Wizard World Nashville

This Friday through Sunday I will be a guest at the Wizard World Comic Con in Nashville, TN. I will be nestled in between Peter Bagge and Bill Pulkovski in aisle A, so come on by and say hello. I will have original art, prints, books, officially licensed sketch cards and doing commissions.

The Belle Isle Aquarium Weather Vane

My design.

The cupola where the weather vane will reside.

The display of the design for the Butzel Long unveiling.

The unveiling party winding down.

My proposal and bio.

So, this past week was one filled with art and surprises. The law firm of Butzel Long, who is celebrating their 160 anniversary decided to hold a competition in lieu of a party for the design of a weather vane to sit atop the Belle Isle Aquarium. And my design won. To say that I am honored is an understatement. The unveiling party was held last Friday evening at the aquarium where my design was shown and I had to give a small talk on how I came to the design that I did. Most of that is on the board in the last pic (click to enlarge). The  Butzel Long people were great and I enjoyed talking with them and hearing how much they liked my design and for the reasons that they did. Earlier on Friday I had talked with the sculptor who might be in charge of the construction and combine that talk with that evening's talks, it was sinking in that I will have a weather vane that will hopefully be up on that roof for decades, if not longer. And to make things even better, I may be involved in the construction, as well. I'll have more details coming soon!

My sincerest thanks to the law firm of Butzel Long, the Belle Isle Conservancy and the Belle Isle Aquarium for seeing what they did in my design. I can't wait for this to proceed!

KISS Detroit City gallery Show, Part Two

                                                                        Inhumans
                                                                         18.5x26
                                                                  acrylic on canvas

Contemplating Ace

8x12

india ink on bristol

Tonight is the opening reception for the KISS themed show at the Start Gallery in Detroit. Festivities start at 7, so c'mon down and see the show. Above are the two pieces that I will have in the show. I didn't get a proper scan of the top one, sorry for the photo, but I was happy with how that one turned out.

Kiss Detroit City Gallery Show

This Saturday is the opening reception for the KISS themed gallery show at the Start Gallery in Detroit. I will have two pieces in this show and will update on that on Saturday. If you know me, I'm not a fan of the band KISS. I was when I was 11, but that was more due to the makeup and costumes than anything music related. Then I discovered bands like Led Zeppelin and Queen and all that. KISS went bye-bye. So, here is a little teaser for the show. This is a drawing that I did when I was 11 on the inside of a school folder, which has survived three flooded basements and multiple moves. I still have that folder and it contains a bunch of my 'drawings' from that time. SO, on the left is my interpretation of the band and on the right, some scribbled warrior, with text from a school chum Jay Miglia and even a Charlie's Angels sticker. Life was good.

The show will run through October 13th, so come on down and check out what looks to be a fun show with some of Detroit's finest artists and illustrators, including Tony Miello, Kelly Ohara, Jeff Sornig, Anne Garavaglia among others.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Sketch Cards, Part Three

I have a lot going on lately and have quite a few sketch cards to show from various sets that aren't out just yet. But these 5x7 Guardians of the Galaxy cards are the last that I did for this set. This set is out now.

I have a gallery show starting this weekend and some big news that I will share on Friday about a project that I have been working on this summer. I can't wait until this sees completion, but I will have more news on this and the gallery show tomorrow and Friday.

Figure Sketches

Last week I was subbing over at the college for a figure class and did a couple of very loose gestures myself while the students were in a longer pose.

Unlawful Good, A Crime Noir Anthology

There is a new Kickstarter campaign that just launched today for an anthology of crime noir comic stories put together and edited by Heather Antos called Unlawful Good. This volume includes some great talents from across the land, including Rob Humphrey, Jay Jacot, Ted Woods, Jay Fosgitt, about 35 creators in all. The story that I contributed art for was written by Brian Visaggio, colored by Harry Saxon and lettered by Zakk Saam. Above is a sneak peek of the title page. The finished page with colors and headers looks great! The kickstarter has already raised over a $1000 dollars on it's first day and I encourage  any and all who loves crime noir comics to contribute to this project. I had a good time working with Brian, Harry and Zakk on this and I hope readers will enjoy what the teams have produced. Go Here to contribute.

Villagefest 2014

Another Grosse Pointe Villagefest is upon us and I will be set up there with fellow artists Jason Westlake, Jeff Sornig and Anne Garavaglia. We will be selling prints, books, etc. and doing sketches.  Drop on by, it's usually a good time.

It's right on Kercheval just north of Cadieux in Grosse Pointe. Tomorrow it runs from 11am to dusk and on Sunday it will run from noon until 5. There will be plenty of artists and craftspeople and food and music!

Guardians Of The Galaxy Sketch Cards, Part Two

Here are a few more of the sketch cards that I did for Upper Deck's Guardians of the Galaxy set. I have a few more to post and they will be larger 5x7 cards.

Back To School

Here is last week's Stoopid Stuf before colors and text by Kevin. A little stab at the current state of parents and teachers. Make sure to head on over to the web site to check out more stoopid comics. Updated every Friday for your viewing pleasure.