The Hernandez Trifecta

Heres a pinup I did for my good buddy Javier Hernandez. It features three of his big creations. (from top down) Demolition Dove, Man-Swamp, and El Muerto. All of these came from the mind of the very creative Jav. What a great imagination. Inspiring stuff! Check out more Jav at JAVZILLA.COM. Man, talk about signature characters..!

Cardboard Fraudtographer

Had a nifty piece of cardboard laying around. I can't help myself, I feel the need to draw on a blank piece of cardboard when I see one. It feels so nice. Anywhoo...No, this ain't Jesus Christ....it's the title character from my film the Fraudtographer. He's supposed to be doing that thing with his hands that photographers do, you know- when they are lining up a shot? I drew the hands first. Probably should have drawn then after I placed the face. Oh well. It is what it is. I think its....FLY (haven't heard that expression in a while, huh?)

More Edge of LA Animation Fest video

Me give you tour. You watch video. Talk like Frankenstein. Not know why now. Grrrrrr. Enjoy!

Preview image: JOHN HENRY UNICORN

Rrrrreeeowrr!! Hear that noise? That's the CAT being let out of the BAG! Here it is folks, my new cartoon name revealed: "John Henry Unicorn". It's the lovable tragic story of a cult leader and his followers in the First Unicornian Church. In this picture above, Rev John gets ready for a gig. I'm having a lot of fun making this one and it should be out pretty soon. I'll keep y'all posted! PS....thanks for all the good feedback on DJ Disrespect. You all rock!

FreekDaddy....What Happened??

In my latest cartoon, DJ DISRESPECT, we meet up with DJ FreekDaddy on a late night bus. As you can see- He used to be the man. What happened? Drugs? VD? The IRS? Maybe one day we will find out the true story of the fall of the legend known as the one and only DJ FreekDaddy.

See DJ FREEKDADDY in his prime at the 2:05 mark of Get Your Groove On.

Harvey Kurtzman love!

Whaa? Jim's on ANOTHER podcast?! Sheeesh!

Aaaaah...the love. Mark Rudolph, co-host Art & Story Extreme- the Harvey Kurtzman tribute episode. Kurtzman, (one of the founding fathers of MAD) is a huge influence on both Mark and I. His war comics, Two Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, coninue to be some of the coolest comics ever produced. Harvey died in the early 1990's but his effect on art and pop culture is timeless.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FREAKIN' LOVEFEST!

The Ballpoint Fiends!

NEW PODCAST: The Ballpoint Fiends! Whaaaa? Randy "Gent" Gentile, Justin Stewart, Jeff Elden, and yours truly have started a podcast where we share artists and other things creative that we think you might enjoy. Its an artcast meets a buddy-chat. Check it out and find some really cool stuff that you'll get addicted to. We are planning to record these bi-weekly. You can subscribe via iTunes!

DJ Disrespect!

New cartoon: DJ DISRESPECT! Its about this English DJ living in So-Cal getting dissed and....well...just watch it!

Claremont Animation-Fest Pics & Video

Thanks to Chris from the Edge of LA Comic-Con for blowing up the Animation-Fest poster I did. I got to keep this, too. The fest really did exceed my expectations by a mile! Everything (including the weather) went perfect. We all had a really good time showing our films. Animators included: Mike Gray, Raul Aguirre, Scott Essman, Gras Rodiguez and me!

We had a PACKED HOUSE at the Packing House in Claremont. Yes, pun intended. It was literally standing room only. That was a huge surprise. A nice surprise. The later into the show we got, the more people seemed to file in.

The video display system was really clear, but next time, I think were going to use a different sound system. It was loud but grainy. That didn't spoil the movies though. We had a great variety. Everything from slick studio quality all the way to my ghetto D.I.Y. toons. DIVERSITY!

Standing room only...I told you!

We did a Q & A session after the films played. From Left to right:

Scott Essman, Jim Lujan, Raul Aguirre, Jr, and Gras Rodriguez

Sneak peek image: DJ DISRESPECT

Thats right. The title of my next cartoon is DJ DISRESPECT. Its about, what else- a DJ getting disrespected at his various gigs by a variety of characters. The DJ's name is DJ Styley and he has an English accent. I'm not sure if he's faking it or not. I like the idea of this Euro-DJ in the midst of Southern Cali. Styley is the kind of cocky guy that seems to always put his foot in his mouth and ends up getting someone else's fist in that same mouth. Now, thats a crowded mouth! All DJ Styley cares about is his BEATS and gettin' the RESPECT. Keep an eye out for this cartoon soon!

Edge of LA Animation-Fest!

CLAREMONT, CA- Saturday, August 15th at the Packing House (2:00 pm). I'll be showing my cartoons along with several other local animators at the first ever Edge of LA Animation-Fest! It should be a lot of fun. It's FREE ! It's in conjunction with the monthly Comic-Con in Claremont. Hope to see you all there!

Find out more info HERE!

Portland Buddies

Portland was wonderful and so were all the nice folks we met. I finally got to meet some very cool artists buddies I've known, but never had met in person. Behold the 4 Horsemen of the Portpocalypse! It was such a busy trip for us, we didn't have too much time to hang out, but it was very cool when we did. Mark just happened to be visiting from Michigan, so that totally worked out. Josh and Kevin live in Portland. Awesome folks.

And right above, you will see gracious host/supertalented artist Kevin Cross give a tour of his workspace.

Trivia fact: All of the gas stations in Oregon are full service.

Spotlight: Russ Gatling-Securityman

Name: Russ "Securityman"Gatling

From the Film: Securityman

Factoid: Russ has been employed by the Airtight Security Company for 11 years. Russ guards a local strip mall in Eagle Rock, CA. He has made it all the way up to minimum wage and was even given the badge of courage by his superiors. The badge of courage is actually a printed badge from the internet, but Russ was still proud. He can also be found in the film the Three Little Homies. Russ has absolutely no professional training whatsoever.

Project Unit 83

Check out my friend Gras Rodriguez's new site PROECT UNIT 83. There you'll find some of her very cool paintings art and now she's doing animation! It's nice to have friends that do cartoons, too.....makes me feel like I'm part of a collective , or something. Gras also started Not Your Friend Comics (something my daughter Julia said one time "Fine, You're not my friend").

Check out Gras' site here and her Animation here!

Man vs Art!

My artist/animator friend Raul Aguirre has a new blog and podcast called Man vs Art. Pretty exceptional stuff. There is a lot to check out in his blog. Raul has a way with words and is a really interesting and entertaining writer. Super talented guy. His podcast? Pro-quality. Raul does some excellent voices. Very inspiring stuff. Raul will be appearing at the Edge of LA Animation-Fest on August 15th in Claremont with yours truly. Check out ManvsArt and prepare to be-dazzed by the Be-Dazzler himself!

CHECK IT HERE!