Probably my favorite graphic novel to date.

Perfectly illustrated and written by Charles Burn, the story is set in the 70’s and deals with the aftermath of a sexually transmitted disease called “The Bug” which causes grotesque mutations in teenagers.

… Burns explains to journalist Steve Appleford that he “thinks of adolescence as a disease one has to live through,” but to regard Black Hole merely as an allegory of the difficulty of teenage identity mutes how the narrative resonates with two crises of public culture: the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the rash of school shootings that became a mainstream media concern in the United States with the events at Columbine High School in 1999…

Highly recommed you check it out if you into graphic novels. I never get tierd of lookign at the beautifully crafted panels and meticulous illustration and ink work.

BUY

Been meaning to blog this for ages now, stunning work , great style and beautifully executed

Sanjay is an animator and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios, where he has worked on features that include Monsters, Inc., A Bugs Life; Toy Story 2; and The Incredibles. He has also worked on The Simpsons for Fox and with legendary cartoonist John K., creator of Ren and Stimpy.

Heres some of his most recent work:

Ramayana: Divine Loophole – BUY

The Little Book of Hindu Deities – BUY

An an interview: This Week: Sanjay Patel

> www.gheehappy.com

I’ve started going back to basics and doing some figure drawing via Frank J. Reilly’s method . I feel it works well for me in getting the right proportion and technique.

While searching for more resources i came across ProcessJunkie and the sexy/busty work of Lucio Alberto. Samples below.

His put up a fine posts with some figure drawing downloadable books. 
> The Best Figure Drawing Books Eve
Check each book to form your own opinions on which technique works for you.

His blog has got a selection of his own work, wide selection of other illustrators by and a ton of books. All in a wide variety of styles.

2 artists that blew me away with their character work were:

JOSE LOPEZ

Image from BrandStudio

> More from this book

Award winning character design for clients such as Google, DC comics, Activision, TMNT, Warner Bros. (The Batman), Cartoon Network…

> Buy Mariachi Samurai Book
> Buy 4:00 AM Book

BRANDON RAGNAR JOHNSON

These images are from Big City

> Buy Big City Book

After the fall of Virgin Comics and India’s Gotham Entertainment ,
Vimanika Comics is set to do a much better job with strong stories and stunning artwork. Can’t wait to check more of they stuff out.

Times interview with Karan Vir Arora, editor-in-chief of Vimanika Comics
Also check out Selling Books vs Promoting Indian Culture

Karna Statue crafted for the winner of the  Sketch Karna contest winner

Art House is based in Brooklyn, NY and builds international art projects tie thousands of artists together –and anyone can participate.

Dopeness!

Each artist is sent the same blank Moleskine sketchbook. We’ve only got two rules: first, the book must be used in some way – no sending us back an empty book or a completely different book! Second, the sketchbook must stay within its original dimensions (because we don’t want to have to provide an extra suitcase just for your book while we’re touring the country).

Each book will be given a barcode so we can easily catalog it into The Brooklyn Art Library system. Once we catalog it, artists will be able to track where on the tour their book is viewed and how many times someone pulled it from the shelf – we want to make sure you can stay connected with your sketchbook!

A brilliant idea set-up by Steven Peterman & Shane Zucker 3 yrs ago. 
> Read More

Seems like the online payment system is only allowing people with a US billing address to enter at the moment, while Art House sorts out they funds. But got a friend to purchase mine and post it out to me. Should arrive in a few weeks. I choose the title “Where i live” for my sketchbook, there are a few other options to choose from check the site.

> http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

It’s Harrow in the 1990s, and Amit, Anand and Nishant are stuck. Their peers think they’re a bunch of try-hard ‘darkies’, acting street and pretending to be cool, while their community thinks they’re rich toffs, a long way from the ‘real’ Asians in Southall. So, to keep it real, they form legendary hip-hop band ‘Coconut Unlimited’. Pity they can’t rap…From struggling to find records in the suburbs and rehearsing on rubbish equipment, to evading the clutches of disapproving parents and real life drug-dealing gangsters, Coconut Unlimited documents every teenage boy’s dream and the motivations behind it: being in a band to look pretty cool – oh, and get girls…

Pre-oder your copy now!!!!

Also check out more of Nikesh Shukla’s writing @ http://nikeshshukla.wordpress.com

Very very excited about seeing this. Been learning more and more about the book it’s inspired by.
Great track as well.

a new play by Hanif Kureishi  A co-production between the National Theatre and Tara Arts  Religion is for the benefit of the masses, not for brain-box types like you. Those simpletons require strict rules for living, otherwise they would still think the earth sits on three fishes. But you mind-wallahs must know it’s a lot of balls.

An Asian kid from Kent goes to college in London and teams up with a sympathetic group of anti-racists. But it’s 1989, the year of the fatwa, and as Shahid begins a hedonistic affair with his lecturer, his radical Muslim friends want to steer him away from the decadence of the West.

We’re not blasted Christians. We don’t turn the other buttock. We will fight for our people who are being tortured anywhere – in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, East End!

Hanif Kureishi’s witty stage adaptation of his strikingly prescient and acclaimed novel, The Black Album, humorously considers how the events of 1989 have shaped today’s world, where fundamentalism battles liberalism.

The Black Album will also go on a UK tour.

> www.tara-arts.com
> www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Yam Boy was probably the first person to tell me about Watchmen a year or so ago…

Finally got around to reading it.. and finished it yesterday on the train. Ended up flipping back through the comic putting all the different stories into perspective and forgot my bag full of new art supplies behind. Realized a second too late.

O ya back to Yam, check out his album Kidologies and Amazing Fantasies 
I rather like the Pirate Song… AAaaaggggrrr

Nikesh Shukla (nee Yam Boy) is an author, song-writer and Saved By the Bell enthusiast caught between the cityscapes of Bombay and the low-swinging chariots of London. His writing has been featured on BBC2, Radio 1 and 4, Resonance fm, Tell Tales and Transmission Magazine. He has performed at Royal Festival Hall, Apples and Snakes, Soho Theatre, The Big Chill, Rise Festival, The London Mela and Glastonbury. He has travelled to America Europe India and Africa to perform and read his words. He recently completed his first travel memoir, I’ve Forgotten My Mantra, as well as a full-length novel. He records under the name Yam Boy. He plays guitar and mandolin. He recently spent a year in Kenya, where he produced a solo folk album, tentatively titled ‘Superheroic’ as well as an Arts Council-commissioned book of poetry. Comments about Yam Boy: ‘Barely restrained, simmering anger and fiercely intelligent polemic…’ HIP HOP CONNECTION/ ‘Either a car crash or an inspired work of genius…’ EASTERN EYE/ ‘Beautiful soundscapes and prescient musings’ METRO/ ‘…offers up sharp, often humorous, socio-political polemic that references his Eastern background on acoustic guitar and mandolin, tapping artists as diverse as Jeffrey Lewis, Asha Bhosle and Infinite Livez’ TIME OUT

Got this book off a friend about 7 months ago from an Indian street stall in Dehli i think..
Still havt finished it yet. Its a hard dry read, first published in 1922 written by an Englishmen, J. F. Blacker. Covers everything from textiles, architecture, motifs, religion, mythology… Its a shame the cover doesn’t scan very well but i will add a few extracts and photos soon…