Seriously though. If you haven't checked it out yet, CHECK IT OUT

Tell your friends. Post it somewhere.

Spread the good news!

It's finally here folks! Updated every monday, so be sure to tune in.

This may be the very last post of this blog, but perhaps not.

I don't see why I'd continue it though.

Many graphic novelists start out with small projects like the one

I'm doing now. My hope is to gain some notoriety through my comics,

so please, spread the word! Spread the LOVE.

http://www.justinhubbell.com/

Yeah!

Foom!

Make no mistake. This is not the last time you see these characters. It may, however, be one of the last posts on my blog. I can't say I know how long this website will take, but all the work I'm doing now is gearing up for the launch.

If I post more on this blog it will likely be work from college.

Yup.

Justin Hubbell.

Sounds like a good sandwich to me.

Justin Hubbell

Falcon!

Justin Hubbell

Did I say every day?

Because what I meant was, every day that I remember to update.
Sorry bout that.

When I have a website things will be different.

Justin Hubbell

Yup!

Could have sworn I updated yesterday...

Sorry about that!
In other news, the revision of Suicide has begun!
Justin Hubbell!

Comic

Comic!

One a day, folks!
...for a week.

Enjoy!

This was the first practice four panel comic I did in
my final semester in college. It's low-brow.

Justin Hubbell.

UPDATE + Interior!

Ladies and gentleman, I am displeased with myself for not keeping this blog updated more often, however, I do have exciting news!

I am in fact working on a website, a place of my very own. With luck it will be launched before the summer is over! It will have web comics and updates and art and all sorts of stuff, and you shall visit it every day and not once be disappointed!

So please stay tuned, bear with me.
Until then I will catch yall up on some stuff I done did earlier.

Have an interior (it was drawn on the smallest paper yet!)

Justin Hubbell

A selection of monotypes.

To be specific these are trace monotypes with watercolor and pen.
I made this unique edition for a portfolio exchange in New Paltz.
I'm a Godzilla fan, what can I say?
These are some of the least offensive prints from the series,
which I wanted to be super kitschy.

Oh yeah and that Godzilla is definitely playing keep-away with Lady Gaga's disco stick.

Oh and, umm...Justin Hubbell.

Four panel comics!

More to come. Eventually.
I feel another interior coming on...

Justin Hubbell

Okay so maybe a longer pause than usual...

The computer problem I had earlier was more or less rectified within a few days of the issue.
Long story short, I had to buy a completely new machine. Lucky for me all of my old data
was successfully transferred, so it's almost as though nothing ever happened.

The reason why I have not updated this blog in so long is because my BFA thesis show is coming up soon. Actually, it's tomorrow. Needless to say I've been very busy planning, arranging, managing...anything you can think of I've probably done it or given it thought.

There will be pictures of this show posted soon, so stay tuned!

My last semester is finally dwindling down to the point where I can see the end of the line.
I got my cap and gown, I took my last quiz, and I'm rather low on cash.
Then again, that's what summer jobs are for right?

Only this won't be a summer job, it'll be a bonafide full timer.
With luck I'll get on my feet en0ugh to create a website within a year or two.
If that doesn't end up happening then you can rest assured that I am working
on Suicide, my first graphic novel. In the very least I'll have updates on that.

My apologies for not updating sooner. It's been chaotic.
Sooner than later I'll dump a bunch of comics here.

I've been doing work for my school newspaper, but I found that I had to practice
limiting my comics to four frames. It's quite a challenge to make an engaging comic with that format. I found that I either ended up with one-liner punch lines or nonsequitor gags.
This of course is okay, because that roughly describes the comedic flow of practically every four panel comic ever made. The problem is making them actually funny.

It took a lot of comics until I made one I liked...and it turned out I didn't like that one too much either after a while. Like I said, I'll eventually post these comics (good and bad) on here.

Time for class!

...

Justin Hubbell

A brief pause.

I've been updating relatively frequently, I've noticed. I expect within a year to have my own website. This blogspot will become obsolete. But for now it's doing its duty quite well.

That said the lull in updates is sadly going to continue. Though I have recently been churning out a fun bunch of four panel comics, my computer (just today!) up and broke on me.

I can of course use the school's computer labs for scanning and photoshop, but there is some kind of block against uploading media. I'm sure this is to protect the school's reputation against nefarious amateur porn directors. Something like that.

I've never been able to upload comics from a school computer.

I'll keep you posted.

Good vibes in regards to the computer are always welcome.

So sayeth Justin Hubbell

So...

I was thinking about time travel, and I thought (much like my father) how neat it would be to travel back and vacation in prehistoric ground. My dad chose the Cretaceous, but I'm all about the Paleozoic Era.

Then it occurred to me that I'd be sharing my space with some of the largest arthropods that ever lived. Considering I practically have a stroke every time I'm within ten yards of a fiddler crab, something tells me I wouldn't be able to handle the local wildlife.

I have a special love for Eurypterids, but I'm pretty sure this comic perfectly illustrates my reaction to actually seeing one.

Justin Hubbell.

INTERIORS FOR SALE

Here's how it goes. You mail me a check, I mail you an interior!
Yes! An interior of your choice, custom made and lovingly flourished!

Wash + Dryer included! Heat and Electric included! Wireless internet! My signature!

To order your interior email me at: hubbel99@newpaltz.edu

An interior is something that can bring happiness to your life. Take the reaction
of this fine fellow as proof!

Contrary to what may seem like photographic evidence, neither of us were drunk in these scenes. What you are seeing is pure INTERIOR ELATION™

Backgrounds and bios

I've been wanting to give my blog a little makeover, so I looked into getting custom backgrounds. I have since discovered that there are oodles of free backgrounds to be had online specifically designed for blogs. I have also learned that most of them are for girls.

I wanted something sleek and dark, but all I found were these amazingly intricate patterns, all of them bright with floral fruity motifs. Pink Victorian wallpaper with stitched trim and strawberry stickers...cute happy go luck ghosts swirling over multicolored tracing lines...

It was all so damned sappy. But in looking into all this I realized that the coding used is actually quite simple. And so I shall endeavor to create my own background. We'll see how that goes. But I was also able to edit out some things that annoyed me. The top dashboard is, for example, no longer that awful blue strip that screams "THIS IS BLOGSPOT."

I digress.

While taking Senior Art Seminar with Venetia Dale, one of the exercises was to write an artist bio, which I have just now supplemented over the "about me" section. I wrote one, and three other comic ones. Here they are:


Justin Hubbell is most well known as the premiere graphic novelist of his time. After his work on Suicide, Manhood, and Race, he left America with his wife to pursue independent work in the Bahia, Brazil. Justin Hubbell is a native of Rochester and thinks that the city "is not so bad."

Justin Hubbell has attended school for the past seventeen years. Though he is known for his work with comics, the artist states that "I really haven't lived much yet," and is looking forward to life outside of college. He aims to publish his graphic novels.

Justin Hubbell was born on cold December afternoon. His mother has remarked that he didn't put up much of a fight. This makes sense considering that Justin Hubbell has a hard time bench pressing anything over 30 lbs.

Justin Hubbell is known for his mastery of the Unreal Tournament gladitorial circuit. Now retired, he currently spends time training disenfranchised youth how to properly operate forklifts. He may in fact, be a moth.

An interior from the heart!

For my beloved Alex.

•••

Interesting discovery. I wrote a post on how I was invisible on Google. No more! I looked up Justin Hubbell, and found myself at the top of the list...complaining about how I was invisible on Google.

I suppose it would be a good practice to somehow insert my full name into each post.
How does one do that with panache?

I have no Justin Hubbell clue...

Ah the politics of pens...

Since winter break I have fallen desperately in love with my fountain pen.

I would like to get some new nibs but I shall always remain faithful to the original.

The problem with fountain pens, however, is the line quality you get when scanning them. This was most evident to me in the latest comic.

If you look (and you don't even have to look carefully), the line edge has this sort of fuzziness to it. This is because nib of the fountain pen presses into the paper instead of rolling on top of it. The edges left on the embossing get picked up by scanners, and as a result the line quality is not quite as crisp as when I was just using Microns.

Just look at the comparison.

Fountain Pen Scan

vs

Micron Pen Scan

Oh well? What's a guy to do?

Reading over some of my favorite graphic novelists I'm always shocked at the lack of detail in the drawings. Comforted too.

More tales from The Great War

I'm a little worried that people will associate this villainous character with Lucius Malfoy.

Of course I only realized the similarity until after I finished doing the comic. That's life.

I had a dream once of making a book out of The Great War, but it seems to me now an impossibility. I say this because in spite of the various comics I've done...there really is no story. I've come to realize that the series is more a practice in dialog than anything else. Good writing is hard, but it good storytelling is perhaps even harder.

As always, The Great War offers a little slice of the big picture...

•••

I had a lovely time with Alex in Alfred!

The Great War

TOLD you I'd do a comic soon.
Things have been great recently.
My work for my thesis has been approved by all fronts.

Now all that's left to do is work out the finishing touches.
Postcards.
Labels.
And of course, additional prints.

My girlfriend Alex has spent her spring break with me in New Paltz, and soon I will be spending mine with her in Alfred. We've had a merry time of things. She says "hi."

Soon an INTERIOR ETCHING PRINT will be available to the public. That means, you can buy one if you like! Yes! You can buy a print from me! Signed and everything!
Woo!

I'm getting into The Great War again. I've come to realize that at the heart of it, The Great War series represents my view of America, more or less. At least politically.

Exciting news, I've developed a new character for the series. Death. You'll see it soon.
Well, in a week or so. That's soon, geographically speaking. That's like a minute.
5 minutes.

Augh!

It's gotten to the point where I'm drawing interiors simply to pass the time.
I have done other work, but looking at this blog it seems like interiors are the only thing I draw.

I think that will change soon. I want to start doing comics for my school newspaper.
I'll start tomorrow!

Graphic novels are novels. Comic strips are poems.
It's hard work, comic strips, it's hard to write a poem.

In both cases you have to limit yourself to the constraints
of purity. You must pick and choose only what works.
Elaboration becomes a luxury and a risk all at once.

I could never do comic strips professionally.
People like Charles Schultz and Gary Larson. No idea how they did it.

•••

The rug on the second floor of this interior is a little distracting. I went a touch too far with it.

BFA Show Dates! Yes!

Well folks, the time has come for me to talk once again of my BFA thesis show, which will officially premiere April 30th. A friday.

My junior year in college I wondered if I had lost my drive. If my sense of discipline had been vanquished by my swelling senioritis...

Now I know that not to be true. I work so hard these days that Mondays utterly astonish me. Because if it were Monday...then that would mean I must have, at some point, experienced some kind of weekend. Right?

Right. No. There are no weekends anymore. There hasn't been any since September of last semester, when I began working on my thesis.

For the longest time I wasn't sure if any of it was going to be rewarding, but upon finding the perfect dresser for my installation, I must admit that each new print feels like a major triumph. Even my shittiest work would look relevant in these drawers. I will probably include at least one print from freshman year, just to go full circle.

Eventually I'll update this post with the image I'll use on my postcard. I plan on having that done soon.

Sooner than later.

You betcha.

Now all that is left is elbow grease and paperwork. No more time for worrying.

It's go time.

Ok one more.

Two new things! A person! And a ROOM within an interior! Can it be? Gadzooks!
I really wished I showed up when you look for "Justin Hubbell" under google.
What is up with that?

A long time ago I got this pop up saying "WANT TO BECOME MORE VISIBLE? GET A GOOGLE PROFILE?"

And basically it was this thing where I would submit a picture and an address and all that jazz. I wasn't too comfortable with that idea so I tried to undo the process. I managed it, but doing so erased me completely from the search.

So now I have to recommend people search "sheeps pond" which is frankly embarrassing because the real name in Cape Cod is "Sheep Pond."

I always called it "Sheep's Pond" as a kid because I didn't know better. And while I could argue that that was what I was going for when I chose my blog name? it would still be kind of dumb of me. Which it was.

Oh well.
Oh well.

New ideas coming soon.

I like drawing interiors a lot. But I think it's time either to apply my love of them to my comics, or move on to some new practice.

I have fantasies of large paper. Making giant interiors.
Wouldn't THAT be fun.
Yes it would.

A mansion! Ooh la la.
But until then, I think it's time for something new to sink my teeth into.

I just LOVE fountain pens!

This interior obviously is kept by an inventor who does not mind clutter in the least.

...I really like toast, and toasters. It's hard not to draw them in everything I do.

Sinister Interior

Everyone has an attic, of some kind, where they torture themselves, or others.
I'm speaking metaphorically.

The drawing is literal. Not a good person, living here.

Has he gone mad??

In all seriousness...I can't seem to stop drawing what I am now constantly calling "interiors" (despite the face that I believe them to be more complex than that).

One woman remarked that I could probably sell these.
What do you think? Maybe?

Anyhow I've finally reconciled the background problem I was having.
I really enjoyed the interiors I made over break but I have to say the background distract me a little. It isn't a problem with everyone, in fact most enjoy the background. But I am a man of simplicity (false?) and I love how the latest one came out.

I did it on a pretty small piece of paper.
It took an hour and a half...roughly?

The photography is mine and I can't wait to use other mundane textures as backgrounds!
I also can't wait to incorporate my newfound fondness of interiors with my comics.
Haven't really had the time just yet...

I'm so busy with my last semester. But I run a tight ship!

Interiors!

Ok so, it all started with this drawing.

Alex and I were drawing together trying to think up worlds together when I just became fascinated with the room I was in. I wanted to capture the details. What I'm coming to love about fountain pens is the very fact that I'm limited to a certain line (as I only have one nib). This inability to get the detail I'd normally like forced me to loosen up, and with that I was able to tackle things I would otherwise ignore out of laziness. So I drew the whole room, with her in it. But I wasn't quite satisfied.

If I were to look at this practically I'd call it a practice in backgrounds. Part of the inspiration for this new fascination comes from the people at Amanita Design, particularly from their AMAZING GAME "Machinarium."

I've never played a game where I immediately said "this is one of the best games I've ever played." I've been jaded for a while about games, but thank God for the Czechs! Once again, I can call computer games an art form and not look shabby for doing it.

Anyway, yes. Interiors. I really like drawing them right now. Now all I need is a bigger piece of paper...ooh baby!

Here are some details...

Fountain Pen!

I tried out a fountain pen for the first time today.

Due to my inexperience, I honestly don't know how good the pen is,

but I wouldn't mind more nibs.

Frankly, I think I might still prefer brush pens.

But it was fun. More experiments in the future?

Unsure.