19 Days Until the Show: Welcome to The Forest

We are two days away from finishing all 21 prints. It feels really good to see the story come to life and we are pretty excited to start on the paintings but nervous too. This weekend myself and a good friend Andy Roush were hard at work creating music for the show. Andy is an amazing composer and has been incredibly generous to make a 3 part song that follows the artwork from the show. Once it is done and we put up the preview of the show we will make the song downloadable so you can follow the story with the music. We should be getting some shots of the plush dolls very soon so look out for that.

This week's sneak peek are from the tree top forest. This is were William comes to find out home means to him. Enjoy and keep checking back. Also if you have a blog and will post anything about our show that would be amazing.

4 Weeks Until the Show: Creeping Out

Last time we sneak-peaked you William was in the Outskirts, a scary and dark part of the forest that he must brave through. We really reached deep and got creepy with this section of the show. Don't forget to RSVP!

Heyo

Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know that Josh and I are insanely busy working on the show, so posts here are going to be pretty bare besides the weekly sneak peak. We hope you guys are enjoying those posts and keep counting down with us. The show is just around the corner.

5 Weeks Until the Jolby Show: Our Process

5 weeks! Time is ticking away and here's another update. The sneak-peeks from this post are in the Outskirts of the forest. The Ouskirts are a sort of "limbo" area between William's birth place of Seaside and his destination of the lush, beautiful forest that his grandfather Danny has told him about since he was a little boy. This part of the story will be very dark and a nice departure for us stylistically.

A lot of people are asking about how we are collaborating on each piece and what our process has been like for the show. Well, since Josh and I are both in different States, working mostly digitally on the show was a must (there are paintings but they are coming later). The ideas for each piece come from both of us and usually one will start the idea and we'll both work on it until its there. Then we both sketch our parts of the piece. I have been drawing the characters/objects/towns and Josh has been drawing all of the patterns and the dream pieces and we both have been doing our share of the type (which is all hand-drawn). We then scan everything in, bring it into Photoshop to keep the quality of the line (no live-tracing), and start coloring. Josh finishes it all up by adding these insane textures that he makes by hand to everything that really completes each piece. So there you have it; A little insight into our process. 

5.5 Weeks Till Jolby Show: Postcards

Being a mid-week post, I thought I'd add a half to the countdown. Above is the front and back flyer for our show featuring a better look at William's town of Seaside and a dream sequence (right half of the front of the flyer) of William and Danny's instruments dancing in the leaves of the forest.

If any of you's are on Facebook, you can find Josh and myself on there as well as join our group "Jolby & Friends." Add us as friends, sign up to attend the show, spread the love. Have a great weekend!

Jolby report: 6 weeks

6 weeks to go and we got a ton of stuff to do. We just finished the first of three sections of the story/show. Here's the breakdown: part 1 Seaside, part 2 the Outskirts and part 3 Tree Tops. We are super stoked with how the stuff is coming out and are excited to keep showing sneak peeks. Here are a couple; the first is from William's grandfather, Danny's, home. It's a wall of clocks that tell the tale of Danny. The second is from a dream piece when William is in the Outskirts. Through the show we will have dream pieces that will have this border effect around it. Enjoy and keep coming back.

For Sale: "Shelf Life" Lettering

I just got these letters and small objects back that i painted for the "Shelf Life" show at Together Gallery in Portland, OR and they're up for sale. Everything you see in the pics is for sale either in a set or individually (but not the wood they are resting on). Each piece is hand-cut from 1/8th-inch thick illustration board and painted with acrylic and some silver pen details. Send me an email if you're interested. More pics on my site!

Sorry it's been so long it's I have posted anything. I have had my hands full with a new member to my wife and I family. Meet Archie our new dog that we adopted last week. We have wanted a dog for a long time and I decided to get my wife a dog for xmas. Archie is amazing and we are having a blast training him except for the waking up at 6 am to walk him =). Why did we name him Archie you ask? Well I wanted to name him Archer after my favorite typeface but since it was my wife's gift we decided Archie was a cute version. I am sure I will be posting funny pics has he grows with our family but for now here are a couple.

Jolby Show Report: 7 Weeks

Hey kids. We'll be doing these weekly updates on our first solo show, "Home is Where You Make it." With each of these show reports we'll show some crops of the art as we're making it as well as a look into the story that we are telling. The boy in the owl suit is the main character of our story named William. The crop is from a piece showing us the town of Seaside, William's place of birth and where he has lived his whole life.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Jolby! We are so excited moving into 2009 with what we're working on and where we are headed. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with our shenanigans and for all of your support.

Rad Letterpress: Studio On Fire

Studio On Fire does some gnar letterpress. Check it.

Happy holidays everybody! Josh and I will both be with our families for the next few weeks and we hope all of you will be as well! See you in the new year!

New Paintings: For Erik

I haven't done any chipboard paintings in a while, but I just finished this set this morning for a friend as an Xmas gift. They were fun and based off of an old idea he had that I decided to flush out. Click the image to see it much bigger.

Jon Klassens RBC Blue Water Project Video

The week's inspiration for sure. Make sure to check out more of Jon's amazing work. Via Drawn!

Mike Perry Interview @ Design Sponge

I know we just did a Mike Perry post, but this one is a nice follow up. The cool kids over at Design Sponge sat down with him recently to talk about his work, life, projects and more. I think it is so cool when we get to see this side of popular artists like Mike. It's a very honest look into them as people first and artists second. He has some really cool things to say.

JOLBY SITE COMING SOON!

Hello everyone I know we have been lagging on updates but we have great news. Jolby & Friends will be launching in the next couple of weeks and we are super stoked about what our great friend Chris Forrette did with the site. We'll still have the blog but now we will be able to show our Jolby work a little more professional. Oh and the & image above is our new logo, we hope you like =).

The artwork for the show is going great and we will be showing alot of sneak peeks of the pieces in the coming weeks. Please keep coming back, commenting and telling your friends about Jolby. Thanks!

New Sanna Annuka Prints!

An illustrator we admire, Sanna Annukka, has some new prints up for sale on her site. We've been waiting a while for her to post some new goodies.

Artists We Love: Mike Perry

Mike Perry just launched mikeperrystudio.com filled with new personal and commercial works. I love how free-form his style is and how he buttons-it-up for his clients. Enjoy it and happy Friday.

Tangible Worldwide Launches Store

Most of you who read our blog know that Josh and I work during the day as an Art Director team for Tangible Worldwide. Tangible just launched its online store where you can order some of our tees, prints, goccos, and even holiday cards. Many of the products have been Jolby-fied. All orders are shipping by December 24th. Get it on.

"Home Is Where You Make It" Jolby's First Solo Art Show Announcement

"Home Is Where You Make It" New Works by Jolby (Josh Kenyon & Colby Nichols)

February 21st - March 22nd Opening Reception: Saturday, February 21st, 6-10pm at Subtext Gallery in San Diego, CA.

In their first solo show, Jolby’s work takes us on the journey of a boy named William who, after suffering a great loss, leaves his familiar town of Seaside to discover what “home” really means inside the depths of an aging forest. Throughout this story we are introduced to a detailed world filled with odd characters, illustrious patterns, vibrant colors, and hand-rendered type. The show tells this imaginative story using a variety of mediums including screen prints, paintings, drawings, and even detailed handmade plush dolls contributed by Jill and Erin Lynch’s (Dolls for Friends). Reflecting on their recent life experiences, the “Home is Where You Make it” story has been inspired by the artists’ pasts and deals with love, hope, depression, faith, isolation, acceptance, and re-birth.

Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols have been labeled “the illustrative monster that is Jolby” and have been working together on various projects since their first collaboration in 2005. The two combine their talents through Colby’s obsession with drawing creatures and shapes while adding Josh’s love for pattern and texture to create a look that is purely “Jolby.”

Above is our first piece tentatively-titled "Once More". More info on Subtext's blog. We will be posting updates of this show until it opens in Feb and we are very excited to be sharing this with you.

Jolby's Top 10 Albums of 2008

We thought it would be fun for the month of December to re-cap some of our favorite things of 2008 before the New Year begins. This installment is our favorite albums that were released in 2008.

Josh's Favorites:
1. Thrice - "The Alchemy Index"
2. Kings of Leon - "Only By The Night"
3. Anathallo - "Canopy Glow"
4. Colour Revolt - "Plunder, Beg and Curse"
5. Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"
6. Emery - "While Broken Hearts Prevail"
7. Mock Orange - "Captain Love"
8. Underoath - "Lost In The Sound of Separation"
9. Bayside - "Shudder"
10. Copeland - "You Are My Sunshine"

Colby's Favorites:
1. Anathallo - "Canopy Glow"
2. Transfer - "Sunken Eyes EP"
3. Kings Of Leon - "Only By The Night"
4. The Mars Volta - "The Bedlam in Goliath"
5. Protest the Hero - "Fortress"
6. Bullets in Madison - "If I Were A Neutron Star"
7. Black Mountain - "In the Future"
8. Maps & Atlases - "You and Me and the Mountain"
9. Colour Revolt - "Plunder, Beg, And Curse"
10. Emery - "While Broken Hearts Prevail EP"