You may have noticed the new banner gracing the top of the page and the face in the corner. I’ve been slowly aligning my visuals on various social media platforms while working on this whole “being a brand” thing, and now here we are.
I hate seeing myself in photographs, so I commissioned a few friends to take a shot at capturing me in art. I provided a few references photos, but gave them a long leash. My only directions were “serial killer vibe” and “maybe a little better looking?” Unless we meet in person, this is as close as you’re going to get to knowing what I look like. You can tell me how they did.
I was quite chuffed by the results. I thought it would be nice to introduce everyone. Let me remind you that all of these gentlemen are available for commissions.
Artist credits from left to right:
A Charlotte-based artist, Ken Knudtsen is a relocated New York writer and artist (Wolverine) and the creator of My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer (SLG Publishing). He has also worked on animation for projects developed by Comedy Central, Robert Reich, and PBS.
The title character of My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer is a poorly-named ape adopted by a family to keep company with their daughter, who dresses him in party clothes for her tea parties. Filled with rage at his hosts and slightly unhinged, Jennifer nonetheless keeps them safe from a series of evil scientists seeking subjects for their experiments. Ken talks about his work here. You can find one of the Jennifer collections on Amazon.
I first encountered Ken’s work with Jennifer – monkeys + evil scientists = easy sell – and joined his mailing list, back when social media consisted of writing your email address on a piece of paper. Over the years, we’ve met in real life at a handful of comic cons and I commissioned Ken’s art for at least a half dozen publications from my small press, which I’ll write about more shortly.
Another artist I met through my small press and have used liberally for cover art and some personal projects. Luke is an artist and illustrator living in the South of England. He earned a First Class degree in illustration from the University of Portsmouth. His work includes personal projects, as well as numerous commissions for book covers and interior illustrations, as well as conceptual design and business branding. Luke has illustrated stories by Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker as part of Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold: Oddities Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, as well as two stories by Stephen King, which appeared in You, Human and Gamut Magazine.
Check out Luke’s website and Instagram for more of his dark fantasy and horror work.
Rick Worley is the cartoonist behind the comic A Waste of Time, an interconnected series of comic strips and longer stories that are sometimes autobiographical, sometimes fantastical, and always packed with Rick’s obsessions: Star Wars, culture wars, comics, Bill Watterson, and cute twinks. His cast of characters include a closeted fundamentalist coke-addicted teddy bear, an oversexed fox, a romantically doomed robot, and Capitalist Pig, who take turns serving as Rick’s mouthpieces for his deeply considered ruminations on art, commerce, pop culture, romance, and sex.
You can find Rick on Patreon and check him out on YouTube, where his film analysis is earning him a growing fandom.
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