Shout-out: Anuj Shrestha

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

ANUJ SHRESTHA!

Anuj Shrestha was born in Kathmandu, Nepal and grew up in Irvine, Anchorage and Denver. He is influenced by Los Bros. Hernandez, Katsuhiro Otomo and Manuel Ocampo. His illustration work has appeared in The New York Times, Playboy and Financial Times Magazine, UK. His comics have appeared in various anthologies, including Rabid Rabbit, Supertalk and Secret Identities. His comic “American Cat” was listed in the Best American Comics 2010 anthology. He lives in Forest Hills, Queens with his dog and two pet iguanas.

http://www.anujink.com
http://www.anujsketches.blogspot.com

An excerpt from the second part of a horror-noir series exploring themes of power, nature and fear, 2012.

Editor's note: I'm not sure what it means in Freudian terms, but Anuj draws a LOT of people with heads transforming into flowers. Honestly, it doesn't matter what it means to me, as long as he keeps at it. I could stare at one of those elegantly rendered flower heads for hours. In fact, I may be doing that soon once I scrape up the cash for the oversized print I was eyeing at MoCCA.

Three panels from "Another One Down", appeared in Rabid Rabbit #13

Another flower-headed guy

Shout-out: Paul Hoppe

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

PAUL HOPPE!

Paul Hoppe was born in Poland and raised in Germany, and lives in Brooklyn, NY now.

He is a freelance illustrator for newspapers, magazines and advertising agencies, and a writer and illustrator of children’s books and graphic novels. He also teaches occasionally at the School of Visual Arts. Clients and publications include The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Addidas and IBM . His work has been recognized and awarded by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Communication Arts and others. He has a studio at the Pencil Factory in Greenpoint where he’s surrounded with friendly and super-talented individuals every day.

Characters from "Tales To Behold"

“I love to tell stories with my drawings, whether it’s comics, children's books, storyboards, or editorial work. The reason why I got into the arts were comics I read as a kid. And that’s also a reason why I like children’s books. They are also picture stories.“

"The Woods" childrens book, published by Chronicle

After some years that he focused on design and illustration, the love for comics came back very strongly. He co-founded the anthology RabidRabbit and contributed to Syncopated Comics and other anthologies, while also self-publishing mini-comics and attending festivals such as MoCCA regularly. In Spring 2013, "Peanut“ will be released by Schwartz & Wade / Random House, a graphic novel he’s illustrated, written by Ayun Halliday (another DIGESTATE contributor!). It has been years in the making and he’s excited for it to come out.

Mock-up for "Peanut" cover

“Even though I was very happy and grateful for my commercial work and my books with the big publishers, I realized a couple years ago that all my art was made to have a purpose. I needed to find something that had no purpose at all, and to reconnect with the joy that I had when I first drew my crude comics as a kid. So I started creating my stories around THE BEHOLDER theme, self-publishing them as mini-comics and webcomics.“

Sample page from "Tales To Behold" #2

He’ll have a table at MoCCA together with friend and colleague AnujShrestha (yet another DIGESTATE contributor!!), and will debut his latest mini “Journey Into Misery 4“.

Illustration sample

Editor's note: Paul is a super nice dude, and my daughter loves his book, "The Woods". He's also one of the masterminds behind the Rabid Rabbit anthology.

These are my links:

Website: www.paulhoppe.com

Newsblog: http://paulhoppeblog.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Hoppe-Illustration/136183409777781

BEHOLDER: http://cosmicbeholder.blogspot.com/

Shout-out: VICTOR KERLOW

DIGESTATE contributor:
 VICTOR KERLOW!

Victor Kerlow was born, raised and educated in Manhattan and still lives there, drawing full-time. Clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Fantagraphics, MTV, IFC Films, Random House, The Believer, Bloomberg, J Walter Thompson, The National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico City and many more. He also draws the weekly illustrations for The Metro Diary in The New York Times, and has a few exciting projects coming out soon, but not soon enough to mention right now, so please Google him frequently. Like every ten minutes.

victorkerlow.com
choppedintwo.blogspot.com

http://spaceadventurecomic.blogspot.com/

Editor's note: Victor is one of the most unassuming guys I've ever met considering his immense talent. He's one of those guys who's just always drawing, and I'm glad his talent is being both recognized and rewarded (did you see that client list up there?!). 

I'm especially impressed by the way his written words integrate into his drawings. I think a lot of cartoonists forget that the written word is a form of drawing and should be treated as such (im my opinion). There's nothing more jarring to me than a computer font paired with an obviously hand-drawn image. 

He is also unafraid to wear some of the sorriest looking promotional baseball caps I've ever seen. And he hangs out with undercover cops, so be careful. 

Flurry of coverage

For some reason, this week has been choc full o' media coverage for both Karen and I. Kind of weird timing since we'll both be essentially closing up shop for a bit once baby Lulu makes an appearance.

Modern Dog did a one page feature ("Art Attack") on my pet portraits in their winter issue (on the newsstands now!). A very nice push just before the holiday season. I don't think the article is on their website, so you'll just have to be all luddite-y and pick up the actual magazine if you're so inclined.

The fantastic Kat Irannejad did an interview for Brooklyn The Borough (click to read it) in which I don't come across like a rambling incoherent imbecile (no small feat!). She managed to rein in my stream of consciousness anecdotes and such into a readable piece. The interview also got picked up by The New York Times 'City Room'!

Matthew Brady of Warren Peace did a short n' sweet review of my 'Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg' mini-comic.

Karen's kind of freaking out because she got a wonderful opportunity that she can't pass up just before she was planning on wrapping up work at the Anomaly Jewelry factory (our living room) for a while in order to concentrate on Lulu. The Golden Globes Award ceremony contacted her to participate in their celebrity gift bags. It's a tremendous opportunity, but also a TON of work. I'm trying to help out in any way I can, but unfortunately I don't know the first thing (well, maybe the first, but definitely not the second) about making jewelry. Add that to holiday orders and being 9 months pregnant, and you can understand her sense of being overwhelmed.

On that note, there's a great feature on Karen on Shana Logic, a blog that promotes indie creators and retailers.

Reviews n' Such

Everything I'm working on lately is in the sketching stage, so that's why I haven't really posted any new artwork lately. It's not because I'm sitting around in my underwear watching old footage of Roosevelt Franklin, I swear!

"I Saw You..." has been getting lots of reviews, which is good. I still haven't received my contributor's copy, so I can't give it a review myself, but here's what the pros say:

The New York Times
The Stranger
Publisher's Weekly
Pop Matters
Brews and Books
Sandbox World
Philadelphia City Paper
Metro International
Random House Library Services
Venus Zine
Bookgasm
Read About Comics

...plus Julia Wertz, the brains behind it all, was interviewed about the book here:

Heeb Magazine
The Greenpoint Gazette
WNYC