First Look: Dave Dorman Original Wizard of Oz Art Premieres This Weekend at VISIONS OF OZ Show in L.A.

LOS ANGELES, CA—March 1, 2013— Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” original painting will be included in the upcoming Creature Features Visions of Oz gallery art show being held at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles, California from March 3 – 31. Dorman’s painting, rendered traditionally in oil and acrylic mediums, is a visual homage to the L. Frank Baum literary classic Oz books.

Said Dorman, “It was an honor to be invited to participate in this tribute. For Dorothy Daydreams, I returned to the spirit of L. Frank Baum’s young protagonist, capturing some of her desire to escape the harsh and desolate reality of her Kansas dustbowl farm for the fantasy of a much more colorful, imaginary world.” Dorman will be showing the art progressives from pencil illustration to final painting this weekend on this blog.

Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” Painting. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 24″ x 36.”

Creature Features curated this multimedia exhibit, showcasing more than 100 works from a diverse group of artists. The collection includes illustrations, paintings, sculptures and full-sized recreations of favorite Oz characters. Also included in the exhibit will be historical memorabilia such as rare editions of the original L. Frank Baum books, props, concepts and artwork from various Oz-themed film & TV projects and many more surprises.

Museum tours are $10; OZ exhibit-only admittance is $5. For more information, visit CreatureFeatures.com/VisionsofOz or call (323) 225-2700. Heritage Square Museum is located at 3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles. The museum’s website is http://heritagesquare.org.

About Dave Dorman

Eisner, Inkpot and Bram Stoker Award-winning illustrator, writer and creator Dave Dorman was voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by fans of the property worldwide, and his art book Star Wars: The Art of Dave Dorman was an international bestseller. His landmark, critically acclaimed graphic novel, Aliens: Tribes, won him an Eisner and Bram Stoker Award as well as changing the way the publishing ad entertainment industries viewed the medium. Dorman’s own critically acclaimed Intellectual Property,  The Wasted Lands—the Sergio Leone-meets-motorcycle western epic tale of good vs. evil in a dystopian society recovering from “the Iron Wars”–continued to raise the bar in the graphic novel publishing arena and set a new standard. Another Dorman I.P., Dead Heat, is the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror anthology of his tales of the protagonist motorcycle zombie known as “Hitch.” Dorman’s autobiography, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) encompasses an estimated one-third of his illustrious art career, which includes licensed works of such classic properties as G.I. Joe, Indiana Jones, Predator, Robotech, Batman, Captain America, Spiderman, Judge Dredd, Transformers, Green Lantern, Green Hornet, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft and many more. Corporate clients include 20th Century Fox, Rhythm & Hues, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, IDW, Upper Deck, Topps, FASA Corp., and many more.

Dorman is a sought-after instructor who has taught at American Academy of Art, Savannah College of Art & Design, Reverie (Massive Black/ConceptArt.org), Columbia College and The Gnomon School. His video art tutorials are available at The Gnomon Workshop. 

 

Media Contact:

Denise Dorman, Publicist

WriteBrain Media

P: 630.845.4694

E: denise@writebrainmedia.com

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We Honor You, Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman

Today my blog honors Katie Goldman, aka Star Wars Girl.

As I told my gay friends and followers on the day we all wore purple to honor them, the bullying that occurs over our differences needs to STOP. NOW. Like Katie, my wife is also adopted. My wife is a geek. I’ve felt the wrath of being different as a kid – I was the painfully shy military brat moving all of the time…always the nerdy new kid in school, drawing comics silently in the back of the classroom, hoping no one would call attention to me. You might say we both identify with Katie’s plight. Denise was the one who brought it to my attention through a Facebook posting from ACME DESIGN.

We need to start celebrating our differences instead of clamoring to be the same. The Me, Too-ism Movement is clearly alive and well. Why else would women be financially challenging themselves just to wear the same overpriced designer brand purses, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, etc. Why are men driven to buy luxury brand cars when the mechanical performance is often sub-standard? We’re all caught up in this endless cycle of sameness and trying to come off as too cool for school. I just don’t find it terribly interesting…or relevant.

I find individualism interesting. I find Katie’s bravery interesting.

Most of those “cool” celebs that everyone wants to be like? I’ve met more than my share. I’m usually disappointed. Leonardo DiCaprio sneered at me and wouldn’t stop smoking in a NYC elevator when I asked him. John Leguizamo talked shit about me–right in front of me–at the Telluride Film Festival. It turns out, he has some weird prejudice against sitting next to portly gents like myself. Dennis Miller is one of the few celebs who actually exceeded my expectations. He’s a class act. And he’s also a geek like me. Like us.

Today CNN.com picked up Katie’s story, but those of us in the know within the geek/nerd culture and Star Wars community have been following it online for at least 10 days or more. I think it’s very cool that  Star Wars: Clone Wars Padme Amidala voice actress Catherine Taber and  Her Universe.com founder and Ahsohka Tano character Ashley Eckstein took up the cause and very publicly showed Katie (and her parents) that Katie’s not alone.  Catherine’s online participation was the Tipping Point in giving Katie the credibility and social media support to thumb her nose at those know-nothing naysayers.

Apparently Katie’s classmates haven’t realized yet what every major movie studio knows, as they show previews at San Diego Comic-Con:  Geeks are the world’s taste makers. Geeks RULE.

So… all of those haters out there had better be nice to us or else their TV, videogame, book and movie options are going to suck. As for me and my house, we’ll be wearing Star Wars gear on December 10th to honor Star Wars Girl Katie Goldman. If you wear some, shoot me your photo and I’ll post it here on my blog.

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

 

Dave Dorman Doing Live Painting @SDCC

Steampunk Girl Created at Reverie '09 in Dallas, TX

Dear Friends, 

When I’m at San Diego Comic-Con, I tend to get anxious because I’m not painting while I’m there. Painting is an addiction for me, and fortunately, I’m able to make a living doing it. So this year, I’ve decided I’m going to paint. I will do a live painting over the course of the 5 days that I’m there. Please let me know what you’d like to see me paint, and whatever the majority of people request will influence my final decision on what I’ll be painting. (Of course, if someone wants a commissioned piece, that will take priority, and I will be happy to work in my favorite size — 24 x 36– and ship it directly to the new owner at show’s end.) So, let me know if you want a hot Heavy Metal-style babe, G.I. Joe, Batman, Alien, Captain America, Buckaroo Banzai, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or something from my Wasted Land series, or even a brand new concept art design. 

For those not attending SDCC, Denise will be there to photograph the piece in phases and will post it here on my blog for you. The painting up above is what I created live during Reverie ’09 in Dallas, which was put on by Massive Black and ConceptArt.org. 

Dave Dorman Raising Funds for the Gulf Coast BP Oil Victims

I will know shortly if my friend Bill Paetzold can supply the giclees I want to sell to help raise money for the BP Oil victims along the Gulf Coast. I will post a link here once I can make it happen. I will send all money beyond printing and shipping costs to the financially challenged folks on the Gulf. As you  know, the Fort Walton Beach/Shalimar area in Okaloosa County, Florida was my home for more than 25 years, so I’m watching the situation with a heavy heart. Here’s an image of Navarre Beach, which was near my home, as of today: http://www.nwfdailynews.com. My longtime friend and the author I hired to write all of my Wasted Lands series, as well as our Bram Stoker Award-winning zombie book Dead Heat (Mojo Press), Del Stone Jr., is the Associate Editor of the Northwest Florida Daily News, and he handles the paper’s popular online edition.

Where in the World is Dave Dorman? My Summer Schedule:

Sometime in July – I’ll be on Dennis Miller’s radio show, raising awareness that my new book, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) raises funds for USACares.org, an organization that helps financially challenged military families. (As a former military brat, I can tell you unless someone is a trust fund baby, they’re ALL financially challenged). I am donating 10% of my earnings from this book directly to USACares.org.

July 10, 2010 – Signing all day at Gail Borden Public Library for Elgin, IL Comic-Con. Click here for details on the event. (A special thanks to Darlene Nauman for letting me know this local show was happening.)

July 22- 25, 2010 – I’m a “special guest” this year at San Diego Comic-Con. Look for me at my “Rolling Thunder” booth – that’s how we’re listed in the show guide.

August 12 -15, 2010 – Star Wars Celebration 5 in Orlando, FL.

You can always find me on my pop culture, comics & art podcast, “It’s Comic Book Day”, free on iTunes, and on Twitter, I’m @DaveDorman. Please follow me there, too, for breaking news.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope to see you all this summer.

Dave.

 

DAVE DORMAN’s PODCAST IS AVAILABLE TO YOU NOW!

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re all having a great week. I remembered to take the garbage out on time, so our garage stench won’t be knocking over the buzzards this week.

My big news of the week: Our FREE podcast chronicling comic book industry, art, and pop culture news, reviews & interviews is finally up on iTunes for all of you to subscribe to or download at your convenience.  The Web site that takes you right there to subscribe or download episodes is here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id373866909. The Web site describing the shows, etc. is http://www.itscomicbookday.com. Our production company is Farpoint Media out of Arizona, and we offer up a huge thanks to our audio engineer/producer Michael Mennenga for all of his technical support. If you have any comments, questions or guest requests for our show, please call our podcast hotline at 206.350.6326. We’d love your feedback.

The shows we’ve recorded thus far include Charlie Athanas (the artist for the first digital comic, “Shatter,” from First Comics), Scott Hampton (comic book artist, Simon Dark, Batman), Steve Smith (Editor in Chief, MonsterScene magazine, author and my best friend) Michael W. Kaluta (illustrator, Starstruck, Shadow) and Craig Elliott (illustrator/animator, Bee Movie, The Enchanted, Princess and the Frog).  If you are interested in advertising opportunities on our show, please contact my wife through email – denise@writebrainmedia.com and she will brief you on the various plans.

Movie Review: I just saw “Robin Hood” and if you, like me, are into visuals, go see it. The film is gorgeous. The story? Not so much. I was sorely disappointed in the writing, but the visuals made up for it.

The Oil Spill: This Gulf oil spill reminds me of the time I lived in Fort Lauderdale as a kid. We always had to check first before going to the beach to see if the beach and water were clear of the tar balls naturally forming from leaks in the ocean floor.  I wonder if it’s still that way.  Anybody know?

As an adult, I lived in Shalimar, Florida (greater Fort Walton Beach, in the Florida Panhandle) for more than 25 years.  I’m told by our videographer friend Steve Baker (of SB Video Productions) that so far, the beaches are still pristine and there’s no oil in the water there, so do vacation there if you can. It’s an incredibly beautiful part of the U.S. and I hope it stays that way. I know my environmentalist friend and author of many of my books, Del Stone Jr., will be the first one volunteering for beach clean up duty.  If you like great horror or sci-fi, do check out his work. He’s a wonderful writer and a great friend to me and my family.  He won a Bram Stoker Award for writing my book “Dead Heat,” about my character Hitch, a motorcycle zombie. Del and I were always ahead of our time. If only we had waited until this century to publish that book…

Cool Blog Alert: If you’re interested in reading comic book industry blogs, check out Chris Ryall’s blog: http://ryalltime.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/30-days-of-x/. He’s the Editor in Chief of IDW Publishing and quite an interesting guy.

Appearances: I will be at the “Drink and Draw” event at the Lucky Number Bar & Grill in Chicago this Friday at 7 p.m., doing live drawing.  The first weekend in June I will be at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC. Please come by & say hello!

Stephen Perry Update: In other news, I read that two people have been arrested for allegedly being involved in the disappearance of my colleague, comic book writer Stephen Perry. If I hear more, I will let you know. I’m told his son is safe with his mother, and that was a relief to hear.

How to Connect with Me Online: As always, thanks for reading. Your feedback and comments are always welcome. I’m on FaceBook, and please follow me on Twitter: @DaveDorman. If you’re on LinkedIn, connect with me and my wife (Denise McDonald Dorman).  Neither of us will “IDK” anyone.

Dave.