Dear Friends,
Denise found that Behind the Panels had mentioned my Lantern City variant cover for Boom! Studios as one of the Top Covers for May 2015, so I am sharing that with you here. If you haven’t heard of Lantern City, do check it out – it’s Bruce Boxleitner’s very cool, gorgeously rendered world – a Steampunk action adventure tale. Here is the variant cover art for you. Let me know what you think of it.
Lantern City Cover Art
Dear Friends,
If you’re in Chicagoland and you’re a #comics fan, join us tomorrow at REEL ART in Berwyn, IL–one of the most gi-normous emporiums of comics and pop culture collectibles you’ll find (where Denise Dorman bought me my “Big Wednesday” film poster last year, as seen below):
One of my favorite surf movies…BIG WEDNESDAY
Please join me and a few of my comic book artist and illustrator friends tomorrow from 1 – 3 p.m. – I’ll have original art, prints and autographs are ALWAYS free:
Chicago #Comics Fans: Come on by tomorrow!
Dear Friends,
My Star Wars Marvel Comics variant cover for M&M Comics came in the mail today, so here’s my first look at it:
My New Star Wars variant cover for Marvel/retailer M&M Comics
If you’re not one of the 5k people already following me on my personal Facebook page, you might enjoy seeing my new “Art Director” as Denise calls her – our newest addition to the family, Jonesy the Cat. Yes, she is a Sphinx/Hairless Cat, to accommodate the allergy sufferers in our household (not me).
Me and my new “Art Director.”
And speaking of science fiction-related stuff, I’ve been chatting with Facebook friends about how excited I am to see Philip K. Dick’s “The Man in the High Castle,” which is available online now, I believe, for free. It imagines what life would be like if the Nazis had been successful in overtaking the U.S. After I read it, I was unhappy with the book cover because it didn’t really represent what the book was about, so back in the 1980s, I painted this one:
My 1980s painting inspired by Philip K. Dick
Dave Dorman Official 2015 Appearance Schedule (So Far):
January 29 – 31 = Salt Lake City Con
February 21 – 22 = I’m teaching a class at the International School of Comics in Chicago
February 27 – March 1st = Pensacon, Pensacola, FL
March 21 – 22 = SC Comic-Con in Greenville, SC
April 16 – 19 = Big Wow Con in San Jose, CA
April 24 – 26 = C2E2 in Chicago, IL
May 22 – 24 = Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas City, KS
July 9 – 12 = San Diego Comic-Con International
September 11 – 13 = Alamo City Con, San Antonio, TX
Here’s where you can find me on social media:
http://facebook.com/davedormansstudio
http://facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands
http://linkedin/com/in/thedavedorman
Also, I should mention that Denise and I are mentioned (with some of my art) in the new issue of Imagine F/X magazine for January 2015, if you happen to pick it up. And here is a link to pick up my WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS, published by Magnetic Press, if you are interested in dystopian action adventure in another world similar to ours – it’s my creator-owned I.P. and my favorite thing I’ve ever worked on, which is saying a lot!
As always, thanks for reading!
Dave
Dear Friends,
Please join me at the GrandCon Comics & Gaming Convention this weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan if you can – I will be there with my new book, THE WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS! Here is the address, for your convenience:
Collectors: If you want me to bring anything specific, please ping denise@writebrainmedia.com immediately with your specific requests and I’ll do my best to bring what you need; I’ll be busy packing up for the show. I look forward to seeing you!
Hi Everybody,
Happy Independence Day!
For those of you in the U.S. who are following me, I hope you’re having a Happy Independence Day! We are celebrating with friends tonight and looking forward to taking a few hours off (yes, we solopreneurs are both working today). I will always believe the United States is exceptional and the greatest nation on this planet, despite many citizens and politicians’ very best attempts to collapse our system from within. I am hoping that those who reproduce and vote every four years are awakened, paying very close attention, and will vote in future politicians who genuinely value our U.S. Constitution, our freedom, and our liberty. I also encourage you to do whatever you can to help our Wounded Warriors and our military families, who suffer from the uninformed, unwitting whims of a highly military unfriendly government. What has gone down in the Veterans’ Administration over the past several decades is unforgivable and that guilt is on both sides of the political aisle. I mourn for every single military family who has lost a loved one due to the greed and stupidity of those in charge at the V.A.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is a link to my interview on Chicago’s WTTW last week regarding the new Lucasfilm Museum of Narrative Arts that Chicago was awarded by George Lucas. http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/tags/dave-dorman (just click on the photo of my art).
We are looking forward to the new museum and I personally am eager to see George’s massive collection of my favorite illustrators from the 20th Century. Somehow, people think Norman Rockwell is the only one George collects. I guess they are just unaware that there are other illustration giants out there.
HEAVY METAL REVISITED Documentary News
In other news, our HEAVY METAL REVISITED documentary with Evan Beloff and Frederic Bohbot of Bunbury Films is in production, and I hope to grab some footage in Austin, TX next week of Harry Knowles and Bernie Wrightson (and if we get very lucky, Robert Rodriguez). Here’s a an older video trailer to give you a feel for what we’ve been working on over the past several years. http://vimeo.com/11669127
Last Friday Mark Voss and our production team did a really fun interview with Sammy Hagar, who co-wrote the theme song HEAVY METAL with Jim Peterik, and Sammy had some surprising things to say.
Taping Sammy Hagar Singing “Heavy Metal” last Friday night, Joliet, IL
Photography by Mark Voss
Sammy with his “Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum”
As I mentioned, next week I will be in Austin, TX for Capital City Con, so I look forward to seeing my Texas friends there. I will have plenty of art for everyone to buy, but I tend to sell out quickly, so please be sure to hit me up on Day 1.
In the next few months you’ll see some changes to my website as I transfer over to a new fan management system with StageBloc.com – they have a terrific all-in-one solution of eCommerce, blogging, social media outreach and fan club management that will better serve you, my fans, and help me make more informed decisions on which products you want to see more of, and where you’d like me to appear for shows.
For those of you who are interested in what goes on behind the scenes here at the Dorman household, check out my wife’s blog at http://comicbookwife.com
Please connect with me & share me out on social media as well:
http://facebook.com/davedormansstudio
http://facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands
http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman
Thanks for reading, everybody,
Dave
Dear Friends,
Denise and I are co-producing a really fun documentary with director Evan Beloff and producer Frederic Bohbot of Bunbury Films called HEAVY METAL REVISITED, and I just received the artwork for the postcard we’ll be handing out at San Diego Comic-Con Booth #4500 this year, so here it is for your consideration:
San Francisco, CA and Chicago, IL– April 11, 2012—Max Toy Company CEO Mark Nagata is pleased to announce his first-ever collaboration with Eisner and Inkpot Award-winning artist Dave Dorman, and Dave Dorman’s seven-year-old son Jack Dorman. This also marks the first time Max Toy Co. has collaborated with a father-and-son team, but according to Nagata, “Dave’s son Jack has already exhibited some uncanny art chops, so this unique team will make for a way cool monster design. Add Dave’s passion for Japanese monsters and his design sense to the mix, and I know this toy will be a best seller.” Nagata, who named his own company after his own son, understands the power of the father-son creative connection.
Dorman, no stranger to toy design, worked with Hasbro for seven years creating G.I. Joe character designs, and also designed the six best-selling Alien: Resurrection action figures toy line for Kenner. Both lines can be seen in Dorman’s autobiography, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing).
Said Dorman, “I am honored to be working with Mark. I’ve been a fan of his toys for a long time and attended his Toy Karma exhibit at Rotofugi here in Chicago. I am equally excited to be working with my son Jack on this project, whose early passion for Domos has evolved into a fascination with Kaiju, in no small part thanks to Max Toy Company’s wonderful Japanese monster toys. This will be one of the most fun and memorable projects I’ve had the good fortune to do.”
Toy progress and teasers will be announced on http://MaxToyCo.com, and Nagata will show teasers during San Diego Comic-Con from the Rotofugi and Dragatomi booths. For more information, please visit http://maxtoyco.com or http://davedorman.com.
About Dave Dorman
A legendary, beloved figure in the comic book industry often characterized as “one of the nicest guys in comics,” Eisner and Inkpot Award-winning artist Dave Dorman was voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by the fans ; George Lucas owns more than 90 of Dave Dorman’s original oil paintings. Dorman has created art for every major publisher and licensed character within the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror, including but not limited to Batman, Conan the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, Spiderman, Buckaroo Banzai, Captain America, G.I. Joe, Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, Alien, Predator, Alien v. Predator, World of Warcraft, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and many more.
Dorman has been a featured guest many times at San Diego Comic-Con where he exhibits yearly in Booth #4500 and he is exhibiting this weekend at C2E2 Table I-10. Dorman is also an exhibitor at Star Wars Celebration shows. Dorman’s own I.P., Steampunk motorcycle western The Wasted Lands, is relaunching in 2012. Dorman’s biography and career retrospective book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN (IDW/Desperado Publishing) is available on Amazon. Dorman’s pencil illustration and traditional oil painting tutorials are available through Hollywood’s The Gnomon Workshop.
Dave Dorman Social Media:
About Max Toy Company / Mark Nagata
Over the years Mark Nagata has collected thousands of toys and a fair amount of titles. The man behind San Francisco-based Max Toy Company is widely known as: Toy Collector. Illustrator. Magazine Founder/Publisher. Toy Designer. Artist. Author. Husband. Father. But the one description that might fit best is an unofficial one – Kaiju Toy and Art Ambassador.
In the Japanese-inspired art and toy area, as well as throughout the larger toy collecting community, Mark is welcomed and recognized for his personal passion and commitment to supporting artists all around the world and the unique works they create. Mark’s devotion to presenting collectors with a selection of original figures inspired by classic Japanese toys from the 1960s and ’70s as well as new versions of licensed Japanese characters is at the heart of Max Toy Company. Named for his son, Max Toys specializes in custom and limited editions of “kaiju” (Japanese monsters) toys and artwork.
Through Max Toys, Mark, who trained at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and honed his skills as a freelance commercial illustrator, has taken great pains to widen the reach of his two passions – toys and art. He has helped curate successful art shows throughout the U.S., as well as in Japan and Spain. His artwork and toy designs have been included in numerous books and magazines and his hand-painted custom toys have even been sold through prestigious art houses Philip De Pury and Christie’s in New York and London. The San Francisco resident and his art can also be spotted in the first volume of the “ToyPunks” DVD and the “Toys R Us” DVD, while the video for Owl City’s number one song “Fireflies” features Mark’s popular Kaiju Eyezon character. In 2010, Mark served as guest lecturer on kaiju and the toy-making process at the Morikami Museum in Florida. While young readers still enjoy his colorful style that graces more than 40 cover paintings for R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps book series – Give Yourself Goosebumps, adults are now snatching up Mark’s toy and artwork with a collector’s zeal, helping to spread the kaiju toy movement worldwide.
Mark Nagata’s Social Media:
MEDIA CONTACT:
Denise Dorman/WriteBrain Media
P: 630.845.4695 | M: 630.215.5623 | E: denise@writebrainmedia.com| Tw: @WriteBrainMedia
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Dear Friends,
After a lecture at Chicago’s Columbia College this past Thursday night for Dave P.’s character visualization art class, my wife Denise asked me to write an article on boiling down art direction to five essential truths. Below is what I came up with. I sit on both sides of the desk, doing the art for art directors, and doing the actual art direction, so I have very definite opinions based on my 30 years of experience. I even taught a class for the Florida 4th District Advertising Federation on How to Art Direct the Art Director. All of you artists and art directors following me, let me know if you agree, disagree or have tips you would like to add to this list?
Dave Dorman’s 5 Essential Truths for Art Direction
#1. You MUST review the artist’s comprehensive portfolio. Don’t judge an artist by just one piece in their portfolio. Look closely at all of the elements. Ask them to show you the pieces that aren’t online. Does anything contained within match your needs for your project? What are the strengths of the artist? What are their weaknesses? Do they or can they paint in the style you need? Ask yourself, “Is this artist capable of giving me the art I need for this particular project?”
Real-World Example: Someone looking at my portfolio might think I only do muscled super heroes or hyper realism, but truth be told, I did a lot of manga early in my career for Robotech covers, I did toy design for Hasbro, and I did very loose children’s illustration for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings trading cards.
#2. Always provide a thorough review of the project with the artist. Ensure they understand your needs for the art and that they are comfortable in delivering the goods. An artist who does killer character design may be strong in creature art, but weak in landscape or architectural backgrounds.
Real World Example: Just because I did a detailed background on one painting doesn’t mean that I want to put that amount of work into every single painting I do. Personally, I hate painting architecture. If an art director wanted me to do a Stephan Martiniere cityscape, I would be up front in declining and saying, “No thanks. Here’s Stephan’s phone #.”
#3. A good art director should never ask the artist if they paint traditionally or digitally. First off, the art director’s eye should be trained to see the difference. There are effects you cannot get with digital, and there are effects you cannot get with traditional. Secondly, the final art is the final art, delivered digitally, no matter what tool(s) you used to get the final product. Any Star Wars painting I do with light sabers, I am taking into Photoshop to get that perfect glow on the light saber, although the original piece is oil on illustration board or a combo of oil and acrylic. Mind you, I could whip out my old air brush and get that same effect, but why go through the hassle when I can do it in PhotoShop?
Here's a painting with traditional and Photoshop Combined
With the plethora of art directors now being of the age that they came through their art education via digital art and very rarely–if ever–touching traditional media to produce their final art, I have seen a definite bias in those art directors to choose artists who work in the directors’ preferred medium: digital. The art should speak for itself regardless of the medium in which it’s created. I believe that if the art director is contacting the artist to do a project, then they are judging the artist by the art they see, whether it’s digital or traditional.
Real World Example: I had an art director call me once, absolutely raving about my Alien art. She had a big project for me, and I was eager to do the project, because it was right in my wheelhouse. Then she asked dreaded question: Do you paint digitally? I don’t, and the project instantaneously evaporated, despite the fact that my look and feel was a perfect match for her project. I believe this art director is short-sighted and I hope she has wizened up since then.
Graphic Novel Cover of Aliens: Hive by Dave Dorman
#4. Never, EVER assume an artist is outside of your budget. If you like someone’s art, speak with them FIRST about your budget before you strike them off of your list. Any freelancer can attest, we have months when we make a king’s ransom, and we have months when we go hungry. There’s rarely consistency unless you’re working on a videogame project, and even then, that consistent money can go away after a year or two.
Real World Example: As a traditional artist, I will often take on projects for little to no money, because I know I’m working on a licensed piece and I will have an actual painting that I can sell to collectors for top dollar once the project is completed. Obviously, digital artists are at a major disadvantage here! I once did a cover for the now-defunct but uber-cool GEEK Monthly magazine, for their San Diego Comic-Con issue. I was the first-ever painted cover they’d published. They were afraid to ask me to do a cover because they assumed they’d never be able to afford me. I did the piece for free. My piece was a modern day Transformer alongside a 1980s Transformer. I did it for free because I knew it was great publicity for the audience I wanted to reach, and then there was the value of the physical painting. I turned around and donated the painting to my favorite charity, USACares.org, to help raise funds for their not-for-profit, helping financially challenged active military families.
GEEK Monthly Cover I Did for FREE
Side note: I wish someone would revive a magazine like GEEK Monthly. It was brilliant, I never missed an issue and I miss it.
#5. As an Art Director, it’s your duty in fairness to your artist to have your project details organized properly.
Real World Example: I once painted a beautiful sci-fi comic book cover, based on a major license you would all know. AFTER I delivered the piece, they broke the news to me that they didn’t have likeness rights. You can imagine my disappointment. I think the fans were less than satisfied with the piece, probably thinking to themselves that it was lame without the likenesses.
Another Real World Example: I painted a beautiful sci-fi cover for a major license you would all know, but they were in the midst of filming the movie, and they were afraid to provide me with photo reference of an actor I had never seen before, for fear it would “leak out.” First of all, that would never happen on my watch, and it was frustrating for me that they trusted me enough to paint their licensed characters, but not enough to provide me with proper reference. They literally provided me with a postage stamp-sized photo reference and I could not get the facial features right without decent reference. Eventually they capitulated, but it took a lot of back and forth.
So…let me know your thoughts. I am interested to hear your frustrations with artists and art directors and your “master list.”
In other news, I think I will be converting my Facebook Group Page for The Wasted Lands to a Facebook Fan Page soon, so please watch for that. For those of you unfamiliar with it, The Wasted Lands is my own I.P. (Intellectual Property) – an alternate universe, adrenaline-pumping motorcycle western action adventure with Steampunk aesthetics. If you like it, let me know. Given the rate of growth of my personal page on Facebook, I will likely transition it over to a Fan Page soon as I’m going to hit the limit soon to people I can friend.
I recorded a 2-hour interview last night with Alpha Nerd podcast out of Australia, so I will be posting that link here as soon as I have it.
Well, I’m off to watch Godzilla v. Mothra with my son. It’s so much fun having a mini-me!
As always, thanks for reading,
Dave.
Facebook: http://facebook.com/davedormanartist
Twitter: @DaveDorman
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman
Website: http://davedorman.com and http://wastedlands.com
Publicity Firm: http://writebrainmedia.com | @writebrainmedia
Dave Dorman 
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Posted in 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, 2014 SDCC, 501st, Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Chicago Comic Book Artists, Collectibles, Collections, Collectors, Comic Book Art, Comic Book Artist, Comic Book Convention, Comic Book Cover Art, Comic Books, DAVE DORMAN ART FOR SALE, DAVE DORMAN NEWS, Fan Culture, Geek, Geek Culture, Lucasfilm, Nerd Culture, Pop Culture, Publisher's Weekly, Social Activism, Social Commentary, Social Networking, Wasted Lands, WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS, WriteBrain Media, Writer with tags Comics, Denise Dorman, Future of Conventions, Gail Simone, Heidi McDonald, Mat Elfring, MMO, Online Gaming, Star Wars, Star Wars Day, SWTOR, Twitch TV, WriteBrain Media, Yahoo! News on September 28, 2014 by DaveandDeniseDormanDear Friends,
Me at Discovery Museum Last Year Lecturing On How I Create STAR WARS Art
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