Happy Birthday Sandra!

Here is the Michigan fall pic that you requested, Sandra! Sandra (who takes some very cool pictures) collects pics from her internet peeps for her birthday and I am a day late (in fact, almost 2 days late!) So, Happy Birthday, Sandra! I hope that you had a good one.

Merry Christmas

Marvel Masterpiece III Artist Proof Sketch Cards

Since this set has now been released and there is some activity on the forums and ebay and all of that goodness, I thought that I would post the ten Artist Proof cards that I did for this series. If anyone is interested in purchasing any of these shoot me an e-mail. The Nova card has already been sold.

1. a Skrull 2. Nova

3. The Scarlet Witch 4. The Thing

5. Juggernaut 6. Moon Knight 7. The Controller

8. Daredevil 9. Mysterio 10. Spider-Man

all are 2.5x3.5

colored pencil and ink (except for Spider-Man, which is black gesso)

2008/09 Upper Deck NHL Legends Masterpieces, Part Two

I've been noticing some activity around the net (and increased traffic to this here blog) lately about the 2008/09 NHL Legends Masterpieces set that was put out last fall by Upper Deck and the lack of information surrounding just who the sketch artists are. So, I'll put up the rest of what I did for the set so that the collectors may have an easier time knowing what to look for. I'm pleased to hear that a few of my cards showed up on ebay and went for some pretty high prices, so I'm eager to see the rest filter out, as well.

Muck Man #3

I'm way behind with scanning these, but here is Muck Man #3. Our hero contemplates. 

Nutrition Health Review Cartoon

This cartoon, in which I did a couple of years ago was bought by Nutrition Health Review Magazine and hopefully will be published soon (I haven't heard when, yet). 

I remember fondly when I did this toon and showed it to my wife thinking this is the funniest thing evah, and she looked at it, looked at it sideways even, then said that she didn't get it. 

Boy, did she hear it from me when I got the check in the mail.

Indiana Jones Masterpiece

I'm really getting behind with a lot of the work that I've been doing lately. Here are some of the 200 cards that I did for the Indiana Jones Masterpiece set by Topps which will be out sometime this month, I believe. other than the obvious reasons for being on this set, I was extremely happy to finally be approved by Lucasfilms because that paved the way to be on the Star Wars Galaxy 4 set. I'm about halfway through my cards and am still waiting for approval to show what I have so far. So, in the meantime, here's some Indy, which includes scenes and characters from all four Indiana Jones films.

Illustration Nation

This Thursday, my friend Matt Busch will be having the premiere of his documentary film Illustration Nation, which shows his adventures trotting around the globe promoting the book How To Draw Star Wars. I'll let him tell ya:

    MATT BUSCH PREMIERES "ILLUSTRATION NATION" AT MAIN ART THEATER ON NOV. 20

ROYAL OAK-- Detroit's own international artist, Matt Busch will be debuting his next independent movie, ILLUSTRATION NATION, at the Main Art Movie Theater in Royal Oak on November 20th at 7pm.

The film follows the real-life adventures of Busch around the world on a promotional tour for the New York Times best-seller You Can draw Star Wars from Lucasfilm and DK Publishing. From George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch, through the heart of Hollywood, to the streets of fantastical Tokyo, ILLUSTRATION NATION is an uncensored look at fandom and the pop culture industry that drives it. The pulse-pounding documentary also features rare cameos ranging from Anthony Daniels (Star Wars) to Gene Simmons (KISS, Family Jewels) to adult film legend Seka.

The movie covers the last two years of travels, fresh off the heels of Busch's first independent movie, Conjure, a supernatural thriller which shattered records in the indie horror scene. Since then, Busch has created over a dozen video shorts, tutorials based on the book You Can Draw Star Wars, which have also broken records with online viewing, gaining more than one million plays on MySpace alone.

Busch is mostly known for his vibrant paintings, and has been called the "Rock Star Of Illustration." Aside from all the books, magazines, and posters from a 'galaxy far, far away,' he has also worked on numerous Hollywood properties like Lord Of The Rings, Night Of The Living Dead, and Indiana Jones. Busch's work is also highly sought after in the music world, with clients ranging from Ozzy Osbourne to Foo Fighters to Jessica Simpson. Currently on his drawing desk are new designs for the 2009 line of Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts.

The ILLUSTRATION NATION premiere will be an event hosted by Busch at the Main Art in royal Oak on November 20th. Admission is $9.25. Short films and animations will screen at 7 pm. Busch will introduce the feature presentation at 7:30 pm, the running time being 1 hr 57 min. A Meet and Greet with the cast will commence after the screening in the Main Art's side lobby, followed by an after-party at Mr. B's on Main St. All are welcome. Please note that ILLUSTRATION NATION is Not rated by the MPAA, and is not suitable for children.

Matt was kind enough to give me  a couple of these very cool VIP passes to attend the event and below is the official postcard advertising the event.
I'm told by Matt that I have a split second appearance in a scene from when we were at the San Diego Comic con in 2007. My first thoughts were, 'oh, no.....'

It should be fun.

Motor City Art Expo, Part Two

Last week's Motor City Art Expo at the Emerald Theatre was the best yet out of my three years there. Not only did I get to see some peeps that I only see at this event, but I sold two paintings , a few prints, some magnets and bookmarks. It felt good to pound back a few whiskey sours and talk art with patrons, friends, family and my fellow artists.

One of my wife's co-worker's David Ozias with my painting Icarus 1915, in which he purchased.
Young art patron David with another purchased painting, WTF?
Friend and Author/Ghost Hunter, Wolf Little Bear
And my little corner at the Emerald Theatre.

Some of the other artists that were there promoting their own stuff included illustrator Matt Busch who besides his usual great Star Wars illos, was promoting his new movie, Illustration Nation, which documents his travels around the world in support of his artwork. I'm told I have a split second cameo (more on this later). Author Wolf Little Bear was there promoting his books and his ghost hunting investigations and Alex Buechel who is also a very good illustrator. So, check them out when you get the chance.

Once again, thanks to all the people who came out and stopped by my table, even if it was just to say hello. It was a fun night.

Motor City Art Expo 5

I will once again be setting up residence (temporarily) at this year's Motor City Art Expo, which is not actually held in the motor city, but in Mt. Clemens, about a half hour's drive north from Detroit. This will be my third year at the expo and besides the usual paintings and drawings that I will have on display, I will also have copies of my cartoon book, prints of some of my artwork, bookmarks and magnets. I haven't seen the list of artists who will also be there, but I do know that my friends Matt Busch (illustrator) and Wolf Littlebear (writer) will have their respective talents on display. So, if you want a fun night out, come on down to the Emerald Theatre this Wednesday from 7:00pm to midnight, have a few drinks and walk around and see some cool artwork.

Muck Man magnet

2x3.5

Dead Beat Dad Greetings

One of the finer aspects of being a freelance illustrator is doing a variety of gigs that can be unique in their own ways. Recently, I have been fortunate to work on a line of greeting cards for a Denver based company called Dead Beat Dad Greetings and you guessed it, they are aimed at the ever present dead beat dads of the world who never seem to be able to grasp that they "may" be shirking their most important responsibility. Their own children.  I've been having a lot of fun working on these images as they are challenging and unique. The cards will cover all the holidays, large and small and the major events in a growing child's life, so go on over to the website and check them out and pass the word along. I think we all know (or know someone who does) a few of these characters who may need a reminder that they should be doing the right thing.  

Columbus Day
Take your kid to work day
Christmas
Christmas

2008/09 Upper Deck NHL Legends Masterpiece

Here are a smattering of the 50 cards that I did for the Upper Deck NHL Legends Masterpiece set earlier this past summer. I had to wait until the set was released before I could show these and since that happened in September and one of my cards has already shown up on ebay (last time I checked the bid was at $112 for the Esposito card in the second row), I can safely show them. I had to do 10 of Gordie Howe and 10 of Wayne Gretzky and the other 30 were of my choosing from the list of Hockey legends that was made available to us arteests.

I did these right at the time of the Stanley Cup and refused to do any Mario Lemieux cards until after the Wings beat the Penguins. Didn't want to jinx 'em. But, I did do two of Mario (not shown here) afterwards.

Marvel Masterpiece III Sketch Cards, Part 4

Here are some more Marvel goodness from the Upper Deck set. As you can probably tell by now I focused on head shots for this set. No special reason, I just wanted to do them in this way, so I stuck with that approach for all 400 cards.

68. Baron Zemo 69. Captain Marvel 70. Deathstalker

71. The Destroyer 72. Egghead 73. Ghost Rider

74. The Green Goblin 75. Nova 76. Satanna
77. Son Of Satan 78. Spider-Woman 79. Thanos

80. 3-D Man 81. The Torpedo 82. Warlock

83. White Tiger 84. An A.I.M. agent 85. The Beast
86. The Beetle 87. Beta Ray Bill 88. The Collector

89. Colossus 90. Deathstrike 91. Gladiator

92. Goliath 93. The Guardsman 94. The Hulk
95. Iron Man 96. J. Jonah Jameson 97. Krang

98. Kro 99. The Awesome Android 100. Marvel Girl

101. Master 102. Mister Fear 103. Vindicator

104. Aurora 105. Northstar 106. Vindicator II

107. Box 108. The Vulture 109. The Green Goblin

110. The Jackal 111. Spider-Man 112. Tarantula

7th Annual Goreyfest and Auction

This past weekend I was in the fine state of Massachusetts and had the chance to visit the Edward Gorey House over on the Cape in Yarmouth Port. In the midst of spending way too much money on Gorey books and other such trinkets I had mentioned to the gentleman behind the desk that I had done a portrait of Mr. Gorey and he had said that he would be interested in seeing it and mentioned the auction that was to be held the next Saturday. So, once (I should say immediately) I was back home, I sent the image out to them and they seemed to like it as they agreed to my sending something in for the auction, even though it was well past the deadline. Awesome. So, I will have five 8x10 prints of my Gorey portrait available for bidding. How very serendipitous.

The auction will be held in support of the Edward Gorey House this Saturday October 4th from 4:30 to 7:30pm at the Yarmouth Port Community Center right across the street from the Gorey House. In addition to helping out the museum, I believe proceeds will also help out the International Fund For Animal Welfare. So, two very good causes that I am happy to be a part of.

I'm really giddy over this.

Marvel Masterpiece III Sketch Cards, Part 3

Here are some more cards from the Marvel Masterpiece III set that will be released in November. So, my first 45 cards were all rejected by Marvel, but out of the next 355 that I sent in only about 30 of those were dismissed for one reason or another. All in all, not bad, but I am disappointed that I can't show some of those first cards. Some of my favorites were in there. 

1. Ronan, The Accuser (already shown) 2. The Sandman (already shown) 28. Sasquatch

29. The Scarecrow 30. The Scarlet Witch 31. A Sentinel 
32. Shanna, the She-Devil 33. The Shroud 34. Sidewinder

35. The Silver Samurai 36. The Silver Surfer 37. A Skrull

38. Snowbird 39. Speed Demon 40. The Sphinx
41. Spider-Man 42. Stingray 43. The Super Skrull

44. The Supreme Intelligence 45. The Taskmaster 46. The Thing

47. Thor 48. Tigra 49. The Titanium Man
50. Ultron 51. Union Jack 52. Valkyrie 

53. Viper 54. The Vision 55. The Vulture

56. The Wasp 57. A Watcher 58. Whirlwind
59. The White Queen 60. The Wizard 61. Wolverine

62. Wonder Man 63. The Wrecker 64. Bulldozer

65. Gabriel, The Airwalker 66. Baron Blood 67. Baron Strucker

Muck Man #2

I haven't posted a Muck Man adventure in quite awhile. This one was supposed to be in the next issue of Rice On The Other, but I have not heard anything from that camp in some time, so I will go ahead and post it. I have more, really I do.

Muck Man #2

10.5x12.75

ink and black gesso on bristol board

Husker Du

My buddy Chris Quigley has recorded another song and he asked me to do the artwork to accompany the tune, which is called Husker Du. He wanted a take on the Clash's London Calling album cover, but instead of a guitar Chris would be smashing a sax as the good 'ole sax hater that he is. It really has nothing to do with the song, but not going off on a tangent just wouldn't be our style. 

So, go to his blog and have a listen.

Detroit - Riverfront Series

Some time ago I had wanted to do a series of water color and ink pieces from various locations in and around the city of Detroit. Of course, being how lazy I can get at times, it's taken awhile to get started. But lo and behold, I did one. This is a view between two towers of the Renaissance Center from the Riverfront side. My goal is to have prints available from these series, so stay tuned.

Detroit - Riverfront Series I

9x11

mixed media

Marvel Masterpiece III Sketch Cards, Part 2

Here are the next batch of approved cards for the Upper Deck/Marvel set. As you can see I was experimenting with mediums here using colored pencil, pencil and ink. I was trying to see just what would work as far as Marvel was concerned. Just as in the Lord Of The Rings set I ended up doing the majority of them in ink. They looked the best.

1. Karnak 2. Loki 3. Machine Man

4. Madame Web 5. Magneto 6. Luke Cage, Power Man

7. Psycho Man 8. Puck 9. Recorder
10. Moon Knight 11. Mysterio 12. Mystique

13. Nightcrawler 14. Ghost Rider (the original) 15. Nomad

16. Red Skull 17. Ronan The Accuser 18. Sandman

CD Designs, Part 2

Here is the next batch of CD designs that I experimented with over the past few months. I have a buddy down in Columbus who is one hellava sax player and a teacher and if he had a website I'd link it. One day when he gets time in his busy schedule to record a CD I'll take a stab at doing the cover. So, I tried out a couple of images. Why the octopus? Why not. It's my favorite cephalopod mollusk if you need to know. Jeez.

And the other design is an early concept for The Good Leads (with sax-hater Chris Quigley I might add) with a title that they were considering.

Lots of stuff going on around here that I'm more than happy to pass along. I'm currently in the midst of my work on the Upper Deck/Marvel sketch cards, working on some unique greeting cards, as well as some commission work. Plus, I will be the new cartoonist for a Seattle health care newspaper, so I'm looking forward to that challenge. And today, I received an invite to be on a new sketch card set, but I've been down that road before, so we'll see. Busy, busy, busy.