Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman hasn't responded to my emails (I don't blame him — it probably ended up in his junk mail like everything from Fantagraphics) so I'm left with one open space in the upcoming anthology that is the modern bestiary, Beasts! Book Two. I would like to offer that space to whomever would like to submit work for it.
All submissions must be received by March 1st at which point my Fanta colleagues and I will review the pieces and determine one piece to appear alongside the likes of Jaime Hernandez, Kim Deitch, Peter Bagge, Ellen Forney, Craig Thompson, Tomer Hanuka, Brian Chippendale, Al Columbia, and 81 other amazing artists that I cannot list here.
Note that I am not looking for traditional fantasy artists. The purpose of this book is to give the beasts back to the people. Dragons flying through purple skies have many other books to appear in. I want these symbols to have meaning again.
The rules: You must depict a mythological/folkloric creature that has been "witnessed" in some capacity in some culture at some point in history. No gods/goddesses or creatures of fiction. I am also looking for creatures that have not been depicted already in the Beasts! series. I will have a list of those in the comments section as soon as I can. Bonus points for creatures from recent times (such as the chupacabras, Beast of Bray Road, sasquatch, Loch Ness monster — but not those because they've been depicted by other contributing artists). THE FORMAT IS 8" SQUARE.
Hobbits are not beasts.
If any artists currently listed as contributors fail to deliver a piece I may choose more than one submission to run in Beasts! Book Two.
I strongly encourage unpublished artists (and Peter Laird) to submit work.
Direct a jpg of your piece to fbicomix *at fantagraphicsdot com by MARCH 1st. Contributions may be displayed here or on the Beasts blog unless you tell me not to.
Lastly, I hope that any artists I haven't asked to contribute understand that this isn't a reflection on their work or in what orifice I may have my head: It's stressful choosing a diverse group of 90 artists that have time for this project and there are many folks I wanted to ask but didn't get to.
Also note that this will probably be the last Beasts volume because they are quite exhausting. (Art up top is by Femke Hiemstra, for Beasts2. See more art at the Beasts blog.)
Thanks to everyone!