I'M LIKE HALF-WOLF.

I've been following the new season/series of Misfits... I don't know if I'm watching because it's genuinely good or because the new guy's face is, somehow, the best thing ever. Seriously, Joe Gilgun's facial expressions are amazing. So, on Friday, during a break from drawing other stuff, I did a quick sketch of his character and the quick sketch turned into a full-color Rudy Wade. There you go.

The first two seasons of Misfits are on Hulu for American viewers. The third, which features the new guy, will start streaming later this month. Here, have another Joe Gilgun picture and a song that Misfits totally ruined for me, LCD Soundsystem's "Get Innocuous!"...

OH GOD THERE'S INK EVERYWHERE.

I'm still alive! I'm trying to get things done and be a productive human being! I actually made and ate squash today like I'm a real person! Madness.

New work will be coming in a bit, but I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I've updated my shop with a few originals, including the one pictured above. Also! Since I won't be doing cons for a while and that's typically the only time I offer sketch commissions, you can grab a one-hour sketch from the shop. Details inside. I will only be able to take on, like, four or five, so this is a pretty limited thing. I don't know when it'll happen again.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll get my shit together and share something new soon.

EATING DOLPHINS AND HANGING OUT WITH LADY-SINGERS.

Parks & Recreation and I had a somewhat rocky beginning, but I believe those early obstacles allowed us to strengthen our relationship to be what it is today. Seriously, I'm a big fan now. I'm totally gonna be Ron Swanson when I grow up. Or Jean-Ralphio. I don't know, there are a lot of factors to consider... Mainly how douchey I become (most signs currently point to Jean-Ralphio).

I oh-so-cleverly used tonight's season premiere as an excuse to draw some Jean-Ralphio and Tom. I don't think Jean-Ralphio does ties, but I liked the way I drew that hand, so I left it.

What's that? You want another drawing of Ben Schwartz? Well, that's a strange thing to request, but I guess I could upload this other sketch I did while watching "Jake & Amir" videos. I know a lot of illustrators have taken to doodling Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson pics -- AND FOR GOOD REASON -- but I submit that Ben Schwartz/Jean-Ralphio is equally fun to draw. I think it's the hair.

Aaand that makes three updates this month with actual new artwork. I'm really determined to keep this blog alive, even when I can't post my professional work. We'll see how long I can maintain this stupid go-getter attitude. "Oh-ho-ho," she laughed knowingly.

"Jean-Ralphio" count: 6

PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA.

I did a guest comic thing for Warren Ellis's Three Panels feature. Above is the full-size third panel, which I had to crop in a weird way to keep the writing legible at 640px on Warren's site. Click here to see the full comic. My friend Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi also did one.

I've been thinking a lot about this concept over the past few months. I had "PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA" scrawled repeatedly in my notebook and those words regularly bothered me, so I eventually forced myself to draw this, just to get it out of my brain so I can never think about it again. I think my exact words were "Deliver me, inky exorcism." And yay! I'm free. Now I can get on with my life. I guess.

Oh, these are some pictures I threw on Twitter and Tumblr while I was working. This actually strayed pretty far from my typical process. I usually use pens more than brushes or digital linework.


And this is how I look after staying up 'til 6AM last night for no good reason.


Okay, back to real work.

THIS CROP MAKES ME LAUGH.

I bet you're rolling your eyes at me if you also follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, because I've been going on and on about this... But it's my first printed comic work, so LET ME HAVE THIS MOMENT.

Okay, so, basically, I illustrated a short story in the penultimate issue of House of Mystery (#41, out today). I may have had too much fun doing it -- I got to sneak in a robot with a hand grenade! And used fight scenes as an excuse to study clips of Mac from Always Sunny! Also, I showed the cover (by Esao Andrews) to my mom on Skype and she screamed. There's your stamp of approval. Thanks to Greg Lockard, Matt Sturges, Shelly Bond and the folks at Vertigo.

I can't wait for you guys to see what else is coming up. I just need to learn how to work faster and stop nitpicking at every line and maybe cut down on these very time-consuming ham + cheese toasties.

Oh, and speaking of ham and wanting all of it, if you've already seen Patton Oswalt's great new special, you may enjoy this silly sketch I did while watching it this Monday.

STREAMING FLAXEN WAXEN.

Here are two portraits for "Hairy Baltimore," a book featuring interesting coifs of various folks around the city. Illustrator Alex Fine is putting together this exhibit/book for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and the Baltimore Book Festival, and he asked me to be one of the twenty illustrators to provide the forty doodles. And you know I can't resist drawing some bitchin' locks.

... "Some bitchin' locks"?

I'm super-curious to see what reference photos the other illustrators were assigned.

I also got a haircut recently, but I don't know how to style it properly so it just kind of looks like a black cat flattened itself out and mounted my skull.

THERE WAS A WHIP INVOLVED AT ONE POINT.

I attended Dr. Sketchy's NYC for the first time and enjoyed a bit of Zorro-themed drawing. I had a weird moment during the session when some sort of, like, lost memory resurfaced and I suddenly remembered that I actually watched a LOT of Zorro when I was a kid. Y'know, the old black and white series. It used to be on the Disney Channel until the early 2000s, I think. I had really forgotten all about it until I was in the middle of drawing the model's mask for the third or fourth time.

Said mask was not on the model during this pose, as he had passed on his hat, cape and mask to his topless co-model lady (not pictured). His black blouse-y puffy shirt just disappeared altogether though, which was maybe for the best.

Some more substantial updates to come. Soon. I mean, I think. I've got some stuff I need to finish. I'm being pulled in ten different directions right now. We'll see. UGGGH GET OFF MY BACK GEEZ.

I SPECIALIZE IN LONG-HAIRED LADIES WITH WEIRD GLASSES.

This is part of something I've been working on with M-Edge for the past few months. This specific illustration was for a custom iPad jacket, sent to Rachel Zoe. We later got word that she loved the cover, which is always pleasant to hear. There's a feature on The Zoe Report today, where you can see the final product.

M-Edge makes some damn spiffy covers, by the way. They've got a new thing called MyEdge where you can design your own e-reader jacket. Once I finally get around to killing a weak-looking person in a secluded late-night subway car for their iPad, I'm so totally going to make a super-cute cover.

ART FOR JAPAN.

Just a very quick post to let you all know there are about four hours left to bid on the original inks from my punk JLA illustration. This is all part of the big ART FOR JAPAN effort that has been going on for the past few months and all money goes to AmeriCares for Japan relief. I've been linking this on Twitter a lot and I just remembered I didn't blog about it, which is a bit terrible. Sorry. There are plenty of other great listings for the campaign here. I got a creepy-cool tote bag a few days ago.

I'll have a proper update soon. I'm dealing with a few different projects, one of which was just announced -- a short story in Vertigo's 'House of Mystery.' Additionally, I moved to New York a few weeks ago, and I'll be disappearing to London in about nine days. So things have been and will continue to be a bit... interesting. This guy has been my Twitter avatar for a long while, if that explains anything about what's going on in my brainbox.

THIS WON'T MAKE THE 24-HOUR NEWS CYCLE.

There hasn't been much activity in my shop in the past few months, but I've just done a massive update and I'm re-launching it. You can now browse original art, prints, bigger prints, a handful of postcards, and even t-shirts (sort of). Most things are in very limited quantities, including prints.

I think I'll only be able to keep the shop up until the end of the month, when I'll mostly likely put the whole operation on hiatus again so I can focus on moving. I hope something strikes your fancy. If you've got any questions, feel free to e-mail me or use this weird form thing.

BILLIONS IN THE DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE INDUSTRY.

I drew this thing for a thing that's going to be at Dragon*Con. Although I will not be attending the convention this summer, I am contributing a small illustration for the fan-run People's Republic of Venture table. This is a slightly edited version of the final piece. More details at a later date. It's gonna be cool.

Oh, did you hear that Venture Bros. has been renewed for two seasons? And will also have a long-form special? Yeah? Yeah.

In other news: My weird girls from 'The Birds: Twins' are going to be featured in the upcoming SPECTRUM 18. I'm very honored to have my work accepted again ('A Dead Sheriff In Little Wichita' was in 17). Here's the full list of artists.

WILL IT EVER CLOY?

Above, a cover illo from the zine I sold at MoCCA. I was looking at a lot of pictures from The General while drawing it -- Buster Keaton's long black hair was all, like, fuckin' luxurious and shit.

And now, have a few con sketches that I did and actually remembered to (sloppily) document.


Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table. A lot of familiar faces, a lot of new friends. And if you ordered postcards from me, I promise the second half are going out in a few days! I'm going up to NYC again tomorrow to start looking for an apartment, but as soon as I'm back, I'll pack and label the rest to ship out. Besides, I probably wouldn't get these addresses right when I've got moving anxiety screaming through my skull.

I'll leave you with this tattoo from a gent named Toni from Sweden. Pretty cool, man. Pret-ty cool.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE ILLUSTRATORS FROM QUITE A LONG WAY AWAY.

The Society of the Okay is going to be at MoCCA Fest in NYC this weekend! Table D6. Here's a super-quick group portrait so you know who to look for.

From left to right: Emma Rochon, Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi, me. That's EXACTLY what we look like. All thin and 2D and hastily rendered. YEP. Here are the group portraits Emma and Ariyana did.

A massive, massive thank you to all who bought postcard packs and hassled your friends into doing the same. I will have the remaining five-ish accompanying me to MoCCA Fest, sitting nicely with my prints and newly printed zines/mini-books. Here's the bellyband I settled on, by the way. I typed it in as dummy text but then decided it was stupid enough that I wanted to keep it.

MOCCA PRE-ORDER DEETS.

So. I'm going to be at the MoCCA Festival in NYC from April 9 - 10 with Emma Rochon and Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi, as The Society of the Okay at table D6. Among other things, I'll have postcards for sale! But if you can't make it to MoCCA Fest, the postcards are also in my online store.

It's the first time we're doing MoCCA and, while I want to make sketches available, I'd like to try and spend more time interacting than drawing at this con. Let's give this a go... PRE-ORDERS. I ink up something nice-nice before MoCCA and you can pick it up from my table at the convention. Easy.

I don't anticipate a flood of requests, so I'm accepting pre-orders until April 6th. My 2011 con pricing is $20 for inks on 9x12 Bristol. Level of detail is this-esque, but probably a bit more because I'll be drawing at home without rush. I'm asking for payment through PayPal but if that doesn't work for you, we can figure it out via e-mail.

I have no more convention plans for the rest of 2011 (or the near future, honestly -- not as anything other than a fan/attendee, anyway) and Artists Alley adventures are the only time I do commissions at this rate.* If you are interested and will be attending MoCCA, please contact me at anniewuart [at] gmail [dot] com.

... I think that's it. Thanks, and hopefully I'll see you soon!

* I've been getting some requests for other sketches to be mailed out and, unfortunately, I can't do those right now. I can offer con sketches for cheap because they're done within the tiny window of time I've set aside to prepare/attend the con anyway and they're picked up in-person. All other individual commissions fall under other rates and I currently don't have the time to give them the attention they require since I'm also freelancing full-time. I'll make a big, obnoxious announcement if/when I start doing those again. Promise.

EVER CIRCLING SKELETAL FAMILY.

A few months ago -- for god knows what reason -- I made some dumb joke about David Bowie running a fat camp. Last night, these notes resurfaced and I decided to work off a sugar high (and practice my cartooning) by turning this idea into a fake pitch. The Thin White Duke's fat camp. God, it's so stupid, but this is what happens at 4AM.

Ultimately, I only got as far as two characters. I couldn't even bring myself to ink and finish the fat little campers because they were just too ridiculous. I can tell you they all had baggy white t-shirts with the Aladdin Sane lightning bolt, though. Anyway. Here's David Bowie as the director of a fat camp. And this is his adorable assistant, Jackie -- I'm sorry, I had to.

Now that I've gotten those drawings out of my system, here are a few reasons why such a kids' show could never, ever exist: A) It's David Bowie and he's too good for this nonsense, and B) it's hard to animate so much milk and cocaine.

SILENT FILM MAKE-UP FOR EVERYONE.

I'm going through some sort of Buster Keaton thing right now. I initially typed out a whole big post to explain but it later seemed silly -- maybe even a little redundant, if you've followed my work for a while -- to share. Let's just say I like deadpan.

Also? Buster Keaton was fun. To. Stare at. All right, maybe I included that last one just because I thought it was funny... But look! He even holds his own against Mr. David Bowie. That's not easy.

Edit: Ah, looks like my guest page for The Gutters webcomic just went live. This is the first time I've ever drawn something for someone else to color. It's weird! I mean, obviously, it looks great but this is certainly something new. Thanks for letting me participate, guys. I hope my lines weren't a nightmare to deal with. Anyway, the rest of you, please enjoy Charles Xavier's "dat ass" face.

WHEN SPIDER'S AWAY.

I was asked to contribute a piece to the upcoming Transmetropolitan art book, benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and The Hero Initiative. It's still too early to reveal the full illustration, so here's a tight crop/preview.

The Kickstarter campaign for this ends on Monday night. If you're interested in ordering a book, stop thinking about it and just do it. I mean, c'mon, look at that crazy list of artists. And bonus Darick Robertson and Warren Ellis? Really, now.

Oh. And I've discovered that, for someone who renders hair like a crazy-person, Channon's super-layered mane is both a joy and a nightmare to draw. In hindsight, I could have picked Spider Jerusalem to save myself the trouble. But that's not a very good exercise in self-hate, now is it.

IT'S FULL OF SECRETS.

Small illo I worked with on-and-off shortly after the first image from the Spider-Man reboot was released. Yes, it's me using Spidey (and portrait practice) as an excuse to draw Andrew Garfield's magnificent, giant hair.

I FORGOT I HAD INKY FINGERS AND RUBBED MY EYES.

Atomic Books is a super-cool shop that I have enjoyed since my early days in Baltimore, so I was pretty jazzed when they asked me to illustrate their new gift card.

The first design I submitted (pictured below) was scrapped because the cards couldn't do full-bleed and it was a little too comic book-y for the store (which carries a lot more than comic books). My intention was to use the cropped comic as just a way of better integrating the store's name and atomic logo, but I can totally understand why it didn't work out. The thing I drew for Strand was mentioned as a new reference point, so the final ended up sort of rhyming with that.


"Rhyming"! I really just wrote that. That Annie Wu, what a douche. Anyway, I'm not sure when the cards with my design will be available, but I'll be sure to do another post when I find out.

In other news, I've opened up commenting to more users. I think a Google or Blogger account used to be required, but now OpenID and LJ and Wordpress and a few others are supported. Yay. Oh, I also desaturated my entire site design because even dark purple eventually felt like too much color for me. So if you want to go look... Do it.

THE GIRLS WHO CROSS THEIR LEGS.

I'm low on art I can share, so here's an old, old redesign of Starbucks's two-tailed siren, from my Sophomore year. It seemed appropriate to finally upload, now that Starbucks has changed up their logo. They've dropped their name from the design but kept the siren lady spreading her fish legs apart. And if you've never noticed it, now you can't unsee. You are welcome.

What else has happened since my last post?... I've been named one of Newsarama's 11 creators to watch in 2011, so that's pretty neat. I also did some interviews, including this one. And I'm going to have a piece in the upcoming Transmetropolitan art book, which is currently raising funds over at Kickstarter, so please take a look and pre-order.