About the Artists

Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos are an artistic duo from Central Florida specializing in sequential art and illustrations that strive to combine the visual impact and composition of fine art with the bold vitality of anime/manga (Japanese animation and comics) artwork.

The artists met by chance at a local Florida anime club in 1998, where Jared introduced himself by spilling a soda on Lindsay. After a clumsy initial exchange, they discovered a mutual interest in art and became great friends. Half a year later, they launched an online art gallery, and began their careers as freelance artists through private and commercial commissions, with projects ranging from illustrations, concept art, character designs, comics, and more.

Both artists are capable of a full range of artistic disciplines, from concept art to finishing touches, but enjoy collaborating on projects as a team.

In 2003, the duo placed Grand Prize in Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga competition, propelling their career in a new direction towards sequential art. They spent the later portion of 2004 developing and producing their full-length graphic novel series, Peach Fuzz, a comedy about a young girl and her pet ferret. Volume 1 was published by Tokyopop in January 2005, and was later syndicated in Sunday newspapers across the globe in 2006. Volume 2 followed in October 2006, and volume 3 was published in December 2007.

Between volumes of Peach Fuzz, Jared and Lindsay worked on a number of tutorial guides detailing their extensive knowledge in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter for use in manga-style digital artwork. Digital Manga Workshop was published in 2005 by HarperCollins in the US, Ilex Press in the UK, and Arnoldo Mondadori in Italy. In 2006, they produced several tutorials for Corel Painter’s website and newsletters. They also contributed to Mangaka America, a tutorial/art book featuring 12 of the most influential artists in the North American manga scene, published by CollinsDesign.

Having recently wrapped up production on their Peach Fuzz graphic novel series with volume 3, the pair are looking toward the future into pursuing any number of possible projects.

9.10.2007