The Search for: The LEGO Diorama Artist of Lord Vader’s Persuasion of the Outer Rim

Dear Friends,

I was surprised and thrilled to see this amazing LEGO recreation of my Star Wars art, Lord Vader’s Persuasion of the Outer Rim. I would love to get a high-res image of this to print out and hang in my studio next to my print, and to also present this artist with a Lord Vader’s Persuasion print (if he or she doesn’t already have one). Can YOU help me find this artist? 

The LEGO diorama recreation of LORD VADER’S PERSUASION of the OUTER RIM

My Facebook page has been blowing up with comments about this new piece, and we’re all having fun with this. It’s a huge honor to see my work recreated, just as it was when this fan Tomi Demolka had my Lord Vader’s Persuasion art tattooed onto his back:

A dedicated fan getting Lord Vader’s Persuasion permanently illustrated on his back

Thanks everyone, for any help you can provide in helping me track down this artist and personally thank him or her. My next show is Denver Comic-Con in May, and I look forward to seeing some of you there.

Dave.

 

Star Wars Toy Based On My Dark Empire 2 Cover Art and Vehicle Design

Dear Friends,

In my garage cleaning frenzy, I’ve discovered a lot of fun items and toys (many of which I’m going to be selling online, so I will keep you posted), but this particular one fascinated my wife, who had no idea I fully rendered this Star Wars vehicle for Lucasfilm for the Dark Empire 2 cover based on an interior design by Cam Kennedy. A fan at Celebration Europe came up to me and gave me 2 of the actual toys created from my creature design & comic book cover art, so here are some images of them:

My Star Wars comic book cover, the vehicle I designed, and the toy based on it

The cover I’m holding is actually a European edition that was also discovered during my garage cleaning frenzy – I’m unsure which language this is in.

And here’s a side view of the toy:

If you are the fan from Celebration Europe who gave me these wonderful toys, please speak up so I can give you proper credit publicly – I thank you so much.

–Dave

When GEEK Worlds Collide: ProofX Is Premiering My WASTED LANDS Character in 3D Printout at MacWorld Tomorrow

Dear Friends,

I’m excited to announce that Dima Elissa, CEO of ProofX in Chicago will be presenting the world premiere of the 3D print-out of my WASTED LANDS villainous character THE HOLLOW MAN at MacWorld  tomorrow as part of her presentation at 11:40 a.m. titled “3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping: For Macs and Medicine.” I was very fortunate to work with fellow artist Dave Taylor of Imagination Rendered in Valparaiso, Florida, who did the 3D sculpting of my HOLLOW MAN character, based on my concept art.  I was also fortunate to work with Nuha Nazy at ProofX in getting the logistics managed and the 3D printed piece produced in time for MacWorld – it was a bit of a whirlwind this past weekend on top of my appearance at REEL ART in Berwyn. (A special thanks to Corey, Robert Garcia and the team who put that event together.) Anyhow, I hope my WASTED LANDS creature is well received and if you’re in the MacWorld audience, tomorrow, send me photos or footage of the presentation since they’re not streaming it for the general public. If you haven’t already, please “Like” my WASTED LANDS Fan Page: http://facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands. Here’s the concept art for my HOLLOW MAN character: 

Dave Dorman HOLLOW MAN concept art from his creator-owned series,    THE WASTED LANDS

Dima Elissa will be hosting an Open House at her ProofX location on April 8th at 1001 University Place in Evanston, IL from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and I hope those of you in Chicagoland can join us there. (Just don’t look for me there at 7 a.m.!)

Additionally, I will be participating in a 3-man art show on April 4th at Hevanston Art Gallery, 529 Davis Street, Evanston, IL curated by my longtime friend and collaborator Charlie Athanas. Joining me will be my good friends and artist colleagues, Douglas Klauba (you’ve seen Doug’s “Stella 7” art on Howard Wolowitz’s bedroom wall  if you’ve ever watched “Big Bang Theory”) and Aaron B. Miller. 

This week I’m working hard on meeting my deadline for Mike Kennedy, publisher of Magnetic Press, who is publishing my WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS for San Diego Comic-Con, so be sure to watch for that – I’ve recolored all of the art from my first graphic novel, RAIL: BROKEN THINGS, as well as the SKINNERS story that first appeared in PENTHOUSE COMICS. I am also creating new art for the book.

Here’s Where You Can Find Me in 2014:

April 10, 11, 12, 13, 14: I’ll be a judge again this year in the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards in Hollywood in mid-April, so if you need to meet with me while out there, contact denise@writebrainmedia.com and she will work hard to get you on my calendar. If you want to see me look ridiculous in a tuxedo, watch the awards ceremony streaming live that Sunday the 13th.

April 25, 26, 27 –  I will be exhibiting in Artists Alley at C2E2 in Chicago at McCormick Place

May 9, 10. 11 – Find me at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas City, KS.

May 30, 31, and June 1: I will be exhibiting at Indy PopCon in Indianapolis, IN – this show is curated by Larry Zore of Comics Price Guide and it is a family-friendly show.

June 7: I will be signing at Joliet Star Wars Day at the Joliet Public Library – this is the World’s Largest Star Wars Library Event, so come on out.

July 24, 25, 26, 27 – I will be exhibiting at Booth #4500 at San Diego Comic-Con. Joining me will be Mike and Tim Bawden of SILENT GUNFIGHT with their WASTED LANDS Board Game, IRON WARS, plus a new WASTED LANDS card game called RED TIDE, and Steve Smith of ALAXIS PRESS, publisher of THE LEANING GIRL – the first book from THE OBSCURE CITIES series, published in English for the first time, who will join me with SDCC featured guests writer Benoit Peeters and artist Francois Schuiten.

August 14, 15, 16, 17th – I will be attending GenCon in Indianapolis – I’m not sure yet if we’re exhibiting there with SILENT GUNFIGHT.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

DAVE.

 

Join Dave Dorman and Chicago Comic Book Artists at REEL ART in Berwyn on March 22nd

Dear Friends,

I will be at REEL ART in Berwyn on March 22nd from Noon until 3 p.m. Meet some really amazing artists whom I am proud to call my friends and colleagues: Hilary Barta, Randy Broecker, Dougherty & Nieves, Gary Gianni, Scott Gustafson, Doug Klauba, Aaron Miller and Alex Wald.

Here is a flyer announcing the event:

Dave Dorman’s First-Ever Battlestar Galactica Fine Art Print Launches at SDCC

Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to announce that ANOVOS, famed for their wonderful costume and gear recreations for Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek, asked me to do their first fine art print, which is also my first-ever Battlestar Galactica art from the newest series (2004-2009). Here is just a pencil study I did of Edward James Olmos/Admiral Adama, to give you a sneak peek at a small portion of the art. Most of your favorite characters will be in this piece – a hangar scene – and I hope that you enjoy the work when we unveil it next Wednesday night at San Diego Comic-Con (heretofore referenced as SDCC).

I Am Doing Three SDCC Exclusives this Year:

As always, I’m in Booth #4500, which is an end cap booth facing the lobby between the two F Doors. We are in that first row that runs parallel with the lobby. Joining us this year is Blackwatch Comics, which is ABC’s General Hospital actor and amazing writer Michael Easton (writer, “The Green Woman” for DC/Vertigo) and artist Christopher Shy of Studio Ronin fame. Their SOUL STEALER: The Collector’s Edition is launching at the show – an award-winning goth fantasy trilogy in a gorgeous Taschen-style book. Be sure to check them out. They are also offering sneak peeks at a cool historical fiction novel called “The North End of the World” about one of my favorite photographers, Edward S. Curtis, who documented all of the Native American Indians’ customs and images in photography.

I will have a new limited edition Sketchbook of my pencil illustration art for sale, limited to 250 copies, signed by me. I started this tradition last year and sold out, so I realized this was a worthwhile thing to do and affordable for the fans at just $10 per book.

My first-ever father-son collaboration on a Kaiju (Japanese Monster) toy for Max Toy Company will preview at SDCC (just the art, not the finished pieces) for founder Mark Nagata, a rock star in his own right when it comes to toys.

I will be joining the panel for HEAVY METAL on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in Room #8. As you may have read in my autobiography, my very first published piece of work in my career was a HEAVY METAL cover, so naturally, I want to help them celebrate their 35th anniversary. This is my 30th anniversary in the business this year.

My Captain America art will be in the MARVEL Comics Pop-Up book launching at SDCC.

I will be happy to sign my Crimson Empire and Darth Maul Dark Horse Comics covers for anyone who would like an autograph. Autographs are ALWAYS FREE. I will be doing a signing in their booth, so check out their website for the dates/times.

Okay, I think that’s everything for now. If you’re a blogger, reporter or journalist wanting to connect with me at the show, please set up your schedule with my PR firm WriteBrain Media – denise@writebrainmedia.com or call 630.845.4694. If you haven’t already, please “Like” my Facebook Fan Page – I’m very active on there – it’s http://Facebook.com/DaveDormanFanPage. Unfortunately, I’m over my limit for people I can friend on my personal page, so I flit back and forth between the two pages these days.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

Dave Dorman Art Progressives: Recreating Classic Dave Dorman G.I. Joe Art

Dear Friends,

Most of my fans know that during the mid-’80s to the early ’90s, I worked with Hasbro producing G.I. Joe artwork for their Research and Development Department. This art was done as presentation for the Board of Directors to determine whether any particular character would move forward to future production. My task was to paint the characters designed as 3 1/2″ toys to look like real fighting G.I. Joe characters. None of this work was meant for publication, however, over the years, fans and collectors have seen some of this art via the Web or fan club communications. (One of the future projects I am hoping to get off of the ground is a collection of all of this unseen artwork into a G.I. Joe/Hasbro art volume. I will keep you up to date on information as this project progresses.)

I have many fans contact me directly about the art I did during this period. Recently one of those fans asked if I’d be interested in recreating some of those pieces for his private collection. This is not something that I normally do, but this particular fan showed so much enthusiasm that I thought that it might be fun to see how I would approach these paintings almost 20 years later. I took on his commission for the three recreations and now I present to you one of them as an art progressive:

Pencil on Illustration Board Recreating the Character to Be Painted

Progressive #2:

The original landscape for this painting had a textured rock pattern that I applied with very thick gesso. I repeated that technique on this new board as well.

Progressive #3:

Here I start laying in some of the b/g colors, starting with the explosion in the mid left.

Progressive #4:

The b/g is almost complete at this point with the main figure clean so that when I add color to the figure, it will be unencumbered by underpainting.

Progressive #5:

After the b/g dries, I now lay in the underpainting for the basic colors of the figure.

Progressive #6:

Continuing similar to the previous photo, I lay in the rest of the colors for this figure.

Progressive #7:

With the basic tones being laid down in oils, I now begin the detail work with acrylics, starting with the head and moving downward.

Progressive #8:

Work continues with the acrylics, adding more detail to the body and his equipment.

Progressive #9:

At this point, I've completed some of the finer shadowing details and refinements with various shades of gray markers. You'll note final details on the ground and some color corrections for the background. The above is the finished piece.

This piece was 16″ x 20″ oil, acrylic and marker on gessoed illustration board. It is the exactly the same size as the original Hasbro artwork. If you have comments or questions about this piece, please feel free to post them here.

Many of my G.I. Joe fans have asked me about commission work or recreations. This is the first one I have ever done, and I did enjoy bringing back good memories of working with the artists and creators at Hasbro. I would certainly be happy to do more of this type of work if any of you are interested. Please feel free to email me directly at  dormanart@yahoo.com or message me via Facebook

As always, I thank you for your time and interest in my work.

Dave

Blogger Dave Dorman Now Offering Product Reviews

Dear Friends,

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

 

DAVE DORMAN STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE PRELIMS FOR SALE: OWN A PIECE OF POP CULTURE HISTORY

Dear Friends,

Thanks to all who attended the HorrorSociety.com-sponsored horror art show MALEFICIUM last night at Kosart Effects Studios & Gallery in Westmont, IL and hung out with my wife Denise and me. From today through mid December, you can book a viewing by appointment only, so contact J. Anthony Kosar if you want to spend quality time surrounded in rooms full of art by me, Tony Akins, Charlie Athanas Kyle Bice, Brian Busch, Melissa “MissMonster” Curphy, Samantha DeCarlo, Ray Frenden, Aron Gagliardo, Ashton Gallagher, Tom Herzberg, Doug Klauba, Kenn Kooi, J. Anthony Kosar (the Boaris Frankenswine life-sized pig he did is off the hook!) Rich Kryczka, Joseph Larkin, Joe Lester, Darick Maasen, Matthew McCarty, Menton Matthews III, Aaron Miller, Bill Reinhold, Chad Savage, Jason Seiler, Tim Shumate, Ben Templesmith, Jill Thompson and Bill Ystrom. There is SO MUCH gorgeous horror art, horror action figures and sculptures, it’s almost too much to take it all in, but all of the hipsters and cool kids are seeing it, so you should, too. There are prints for sale of the art as well and we hope you take advantage of this limited time opportunity.

I wanted to mention that the auction ends today for my Star Wars Crimson Empire pencil prelim, the artwork which is now on the cover of the Dark Horse Comics issue in your local comic book store. Here’s the link to place your bid and own a piece of pop culture history: http://bit.ly/tWZvlQ 

Dave Dorman's Star Wars Crimson Empire Cover Art Prelim, Now on eBay

My CAT WOMAN erotic girl art is also still up for sale on eBay, auction ending tonight as well – to view that, see my last blog posting or click here to place your bid! http://bit.ly/w09S8L

Today I’ll be painting all day, with the occasional break to see what you’re all up to on Facebook and Twitter, finally carving our pumpkin (we’re thinking an Angry Birds face design), and then watching “WALKING DEAD” tonight on AMC. FYI, I may be switching my personal Facebook account over to a FB Fan Page, which makes no difference to those of you connected to me, but I guess I lose a few pictures or something. No biggie. I have them all saved on my computer. It’s getting to the point where the 20 new friends per day are going to exceed my 5,000 limit for friends and once that happens, I don’t want to be hanging out on two different pages. If you want to connect with me on all of my social networks, here’s my 411:

Dave Dorman on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Dave Dorman on FaceBook: http://fb.com/davedormanartist

Dave Dorman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davedorman

As always, I thank you for reading, commenting and taking an interest in my work. It’s what keeps me going and keeps me painting.

Dave.

Some of Dave Dorman’s Private Toy Collection on eBay

Hi Everyone,

Like all of you, we’re busy gearing up for Thanksgiving. I will post another blog on this closer to the big day, but I have much to be thankful for this year.

For the next few weeks I will be having a number of eBay auctions, selling some of my toy/action figure/figurines that I have received as samples from the manufacturer. Many of these are variants.  I am selling some as sets, as well as individual pieces. I am not asking collector’s prices, just what I think is reasonable. A lot of these will make fun Christmas/Hanukkah/holiday gifts for the kids, especially if they’re San Diego Comic-Con, Micronauts or GI Joe fans.

So here is the listing from this week’s lots:

A Dave Dorman Original Painting:
http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay&LogUID=iguana58&CurrentPage=MyeBaySummary&migrateVisitor=3

A set of San Diego Comic-Con International Branded Super Heroes Rubber Ducks, signed by me, from my goodie bag as VIP Guest this year!:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665951692&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Space Glider:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665973158&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Acroyear:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665973158&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Membros:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665984113&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Time Traveler
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665987176&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

GI JOE Baroness Mini-Bust:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270665993955&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Force Commander CLEAR
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270666010549&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Micronauts Force Commander RED
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270666013169&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

As always, I thank you for your time & interest in what I’m up to.

Dave.