Happy Friday the 13th: Voorhees for iOS

I'm kicking ass and taking names this Friday the 13th friends, Voorhees-style!

Nah, but I am giving you the whole weekend to score some free art swag! I've made a custom Friday the 13th iOS wallpaper (featuring some guy; wears a hockey mask; kinda' wet) and it's yours free for signing up for the newsletter. Plus, more celebrity zombie art, this time featuring blogger Johnny B Truant (below), world traveler Chris Guillebeau's book news, and yet another way for you to score a free portrait sketch. Read on, if you dare!

Johnny B..?

Johnny B Zombie

28 days ago today, blogger and zombie fighter Johnny B Truant called out for info on AppleCare+. His Twitter avatar and profile gave me an idea for a piece I'm happy to post today. Looks like he lost his fight, and succumbed to the rich, wholesome goodness of...brains!

brain > applecare+

I first heard about Johnny in Chris Guillebeau's excellent Empire Building Kit, which I highly recommend. Follow both those guys on Twitter or at their respective blogs for some great info if you want  to write or otherwise create and use online opportunities to earn a living.

BTdubs: I sometimes show sneak peaks of pieces in progress on Instagram (@bencapozzi). Before they show up here. Just sayin'...

Speaking of Empire Building

I often talk about Chris Guillebeau and his excellent blog and books, where I find lots of motivation and inspiration to fight Resistance.

Chris's new book, The $100 Startup, debuts May 8th and it looks to be another great resource for artists and entrepreneurs! I was lucky enough to be selected (got past his cat, Liberia!) to receive a review copy, so when it comes, I'll do my best to read in a hurry and share here with friends and fans here.

If you'd like to learn more about Chris, consider attending one of the launch party events (free, of course!). The tour dates and locations are here, and @MadebyElyse and I will definitely be at the Raleigh one on May 14 (we're bringing vegan cupcakes), and may crash a few more (NYC and DC aren't that far away...).

Free Art if I Drew You for February's Facebook Fan Challenge

As I wrote on Wednesday, it's time to get portrait sketches into the hot hands of the folks who want 'em. We're getting close to last call, so if you're one of the fans I sketched for WTFebruary's Facebook Fan Challenge and would like to own the original sketch, please let me know by posting a comment on the Facebook fan page.

I drew a Facebook fan a day for
all 29 days of February this year.
See the full gallery on Flickr.

Once I know how many I need to send and where, I can figure out how to get them to you. Shipping should be mighty cheap as they weigh practically nothing.

Free Art if You Subscribe to the Newsletter This Weekend!

I've been playing with various iOS drawing apps (Flickr gallery here) and finally decided to buy a few upgrades in 53's Paper for iOS.*

Man, am I glad I did because it opened up a whole new world of very simple drawing possibilities, which, in tandem with the Friday the 13th holiday weekend (that's a thing, right?), brought me to this offer for you:

subscribers get full 1536 x 2048
retina- optimized resolution image,
which looks just super good.

Subscribe to my newsletter today or over the weekend and I'll give you this Friday the 13th iOS wallpaper as a thank you! Sign up (here, or in the box at the top right of the blog) and you'll get a link to download the original file for free in glorious, retina-optimized resolution.

Aside from the cool art, which looks awesome at full size, why would you want to subscribe?

• Subscribers get sometimes exclusive but always early access to original art, prints, and other products in my art pipeline.
• BTS (Behind The Scenes) extras, which I know will include my preliminary sketches for this project and others to come.
• Free swag, the nature of which YOU can help determine!

PLUS:

• No spam! The newsletter goes out just once a month.
• Unsubscribe with just one click.
• Your email stays private, just with me.
• You can even (theoretically) subscribe, get the link for this art, and then unsubscribe. Just break my heart.

Below are a few pics to give you a sense of how the wallpaper looks on your iOS device.

As my iPhone 4 lock screen.

Getting set up as my iPad lock screen and wallpaper.

I've been thinking about an iOS art giveaway for a while (and even have one piece already up on Flickr that you're welcome to), but this one's only available at this resolution (suitable for even iPad 3, baby!) when you subscribe to the newsletter and only until Monday morning at 10AM when next week's first post goes live.

If you've already subscribed, I'll get a link to the file headed your way soon.

If you're on Android...let me know how it looks! I don't have any Android devices so I can't field test. Feedback is welcome!

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That's all as I head into the weekend and my first ever promotion of this sort. I have a very modest target number for newsletter subscribers, but even if you don't subscribe, take a moment and lemme' know what you think of the piece.

Post in the comments!

~benc

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* - Interesting tidbit about Paper: if you buy the 'Essentials Pack' for $7.99, you get four more tools, completing the set. BUT, if you buy the same 4 tools individually –still completing the set– you get them for $1.99 each, saving you 3 cents. Just thought it was weird. I thought bundled items usually cost the same-as-or-less than the individual items. Never more.