Dave Dorman News & An Opportunity to Help A PTSD Survivor

Dear Friends,

My art (including Captain Nemo!) is on display at HEVANSTON GALLERY in Evanston, Illinois, curated by Charlie Athanas. I am joined by artists Aaron B. Miller and Douglas Klauba, so if you are in the area, please check it out. It’s really a wonderful gallery show.

I’m off to see Captain America today, which I’m really eager to see, but I wanted to give you the heads up about an important project that I think deserves some attention, so please share this with all of your military and philanthropic friends. Iraq veteran Melissa Thurber, the daughter of my good friends Steve and Karen Baker, served our country honorably in Iraq, but like way too many, she returned home with PTSD. She is enormously brave, and a talented photographer, so she is putting together this wonderful photography book sharing the stories of fellow veterans with PTSD, who are trusting her alone to tell their stories. I am wondering if any you out there can find her a grant to fund her project? Perhaps Starbucks‘ Howard Schultz could include Melissa’s project in his $30 million to research PTSD, since these brave veterans are baring their souls in telling their sides of the PTSD story. Here is Melissa Thurber’s description of her important project, and a link to her GoFundMe.com page:

Iraq Veteran and PTSD Survivor Melissa Thurber Needs Help Funding Her Book

I am an Iraq war veteran with PTSD. I have been a photographer for as long as I can remember. Photography is my release. It is my healing tool. I have been wanting to start working on a photographic book about PTSD. I want to reach out to other veterans and try to help them heal the same way I am through the powerful images I can create. 

I know first hand how very hard it is to talk about why I have PTSD. I always just tell people it is from my deployment. My goal is to reach out to other veterans with PTSD and through my photography tell their stories and hopefully help them heal some along the way

I already have many Veterans with PTSD that I have spoken to that are 100% willing to participate as they trust that another Veteran with PTSD will be honest and real with their stories. 

Funding this project will bring light to an unspoken problem with today’s veterans, including myself, and hopefully will reach other veterans not in participation to see that it is ok to share our stories, no matter how it’s told!!

Thanks, everyone, for reading. I am hopeful you’ll join Denise and me in helping Melissa Thurber reach her modest goal to produce this PTSD book.

Dave.

Dynamic Duo Alert: Dave Dorman Collaborating with X-Files Star Dean Haglund on Graphic Novel

Los Angeles, CA and Chicago, IL—April 20, 2012—In their first creative collaboration, #1 Star Wars Artist Dave Dorman is creating the cover art for The X-Files and Lone Gunmen actor and “The Truth is Out There” filmmaker Dean Haglund. Haglund’s new graphic novel “Shock ‘N Awesome” is currently a Kickstarter.com campaign and promises a conspiracy theory lovers tale, unveiling the very Indiana Jones-like truth behind the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hint: It wasn’t oil.

“Dean and I have kicked around some collaborative ideas over the years, but this one feels right to me,” said Dorman. “I am thrilled that someone of Dave’s caliber is working with me on this creative adventure. I believe Dave’s cover art will excite people enough to meet my Kickstarter goal,” Haglund added. Shock ‘N Awesome currently has $4,257 in contributions with 23 more days remaining to earn the total $7,000 required to produce the graphic novel.

If funding goes according to plan, Haglund hopes to have the graphic novel ready in time for San Diego Comic-Con, and an autograph session at Dorman’s Booth #4500.

Haglund will publish an initial run of 1,000 issues to be distributed through Diamond.

For more information, please visit http://deanhaglund.com or http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deanhaglund/shock-n-awesome-graphic-novel.

About Dean Hagund:

Dean is probably best known for his nine seasons playing Langly, one of the computer geeks known as “The Lone Gunmen” from the hit FOX TV series The X-Files.  Today, Dean’s visual art is now collected worldwide. His oil paintings combine an unabashed Graphic Novel sensibility, using classic compositions and images from iconic Americana. Modern allegories and metaphors arise from a heavily researched catalogue of past works using the emotional/ theatrical tableaus with re-stated contemporary themes and cultural touchstones to evoke new meaning. Dean headlines with his unique ONE MAN X-FILES IMPROV COMEDY show at comedy clubs, colleges and comedy festivals around the world, which earned him 4-star reviews from the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival, two years in a row.

About Dave Dorman:

For the past 30 years, Eisner and Inkpot Award-winning artist Dave Dorman’s dynamic, hyper-realism art has boosted toy and comic book sales for those art directors wise enough to hire him. His fan base is worldwide. In 2012 Dorman did the six covers completing the Dark Horse Star Wars “Crimson Empire” series, and is currently creating the covers for the new four-book “Darth Maul” series. His Captain America art also appears in the new Marvel pop-up book Super Heroes vs. Villains: An Explosive Pop-Up of Rivalries slated for a July 2012 release. His autobiography, “Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman” (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) is available on Amazon.com and his 2-part instructional series on pencil and oil illustration is available via The Gnomon Workshop. This year, Dave Dorman will be exhibiting this year at Spectrum, San Diego Comic-Con Booth #4500 and Star Wars Celebration 6. His one-man art show, “Pi ala Mode” just completed its April run Chicago’s Rotofugi art gallery.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Denise Dorman | 630.845.4694 | denise@writebrainmedia.com

Tw: @writebrainmedia | Facebook.com/writebrainmedia

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Announcing My 30th Anniversary Print #2: COBRA Night Viper

Dear Friends,

It’s time to announce the #2 Giclee in my year-long 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Series. This exclusive set of celebration prints commemorates my 30 years as a professional artist, showing milestones in my artistic career. For more general information on this series please see my previous blog announcing it by clicking here… I thank Hisstank.com for picking up the story as well. That was really great. G.I. Joe Fans, if you’re not on that site already, you need to know about it.

In case you didn’t read my last blog entry, this paragraph recaps the back story on my involvement with Hasbro and G.I. Joe:

Beginning in the mid 1980s, I started working for Hasbro as a freelancer for their R&D Department. I was hired to create paintings of their characters, in development for toys, to be rendered realistically as if they were real people. This assignment was perfect for me, as I love to work on figures and challenge myself to translate the toy designs as they might look if you saw them on the battlefield. These works were to be used as presentation pieces to the Board of Directors to help them choose which characters got produced as actual toys.

For the first wave of figures, I was told to concentrate on the character with very little background added. I did about 12 of these during that set. In the next wave, I was asked to add a proper looking background to the figures. This helped place the figure and give it more context and realism. I continued to do that for the rest of the art done for Hasbro, until the early 1990s. I produced around a hundred paintings for them and it was a very fun run.

For 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Giclee #2, I have chosen the COBRA Night Viper as my representative art for this time period in my career, because it has always been one of my favorite GI JOE paintings. This was one of the first I did featuring the full background, with the color and atmosphere of the piece really giving a great feel of stealth and character.

COBRA Night Viper by Dave Dorman

Like all prints in this series, this one will be issued in extremely Limited Edition Giclee’s of 30 copies, each signed and numbered by me, Dave Dorman. Each will have a special embossing on the print in the bottom right corner and also come with a Certificate of Authenticity. The price is $30.00 including free shipping in the US, an additional $18 for shipping outside the US. Please click here to order this print….http://www.davedorman.com/30thprint.shtml

Next month’s featured print hint: “If Adventure Has a Name….”

For those of you following Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich’s situation, no matter which side of it you’re on, he’s a fellow artist and human being, and he’s hurting and needs our help. To help Gary, our friend Steve Niles created an online fund-raiser to help with geting up on his mortgage and medical bills; if you’d like to help Gary, please click here: http://www.steveniles.com/gary.html

Another fund-raiser I’m involved in is helping my Chicago comic book artist friend Doug Klauba’s beautiful son Gianni, pictured here:

Gianni Klauba, Son of Comic Book Artist Doug Klauba

Gianni is a special needs child who needs costly therapy and an iPad to help with that therapy, so please click on http://giannispad.com if you can help him. I contributed an Artist Proof of my Darth Vader’s Persuasion of the Outer Rim to help with that, and I know our friend Alex Ross has contributed this original Batman piece as well, so please bid on all of the art to help our Gianni!

Bid on Alex Ross' Batman Art for Gianni Klauba!

I will be teaching how to draw Star Wars art in an afternoon workshop with Doug Klauba on February 25th at the Southwest Elementary School in Evergreen Park to raise funds for their PTA. For those of you who watch Big Bang Theory, let me know if you’ve spotted Doug’s artwork on the set yet?

In other teaching news, I will be presenting at the prestigious American Academy of Art (Alum include Douglas Klauba, Jill Thompson, Alex Ross) in Chicago on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. I was told by an organizer that the students have been stealing the posters off the walls that announce my lecture and include a low rez image of Lord Vader’s Persuasion of the Outer Rim, so I hope people actually find out about it and show up to see me.

I also want to let you know that I will be donating an original oil Star Wars painting to non-profit indie school Elgin Academy, and online bidding will start on March 1st. I am told  one of their auction items is 2 tickets to San Diego Comic-Con, which are impossible to get and were sold out during last year’s show already. If you’re in need of two five-day San Diego Comic-Con passes, you’ll want to keep an eye on this page. Those passes include a dinner with me in San Diego, if you don’t mind dining with a dedicated carnivore.

I thank you for poring over this rather lengthy message, but I had much to announce today. My next blog will be my interview with my friend Mark Nagata, who owns MaxToyCo.com, a wonderfully exclusive Japanese Monster Toys company.

Have a great rest of the day,

Dave.

I Need a Quick Favor by Midnight Tonight

Dear Friends,

Two friends of mine, Sean Steinmarc and Paul Feldman, started this cool new company called PSGive.org. They share a true heart for charity – they started out by raising money for diabetes research, and then realized there had to be a way to create greater impact. PSGive.org not only raises money for charities, it incentivizes people to contribute as well as learn about additional charities needing their help.  In no time at all, PSGive.org has risen to the Top 5 on Mashable.com’s big online contest for the best new online business in 2010. At midnight tonight, all voting stops and the winner is decided. PSGive.org has been in first place all along, and I want to ensure they remain there. I will be donating some really fun experiential stuff (maybe private art lessons with me directly?) with them in 2011, so I am personally invested in seeing they do well. Here’s what I humbly ask of all of you tonight:

Simple instructions:
Taking just 5 seconds to vote helps our charities!
1. click http://on.mash.to/f9Hwu1
2. login with Facebook or Twitter (they don’t do anything w/ your info without permission)
3. click ‘vote’

For Twitter, we’ve been going with this – please ReTweet this for me:

@psgive is startup helping charities; I know u luv charities, pls help by voting on @Mashable & RT! http://on.mash.to/f9Hwu1

Thanks, friends. I will let you know tomorrow if we’ve won!

I thank everyone who dressed up to celebrate little Star Wars Girl Katie last Friday – I have been so slammed with my Frazetta painting, I haven’t had a chance to post since them, but I will do so shortly. A warm holiday season to you all.

Dave.

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