The Word On The Street = This Sunday!

Beach CS will be exhibiting this Sunday September 28 at The Word On The Street in Toronto Queens Park. Grab your copy of Crozonia Issue #4 Ashcan! We will be located at the booth FB#1.

New exciting projects!

Beach CS recently finished work on conceptual designs for new Milton Bradley products. And we have started a comic book adaptation for a popular animated series. To be revealed soon!

Beach Creative Studios Store redesign

The redesign of the Beach Creative Studios website continues. The website store has been revamped. Soon there will be new products available such as the Crozonia Issue #4 ashcan, Gigabyte Poster, and The Art of ReBoot.

http://www.beach-studios.com/store/index.htm

Website redesign

I am redesigning www.beach-studios.com to make it look more corporate and less like the 1999 website it started out as. So please bear with me as I soft launch the new website. If you spot broken links (trust me, there will be lots at the beginning) feel free to shoot me an email or comment on the blog.

Jim

Crozonia Issue #4 Ashcan available at Fan Expo Canada

Includes a gorgeous pin up by Marvin Mariano! We will also be selling prints of this pin up.

Crozonia Issue #4 Ashcan

Sorry guys, Issue 4 in full colour will not be ready in time for Fan Expo Canada (August 22-24). I will have an ashcan preview ready for the show. It will have a good chunk of the story, and reveal the CERBERUS! It will include some guest pin-ups as well as some of my CGI artwork and sketches!

Jim

Back from Wizard World Chicago

I exhibited at Wizard World Chicago last weekend. I almost didn't go. The past two weeks leading up to Chicago were all a blur. First, I had just come back from Korea and was adjusting to the time zone. Then I went to New York for the Licensing Expo right after. Went through a period of 40 hours with no sleep. It was literally the longest day in my life. Came back to work at the visual effects studio, working on no less than four movies at the same time. And working on Mattel freelance during the evenings.

There was no fiscal or emotional reason to go back to Chicago. I had cancled last year's show, and figured nobody would notice. I also could not make it to Thursday or Friday of the show. I just couldn't take the time off. A couple of friends of mine had bought one of my artist alley tables at a discount, so the most I would have stood to lose was $400 on my table fees. I could take that weekend to just recover and catch up on my freelance work. Instead, I reluctantly decided to go, and try to make the most of Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning started off the horrible news that Michael Turner had died. I have seen him many times at Fan Expo in Toronto, but only spoken to him once. That one time I talked to him, he came across as very polite and soft spoken. Definately the most humble artist that was also superstar in his industry. Although I barely knew him, because we both publish an underwater comic book, there's was a strange connection I felt with him. He didn't know that I existed, but I kept an 'arms length' tab on his work at all times. I liked his artwork sometimes, and at other times didn't understand what was so special about it. I would occasionally pick up a copy of Fathom, just to see what he was doing with the underwater art. I tried not to read it, in order to prevent any sort of influence to affect Crozonia. Although I didn't always like his work, Michael Turner's artwork and career were very compelling to me. I couldn't stop thinking about him during the show.

Sales were steady, but when selling comic books $3 at a time, it really doesn't matter to me anymore whether I sell 100 or 200 books. It's not going to change the fact that working on comic books is now just a sporadic weekend pastime.

I have been struggling with the reason why I self publish. I've sank about $4K per book, and only Issue one has finally broke even in sales. I'm tired of going to conventions, doing the hard sell, explaining my comic book only to have people walk away. I put more than 500+ hours into each issue. Why? I keep telling myself it's a labour of love. But I don't love the labour, and my love for comic books has waned. Will I ever get a hollywood deal? After wading through the BS that was San Diego Comic Con producers, not likely.

Sometime late Saturday afternoon, a 10 year old girl saw my mermaid banner. Her eyes lit up, and she called out for her dad. It turns out this girl bought my Crozonia #1&2 two years ago. She went searching for me last year, but I wasn't there. She also looked for me on Thursday and Friday, but I wasn't there. She finally found me on Saturday, picked up Issue #3, and crossed my name off her 'to do list'.

Wow. I'm on somebody's list. I was so humbled, I gave her a gift. A little CD-comic book I had drawn for Mattel. That little girl made my day. And there were a handfull of others who came by saying they looked for me last year. They all picked up Issue 3after a two year wait.

My sales were enough to just pay for the trip. I may have squeaked out of there with a couple hundred dollars in net profit. And I'm exhausted. And really behind on my freelance work now. But it was worth it. I'm sure there's a hundred other artists in Chicago that are just like me. Working hard on their own comic book only to see their passion slowly slip. For most of us, there is not comic book fame or fortune at the end of the tunnel. I think I'm rambling, there's no concise statement I trying to say or to 'inspire' my fellow artists. Perhaps I just want to thank that little girl in Chicago for making my trip worthwhile.

Jim

Korea, New York, and now Chicago.

In May, my wife and I went on a 1 month vacation to Seoul. It was a great trip, got some rest, and even drew some pages of Crozonia. Then I came back to Toronto in June, but a day later went to New York for the Licensing Expo. This weekend I will be at Wizard World Chicago. I will only be there for Saturday and Sunday though. Come find me in the Artist Alley! I will be selling Crozonia and ReBoot products.

Jim

Angler Frog!

Here is my latest personal project:
Some more work with Mudbox! This is a cross between an Angler fish and a Frog. I need more creatures on my demo reel. The design is from last year, and I finally got around to modelling it. Next will be some more look development to make it look slimy and gross.

Crozonia Issue 4

Here is the cover to Issue 4 inked!

2008 Demo Reel

Here is my Demo Reel for 2008. Still going to add more footage here and there. And I have to learn how to put this up on YouTube.
http://www.beach-studios.com/cgi/DemoReel2008.mov

Update: Fixed the broken link.

Toronto Comicon This Weekend

At the convention center in Toronto. Come by and say hi!

Braccus in CG

Here's one of the characters from Crozonia modelled and rigged in Maya.

Gavin Blair to appear at the New York Comic Con!

After the success of Gavin Blair's appearance at Fan Expo Canada, Beach Studios is proud to bring the ReBoot co-creator to the New York Comic-Con (Jacob Javits Center, April 18-20, 2008). This will be Gavin Blair's first American convention appearance! Come meet Gavin and get your ReBoot merchandise autographed for free! Some special plans are in the works!

Also in attendance:

Dan Didio (ReBoot writer and DC Executive Editor) to take part in a ReBoot panel with Gavin Blair!
Jim Su (ReBoot Season 4 Character Modeller and producer of The Art of ReBoot)
Sean O' Reilly (The Art of ReBoot publisher)

www.nycomiccon.com

Some Crozonia #4 pages

Here are some pages from the upcoming Issue 4!

A new year, new beginnings.

I spent a lovely week in Cancun during the holiday break. Here's a panorama picture I stitched up.
There will be many new changes happening this new year, including big developments for Crozonia!
Jim

A Logo design.

Haven't designed a logo in a while. This was fun: A martial arts gym for a friend located in Vancouver.

Poster Exclusives

The ReBot Gigabyte posters came in on Tuesday, and the first batch of orders were shipped on Wednesday! The poster turned out great! The paper stock was upgraded to 10pt cardstock which is about as thick as bristol board!

DMF Comics and I are creating a new business venture called PosterExclusives.com
We will be bringing `under the radar' licensed properties to the poster market. We are confident we can replicate the success of ReBoot posters.

ReBoot Gigabyte Poster delayed.

The bad news first:
I went to the printer last night to pick up the posters. They were printed on the wrong printer stock. We wanted the posters printed on cardstock. It was printed on 80lb paper instead. So the entire run has to be printed again. Our motto is Premium or go home.
The good news:
The print quality was amazing! ReBoot fans will LOVE this product! The metallic ReBoot logo is beautifull. Gigabyte looks really imposing at this blown up scale. Those who have ordered will have to wait a week longer to get their posters but trust me, the wait is well worth it.

Gigabyte Poster now on SALE!

The Gigabyte Poster is now on sale at DMF Comics. Get it before christmas if you order NOW. It is limited to 500 and only $15. Bundle and save if you order both posters that I drew. For only $25 get both the original ReBoot Poster and the New Gigabyte Poster! You also pay only one fee in shipping.


ORDER NOW!