Marvel Masterpiece III Sketch Cards

Here are the first of my approved cards of the Marvel Masterpiece III set put out by Upper Deck. Or as I like to say, the Mighty Marvel Mugshots, as I have chosen to to some pretty straight forward face shots. This is one goofy assignment, I tell ya. The first batch that I submitted for approval were all rejected and looking back at them some were questionable, but I did have a few that I was extremely happy with and they didn't make the cut. So, the next two batches that I sent in were much smaller in number and more were approved than not, so I was happy. But again, I had some pretty good ones that were rejected, so I don't really know what's going to work and what isn't. I just have to do what I think is best and cross my fingers.

For those of you not in the know of who's who in the Marvel universe, these are the names of the characters:

1. Jack O'Lantern 2. Juggernaut 3. Dreadnaught 4. Ego 5. Elektra 6. The Thing 7. Eternity 8.Galctus 9. Karkas

Homer Davenport Days 2008

In Silverton, Oregon they have an annual celebration in honor of the political cartoonist Homer Davenport. Besides the cartoon contest and exhibition they also have a slew of activities that you can check out here. This here is my inclusion in this year's contest. I remember some time ago, old "Dubbya" was bragging about being a war president (such an honor!), but he was really a downright peace loving kind of guy. I couldn't help but think about how many lives have been lost (by his actions) during his eight year peace reign.

Serenity now.

Blindness 2

What happens when you lose all sense of autonomy, when you lose any resemblance to independence? And then you literally go blind? Apparently, you become a giant bird skull.

This is the second of three drawings.

The Last Independent Spark

12x18

colored pencil on tinted paper

Icarus 1917

Ever since discovering Greek mythology as a kid the story of Icarus has always held a firm grip on me. The cynics out there will tell you that is because I would never listen to their wisdom and in not doing so fell to the obvious doom that always awaits those who fly too close to the sun. It goes much deeper than that and there is so much that even I don't understand about my fascination with the wax winged one. It's a cautionary tale and that's what has always been the important aspect. Maybe I'll "get" it just before they pluck my feathers from the sea, but I doubt it. 

I'm not sure why I chose a German WWI type Icarus. It was just one of those images that got stuck in me noggin awhile back and I went with it. Plus, I like the iron cross.

Icarus 1917

15x20

acrylic on illustration board

Hogsnot Logo V.2

Here is the new and improved Hogsnot logo with a few changes. I believe that the product will be hitting the shelves soon, so hopefully the Detroit area will be well represented by the hog. 



And here is one of the earlier versions that I think would make a great sticker or t-shirt. We'll have to wait and see about that one.

New Cartoon

Spirit Of Paint By Numbers

The Detroit Artists Market is having an auction to benefit the gallery and the artists participating. The artists were given a numbered blank imprinted with an image of the Marshall Fredericks sculpture, The Spirit Of Detroit. This was designed by the creator of paint by numbers, Dan Robbins. The artists were encouraged to do whatever they wanted with the blanks; paint, collage, cut up, defaced deconstruct, reconstruct, whatever.

I chose to do a fairly straight up version done in colored pencils, but I intentionally left the numbers visible, as I wanted them to be a part of the final look. i also did one in charcoal and rubbed out the highlights.

The Exhibition and auction start tonight at 6:00 and runs through July 12th at the Detroit Artists Market, 4719 Woodward Ave. There's a lot of fun stuff down there, as I saw some of the finished works when I dropped mine off last week, so come on down and have some cheap wine and cheese. And the Detroit Festival Of Arts starts tonight, too, so there's plenty of fun stuff to do.


Version 1
18x24
charcoal on printed numbered blank


Version 2
18x24
colored pencil on numbered blank

Here is how the original numbered blank looked like as seen on the DAM postcard.