COMIC CON

I'll be at San Diego Comic Con, once again this year. You can find me at table I-03 where I will be selling books, doing commissions and caricatures, and selling other little goodies.

How do you find me? Simply enter the hall, go back and to the right (towards the 700s), and look between the snack area and the bathrooms (a couple aisles away from the bathrooms).

I'm currently scrambling to get some resin toys ready (similar to last year), but I can't promise they will be ready in time, as I'm not a chemist... but I'm trying. I'm also looking to have a little ashcan sketchbook that I think a lot of people will be both surprises and happy with. More on that soon.

Lastly, you can scout me out to find out more about Moonbot Studios, my home for a couple years now, what we're up to, what we're about, our first iPad App (#1 on iTunes) and short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. I was lead creative designer and developer on this project, so I know the ins and outs, will have the App with me, and ready to share with all.

Comic Con is super fun, and if you have a chance to stop by and say hi, or email me and tell me what table/booth you may be at, I'd love to check things out, visit, get a drink, and have fun with you. I may also be doing a signing at Udon's booth for their MEGA MAN TRIBUTE book (I was selected for that thing), so check that out as well.

MORE SOON!

BIG update!

Leaving New York

Well, temporarily. I've done a good amount of work in the animation industry, in short spurts over the last three years and it's something I'm ready to take on full-time. While I don't want to get rid of my own ambitions like painting, illustration, publishing, and other new projects, I am pushing towards a career in animation, through visual development and character design.

This brings me to my new job, starting next week. I'll be heading to Shreveport, Louisiana on April 1st to help create storyboards and design on a new project with William Joyce of "Robots" and "Meet the Robinsons" fame. I'll be down south for about three months, and I'm really looking forward to working around the clock and creating a fun portfolio for this field in animation.

Sketch Infectus is out there

The pre-orders have been mailed and the book is stocked in the warehouse and ready for sale. I've seen a few reviews online (and won't discourage more!), and they are really positive and exciting! If you haven't seen it yet, drop by the Art Squared publishing website and take a peek. I'm quite proud of this book and hope you'll pick it up and get inspired.

Daily Sketchbook

With the aforementioned projects and time-consuming preparation, I've slacked a little on my updates and new personal goal to share something new from my sketchbook every single day. I'll do my best to keep updated, and here's another page from my sketchbook. This was just one of several fun warmup pages the other night... more sketches to come, this week.

Comic Conventions

I've been attending a few shows on behalf of myself and Art Squared Publishing, and they have been going great. Everyone visiting, getting their caricatures and books, have been delightful. Here are some photos from the most recent show, MegaCon in Orlando, FL:

The next appearances will be at the always amazing Toronto Comics Art Festival in May, then MoCCA in NYC. Hope to see you at either of those events. They are really fun and inspiring.

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MegaCon - Orlando, FL

I'll be in Orlando, FL next weekend (Feb 27 - Mar 1) for MegaCon at the Orlando County Convention Center. This is a photo from my table last year-- this year I'll have several more (NEW) books for you to peruse and purchase, and I'll be drawing caricatures of YOU! So drop in and say hi, I'll be at the Joe Bluhm/ Art Squared Publishing table, in the Indy Press section -- Blue 16.

Sorry for the lack of art here - I'm doing a LOT, I promise... I'll post some new art soon.
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Back from Deutschland, Back in Action!

Okay, so a lot has gone on since my last update here (sorry to all the loyal readers), and I'll be updating on a lot of things in the coming days/weeks/months.

(photo of me by Ismael Roldan, looking down the hill from the hosting hotel)

First thing: I just returned back from the Sebastian Krüger portrait painting workshop in Hanover, Germany. This is Krüger's fourth annual workshop, and there were 20 artists in attendance.

(Sebastian and Jeff Redford: a little too buddy-buddy?)

(Hanover Museum)

During this trip we took a tour around Hanover, learned (perhaps too much) about paint brush manufacturing details, saw Sebastian paint an entire finished (very large) piece, and had the chance to work on our own pieces, with plenty of tips and feedback from the master.

(Stefan, otherwise known as "German Joe Bluhm")

In attendance were artists from Brazil, Korea, Holland, Germany, United States, and Canada! These great new friends are from all over the spectrum - some in their '60s and some in their '20s, some professionals working in movies, some not artists at all (one dentist!), but each were more kind, talented and wonderful than you could ask.

("JerT" - Jeremy Townsend being all "Euro-cool")

This workshop is very reminiscent, in a couple ways, of the annual convention held by the National Caricaturist Network (NCN). Not that we were focusing on caricature, but there was plenty of inspiration, artwork, partying and building friendships. I highly recommend both this workshop (see Sebastian's blog for 2009 workshop announcements) and the NCN convention, held this year from November 2-7 in Raleigh, NC.

(click for larger version)

Here is one of the two finished paintings I worked on in the 3 days we had to paint (sorry for the bad photo- it's in the mail, on its way home). I feel quite invigorated and prepared to continue painting very regularly. Keep an eye out here for traditional paintings on canvas, from time to time (as well as some gallery shows next year).

As for my current work, I'll be finishing an illustration, publishing two art books and working on a third through Art Squared Publishing, traveling to the NCN convention, starting some new paintings, and possibly traveling down south in late October to do a few days drawing theme park caricatures (more to come on that topic).

By the way, Germany is FULL of windmills! Rockin' place.

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Comic Con

I'm back from Comic Con International (San Diego) and it was crazy. The show gets busier every year, and this was no exception. A sold out crowd was present, sweaty, and crazy-excited. I sold lots of books and did plenty of commissions. Even though it's a lot of work and quite tiring, I get to see so many good friends and meet so many great artists, fans and colleagues. I can't wait for next year.

I was quite inspired by a lot of the comic-book-art-nerdry, as well as all the great artwork at the show, so I recorded a new digital painting. This next one is more of a sketch and fun process, but I've been listening to the feedback and requests and will try to deliver. So quite soon I'll finish editing and post the new Digital Painting Podcast.

Check back soon!
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Working in New York

The city can get old... all the buildings, little 'nature', and the hustle-bustle of everyday traffic. But it can also be beautiful. At the animation studio we have a great deck observing midtown Manhattan from the 10th and 11th floor. When we get couped up, it's nice to see the city and sky. New York isn't all that bad.

(click image to see larger version)
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Live Caricatures #4

Here's another edition to the theme park sketch catalog. If you don't own a copy of REJECTS, this is the sort of sugar-booger love you'll find in this one-of-a-kind book, so get your copy soon!

(psst! I'm peppering new links to great friends and great blogs every now and then, so take a look at these wonderful artists' work, over here to the right!) >>>

These were drawn in California in 2007 while training caricaturists on the West Coast of the US.

Here is a good-natured family with a great sense of humor. This was drawn at Legoland, if I remember correctly.

A colleague at Knott's Berry Farm western themed park in Anaheim, CA. He's got a mean (good) caricature sketch.

Here are two brothers wanting bodies that contained their excitement for the (then) recently released Spiderman movie. This was done while working with my buddy Gabe Hunt at Legoland. One wanted to be Spawn and one "black" Spiderman. They were beyond excited.

This just a kid. He was funny. It looked like he.
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Have I ever drawn you?

While traveling around the US and Canada while promoting my book in 2007, I got the joyous opportunity (for me, at least) to draw many people who dropped by my table/booth. Some of you were sketched on the inside of your book in San Diego, some got a quick sketch in Toronto... no matter when or where it happened, I'd love to use these drawings in an upcoming project!

If I have drawn you this year, scan it at 300 dpi or higher and email it to me at:

blog AT joebluhm DOT com

I have a project for some of the images, and would love to have as many as I can to choose from. I look forward to your emails!

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San Diego

I just realized that I've spent roughly 5-6 weeks in California, this calendar year. I hope all my friends out there were not bitten by fire. Stay safe, and give me a call or email.

Live Caricatures

Here are some of the sketches completed in San Francisco at a wonderful little wedding reception. I had been invited to draw live caricatures in the west coast city after the groom-to-be got a hold of my first book. I was specifically asked to take a little more time on the drawings and to "not hold back" on the exaggeration. Needless to say, I made a couple subjects angry, but most guests had a great time and loved the art. I had a great time.

These are lightly sketched in pencil, inked with a Copic Brush Pen marker, then toned with PRISMACOLOR markers (30% gray, 60% gray).

detail

San Fran to New York

Well, I never thought I'd be that guy doing an assignment in the bookstore, in a different city, in the hotel room at night, or on the plane on the way home (on the day of delivery!), but sure enough I am now among those rushed, over-eager illustrators who takes on a tight schedule even when booked. Danielle (my girlfriend) says I need to set a more comfortable (padded) schedule, but sometimes things falls through for an art director and they need 17 illustrations in 5 days (no kidding)... someone has to come through for them:

(click image for a larger view)

This is for a local city paper in Santa Barbara, California. I was stuck in Borders Bookstore for about 4 hours while my friends traveled San Francisco and had fun. I sat there, buying and re-buying coffees (out of guilt, for occupying the space for so long) while I rapidly sketched from my laptop.

I ended up condensing my schedule so much last night, that I missed my red-eye flight back and had to get up at 5:00 am today to catch the first flight out.

San Francisco was great (from what I saw of it) and I had some good times with friends.

I'll post photos of drawings from the event I attended, tomorrow. I had fun and tried some grayscale shading with PRISMACOLOR markers. It was fun!

Working on the Road

Well, not really... I hope...

I'm drawing like crazy today, trying to get a few commissions finished for a West Coast city paper. This is a job I've done for two years now, and it's one of my favorites. I get to (yeah, get jealous...) draw caricatures in pencil, down to the collar, of people I've never seen. What a gig! Here's a little preview of one of the drawings:

Speaking of West Coast, I'll be visiting San Francisco for the first time. I leave tomorrow morning (Friday) and come back early Monday morning. I have an event to draw at, but it's a great chance to see a new city. I have some friends and old college classmates that live there, so it will be nice to see "their" city.

This is my last travel trip for the year (I think...), and it will be nice to spend more time in the studio.

Check back in for more paintings, illustrations, both of people and ANIMALS. I'm really inspired by some of my favorite artists and have been focusing more on animal art, animal caricatures, cartooning, design, and other aspects of mammals. I love the idea of "creature" art based on real designs from nature.