My studio at-this-moment. What’s happening in this picture: I’m uploading the 2nd draft of “Awago Beach Babies”, the graphic novel I’m working on with my cousin, so she can have a look at it.

I think most working illustrators will find the finessed language in this letter, from Nelson A. Rockefeller to Diego Rivera, very familiar.

Dear Mr. Rivera:

Sincerely,
Nelson A. Rockefeller

Chills! Oh well, what do you expect, I suppose. The mural was destroyed (the painting above is a recreation at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City). You can read more about that particular dispute here. You can view the actual letter, which I transcribed, at the Diego Rivera exhibit now on view at the MoMA.

I’m reading a really great book now, called Galore, by Michael Crummey. It’s a folkloric story that takes place in Newfoundland. Listen, I don’t usually do extracurricular book illustrations, but I love mythological settings with rituals and witches and bad teeth…

OH! And speaking of Newfoundland, if you’re in Toronto you must see the David Blackwood exhibit at the AGO. Even ol’ Skeptical Sam was blown away.

(In case you’re interested: from Publisher’s Weekly: Starred Review. Crummey (River Thieves) returns readers to historic Newfoundland in his mythic and gorgeous latest, set over the course of a century in the life of a hardscrabble fishing community. After a lean early-19th-century winter, a whale beaches itself and everyone in town gathers to help with the slaughter. But when a woman known only as Devine’s Widow—when she’s not called an outright witch—cuts into the belly, the body of an albino man slides out. He eventually revives, turns out to be a mute, and is dubbed Judah by the locals. Judah’s mystery—is his appearance responsible for the great fishing season that follows?—is only one among many in this wild place, where the people are afflicted by ghosts and curses as much as cold and hunger. Crummey’s survey eventually telescopes to the early 20th century, when Judah’s pale great-grandson, Abel, sequesters himself amid medical debris in an old hospital where his opera singer cousin, Esther Newman, has returned and resolved to drink herself to death. But before she does so, she shares with him the family history he never knew. Crummey lovingly carves out the privation and inner intricacies that mark his characters’ lives with folkloric embellishments and the precision of the finest scrimshaw. (Apr.) )

I’m featured in the current issue of Communication Arts (Mar/Apr). Thanks to Rebecca Bedrossian and Jim Hanas. Here are a few spreads to look at!

UPDATE: the position has been filled. THANK-YOU for those of you who replied. That was surprisingly painless.

I am looking for an Assistant for the next few months. A skilled assistant! Who knows her/his way around a sewing needle!

I need someone to help with an embroidery project, so embroidery skills and a portfolio is a must. There’ll also be errands to run in conjunction with the project (and other studio business). Other stuff:

-You will need to work in my house/studio, at least for the first while. I am located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We have a cat.

-Please be self-directed, assertive, reliable, and efficient. And not a crazyperson. I can reasonably assure you of my own sanity, and I love showering interns with donuts and coffee.

So! Think you got what it takes? Email me with a link to your portfolio at jill (AT) jilliantamaki (DOT) com. Click here for examples of the embroidery style that you will be helping me with.

In 36 hours I will be in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan eating my German mother-in-law’s lebkuchen. Studio will reopen Dec 30th. Please email me if you need to get in touch.

Here is our crafty tree. We made all the ornaments with Chelsea and Chris. Merry Christmas (or whatever you fancy).

Update 12/15: The offer is over. But watch the Desert Island webstore (or contact them directly)… maybe you’ll be able to snag one there.

Hi, I designed these t-shirts for Desert Island, which is only the COOLEST comicshop in NYC (and co-organizer of the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival)! Hand-silkscreened! Now I’m selling a few for them.

They are printed on heather grey American Apparel shirts. Men’s sizes only. That’s a men’s small on a lady in the picture. If you are a super tiny lady they might be big, but maybe you can work it? Probably. You skinny minnies can wear anything.

Don’t live in Brooklyn, never been to Desert Island? WHO CARES! I assure you it is beyond cool and part of it will be transferred to you when you wear this shirt in your own town!

I will throw in some extra goodies to whoever orders a shirt. Namely some postcards and a copy of the Pencil Factory Newsprint poster pack Smoke Signal comic anthology.

Everything, including shipping: $20. US orders only please. (Ok, if you’re not in America and you REALLY want one, email me and maybe we can arrange something.) Quantities are extremely limited. SOLD OUT!

Looking in some reference folders, I found these vintage Maclean’s covers (Maclean’s is a Canadian magazine similar to Harper’s). My, how editorial illustration has changed.

The first two are by Oscar Cahen. The second two are by William Winter.

Whoa, I wrote an article! It’s about Hellen Jo and it’s in the latest issue of BUST! Pretty neat. I’ve been a big fan of Hellen’s since I bought a mini-comic (Jin & Jam, which is about bratty teens, God I’m a sucker for comics about bratty teens) of hers at MoCCA last year. Thanks to Lisa Butterworth and Emily Rems for the opportunity to share Hellen’s talents.

The BUST article is a bit of an intro to Hellen’s work… here’s some unused material that may be of interest to us art and comic nerds. So here they are in no particular order:

You’ve done a few works about Korean ghost stories or myths. What’s your favourite?
My favorite Korean ghost is the kwishin; she is the dead woman with white skin, white funeral dress, and long black hair featured in every Korean horror movie ever. She was wronged in life, so she haunts her victims vengefully, by means of various methods. Sometimes she sits on the chests of sleeping persons, and paralyzes them as she slowly drains the life from their bodies (also known as sleep paralysis). Sometimes she sits on the shoulders of her unknowing victims, creating a crushing sense of guilt or a herniated disc. She’s often wailing or sobbing, though her mouth doesn’t move.

Do you think teenagers are inherently bored, regardless if they live in suburbs or cities? That it’s natural to be unimpressed with everything at that age?
I do think teens are inherently bored, mostly because their worlds are so limited, but I also think that they adopt a sort of “uber-cynicism” as a defense mechanism. Nerds and geeks are embarrassingly enthusiastic and overeager, and the cool kids don’t ever give a shit ’bout nothin’.

Why are people SO EXCITED about Hellen Jo, even those she’s still in school?
Because they must be confusing me with some other person! Also, people are always mystified and charmed by bad students, no matter what they’re achievements. I dropped out of school to make comics, and I re-entered college life reluctantly to make better comics.

What is the best burrito in San Francisco?
My favorite burrito is the chorizo or al pastor super burrito at El Farolito (the one on 24th & Alabama, not 24th & Mission).

Is the writing in your work as important as the drawing?
Absolutely. In comics, writing a coherent narrative is the challenge. The drawings are very important as well, and both serve the other, but in the end, I know that a poorly drawn, well-written comic will be more moving than a beautifully drawn, badly written comic.

I hate questions about “influences”, but let’s try this: I find some things are “conscious” influences, for example, buying a artist monograph or watching a lot of French New Wave films because they speak to you in an artistic way. But some influences are “subconscious”, like your favourite picturebook you studied for hours as a child, or a piece of art that was in your childhood home. Do you agree? What are your “conscious” and “subconscious” influences?

I’ve always believed that everything you consume or absorb or witness in life, whether you liked it, hated it, or had no opinion about it, influences your creative output in some way. As much as I can control the quality and content of my work, I can’t completely filter what I see or hear, nor can I really control how those things will affect me. I definitely agree with you that there are “conscious” and “subconscious” influences, and I’ve had many of both. As far as “conscious” influences go, the most obvious ones are my favorite comic book creators, including Taiyo Matsumoto, Xaime Hernandez, Julie Doucet, Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, Junji Ito, Suehiro Maruo… the list goes on and on. All of these cartoonists deal in some way in their writing and art with the horror of coming-of-age, which is my primary motivation. Similarly, coming-of-age horror films fit that niche nicely for me, of which my favorites are Tale of Two Sisters, Let the Right One In, and the Whispering Corridors.

In terms of “subconscious” influences, I’d say the most important one was probably the Japanese girls’ comic, Candy Candy. As a comic, I can’t really say much about it, because I owned a Korean version when I was too young to be able to read it, but the drawings! I’d always liked drawing when I was a kid, but I think Candy Candy was the first book I’d seen where I thought the images were absolutely beautiful. The characters had large sparking eyes, they were constantly surrounded by furious floral windstorms, and everyone wore a tuxedo or frilly lace dress at all times. I stared at those drawings for hours, and I think I was eventually convinced that the only good art was pretty art. I don’t believe that now, but it has definitely affected my preferences in comics and the style in which I draw.

What are your upcoming projects?
I’m currently working on Jin & Jam #2, which I hope to finish this fall, and I’m developing a single issue, watercolored horror comic for next year, to be published by Koyama Press. I also plan to post several of my old zine comics and the entire issue of Jin & Jam #1 on Jordan Crane’s new comic website, What Things Do.