i can see your monkey

Bah. Birthday.

2009-07-18T14:09:58Z

So it's my birthday on tuesday 21st. I'll be spending it in Norway with the lovely Sarah and mind-of-a-viking good friend Bard and his (probably) better half. Nice to spend a birthday somewhere different, i never do parties or stuff like that so pining for the fjords will do me good.
I thought getting older would bother me but it's done so in a less obvious way. It's not depressed me, just made me realise I've wasted a lot of time so far and I should really be making more of what I've got. A renewed sense of my own stupid mortality if you like. I'll confess I've reached one of those points in my career where I question what it is I'm trying to achieve and why it's always SO difficult to get anywhere with anyone, I love what I do and fully believe in it but right now I seem to be unendingly pushed about, ignored, ripped off and insulted by those I'm trying to do it for. It comes with the territory I suppose, but I'm sure every artist reaches that point where they think 'dammit, it should be working out by NOW'.
Meh, thats the sound of a man audibly ageing on his blog right there, so i'll stop bitching. frustrations aside, life's pretty good and as I learned, i should be making the most of it. So I'm going to insert cream horns into every hole i've got, and hold my breath till tuesday. See what I can plan to make and do for another year of life.

jx

ps. fumblog's been a bit lacking lately, so lets put some fun stuff back up. today's post is the first of many HOEBEN strips that'll be turning up over the coming weeks. I love this little fucker.

sense and sensibility and sea monsters

2009-07-16T19:53:30Z

i'm a big fan of Austen, and a bigger fan of tentacles.

these people have hit publishing gold.

bear auction doned!

2009-07-13T10:23:43Z

Right, thats a Bear Auction done for another year, thank you to everyone who bid ^_^ all the winning bidders have just been emailed, if you haven't heard from me then please email sixtyfootmonkey@yahoo.com (nijrose and spiderbaby3110 i need to hear from you!)
This was fun! If you didn't get what you wanted, or there was a strip or page you didn't see up for sale here, email me and i'll see if i got it!

Have a great weekend! oh wait, its monday?

jx

Bear Auction Ends in 24 hours!

2009-07-12T08:35:06Z

Less than 24 hours to bid on pages from the Bear auction (HERE)!! Some good bids already, and a fair few emails requesting other strips. So if you want anything from the auction, or you don't wanna be outbid, come over and check out the auction before it closes!

Auction ends 9 AM (uk time) Monday 13th (tomorrow!)!

jx

Ubu Bubu - Forbidden Planet signing in August!

2009-07-09T14:04:47Z

I'm veeery happy to say the Ubu Bubu book called FILTH, collecting the first four comics, will be released through SLG Publishing mid-august.
I'm also happy to say i'll be doing a signing at the FORBIDDEN PLANET meee-egastore in London on 27th August. Do come along and lets air hug! Full details are in the press release, below!
(note if you want to reserve a copy, follow the link to their site)

JAMIE SMART
SIGNING AT FORBIDDEN PLANET

Diary Date: Thursday 27th August 6 – 7pm

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by Jamie Smart. He will be signing Ubu Bubu: Filth at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday 27th August 6 – 7pm

When an innocent cat is possessed by a brutal, malevolent daemon, they become UBU BUBU, reaper of human souls and destroyer of innocents! Turning an ordinary home into hell H.Q. and imprisoning the terrified kids who lived there, Ubu Bubu begins his horrific rampage of slaughter and destruction under the command of mysterious ringmaster Stig. This book collects all four issues of the Ubu Bubu mini-series by Bear creator Jamie Smart.

Forbidden Planet is the largest store of its kind in the world. Some of the biggest names in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics and Cult Entertainment have come to our London Megastore for signing events, including: Sam Raimi, Guillermo del Toro, Terry Gilliam, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, William Gibson, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Stephen King.

For more news about our signings please go to: http://www.forbiddenplanet.com/Signings.html

proper nice, innit.
jx

ps. only a few days left in the BEAR AUCTION. get in and bid if you wanna anyfink!

Count Von Poo starts TODAY!

2009-07-08T09:24:32Z

Count Von Poo, the strip you may have voted for in the recent poll, starts its run in TOXIC comic out today! Every fortnight, The Count will tear up a page with his own scat-filled adventures, smearing the world a wonderful technicolour brown! YAyyy! Above you can see the cover of this week's issue (covered in toys n'tings) but keep an eye out for future issues ^_^

also check out this week's Dandy, not only for the two-page Desperate Dan but a special Ice Age puzzle spread what i did draw. I've been doing a fair few puzzles for the Dandy recently which'll be appearing in future issues, hooray yah! proper brain smashers, isn't it.

The Bear Auction 2

2009-07-06T19:01:02Z

Okay here we go! It was over a year ago we tried out a Bear Auction and it went down really well, so I thought let's try another one. But this one's a little different.

- Have a look through the work on offer below. If there's something you like the look of, put your name forward for it in the comments section of this livejournal post. The starting price is what you'll pay if you get it, but if someone wants to bid higher then they can (by adding a reply to your comment). If you want to then bid higher than them then do, and so on. When the auction ends in a week's time, MONDAY 13TH JULY at 9.00AM (uk time), whoever has put forward the highest price for each piece, gets it! so it's a proper auction, in essence.

- After the closing date (next monday) I’ll work through the bidders, and post up the results here on this livejournal probably on the Tuesday/Wednesday. I’ll ask for those who’ve successfully ordered to send me their email address, and then send them a paypal invoice. Sorry, payment is paypal only. Once the payment has gone through I’ll ship your order to you, just as soon as I can bag me some A3 envelopes. Delivery time could take 2 – 4 weeks, depending on how soon I can do it and where you live.

- ALL PRICES INCLUDE DELIVERY COST (wherever you are in the world), and VAT if you’re in Europe, so the price you see is all you pay.
- All pieces are drawn on A3 sheets and sold AS IS, with scuffs and pencil marks and perforations etc, unframed, exactly as they were drawn.
- Please only bid if you actually want the page. If there looks to be any irregularity in bidding or anyone dicking about, i reserve the right to remove any pieces, and if you are the winning bidder and can't pay, i'll give it to the bidder before you for the stated starting price.
- no limit to how many pieces you can bid on, but maximum amount you can win on is 3 pieces per person.

- IF THERE'S SOME BEAR ARTWORK YOU WANT THAT ISN'T HERE, please email me at sixtyfootmonkey@yahoo.com and i'll root around for it!

so i hope you find something in here you fancy! As before, some of these pieces are really precious to me and represent something special, so if there are no bids i'll happily keep them. but maybe you can give them a better home.

BEAR 2 Front Cover Painting - starting price £220
This is the original painting from Bear issue 2. It has a black/green background which was later doctored and made gooder-ed in photoshop.

Bear Schmooze (1 page) - starting price £60
from issue 5, a one pager about Karl being outwitted by a child.

Bear 'Free Comic Book Hell! With a Pig!' (4 pages) - starting price £190
The four page exclusive strip done for free comic book day a coupla years back. Keep an eye on Fumblog, i'll post it up there in the next day or two so you can read it.

Elliot The Dunk Action Page (1 page) - starting price £70
from issue 4. So many puzzles! very few answers!

Justin's Brain 'Mister Johnston' (1 page) - starting price £90
from issue 2, the second Justin's Brain ever drawn and full o'detail!

page 4 of 'Who Keeps Kraken One Off?' (1 page) - starting price £80
from issue 4, the wrath of the kraken is unleashed!

'Messing Up Baby' (4 pages) - starting price £190
from issue 10, wherein Looshkin inherits a baby looshkin, and tries to teach him im(morals)

Bear vietcong dream page 2 from 'Oooooh! It says oooooh!' (1 page) - starting price £80
from issue 2, the tense wig-out.

Looshkin vs. The Stupid Bunny (1 page) - starting price £70
from Bear Immortal (the first book)

Bear in 'Gangster no*2' (4 pages) - starting price £190
from issue 6, the 'slahhhhg'-filled cockney gangster pastiche.

Bear Squeezee Fun Squishy Robot Toy (1 page) - starting price £80
wasn't this the back cover of issue 2? forgive me if my memory got it wrong!

Bear 'From Zero to Zero' page one (1 page) - starting price £70
issue 9, the first page of the Tit special superhero strip.

Looshkin in 'Evil I will Kill You In The Face!' page four (1 page) - starting price £70
from issue 8, where Looshkin discovers his Fist of the North Star powers!

The very nearly true story of the creation of Bear (2 pages) - starting price - £130
from Bear Demons (the second book)

Doom Monkey! (1 page) - starting price £70
from issue 6, though he only made one appearance, he managed to hit some kids.

Bear in KKnuhc-rrrek! (4 pages) - starting price £200
from issue 3, the strip that runs forwards and backwards when Looshkin bags a black hole.

anything you want on the Bear auction?

2009-06-28T15:36:16Z

the idea of another Bear auction got a nice response, so lets do another one. Paintings, strips and pages from Bear all up for sale in the near future, but is there anything you'd particularly like to see for grabs?

suggestions all welcome. more news soon.

jx

ps. send elf bread!

Fat Chunk volume two - Zombies is out now!

2009-06-18T06:55:25Z

Fat Chunk Volume Two - Zombies is out now! It was meant to be delayed till next week, but people are buying it from stores already, so lets take that as a good sign!

Fat Chunk collects together artists from all over the world, from well-known comics titans to fresh new webcomic talent to urban toy designers, and everything in between, and it slaps them all together in a tidy little digest-size anthology! Volume Two - Zombies adds a little rotting flesh to the mix as a variety of artists do their take on the bumbling undead. With over SIXTY artists filling just under 140 pages, you're sure to find some of the artists you love and discover new ones!

Artists involved in this issue include Aaron Alexovitch, Pete Underhill, Jon Burgerman, Marc Ellerby, Thomas Boatwright, Sarah McIntyre, Nelson Evergreen, and oh fuck FAR more than I can mention here.

Published by SLG Publishing, available to buy from your local comic shop (Diamond code APR090632), book shop, or from amazon etc! We're only a humble book trying to promote people's art, PLEASE spread the word and support Fat Chunk! (check out all the details at www.fatchunkcomic.com)

Thanks yous!

Jamie

ps. to promote the book, every day for the next week I'll be exclusively posting up some of the work inside! Check Fumblog.com EVERY DAY for new awesome art from a select few Fat Chunk contributors. (Let's kick things off today, with my own first two pages of Corporate Skull!)

Fatty Hamster

2009-06-17T16:33:40Z

today's fumblog is Fatty Hamster, the daft little fucker who got so fat he couldn't get out of his rollerball. mmyayyyy! come and check out fumblog if you're not already, it's updated every day, sometimes it might be some rubbish sketch i did when i was five that i can barely be bothered to scan, sometimes it might be a full 24-page comic (as it was last week). i'm only being honest, it's a raggedy mix of emotions that website. for yeww. YEWWWW. take it, yew.

not been much to update on this journal for a while, there's exciting news next week but for now you may have to suffer me verbally heatstroke. incidentally, would anyone be up for another Bear auction? i'm just toying with the idea of selling more pages, paintings, and artwork from other comics what i did done too. if you'd be interested in this, lemme know!

be well. you're the future.

jx

cute is what we blame for.

2009-06-10T15:32:14Z

can anyone suggest any cool companies who do cute character stationary, merchandise etc. like the paperchase ranges or oopsie daisy? i have a few characters i'm working on i'd like to see if anyone would be interested in slapping them across, y'know, fings an dat.

thank you! ^_^

Ass Munket - the free 24 page comic up now!

2009-06-06T10:51:54Z

Well, here it is, a full comic for your perusal up HERE. In this comic I think i first started to find my way, playing with brush strokes and the use of dark space. It's also thinly veiled representation of my actual useless life at the time, something which has repeated itself in every comic I've since done (though the metaphors get more obscure :p)

This is my continuing effort to find a way to put my work up for free, and yet still possibly claw a few pennies in. I love that this comic is free to view, I don't expect people to pay for it, and I'm totally happy with that. If anyone does donate (as much or little as they want), then obviously I'll be very appreciative ^_^ lets see how this works as to whether I do it again.

Enjoy!

O_

2009-06-03T16:17:49Z

i miss using livejournal. does anyone still bother reading this? what did we used to talk about?

nipples?

jx

Progress!

2009-05-23T15:40:43Z

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions on the whole 'how to put a comic online and still claw a few bloodied cents out of it' issue, i really appreciate everyone's input and i'll be thinking it through carefully. maybe the best way is to try a different approach for each comic i put online, see if any work better than others. anyway, next comic coming up on Fumblog soon!
Things are actually going pretty well at the moment. I'm juggling Desperate Dan and Count Von Poo duties and ploughing through them both. I've been waiting on news of my various tv projects but in the meantime Disney have asked me to do a handful of character designs for a show they've got in development, which looks like alot of fun and a new experience for me, coming up with characters someone else has invented. Alongside all that, there's the relaunch of Find Chaffy which is so bloody secret i don't even know all the details, but it's going to be something really fun i think.

So yeah, all that and they've FINALLY invented giant fondant fancies. Busy, and cake-filled, times. On with the bank holiday, and here are a few things you should see.

The Ubu Bubu animation, by Greaney!

the new game from the Ico types!

and lastly, God's final greatest moment. the JERBOA!

have a good one

x

How would you prefer to see a comic online?

2009-05-19T14:58:07Z

Well I tried with downloadable comics for Subversive, Eden (check it out HERE) but on the whole I'm not sure it really worked. About 30 people downloaded it (and thanks to YOU if you did) which is nice, but i don't think I even make a few dollars out of that after all the costs are done. Shame, Subversive was a great little comic I thought, but it was worth a try.
So it leaves me wondering any other ways of releasing comics online. I have the next one ready to go, a 26-page comic called Ass Munket, and a good few more waiting in the wings. These are comics I don't want to release in paper form, I think they're better suited to trying out the onlineyness. I guess my next option is to put the comic up online as a viewable web page, and ask for donations if people have enjoyed it. Like bands are doing with their music. That way some people get it for free, some pay a contribution if they want to.
What does anyone think, would you contribute if a comic was up like this? Or do you think there are better ways of doing it? Opinions please!

thanks ^_^
jx

ps this week and next I'm drawing up my Count Von Poo scripts for Toxic comic. On the whole they've been very welcoming and allowed me to do what I want with it, which is always nice. Though some things they have asked me to reign in, such as things like this.

aww :(

Recent Fumblogs!

2009-05-08T18:56:35Z

Hey you! Wearing the tie round your head! If you haven't been visiting FUMBLOG every day, where have you been? You're missing out on daily random rubbish and occasional comic sparkles, such as these recent upchucks...

That raggedy tinker Wolverine sings you a sexy song!

The Boredom poster packed full of useful advice for the downbeat and despondent!

The awesome Robot-Headed Boy by Dang!

The girl with a squid for a hat!

Not to mention the third installment of the smashy-squelchy Hug Custard comic! For yoooou!

So c'mon over and root through the archive! There's loads of comic shit and arty twat and that.

Hwoooragh.

jx

Whubble ends!

2009-05-06T14:59:53Z

Today's Whubble strip up today is the last, sad to say. Whubble's been running weekly for a year now, and in that time has garnered quite the support, for which i am needless to say very honoured. Nearly 130,000 people have hit the site (unique hits) and oh, i know in webcomic terms that can be a small amount, but to me it's a pretty big deal.

I do love drawing Whubble but alas just can't invest enough time in it when there's paid work needs doing alongside. I've spent most of this year trying Whubble's luck with newspapers and syndicates in every corner of the world but to no success so far, so I think he should take a step back for a while. Maybe one day he'll come back and I can do him more full-time, who knows?

But thank you everyone for your Whubbs loves, it has been very much appreciated.

Though, please note. As one thing ends, another strikes up again http://www.findchaffy.com . The hunt is coming BACK.

jx

Reviews and face-licks!

2009-04-29T16:17:51Z

In these times of terrorism, economic catastrophe and now even the PIGS are trying to kill us, one can get a little weary of doom. Doom's become an acceptable threat now, an everyday risk we all run. It never...quite..happens, but the news likes to tell us it's GOING TO. thank goodness, now we've all become a bit bored of knowing we're going to die horribly, the internet is still here, still gurgling along with it's menagerie of opinions, keeping the rational point of view at all times.

Like for instance this review of Bohda Te up at someone'sblogiguess (thanks to SLG for pointing it out on their blog), where the reviewer struggles to find what his actual opinion is. I think he THINKS he hates it, he was certainly DUPED into buying it because he was too lazy to look up what it actually was, and now he's telling us all...well...i don't KNOW what he's telling us.

Let us leave it to him to summarize Bohda Te "I can barely believe I read all of it. It’s complete nonsense. NONSENSE!"
Remember, if YOU want to buy Bohda Te because you didn't know what it was and whatever it is confuses you, you still can! Tell your comic store to order some in!

A rather more sensible (read: nicer to Jamie) review is up at Hypergeek about my recent one dollar download Subversive, Eden (which you can bag a copy of by going HERE). Wherein Ed (thanks Ed!) concludes 'go download it, make a cup of tea, sit back, and get ready to laugh your arse off.'

Lastly, sad news, today's Whubbleis the penultimate one before the series ends next week. But recently I found this great review of it ('what an amazing discovery this webcomic turned out to be') which was very lovely of them :)

And there we go. My tv meetings are going well incidentally, good response and Angry Little Robot seems to be charming the most. I don't get it myself, he's a wonderful tin of rage but hardly kid-friendly tv? meh, anyway, i continue to work up ideas and talk to peoples and hopefully will have some news soon.

Bye! See you in pig swine hell!

jx

foo5 @ 2009-04-27T19:49:00

2009-04-27T18:58:02Z

last week i had an enthusiastic chat with Disney (not the actual man) about tv projects. tomorrow i've got a meeting at nickleodeon to discuss the same. amongst this i'm also talking to a coupla other nice-lookin animation companies about the shows i want to make. i've been showing them all my pitch portfolio, basically a book of about 20 or 30 pitches, everything from Bear to the shows i worked on at CN.
i say this not because i am mister 'oh, la-di-da, look at me hopping around in my pointed shoes with bells on', but because it all puts me in a very curious mood. its obviously exciting, and gratifying that tv people seem interested in what i do again. but that's tempered by a weary cynicsm that i've spent the last 5 years working through the tv development system and it all went cockarse. yes, cockarse. so i know i'm at the beginning of a very long and windy road again, to not know whether it even ends anywhere. don't get me wrong, i don't mean to sound ungrateful. i am very excited to have these chances again, and this time around i'm going to take a lot less pushing around. but i'm trying not to get my hopes up.

still, onwards and upwards. the show that failed for CN seems to be the one thats interesting the most people, which reaffirms my belief that it's worthy.

here's to making some bloody telly! and eating a whole cheesecake if it all goes wrong, like i did last time.

god i love cheesecake.

Subversive, Eden - the 18 page downloadable comic!

2009-04-23T09:02:55Z

I am VERY chuffy to be able to say I got a new comic for your perusal, 'Subversive, Eden'. I actually drew it a few years ago, but I can safely say I think it ranks amongst some of my best work, and the sheer amount of graft that went into it mean I'm immensely proud of it and keen for people to see it.
This is my first attempt at a downloadable comic. For only a dollar you can download Subversive, Eden (18 pages long) as a pdf from Literate Machine, click HERE to get hold of a copy!
Please gimme some feedback on the process, if you think it works well and whether it's a good system. I have a bundle more comics I'd like to make downloadable if you like the system :)

Check out more Subversive previews HERE!

Count Von Poo is goooo!

2009-04-22T18:24:13Z

Here's some news, all wrapped up in some salt beef. Mmm. Salt beef.

- Just heard today that Count Von Poo won the vote to appear in Toxic as a regular character! hooRAY! a massive THANK YOU to anyone who voted, now my little pooey vampire has been elected into office I promise not to let you down. His smeary adventures will be of the highest peanut-lodged standard! I'll talk more about it when he starts appearing, probably in a month or two.

- I did an interview for the downloadable mag Cut Click, so go and download it NOW. and HERE. I talk about stuff and things, and there are other stuff and things in it. And it's FREE. No excuse, really.

- today's Whubble is up, only two more wheeks of him left and then he ends. thank you to everyone for the support, demands, and death threats on account of him ending, it's genuinely lovely to know he's become a something for some people :) but alas, i just don't have enough time at the moment to keep him going. maybe one day.

- lastly, tomorrow is the launch of Subversive, Eden. Check back here then, it's going to be mighty!

dancin'!

jx

Subversive - next week!

2009-04-16T17:36:49Z

Whubble and the SLG sale!

2009-04-15T16:06:44Z

today's WHUBBLE is up (om!). Whubble will come to an end in three weeks time, i'm sorry to say. So suck in the purpley cat hairs while you can! :)

incidentally, there's a massive bastard sale on at theSLG STORE , with 30% off! use the coupon code taxtime09 to get the discount. yay! cheap stuff is good stuff!

alright that's all. how you were.

jx

Corporate Skull and the thinkings!

2009-04-09T18:52:24Z

The new Corporate Skull is up on today's fumblog.

There won't be any more CS strips appearing, sorry to say. Originally Corporate Skull was a stupid whimsy idea, but he seemed to get a good response and to be honest he was great fun to write for, so I wanted to form a story over the strips. Something about the office he worked for being run by hell-beasts or some such, i dunno, if i recall they did that in Angel anyway so it probably wouldn't have worked.

Anyway I've spent the last coupla weeks thinking quite intently about how i could evolve him into something more, specifically a graphic novel. But he needed more than just an insolent manner and the occasional swear-word, i think a whole book filled with office jokes would be a bit dull. So i wanted to give him a world to live in, evils to fight, issues to juggle and romances to mess up. But in trying to form the premise i'll be honest, i've gone round and round and round in circles. Some ideas are easy, like Bear, they need little pre-thought because they're as random to write as they are to read. But other ideas really need to be nailed, and to be as coherant as they are appealing. I'm filling pages and pages of sketchbook with notes about Corporate Skull, the villains he'll face, the action-packed finale, etc. i *think* i'm finally getting a hold on what's going to happen, but it's taking a lot of very slow building to grasp the thing as a whole.

i'm mentioning this just because i find it curious, that notion that the exact idea with all it's nuances is somehow out there in front of you, but it's not up to you when you realise it. it remains just out of sight while you tread the paths and dead-ends trying to formulate this final idea. if you ever see a Corporate Skull book you may say 'oh, hey, that idea seems pretty simple', but you'd have no idea how many different versions there were of that story till it got to what it is.

This is something i'm sure most other comic artists can talk about better than me, since i'm rarely the most thoughtful of creators. i prefer to be spontaneous, partly because i find it so incredibly hard to concentrate. i have my best ideas while watching movies or being distracted. though i should note i don't just throw ideas out at will. they vary in how long they take to form. one idea in particular, a concept for a tv show i'm still trying to pitch, has taken over 4 years now of changing and evolution to get to where it is now (a completely different place to where it started). especially over the last year, i've put so much thought and hundreds of pages of art into growing that idea, i'm almost exhausted by it before it's even been noticed (and yet i still have blind, stupid faith that it will happen one day).

anyway. point is, no more CS for a while, while i try and form some kinda book. the only exception to this is in June, when Fat Chunk 2 comes out and CS will spread nicely over a good few pages. but otherwise thank you for your support on the boney hero :)

you can check out the CS adventures so far (less than, count 'em, ten!) here

have a great easter!
jx

ps. thank you heartily to everyone who voted for Count Von Poo to appear regular in Toxic mag. i believe the voting is still open, so if you want to show your support for more smiling poo in children's comics, go vote HERE!

Count Von Poo!

2009-04-01T15:32:21Z

A little while ago i did a comic strip called Count Von Poo, about a spooky kid who's imagination ran riot with his own faeces and brought him on a crazy pirate (poo-rate! ha!) adventure! You may have seen it.

Anyway, this week the UK children's comic Toxic is running Count Von Poo as a test strip, alongside 9 others, in a one-off comic supplement. The idea being that the readers then choose which strip they prefer and vote for it on the Toxic website, and whichever wins becomes a regular comic in future Toxic issues.

SO! If you've read this week's Toxic, you like Count Von Poo, and would like to see him on a regular basis in Toxic (more poo-ey adventures in children's comics? yes please!), then please do cast your vote right HERE

thanks yous ^_^ fingers crossed!

jx

ps. okay, here's the REAL cover to this week's Toxic..