Gary Lee Shipman (born March 16, 1966) is an American artist, comic book illustrator and writer of '' Pakkins' Land''. He is father to three children.

Biography

Shipman grew up in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

and is a self-taught artist. His interest in comics and art first began at a young age, while in the sixth grade. Shipman, with wife

Rhoda Shipman Rhoda Shipman (born January 30, 1968) is a comic book writer from the United States. Biography Shipman and her husband Gary Shipman created, wrote and edited the independent comic book series '' Pakkins' Land'', which tells the story of Paul, a y ...

, first created the independently produced comic book series '' Pakkins' Land'' in 1995, both plotting out the stories together and Gary scripting, lettering, penciling, and inking the illustrations for the series. ''Pakkins’ Land'' tells the adventuresome and engaging tale of Paul, a young boy who finds himself in a magical world filled with talking animals, mystery and excitement. ''Pakkins’ Land'' has been heralded for excellence by both critics and peers alike, accumulating an international following and numerous award nominations. Certain characters in the ''Pakkins' Land'' stories are named after Shipman's children. Shipman resides in Illinois with his family and, at times, makes appearances as a guest artist at comic conventions in the region. Shipman has

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and has shared about coping with it, at times, on his youtube live streams. In late 2013, a 46-page color collection of his artistry: ''The Gary Shipman Sketchbook Volume #1'', was published by Lamp Post, Inc., released as both a perfect-bound paperback edition and also as a Kindle e-book. In 2016, the
Gary Shipman Sketchbook 2016
', a 45-page paperback collection of Shipman's artwork, was self-published and offered online. in 2018, Shipman started
Patreon account
and began regularly live streaming drawing sessions on hi
YouTube channel
where he chats and interacts with fans from around the world. In late 2018, ''Gary Shipman 2018 Sketchbook'', A full-color 70 page collection of his art, was crowdfunded in an Indiegogo campaign. The campaign was fully funded in minutes and raised $8745.00 (411% funded). The campaign offered incentives such as original art, a republished '' Pakkins Land'' issue 1 & 2, and collectible '' Pakkins Land'' trading cards.

Other works

Shipman's artistic talents can also be found elsewhere. In 1987, he co-created the superhero character Edge for Silverwolf Comics, and illustrated the first 3 issues of that series. In 1997, Shipman illustrated the cover of Issue #19 of the comic series ''OZ'', based on the books and characters of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

. In 1998, Shipman illustrated the cover of ''Parables & Proverbs'' published by New Creation Publications. In 2003, Shipman illustrated ''Amazing True Life Stories'' Issue # 2: ''Spymaster'' fo
Crosswind Comics
In 2008, Shipman illustrated ''Kingdoms: A Biblical Epic, Vol. 4 - Valley of Dry Bones'', and ''Kingdoms: A Biblical Epic, Vol. 5 - The Writing on the Wall''. In 2011, Shipman was invited to join the

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

Fine Art program, with his first offering being an interpretative piece based on ''

How To Train Your Dragon ''How to Train Your Dragon'' (abbreviated ''HTTYD'') is an American media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the eponymous series of children's books by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: ' ...

'', made available as the original painting or as prints. In 2012, Shipman was one of 80 different contributing writers and artists from around the globe for the third and final book in the ''Fables for Japan'' digital anthology to benefit the victims of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

. Released in 2013, Shipman was a contributing artist for both the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

: The Legend''

trading cards A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

and the ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

: The Legend''

sets produced by

Cryptozoic Entertainment Cryptozoic Entertainment is an American publisher of board and card games, trading cards and collectibles based on both licensed and original intellectual properties. The company is well known for its "Cerberus Engine Game", the catch name for i ...

. Released in 2014, Shipman illustrated ''Fun with Kirk and Spock (Star Trek: A Parody)'' written by author Robb Pearlman. Also in 2014, Shipman was a contributing artist for the

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

set produced by

. In 2014, Shipman started to see his artwork distributed by art distributor Acme Archives, doing licensed pieces in his distinctive style from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American show business, entertainment company (law), company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York (state), New York, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment ...

, and

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

In 2015, Shipman illustrated a label for the Rot Berry (strawberry) flavor of

Deadworld ''Deadworld'' is an ongoing American comic book published by Desperado Publishing in association with IDW Publishing. The series follows survivors in a post-apocalyptic scenario brought on by zombie attacks led by King Zombie, an intelligent, ...

Zombie Soda, and the associated trading card series. In 2018, Shipman was a contributing artist to the

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

season 1 set produced by

Awards

* In 1997 Shipman was nominated for a

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

in the "Best New Talent" category. * In 1997 Shipman and his wife were nominated for the

Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award is an American award presented to a comic book artist whose first professional work appeared within the previous two years. It was named after comic book artist Russ Manning. The winner is chosen from ...

. * In 1998 Shipman and his wife were nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in the "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" category.1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees
the Comic Book Awards Almanac

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
Gary Shipman YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, Gary American fantasy writers Living people 1966 births American comics writers American comics artists American male novelists