San Diego photo journal and review and Hiro pic

Hi everyone,

A huge thank you to all those that trampled our booth and bought all our stuff. And of course thank you to all those that came by just to say hi as well!

San Diego Comicon was a huge success and we really appreciate all the love and support.

Each year the San Diego Comicon has been a life changing experience and this time was no different.

Here's a little photo scrap book of our trip.
time for our favorite: nachos at Chillis! yumm..


This was taken on Tuesday. The day before preview night we hung out at Mission Beach


There were some really great characters there! Where's my sketchbook when I need it?


Our talented intern Lisa playing in the sand. Way to go Lisa! Good job at digging those holes! hehehe...


Oh... that's what she was doing! Kei and Lisa made some cute Totoros in the sand!


Rollercoasters by the beach. The fun never stops.


Preview night on Wednesday didn't start until 5pm so we spent the day by the pool at the Hotel.



And so the mad rush of Comicon begins...

They like our stuff thank God!


Kei's vinyl toy (made by our friends at MindStyle! Coming soon... these were only for display.



Life size Ironman


Snow White


More funky vinyls


Intern Lisa and her boyfriend :)jk


After the convention closes, the fans mob the streets...



Party and live paintings at Munky King


Other highlights of the trip included hanging out with the very talented Dice Tsutsumi, Peter Nguyen, and the rest of the Flight/Bluesky gang, Donnachada Daly, Gabriele Pennacchioli, Michael Knapp, Doug Sneyd, Heidi, Cheeks, Bill Presing, Ikumi and our family: Stephen Silver, Alberto Ruiz and Jason Seiler.

We also were happy to see again Alena Wooten, Born, Alina Chau, Stan Sakai, Everett Downing, Aaron Hartline, Kevin Dart, Pascal Campion, Ronnie del Carmen, Arthur Suydam, Martin Hsu, Vin, Humberto Ramos, Francisco Herrera, Gary Ham, Louie del Carmen, Octavio and many more.

We also met for the first time in person William Wray, Justin Sweet, Scott Campbell, Nathan Fowkes, Ryan Wood, Todd Harris, the artists from Portland Studios, and many more... If I missed you I apologize...

It was also great to see so many of my students there! Andrea, Tapan, Mark S, Vivian, Dave, Francis, Brittney...

One big highlight that made me completely geek out was meeting Masi Oka.
This is a piece I did for Jason Seiler's Caricature book [link]


It's Hiro Nakamura from one of my favorite tv shows: Heroes! I happen to eat at the same place Masi Oka (Hiro) a couple of days ago and I showed him the painting and he was kind enough to sign it for me. Yay! Thank you to Heidi Silver for forcing me to introduce myself.

Can't wait for the new season.

Bobby

Digital Painting Techniques class at Sheridan College

After many requests for live classes, we've decided to bring back the Digital Painting classes back to Sheridan College.

Course Description: Prepare for a career in digital art by learning from an industry professional. Designed by Bobby Chiu, the founder of Imaginism Studios, and taught by Thierry Lafontaine, the studio's senior artist, cover philosophies and techniques for producing digital paintings, conceptual art, and character designs by applying traditional art skills in the virtual environment of Adobe Photoshop.

Cost: $323.02
Term : Fall 2008
Location : Trafalgar Campus (Oakville)
Sessions : 09
Days : Tue : 07:00 PM to 10:00 PM
StartDate : Sep 16, 2008

Sign up HERE

Please post your questions in the comments.

We'll be at SD Comicon July 23-27, 2008

Hi everyone!

Jason Seiler, Kei Acedera and I (Bobby Chiu) will be at the San Diego Comic Convention - TABLE G6 & G7. We're going to do sign and do free drawings on all the prints and books for every purchase!... or until our arms get sore and we need a break.

Stephen Silver will be at table H6.

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A while back Kei and I were asked to guest artists to the Street Fighter Tribute Book.
We'll be doing the book signing with my partner in crime, Kei Acedera on this Friday from 12:30-1:30pm at the Capcom booth at Comicon. We'll also have a very limited supply of these illustrations as prints. 6 each.

Each print will be signed with original drawing on the back. First come, first serve. Prints are $50 each. I'll try to save one of each for an online auction after the con perhaps.

Here's mine. The idea was to bring Street Fighter back to the "streets."


Here's Kei's piece! I really love this one. So funny...

Guest artists contributions for Dean Yeagle's new book

Hi everyone,

Lots of things going on but first here's a couple recent pieces that I'd like to share.
We were invited to be guest artists in Dean Yeagle's new book (available at comicon).
We were asked to do our version of Dean's famous Mandy character. I can't wait to see the whole book! There's tons of amazing artists that contributed (Bill Presing, Shane Glines, J Scott Campbell, Mike Kunkel, David Colman, Justin Ridge, Doug Sneyd.. and many more!)

To purchase visit Brand Studio Press --> HERE

Bobby's


Kei's

The Punisher! . . . W.I.P.

Just something new I'm working on, this is the first stage of the block in. Also, a reminder, Caricature classes with Jason Seiler starts August 1rst, slots are filling up . . . check it out and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
-Jason

Last week for free shipping on books.

We've started moving our books to our new distributor Brand Studio so shipping will be much quicker and more efficient. This also means Free Worldwide Shipping ends when Brand Studio takes over on Monday July 21st, 2008.

Totoro Forest Project!

Here's something you'll be hearing a lot about.

This amazing event called the Totoro Forest Project is a fundraising auction that has brought together over 200 distinguished artists from animation, comic books and illustration, to save the Sayama forest (aka Totoro Forest). Hayao Miyazaki used this forest as an inspiration for "Totoro". All proceeds will go to the Totoro no Furusato Forest Foundation, established by Hayao Miyazaki himself. This is the brilliant idea of Dice Tsutsumi, Ronnie del Carmen and Enrico Casarosa.
Check out their wonderful site for some mind blowing pieces !!--> TOTORO FOREST PROJECT

Bobby and I are very honored to be a part of it.

Here is my "inner" Totoro...
Title: Enoki Forest Song
Medium: Gouache on Watercolor Paper.
Size: 11x14 inches
Poem: Raise, raise the lantern high,
Darkened riverbanks roll by,
The small skiff drifts, the band plays on
And the fireflies dance along
To the enoki mushroom forest song.









Here's Bobby's amazingly detailed pen drawing...
Title: Dirty Job
Medium: Pen and Ink.
Size: 11x14 inches
Story: Help wanted: Enthusiastic individual, must love animals and working outdoors, no experience necessary.



And another fantastic painting by Bobby! (yes, he doe not stop :))
Title: Twins
Medium: Pen and Ink with Digital
Size: 13x19 inches
Story: The blue gill-necked centi-plesiosaur is known for its inquisitive nature, sociable disposition, and extremely poor eyesight.

Digital Painting Video of Creature

This video is all about self-motivation. Time to get off our butts! Let's go out and do something to better our lives!!
Here's a fun little painting of a big dragon type of dog creature?? hehe... hope you like it!


Register for Digital Painting Classes at Schoolism.com
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July 24-27, 2008 Jason, Kei and I will be at the SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION. We're going to sign and do a FREE drawing on all the prints and books for every purchase!... or until our arms get sore and we need a break. Come visit us at Table G6 and G7.

Good bunny, good bunny...

This was inspired by my pet skinny pig Toby. If only he would listen to me!

Schoolism Online Art Classes Update
Digital Painting Classes with Bobby Chiu starts July 31, 2008
Caricature Painting Classes with Jason Seiler starts August 1, 2008
Character Design Classes with Stephen Silver starts September 2, 2008
Storyboarding with Kris Pearn starts August 5, 2008 <--ONLY ONE SPOT LEFT, and Kris has another class starting November 25, 2008

Bonus: here's some funny Aardman clips on how to save our planet! --> HERE