Jam Jar Astronaut

I ate your math and I drank your juice.

[jamjarastronaut]

Update:

[flowerinaflame]

[jamjarastronaut]

my first and second Inktober drawings scanned weird. I’m too sleepy to rectify this now, but tomorrow I’ll get this scanner to do right by me. Anyhow, enjoy the outcome. It’s weird and artifacted to hell, but dig it because they’re gucci otherwise. Also, Shape Kids!

[jamjarastronaut]

I just made my first Patreon post, which you can look at for free here. It’s about Facebrace the Comic, and a follow-up project that may or may not be a thing. I’m low-key trying this because it would be low-key cool to know people were that interested in what I’m making here in my corner of the internet. 

Expect more cool things soon :3

[jamjarastronaut]

Some snippets. Clockwise from top right:

Sad Santa. part of the color comics experiment

Good Morning Gorgon Vol 2 Cover. with Olivia Li and Hailey Thurrott 

Frogbrace. promo for Facebrace the Comic

Skull Clit prologue Cover. for the Canadian release of the volume 1 prologue.

[andrewvee-deactivated20200916]

how may I be of assistance to you today #ducks #stronk #fit #doodle #tvdrawing #ink #pen #pilot

[jamjarastronaut]

this kid... This kid is a fucking hero

[jamjarastronaut]

Its 2016. Did you know that I’m resisting the urge to make a Facebrace Sequel.

[cornygirlfriend]

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter 6

I don’t know if it’s executed to be as heartwrenching as I felt it was, but for me this part is sad and hard. sad boners 5ever. Sometimes I think its important to indulge in that pocket of self indulgent misery, which is why the melodram-ometer here is off the charts. That wacky melodrama. 

Also, the cosmic horror of love as told by a frog version of the boyfriend who you can never see again.

I feel like this is a strong ending for the notes it tries to hit, and maybe it’s one of the more successful chapters in this regard, but parts of me itch to this day. Like, maybe it could be better paced, or maybe there’s not enough of the character Facebrace in the comic called Facebrace? Or maybe there isn’t enough gay chicken man dick hanging around? That could be it, honestly. 

I dunno

Either way, that’s the kit and caboodle. Its one of my favorite things that I made with the least positive outcome. I will never forget how much this book cost me. Golly heck did it cost me a lot.

$$OUL$$

thanks and goodnight

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter 5

You remember the musical Grease with John Travolta? The first chunk of this chapter is super inspired by that. I almost had a caption that said that this beach was the beach that the two people from Grease walked on when they were in the movie Grease.

Who was the lady with John Travolta?

Olivia Newton-John

Also, John Travolta looks like Harambe on IMDB

this was the original ending of the original facebrace comic, but after a while of showing people the book, nobody was getting what I wanted to say. Again, the after interviews were added the year after, so there wasn’t that to go off of. I think I learned a lot here about exercising too much subtlety. Mostly about how the book ends with jokes You can’t make but I can make and also the power of love.

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter 4

I wanted to get as many OG facebracers into the comic as possible, so Nosebot, Raggedy Android and Black Magic Man got cameos since they’re alive again/part of the cast. Alive again because time travel, yo!

Furthermore, I was on the useless part of the internet alot in 2014. Specifically this. I just remembered coming across all sorts of really dumb things, and laughing too much about them. Also, it reminded me of Facebrace, so that was a bonus.

This chapter is kind of about getting back on your feet? Or finding solid ground to stand on? Facebrace was kinda undermined in chapter 3 by all the glitter dreams, and I think everyone kinda saw that there was a problem brewing there.

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter 3

Brought to you by not waluigi, not gogurt and frogs. I was reflecting on what kind of downward spiral I would have, if I ever were to have one, and figured that delusions and substance abuse were pretty prime for that kind of experience. Facebrace just had a hard reset in continuity, which like many major life changes can be disruptive to one’s person. At this point, I had kinda realized how dumb it was to make a huge book in three weeks towards the onset of finals, and I found it easier to relate to someone that had lost all meaning and purpose :3 

Some things just bring out the weird in people.

I really like three pages in this chapter, the two page spread and the page immediately following that. The page following that immediately thereafter I have drawn seventeen times. I have no love for how it turned out, but at the time of print, and unfortunately since then as well, it is the best I can do given the visual language/subject.

Lastly, 24 hour access was a blessing. It helped me transcend like so many space frog dopplegangers, and I am forever grateful for the misery it allowed me to inflict upon myself.

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter 2

Computer boogers is my favorite page ever. #snotcakes #n64 Also, the afterwards interviews were a second edition addition. I figured Glambot would want to voice excuses/frustrations. Jerico Sundance is my favorite gay chicken man and he's also my face hole into the facebrace universe. Other developers on the facebrace project were also actors for the film pieces. The closest I got to screentime was when the mic I was holding drooped into frame lol. So yeah, I give you a gay chicken. He's a buddy with no legs.

[jamjarastronaut]

chapter one

I feel like every supervillain should have an opportunity to voice their plan. Too bad g.urlbot has feelings about Glambot's plan. This chapter was added a year later, after I showed some non-millennials the facebrace book, which was then chapters 2-5. They didn't get it, so I looked at it again and I didn't get it, so then I broke back into school and sat at a light table for three days. Who says you can't go back?

[melgillman]

Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies for Cartoonists!

Hey comic-makers!  Looking for funding or short/long term studio space to help you make your comics?  I put together a list of grants, fellowships, and residencies with an established, positive track record for accepting cartoonists!  (There are also many, many arts grants/etc. out there that have not accepted any cartoonists yet, and I absolutely encourage you to apply for those too!  But I’ll be limiting this list to ones that already have demonstrated interest in comics.)

I’m sure there are ones I’m missing, so feel free to drop me a line if you know one I should add!  I’ll keep updating the list periodically :)

GRANTS

Creators for Creators

Cupcake Award

The Dash

Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities  

PRISM Queer Press Grant

Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize

Society of Illustrators M Prize  

FELLOWSHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence

Catskill Center Artist in Residence

Comic Art Workshop

Donaldson Writer-in-Residence

Inbound and Outbound TRANSIT

Maison des Auteurs  

Sitka Artist Residency

Thurber House Graphic Novel Residency

Tulsa Artist Fellowship  

US National Parks Residencies  

[jamjarastronaut]

[jamjarastronaut]

This is some original art that led up to the debut of Facebrace the comic in 2014. Note the commitment to taglines and use of Photoshop select tools.

Also, that frog became a sticker for a short while. A very short while.