and how you would bake cookies and cakes for me, Philip, and Patrick. I think about you and miss you when I see certain things...and this last photo reminds me of you. It will always be a reminder of how you would wait for us at the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park as we rode the rides. Afterwards, when we'd meet up with you by this calliope, we were greeted by the sounds of these little cherubs and angels playing music in the background. It's something I associate with you, because whimsy and happiness surrounds all that you do. I love you and hope you have a great day!

Dragons on Parade

This past Sunday I stepped out my front door only to be greeting by the sound of distant drums getting louder and louder. The beat got faster and faster...and louder and louder. Baracades lined the sidewalks and kept the growing mass of people crowded along the edge of the streets.


Before I knew it, colorful, swirling creatures rounded the corner and slowly made their way up the street, getting larger and larger, all the while zig-zagging in ceremonial patterns. Their undulating tails twitched and danced, and their large heads bobbed up and down, bowing and then freezing into various expressions as they gazed out at their audience.


Their eyes were lined with scales, fur, and ornamentation, all in various shocks of vibrant colors. Their nostrils jutted out above large, gaping mouths that snapped open and closed as they moved.


Children and adults danced around them, wearing masks and waving fans that corresponded to the rhythm of the dragons.


Every step was filled with excitement and delight, and all the creatures and participants crept past me as I stared from the sidewalk.


Just when I thought the last dragon had passed, another would emerge from the swarm of dancers and surprise me as it whisked past my face.


As I gazed at the oncoming waves of people, I caught sight of a great golden dragon snaking its way towards me.


Its jaw was fixed in an eternal grin as it weaved back and forth, in between amazed onlookers.


At one point, I could literally reach out and touch its golden scales as they flashed and flickered by.


I watched it elegantly slither past, gliding over the spectators and dancers' heads.


Next, a smaller–yet longer, serpentine dragon raced past, as if it was the child of the giant golden dragon. Its "trainer" was leading it through the ceremony with a brighly colored ball of bait.


Once the dragons had swept by, a formation of beautiful Chinese maidens twirled paper lanterns and sang in their wake.


Following all that elegance and pomp and pageantry was a large, cartoonish, red pig. Its unblinking eyes and bloated, Verizon-sponsored belly announced the new year: year of the pig! (Corporate pig?)


Suddenly, multicolored confetti exploded into the air everywhere around me, falling from above and fluttering to the ground.


I stared at it on the sidewalk, temporarily stunned by all the various shades of color my eyes were just exposed to.


Looking around at the decorations hanging along the streets in the aftermath of the parade, I couldn't help but think to myself, "what a beautiful, lucky day."


I think a magical shisa is surely looking out for me. I hope one is looking out for you, too.

Happy Chinese New year!