EXTRY! EXTRY! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

In tomorrow's edition of The Saginaw News (which will be today's edition in another twenty minutes), reporter and good friend Jessica Soule will have a story about me and my contribution to issue #4 of Dave Alvarez's Yenny comic book. She's a solid journalist, and did me a real favor by doing a bit on me, so do us both a solid and check it out!

Not Quite MAD Enough

Good news and bad news on the submission front. First the bad. Mad Magazine wasn't quite ready for the unrestrained mayhem that is my artwork. So now I have yet another rejection note to add to the ten-year-old pile in my closest. The good news though, was that on the bottom of the form letter Mad sent me, I also got a personal response from Mad's art director, Sam Viviano. Here's how his message went:

Hey, Jay!
Some interesting stuff, but I'm not sure that we have any illustration opportunities for you here at MAD just now. You might want to check our new feature, "The Strip Club," and come up with an unpublished submission for that. In the meantime, as one Michigander to another (I grew up in Detroit), thanks for letting me see your work!

Sam

It's always a positive thing to receive a personal reply, especially considering the amount out submissions a company like Mad has to respond to. And the friendly nature of Sam's note, coupled with the suggestion of other opportunities, did much to cushion the blow. I do intend to look into Mad's "Strip Club," and I think I have a concept that would fit in well with Mad's comedic sensibilities. So, more on that when the time comes.

In the meantime, let this be a lesson to other aspiring cartoonists out there: DON'T GIVE UP! Rejection letters are still responses, so at least you know people are seeing your work. And a rejection letter with a personal message is distilled hope in its purest form.

Giving Life To Krazybread

Over at myspace.com, where I have yet another, less art-related blog, I've recently come up with what I hope will be a good promotional tool for some of my work.

I gave The Krazybread Man, my character from Mother's Goofs, his own myspace entry.

I went so far as to create an e-mail address for him (www.mothersgoofs.com). And as far as anyone who visits myspace in concerned, he's real (sure, you need to have an imagination and a sense of humor to buy it, but I'm treating him as real).

I figured using him as a kind of spokesman might be a good way to bring new people into Mother's Goofs, and when I eventually publish my Mother's Goofs collection (two years in the works now), that'll be all the more people potentially interested in buying it.

His entry is pretty funny, and his blogs are totally suited towards his character. You're warned in advance that some of the stuff is a little adult, but it's all good fun.

Here's a couple links:

http://www.myspace.com/krazybreadman
http://blog.myspace.com/krazybreadman

Let me know what you think!

So Where's My Damn Grammy?!

Back in 2004 a group of music professors and classical musicians from CMU began production on a CD and commissioned me to design the cover art. Now, a year later, the CD has finally been released by Centaur Records Inc. To the best of my knowledge, it should it be available in a music store near you (Best Buy in the very least). Even if you're not a fan of woodwind music, it might be cool for you to own a piece of my very first CD artwork. I should stress that I make no money off sales of the album (mine was a one time flat fee for art creation). I just thought it might be a cool keepsake for you guys who dig my art. You can view the original art at the link below.
http://www.jayfosgitt.com/CommArt/cdArt.html

Release Date for Jay's Yenny Work and other news

I just spoke with cartoonist Dave Alvarez, and he tells me that my work will appear in Yenny #4 sometime in February. However, this may be subject to change. Planned release dates for most comic books are often as unpredictable as Michigan weather, and this particular issue was originally supposed to be due out last October. But at any rate, that's when he told me, so I'm sticking to it.

Look for it at a local comic book shop near you. I'd suggest, though, that you get to one NOW and ask for a copy of PREVIEWS, a catalog that advertises upcoming comic books. Since Yenny is published through Alias, which is still a growing company, probably not alot of shops immediately carry Alias comic books, so you may have to special order the issue through Previews, which any shop will help you do. It won't cost you anything extra to order the book, but it will assure that you get your hands on it. I know that's what I'll be doing!

In other cartooning news, I just sent out a portfolio of my work to Mad Magazine last week. It had a lot of caricatures featured on my website, as well as samples from my various comic strip creations. I thought the REEL FUNNY strip in particular might grab their attention, since they've always been heavy into movie parodies. More news on that when and if I hear back from 'em.

There's some caricaturing gigs coming my way, which is great news for my bank account. For the first time in I couldn't even tell you how long, I actually have at least one gig per month scheduled between now and June. That's good exposure, good money and good art (I pride myself on my caricaturing work).

I'm also going to be drawing a mural at Swan Valley Middle School (my old stomping ground) sometime in the next month. I was commissioned by one of my old teachers who's now head librarian there, and the mural will span one of the walls of the library. The mural will be done entirely in purple permanent marker (purple is Swan Valley's school color), which will make the job sooooo much easier than using paint (cleaner, too). I'll try and post some photos of the job once it's finished.

I'm also in talks to submit some artwork to the Northwood Art Gallery here in good ol' Midland, MI.
I stopped by there one day with Laura, and asked what a guy had to do to get his work in there. The director there seemed interested in my being a cartoonist (a first for the gallery, I'm certain). But I immediately got a line of questioning that was very straight forward and a little intimidating, ending with, "Are you any good?" "Well, I think I am," I nervously replied. She asked me to bring back a selection of my work to review and that we'd talk.
Walking downtown with Laura afterwards, I was kicking myself for not answering her question with: "I'm the best cartoonist the tri-cities has to offer." I'm not so arrogant to think I'm the best there is in Michigan (there's always someone better than you, after all), but I feel confident I have Midland, Saginaw and Bay City under control.
More news on the gallery as it develops.

Lastly, there's more potenially big news on the immediate horizon, though I won't say what until I get confirmation. Even if it falls through, I'll let you guys know that it would have been. But for now, it sounds like a pretty sure thing.

Thanks to all you guys who've been replying to these semi-regular postings. Tell your friends about this website and make sure you and they keep checking my blog regularly to see what's in the works. If things keep progressing the way they have been, the news is only going to keep getting bigger and better!