I’ve been a fan of time bandits since it came out (yes, I’m that old), so I decided to do a movie poster(ish) design for it. As with the other movie posters I’ve done, this is just for enjoyment, they are unofficial. But they do give me a good opportunity to stretch my artistic muscles, without necessarily getting bloody about it. I’ve been gradually starting to work on my techniques and abilities, and this is Read more…
I’ve been lucky enough lately that a number of folks still believe in my abilities, and that’s easily proved while working on my newest cover art. Vicenzo Bilof, author of Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension, has been greatly patient with me during my time doing cover art for his book, which I appreciate. I have to say it was a fun, if challenging, piece to create. It’s a little different stylistically than I might normally do, Read more…
Much like the last piece that I posted, this digital art that I created hasn’t been seen before by the masses. It’s digital, and very much speaks to my frame of mind when I created it. It was created about 9 months into my protracted unemployment. At this point, there was still some hope, some idea that I was actually wanted. I quickly created this art digitally, and had fun with it. It was supposed Read more…
A number of years ago, I was commissioned to do interior art for a Cemetery Dance project. Working with Cemetery Dance is great, and I jumped at the chance to work on a new anthology for Dark Delicacies. I had the chance to create art for a story by William F. Nolan, called Depompa. It was a fun story, and I was lucky to get to work on a story for one of the true Read more…
I think sketching is a very valuable tool for an artist. I use it for practicing my craft, which is important. I use it to doodle certainly, to just let the brain play as it will. I also use it, almost like doodling, to really let my imagination run free. No rules, no forced content, no one telling me how or what to draw. Just imagination, and letting it go wherever it can. Sure, the Read more…
I recently had the opportunity to do a new cover for Steven E. Wedel’s book Murdered By Human Wolves, a book that I’d heard about originally a number of years ago. Especially because my friend Kirk Alberts, who is an incredible artist, did many of Steve’s covers in the past. To do the art for this one meant I had a lot to live up to. Kirk’s previous covers were nothing short of brilliant, and Read more…
After the Twilight Zone movie poster went well, and I found a little free time after finishing the Delphine Dodd cover, I decided to try another movie poster design. Just like the Twilight Zone poster idea, this one is digital vector art. It’s based on a John Carpenter film called In The Mouth of Madness, starring Sam Neill. It’s an odd film, and has a lot of interesting twists and turns in it. I thought Read more…
For a couple of months this past summer, I was the focus of a Kickstarter campaign. Author S.P. Miskowski really wanted to have me work on the covers for three of her books, since she had used my piece Knock Knock for her previous cover. Her publisher, Kate Jonez of Omnium Gatherum, agreed, and they made a Kickstarter to pay me for my work. Once that was successful, we started work on the cover for Read more…
A little while ago, author Brian Keene asked if I could do the cover for his ebook release of Scratch. I created the art for the previously released limited edition book from Cemetery Dance a few years back, and he wanted me to adapt one of the interior illustrations I had done for that set as a new cover. The challenge was that Scratch was printed at a special “novella” size, very tall and not Read more…
For quite some time, I’ve had the idea of doing some movie posters. I’ve considered doing them in different media, from ink to digital, but in the end I decided to create something digitally with vectors. The foil stamp imprints that I do for hardcover books are done using vectors, so I decided that would be a great way to go. I also like the high contrast look, where you really are seeing only the Read more…
It’s no secret that I’ve had a couple of long years now. In trying to get back into art creation mode, I’ve begun trying to “jump start” the process with some quick digital pieces. Part of my problem is that I sit down with new ideas, especially for covers and such, and I end up talking myself out of working on them. I’ve a number of times sat down in front of a blank piece Read more…
I just received the new Maelstrom Set III from Thunderstorm Books, and as usual with Thunderstorm they are exceptionally crafted. I’m lucky enough to have created the foil stamp designs for the hardcover, and hopefully they go well with the gorgeous dustjacket art that David Ho created. As with the foil stamp designs I did for the previous Maelstrom sets (here and here), the art is created as vector art. That leaves only one color Read more…
I was in a pretty good habit, a couple of years back, of posting the sketches that I do all the time. Posting them is good for me, because I can go back and review the things I’ve done. Posting is good for others, so I’m told by other artists, in that they can get a sense of how another artist approaches sketching. I’d like to get back to posting about my sketches. Hopefully, each Read more…
That quote, for those of you who don’t watch movies, is from the film The Dark Knight. Until now, I just thought it was an interesting statement, but the fact is that I’ve lived like that. Also, until now, there was really no dawn to speak of. But, as these usually do go, a subtle light has entered my world again. It’s just a small ray of light, actually, but in the severe darkness I’ve Read more…
I decided, in lieu of doing another ink today, that I’d toy around with Photoshop some. I love working with layers, textures, and just random ideas to make art, and digital is perfect for that. As you can see by my galleries, I really have two different digital styles. The first is simply an illustrative style, with each character, background, and so on all created with a brush in Photoshop. The second style, which this Read more…
I talked a little while ago (as in, 3 hours ago) about being an exhibitor at Spectrum, and this time I want to focus on the experience as an attendee. Now, since I was an exhibitor and not a full attendee, there are plenty of things I missed, so keep that in mind. The famous artistsIt was truly a wonder to be in the same room as so many incredibly brilliant artists. I’ve been a Read more…
Last weekend, I had my very first booth ever at an art show. It was at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live show in Kansas City, itself a first-time event. I’ve decided to write about my experiences, but it will take a couple of articles to get it all in. This one is the first part, about being an exhibitor, and I’ll follow it up with being an attendee and how I feel things will go Read more…
At the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live show last weekend, I had the very first showing of my new acrylic painting, The Queen Rises. I didn’t have time to put it online before I left, so here it is for you fine folks (click on it, and all of the others on the page, for a larger view): She was an experiment in a “multilayered” idea, the idea that I could try having one painting taking Read more…
I’ve dabbled with doing an ink of The Phantom of the Opera in the past. The first idea I had was based on a makeup test by actor Lon Chaney Sr., one where he was smiling. Technically, it was accurate. But it just didn’t grab the idea as I’d hoped it would. The second one was a quick sketch for someone when I was a guest at VisionCon a couple of years back. It turned Read more…
A couple of years back, when I was just starting to return to inking, I had decided to ink a Creature From The Black Lagoon. It went okay, but partway through I had decided to let it be something else. So, I abandoned the original idea and came up with a different creature altogether (which you can see here). But the itch to do a Creature ink never left, and I finally had the chance Read more…