FALLOUT

Captain America

James Baker — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:22:18 +0000

This is a sketch I did during this year’s APE show. Rafael Navarro has been keeping a CAPTAIN AMERICA sketchbook where he asks other people to draw his favourite super-hero, and this was my contribution. In retrospect, I should have drawn Captain America with Barack Obama’s face!

APE 2008

James Baker — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:14:35 +0000

Due to my continuing computer troubles (the meltdown of both my G4 laptop and my backup hard-drive in the same month) I was not able to reprint some of my old mini comics, nor do the scanning and formatting for a new comic that I had planned to release at this years APE convention. Despite all those let-downs I had an enjoyable show.

I spent most of the show at my table hawking the old wares, chatting with friends and doing some sketches and though I was mainly booth-bound, I did manage to pick up a few good books during my brief breaks. ROCKET TOWN by Bob Logan, both BOOK PLATE and BELLE DU JOUR by Bill Presing, DEREKMONSTER ANNUAL 2008 by Derek Thompson and also Keith Knight’s THE COMPLETE K CHRONICLES.

The after-show socialising was especially fun this year. On the Saturday, a group of us went to HENRY’s Hunan, where we dined like Emperors, and then saw the CROM show at the nearby VARNISH gallery; an exhibition of artwork inspired by the movie CONAN. On Sunday night, we had dinner at ZANTE’s Indian Pizza in the Mission district, followed by Mitchell’s ice cream, and then walked to a nearby park where the Day of the Dead parade terminates. This event was much better attended than in previous years, and there was a LOT of creativity on display in the altars and people in skeleton costumes.. Perhaps this event has grown as the San Francisco Halloween festivities have gone sour…

Even though I heard some people grumbling about the date change (from April to October) in my view, the fact that APE 2008 took place on the same weekend as both Halloween and Day of the Dead was an extra special treat this year.

Technical Difficulties

James Baker — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:34:06 +0000

Sorry for the long hiatus in my posting. First of all I was traveling for quite a few weeks… and then, once back in San Francisco, I have been beset with computer troubles, one after the other. My trusty old G4 laptop started acting-up and it is now being seen to by tech-professionals. To make matters a little more nerve-wracking, I just discovered today that my 500GB external BACK-UP drive is kaput… and some of the data on there is probably no-place else (I’ll know for sure if that is so once I get my laptop back). I had never allowed for the possibility that my backups would also need backups…

Gone Walkin’

James Baker — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:40:15 +0000

I have just recently completed a 4 day/5 nights trek with six old hometown buddies that had been in planning for the past few months. The seven of us met up in our home town and then went on a bush walk carrying about 25 Kilos (50 pounds) worth of gear as we walked through a beautiful part of our home county; the escarpment where the New England Tablelands plateau drops away to the sea… The distance travelled was a lot less than I had originally imagined and yet the difficulty level was much more arduous than I had expected. Despite all the aches and pains it was a very rewarding journey for all of those involved. Once I get back to San Francisco I will post a more detailed report and show some photos.

Sorry for the lack of blog posts over the past few weeks. I have been doing a lot of traveling, both in the USA and Australia, and I haven’t often been able to get on the internet.

Sydney

James Baker — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:37:45 +0000

Here is a photo taken early in the morning, after a long trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Australia. This is the view of Sydney taken while on a connecting flight to the city of Adelaide, which is where I am right now. It took me around 21 hours of travel to get to this destination…

New York

James Baker — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:56:43 +0000

Lately I have been running around a lot traveling hither and thither. Last week was spent in New York City, visiting my pals Rhode and Dave. This photo shows us all sitting in central Park sketching the local scene, which happened to be teeming with eccentrics on that particular day, including a guy dressed as Batman riding around on a customised Bat Bicycle.

Totoro Forest Project

James Baker — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:13:26 +0000

Recently, I posted a drawing I’d done for an art auction without giving any details, so here they are: On September 6th, PIXAR STUDIOS will host an auction of artwork done by 184 artists to raise money for the TOTOTO FOREST PROJECT; a foundation to protect urban forests in Japan. I wont attending because I will be in Australia, but my drawing will be representing me there. Others who can not attend (unfortunately tickets are required, and they sold out very quickly) can see the ART GALLERY on the official website. Additionally, ALL the art will be on display at the CARTOON ART MUSEUM between September 2008-March 2009, and a book of the artwork will be on sale. More info can be found at the OFFICIAL BLOG

Flustered with FUN

James Baker — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:59:11 +0000

Lately I have been running about, trying to finish off some artwork (both paying jobs and promises to friends) while simultaneously arranging some travel. I took a quick trip to LA a week or so ago, to celebrate longtime-pal Tony Stacchi’s birthday. Next up I will visit New York, to spend some quality time with my friends Dave and Rhode. After that, I have a longer trip back home to Australia to attend a family birthday, and also visit some friends down there who I haven’t seen in many years.

Due to the concurrent rise in Oil prices and the drop in the US dollar, the price of a airline ticket to Australia at LOW season is more than a HIGH season ticket was just a few years ago… about double. OUCH. That trip ALSO requires some shopping for camping equipment, as I will be going on a 5 day hike/camping trip through the bush with some old pals from my hometown… I haven’t been proper camping (as opposed to mere car camping) for many years, so I am very much looking forward to this trek, but hoping that my flabby body will be equal to the task of hauling a load of gear up hill and down dale for 5 days… we shall just have to wait and see….

One way or another, I should have some fun to write about soon; either FUN-fun, or horror-fun… because even the trips that go wrong are fun in the retelling!

Conventioneers

James Baker — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:31:42 +0000

In celebration of all the glory that is the San Diego COMIC CON, here are some sketches of Con denizens that I drew a few years back…

Half A lifetime Ago

James Baker — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:49:03 +0000

On this very day, July 15th, 1986 (which ALSO fell on a Tuesday) I left Australia for what I thought would be a six month trip through Asia. I had saved for the trip for years but a fall in the Australian dollar while I was trying to amass travel funds meant that I didn’t have much spending power. In fact, it would have been better had I left a year earlier with less dollars but at a higher value. In frustration, I sold all my stuff and gave up my flat in Sydney just to be able to afford to go at all.

But because of a series of adventures, happy accidents and connections made along the way, and the fact that I hadn’t left any entanglements back in Sydney to draw me back, I wound up getting work in various countries, which enabled me to extend my trip, and here I am, 22 years later, still abroad, meaning that I have now lived exactly half of my life away from my native land.

Funnily enough, I have yet to do a few of the things I had planned when I left home all those years ago. My original plan was to visit Japan and then go to China and ride the Trans-Siberian express into Europe, find some work in London (as most Australians do in their youth) and then head home. But although I got as far as Japan and China, I never rode the Trans-Siberian.

Along the way my plans changed, and I ended up staying in Asia for 3 straight years, using the money made from working in various animation studios throughout Asia to finance wanderings around the region. After that, I came to the USA to visit friends who I had met in Asia, and then I travelled around both North and South America.

I worked in France for a year and did some travelling in Europe, but by that stage my wandering feet were getting tired and I wanted to stay in one place for a while. Thankfully I was given a job-offer to move to San Francisco and I have been living in this great city pretty much ever since.

Now I am feeling somewhat restless again… For sometime now I have been thinking that it might be time for some kind of a change, although I don’t know what it should be. Maybe I should actually complete my original travel plan by riding the Trans-Siberian express from Europe into Asia and then back home to Australia…