Beach Blanket Beyond - sneak peek!

As promised, here are a few images from the 6-page Beach Blanket Beyond teaser...

6-page Beach Blanket Beyond teaser completed!

After much burning of midnight oil, and many zombified hours, I have finished work on the Beach Blanket Beyond teaser pages for the HYPNOKOMIX Anthology.

I am very excited to share it with you two! I will be posting images later today, so stay tuned!

As you may have read in my previous post on the subject, Beach Blanket Beyond is a comic that I'm working on with one of my oldest friends, the infernally talented writer Jason Squamata. It follows the adventures of a teenage Howie P. Luvkraft and his sideckick Augie as they spend a summer on the action-packed beaches of Innsmouth. If you want to find out more, head over to HYPNOKOMIX.com for the story synopses of Beach Blanket Beyond and the other senses-shattering tales that will be featured in the anthology which will be unveiled in Portland, OR this August. See the flyer above for all the details...


-R

HYPNOKOMIX!

Hello folks,

Well, it's finally seeming summery again here in Lowell MA, so it seems like a good time to talk a bit about the comic that I'm currently drawing, and share some news.

Beach Blanket Beyond, the comic book collaboration that I am working on with writer and ideasman extrordinaire Jason Squamata, and part of a movement/product line called HYPNOKOMIX, will be part of a gallery exhibition in August!

HYPNOKOMIX will be an umbrella for a variety of other projects as well. Jason is working on a stunning variety of comics with Owen Hunter, Andrew McKenzie and Damian Zari, all of which will be promoted under the HYPNOKOMIX label.

To celebrate these collaborations, and to launch the HYPNOKOMIX brand, Squamata and his partner the amazing artist Kate Fenker will be displaying work from -- and pieces inspired by -- these comics, in a show called...


"The Birth of HYPNO"
A HYPNOKOMIX GALLERY EXPERIENCE
CURATED BY KATE FENKER & JASON SQUAMATA
august 14-24 (09) in “the manor of art”
at milepost 5 in portland, oregon)
FEATURING ART BY fenker/hunter/mckenzie/
squamata/wentworth/& zari

This should be an amazing experience for those fortunate enough to attend. Beach Blanket Beyond will be on display as part of the show so, please, West Coasters -- do try to check it out!

So, what is this "HYPNO", you ask? A very good question.

Here's a bit of backstory from HYPNO-Wiki:

HYPNO is the current default designation for a style, aesthetic and worldview that has its roots in Entropian and Hypgnostic salons, hatched in front rooms, secret gardens and humid discotheques across Boston, Brighton, Allston and Everett Massachusetts in the late 90s. The vision of the original movement informed the group's musical, artistic and narrative output, and generated recording projects, comic books, graphic design, short stories and even dance nights.

The original group's activities culminated in the summer of 2002 with a live presentation of Orji Walflauer's radical response to H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond. This mass hyposis "happening" was staged and performed by members of the World Hypgnostik Order and featured spontaneous sound design by the ritual improvisation group Clue Display. The intensity of the evening's entertainment splintered the movement and placed an emphatic ellipsis on the future of HYPNO.

I was, of course, a part of this movement. There was much more to it than the above description, but most importantly it was a fantastic time of creativity, exploration and friendship. A large part of the movement's success was the effusive enthusiasm for artmaking and collaboration that Jason Squamata brought to the group. That's one of the reasons that it's so exciting to be working on Beach Blanket Beyond, and why the Rebirth of HYPNO is such a thrilling prospect. There is a lot of unfinished work from that time that languishes on the drawing tables and in 4 track recorders, work that will now be finished or at the very least will serve as raw material for new projects. And, maybe more importantly, there are a lot of minds out there that are yet unbent.

Which brings me to the following opportunity for my East Coast pals. The first event of the new era of HYPNO!


"HYPNOZINE”
a show of hypno poster art by andrew mckenzie
text pieces and soundscape by jason squamata
beginning july 14 (09) at the “in between gallery”
(328 main st...rockland, maine)
curated by andrew mckenzie & julia mcclure

Andrew McKenzie is one of the original Hypgnostics. His work in the style is breathtaking. You could call it Baroque-Noir, but that would only describe part of what he's doing. You really should just make the trip to Maine to see his work with your own eyes. You really owe it to yourself. I'll be there for the opening -- won't you join me?

The HYPNOKOMIX website will be up soon, and will have lots of images from the comics that we're working on. I will give you all a heads up when it goes live. Until then, stay in touch!

-Sir R.

HPL at the beach

Well, here we are again. I've been away having a son who is now almost 2 years old, and have not been as diligent with keeping touch with you, my two or three casual site visitors. Well, I promise to stray no more!

As a vouchsafe of my undying gratitude for your attention, I'm posting some new and newish work.

Here's a piece I did last week. It's for an upcoming comic collab with the sensational Orji Walflauer. My first time inking with Adobe Illustrator...

Would you like to see the pencils? Let me know and I'll post em!

Your pal,
Sir R

Stuff at Night Summer Fun

Here's an illo for Stuff at Night's Summer Preview issue... enjoy!

Phoenix Cover Pencils

Pencils for the cover illustration of this week's Boston Phoenix.

Longtime Listener at ifilm

Here is the short film Longtime Listener, which I acted in last summer, and which premiered at SXSW in March (more info in the posts below)...



I also designed the 1001 Electronics Kit boxes and Mearle's "Computer Classes" flyers, both of which I'm very proud.

And, if you want to see it on the big screen, we have just recieved word that Longtime Listener will be featured in this years' Tribeca Film Festival in NYC, at the end of April.

Cool, eh?