GB Tran version 2.0!

Been quiet with the posts these past couple weeks because I've been sweating over my site's relaunch. I gave myself the month of May to learn xhtml so this last week was down to the wire, and without further ado, I present the new gbtran.com! There's loads of new stuff to look at including VIETNAMERICA preview spreads, illustration work, and several full comics to read.

I'll be adding new features over the next few weeks as I learn more coding--including the new weekly comic mentioned in the previous post--but wanted to get this up now before I throw it all in the trash in a fit of art rage and start over from scratch. If you notice any bugs, please lemme know (especially all you PC users)!

Impending new website.

It's been a month since I finished VIETNAMERICA, and I've spent the time tending to much neglected endeavors. Main priority: redoing my website! Still clumsily stumbling my way through xhtml, but for now here's a simple revamp of my apparel graphics page--essential in sustaining my livelihood as a freelancer.



Also working on two new projects: here's the plotting stage of comic project #1 which I'll be serializing on my website when it relaunches:



And I'm refining comic project #2's proposal, another non-fiction book that--for reasons which will become clear--still requires a lot of factors to fall into place before I start talking about it publicly. Hopefully it'll find a publisher and can be announced sooner rather than later!

"Figure Drawing III: The Search for Spots"

Still looking for the perfect weekly figure drawing spot. Here are some pages from the Triskelion session in my hood:




And on a random note, evidently one of my comic spreads from the POSTCARDS anthology is hanging on the wall at Locust Moon, a comic shop that just opened in Philadelphia. I'd link them, but no website as of yet; instead, I'll just thank Jason Rodriguez for the pic!

Back in Brooklyn.

Spent the past few days in Evansville, Indiana for a small family gathering on my wife's side. Between the exquisite BBQ and Chikfila I doodled a bit, including some absolutely beautiful old homes (the kind that come with spooky ghost stories):




I didn't get to watercoloring these since the back half of the trip was filled with violent storms, tornado sirens, and a food coma. Good times.

Out with the old, in with the new...

I'm gradually clearing out stagnant energy that's collected in my workspace over these past two years as I prepare for the next stage of my professional life--whatever that may be. Collected all the drafts of VIETNAMERICA for storage, so here's a snapshot of its birthing steps:



Anyone have suggestions on how to streamline the process for a project this size, please share! While tidying up the home-office, here's some other random old stuff I came across--a self-portrait from 2001:



My brain in 2004:



An under-painting of my [now] sis-in-law from 2003:



"Things to do while in transitional phase": Stroll down Memory Lane = check!

Tax stress: thank goodness I married a yoga teacher!

Every year around April 15th I'm reminded of how amusing me and my wife's professional pairing is:


Recently, she's been selected as a teacher for July's Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe. In an awesome bit of synchronicity, it's the week after SDCC so the seeds of a momentous West Coast summer road trip are being sowed. Yoga and comics: two great tastes in one!

Along those lines, I just made this tee for her work because, "You can take the man out of the tee graphics biz, but you can't take the tee graphics out of the man." (Anyone interested in buying one? Email me!)

D-Day!!!

That's "D" for delivery, as in the "book's done and delivered to the publisher."



Shit.



Now what do I do?!



Anyone need a cartoonist/illustrator?

"Thank You" books.

Two years after signing the contract, VIETNAMERICA is just days away from being delivered to the publisher. I've only begun processing all the emotions related to completing this dream-project but one thing's for sure: it's been the most grueling and rewarding couple years of my life. To everyone whose dropped by for an update since this blog started: thanks for your continued interest.

For those of you who went the extra mile and posted comments up till now, I'm especially appreciative. In fact, so appreciative that I'd like to offer each one of you a free copy of the book when it's available. I'm not talking about a b/w advance-reader-copy that's about to make the preview rounds, but the actual full color hardcover edition coming out later--I'll also cover postage for those of you living across the country and around the world. (Of course, if you'd prefer to get the b/w ARC instead, that can probably be arranged)

In more immediate news, this weekend is the fantastic MoCCA Festival!



Sadly, I'm not exhibiting but do look forward to leisurely visiting every table without the pressure of constantly rushing back to cover my own. I feel very out of the loop after hibernating these past couple years working on VIETNAMERICA so it'll be great to catch up with industry friends.

The end of an era.

After 40+ years, SVA's weekly public figure session is ending. The man whose been running it since before I was even born is stepping down and apparently no one will be taking his place. Thankfully, there's a glut of other options here in NYC so time to branch out and find some new naked people. Until then, here are my final SVA sketches:

Because you [didn't] ask for it...

More crappy morning email doodles!