ILLUSTRATION

Pants On Fire / Urban Pressure Just screwin' around with text and negative space. Song lyrics are from "Pants on Fire" by Buck 65 and "Urban Pressure" by The Grim Northern Social.[new]

Pastimes and Lifestyles Was inspired by late-60's magazine illustration, and wanted to draw a piece that focused on Sangeeta rather than either of the boys.

Retro Postcard I drew this just so I could use that font at the top. (Lost Type Co-Op's Deming) The skin coloring in mid-century commercial illustration is hard to imitate. Print available.

Volume 1 Book Cover Finished at last! I'd never painted an early morning scene before, so this was a really fun learning experience. Volume 2 will be in midday lighting, and Volume 3 at sunset.

Convention Display/Promo Stuff Illustrations for a business card and a 6' x 2.5' vertical banner. (Shown here without title text)

Barton Springs Eternal III In the course of a split-second, Amal thought: "Oh my god that's going to hurt, are you completely craz-- oh, wait, yeah, yeah, you are." Gift art for a friend.

The Deepest Grass of Springtime Speedpaint, trying out some brushes, trying out some lighting. Inspired by Elbow's song "The Birds". Haha, I'm such a mushy sap. Print available.

Haven't Slept Since Summer (NSFW) Just wanted to do an illustration with them sort of intertwined, with all the skin in flat color. Inspired by "Concrete Walls" by Fever Ray. Print available.<

Gulf Aid Now charity commissions Auctioned off a custom commissioned piece at Gulf Aid Now back in July. The winner was Sarahsan, who requested "TJ's favorite picture of Amal, or vice versa." I decided to do both.

Gulf Aid Now charity sketch Not in color, but in the spirit of the previous two commissions. The winning bidder was Shinji16, who requested "a sketch of the boys' favorite photo of them together."

Formalwear I just wanted to draw the guys in really formal clothes. Guess it turned into a cheesy portrait photo.

Wallpapers 1920x1200 widescreen wallpaper, made entirely in Photoshop. Letterboxed 1600x1200 versions can be downloaded here (Amal) and here (TJ).

Mata La Culebra! Not sure where this came from - also does not happen in the story. (I used to work at a summer camp that had a big stuffed plush snake like this in the staff cabin...) Print available.

Fear Of Pop Inspired by Ben Folds (performing as 'Fear of Pop') and the poster art of Peter Max. Photoshop and ink on Bristol. Print available.

Pyew Pyew Pyew Inspired by M.I.A's song "Paper Planes", which was a big hit in spring 2008, and makes an appearance in the story.

Compartmentalization Combined and separate, as he feels he must. Photoshop.

I Can't Tell The Thugs And You Apart Inspired by "Some People (Just Get Off On Breaking Hearts)" by hip hop group Meanest Man Contest. The electronic bassline inspired the mosaic effect on the color. Still not sure how I feel about that.

Here Is My Love And Anger I read this passage in a column on saidthegramophone.com and immediately started sketching. TJ's had a pretty interesting life.

Three, Two, One Someone recently said TJ's profile reminded them of Spike Spiegel; I responded that the resemblance was intentional (which it is), and then made this silly thing.

Fake Newtype Spread Just daydreaming and being dumb. Print available. (no text)

Brave As We Were Those Days There's a long and angst-filled story behind this, but suffice it to say it sums up 2008 fairly well. I guess Amal's facial expression is rather telling. Inspired by "Flyover State" by David Brusie and "Torn Blue Foam Couch" by Grand Archives. Print available.

The Bones Of You Inspired by the song by Elbow. Bits of TJ's past. I was riffing a little on Toshihiro Kawamoto's ink style (ca. 2003) here... Print available.

You Were Only Joking Inspired by Indigo Girls' song "Joking". Pretty much what the lyrics say.

Station Approach Another Elbow song. I just wanted to try this composition and "block" coloring. Background is a stock photo of San Francisco and a stock photo of Providence.

Long Distance Election night gift art for y!gallery. It was fun painting the light from the cell phone on Amal's face.

Grace Under Pressure Inspired by Elbow's song of the same name. This was done back when their personalities and the entire thrust of the story were different. I'm still not sure what I was going for here; I never imagined it as a poster but it wound up as such several months later. (Why oh why did I ever give Amal that silly-looking belt buckle...) Print available.

Tomorrow Never Knows Commissioned piece from Ohayocon '09. The prompt was "TJ, Amal, and a Beatles song of your choice." Prismacolor marker on Bristol.

Pressure Suit Inspired by Aqualung's song. This doesn't happen in the story; I just couldn't get the image out of my head. Print available.

SKETCHES / DOODLES

you've answered that, you know [new]
chapter 21 epilogue [new]
chapter 21 epilogue epilogue [new]
i was blessed with bad eyes
music is my boyfriend
colors are beautiful, life is beautiful
all in a row
silly sharpie doodles
burn her anyway
Christmas Filler Illo
sheep go to heaven
halloween party
formalwear fakeout
inside joke, maybe
preview booklet cover
sleep study
make believe mambo
a small motion
keep it on ice
the obvious
tj speedpaint/color practice
orange crush
rocky mountain high
stay with me, go places
go see the mardi gras
this isn't going to work, is it
in osaka
cool weather gear
take me to your leader
i'll cut you
sewing lesson
first you get a box
aclfest
warmups
just microwave 'em
blah blah blah
barton springs eternal
heavy sugar (commission)
hash browns, comfort, and joy
storm front passing
roll for damage
i don't get many things right the first time
new year's gift sketches (1) (2)
starfleet
hey wow
fancy meeting you here
bryan fucking ferry
feeling yourself disintegrate
george michael thing
but what i really want to do is sing
accumulated pheromones
old scribbles
shaking it out

MEMES & META
my modus operandi is amalgam
age meme: amal
technical talk
therapy
schulz - miller - hirschfeld - groening
berating eight
a stupid bleach crossover
avatar finale
rant: nothin' but gay gay gayerson
bizarro
nyeeoww chh chh
con artist
oh god what is this
musical venn diagram
is this a kissing book
putting on the ritz

OLD IDEA-ROUGHS/DOODLES
stargazing with cecil (ch. 21)
they meet/graceland (ch. 2)
puccini in reno (ch. 8)
three questions (ch. 11)
hyperballad (ch. 20)
plah (from a discarded page)
chickenman
not an early bird (ch. 14)
mr. bubble
got your nose

BACKSTORY & DEVELOPMENT
prelude: the girls (2008)
prelude: passing (2006)
prelude: darby (2005)
prelude: do not want (2005)
prelude: norman, darby
prelude: norman (1999)
character design evolution
first picture of the boys