The New Bento Bestiary NOW ON SALE

(Hold down shift and....) ITS HERE AND ON SALE NOW!Scrub up and revise your knowledge of a selection of Yokai, the ancient spirits and demons, from Japan. Yes sir, the Bento Bestiary is back and mass produced in hardback format with super fresh reinterpretations for you and all the family to enjoy at the affordable price of £12. Published by the super kind folks at Nobrow and ready just in time for Christmas (provided you order soon dear reader). Scroll your optical receptors down to see some photomographs of this lovely book.
Words provided by the excellent Scott James Donaldson, who has truly made this book something special. If it doesn't make you laugh or feel weird and confused then you have no soul (or you're reading it upside down.)
I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who bought the original limited edition Bento Bestiary, without whom this new edition would never have been made. The Bento Bestiary is available from all GOOD bookshops internationally, you can also pick the Bento up by CLICKING HERE from the Nobrow website. Lastly, here is the front and back cover spread. Thanks for reading.
PS - If you are in Bristol on the Weds 8th December then drop by the Here shop and gallery as Scott, myself and Bjorn Lie will be signing copies of our new books (and plowing ourselves with cheap booze) between 7pm and 9pm. You can RSVP on Facebook by clicking HERE or just turn up on the night. Bjorn's new book is called 'The Wolf's Whistle' and I think it might just be the best book I own, it truly is eye wateringly incredible.

Pre-order the Brand New Bento Bestiary Now

Hold on to your hats, folks! Here comes the brand new Bento Bestiary ready for pre-order (its only £12 English sterling). Every pre-order comes with a Nobrow canvas bag (while stocks last), which just so happens to have one of my lazy ass pictures on (what are the chances? Fair, I'd say). Here is the canvas bag illustration below.

Here are couple of inside shots from the new Bento Bestiary. KA-BLAMMO!

Pre-order the book by simply clicking HERE! If you are a book shop, gallery or any shop of any kind, the Bento Bestiary and all other Nobrow books are available in the UK and Europe through Turnaround Distribution and in the USA by Last Gasp! (West coast) and AdHouse Books Distro (East Coast).

Bento Bestiary Update Part Three

I streamlined Jorogumo for the new Bento Bestiary and I'm really pleased with the results. I was originally going to keep the colouring the same as the 2009 version but while tweaking the print layers I accidently ended up with pinks and purples, which fit the feel of the character better than the original. She sure is sexy!

Bento Bestiary Update Part Two

What a difference a year and a half makes! Similar to the last post, the image on the left is from the original Bento Bestiary in early 2009 and the image on the right is from the new edition due October 2010. I feel very lucky to be given the opportunity to revisit an old project and tweak it. It has been a real eye opener to see how much my ability to draw has developed since the original.

The original was silk screen printed in 3 colours. The new edition will be litho printed in 4 spot colours.

Bento Bestiary Update

(Left) Original Inugami used in the Limited Edition 'Bento Bestiary, which came out in early 2009, and was silk screen printed in a run of just 100.

(Right) New Inugami that will feature in the all new, mass produced, hardback edition due out October 2010 and will be printed in 4 spot colours.

The Evolution of Neko-mata

(Running from left to right is Neko-mata featured in Nobrow 1 (2009), The Bento Bestiary Limited Edition (2009) and The Bento Bestiary (2010)). My blog has been pretty quiet of late due to an intense workload. One of the projects that is taking up a large serving of my time is the brand spanking new hardback version of the Bento Bestiary that will be available from all good bookshops in October. I'm redesigning the whole thing almost from scratch and thought it would be interesting to show the evolution of one of my favourite Yokai. Neko-mata is an old possessed cat that torments it's owner. Any more details would ruin the fun. I'll post some more teasers in the coming months. Thanks for reading.

Creative Review film the Bento Bestiary

Thanks to Ollie from Play Nicely for emailing me the link to this, it made my bloody day.

More Extracts from the Bento Bestiary

There are still a few copies of the Bento Bestiary left so head over to Nobrow and have a look. The Bestiary even made an appearance on the Creative Review blog which you can see by clicking here. In the meantime, here are a couple of Yokai that you may not have seen.

The Bento Bestiary now on sale at Nobrow!

The Bento Bestiary is now available to buy from Nobrow as well as a new print taken from the first issue of the Nobrow 'Gods and Monsters' journal. This is my very first book and I was lucky enough to collaborate with my very good friend and writer extraordinaire, Scott James Donaldson (Scott is one of the writers for the 'Untimely' blog with fellow wordsmiths, Sam Butler and Philip Contos). Scott and Myself wanted to take the ancient Japanese Yokai and re-interpret them in a whole new light but still stay true to their origins. The result is this very sexy hand-printed book which was screen-printed in 3 colours by the very talented chaps at Nobrow and is limited to just 100 copies.

The 'Gods and Monsters' prints are actually the original images for two Yokai called Nue and Neko-mata. These prints were actually the catalyst for The Bento Bestiary and are for sale individually or as a set from Nobrow. Go on treat yourself!

Bento Bestiary Pre-Order at Nobrow!

Head over to Nobrow because The Bento Bestiary is now available for pre-order and will be sold exclusively from their website. Get in there first and guarantee yourself a copy of this very limited edition, hand printed book. Huzzah!

Bento Bestiary In Progress

Hot off the press, or should I say 'wet' off the press! The Bento Bestiary is nearing completion as Sam, Al and Owen from Nobrow pour sweat, blood and tears into this hand printed limited edition book. Only 100 of these sumptuous darlings will be made featuring all the Yokai that Scott and Myself could catch or poke small twigs at.

Another Bento Beastie!

Meet Inugami, the dog god, featured in the soon to be released Bento Bestiary. Head over to Nobrow's new website and read more about my first limited edition, hand printed book.

More Bento News

Head over to Nobrow for some more details.

Bento Bestiary Presents Amirkiri

Here is one of my favourite Bento Beasties, the cheeky Amirkiri. The Bento Bestiary will be a limited edition book hand-printed by the fine gentlemen at Nobrow Limited. It's designed and illustrated by myself and written by the incredible Scott James Donaldson. I'm really excited about this book and hopefully more details will follow soon. 

Sneak Preview and excerpt from The Bento Bestiary

NINGYO
Words by Scott James Donaldson

Pleasingly hairier but no less alluring than the Western Mermaid, the Ningyo is a very special creature. Not only is this breed of Yokai blessed with golden scales upon their carp-like bodies, but they are also fortunate enough to have a cheeky little monkey’s face up top. More than likely, it is this dynamite combination that makes them such excellent flute players.
Found in seas off the coast of Japan, it is incredibly rude to catch and eat a Ningyo without it’s consent. If you do, you will probably die. Or there will at least be a very nasty storm. Somewhere.
If the Ningyo does invite you to sup upon it’s fragrant, tasty flesh, please be aware of the following:
• You will never grow old.
• You will never die.
• Everyone you ever loved will age and fall before your eyes and you will weep for all eternity in maddening solitude.
• You’ll look great.
Choose and Perish.

Bento Bestiary Sneak Preview

Coming soon!