My Updates, A New Year’s Sale, and 2013 Plans!

Hi Everyone! And Happy New Year!!

2012 was an interesting year (to paraphrase the old Chinese proverb). I had a great year creatively and not so good health-wise. I had a great run on Darth Maul covers for Dark Horse Comics, and had the opportunity to produce another great widescreen style print for the Star Wars Celebration VI last August. In addition, I took the time to paint some personal pieces and found great confidence and strength in the freedom of creativity that I was able to channel into those pieces. I believe that has come through in my commercial work as well, and I feel that I am doing the best work of my career at this point. I am very much looking forward to carrying this into 2013 and beyond! (More on those projects down below…)

Health-wise it was a very weird year. I am usually a pretty strong guy as far as my personal health, but 2012 hit me unexpectedly hard. At the beginning of the summer I caught the flu, which eventually turned into walking pneumonia. Unfortunately that hit me during the time of the San Diego Convention, so if you saw me there and I did not seem myself, that’s why. I eventually got over that and felt better for about a month, then at the beginning of November I was hit with an appendicitis. Fortunately, I knew what it was (with a little self-diagnosis help from the “interweb”) and Denise took me to the hospital the next morning before it could rupture. The doctor removed my appendix and I started to feel better for a couple days, and then I began to feel worse. Without going into the painful details, I spent the next four weeks with complications and a misdiagnosis that just kicked my butt to the point where I was almost bedridden.

Finally with the advice of a doctor friend and the urging of Denise, we went to my family practitioner for some help. He immediately ordered blood tests and then promptly put me back in the hospital the next day, finding I had an abscess where my appendix was, and it was the size of a softball. Within a day of them taking care of this, I was feeling so much better. I was in the hospital for this during the first week of December, and was so happy to be feeling better for the upcoming Holiday season.

While I am still recovering, (I am almost back to 100% now), it made me realize how lucky I am to have the things God has given me. My wife, my amazing son, my family and friends, and the talent and creativity that drives me to continue to be the best I can be in all I do.

But most of all, I would like to thank all of you who have written and emailed and Facebooked during the last two months following this horrible event of mine. It was so helpful to keep my mental strength up and the desire to get past this to be able to get back to painting and creating the art you all look forward to, and the work I take so much pleasure in creating. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Now…onto 2013!

I plan a few things for the coming year and who knows where work will take me as the year progresses. The two big things I am proud to work on will be personal projects–both through Kickstarter–as I will be publishing them myself. The first will be “NEMO,” a triptych of large canvas paintings reproduced in a series of affordable prints to high-end Giclees.  There will also be a “Making of” book, and possibly a video DVD to accompany it.  More to come on this as I finish the art.

The other big project I am so happy to announce–finally–is the continuation of my “RAIL” graphic novel series. It has been quite a while since the original edition appeared, and following the problems with the original publisher, and the distractions that life throws at you, I am just now finally getting back to my personal project. I plan on reworking some of the material in the original RAIL book and offering a new edition through KICKSTARTER. I am hoping to be able to fund both this revised edition and the first sequel. My intent is to publish all four books in this series myself, with support from all of you, my fans. Quite a few of you have asked when the follow-up will be coming. I hope 2013 will see this happen.  I will have more on this very soon as I pull this together. Keep watching.

DAVE DORMAN PRINT SALE

I had a lot of fans asking if I was going to have a holiday print sale this year. Unfortunately my illness prevented me getting this ready for a pre-holiday sale. But I figured, “Why not start the New Year right for those interested decorating their walls?” So I have decided to offer the print sale as a New Year’s Sale! This sale can be found on this page of my website: http://www.davedorman.com/swprints2013sale.shtml

The sale will only go until midnight Jan. 5, and I will send out the prints the week of Jan 7. I hope you can find something you like!

I will endeavor to update this blog a little more frequently now that I’m home and healthy again. And I THANK YOU again for all your well wishes during this past 2 months. With my reinvigorated health and drive to create, I do not think you will be disappointed with what 2013 will bring for us.

May God bless you all with health and prosperity in 2013. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

DAVE.

Six Lucky Fans Will Come to My Home, See Me Paint and 1 Will Win the Painting

Dear Friends,

It all started this past Thanksgiving. We were with our friends, and my friend’s step-dad was very excited to meet me, have me sign my Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman book for him, and then watch me draw the remarque and just generally hang out all day and talk art and pop culture. Our friends Mary and Julie lamented that this was a rare occurrence for a fan to have personal access to me, and that got this whole crazy ball rolling. Before I knew it, my wife, Mary and Julie had a night planned out at my house, with Julie cooking a gourmet meal (she’s great), and the fans getting unprecedented access to my studio, my collections and a chance to see me painting live and in person. That’s how this whole thing developed. So, we’ve worked out the logistics, such as when it should be held (April 14th, during C2E2, altho’ not affiliated with C2E2 in any way), how to get the fans here (by limo) and what we should include. I will do a live painting demo while everyone’s here, and one of the Lucky Six will win the painting. So…here’s the eBay auction under my wife’s account, which will award one seat per week for the next 3 weeks. I will also post an auction under my account, awarding one seat per week for the next 3 weeks. We will end up with what we’re calling the “Lucky 6,” or six fans, who will get an unprecedented backstage pass to my private world and art. If any of the winners are artists, they will also get a portfolio review, critique and all of the advice they could possibly want. Also joining us will be Discovery TV’s host of GEEK LOVE, and founder of Sci-Fi Speed Dating, Ryan Glitch and his lovely fiancee’ and business partner.

I also want to let you know that ROTOFUGI, one of the hottest, hipster galleries in Chicago for the Juxtapoz/Hi-Fructose magazines and designer toy collectors crowd, has invited me to do a one-man show from April 6th – 30th. I am enormously honored. The timing on this is wonderful, because anyone rolling into town for C2E2 April 12 – 14 can easily cab it over to ROTOFUGI for my one-man show. I’ve named the show Pi Ala Mode: A Tentacley Delicious Feast with Delightful Amuse-Bouches. As you might have guessed, there will be plenty of octopi-laden art, along with a backdrop of eclectic pieces, something to delight anyone’s palate and/or palette, from my 30-year career.

I will have more fun news to post in my next blog about some really fun and creatively rewarding upcoming projects. I’m under embargo not to discuss them until the companies I’m working with do their press releases, or I’d love to be telling you already. I hope all of you Star Wars friends reading this have picked up my latest Dark Horse Comics Crimson Empire book (#5 in the series of 6).

As always, I thank you for reading and for your time and interest.

Dave.

My First Ever Dave Dorman Sketchbook Available Now

Dear Friends,

San Diego Comic Con 2011 is coming up quickly and this year, I decided to do my first-ever Dave Dorman Limited Edition Sketchbook! My new Sketchbook is packed with finished pencil art from some of my more famous paintings, some preliminaries for paintings I am working now in my studio, and certainly some of my fans’ favorite characters.

Here are the details:

First Issue Edition. This has been LIMITED to 250 copies. I will NOT be reprinting this book.

• 24 pages with black and white interiors and card stock duotone covers.
• Many of your favorite characters, including Batman, Captain America, Darth Vader… and a special first-ever preview of the preliminaries from my new CAPTAIN NEMO Triptych.
• Each sketchbook is signed by me, Dave Dorman.
• All orders made by Monday, July 18th, 2011 will be sent before the start of SDCC.
• Price is $10.00 and if you order online, shipping is $5.00. If you order more than one, I will deduct all postage over the initial $5.00 shipping.
• This is a PAYPAL only sale. If you cannot pay via PAYPAL , please do not buy.
• This is the perfect opportunity for those of you unable to attend SDCC this year to have this Dave Dorman Exclusive, One-of-a-Kind, Limited Edition Sketchbook. Due to the small print run of the book, I cannot guarantee I will have any copies after the show. I know a lot of my fans are unable to make the show this year, so please order your Dave Dorman Limited Edition Sketchbook ASAP!

Order now – here’s your link:

http://www.davedorman.com/sketchbook2011.shtml

If you are attending SDCC, I will be set up in Booth 4500, in your convention book under the name “Dave Dorman,” in an end cap booth near Door G. Please come by and say “Hello!” I will be doing autograph signings for Archaia and possibly Dark Horse, but keep checking back on my blog for updates and accurate information.

As always, I thank you for your interest in and support of my work!!

Dave.

P.S. For media inquiries, please contact my Public Relations Firm WriteBrain Media – Email is denise@writebrainmedia.com

P.P.S. Follow me on Facebook.com/davedorman, Twitter.com/davedorman (Twitter hashtag is #DaveDorman) and I am an open networker on Linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Dave Dorman Updates and Fresh Captain Nemo Art

DEAR FRIENDS,

I hope all of the mothers following me had a great Mother’s Day. My mother died of breast cancer way too young, and I find myself missing her more and more as the years go by. She would really have loved our son, who often asks about my mom and dad. Probably the most poignant moment was the day he asked to take my parents’ framed portrait down from our fireplace mantel and put it on the cocktail table where he was playing with his trains so Grandma and Grandpa “could watch him playing.” He has a way of choking us up out of the blue.

NEW ART I’M ACTUALLY WORKING ON TODAY – CAPTAIN NEMO: Here’s a snippet of the painting. I’m having a lot of fun with this piece, which is part 1 in a triptych I have planned. I will do a step-by-step blog when it’s complete, which should be in a few days.

Unfinished Captain Nemo by Dave Dorman

NEW BOOKS I’M IN: Many of you know I’m a military brat and a solid supporter of USACares.org, which helps financially challenged military families. Writer Julie Rahm contacted me about a year or so ago to be in her new book, “Military Kids Speak” and I agreed to the interview. I’m in great company with fellow Fort Walton Beach, FL resident and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (he has a street named after him in my old home town), actor Mark Hamill, Colin Powell, Newt Gingrich and many more. If you are interested in reading this topic, here’s the link: http://amzn.to/iJAgBn

Denise and I have contributed recipes to a new cookbook fundraiser for Destin Middle School near where we used to live on my beloved Gulf Coast, so here is a link to that cookbook (my recipe contribution is actually my mother’s): http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/destin-17741-cookbook-recipes.html

APPEARANCES: I had planned to participate in the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards event in Los Angeles this forthcoming weekend, but we need to stay home due to some in-law health concerns. My next public appearance will likely be Cherry Capital Con in Traverse City, Michigan at the Grand Traverse Resort the end of June. It looks like a fun show.

Of course, we will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con, same Bat time, same Bat channel (Booth #4500). Sharing my end cap booth this year will be Australian publisher Gestalt Comics, who does really great stuff and publisher Archaia who also publishes terrific graphic novels (who will be using a portion of my booth as their satellite booth location). I will have new sketch books this year, so watch for those! Thanks to friend and Devil’s Candy Store founder @Charlie_Athanas on Twitter who really pushed me to produce them.

TECH NEWS: My friend and colleague Mike Bawden of Brand Central Station in Iowa is working with me on my new Web site, so I will post here when it’s up. Additionally, he and I are working on a Dave Dorman iPhone app, and I will let you know when it’s ready for you.  One of my newer friends is the founder/owner of the blog DumbLittleMan.com, so be sure to check that out for life’s little tips. I am probably going to contribute some articles there and will post a link here. According to my wife, he gets GREAT SEO so if you write advice or tips articles, she says be sure to post there.

PODCAST NEWS: Michael Mennenga of Farpoint Media (and the host of Slice of Sci Fi, now on SiriusXM Satellite Channel 80) has graciously offered to continue producing our podcast, It’s Comic Book Day, which is news, interviews and reviews of all pop culture-related stuff – artists, writers, directors, magazine editors, producers, musicians…you name it. Our podcast is free on iTunes, so please feel free to download it for your next workout or road trip.

Okay, that’s all the news I have right now. Thanks as always for reading and for your interest in my work.

Follow me on Twitter: @DaveDorman

Follow me on Facebook: Facebook.com/DaveDorman

Link with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Dave

Judge Dredd: Dave Dorman-Style

Dear Friends,

As promised, here is my oil painting of Judge Dredd, which doesn’t appear in the new book, so you will only see it here.  I did this piece in the early ’90s as a graphic novel cover. It was a lot of fun for me to do, as I’ve been a fan of the Judge Dredd series for a long time.

Judge Dredd by Dave Dorman, Cover Art from Early '90s

Now I’m going to tell an embarrassing tale on my wife. When Denise and I first started dating, my post-divorce home was pretty much bachelor pad decor, so this very painting hung in my breakfast nook. Denise, who had never even heard of Judge Dredd, glanced over at the painting one morning and said, “Why is that muscle-bound guy in front of a sign for ‘Hee Haw’?” I rolled my eyes so far into the back of my head, I feared I was permanently blinded. Once my baby blues refocused, I patiently explained, “It says ‘The Law’.,” “Oh.” was all she said in return, not even mildly embarrassed. Needless to say, Denise has had a masters degree-level schooling from me in licensed properties since that day. Now she even knows the difference between Little Nemo and Captain Nemo, and that a true representation of Captain Nemo is of an East Indian man, as it was in the really fun 2003 film “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” Her gaffe was very nearly a deal breaker, but we trudged ahead, and here we are today, married 7 years on August 9th and blessed with a beautiful son.

I guess for my fellow pop culture authorities, the parable is that if you date someone who is new to the geekier side of things, have enduring patience with them. If they love you, they’ll eventually find it as interesting as you do. And let’s face it, your significant other has to love it to have the high level of energy required to enjoy the convention scene.

Well, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the art. Let me know, okay? I’m about to close down the survey on LinkedIn regarding whether you enjoy more doing traditional art, digital art or a combo platter of both. If you want to take the survey, you will need a LinkedIn profile (and be sure to link with me if you have one), and here’s the link: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/91557/nthen

For those who have ordered my new book directly through me, I’m finishing up World of Warcraft artwork and plan to do the personalized sketches & ship the books out at the end of this week, just so you know my schedule.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.