COSTUME DESIGN/FABRICATION REEL SCREENSHOTS

So here are a few quick screengrabs from Show Creators Inc. showing my scifi costume design work in various stages of development.  From electrical work, motion capture and fabrication.  So excited to share my contribution to this project with the world very soon.  There are so many far out things to do as an illustrator beyond publishing....

Click the link to see the full video. http://vimeo.com/109763248

Here is another cool video showing their "Showbot" which was introduced to the Monte Carlo Blue Man Group show in Las Vegas.  http://vimeo.com/107954232

ONE FANTASTIC WEEK

Hi Everyone,

I had the good fortune to chat with hosts Peter mohrbacher and Sam Flegal on their show "One Fantastic Week" today.  We covered a lot. Including some of the other types of fantasy based work out there beyond the realm of role play games.  It's a fun show and I hope you enjoy.  Big thanks to Sam and Pete for having me on.

Help support "One Fantastic Week" here http://www.patreon.com/1fw

EW

Click here for link to episode.

https://www.youtube.comWyNIdJEPsI/watch?v=C

NEW YORK COMIC CON 2014

In just a few days I will be showing at New York Comic Con for the first time.  I'm excited to share my work with all the people that will be attending. I will be revealing a special new item for my table to go along with my art prints.  If you love robots and comic art, stop by table AA5 in artist alley on October 9th - 12th.  Sneak peeks will be posted on my instagram and on facebook.  Follow along for updates and see you all at NYCC!!!

MARS ATTACKS: BEACH BLAST!

"BEACH BLAST" Oil on Panel 13"x19"

"This Martian Commander was told that if he reduced his disruptor strength and shot through a human at just the right angle he would be able to see the human heart still beating.  The Commander spent the entire afternoon killing before realizing he'd been fooled."

reference sculpt

I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little nauseous while painting this maquette. I angled the little sculpt near a window at around 2-3pm to get the type of light I wanted to rake across the body. This worked perfectly and allowed cool reflected light to do things in the shadows I wouldn't have guessed.  It was hard to decide how far to push the bloody guts and chest cavity.  I refrained from adding drips and splatters across the back, arms and bottom.  Also took out my little art symbol tattoo.  Thought it drew the eye too much.

Original Painting available for purchase.  Contact if interested.

MY FIRST DRAGON CON

My first Dragon Con experience was amazing. Made new friends, sold an original painting and a bunch of prints. Won 3 awards for my work during the art show awards ceremony saturday night. The competition was fierce. With so many pros all in the same room I had no expectations that I would win anything. When my name was called I was floored. I took home awards for "Best Alien", "Best Horror", and 3rd place in the overall art show. Congratulations to Matt Stawicki, Peter Mohrbacher, and Annie Stegg for their wins. Thanks to the jury and all the dragon con attendees that voted for me. After the ceremony it occurred to me that I had not won anything since honor roll in high school.

I have been working on a personal project for a few years now that I had only shown once before last year at CTN Animation Expo. I brought some of that art with me to test the waters with a much larger audience and the response was great. My little robot designs were by far the best selling item I had to offer. What started out as some quick designs done for fun now adorn the walls of many homes, schools and recreation rooms in churches. Artists can never really know what attendees will respond to and what they will ignore, so I'm happy that my offerings went over well. I also didn't come to the con with the expectation of selling anything. I mainly wanted to just share what I do and let 60,000+ people know I exist. That helped keep my spirits high throughout the show.

At Dragon Con, all the attending artists were asked to contribute a sketch to an artboard that would be auctioned off. Here I am next to Don Maitz behind me. Most of the board was all dragon art so I did my best to do a dragon too but my hand sketched a vomiting alien instead. This was a lot of fun. I made vomit sounds and giggled as I worked. I may have to turn this into a full painting. Hmmm.

During the con I was asked to sketch in or sign some sketchbooks.  This is what one guy got.  My buddy KUSH, silently longing for what it will never have.

The overall experience was inspiring. Getting the chance to share and speak with other working professionals who don't leave the studio too often was so satisfying. I'm already excited for next year and am pumped to start a bunch of new personal paintings and commissions to bring.

Special thanks to friends that convinced me to leave to house and join the art community. This has been a blast. Now on to the NEW YORK COMIC CON!!!!

CONVENTION APPEARANCES: SELF PROMOTION

2013 was a very good year for me.  This year is shaping out really well too.  I picked up a few new clients across publishing and advertising and dipped back into game design work.  
One thing I've been terrible at is self promotion and pushing my work at conventions.  I've done a few over the years in between stretches of working staff illustration jobs or being completely buried in freelance concept art work that I never left the house.  I figured " Hey I'm a full time professional artist.  Who cares if people in Prague don't know who I am?"  I think it may have also been a lack of confidence that kept me away from doing more convention art shows.  

So with that said,  I'm happy to announce Upcoming Artist Alley Convention Appearances: 
I'll be at DRAGON CON -AUG 29- SEPT 1. 
And NEW YORK COMIC CON - Oct 9- 12. 
This will be my first time exhibiting at both so I'm nervously excited. Look forward to seeing art friends and meeting new ones.   I plan to do more cons from now on, schedule permitting. I will post floor map info as I get it.

L I L I T H

"Life is a series of choices.  As it turns out, death is the same; not for the ones who are ready, they embrace their fate - move on.  For the rest of us, we linger.  After our survivors pray and throw dirt on our coffins, we're still waiting because for some of us, there's a bigger question: 'What am I now? Where do I go from here?'  We find ourselves in an eternal nowhere between human and thing.. monsters.  Some of these monsters choose to simply accept what they've become.. some don't.  Which leaves us with the most important choice: do you accept what you are or do you refuse? ..Which is the true curse?"  - Aidan Waite

This is a painting I recently completed for a group show at Last Rites Gallery in NYC. "L I L I T H" oil on panel 20"x 26". This is my second time showing my work in a New York City gallery. It was really fun to do and I'm excited to once again show my art among so many strong talents. Opening reception was March 8th and will be on display until April 12th. Special thanks to friends who made it to the opening.The piece got a great response during the reception. It was interesting to see and hear the reactions of the crowd. One patron jokingly said I should have titled the painting "Moist".   

Here's some progress shots and a few pictures from the reception on March 8th.  The progress pics were taken with my phone. I didn't properly chronicle this but if anyone out there is interested in the steps I take you can watch the alien painting video on my website. Process video

I don't like guess work or happy accidents so as usual I sculpted reference before working through the final drawing and painting.

With my drawing transferred to the panel and color/ value studies worked out, I blocked in the background and then started with the legs, working my way up. Saved the chest and face for last.  I usually like to see the whole painting come to life before nailing the face.  Most artists I know work the piece as a whole or start with the face.  When you know what you're doing you can start wherever you want.