1.10.08-Happy New Year's!
Well, 2008 is here and I'm really looking forward to a lot of events this year. I've been stockpiling a few images I wanted to upload to the site, but I'm only now getting to them. Which is good, because it means I've been keeping busy. The first piece of art is a commission I did of Saint Anthony for Monsignor Marcaccio. I decided to do it in watercolor since the canvas was very large and I hadn't played around with watercolors in some time. I didn't want to dive right into this project until I had practiced a little so I did a fun illustration of Amber Atoms. Speaking of Amber, I'm still working away on the books just slower than I would like. Anyway, I think the Saint Anthony piece came out looking really nice especially with the help of a great looking frame!

Now I'm going to step back to my roots on this piece that I found while cleaning out an old art file. Obviously the Star Wars experience has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old and finding this piece just brings back some great childhood memories.

And hopefully you see a little bit of improvement in my work since the crayon Boba Fett in this Henry Jones Sr. piece. Hmm... still this might be a fun piece to color with crayons.

I thought I would finish up with a few photos. The first 2 are of Jason and Grant from Sci-Fi Channel's hit show Ghosthunters as they were giving a presentation at Greensboro College. When I found out they were coming to Greensboro I dragged my wife to go see them and we ended up sitting on the second row. I have to admit when I first saw this show I was like "Huh!?!", but now I've become a fan of their quest to document the paranormal. Basically, they are invited to investigate various places that are reported to be haunted using some very cool cameras and equipment. What I really like about their approach is that they are more trying to debunk than prove the existence of the paranormal. They end up catching some really wild material. BTW, Jason would have a field day with the "orbs" in the photo with him.

Finally, a picture of me with the Kung-Fu Panda character that was taken in New York. I was at a small party that Jack Black was hosting to help promote the Dreamworks film that comes out later on this year. What I saw looks like it will be a hit!

9.23.07-Baltimore
I just returned from the Baltimore Con and as usual it takes a few days to get back up to speed. Randy Green and I made the roadtrip to this growing show that somehow pulls together an amazing guest list. We had a good time while also honoring the life of our friend Mike Wieringo. The outpouring of love for Mike was overwhelming at times and if you want to read a great summary you should visit Todd Dezago’s blog.

Speaking of Mike, I too felt the need to express my grief over losing him. There have been so many wonderful things said about him at this time, I just didn’t feel like I could add any more. Maybe I’ll tell my Mike story when I feel ready until then I’m awaiting to hear from Mike’s family about what will be the official Wieringo tribute book.

I’ve also been keeping busy with freelance work, but I wanted to post a sketch of Indiana Jones I did for fun. I just read that the new title for next summers’ adventure movie is “INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL”. I’m really excited about this seeing this movie, but I’m not sure how I feel about the title yet. Once I see it I’m sure I’ll be like “Oh, cool!”.

I know I usually only post artwork, but when I was downloading pictures I saw this picture of my dog Kai starting to fall asleep behind a plant. I had to post it.

On an upbeat note, I just returned from the amazing and overwhelming San Diego Comic Con. Every comic book fan should go at least once in their lives. My traveling buddy Randy Green and I roomed with our pals Andy Owens, Patrick Blaine and Dave Chapman. We walked that show for 5 days (I consider Preview night the new 5th day) and still didn't see everything and everyone we wanted to. I also got to attend the very cool Lucasfilm Star Wars 30th anniversary party (thanks, Andy!).

I met a lot of great people. One of those was the artist Pierre Alary whose work graces the French albums Belladone. His incredible work on those albums inspired me to render my version of the sword-swinging damsel. I also met Chris Sanders and picked up his new Sketchbook 2. And finally, I've posted the Chapter 3 lead in page for Amber Atoms and continue to work on that project. Hopefully, more news on that soon.

6.3.07-POSTCARD!
I finally got around to designing a new promotional postcard, and just in time for convention season. It's going to be printed on a 14pt matte finish paper and should look great. So if your going to be at Heroes Con in Charlotte (June 15-17) come by and pick one up. I'll also be attending this year's San Diego Comic Con, but I'll be wandering around more than sitting down at this show. Happy Summer!