Book Launch

Book has been officially launched and now into the wild! It took about 2 years to put together 10 years of my work and it was beautifully designed by Dan Shafer and published by Chin Music Press. Press Kit for the book is here.

We launched the event at the Ray Gun Lounge.

The kind people over at the University Book Store vended the books and they put an awesome sticker on each book I signed.

Lots of friends came out which I took almost no pictures of! But I found a group selfie I took of my friends Etsuyasan and Yukari, who have been great supporters for a long time. Thank you all for coming out.

The great Raul was the judge of the #EnfuMashup character mashup contest. The winners had to be present so we did a redraw from a pile and we had 3 lucky and happy winners!

Look what I won at the @enfu book release. Where the hell is this print gonna go?

A photo posted by Graz グラーズ (@grazcore) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:06pm PDT

Enfu Cute Grit x GRLA

My book is now out in the wild! My hope is people are enjoying my works, inspired to create more of their own, or excited to see what's next. 

As for me the next couple of months I'll be making appearance at locales that carry my book for signings or for shows. So you can try to catch me there if you've already purchased my book and would like me to sign them.

Right now though I'm posting to mention Giant Robot in LA. Giant Robot was especially a powerful motivator for my personal growth because I was truly inspired and empowered by their magazine. I was always super excited seeing their next issue on the shelves. I was introduced to so many awesome artists like David Choe, Kozyndan, 326, Takashi Murakami, Terada Katsuya, and the content was filled with Asian pop culture. What it came down to was making visible other Asian Americans that I could aspire to, and was a wind in my sails. 

Now I'm proud to say Eric Nakamura wrote the forward to my book, and the book is now on their shelves! 

Support them by dropping by if you're in the LA area or on the web to view their enfu collection! They showcase a ton of local art, books, and prints and if you're lucky you may unearth your next favorite Artist there!

Don’t Display Prices and other Convention Artist’s Tips

I lay out many of my own convictions and mantras (Enfuisms) in my book Enfu: Cute Grit.  
Reading about other Artists' struggles, blaming the cosplayer con go-er without really addressing first what the Artist can do to improve their relevancy, I’ve decided to write about what I do to hustle at conventions and my own struggles to stay relevant and engaging. This post is for Artists at cons specifically, take it or leave it. If I were you, I’d leave it. For you skimmers and TLDR’s here’s the short list up front:
1) Don't display prices.
2) Stand up all day.
3) Profile people.
4) Business cards are bait, chum the ocean.
5) Sell you first then your art.
6) Mine for information.
7) Evolve your layout each time.
8) Literally stand behind your work to strengthen your convictions.
9) “Good art sells itself” is a fallacy. Props & gimmicks work.
10) Count connections before counting money.

1) Don't display prices.

  • This advice is counter intuitive, I know....
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NYCC14 Wrapup

My first NYCC in the Block. Awesome experience, got to meet a lot of great people. Thank you for stopping by my booth!

My brother and I back together as a team. He used to help me during my first Emerald City Comicon back in the day.

Loved this blinged out Trooper.

The preview of the where you may find Enfu products sold!

Also I ended my trip in New York with a book signing at the NY Kinokuniya! Thanks for coming by!

Rose City Comicon 14 Recap

My first Rose City Comcion donezo. I had a blast. I got to meet a lot of new people and expose my works to a different crowd. This was a cozy con, not so packed and hectic as some, which made it way more chill. This was the Con that I actually had my book Enfu: Cute Grit physically out for sale. (We will be sending out pre orders this week so thank you for your patience) 

We drove down Saturday morning at 5:30am, and we arrived 8:50am, but by the time I got to the booth it was 9:20am and the show opened at 10! So with much haste I was able to eek out a booth.

Finally people digging into the book which held a decade of all my work.

We made a place to have me draw a picture in back. I also embossed each book as well!

Even had a couple Uwajimaya Bag signings!

Scottie Young picked up my book, it made my day! Thanks Scottie, I'm a fan too!

I also got to meet Kira from KiraKiradoodles. I gushed cause I love her patterns. We discussed my approach to surface design and pattern making. She's awesome.

My compatriots Akio Segawa and Nick Southam working hard on their sketches!

Thanks for coming out guys. I had fun! Next up....New York City Comicon!

Rose City Comicon 14 x Enfu

Where will I be debuting the Enfu Cute Grit Books? I'll only have 50 of them so first come first serve!

 

SDCC 14 Write Up

This was my second Comicon (SDCC) and even though we were more prepared it was a marathon. 5 straight days of standing, passing out business cards, hustling and putting together plays. Selling things are hard, but as an Artist you have to be visible and identifiable. Here is our group photo of our island booth #1729 (sans Mari, but I will include a picture of her later). Pictured (left to right): Enfu, Aaron Brown, Eric Nakamura, Crayon Monsters, Dean Gojobori, Kat Rivera, Jeremiah Ferrell.

Here is the pic of my quadrant of the booth before the storm.

Got a lot of "Sugoi"s from the Katsuya Terada upon seeing the sample of my book Enfu: Cute Grit.

More pix after the jump!

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Resin Blocks Now $20!!

We've sold many resin blocks to date, so I want to make these even more accessible to my younger audience who absolutely love them but can't afford it with their allowance. I hear my fans loud and clear, so I will be making these resin blocks available now for only $20 each. Each resin block is a digital print mounted on a 3.5"x3.5" wood block, with a coating of resin left to cure for a couple days. Then it is stamped, signed, embossed, and branded! Each block has a pushpin sized hole in the back which you can just hang on your wall. You can find a random selection of resin blocks at Giant Robot in LA and Kobo in Seattle!! Go and get yours now! First come first serve, what you see is what you get.

12th man poster

Even as a 12, I did not expect 43 to 8, and neither did the world. The Hawks blew me away on all fronts, and I couldn't be prouder. SO...I made this poster. I am NOT selling it, but will be giving it away over time by dropping a limited stack of them in local businesses. I DO have some higher res images in my Seahawks Flickr set for anyone to use. Here is my process of how I made them.

I announce where I will be dropping them a couple days in advance on my facebook fanpage so like to follow content. Oh and I run a Request Friday contest every friday where I select a guided suggestion and I pick a winner to draw and show on Monday morning. Winner gets sent a free random poster pack too.

I'm tying this poster to a promotion of my upcoming full color monograph "Enfu: Cute Grit." If you pre order it (HERE) you will get a little drawing in it by me, my signature, AND a free 12th man poster. This book ships later this fall, you will get it in your hands weeks before it hits bookstores world wide this fall.

 

Mini Seahawks process

I was moved by our Seahawks Superbowl 48 win. We're all so proud of our Hawks!! I couldn't just stop drawing with just our 6 ProBowl selection, so I drew 25 of them. I couldn't draw all of them, but I have 25. I am making a 12th man poster using these 25 MiniSeahawks and will be making drops to local businesses for you to pick up for FREE! Quantities will be limited and the information of when and where the drops will take place will happen on my Facebook Fan page, so tune in there for more info!

There are only going to be 2 ways you can get your hands on this free poster, by making it physically to the drop in time to get it, OR get it with a pre order of my upcoming art book Enfu: Cute Grit. Details coming soon.

Thanks for liking my page and I pledge to continue to make fun stuff.

12th Man

Go Hawks! Here's to supporting my local team in my way. I drew them with the super powers I imagine them having. I did not have time to draw all the Seahawks so I narrowed it down to the 6 Pro Bowl elected players. I make no $ off these images and I'm giving them away to Creative Commons so enjoy them, thanks for dropping by! I upload new stuff daily on my enfu facebook fanpage and I've listened to the request of people asking for the high res images so I've started with Marshawn Lynch: you can get the high resolution art here for free (click on the link that says Original for highest res). And GO HAWKS!!!

Cute Grit Resin Blocks

Thank you everyone who was able to make it out to the Cute Grit Fremont First Friday. 

As a reminder the show is until the end of January 2014, and my resin blocks are all in the Lobby and the second floor. So if you get a chance, browse. If you'd like to purchase, the rules are posted on the wall. Just take a red sticker provided and put it underneath the piece you'd like to reserve, and then contact me with a pic of the piece. You can pick it up at the next First Friday 1/3/14! Emails are coming in with pics of the blocks people want so better claim yours before there's a dot beneath it!

I made a gif of all the small resin blocks, there are over 300 of them..first come first serve.

There will be a select bunch of them at Kobo, at Giant Robot's MultiMatter Show, and at the Saturn Building.

Enfu Snaps Look Book sneak peek

This is the first peek at one of the models Eric shot for the Enfu Snaps look book. My partner Susan and I have been working really hard to develop the look of these new hats, and all the models were awesome. I'm super thankful that I get to colab with a lot of extremely talented people! More pics to come soon. Join my Facebook page to see them first.

Two kids at heart colab to create cool collectibles:
Whimsical Misfits
Susan Ishii-Yin & Ken Taya
"Fly with Enfu Snaps"
-Seattle

Enfu x Kobo Trunk show 2013

The long awaited launch of our new custom trucker hats will be happening at Enfu x Kobo Trunk show 2013. It's an open invite but please let us know if you're going via the official Facebook event page here. We would love to have you visit us on 5/4/13, 12-5pm, and 5/5/13, 12-4pm at Kobo: 602-68 S Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104.