King Kong Print

I will have a new print debuting this weekend at the Wizard World Chicago show in Rosemont, IL. I took a different approach with this one, using watercolor and ink instead of acrylic washes. Also, I intentionally made the perspective on the wings a bit wonky to try and create a little more dynamism and to give the impression that all is open on this side, but closed on the other. I'm not sure that I nailed it, but I think it works. The one small thing that I get a little giddy about is the spot where the gunner is looking back at Kong. I think I created a good sense of depth there. A very happy accident.

Convention Sketches

Here's a few sketches that I did during the day at last weekend's Michigan Comic Book Expo. A couple of fellow artists in Matt Feazel and Emily Zelasko and a con attendee. 

British Horror Collection Sketch cards

These are the sketch cards that I did for the British Horror Collection that was released by Unstoppable Cards last month. This was a fun one to do and and am very happy with how most of these turned out.

Michigan Comic Book Expo

This Saturday is the Michigan Comic Book Expo and will be held at the Yack Arena (good name for a place to hang with some cartoonists) in Wyandotte, MI. Go to their site for all the pertinent info. There will be all sorts of good local and midwestern artists on hand, as well as some washed up wrestlers, if you're into that. WUW! Just having a little fun....

I hope that I don't get hurt.

David Bowie

It's been awhile since I did one of my inspiration watercolors. This time, the person who I have drawn an immense amount of inspiration from is none other than the late David Bowie.

That still doesn't sound right, but there it is.

When he died I wondered why it bothered me so much. Being that this person I had never met. Not even close. I had never even seen him in concert, dammit! Then I read something on the internet about such things and it said that these are the people that help you define who you are, who you want to be, or like to be, for that matter. I liked that and soon realized the truth in it. Bowie was always there, really. I grew up in the seventies. Spiders From Mars, Ziggy Stardust, etc. This guy wasn't Zeppelin, The Who or The Beatles. He was pretty unique. Made one think about things. I remember sitting in a friend's living room one morning while he was getting ready to walk to school and we were watching MTV and Scary Monsters and Superfreaks came on. I remember thinking just how weird that all was, but just so freaking awesome. Fame, Starman, Fashion, Rock & Roll Suicide, Golden Years, Panic In Detroit, etc. These were all distinctly Bowie. I love the words as much as the music. A true artist.

In keeping with some continuity with these watercolors, I've stuck to the three color palette and am trying to get better and better with this. A few years ago while in Iowa, I came to like the paintings of Marvin D. Cone who was a friend and fellow regionalist of Grant Wood. On some of his paintings he used this color arrangement (white, black and yellow) and I loved it.

I sneaked a little blue in there, in case you didn't notice.

A Dali/Benton Sky

May all your skies be Salvador Dali skies and all your clouds be Thomas Hart Benton clouds.

Visigoths

Before I start in on this  special person, I'd like to explain a little about the inspiration for these posts. I base my little cartoons on a graduation speech that the communications theorist Neil Postman gave awhile back on Athenians and Visigoths. It's a good read and like Postman says, this is not completely historically accurate, but are used as metaphors. I do the same with these cartoons. They are my way of dealing with the willfully ignorant among us in a fun and humorous fashion. But, I encourage all to read Postman's speech, it's food for thought. 

So, on to the moron who graced my presence last week when I was on my way from Detroit to West Bloomfield to work on some private sculptures. I was in the far left lane and needed to get over to the freeway. No one was in front and behind was completely packed with cars, bumper to bumper. My choices were obviously limited, so I waited to see how traffic would go. No one was moving from their current positions, so I sped up a little with my turn signal on. The guy next to me was having none of that and sped up just so I couldn't get over. The cars behind him kept pace, so there was no going that way. He just wasn't going to let me over. Well, I made my way over after a bit, basically cutting him off and he immediately slowed down. What makes someone who is all alone be such a dipshit? I added color to this one because he looked oh so special with his thick, white 80's sunglasses, chin up, never moving his head one way or the other. I'm sure he thought he was the shit. 

They are everywhere.