Zejian Shen Illustration

DIMENSIONS IV sneak preview

2011-11-23T22:49:00.001-08:00

DIMENSION IV coming soon spring 2012

DIMENSIONS III

2011-11-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

Coming soon...

DIMENSIONS III

coming soon...

Featuring works by:

Alison Dubois
Craig Bowers
Elaine Wang
Elisa Werbler
Laura Perez-Harris
J. Maxwell Kelly
Melissa Cha
Nic Nadeau
Jee-Shaun Wang

Cover: Alison Dubois

Inside Cover: Zejian SHen

3D Page: Thomas Toye

for more information please visit http://dimensionscomics.com

Throat Zine

2011-11-15T09:46:00.001-08:00

"I love you.", Ink & Digital, 2011

my submission for the first ever Throat zine. thanks to Laura Perez-Harris!

Party Plans Pt. III

2011-11-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

Party Plans Pt. III, Pen & Ink, 2011

part three of the alliterating saga of victor volcano's perfect party. coming soon to Portugal's Lodaçal 4, edited by Rudolfo.

DIMENSIONS II 3D SPREAD

2011-11-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

"Gutting Season", Pen & Ink/Digital, 2011

3D Spread for DIMENSIONS II

COMING SUPER FUCKING SOON.

DIMENSIONS II

2011-11-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

DIMENSIONS II. Coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Featuring works by:

Bethany Price
Heather Benjamin
Jesse Balmer
John Berry
Lala Albert
Sinnae Choi
Sophia Foster-Dimino
Tim Beckhardt
Torie Leigh

Front Cover: Thomas Toye
Inside Cover: Leah Wishnia

3D Centerfold: Zejian Shen

Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chameleon #2

2011-11-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here's my submission for Chameleon #2, which will be debuting at the Brooklyn Comic Fest in December. Thanks to Jonny Negron.

Happiness #1

2011-10-17T01:29:00.000-07:00

here's my submission to Happiness #1. edited by the lovely Leah Wishnia.

Backstabbers for ku̬̬š #9

2011-09-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

"Backstabbers", Ink & Digital, 2011

here's the piece that i did for kuš #9, a latvian anthology that is printed in full color, and features cartoonists from all over the world. this issue's theme is "female secrets", and has an all ladies line-up. much thanks to ryan sands for inviting me to be part of this amazing book, can't wait to see the final product.

Party Plans Pt. II

2011-08-31T13:50:00.001-07:00

"Party Plans Pt. II", pg.1, Pen & Ink, 2011

the continuing saga drama of victor volcano's party. for the third issue of portugese-based international anthology lodaça l!!

The Forest

2011-08-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

"The Forest", Pen & Ink, 2011

here's a 3D landscape that i did.
it looks like this in 2D.

VICE COMIC

2011-07-31T09:03:00.001-07:00

i did a comic for vice! click here to see the whole thing.

thanks nick gazin and lala albert.

Monsters, Tough Guys 'n Guts at the RGB Gallery

2011-07-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Santa Cruz based artist Louise Leong invited me to be part of a group show called "Monsters, Tough Guys 'n Guts" that opened this Saturday at the RGB Gallery in San Francisco. I was out of town so wasn't able to make it to the opening reception, but I was told there was 5 cases of free craft beer and a giant table of self-published zines (DIMENSIONS I, Love Pile, and Upset Cats Vol.1 were also there). Sounds like a party. Here's a triptych that I made for it.

Address Unknown

2011-07-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

pen & ink

this is the piece i did for jack hayden's awesome oregon based anthology snakebomb #2.

damien desertt's love life takes an unexpected detour.

did i also mention that i love my new tablet?

Art Faccia Logos

2011-06-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

Milcah Orbacedo asked me to design a few logos/banners for her blog Art Faccia.

Here is what I did.

Vend Send Mend

2011-06-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Creamsicle Bears, Gouache and Glitter, 2011

here’s a piece i did for vend send mend, which is a fundraiser to raise money for doctors without borders for the japan relief, that is organized by my friend shaun wang and several other mica students.

STUFF FOR SALE!!!!

2011-06-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

hey guys check out my very own bigcartel store!

zesansan.bigcartel.com

Party Plans for Lodaçal Comix

2011-06-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

here is a comic i did called party plans for lodacal comix anthology, which is organized by rudolfo da silva who is an awesome dude from portugal. check out the website, a really good group of people, i'm excited to see it! hopefully party plans will be a running series. i'm excited about the freehand inking, as well as all the annoying alliterations i get to do. ha.

upset cats vol.1

2011-05-10T11:36:00.001-07:00

this is the upset cats vol.1 zine! 4.5x4.5, 100% hand-bound, three colors, with a dust jacket wrap that folds out to a poster! also i got these plastic baggies to contain them in so they don’t get dirty! ONLY $10+$2 shipping! email me at zesansan@gmail.com for purchasing info!

UPSET CATS

2011-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

here's my upset cats series. they are available as a zine for $10+$2 shipping in USA. xoxoxoxo

collaborative book!

2011-05-03T12:31:00.001-07:00

tom toye and i are making a book that starts from both ends and finishes in the middle as a spread. it’s going to be about mercenaries, collections, serial killers, deserts, oceans, bridges, jungles, and internet dating. check back soon.

upset cat series

2011-05-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

i've been doing a series of single-panel comics everyday of upset cats. here're are some examples.

LOVE PILE

2011-04-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is a 56 pg. comic compilation of all the short comics I did about love. Lots of sex, and death. $8+$3 shipping. I'm accepting paypal, email me for more purchasing details: zesansan@gmail.com!

NEW WEBSITE

2011-04-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

http://zesansan.com

LINK ME PLEASE

CHHHECK IT OUT

2011-03-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

http://dimensionscomics.com

Caves

2011-03-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Caves", comic for Dimensions Compilations, which is an anthology that I've been organizing for the past 6 months that includes 16 artists. The theme of this project is prompted by the word "dimensions", it's 180 pages, black & white, with a double-sided screenprint cover. All I can say is, it's going to be sweet. The book will be available to purchase at MoCCA (April 8-10), and I'm also in the process of building the website that will have more information about the contributors, and a bunch of sample pages. Anyway, get very excited, if you are in the New York area that weekend, you should definitely come check out our table and get yourself a copy of this book! I will definitely be posting more information on the anthology in the next few days, so stay tuned.

SOME DUDES

2011-01-28T17:21:00.001-08:00

Pen & Ink on Rice Paper
characters from a new comic.

Pumpkin Soup @ FAKEHEADS Vol.2

2011-01-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

“Pumpkin Soup”, pg.1, Pen & Ink, 2011

Brand new comic.

This is going to be in the new FakeHeads Vol. 2 that is coming out in April get a copy, support this shit.

CHECK OUT FAKE HEADS Vol.1 HERERERERE

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-01-10T02:46:00.000-08:00

I'm in Beijing for the month, long story. But, my cousin and I thought it'd be nice to make some holiday cards for Chinese New Year to send out to our relatives. Since it was the year of the tiger turning into the year of the rabbit, I thought it'd be cute to draw both.

Deep Throat

2010-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a sci-fi jam comic that I was working on a while ago with my good bud Hiromi Ueyoshi.

This is the first chapter of it, and they are still available for $1 if you wish to purchase. Yeah dudes, this shit is cheap as hell.

GUT FEELINGS

2010-12-02T12:13:00.001-08:00

I just realized that I never posted my animation degree project on here. And it was really what I've been doing with myself in Providence for the entirety of last year. Anyway, here it is, enjoy.

Gut Feelings from Zejian Shen on Vimeo.

Art Faccia

2010-12-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed by a Bay Area based art blog called Art Faccia. It is founded and organized by the lovely Milcah Orbacedo. Check out how dumb I sound!

http://www.artfaccia.com/zejian-shen.html

PRINTS! PRINTS! PRINTS!

2010-10-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

lots of screen prints!

based on various things various things various things!

DEVIL KNIFE

2010-10-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

oil on canvas

I did this piece a while ago, it's based on a This American Life Podcast called "Devil on My Shoulder". About people talking about the presence of the Devil and how "he" influences you.

Pinapeach

2010-05-27T22:22:00.001-07:00

Cyclops Break Up

2010-05-27T22:20:00.001-07:00

Cosmic Love Affairs

2010-05-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting comic to make, as the story was part of my degree project for animation. So the comic was based on an animation that I'd made (which will be on youtube soon).

Tiger Buffalo

2010-05-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

A comic based on a print that I made.

Yeti Ride

2010-05-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

This Yeti loves the moon.

Pearl Divers

2010-05-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

part of a 24 mini comic series that i've been working on for Paul Karasik's class.

True Tale

2010-05-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

We had to do a 6-8 page comic that is based on a true story that happened in our lives. I had a lot of trouble with this one but things worked out. It's probably one of my most "grounded" and serious stories so far.

Personal Protagonist/Antagonist + A Cultural Character

2010-05-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

Our assignment for Character Design was to create a protagonist and an antagonist that are based on our personal life experiences. Here are my characters, I wanted them to be professional dagger throwers. The antagonist was based on my old freshman roommate who is pretty much insane.

We also had to research a culture that is unfamiliar to us and design a character based on it. Here's a bear based on the Aztec codex.

PRISON FOR BITCHES

2010-04-29T10:36:00.001-07:00

I was fortunately enough to be invited by Ryan Sands (of Electric Ant) and Michael Deforge to be in their xerox fanzine for Lady Gaga, which will be debuting at TCAF 2010 on May 10th.

Here is my contribution:

Gaga Cone, Pen & Ink 10"x10"

Ultra-Love-Man

2010-04-13T03:36:00.000-07:00

Ultraman has love too. This piece is going to be in an upcoming show at Carr Haus Cafe on Waterman St. called "Painting vs. Illustration".

Ultraman is the coolest.

How to Snuggle Your Fat Cat

2010-04-13T01:55:00.001-07:00

Here's something new!

A 3 hour comic.

Rhode Island School of Design Film/Animation/Video Senior Show 2010

2010-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

So for the past year I've been working on my animation degree project, and now it's finally time to stress out over unfinished walk cycles, break a few nibs that just won't take anymore ink, curse at computer programs' parents, and have a few panic attacks in a row over scanner malfunctions at 6 in the morning...

Anyway, what I am trying to say is, the FAV Senior Show this year is coming up and I submitted a poster design. It's a animation peg bar man high-fiving a live action camera monster with a super-8 laser gun, all of this is happening over the city of Providence.

I wanted it to look like an old ultra-man poster, so I only used CMYK (and white).

But it is happening from May 19-22 so if you're in town, you should come by the RISD Auditorium and check it out!

On another note, I'm going to MoCCA this weekend, and I will be selling prints and zines! Come check out our RISD table!!!!!

LONG TIME NO POST!

2010-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted here... So I'm about to post a bunch of things!

I'm taking a comic book class with Paul Karasik. Our first assignment was to make a How To comic without any words. Here is How To Put on Contact Lenses (with Cyclops).

Our second assignment was to illustrate an Aesop's fable. Here is my version of the Tortoise and the Hare. They have dirty dirty mouths.

I'm also taking a character design class with Shanth Enjeti. Our first assignment was to design two characters that describe a personality trait of ours that is positive and one that is negative.

Mine were "Organized" and "Indulgent".

Our second assignment was to do the same thing but with other people's personality traits. Woo! I did "Enthusiastic" and "Mopey". Although right after I did "Enthusiastic", I realized that I totally ripped off a Jon Vermillea print. I guess I pulled a Liz Lemon with Dale Snitterman.

That's it for now. I'm working on a bunch of screen prints that involves elephants popping out of skins, and yetis riding snow yaks, WITH GLITTER!!!!!

new moon

2009-12-20T16:52:00.001-08:00

Finals are over!
Here's the final piece I did for my independent study with Chris Buzelli. It's based on the new Twilight movie, which I haven't seen but got a detailed summary from my little sister, who is a certified Twilight expert, so I'm pretty confident about my knowledge of what went down in New Moon. Also, I thought since I'd already finished a piece for the first movie, it might make an entertaining, if not interesting, topic for a series if I kept up with the saga. Plus, I felt to need to reintroduce lasers into my work. Just to clarify: the lamb is Bella, the lion is Edward, and the faceless wolf is Jacob.
For the color palette I wanted to give a sense of night without having to make a dark sky. I think I'm pretty happy with the result. Oh, and this is the first time I'm using watercolor for a piece, and I think I'm going to use it for under painting from now on.

tame foxes

2009-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

here's something i finished recently for my independent study with Chris Buzelli. I've been doing a few things based on podcasts (mostly radiolab), and this one is about tame foxes in Russia. they are my new favorite things.

oh yeah and i got into ohger.com. check it out! ohger.com/zesansan

elephant run

2009-11-30T17:52:00.001-08:00

so here's a little test i did for the running elephants. i uploaded it with my iphone because i suck at computers.

Degree Project

2009-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

This year I'm going to be working on my degree project for animation. It's going to be hand drawn and based on these comics that I'm going to make. Here is the first one, not totally finished, it's based on a summer camp song.

The Magnetic Fields

2009-09-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm doing an independent study with Chris Buzelli this semester, and for the first project I decided to give band posters another try. I chose The Magnetic Fields since they are all about ironic, bitter, humorous, and creepy love. Also, they use a lot of synths and i think ukuleles are cool.

Anyway, I did a bat shooting love waves at an owl, which I think is pretty ironic. Plus I've always really wanted to use an owl for something, so double win for me.

Here's the inked transparency so far, I'm going to print it this weekend and see how it goes.

The Bun Merger

2009-09-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the comic that I did for my screen printing final. It's the longest comic I've made (6 pages)!!! I only made 4 editions for this one and gave out three copies. So feel special if you have one bitches. There are two pages on each big page.

ZESANSAN DOT COM

2009-07-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hello! My website is finally up! Check it out!

ZESANSAN.COM

Bells and Whistles!

2009-06-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here's the half page I did for Plansponsor. Thanks to Soojin Buzelli.

I am still in the process of gathering things together for my website. STAYTUNED.

BAND POSTERS

2009-05-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

We had to make an illustration for a band poster. I got Gustav Holst's Planets Suite. There are seven movements in the concerto so there are seven macaques, and the white steam tiger is the Chinese astrological symbol for Venus, I believe. This is my second attempt at the assignment, and half of it is digital.

PHOTOSHOP MAP

2009-05-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

A "map" of Adobe Photoshop CS3 based on some of its keyboard shortcuts. A quick animation i did earlier in the semester, sound courtesy of Thomas Toye.

PRINTS FOR SALE!

2009-05-04T15:11:00.001-07:00

hey everyone if you're still interested in purchasing/trading some prints and comics, NEW editions are available. All the prints are $25-$30 each, and the comic book is $4. Please email me at zesansan@gmail.com if you want to obtain one.

Tiger Gemz

Glitter Punch

Laser Love

the book of love

Threadless Clashin' Dinoz

2009-05-04T14:43:00.001-07:00

we had to design tee-shirts for threadless, with the them of "opposites". my opposites were red and green, and since i'd been watching a lot of Fantasia a lot over spring break, i decided that it would be very fun to draw some dinosaurs fighting, with glitter punch. unfortunately, i realized the glitter ink from threadless weren't transparent. so instead, i made a bunch of screen prints and rubbed this glitter powder on the stegosaur's tail whip.

Bells and Whistles!

2009-04-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Oil & Ink on Reeves BFK

12"x8"

REVISED

For Chris Buzelli's class. Was an experiment, I tried to incorporate more of my drawing elements into my paintings. I think the colors came out kinda grayer than usual, and using a nib on Reeves BFK was a HUGE mistake...

Kitten

2009-04-30T19:15:00.001-07:00

Gouache

4"x4"

We also made personal kittens for our show promotions. Here is mine.

STARSHIP KITTENS!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-30T18:24:00.001-07:00

The show went great, thanks to everyone who came! Here are pictures of the gallery, and opening pics can be found on Laura Decker's blog.

SENIOR SHOW!!!!!

2009-04-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

if you are in the area you should totally come check it out. there's going to be a cornucopia of candiez and love.

poster design courtesy of torie leigh.

twilight

2009-03-31T12:00:00.001-07:00

Oil

10.5" x 16.5"

a reinterpretation of the movie Twilight for Chris Buzelli's class. I really just wanted to paint a lion, and those heart sperm/blood all jelly-like.

bear hunter

2009-03-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

a personal piece in response to shake that bear dot com. seriously not okay, i hope those people get raped by ten thousand bears.

Screenprints

2009-03-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a class with Carl Fudge this semester, and finally getting my ass in gear for the student sale in April.

Watershed

2009-03-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

10"x11.5"

Oil

This is a piece based on an article about starlings and why people hate them for Watershed Journal, which is a Brown university magazine that deals with environmental issues that publishes biennially. I tried a new gray pallet for it because I got these cool new grays that I wanted to test out. It turned out okay, but I was really confused about the colors for a while. Also, Chris Buzelli wanted me to work on my composition and get rid of my one-character tendencies. So I added a starling being shot with this"X_X" face, sorta.

Not sure if they're gonna use it for the magazine because I totally ignored the format they gave us, oops...

Planadviser

2009-02-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Self Portrait

2009-02-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

i've been not so productive...

so i drew myself?

what?

2009-01-03T13:36:00.001-08:00

yeah....

upon request

2008-12-22T12:17:00.001-08:00

a comic for an assignment about transgender

ink on bristol

Lasers!

2008-12-13T08:09:00.001-08:00

just a better version of the paintings from the show

Erosion of Women Reproductive Rights

2008-12-11T15:30:00.001-08:00

for an article about the erosion of women's reproductive rights

10.5"x11"

Oil on Illustration Board

Lasers!

2008-12-08T12:55:00.001-08:00

Torie Finds Copious Amounts of Gems in His Disembodied Leg

Oil on Paper

11"x14"

$950

David Cuts Off Allison's Head with Lasers

Oil on Paper

11"x14"

$1500Elisa Discovers Gems in Her Severed Arm

Oil on Paper

11"x14"

$950

i hate writing papers.

2008-12-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

new works at the top!

All three were recently featured in the Six Lights Left at the RISD ISB Gallery. I will put up pictures from the show once I stop having to write stupid film reviews after...TOMORROW! woo!

I'm also really excited about making Christmas cards next week. So stay tuned!

Beastiality

2008-12-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Why one should never have sexual relations with an animal and some gay bashing with Paul Bunyan

11"x14"

Pen and Ink on Bristol

Sex Ed

2008-12-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

How to put on a condom!

11"x14"

Pen and Ink on Bristol

Advocating Birth Control

2008-12-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

Advocating Contraceptives

oil on old photographs

Facing the Truth

2008-12-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

sketch

Living the Truth: Confronting Lies/Secrets

oil

Rice Ninjas and Scallion Pirates

2008-12-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

scallion pirates
rice ninjas

for a cookbook assignment done in spring 2008

gouache

Hurricane Klaus

2008-11-03T21:26:00.001-08:00

sketch under drawing
toned under drawing
added highlights
final

Hot Off the Presses

2008-10-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

sketches we went with cloud man and jewels

Final for Planadviser Magazine

"Hot Off the Presses"

16.5"x4.25"

Oil

King of the Accordian

2008-10-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

The drunken sketch that the art director went along with haha.

Final for Texas Bound

"King of the Accordian: Ramon Ayala"

6.5"x9.75"

Gouache

When I was nine, I...

2008-10-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sketch

When I was nine, I was carried away by giant crows.

6.5"x9.5"
Gouache

Falcor and the Attack of the Sesame Ninjas

2008-10-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Some wall that I painted on for a friend's lan party haha.

Laser Eyes

2008-10-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Something I did for fun

Laser Eyes

8.5"x11"

Oil

Sold

Cook Books

2008-10-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Chinese Cooking: Rice and Noodles

Gouache

The Mane Shiest

2008-10-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

The entrance

I made these cardboard cutouts of the three of us

Torie's stuff

Bethany's stuff

My stuff

Torie made these neat little tags of yetti hairdos

100 foxtails

Bethany staplin' some hair prints

Tea Time Hut

2008-10-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

Final for Puppet Animation

Family Portraits

2008-10-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

I did an independent study with Jason Brockert where I did a series of portraits of my family as these half animal creatures. Basically I just wanted to do some big-ish oil paintings.

Mama

36"x42"

Oil

SanSan and Jiu Jiu

54"x36"

Oil

Daddy

36"x42"

Oil on canvas

Playing Cards

2008-10-27T15:49:00.001-07:00

Had to use adobe illustrator to make a design for a playing card.

Rules of Attraction

2008-10-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Laura and I found an old vhs of "Rules of Attraction" in the puppet animation studio, and couldn't stop watching it or think really hard about sex so we made this:

Creatures

2008-10-27T15:43:00.001-07:00

Pikachu

Digital

Portrait of a Celebrity

2008-10-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

First-time Photoshop user

Britney at the VMAs

Digital