I’m very lucky to have built a career on doing what I love most. I draw constantly. I draw all day in a fast-paced game studio, and come home to draw all night on my own projects. I work on comic books about girls sinking deep into their fantasy subconscious, I draw illustrations of my favorite musicians and psychedelic landscapes, and I paint portraits of the beautiful people I see in San Francisco. I’ve been told I’m extremely disciplined, but I don’t really see it that way: I simply don’t know any other way of existing. I wish I didn’t have to sleep so that I could constantly put out new books of art, but, unfortunately, I get cranky when I don’t sleep.
Comic books, fine art and video games have always been a big part of my life. The same sorts of action and simulation games that I played as a kid are what I get paid to design now. I became obsessed with Catwoman and started working in a comic book store and met all my comic heroes at signings and that fueled my hand-stapled comics to keep on getting bigger and more ambitious. I decided I wanted a career involving storytelling and art, and pursued a degree majoring in animation. Alongside my major, I drew comics in the school paper and studied film, classic illustration, screenwriting, and hand-drawn animation techniques.
I began my graphic novel “Weird Fishes” while I was in school, published it as a webcomic, and got a graphic novel contract shortly after. This was my most ambitious project to date (proceeded by a post-apocalyptic noir story and half a dozen autobiographical minis) and it evolved in style and storytelling as the characters grew themselves. Mixing fantasy and coming-of-age with experimental linework and watercolored art, it was printed by my all-star favorite publisher and good friends at Slave Labor Graphics. I was a featured guest at APE for my book release, and the original art toured from the SLG Boutiki gallery up to San Francisco to the comic shop/gallery Mission Comics, I got the coveted “Small Press Spotlight” gallery spot at Cartoon Art Museum, and did signings all along the Bay Area. Great times, fulfilling my comic book rockstar dreams.
But one does not eat by doing comics. I worked as an animation assistant at Ghostbot studios in San Francisco, and spent 3 years learning the craft of Flash animation and design while creating commercial spots and video game art. I’ve worked with clients ranging from Leapfrog and Sketchers to DJ Shadow, Esurance ad campaigns to doing video game character design for a handful of local video game start-ups. Now I find myself working in a large casual gaming company, designing hyper-detailed gaming elements, and get a little ping of excitement whenever I realize that I’m designing the sort of games I would have loved to play as a kid.
My personal work has grown and evolved with the influence of the landscape, artists and thriving music culture in San Francisco. I’ve never been the sort of person to isolate myself within a certain group of artists or genre, instead I pull from the richness of everything around me. I never want to slip into a rut, or put out an expected product. I’ve taken a year off from drawing comics regularly to challenge myself with new exercises and techniques, drawing from reality and delving into more surreal landscapes. I’ve taken on new projects collaborating with writers and musicians and photographers in the area, ranging from music videos to advertisement campaigns.
“The only explanation for Jamaica Dyer is that she was built by aliens and dropped here to show us all how crap we are compared to her.”
-Warren Ellis
Gallery Exhibitions:
Isotope Comics – Passport Oct 2010
Cartoon Art Museum – Small Press Spotlight & Arist-in-Residence Feb 2010
Mission Comics – Dee’s Siren Song Dec 2009
SLG Boutiki & Gallery – Nov 2009
Video Interviews:
Comic Vine Jan 2010
SF Public Press May 2010
Contact
Feel free to email me with greetings and inquiries. I do illustration commissions and sell original art, just ask. Resume available upon request.
jamaicad @ gmail . com
