TCAF!

I'll be at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival this weekend!

It's my first time in Toronto, and I am EXCITED!  Joe Quinones and I will be hanging out at TABLE 216.

Primates isn't officially out yet, but I have 10 copies of the book that I'm giving away for free.  There's a slight catch; if you want a book, you have to do a little work (I promise that it's FUN work).  Come see me for more info!

And I'll have a bunch of other stuff (books and prints):

Free Comic Book Day: Acme Comics-style

Tomorrow (Saturday May 4th) is Free Comic Book Day!  Joe and I (along with a bunch of other cool comics peeps) are celebrating this joyous occasion at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC.  If you're in the area, stop by anytime between 10 AM and 5 PM for a free sketch!  I'll also have prints for sale, as well as a preview copy of Primates for you to lay your eyeballz on.

If you're not in the area, be sure to pick up the Free Spongebob Comic!  It's got a one-page comic about camouflage (by yours truly).

Sneaky Peek (courtesy of Boing Boing!)

Here's an excerpt from Primates; it's got my favorite part.  I bet you can guess what part that is...

The chicken AND the egg.

In the beginning of Primates, a young Jane Goodall has the opportunity to witness a chicken lay an egg.  This moment of observation reveals not just where that egg came from, but the significance of observation itself!  So much of the science in Primates is about sitting, and waiting, and looking, and listening, and documenting...and making connections.

"Yes, Let's" is out!!

Hey everyone, the brand-new hard cover version of "Yes, Let's" is out today!!  Tugboat Press initially released an awesome mini-version of this book in 2010; the new edition is published through Tanglewood Press, and it's larger and includes some additional illustrations.

Written by Galen Goodwin Longstreth and illustrated by me, "Yes, Let's" can be purchased at all sorts of places: Powell's Books, Amazon, or your favorite local book store.  If they don't have it, please ask!  The more people asking for "Yes, Let's", the more stores will carry it (and I thank you ahead of time).

And since "Yes, Let's" is all about getting outside, I'm going to go enjoy this glorious Spring weather (while it lasts -- I DO live in New England...so, it'll probably snow tomorrow or something).

Happy Birthday, Jane Goodall!

Wishing Jane Goodall a very happy birthday!

Side note: I got super hungry coloring that banana split.

Jane Goodall

Ladies and gentlemen, Jane Goodall.

Gorilla Call

And here's what it sounds like:

Chimp Call

And here's what it sounds like:

In the beginning...

Hey there! That's me up there, chillin' with an orangutan. And here's Jim Ottaviani, er, hangin' with a gorilla:

      I first found out that I would be the artist on Primates waaaaaaaaay back in 2008 (sometimes it takes a little while to make a book).  I was given the script by First Second, and asked to provide some samples  (kind of like an audition).  I was immediately thrilled to see the author of the script: Jim!!  I had been a big fan of his work since Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards. 

      I cranked out some character sketches and sample pages, and sent them to First Second within the week.  They let me know that they received them, and they also let me know that it might be a while before I hear from them.  

      Meanwhile, Joe and I were starting to make the spring comic convention rounds.  For the first time, we were going to check out Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC.  I decided to glance at the table layout to see who our "neighbors" would be, and, lo and behold, we were seated next to Jim!!  I was equal parts excited and terrified; I still hadn't heard any word about my samples.  The day before we flew down for Heroes, I got a phone call from First Second letting me know that I was on the book -- talk about some metaphorical pants-pooping!  Now I could talk primate-shop with Jim for the weekend and get super-pumped for the book.

      Jim also has a quick anecdote about how this played out on his end.

Stay tuned; I'll be posting the original samples that I did for Primates next week.

Primates Sneaky-Peek

First Second Books has blog post all about Primates today!  Click here to see not just the front cover, but the back cover, insides, etc!!

Jane's Binoculars

Young Jane Goodall

For Primates, I created 60 little 3"x4" watercolor paintings for promotion of the book, and I'll be posting them here on the blog.  Here's a young Jane Goodall!  Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Dian Fossey!

Today would have been Dian Fossey's 81st  birthday!  She studied gorilla groups in the forests of Rwanda for 18 years; you can read more about her here. (And when Primates comes out!)

Primates!!

Happy New Year (a little belated, I know)!

2013 is going to chock full of new and art and doodles...First up: Primates!

Yup, it's the project I've been working on for the past 4 years...written by the amazing Jim Ottaviani, published by the also-amazing First Second Books.  Here's a profile page for the book, and you can pre-order on Amazon.  The official release for Primates is June 11 2013, and I've got a whole lot of fun stuff to post about it.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I spruced up the blog with some foliage (and a chimp).

Fionna & Cake!

Hey!  It's a backup cover for Fionna & Cake!  By me!  More here.  I may be paying a little homage to one of my all-time favorite video games...

Fan Art Friday No. 17

The Falcon!!  (drawn for The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: REDUX Edition)

Vacation = over (for now)

Hi internet,

I took a vacation from you (and from working), and now I'm BACK.

Sincerely,
maris

But seriously, I took a much-needed break towards the end of the summer.  And now it's full steam ahead!  I will start by saying that Joe and I are going to be at New York Comic Con.  AND...we will be selling a print that we did together:

First, we worked on a sketch together (which included brainstorming all the animals we wanted in the piece).  Then, Joe penciled Aquaman and I penciled the animals, and we took turns inking sections.  Lastly, we finished it up in Photoshop, taking turns as well.  We'll have this 11 x 17 print (along with an animal-identification guide) at NYCC.

Fan Art Friday No. 16

I love me some Indiana Jones.  Just sayin'...

Fan Art Friday No. 15

Spidey, about to enjoy some soft serve.