Or not. I dunno - I haven't updated much on here lately. Things have been strenuous and I don't have time like I used to have. Which is kinda cool so I can't complain. I'm just more tired for it I guess.

Tonight I'm working on pages for the Oni Press talent search and looking forward to submitting that. I'm nearly finished with my Zoroaster fill in and that was great times. I also picked up season 1 of the Transformers and it's nice to have the distraction.

Last night I went out with Jen, K and Chris - my usual band of troops - and we just had some fun. I bought Jen a little plastic unicorn that she'd had her eye on at Enchanted Grounds for awhile. Which she immediately put down her tank top. That was hot. I love my Jen. Speaking of which - I just got a text from her. Sweet.

Ok sounds like we're going to the dirt mall tomorrow after father's day happenings.

Anyways, back from our break... I've been hitting the gym hardcore with Trifon this past month and a half. I got a great report back from my doctor's bloodtests and I'm more than on track to getting back into shape finally. It feels pretty damn good!

Um, well not much else. Got the Ghostbusters game for Xbox. In a word? AWESOME! Totally worth it. In fact it's taking away time from my small window of Warcraft time. Speaking of - Blizzard seems to like my zombie style I've been using - so hopefully I can get a job with them!

Alright, so I better get going.

As always you can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/spicypeanut

and http://zakkinsella.com is always being updated with new art, commissions and soon comics!

peace & God bless.

I got my confirmation that I'm officially considered a professional for San Diego Comic Con this year! I'm super stoked, and it's been an awesome validation of the hard work I've put in this year.

In other news - I'm working on a 7 page fill in for a web comic called Zoroaster, and when I get done I'll post the links to it here.


Hopefully networking as a "pro" at comic con this year will open up new doors and new jobs for me.

Wish me luck!

I hope you're all doing well & God bless!

So, not a whole lot to report in Zak land. My website is coming along nicely, and I just got a new job out of it so I'm really stoked for that to start. It's just a five page fill in job - but it's on a really popular web comic. So when that drops I'll let you know.

I sent off my professional validation forms to the San Diego Comic Con, and I'm stoked for that as well. It's really becoming an annual gathering for a lot of my buddies from SCAD, and I really like that a lot. Last year Tom, Lee & Steve really made the last few days there w/o Gerhard a lot more fun than they would have been alone.

I'll be out in Los Angeles in a few weeks for my cousin, Megan's, wedding. I took a few extra days to network while I'm out there as well. Megan has a bunch of people for me to see b/c she works right underneath Technicolor - so they get all sorts of people in the creative industry coming in there. I'll also be traveling to drop off my portfolio with Blizzard and Disney/Pixar. I'm lucky enough to have gotten the opportunity to meet with them by knowing a few of their artists. Networking, kids. I'll also get to meet my pal, Audrey Deluxe for the first time when I'm out there. Sweet girl - does fun burlesque shows. You can see some of her (very not safe for work) stuff here

It feels nice to be focusing on career things for once. I think I've paused my life enough for crazy women over the years. Although, I think I'm pretty lucky to have dated the girls I have here these past couple of years. I've kept it short and sweet - and that's all I need right now. But we'll see what happens there. I'm just really happy I never went crawling back to any of my exes. I'm glad I've always had the sense to walk away, and realize there are better things out here without being jaded. I'm not trying to be pretentious there - just an errant thought.

In an ironic side note, I have #2 on Topless Robot's Most Pitiful Pieces of Mr.T Merchandise I'm not quite sure why I haven't gotten rid of a lot of that junk awhile back. I guess I've been too busy to bother with it. It just lies in a box in the back room, forgotten like it should be. Guess I need to make a trip to Good Will soon.

Ah, so I guess I'm feeling blessed these days. I have a focus for the first time in, well, forever. I've always been blessed in my family and friends, but having this focus for my faith and career is something wholly new. I'm enjoying it. 30 has definitely been rejuvenating for me - and while I realize my 20s were not a terrible time in my life, I'm glad they're over.


Anycrap - I have work to do here. Zak Kinsella.com is constantly being updated with new artwork so make sure you have your browsers pointed over there. Any other pertinent info is in my user info.

Peace & God Bless. No matter who you are.

So I finally did it:

Http://www.zakkinsella.com is active. It'll redirect you to my illustration blog and any other pertinent information!

Let me know what you guys think!

So, I've not been using the old LJ all that much. I can't tell you why - I just don't have much to say. BUT try these things on if you wanna track me down online:

I've got a new Illustration blog I'm keeping for professional use here: http://studiospicypeanut.blogspot.com/

I will only be posting on that when I have actual artwork. It's been a motivator for me to do things outside of drawing 1st Floor so I can have more freelance.

As always, Deviant Art is an option: http://spicypeanut.deviantart.com

You can follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/spicypeanut

I do the myspace, although a little less often these days: http://myspace.com/zaktastic

I primarily use facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Zak-Kinsella/604617755




Aside from that things are going alright. My personal life has been quite busy, and I'm alright with that. Being that it's about to be May, I'm gearing up to go to the San Diego Comic Con again. This year I'm hitting the floor hardcore to promote myself. I've found portfolio reviews don't do all that much for me, and the networking side of last year was invaluable. Plus I'm tired of sitting at that place and waiting for an hour or two to talk about the same crap I would on the Con floor. My goal for 2010 is to have my own table, and hopefully G will go in on me with that.

Speaking of, he did Denver's local con; Comicfest this year. While I missed out b/c of work - he had a good time and I most definitely will be there next year. We've both been doing our thing with Squidworks - him more so than I - but I plan to change that with this next meeting and so on. I just enjoy that atmosphere a lot. Tired of being a lazy artist too. Gotta get out, meet new people and get inspired!

So my nerd co-pilot (as she calls our funny little relationship) Aly visited the east coast this last week. One of their destinations was Asbury Park, NJ and man it was weird to think about that place again. I guess I've been lucky enough to be very far away from all my exes. But for her to be there so close to the last one... it was like feeling a major disturbance in the Force! Like millions of souls cried out and were suddenly silenced... hahaha yeah didn't expect that. So as she got back Saturday we commiserated about that little fun fact. We're both looking forward to our little Friday night date for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. She works late Friday nights so we're always going to catch the 10:30 or 11pm shows.

Good times. So I guess you could say life has been going pretty good. So far this year I've shed off around 30 some odd pounds and I keep going. One thing that really has me stoked are all the people I'm going to see in San Diego this year. Last year it was great because G went with me for the most part - but when he left I discovered Steve, Tom and Lee who were friends of mine at SCAD were there. Along with a few other guys we went out and lived it up in the town. Usually I just go back to my hotel room, but this last year we headed out for good times. This year G, Kelly & Chris and Jen are going with me. Steve & Tom will be going out, and so is my good friend Nicole who I met two years ago there. Not to mention Durwin Talon will be out there who's been one hell of a guidance over the past few years. Although I never took one class with him, he's always around to spot me some advice. Good man.

Anyways - I need to get some rest. BTW, if you're a podcast fan then you really should check out "Uhh Yeah Dude." by Seth Romatelli & Johnathan Larroquette. It's America through two American Americans. Good, funny stuff. And Johnathan is the son of that John Larroquette.

Everyone take care of yourselves - and I'll see ya around. Hit me up at any of those venues above!

Much love & peace.

Getting snubbed is really not fun at all.

Note to self: Never be a jack off to the people that got you where you are.

This is how you make an American version of an Anime movie:




Looks good. Hope it will be good. Same studio that did the TMNT movie and the upcoming Astro Boy flick. Fuck yo' Dragonball Evolution!

In a continuing effort to make more sweet zombie pictures, I've taken some time away from writing and plotting out my own work to immortalize another awesome woman as one of the chewed up undead. Charming, I know.

This one is of my friend Aly. She is awesome, and has some lovely maggots for an eye! Enjoy!

( Aly - Zombiefied! )

Ok so, I'm kind of taking a break from working on illustrations here to rant. You know how there's been all these stupid posts about 25 things about myself or my top albums? Yeah I did'em too. But I figured I'd rant about something important: COMICS! So here we go. Top... well 15 or 20. Whenever I get bored I guess. Oh, a couple of things - I left off perenial favorites of all fanboys like The Sandman, Bone, MAUS, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. If you're a comics fan and you haven't read or love at least one of those - there is no hope for you. Yes, I'm being snooty & pretentious there. Deal with it.

( In no real particular order, some of my favorite stories: )

"He can only observe - never interfere. Although this will change once he starts crawling."



This is what happens when us nerds reproduce.

So, Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men 3) is going to make a "Tentpole" movie series out of...



wait for it...






Wahahahaha! This will either A) never get done or B) be the most amazingly bad (awesome?) clusterfuck ever known to man. I personally predict we'll get the first hour then have to wait five years for the second hour. Which will make no sense pertaining to the first hour and will consequently be named as a relaunch of the brand.... MID MOVIE.

For those of you not in the nerd know, Youngblood is a comic "series" launched in like 1992 or 93 that has, to my knowledge never made it up to #12. Or even #6. Rob Liefeld the artist and writer is now the industry's whipping boy for being one of the most atrocious artist to ever draw over muscled supermen since the dawn of mankind. He also draws itty bitty triangles for feet.

Brett Ratner is the director known for single handedly (actually with the help of Fox's idiot president Tom Rothman - who is possibly to comic movies what Michael Eisner is to Disney movies. Ouch, but it's true. YOU sit through Fantastic Four ! & 2 and tell me different) ruining the X-Men movie franchise, and possibly pissing everyone off by making Rush Hour 3. While I laughed a bit at RH3, it's probably 'cause I do enjoy Chris Tucker fighting impossibly tall Chinese men.

"Most of the great graphic novels are gone, and 'Youngblood' is one of the few comic books left with tentpole potential," Ratner was quoted

Yeah, ok Ratner... I can't say I hate his guts cause I love the Rush Hour series, but man he sure turd nuggeted X3 with his cohorts. Apparently this is a "passion" project for him. Ya know, you've got to hand it to both guys cause really, in the end, they're both getting shitpanned but keep going out there to ply their dishonest profession - AND PEOPLE KEEP BUYING IT.

Is there some kind of cache of nerdbominations out there that just love torturing themselves this much?


Yes, there is. And they all shop at All C's Comics I'm sure.


EDIT - Somehow, someway... The Ultimate Warrior MUST be cast in this movie.

Nearly a month into being 30 and I'm feeling more renewed with each passing day. I think I can really say I'm happy to have closed the door on my 20s and looking forward to a better life.

After writing, doing some redesigns and finalizing some story structure I'm finally ready to sit down and really make 1st Floor a reality. I went ahead and purchased the domain & hosting. With the rate I draw I'm hoping to launch in March or April. I've written it to be mostly self contained stories, and hopefully I can start out at posting once or twice a week and pick up from there. It depends on how the day job goes I guess. Launching it as a web comic was always the plan if nothing really came from San Diego on that front. On other fronts a few things have come from it (finally!) but I can't speak on that yet. The one thing that's really been helping me has been the book that Scott Kurtz and Co. put out this last year about how to market a web comic and make it successful. Networking and making friends with heaps of other cartoonists has been huge in my life too. It's pretty damn awesome really.

Other goings on? Well I recently started talking to my old roommate from college, Mr. Ben Cohen, more often. We kinda started kicking it off on Facebook and that's been pretty cool. In case you're wondering, yeah you can find me pretty easily by searching for Zak Kinsella. My avatar is a cartoon - easy to find.

I finally went to a Squidworks meeting this last month with Gerhard and Chris. It's pretty cool to meet the other cartoonists around Denver and see what everyone is up to. Enchanted Grounds may be in Highlands Ranch, but it's a sweet place. I can't remember if I mentioned that before, but I'm really looking forward to another one next week.

My back is feeling much better. It's getting back to normal after the accident, and I'm still waiting for my car to be finished. Right now I'm driving a white Toyota Yaris and I feel like Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles driving his little mini car in the 1st act of the movie. It looks like I'm driving an egg... and someone smoked in it before me. Gross. Funny thing about my stupid accident was that I was heading over to Rod's to score some sweet comics for the first time in forever that night. I need to travel over there soon... I'm just so damn paranoid about driving right now. How lame is that?!

On a serious note; my friend, Aly, is going through one of those life altering break ups right now. Kind of like the one I went through over a year ago. It literally just happened, and while she carries herself well, there have been some times where she just doesn't want to be alone and has a tough time. Thinking back on that time in my life... I can totally empathize, and it's kind of cool to see how much that event made me grow. I've been motivated to work on me, and this year has been great for it. So I'm trying to use my example to help her out. I met her through a friend at work, and we instantly nerded it up. We'll be spending a lot of Saturday nights sitting on the couch watching anime and playing lots of games now that she has the time for it. Before this it was limited times being dorky at the various bars around downtown here. She has a two year old daughter and she's a real pistol. Cute as anything else, and we have fun in the sun. But I digress, having gone through it all recently, it's nice to put it into perspective for someone who needs it.

Ah, what else? Oh I took the plunge and started talking to the woman from our sister location in Parker. K. made a resolution for me this last year - Don't be a pussy. And I've been following it for once. Anyways, Becky is a nice girl and we've been talking over myspace on and off. We've both been just busy enough not to set anything up yet, but we'll see how it goes. She too has a daughter... and while everyone says I'd be a great father, man that kinda scares the crap out of me. But I think the less said about this, the better. I don't know where it's going, but I'm stoked. I've been on a few dates here and there this last year. None of them really felt great, and all I could think of was that I could be home writing/drawing. This feels different all the sudden. Slam!

So yeah, 30 has been holding new adventure and prospects for me. I guess what got me thinking about this has been my friends. I talked at length about this with my friend Charmaine last week when we went out for the day. See, I kind of love spending time with her because I get along so well with her son Donavan. He's not quite a year old, but we're good buddies already. So anyways, her husband is turning 30 next year and is freaking out. And last year my buddies Chris and Trifon both turned 30. Actually, same with Becky oddly enough. Anyhoo... I told her I was on panic mode up until like 2 days before the big day. Then I had what alcoholics call "A Moment of Clarity." Tell me what movie that's from... yeah so it was weird... I just felt calm and realized that to me, God was shutting a door on some very rough times and that I was free to start again now. I know it sounds funny, but being such a fuck up in my 20s has allowed me to see that I don't want to be in my 30s. I've changed a LOT in the past year and I think that was really preparation for this year. So apparently that bit of advice has really helped Korby (Char's husband) and I'm happy to hear that. He's a damn good guy, and I'm glad to know him.

So I guess it's time to wrap this up. It was a fun Sunday. Spent it out with Trifon as usual. Sundays are our day of relax and fun. Hit the gym after church, do some lunch and catch a flick. Speaking of which - watch Rocknrolla. Seriously, that movie is awesome and it's finally out on dvd. I love Guy Ritchie movies, and while it's nowhere near as good as Snatch, it's a fun little flick. Plus it has Gerard Butler (King Leonidus from 300, ladies) in probably one of his funnier roles.

Ok, sleep good. Damn I wrote a lot there.

Ok, per Ain't It Cool News... I'm officially stoked for this movie of the classic comic series:


1) Jamie Bell, one of the most gifted actors of his generation, will be playing Tintin.

2) Daniel Craig has been cast as "the nefarious" pirate Red Rackham.

3) Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish are now credited as screenwriters along with DOCTOR WHO's Steven Moffat.

4) As we reported earlier this month, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are Thomson and Thompson.

5) The rest of the cast (Toby Jones, Gad Elmaleh, Andy Serkis and Mackenzie Crook).

The first film in the (planned) series will be THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (one of Hergé's favorites). It is set for theatrical release in 2011. Steven Spielberg will direct the first installment, while Peter Jackson will take the reins for the second entry. The third film is currently without a helmer, but I'm sure Spielberg's pal Brian De Palma would relish a crack at this material.


Edgar Wright has a hand in it? Thank you, I'll be there.

And so, one of my bigger goals over the last year was to get much better at drawing women. I think I've come a long way from where I was last year at this point, and I'm becoming more confident in said skills. Especially since I've been hired for more freelance based off of the female work I've been doing... that's a nice little nod. So, with that in mind I took a little break from 1st Floor tonight to work in my sketchbook.

I got a little inspired from looking at a new mag at Barnes & Noble tonight with lots of cool sketch material. So one thing lead to another and I filled a couple of pages with drawing women. The one I really liked I'll post below. It has a not so subtle heartbreak theme. I was listening to "A Comet Appears" by the Shins while drawing it so that's why there's a comet. And a little Gnarls Barkley too there...

( Seriously now )

Something really cool happened today, but I don't want to jinx it so I'm keeping mum on it.


In other news, I took today off as well. I'm finally getting back into finishing up my short story and doing more of those. I think 1st Floor is definitely going to become that series of short stories held together by an over arching theme. As soon as I have a few under my belt, I'll be putting them up as a regular web comic.

And I'm all hasslehoffed up on vicoden so I'm gonna pass out now.

PEACE!

I got into a car accident today. I was sitting in my car on I25 and Arapahoe and I guess some guy wasn't paying attention. He slammed full on into the lady behind me and then she slammed right into me.

Sat in my car shell shocked for a little bit... then the paramedics strapped me in and I rode on one of those fun little stretchers all the way to Swedish Medical facility. After some xrays and blood tests I'm alright. I have a pretty nasty contusion (bruise) on my back, and I've got a bunch of vicoden for the pain.

Which is there. I feel like someone smacked me in the back with a bat. I'm honestly more worried about the woman behind me. She had a laceration near her liver and was 59. I hope she's doing alright...


As an aside, the radiology nurse was gorgeous and laughed at all my lame jokes. Too bad she had a ring. Probably not the best place to ask a girl out though... especially hopped up on pain meds.

Which are now kicking in. Ok, gotta pass out. I'm ok, don't worry. I'll be back to posting more frequently here soon. :)

Way to bring in that new year huh?

But good gosh... it's so wonderful!



Something about this picture is making it a fitting end to 2008.

And then there's this: ( I don't usually dig astrology )

And a final nomination from Frank Miller on why people shouldn't sell their comics as films:

"You’ll make some pretty good money, but that creation that you took all that time writing and drawing will be remembered for all time as one really crappo movie."

And the winner is... Frank Miller!

ROSS: "The Spirit" is in cinemas now

NOSTRADAMUS: But not for long.



ZING! Ah, not much to say really. I'm waiting until the new year to start making my life relevant again.

So forgive this little rant. I just need to get it off my chest.

The Christmas season is here, and it's one of my favorite times of the year. I just kind of wish people would quit bitching about it though. Unfortunately I think people kind of miss the point of coming together and giving a little extra in favor of bitching over semantics. No it should be holidays. No it should be Christmas! Oh my gosh, just shut up and hug already. You're all human beings... everyone needs to just deal with the fact that a lot of people celebrate a lot of different things this time of year. Yeah, I don't believe in compromising my faith for cause someone else gets pissy about me saying the word Christmas... deal with it. But in the same vein, I'm not gonna get all butt hurt that someone tells me Happy Hannukah or Have a radical solstice. Whatever you wanna say... get it out.

Let it breathe. Who gives a fuck... really? Are you going to be infinitely offended when someone tells you Merry Christmas? If you are, you're an asshole. And you're an asshole if you get offended by someone of any other faith wishing you anything merry from their faith.

I'm sorry, this is kind of one of my pet peeves. I'm not trying to say this is the answer for everything, but people getting all offended over this time of year is ridiculous. Even if you believe in nothing, which is cool with me, why can't you just take it to heart that someone is trying to be nice to you? Your life is not going to crash and burn when someone blesses you or smiles and wishes you a merry day. I just don't get it... and maybe it's cause I'm laid back about that kind of thing. I get a little bit of joy in my heart when someone wishes me something nice, even if I don't believe in it.

It's just a nice thing to hear. People being nice... what a concept. Instead you have the far right waging their holy war and trying to be martyrs, and the left getting their pants in a bind over ONE WORD. For everyone's sake, can't you all just shut the hell up and smile instead? I guess that would be too hard to actually enjoy the spirit of the time... really now?

Either way, I won't shut up about my Merry Christmas, and I'll gladly accept any Happy Hannukahs, Qwanza, Solstice, Winter's Veil, nothing at all, etc. Hopefully you all will too :)