Monkey got published!

Monkey got his illustration published in the latest issue of Hyphen. You can find the illustration on page 18 for the article "Hollywood Not Bending," about the topic of race and casting in Hollywood. This topic has been at the forefront of the controversy surrounding the movie "The Last Airbender." This was a great pairing as Monkey takes personal interest in this topic (he and Seal both have acting backgrounds as well!). You can find out a lot more about the issue at racebending.com.

While Monkey + Seal is generally very benign, we also have a very distinct social and political side to us. We actually try to infuse as much social commentary as we can in our work (although there is a lot of stuff we just like to create for fun), and we generally try to be subtle about it. But sometimes, a more direct approach is necessary (like this fine item, and these postcards here).

Back to school and a work in progress

Hello! Monkey and Seal just started their fall semester at art school last week. Thanks to the many generous acts of kindness from friends, family, strangers, Martha, and Monkey, Seal is able to attend her much needed senior portfolio classes. She has been busy juggling daytime work, school, and nighttime art. She is very excited about this semester and is learning a lot. Seal is working hard to come up with new illustrations and paintings for APE (the Alternative Press Expo) in October. Although they are number 44 on the waitlist, both Monkey and Seal are very hopeful. They also recently bought a new Epson printer that can print archival large poster size!

On another news, Monkey is hard at work meeting with other artists in San Francisco to create more venues to showcase everyone's work. If you are an artist interested in selling your art, please contact Monkeyandseal@gmail.com.

Now it's back to art time! Here's a quick sneak peek at some of Seal's newest concept art!

The Art of Non-Conformity/9

So Monkey + Seal, through a series of random link exploration on twitter (btw, you should follow us: twitter/monkeyandseal - we have a twitter now, yay!), we stumbled upon a website titled "The Art of Nonconformity" run by Chris Guillebeau.

We highly recommend checking out his blog, as he has a lot of cool things to say about making your own path in life and being able to do what you want to do in life. Monkey read both his free manifestos (A Brief Guide to World Domination and 279 Days to Overnight Success) which you can easily download to your computer, and found a lot of really good information.

Anyhoo, we get his blog updates in our email, and so far, what the man has to say is pretty awesome. Go check it out today!

In other news, Monkey + Seal have started designing their new business cards and are kicking around the idea of getting some promotional postcards made. Any suggestions on items we should feature on the front? We're thinking of doing an old-fashion split card, with one Seal item and one Monkey item. We'd love for you to check out our shop and give us feedback as to your favorite item!

On a quick closing note, we're both really excited to check out 9, which opens in theaters today. When we saw the teaser trailer in the theater, we nearly got out of our seats to cheer, and we hope to get a chance to check out this film ASAP!

Zine Review: The Great Myspace Swindle

Note to readers: Monkey + Seal have been kicking around the idea of occasionally blogging in our own voices, not so much the standard "Monkey + Seal" voice that we usually write in. As a first sort of experiment in this, here's Monkey's zine review of the week:

First off, happy Labor Day! Congratulations to all those who don't have to work today (unfortunately both Eve and I do have work -_- ). Anyway, on to the actual review.

Though I seem to get hyped up about a lot of stuff these days (there's just hellsa good art/literature/general stuff out there!!!), I can honestly say that I'm a huge frickin' fan of Sean Logic's writing.

As the founder/editor of Ashcan magazine (as well as a contributor to the Bad Date Zine), I've been able to read a decent amount of Sean's writing. And believe me, this dude is solid.

In his latest zine The Great Myspace Swindle, he creates a faux profile on Myspace and lets the internet do its thing. The results are probably to be expected, but the zine itself is hilarious, sometimes a bit creepy, and thoroughly entertaining. The big unexpected surprise is Sean's closing remarks, in which his usual cool and funny style gives a bit to a thoughtful and meaningful commentary on society as a whole.

I can't recommend this enough. For reals. Email him to find out how to get a copy NOW: myspace_swindle [at] yahoo.com

Friendly Friday

Hello blog world!

Monkey got a little caught off-guard by today, as last night he was diligently meeting with Rebecca from Jim Dandy's to plan a (as of now) super secret collaborative project between the members of the SF Etsy street team. We're all super excited to get this underway, and definitely check back for more updates on that!

Overall, our experience with SF Etsy (an Etsy street team) has been super positive and helpful. We highly recommend checking out any (and all) street teams that may be useful to you if you sell on Etsy - they're an awesome resource!

Anyway, sorry for the short post. We should be kicking off our next newsletter on Monday, so make sure you're on the mailing list if you haven't already signed up! Also, Monkey + Seal is thinking of switching over to MailChimp for our newsletter provider - after all, it seems to have an easy UI (we're not programming geniuses over here) and plus, the logo is a cute-ass monkey (Monkey has been sold on this idea for weeks, but wants feedback). Thoughts anyone?

Cool new zines: Ochre Ellipse 3 + Bird Brain

So Monkey is buddies with Jonas Madden-Conner of Family Style, but disclosure aside, his newest work Ochre Ellipse #3 is pretty amazing. Both Monkey and Seal have been re-reading it the past few days and we have to say that it is a damn good comic.

The illustrations are cute, but the overall storytelling shown here is damn good. The story follows a man of the future who travels back in time (a common recreational pursuit in the future) to try and revisit his childhood. The whole thing unfolds as smoothly as..well, something that unfolds really smoothly, and the ending is sure to pull at a few heartstrings (or you are a cold, dead human being).

Monkey is also buddies with Francois Vigneault, editor of Elfworld, creator of Friends, lead Family Style dude, and grand organizer of the SF Zine Fest. Francois also happens to be an avid bird watcher, and he mixes his love of comics and nature in his latest work, Bird Brain.

Filled with illustrations of various birds around the SF Bay Area mixed with hand-written observations, Bird Brain works well as it is such a personal work. Not only are there little stories about identifying birds, but there are little snippets of Francois' life while watching the birds, and the trips he took while checking them out.

We highly recommend heading over to Family Style to pick up a copy of each comic/zine ASAP (although Ochre Ellipse 3 isn't up yet, issues 1 + 2 are, and are also awesome) and you might as well browse the entire Family Style offering to find something great to read tonight!

Illustration Friday (on a Monday)

For everyone who loves art but doesn't know about Illustration Friday, you should definitely go check it out. It's an online community that takes a no-pressure, supportive take on creating art. Every Friday, the organizers send out an email (or publish on the site) a new, single-word topic that artists all over the world can illustrate. They have one week, and can (at no cost or obligation) submit their link to a blog or something that hosts their image. Artists submit thumbnails, and you can browse galleries to see all the myriad of interpretations people can have for themes like "Wrapped," "Contagious," and "Unfold."

Monkey does his best to participate weekly (although often he ends up being a week late), but you can find his entries at his personal blog Politics Art Culture. Monkey is currently working to catch up on last week's topic (Caution) as well as the current topic (Magnify), but his response to "Wrapped" is up.

Anyhoo, you should definitely check out Illustration Friday as there is a whole global community of awesome artists (from students to hobbyists to professionals) out there!