It’s Dave-the-Happy-Geek Week

Dear Friends,

I’ve had one of my more interesting weeks in a long time with three really fun surprises in the mail–two being Star Wars-related. The first was a wonderful hoodie from 501st member Daniel Quay, TR-8285 and fan Andrew Marzka of Happy Valley Custom T’s in Pennsylvania. (Andrew’s business phone is (814) 571-2992 if anyone wants great hoodies or t-shirts.) They are concerned I’m not staying warm enough in Chicago, and they are right about that! Here it is:

501st Hoodie from Daniel Quay and Andrew Marzka, Happy Valley Custom T's

I also received my “Save the Lars Homestead” watch in the mail this week with its pure Tunisian Tatooine sand embedded within and the beautiful engraving on the back. My fellow Star Wars junkies are stoked about the watch and the good news is, you can still order them here: http://s395343987.initial-website.com/

Save the Lars Homestead Commemorative Timepiece

Engraving on Back of the Watch

And then there was my bust from Sideshow Collectibles. I ordered this at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2011, and here we are 6 months later and I had almost forgotten about it. Almost, but not quite. What a great surprise! My wife’s friends have insisted she not display it in our foyer, so we’re still finding the right place for it.

My New Zombie Crusade Bust from Sideshow Collectibles

Even better, I just got a Tweet from @MaxToyCo friend Mark Nagata informing me that a box of toys is en route. Could this geek’s week possibly get any better?!? I hope your week is filled with geek touchstones as well.

Dave.

 

Dave Dorman New Star Wars Crimson Empire Art, Horror Art, Some Studio Pictures and Some News

Dear Friends,

First off, here’s a video of the new SPECTRUM 18 book: My art is featured at about 2:18 and 5:18 in this video: http://bit.ly/uOTP3G

Also, here’s the new-on-the-retail shelves cover I did for the first new STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE comic by DARK HORSE:

STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE COVER ART By DAVE DORMAN

I got a nice review from Geeks of Doom, which you can see here: http://bit.ly/rSyjuC

I hope some of you are coming out to the “MALEFICIUM” multimedia horror art show at Kosart Effects Studios & Gallery on Saturday night in Westmont, IL – a Chicago western suburb. It is on the order of more of a New York show with the caliber of talent involved, so we hope to see some of you there. I did a fun new horror piece here below, and in keeping with my sense of humor, I did a little “Rocky and Bullwinkle” thing with the title, which I am calling  “The Portrait of an Artist as a  Tortured Soul ,” or: “Cthulu! Gesundheit!”

Cthulu: Gesundheit! by Dave Dorman Oil and Acrylic on Canvas

Okay, here are some goofy pictures of a quick walk down to my “Dave Cave,” a.k.a. my studio. We have a house built into a hill, so we have a walkout basement, and I have taken the entire basement over as my studio. It’s sort of like a “garden apartment” with a lot of light coming in the windows, which are above ground. I didn’t stage any of this, just took some impromptu pictures, so forgive the mess. More pictures to come, but I really must clean some of the mess before I go posting them on the web.

Here’s what you see when you come down the basement stairs. My wife and I are big fans of BBC comedy League of Gentlemen, hence the Royston Vasey signage. At the foot of the stairs is a piece that brings me a lot of joy, a Star Wars painting by my friend Christopher Moeller. On the right you’ll see the hint of my Rocketeer cut-out, which was a character created by a dear friend, the late, great artist Dave Stevens.

Entrance to the Dave Cave...Beware!

When you get to the bottom of the stairs, here’s what you’ll see – my treasured autographs from 501st Members from around the world that I gathered during Star Wars Celebration shows. It brings me a lot of joy to see these every day.

You Are Now in the Dave Cave...

Another Viewpoint of the Entrance to the Dave Cave

My father-in-law built me all of these wonderful built-in shelves and I really use them. You’ll see there’s a “Dog Fight” game on my shelf. My brother Jeff and I played this game as kids. We were never allowed to keep our toys as we were military brats, always moving from base to base and having to give up all of our toys. I saw this one day on eBay and I HAD. TO. HAVE. IT. Now I’m addicted to toys, and intent on keeping every toy I have. Sometimes I share with my son, but not always.

Here are some paintings you may recognize to the right wall walking toward my great room of the Dave Cave. The cleavage painting in latex on the right is for sale. Make me an offer.

Right Hallway of the Dave Cave, Leading Into the Great Room

Here is the wall to the left, walking down that same hallway.

Crimson Empire Cover Art Rests on the Left-Side Hallway Wall

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving Weekend

Dear Friends,

I have so much to be thankful for this year, I don’t know where to begin. I’m thankful for those closest to me–my wife, my son, my best friend Steve Smith, my friend Charlie Athanas, my in-laws who have helped me out tremendously this past year, Colin Pritchard of Rocket No. 9, Kevin Sandstrom at Blick Art Supply, the 501st, (especially Chris Spice of top-rated Star Wars site Sandtroopers.com) the great art directors and editors I’ve worked with this past year, and also for all of you who take an interest in my art and are the reason I keep doing what I do. I am thankful for my U.S. military family, for USACares.org and  for The Dennis Miller Radio Show who has been kind enough to have me on to share my projects and my military art passion project, Project 52.

I especially thank all of you who have purchased my new art career retrospective and memoir book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN, by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing, either for yourselves, or for a loved one as a holiday gift. Even if the book wasn’t mine, I would enjoy 4.5 pounds of art in hardcover to peruse over my mulled cider during the holidays.

Today I wanted to share another blog with you, written by my friend and fellow 501st member David Syczylo. David is the Snowtrooper who posed for me for this year’s Star Wars Celebration painting. He did an excellent job of explaining the poses, not to mention providing us all with a brilliant display he has created of my Star Wars Celebration prints:

http://www.djsyczylo.net/chronicles/DormanHoth/DormanHoth.htm

I hope you enjoy David’s blog as much as I did about how the Star Wars Celebration piece came about. The best part of this project? I have been very fortunate to get to know David over the past 6 months and he is a special person to me and my wife. You will never meet a kinder or more giving person. He drove all of the way to my home in northern Illinois from Indianapolis just to pose for me, and refused to take even  gas money. That’s the kind of guy David is. Ask him about his film career when you meet him. He has great stories.

Thanks for reading. More to come. I just did a Captain Marvel this past weekend for the very first time in my career, but I have to check with an editor first to see when I can post it.

Be safe this holiday weekend,

Dave.

P.S. I finally got to see “Walking Dead.” I’m hooked. What do you all think of it? Any of you watching? If not, check it out – let’s compare notes. My friend and fellow judge in the December 6th Chicago 10-minute horror play international competition Death Scribe 2010, Jay Bonansinga, is writing the novelization of the series and he’s an excellent writer.

Thanks for Listening to me on Dennis Miller’s Radio Show Today

Dear Friends,

On Veteran’s Day, I thank all of the brave men and women serving in all branches of the military who sacrifice SO MUCH to ensure we continue to enjoy our freedoms. As the son of USAF Lieutenant Colonel Jack Dorman, I understand how much the military and their families sacrifice. Thank you also to all of you who were listening to me on The Dennis Miller Radio Show today. Here is the link on Dennis’ site to my interview: http://www.dennismillerradio.com/b/One-Of-A-Kind-For-Our-Military/-338762614549322936.html

Dennis and Christian were kind enough to let me come on and the share news about my military art project, Project 52, which helps to raise funds for military families who are financially challenged, given through USACares.org. Here is the link: http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-52.

Last year at this time we auctioned my Transformers painting, which was the first-ever illustrated cover art for GEEK Monthly magazine for their special Comic-Con issue, juxtaposing the “old school” Transformers character vs. the modern day version. I donated all of that money to USACares.org.

 

 

Dave Dorman and Dennis Miller with Dave's Transformers Painting We Auctioned for USACares.org

Today, I’m asking you to help me spread the word about Project 52. Please post it on your FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts, and anywhere you connect with your social networks. On Twitter or Cinchcast, the hashtag reference is #Project 52. Please tell your military friends and your family about Project 52. For just $5, you or the person you designate will be mentioned in my Project 52 book, which I’m self publishing. For $1,000, you can own a Dave Dorman original oil military painting. There are tons of contribution opportunities and options between the $5 and the $1,000 range, but please contribute whatever is comfortable for you, even if it’s just words of support. The initial $52,000 we are raising will cover expenses for publishing the book, art materials, printing the limited edition signed and numbered lithographs and helping to defray costs for me taking time off of commercial work to focus on this project. Fifty percent of all earnings from the books and lithos will go to USACares.org. The remaining 50% of book and lithograph sales will go to the Make a Wish Foundation in honor of Katie Johnson (501st founder Albin Johnson’s late daughter) on behalf of the 501st Organization, for which I’m honored to be an honorary member. For those of you reading who are unfamiliar with the 501st, these are the great men and women worldwide who donate their time, wearing Star Wars costumes and marching in parades, visiting children’s hospitals and continuing to be good will ambassadors of Lucasfilm.

I thank you all for your kind words and moral support. I’m very passionate about doing Project 52 and ensuring it is done to perfection.

We are still in the throes of unpacking from our big move, and the other day I discovered the old reel-to-reel audio tape recordings of my father, from when he was serving on behalf of the United States Air Force in Viet Nam. We didn’t see my dad for an entire year, so we communicated with him solely by letters and tapes.  I’m getting these recordings made into CDs for my sister and brother, but if you  know of a military museum out there who might want some of these recordings, please let me know.

As always, I thank you for reading and following my work.

Dave

Dave Dorman’s Quick Step-By-Step of Latest Star Wars Painting

Hey Everyone,

Happy Fall. If you’re not offended by vulgar language, check out this guy’s “Gourd-geous” blog. I think my wife is going to need oxygen soon, she’s laughing so hard: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2009/10/20nissan.html This guy may replace the spot in my wife’s heart she has reserved for David Sedaris.

Okay, here is a quick step-by-step of the Star Wars Celebration 5 painting I did called “A Slight Disturbance on the Battlefield of Hoth.” Let me know what you all think of it. By the way, I’m using paint, not crayon, as many people seem to assume.

Step One:

 

Here Is My Pencil Rendering Transferred to Illustration Board

 

Step 2:

 

See? It's PAINT, folks! Not Crayons! Dispel those nasty rumors!

 

Step 3:

 

Here I am finishing up the background layer. For you CG artists: It's like a layer in PhotoShop except it's not digital!

Step 4:

 

Eek! It's Darth Vader! He's a bad, bad man. I'm breaking the rules, baby! I'm using a black marker! I'm committing artist anarchy! Woo-hoo! I feel so FREEEEEEE. Where's the art police when you need 'em?!?

 

Step 5:

 

Darth Vader needed to be finished first to set the contrast of the piece, being so monochromatic in black & white. Now I can finish the rest. Cue in music: Dum-dum-dum, Dum-da-dum, Dum-da-dummmmmmm

 

 

Step 6:

 

I start working more traditionally now, from the background forward. You'll see more detail in the ships and some of the characters behind Darth Vader being finished.

 

Final Outcome:

 

And now, like magic, it's FINITO! Oh, and see the red stripes on Luke Skywalker's burning snow speeder? That's the work of the "Next Gen Dorman" (my son Jack) adding to his daddy's painting.

 

And here’s the cute anecdote that goes along with this painting:

So my son Jack likes hanging out in my studio, practicing his light saber moves that he’s learned from LEGO STAR WARS and THE CLONE WARS cartoon. I work on the other side of the studio, and in the middle, we have a bathroom.

I took a break from painting, grabbed a book and headed into the “porcelain library.” I kept the door open to keep an eye on Jack. All of the sudden, I looked up to see Jack running past the door, making a beeline for my drawing table. Thirty seconds pass and Jack appeared in the doorway holding a brush saying, “I’m going to go paint on your painting, Daddy.” I laughed and said “Okay,” thinking I was just going along with his little joke. Another minute passed, and Jack appeared at the door again with the brush, laughing, saying, “I’m painting on your painting, Daddy!” Again, I laughed and said, “Okay, Jack…” I continue reading for a few more minutes and then Jack popped in again. “I’m still painting on your painting, Daddy!” and I said with just a hint of a warning, “You’d better not be…” and he just laughed and declared “I am! I am!” I replied in an ominous tone, “Okay…” So I finished reading and I walked into the studio.

Cue the great reveal music here: Nothing surprised me more than actually seeing Jack sitting at my drawing table, brush in hand, happily painting away… in red paint, no less! After the cartoon scenario of the steam coming out of my ears and my eyes popping out of my head, I reigned in my temper and pulled the chair away from the drawing table to study the damage. Jack looked up at me innocently, with nothing but love and excitement and said, “I wanted to finish the red line for you, Daddy!” I looked at it and understood that the definition of “line” for a 5-year-old is much different than it is for me. I smiled and took the brush out of his hand, explaining ever-so-gently, “Daddy’s art is Daddy’s art. Jack’s art is Jack’s art. No more touching Daddy’s art.” He smiled and said “Okay,” grabbed his light sabers and went back to practicing his moves. The moral to the story is, when your son tells you three times he’s breaking the rules, believe him!” And now you know the truth. If you own this limited edition print, you own a historic piece of Jack Dorman’s worldwide art premiere as well.

Tomorrow I will post the iconic Batman painting I did that is now up for sale from my private collection. It’s hard to give up, but I am working hard to raise the money to take some time off of full-time commercial work and finish my passion project, aka Project 52. FYI, 50% of the profits for books and print sales from Project 52 will go to USACares.org, and 50% will go to 501st founder Albin Johnson’s favorite charity, the  “Make a Wish Foundation,” in honor of his daughter Katie. Here’s a link to check it out if you want to be named in the book (for just a $5 donation) or if you want 2 lines to commemorate a fallen soldier (a $25 donation). The 501st who donate will be listed in a separate chapter of the book.  Project 52 = http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-52

As always, I thank all of you for reading.

Dave

Dave Dorman Announcement: FINAL CHAPTER IN CRIMSON EMPIRE is a GO!

Dear Friends,

For some of you, the moment you’ve been patiently awaiting has arrived – I will be doing CRIMSON EMPIRE for Dark Horse, finishing out the series, with 6 covers. I discovered this at Star Wars Celebration 5, as I was surprised by “Pith Lord” Randy Stradley, who sneaked up on me (literally) and surprised me with this wonderful news. I can’t tell you how eager I am to do this project. I’ve been asked about finishing Crimson Empire thousands of times, and I’m so glad I finally have good news to share.

Before I forget, big news: I’m on CNN.com right now. Here’s the link: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-482375

My friend Josh Estrin (who wrote the CNN piece) runs Celebbuzz (smack-free interviews with celebs) and I like his stance, as there’s just too much negativity in this world and he keeps his interviews devoid of it. Check him out. He also writes for Examiner.com.

In other PR news, Sirius Satellite Radio had a channel dedicated solely to Star Wars Celebration 5 for 4 days. I believe it was Channel 180. I was interviewed on Saturday morning, but I didn’t get to hear it, so if anyone has a link or feedback for me on the interview, I’d love to hear it.

I want to thank Chris Spice and his crew for lending me some muscle in setting up my booth this year. They are the best people and fellow 501st members (and Chris runs a certain Web site…). I also thank all of you who purchased prints from me this year at Star Wars Celebration, as well as prelims.

One of my customer couples soon became  my wife’s & my closest friends – funny how you just click with certain people that way.  So for Gary & Rhonda Price, I thank you for ALL that you did for us over the 5 days, which was a LOT. For those of you with product, please let me connect you with Gary, who is very involved in the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Hollywood, FL. It’s a worthwhile cause and I support it as well and will be sending plenty of product to Gary.

I thank all of the 501st members from all over the world who signed my personal print from Star Wars Celebration 5, which I will hang with my other 2 signed prints.  I really treasure those.

I thank The Collector for all that he did to support me and promote me at the show, and my old Pensacola friend  Pat Augustine, whom I hadn’t seen in way too many years. It was so good to catch up. He brought me the fan comics he & I used to create & Xerox over at the Pensacola newspaper (one of our friends’ dads was an editor there at the time), so he really saw my evolution in my work up close and personal. If anyone wants to see this work, I can scan it in & post it on my blog. Let me know if  you want to see it.

Before I forget, please be sure to post reviews of my new book “ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN” on Amazon.com. That really helps me out a lot, and I appreciate it. The books should be available in retail outlets soon, or you can order them directly through me for $100 and I will include a full-page sketch on the inside cover of the book.

Okay, I’m heading back to Chicago soon, but I wanted to check in and fill you all in on all of the news. I will post pictures from my personal photos of SWC5 on this blog this week as well.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

Dave Dorman’s C2E2 Recap

Hi Everyone,

Well, this past weekend was quite an experience.  First, I want to say a special thanks to my wife Denise’s cousin, who owns a condo across from Chicago’s Art Institute. We spent Thursday evening there with her, and it was ideal for getting to my early Friday morning Mancow radio interview on time.

As Denise and I waited in Mancow Muller’s green room, Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame came strolling in for an interview with Mancow and Max Brooks. Here’s some trivia for you: Darrell Hammond had the longest run on SNL – 14 years. He was hilarious as usual, and in combination with Max Brooks, a former SNL writer for 2 years, it was a really great interview. Darrell’s Al Sharpton impression slayed me. When Darrell left, I entered Mancow’s lair with Max and Mancow.  It turns out, I need to hit the gym. Mancow noted immediately how much I looked like Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. Ouch.

Mancow arranged a bit where Max and I identified Star Wars sound f/x. My wife says Max won this contest, but I like to call it a draw. Mancow drew out of me a story I wasn’t prepared to tell:  The Keith Moon story. For those of you who don’t know it already, it’s a lot to write, but I’ll write it out for you one day. It will also be documented in my new book “Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman” by IDW/Desperado Publishing, coming out this summer (shameless plug, I know).  Anyhow, before I forget, be sure to get Max Brooks’ wonderful books: “The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead,” and “World War Z.” He’s a great writer and we all need to be supporting great writers, especially since the latest study shows that graphic novel sales dipped this past year. My hope is that the iPad and its sister digital readers will correct this.

So…C2E2 was a great show for me personally. I’ve heard mixed reviews from publishers and artists, but I liked the location, the show organizers (Reed), and the comfortable room with abundant natural light, ideal for viewing everyone’s gorgeous illustration work. I want to say thank you to all of the 501st brethren who stopped by – it means a lot to have all of your support.  I’m an honorary member of the Midwest Garrison, which I don’t take lightly.  A special thank you to my friends from the comic book store in Kalamazoo, MI and also  SketchMaven.com for dropping by as well. It’s always good to put faces to names.  I will be selling some of my original art on the SketchMaven.com site, so be sure to check them out, and I’ll post it here as well.

Some attendees were confused by the fact that C2E2 was held at the same time as KBIS, the Kitchen & Bath show,  in McCormick Place.  My wife used to work the KBIS show for GROHE and created some video comedy bits for Hansgrohe with Mancow’s former producer, Jocko Hedblade (see how small of a world it can be?) so she was doubly confused by the convergence  of her two disparate worlds. More trivia: The El Jocko cigar is named for Jocko Hedblade, for those of you cigar afficionados.

While at C2E2, I purchased a couple of books from an old favorite – Archaia – I bought “The Killer Volume 2″ and “Okko Volume 1.” I also bought “The Seven Swords,” a relatively new and very cool Hong Kong Samurai-style action flick I’ve been eager to own.

We were lucky to break bread with Mike Kennedy, the creator of videogame “Unbound Saga,” and his lovely wife Liz, who is a gifted editor. It was also great to connect with Charlie Athanas, Jim Tampa of Medallion Press and Kevin Sandstrom of Blick Art Supply.

Current projects this week include closing out a project for Magic: The Gathering, roughs for SoGoPro’s graphic novel project with Charlie Athanas, commissioned art for indie comic book creator Howard Feltman, and finishing up my aforementioned art book for IDW/Desperado Publishing.  I’m also wrapping my head around the implications of tonight’s episode of LOST, and for those of you who love it like we do, we will be very bummed when the series ends. We are recording our “Wednesday is Comic Book Day” podcast tomorrow, but I’m unsure when it will be posted, so check with me here on that.

Thanks to everyone for reading. I hope you’re all having a good week. If anyone has questions you’d like for me  to answer on the podcast, please call and leave a message on the podcast hotline at (206) 350-6326. I realize I’m opening us up for all of Denise’s crazy friends to prank us, but hopefully some normal questions will get through.

Dave.