As you might remember, I was a guest artist participating in the declassification of Operation: For the Love of Russia over at Eben07.com. Let me refresh the memory of the uninitiated:
Well, it is my privileged to announce the publication of the 52 page trade paper back of the complete secret agent comedy, Operation: For Love of Russia. D. Bethel and Eben have created a fantastic book of which it was an honor to be a part.
If you are anything like me, you go to the comic book store once a week to browse the new releases and pick up a couple of choice books. This week as you consider your comic book purchases please consider picking up your very own copy of Operation: For Love of Russia for the incredibly reasonable price of $10.
So whether you want to see yours truly, Jay Zuck, in print or you’re a comic book fan looking for a great read, consider supporting good art, good writing and this great finished product.
I always thought it would be cool if my website was a piece of art in and of itself. The question is how do I make it a piece of art and not distract from the diverse art I post everyday? This will take some discovery and experimentation, but the header seemed like a good place start.
My header has in fact been a source of much contemplation over the last nearly six months of keeping up my website. I have been mostly content if not entirely satisfied with the simple header I have been using, my thinking being that my art should speak for itself.
This being said, my basic criteria for a header is as follows:
Readable
Reflect and convey my artistic identity
Not distract from my daily artistic musings
I also don’t really want to develop something that is so polished that it depersonalizes the site. I have a very personal connection with my art and I want your experience of it to feel personal as well.
And now, I put it to you. I have developed my first header option. Should you be some wayward follower from the future and my site header has already changed, here is how my header looks today:
And while I may have run a foul of a few of my own guidelines this is the new header option I have designed (click for a larger view):
The crazy cool and potentially distracting design in the background comes from a section of an original Simian style piece which I have yet to blog. The lines are classic pen and ink which I inverted in Photohop.
For me, it satisfies the personal requirement and it may be readable enough. My big hangup is whether it might be too distracting from my art. My brother loves it and I’m still on the fence. Feel free to tell me what you think.
From 8:30 – 9:30 pm tomorrow night (March 28th), yours truly will be flipping out the lights. Crazy stuff I know, but worldwide perhaps more than a billion people will be participating in a symbolic effort to fight global climate change by participating in Earth Hour.
The folks over at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are encouraging twittering, live blogging, and so forth during Earth Hour, but I am going to take things one step further. I will not be blogging or using the internet and in fact, my computer will be proudly powered down.
There is no one act the will put an end to global climate change, but we can all do out part to build awareness and commit to the process.
As someone once said, “it is always darkest, before the dawn.” Well, here’s to the dark, and may the dawn be soon follow.
Update: The world has started to go black (even though it is not 8:30 PST for me yet). Anyway, if you participated in Earth Hour and are just now coming across the page now, drop a comment and let me know what you did.
I was getting ready to go to bed when my brother said, “Hey, you aren’t going to do a Saint Patrick’s Day post.” I was tired, but I said I would give it one try and see how my quick and dirty skills are holding up. I was happy with my quick draw skills and the rest is history.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everbody. Don’t drink and drive. You know even my Leprachaun has a designated driver and he is a legendary magical creature.
1. The New York Times is introducing a graphic book bestseller list. There will even be separate categories for hardcover, softcover, and manga.
I don’t think I will give up my Wizard magazine just yet and what’s the deal with calling my graphic novel which itself is just a collection of comic books a chimerical graphic book. Baby steps…
2. The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian has opened an exhibit entitled “Comic Art Indigene.” That’s right comics are indigenous baby!
The origin of sequential art is depicted with rock art, ledger art and ceramics as its evolution toward the modern comic is revealed.
You see comics aren’t just taking over the world in their primal way they have always exerted more influence than they are given credit.
3. With a comic book fan in the White House, the geek-in-chief and hero of hope President Barack Obama helped Spidey release the best selling comic in over a decade.
4. Drawing from another New York Times headline, the financial crisis has a solution rooted in comic superheroes. Rob Cox and Antony Currie declare, “Citigroup, Turn on Your Bat-Signal.”
Here comes the Justice League to spare us a continued financial meltdown by being recruited as the first ever superhero board of directors.
