It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been illustrating comics, book covers, magazine covers, packaging art and more for 30 years now. I started making professional sales to independent publishers in 1982; however, I consider Bird of Prey to be my industry breakthrough piece. I painted Bird of Prey in 1982 and it became the cover for Heavy Metal Magazine’s  November 1983 issue. It was my first cover to have national exposure, in both newsstand and direct sales.

January 2012 Limited Edition Giclee: Dave Dorman 30th Anniversary

To celebrate, I want to make this special offer to my Super Fans. During 2012 , I will be presenting the “Dave Dorman 30th Anniversary Series of Limited Edition Giclees.” Each month for 2012, I will offer a new giclee print for sale, featuring iconic images from my 30 years as a professional illustrator.  Details:

• This series is limited to 30 pieces only per month
• Each piece is personally signed and numbered by me
• Cost: Each Giclee will sell for just $30
• The serial number you will receive will depend on when you order; earliest buyers will receive the lowest numbers
• Serial Number Guarantee: To guarantee a specific number in the series, I am requesting that you purchase the entire series up front; please identify the serial number you prefer and submit $360
• Shipping: Shipping and Handling is FREE for U.S. orders. Overseas orders will be charged $18.00 per print for shipping
• This limited edition series of Giclees will be printed on Archival Etching Rag and produced in studio by me
• Size: 13 ” x 19″
• Each Giclee will include a 30th Anniversary special embossing, further celebrating the uniqueness of this series; the embossing die will be destroyed after 2012
• Each print will also include a Certificate  of Authenticity from me, signed by me, as proof of this special edition
• The January 2012 piece will be the aforementioned “Bird of Prey”

Below is the link to my webpage with PayPal buttons to make your order for individual giclees, or for the full subscription guaranteeing your series with your preferred same serial number on each giclee.

Thank you all for following the first 30 years of my art and career. The next 30 will be more fun and promises even grander flights of imagination!

click here for:
Dorman 30th Anniversary Giclee Purchase Page with PayPal Buttons

Last week’s post I have since removed from this blog. The post was badly worded, poorly thought out, and hastily written. And, unfortunately, it completely missed the point I intended to make. It also created a discussion completely off of my intended subject, and one that I had no interest in debating or pursuing further. I appreciate all who dropped in to read the blog and those who took the time to post some very thought-provoking comments.  I apologize to all those who took offense, and for those who missed it, let’s move on to more creative topics. (Dave waves his hand in the air cryptically and says in a low voice, “These are not the words you are looking for. Move on…”)

Next Topic: Maximizing Your Success By Learning Illustration Basics

When I was 19 and just learning my craft, one of the main things I  did was to draw…all of the time. I would sketch in bed, sketch at breakfast, practice at the drawing table, at work on break, and after dinner in front of the TV.  I had set a goal for myself to become the best illustrator I could, and  I knew I needed to work at my craft and invest as much time and work as humanly possible.

Dave Dorman Student Sketches, Circa 1979

Most artists have sketchbooks filled with the work product to prove it. Oddly enough, I have very few “sketchbooks” from that time in my life. The bound drawing paper-style sketchbook was way too restricting for me. It never laid flat, it was usually not good paper–at least not the sketchbooks I could afford as a student and military kid– and I could only review one to two open pages at a time.

Dave Dorman Student Sketch Sample #2

My solution? I discovered it was better for me to purchase packages of 5″x7″ blank index cards and use those for my work sketches. The paper was good and stiffer than sketchbook paper. It held up well for pencil, ink and watercolor. Buying a 500-sheet package was way cheaper than buying a 500-sheet sketchbook. If I was working on a series of images or thoughts, I could do them individually and lay them out like panels in front of me rather than flipping pages in a book.

Dave Dorman Student Sketches #3

As a student,  I produced literally thousands of these little sketch cards. I used them to

• Rough out ideas
• Work on form and structure
• Copy other artists to see how they worked out anatomy, body structure, and the dynamic figure.

This was my ongoing training daily, practicing my craft. Without this groundwork, I could not and would not be the artist I am today. For all of you students and up-and-coming illustrators, I believe the work you put into learning the basics will pay off enormously as you build your career. There is no magic or shortcut to it. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers summarizes it in two words: 10,000 hours. I sat down one day and calculated how many hours I would have put int before I reached my first professional sale. 10,000 hours seemed about right.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

If your household is like mine, Lucasfilm, Amazon and Apple retailers got the majority of your greenbacks this year. Santa was good to me this year and here’s a highlight of my favorite gifts and holiday cards:

I got The Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic, by Chronicle Books, a fine art book that also has lengthy descriptions on the creation of the game itself, not just the preproduction artwork. My son and I have been playing and are on Level 15 so far. It’s a wonderful game.

Me with my new Star Wars: The Old Republic art book

I also received Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth, by IDW Publishing, which is the best book I’ve received all year. It is a beautifully made compilation of Toth’s early formative years as an artist, and it’s the first of three books to cover Toth’s career. It’s an exciting start to the series and I’m really looking forward to the subsequent volumes. The production on this hardcover book was just amazing and the material that the authors dug through and found to represent in this book was truly astounding, covering Toth’s formative work, both in comics and illustration. I highly recommend it. If you are an Alex Toth fan, you should also pick up my friend John Hitchcock’s book, which chronicles his correspondence and friendship with Toth in the later years of his life. It’s a real treasure. John is a master storyteller and if you’re ever lucky enough to hang out with him, you will see what I mean by that.

My Favorite Book in 2011: The Life and Art of Alex Toth

I was also happy to receive this Christmas card, postcard and trading card from our friend Kevin-Kim, TK-1023 in the German Garrison of the 501st. That was a nice surprise. (My son is in his new Star Wars pajamas from Santa).

My Gifts from 501st German Garrison Kevin-Kim, TK-1023

In other news, we’ve been working hard on updating my Facebook fan page. With the rate at which I’m getting friend requests on Facebook, I will have to split my time between my Facebook Fan Page and my Facebook personal page as I fear I will run out of spaces to add friends on my personal page. I do plan to maintain both, but please “Like” my Facebook Fan Page; we are working hard to get that page up to speed this year with decent graphics, contests, fan exclusives and more. We will be doing a Fan Page for my own creator-owned series The Wasted Lands and I will announce that here shortly.

In other news, I am very pleased with the traction my artist friend Dave DeVries is getting with his own creator-owned concept, The Monster Engine. His site went viral again this month overseas and people all over Asia and Europe are discovering him. This project is really deserving of a TV series, a movie and a videogame and I hope we see it happen in 2012.

Thanks, as always, for reading my post. I’m @DaveDorman on Twitter and I do respond to direct Tweets, and I’m an open networker on LinkedIn, so please connect with me there as well. I am happy to review your products online (tech, movie, books, comics, music, nerd and geek products are my sweet spot) and to do so, please write to WriteBrain Media, Attn: Denise Dorman, P.O. Box 417, Carpentersville, IL 60110 and put “Dave Dorman Blog Review” in the subject. If you need marketing, social media or PR advice, follow Denise @writebrainmedia on Twitter or “Like” her fan page at Facebook.com/WriteBrainMedia.

Dave.

Merry Christmas from the Dormans!

As we approach the holidays, Star Wars enthusiasts (like me) always love a good deal, so I am offering you this rare opportunity to own Star Wars prints at a deep discount. The deadline is midnight on December 11th, as I want to ensure I can get these to you in time for Christmas. I have Artist Proofs of some of your most favorite pieces of my Star Wars art available, including some from the Star Wars Celebration shows. Most are $50, some are $30. All are signed by me, and identified as Artist Proofs. For an additional $20, you can request a remarque. Here’s the link to where you can purchase the prints:

http://www.davedorman.com/swholidaysale.shtml

Here’s what’s I’m offering you for a very limited time at a deep discount:

A Slight Disturbance in the Force on the Battlefield of Hoth

And this…

Lord Vader's Persuasion of the Outer Rim to Join the Empire

And this…

Incident on the Jundland Wastes, Tattoine

And this…

Rise of the Sith

And this…

In the Court of Jabba the Hut by Dave Dorman

And this…

Battle of Hoth

And this…

Dewback Patrol: Star Wars: A New Hope by Dave Dorman

And this…

Heroes of the Alliance by Dave Dorman

And this…

Smuggler's Moon by Dave Dorman

And this…

Tales of the Jedi by Dave Dorman

And this…

Legacy of the Jedi by Dave Dorman

And this…

Han Solo and Chewbacca by Dave Dorman

And this…

Leia as Boussh by Dave Dorman

And this…

Wedge Antilles by Dave Dorman

And this…

Darth Vader: Dynamic Forces Edition

ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer was focusing hard on finding Made in the U.S.A. holiday gifts. Well, here they are! And you can FEEL GOOD about giving these gifts – I’m giving back – 10% of all sales goes to non-profit USACares.org (helping military families in financial need) and 10% of all sales goes to non-profit Elgin Academy, a unique independent school with an amazing track record for academics and cultivating future leaders.

I thank you all in advance for your interest in my work. Here’s a link to my recent podcast interview on AlphaNerd in Tasmania, Australia:

http://www.alphanerd.me/?p=1188

I hope you enjoy it. They were a lot of fun to talk to and I hope to do some shows in Australia soon so I can have a pint with these guys at their local pub.

Merry Christmas to all of you from me.

Dave.

In accordance with FTC blogger review rules, I am now making myself available to review products. Please know that regardless of who sends me an item, and regardless of its monetary value, I will give my readers an HONEST PRODUCT REVIEW. Product managers, please let me know in writing if it is time sensitive for me to review your product and provide me with a clear deadline. As you know, for a freelance artist, paying work always comes first, so if I get deluged with items, the types of products I will give priority to for reviews will include the following:

• Electronics (Tablets, videogame platforms, drawing tablets, PCs, you name it)
• Art Products (illustration boards, canvas, pencils, paints–oils and acrylics–brushes, inks, digital art products and software, etc.)
• Videogames
• Software
• Art Books
• Comic Books
• Sculptures
• Action Figures
• Toys
• Board Games
• Music (my preferences run to female singer/songwriters, world music, instrumental music, and Peter Gabriel/Genesis/YES-style music)
• TV Shows/Movies (I can’t get enough foreign films, so bring ‘em on!)
• Apps (I have an iPhone 4)
• Fiction Books (tastes run to action-adventure, horror and sci-fi, e.g. Stephen King, F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale)
• Organizational Products (think Container Store-type products)
• Anything related to Pop Culture
• Cooking tools and spices

Any products that I can’t or won’t keep, I will donate to the needy families of my charity, USACares.org, or to fellow artists in need. To participate in a Dave Dorman Product Review, please send your items to:

Dave Dorman, Product Reviewer

P.O. Box 417

Carpentersville, IL 60110

If you have any questions, please feel free to email my publicist, denise@writebrainmedia.com.

As always, thanks for reading,

Dave

• http://Facebook.com/davedormanartist
• Twitter: @DaveDorman
• Linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Sometimes my gut checks are on target. Sadly, this is one of those situations. I wish it wasn’t, but I will continue to boycott DragonCon until this situation gets resolved. Yes, I know it’s a good show and a growing show. Yes, I know a lot of great people are organizing it these days. However, my hunch was right — alleged child molester Ed Kramer still receives 34% of the shares of DragonCon’s profit--and I refuse to contribute to perpetuating that mentally disturbed and depraved individual’s alleged pedophilia in any way. I have zero tolerance for this activity. Nothing makes me more sick than even the idea of hurting children. Hurting anyone who is vulnerable and unable to defend themselves makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t support that in any way, especially while representing (in my own small way) an industry targeted to children. Watching the Penn State news unfold over the past couple of weeks also is making me sick. Mind you, it’s not that I’m so cold-hearted as to not realize that in most cases, the perpetrators were also abused as kids, but I have to hope that this activity will one day stop altogether. I just cannot stand it. Had I witnessed any situation like this, I would have sincerely been able to claim temporary insanity for killing the perpetrator with my bare hands.

Parents–and vulnerable single parents in particular–watch your kids and watch them closely. Be suspicious of anyone who takes a “special interest” in your child and tries to get your child alone. Relatives included. I’ll never forget a dear friend in Florida who was, at the time a single mom with a son who was absolutely precious to Denise and me. Her son’s soccer coach, a married man with 3 kids, kept trying to convince her to let him coach her son privately. She felt something was off, and shortly thereafter he was in the papers for molesting kids. Be vigilant. Don’t trust anyone unless you have very good reason to trust them. Remember, in every situation attracting large groups of kids, there’s someone out there who wants to get at them and will use every ploy to resonate with them – sports, comics, animals, videogaming, movies, camping, etc. In my mind’s eye, they’re all Pennywise the Clown.

A dear friend who prefers to remain anonymous just sent me this update:

And here’s an excerpt from the linked article above in the AJC / Atlanta Journal Constitution, a well respected newspaper:

DragonCon organizers have recently tried to distance the popular science fiction and fantasy convention from its ignominious co-founder, Edward Kramer, saying in a public statement that he has not had any involvement in planning or activities since his 2000 indictment on multiple child molestation charges.

After a lecture at Chicago’s Columbia College this past Thursday night for Dave P.’s character visualization art class, my wife Denise asked me to write an article on boiling down art direction to five essential truths. Below is what I came up with.  I sit on both sides of the desk, doing the art for art directors, and doing the actual art direction, so I have very definite opinions based on my 30 years of experience. I even taught a class for the Florida 4th District Advertising Federation on How to Art Direct the Art Director. All of you artists and art directors following me, let me know if you agree, disagree or have tips you would like to add to this list?

Dave Dorman’s 5 Essential Truths for Art Direction

#1. You MUST review the artist’s comprehensive portfolio. Don’t judge an artist by just one piece in their portfolio. Look closely at all of the elements.  Ask them to show you the pieces that aren’t online. Does anything contained within match your needs for your project? What are the strengths of the artist? What are their weaknesses? Do they or can they paint in the style you need? Ask yourself, “Is this artist capable of giving me the art I need for this particular project?”

Real-World Example: Someone looking at my portfolio might think I only do muscled super heroes or hyper realism, but truth be told, I did a lot of manga early in my career for Robotech covers, I did toy design for Hasbro,  and I did very loose children’s illustration for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings trading cards.

#2. Always provide a thorough review of the project with the artist. Ensure they understand your needs for the art and that they are comfortable in delivering the goods. An artist who does killer character design may be strong in creature art, but weak in landscape or architectural backgrounds.

Real World Example: Just because I did a detailed background on one painting doesn’t mean that I want to put that amount of work into every single painting I do. Personally, I hate painting architecture. If an art director wanted me to do a Stephan Martiniere cityscape, I would be up front in declining and saying, “No thanks. Here’s Stephan’s phone #.”

#3. A good art director should never ask the artist if they paint traditionally or digitally. First off, the art director’s eye should be trained to see the difference. There are effects you cannot get with digital, and there are effects you cannot get with traditional. Secondly, the final art is the final art, delivered digitally, no matter what tool(s) you used to get the final product. Any Star Wars painting I do with light sabers, I am taking into Photoshop to get that perfect glow on the light saber, although the original piece is oil on illustration board or a combo of oil and acrylic. Mind you, I could whip out my old air brush and get that same effect, but why go through the hassle when I can do it in PhotoShop?

Here's a painting with traditional and Photoshop Combined

With the plethora of art directors now being of the age that they came through their art education via digital art and very rarely–if ever–touching traditional media to produce their final art, I have seen a definite bias in those art directors to choose artists who work in the directors’ preferred medium: digital. The art should speak for itself regardless of the medium in which it’s created. I believe that if the art director is contacting the artist to do a project, then they are judging the artist by the art they see, whether it’s digital or traditional.

Real World Example: I had an art director call me once, absolutely raving about my Alien art. She had a big project for me, and I was eager to do the project, because it was right in my wheelhouse. Then she asked dreaded question: Do you paint digitally? I don’t, and the project instantaneously evaporated, despite the fact that my look and feel was a perfect match for her project. I believe this art director is short-sighted and I hope she has wizened up since then.

Graphic Novel Cover of Aliens: Hive by Dave Dorman

#4. Never, EVER assume an artist is outside of your budget. If you like someone’s art, speak with them FIRST about your budget before you strike them off of your list. Any freelancer can attest, we have months when we make a king’s ransom, and we have months when we go hungry. There’s rarely consistency unless you’re working on a videogame project, and even then, that consistent money can go away after a year or two.

Real World Example: As a traditional artist, I will often take on projects for little to no money, because I know I’m working on a licensed piece and I will have an actual painting that I can sell to collectors for top dollar once the project is completed. Obviously, digital artists are at a major disadvantage here! I once did a cover for the now-defunct but uber-cool GEEK Monthly magazine, for their San Diego Comic-Con issue. I was the first-ever painted cover they’d published. They were afraid to ask me to do a cover because they assumed they’d never be able to afford me. I did the piece for free. My piece was a modern day Transformer alongside a 1980s Transformer. I did it for free because I knew it was great publicity for the audience I wanted to reach, and then there was the value of the physical painting. I turned around and donated the painting to my favorite charity, USACares.org, to help raise funds for their not-for-profit, helping financially challenged active military families.

GEEK Monthly Cover I Did for FREE

Side note: I wish someone would revive a magazine like GEEK Monthly. It was brilliant, I never missed an issue and I miss it.

#5. As an Art Director, it’s your duty in fairness to your artist to have your project details organized properly. 

Real World Example: I once painted a beautiful sci-fi comic book cover, based on a major license you would all know. AFTER I delivered the piece, they broke the news to me that they didn’t have likeness rights. You can imagine my disappointment. I think the fans were less than satisfied with the piece, probably thinking to themselves that it was lame without the likenesses.

Another Real World Example: I painted a beautiful sci-fi cover for a major license you would all know, but they were in the midst of filming the movie, and they were afraid to provide me with photo reference of an actor I had never seen before, for fear it would “leak out.” First of all, that would never happen on my watch, and it was frustrating for me that they trusted me enough to paint their licensed characters, but not enough to provide me with proper reference. They literally provided me with a postage stamp-sized photo reference and I could not get the facial features right without decent reference.  Eventually they capitulated, but it took a lot of back and forth.

So…let me know your thoughts. I am interested to hear your frustrations with artists and art directors and your “master list.”

In other news, I think I will be converting my Facebook Group Page for The Wasted Lands to a Facebook Fan Page soon, so please watch for that. For those of you unfamiliar with it, The Wasted Lands is my own I.P. (Intellectual Property) – an alternate universe, adrenaline-pumping motorcycle western action adventure with Steampunk aesthetics. If you like it, let me know. Given the rate of growth of my personal page on Facebook, I will likely transition it over to a Fan Page soon as I’m going to hit the limit soon to people I can friend.

I recorded a 2-hour interview last night with Alpha Nerd podcast out of Australia, so I will be posting that link here as soon as I have it.

Well, I’m off to watch Godzilla v. Mothra with my son. It’s so much fun having a mini-me!

As always, thanks for reading,

Dave.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/davedormanartist

Twitter: @DaveDorman

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Website: http://davedorman.com and http://wastedlands.com

Publicity Firm: http://writebrainmedia.com | @writebrainmedia

Thanks to all of you who came by my table yesterday at WindyCon. It’s very rewarding to get feedback from all of you on my work and it keeps me excited about the work I’m doing.

Today journalist Sarah Frink wrote an article on me in today’s Chicago Tribune about the odd jobs I held while trying to break into the business and learn my craft. Here’s the link to the article: http://trib.in/v8lxHz 

Of course, if you already read my memoir/art book, “Rolling Thunder, The Art of Dave Dorman,” by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing last year, you already know most of this story.  The book is now marked down to $20 for the regular version and $50 for the signed, limited edition version. These make great holiday gifts for that special person in your life who loves comic book art, sci-fi, fantasy and horror art, plus I included a lot of my personal fine art work in the book as well. Be sure to check it out if you don’t already own a copy!

I hope all of you are having a great Sunday. I’m back to the old drawing board today. If you want to connect with me on my social networks, here are my profiles:

http://facebook.com.davedormanartist | http://twitter.com/davedorman | http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Thanks for reading,

Dave.