Eye Candy: Hard Cover on the Outside But Creamy & Juicy Inside.

This is one of the front covers for the book. Painted exclusively for the "Eye Candy From Strangers" book by the super talented Dennis Brown. I'm printing two covers and 4 different jackets (with 4 different images, of course) There are more than 2 pieces that deserve to be featured on the cover and back covers of the books, we'll see how many variant covers we can get away with, I'll post more on that later.

BTW, I'm back from paying the bills, I will work now full-time on the Eye Candy book. Whoever hasn't been contacted yet regarding the high resolution files will get an email from me starting Thursday. I've received more communication from people wanting to know if their entries made it or not, please bear with me I WILL reply to each and every one of you, it will take me some time but I'll make the effort necessary. Thanks!

I've been really busy with the pre-production of the "Summer Collection" of books, which I'm sure will knock your socks off. Some of the cats had been let out of their respective bags and some of you already know who will be debuting his/her new book through the Brandstudio Press label. I will make an official announcement in 2 weeks, the books are at the printer as I write this, hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll have production samples to share with you.

I just want to say that this new batch of books is just ridiculously huge, 15 new titles to be exact!

If people thought we were just a flash in the pan, they are in for a big surprise. Remember it's Us Vs, Them, and WE will win this fuckin' war, this ain't like the war on terror, we're fighting a real enemy here, a vicious and ruthless killer of dreams, Heh, heh! Cheese anybody?

But unlike Saddam, we do have some secret weapons of mass destruction, I will post the list of the artists but make sure you're sitting down before you start reading it, we'll give a new meaning to "Shock and Awe". :)


Abrazos
—Alberto

Anonymous said...

. . ."Sorry to hear you got sand in your vagina down here in the dirty south...guess we're just not cultured nor "diverse" enough for ya...way to stereotype, based on your dismal (and extremely limited) experience...that's like me saying you self publish because you don't have the chops to cut it with a decent publisher, cause you only draw half-assed titty girls"


Alberto Ruiz Says. . .

Heh, heh! A disgruntled employee. Aren't you special.

You don't know who the fuck you're talking to, I get sand in my vagina everywhere I go, North, South, East and West. I don't like people, period. You obviously have never read anything other than this post on this blog. You narrow-minded fool, You read one thing I write and because it happened to say something about where you live you get all outraged, retard!.

You didn't criticize my apparently negative review of Boston or the one about Baltimore or The NYC crappy hotel show or why I hate Hoboken, NJ or any place else, but you. . .you are special because it's you.

Did you praise me for saying good things about North Carolina? last time I checked that's in the South, ain't it? No worries, I didn't expect you to because I don't give a fuck whether someone approves or dissaproves what I do or say, this is about self-expression, an artist can express anything and everything is a tool towards that end.

You take it personally because its about where you live. Well, grow up, asshole! this isn't about you or about a particular place, it's about people and people are fucked up everywhere you go.

News Flash, this just in! This whole country is fucked up! The rest of the world is just as messed up as the USA and probably worst but they don't go around claiming they're champions of freedom, equality and acceptance. We do!

You don't fucking get it because you're too busy fuckin' your sister, only an inbred like you can read a "dismal" personal experience, —admittedly biased, because of individual preference—and turn it into a personal attack on the entire Southern region. I don't hate the South and its people I just hate YOU.

Personal experiences are what drive a particular human to choose a partcular place to live, and these places shape who they become. Some of us want to be treated fairly and be left alone, some places are more conservative and less tolerant of minorities, that's a fact. Some people -for whatever the reason- lack the ability to choose where they go, I'm stuck here because of all the places I've been to, this is the least retarded, but more often than not I get reminded of just how prejudiced people are, even right here in this "Melting Pot" of shit we call New York.

Chip on my shoulder the size of NJ, you bet!

No, the South doesn't do it for me, as nice as the women are, it's not diverse enough for me and my prejudices, that's my taste, bitch! and neither does NY, or CA or anywhere in between, as long as there are bigots and cowards like you hiding behind anonymity.

In case you didn't read (or maybe you were too emotional to digest) you're not special, in fact, I like the South better than I like California, where pretty much everybody is fake. Feel any better?

Don't take it personally. You stay where you are, where you're safe and comfortable. I'm going back to Atlanta next year for sure to stay with friends but not to the convention which I thought it sucked.

Go to the bathroom, jerk off and take all the emotion out of this and then take a cold shower, when you go back to re-read what I wrote, you'll realize just how foolish you've been to jump to conclusions, but I forgive you because you were too hurt by the apparent harshness of my words to understand reason.

The one thing you're right about is my half-assed tittie girls (your spelling is also acceptable)
But what should I do? draw DC/Marvel superhero comics? or "alternative comics" garbage? or illustrate children's books for Scholastic (all of which I've been offered to do at one point or another, btw)

You must be fuckin' kidding me! Do you prefer me drawing like say. . . Boris Vallejo? or Shag? Hah! Maybe I'll get a decent publisher if I were to copy Frank Frazetta and pass it as my style.

You also don't get it here because you're stupid. I DON'T fucking care about your bloody comics and I don't give two shits about the publishing industry. I draw for myself, and I make books because I LOVE books. I have said many times here that I don't consider myself a real artist, (in the American and commercial sense anyway) only somebody who likes to draw for fun. Just because I share it with you it doesn't mean I owe you shit! Why is that so fucking hard to understand?

What's a decent publisher to you? name me one and I show you a thief and a scumbag.
Brandstudio Press? Nah! I'm not a real publisher, I don't care enough about profits, I don't fuck people over, this is just a bunch of friends getting together to do our thing.

Are DC Comics or Marvel "decent" publishers?, or this and that and the other?, They're all assholes.

What I do is by choice, Moron!

I do whatever the fuck I want. You can't say that, can you? Because you need somebody to validate what you do, because you need some jerk to publish you, because you've never made anything or built anything of any consequence on your own, with your own money and you're own resources.

You'll always will work for some asshole who will exploit you to no end and you'll sit there and complain but you'll take it like a little girl because you're too afraid to make your own mark, because you value a "Giant" publisher as something of prestige and you want them to do everything for you while they treat you like shit and rob you blind. You will always be a paid slave and that's your choice so FUCK YOU!

I am not interested in anything other than drawing half-assed tittie girls for myself, I don't give a fuck if publishers like them or not. Although you can't possibly comprehend the thought of being independent and doing something just for the fuck of it, without thinking about the money it may or may not generate. You are not an artist, just try and wrap your feeble mind around that concept. Repeat after me:

"I" . . . ."Am". . ."Stupid"


Love,
—Alberto

MARIACHI SAMURAI & PISTOLAS REDUX

The Brilliance of José López
It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Brandstudio Press online store will be offering José López's best-selling art book/sketchbook, entitled "Mariachi Samurai". A gorgeous hardcover book, 80 pages worth of full color illustrations, preliminary character designs, backgrounds and cartoons.

I you think I'm bias because I consider him one of my friends you'd be right. But friendship aside, way before I met him I thought he was one of those rare beings I lke to call "Renaissance freaks". An incredibly talented and well-rounded individual, who's rare in this world of "especialists" and "multitaskers" where artists train to do one thing and one thing only, no one inks his own drawings, no one designs his own characters no one writes his own stories for the characters they design and so forth, and on the other hand, the so called multitaskers are more like ducks than artists; well, you've seen the duck before, he flies, swims and walks but does none of those things really well.

José's range of skills is vast and then some, those of you who already own this book know exactly what I'm talking about. Not only everything he chooses to do he does well but he excels at whatever he does and with style to boot. He produced this book, designed it and published it himself, having dwelled in this "business" of art for longer than I care to remember and painfully knowing how hard it is to remain independent, I have a lot of respect for those who take that leap of faith and invest in themselves, he's sought after by the best animation companies out there, any studio or publisher would have been glad to publish this book but he chose to do it himself, that says a lot more than I can talk about the man.

This book sold out in record time last year so if you didn't get it then, now it's your chance. Feel free to go to brandstudiopress.com and order your copy before they sell out again. Or click on the button below to order your copy:



For those of you who don't know, click here to visit José's blog and see why I think so highly of him.





Two Boxes of Pistolas
On my last trip to Seattle, my friend Kandrix who puts together the amazing Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo up in Canada, informed me that I still had a couple of boxes of my sold out "Veinte Mujeres con Pistolas" left up there. Last week we sold some at the Expo and I brought the remaining copies back home with me. They're also up in the Brandstudio Press online store now for purchase.

I know a few of you missed buying them and asked about a reprint, this is not a reprint but rather the last few remaining copies left from the original print run, minus the flaps, long forgotten in Canada. Again, if you missed buying this book last year and you still want it, go for it, while supplies last.

Thanks for your support!


Available Now. Click on the button below to order your copy:



Abrazos,
-Alberto

EYE CANDY FROM STRANGERS DEADLINE

I just came back home from Calgary to find a quazillion entries for this book. It seems that many of you waited until the very last minute to send in your submissions (and I think I know you know who you are because you certainly know who I think I know I am) . . . Huh!??

Anyways, thanks to all the artists who sent their work for consideration. I am in awe of such a massive display of both, raw and cultivated talent. I am yet to finish going through each and every piece, My mailbox is about to explode!

Some of you sent more than a few pieces, which makes me wonder why in god's name there isn't a book out there with your art in it, perhaps we could change that in a not too distant future.

I am so honored and truly humbled by the turnout and the quality of these pieces. You have read those words from me before because you people always exceed my expectations and I don't mind repeating myself since every bit of it is true. Like the time I went to the movies to see "The Incredibles", the hype was intense and my expectations were way up there and somehow that flick blew them away. With this project I was expecting a good chunk of entries but nothing of this sort, thanks again, and again. If your entry did not make it this time please I beg you, DO NOT be discouraged, some of you are very young still and have tremendous amount of potential, develop your skills and don't lose that passion for drawing. I really wish I had room for all the participants.

These are the times in which I'm proud to be part of the human race, it doesn't happen often but this feels really nice indeed. It gives me hope for the future. The future of what we love to do and it makes me feel like I made the right choice in following my instincts, leaving everything behind to pursue a life as a full-time artist and now as a full-time pimp.


There are a few folks who missed this deadline, to those people I say: "Keep it in your pants" I'm working on other things we might be able to do to showcase your art in the future. Besides, we will do this again for sure next year and the year after that.

Most of you have been contacted by me via email with a "Thank you for submitting" or a "You're in!" note, I will continue to go through my in box and reply to each and every one of you, whether your work made it into the book or not. Bear in mind that it will take me a couple of days to complete this task, if by the end of next week you haven't heard from me, I urge you to email me again to remind me of your submission. No one answers my email but me, but sometimes I do it on the road and sometimes some emails get filtered and end up in the garbage bin by mistake.


The Book Format
I am debating on a format that would best suit this material and make it shine, I'm thinking of making the book slightly bigger. This will solidify as I put the pieces together.

The page count might change as well, I'm still getting quotes from the printer on different formats and page counts, as things stand now, it would make more sense to split the 200 page book into two smaller books so as to make it affordable for people to buy and for me to print without sacrificing the quality. I'd much rather print two books and offer them at $30 or so each than one gigantic single book at $70. As you are well aware I am not a rich person by any stretch of the imagination and all of this is financed by yours truly so our runs are small 'cause that's what we can afford, hopefully with your ongoing support, our print runs will increase and our prices will become even more affordable. I am not worrying about recovering my investment but rather the initial layout, which is pretty significant. Regardless of the format, rest assured this book(s) will be absolutely beautiful.

I will do my very best to have the book finished and ready to be shipped to whoever wants it by the second week of July. Those of you who will visit our booth n San Diego will be able to sample our Eye Candy Goodness and I will throw a dinner party at a local eatery to celebrate this milestone (basically, I'll buy you a beer and you'll pay for your own dinner, what do you think this is? DC Comics?)



To the Artists Whose Work Will Be Featured in "EYE CANDY"
I know some of you are anxious to send or FTP your high resolution files, some of you don't even know yet which of the multiple files you sent have been chosen. I will be contacting you individually via email within the next three weeks to clarify everything and obtain the proper permission and files from you. Remember it's just one man doing all of this so bear with me.