Dave Dorman in Chicago Tribune Today

Dear Friends,

Thanks to all of you who came by my table yesterday at WindyCon. It’s very rewarding to get feedback from all of you on my work and it keeps me excited about the work I’m doing.

Today journalist Sarah Frink wrote an article on me in today’s Chicago Tribune about the odd jobs I held while trying to break into the business and learn my craft. Here’s the link to the article: http://trib.in/v8lxHz 

Of course, if you already read my memoir/art book, “Rolling Thunder, The Art of Dave Dorman,” by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing last year, you already know most of this story.  The book is now marked down to $20 for the regular version and $50 for the signed, limited edition version. These make great holiday gifts for that special person in your life who loves comic book art, sci-fi, fantasy and horror art, plus I included a lot of my personal fine art work in the book as well. Be sure to check it out if you don’t already own a copy!

I hope all of you are having a great Sunday. I’m back to the old drawing board today. If you want to connect with me on my social networks, here are my profiles:

http://facebook.com.davedormanartist | http://twitter.com/davedorman | http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

Which Comics Dave Dorman Bought On Comic Book Wednesday

Dear Friends,

As I write this, the TV is confirming the rumored death of Qaddafi and showing the graphic Al Jazeera footage. I congratulate the Libyan freedom fighters on this new chapter in their lives.

I feel it’s my personal responsibility as a comic book artist to help raise awareness for other amazing talent in the industry. Today I want to make you aware of Leinil Yu if you are not already. I bought  the comic “SUPERIOR” by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu yesterday (see image below) during my weekly trek to Dreamland Comics in Schaumburg, IL:

LEINIL YU ART ON COVER OF SUPERIOR COMIC

In my opinion as an artist and also an art director, I find Leinil Yu  to be one of the best comic book artists working in the industry today. His style is dynamic, he’s a great visual storyteller, and he renders every image with so much style. Other pieces he’s worked on (according to the back cover) include Secret Invasion, New Avengers and Superman: Birthright. I hope you check out his work and it brings you as much joy as it does me.

LEINIL YU COMIC - BACK SIDE

In other news, my good friend Charlie Athanas called me last night and invited me to join him for a really fun electronica concert tomorrow night – Amon Tobin – and I’m really looking forward to it. Here’s a link to Amon Tobin’s concert sampling, to give you a feel for his work: http://bit.ly/roDni4 

Below is an image from last Monday night during the fund-raiser for Chicago’s best horror theater group, WildClaw Theater, which was a lot of fun.

Charlie Athanas (artist), Doug Klauba (artist), Me, John Terendy (videographer)

And here’s a nice mini-review of my book “ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN” (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) by Alina Bradford: http://bit.ly/pmUNk6

If any of you reading has a young child, I recommend checking out the movie “Real Steel” with Hugh Jackman. I took my 6 year old this past weekend and we both really enjoyed it. Next up, we’re looking forward to getting the Captain America movie, coming out soon on DVD, to add to our collection because we both loved it in the theater.

Reminder: My Podcast through Michael Mennenga and Babylon 5 actor/producer Jeffrey Willerth’s Farpoint Media is http://itscomicbookday.com (there are a lot more episodes, but I’m waiting for the producer to catch up on edits) – it’s free on iTunes.

On Facebook, I’m Facebook.com/davedormanartist and on LinkedIn I’m an open networker: linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

On Twitter I’m @DaveDorman

As always, I thank you for reading!

DAVE.

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving Weekend

Dear Friends,

I have so much to be thankful for this year, I don’t know where to begin. I’m thankful for those closest to me–my wife, my son, my best friend Steve Smith, my friend Charlie Athanas, my in-laws who have helped me out tremendously this past year, Colin Pritchard of Rocket No. 9, Kevin Sandstrom at Blick Art Supply, the 501st, (especially Chris Spice of top-rated Star Wars site Sandtroopers.com) the great art directors and editors I’ve worked with this past year, and also for all of you who take an interest in my art and are the reason I keep doing what I do. I am thankful for my U.S. military family, for USACares.org and  for The Dennis Miller Radio Show who has been kind enough to have me on to share my projects and my military art passion project, Project 52.

I especially thank all of you who have purchased my new art career retrospective and memoir book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN, by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing, either for yourselves, or for a loved one as a holiday gift. Even if the book wasn’t mine, I would enjoy 4.5 pounds of art in hardcover to peruse over my mulled cider during the holidays.

Today I wanted to share another blog with you, written by my friend and fellow 501st member David Syczylo. David is the Snowtrooper who posed for me for this year’s Star Wars Celebration painting. He did an excellent job of explaining the poses, not to mention providing us all with a brilliant display he has created of my Star Wars Celebration prints:

http://www.djsyczylo.net/chronicles/DormanHoth/DormanHoth.htm

I hope you enjoy David’s blog as much as I did about how the Star Wars Celebration piece came about. The best part of this project? I have been very fortunate to get to know David over the past 6 months and he is a special person to me and my wife. You will never meet a kinder or more giving person. He drove all of the way to my home in northern Illinois from Indianapolis just to pose for me, and refused to take even  gas money. That’s the kind of guy David is. Ask him about his film career when you meet him. He has great stories.

Thanks for reading. More to come. I just did a Captain Marvel this past weekend for the very first time in my career, but I have to check with an editor first to see when I can post it.

Be safe this holiday weekend,

Dave.

P.S. I finally got to see “Walking Dead.” I’m hooked. What do you all think of it? Any of you watching? If not, check it out – let’s compare notes. My friend and fellow judge in the December 6th Chicago 10-minute horror play international competition Death Scribe 2010, Jay Bonansinga, is writing the novelization of the series and he’s an excellent writer.

Photo Album from Last Weekend at Blick Art Materials

 

The Last Public Appearance of This Painting - Sold to George Lucas

Me Sketching the Inside Cover of My New Book, Using Photo Reference from my iPhone

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to share some quick pictures from last weekend at Blick Art Materials in Wheaton, IL. I thank all of you from the 501st Midwest Garrison as well as the fans and friends who helped me celebrate the launch of my new book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN, including Kevin Sandstrom, Mike Reisner, Chris Spice, Jim Tampa, J. Anthony Kosar, Ian and Cynthia Narcisi and Dr. G. Here are photos, courtesy of Jim Tampa, from this past Saturday:

The 501st Await Our Arrival

My Crew of Friends Who Came Out to Support Me

My 501st Midwest Garrison Friends Last Saturday

My Son Loves Drawing Just As Much As I Do.

Dave Dorman's Blick Signing: A Family Affair

I’d like to give you a brief rundown of my friends pictured above. James Tampa is the art director at Medallion Press and Medallion Music. Kevin Sandstrom is the store manager for Blick Art Material in Wheaton. J. Anthony Kosar is a gifted artist and sculptor whose recent Blago mask is THE mask to buy in Chicago for Halloween and has garnered a lot of TV coverage. Ian Narcisi is an uber-talented musician and song writer whose new album launches soon. Cynthia Narcisi is a Lucasfilm-licensed artist who is doing terrific work in the field of yoga in addition to her whimsical children’s illustrations. Be sure to follow her on Twitter and FaceBook. She and Ian took a trip to India this past year for 3 weeks that really taught me the important life lesson of following my muse.

Thanks for taking the walk down memory lane with me and thank you to James Tampa for sharing these photos with us.

I’ll have a major announcement tomorrow, so be sure to stop back in for a visit.

Thanks,

Dave.

My Friend Anjie Ketterer Wore Purple on October 20th

Dear Friends,

Here is my friend Anjie Ketterer, sporting  purple attire on October 20th to support everyone out there getting bullied and being a peaceful social activist in raising awareness and putting an end to the bullying and cyberbullying that goes on out there against anyone who is deemed “different” in any way.

 

Anjie Ketterer Wears Purple on October 20, 2010

 

I’ve been busy creating some really fun low brow “deformed art” for a social networking project for the past couple of days, so my apologies to Anjie for not posting this sooner.

Join Me Tomorrow: I’m Signing  at Blick Art Materials in Wheaton, IL:

What: Signing for my new art retrospective book and memoir, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN by IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing

Where: I hope all of you can make it to Blick Art Materials at 79 Danada Square tomorrow in Wheaton, Illinois

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Special For the Star Wars Fans: There will be members of the 501st Midwest Garrison there, fully dressed, so if you have children, come to get their pictures taken with the storm troopers!

Driving Directions: Here’s a link that will give you directions if you’re from Chicago or surrounding suburbs.

A Special Thank You: I want to give a shout out to Kevin Sandstrom, my friend who is the manager there and was kind enough to arrange all of this for me.

Video Preview of My Book: Here’s a link to a video of a fan flipping through my book so you can preview it before you buy it.

Social Networking: If you want to connect with me on Twitter, I’m @davedorman, I’m on FaceBook and I’m also on LinkedIn and I will never “I Don’t Know” someone, so feel free to connect with me there.

Thank you for reading,

Dave.

Some Dave Dorman Horror Artwork: Too Scary for Busch Gardens!

Dear Friends,

This story is in my new book ROLLING THUNDER THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN, but I wanted to share this art with you in honor of October, my birthday month and everyone’s favorite month for horror.

A few years back, my business partner Stephen D. Smith, formerly the Editor-in-Chief of the well respected MonsterScene magazine and an authority on haunted and theme park attractions, was asked to come up with a cool haunt idea for Florida’s Busch Gardens. We talked it over and knowing they had an asylum aspect to their haunt, we came up with this really fun character named DEMENTIA. Unfortunately Busch Gardens’ focus groups deemed our character– and her back story of being physically and emotionally destroyed by an uprising in the asylum– way too scary. So without further adieu, I introduce you to our beloved DEMENTIA. If there are any producers out there reading this, we have a wonderful story and we would love to see this in film one day from someone like Ghost House Pictures, whom we know does horror right.

 

Dave Dorman's Dementia Pencil Illustration

 

And here she is below, fully rendered. I was so passionate about this piece, I completed it in just 24 hours. There’s nothing I love doing more than creature, character and costume design. The backwards 13 in her forehead is the result of DEMENTIA getting her head smashed into the door of inmate room #13.

 

Dave Dorman's Dementia Painting

 

In other pop culture news, I picked up American Vampire yesterday at the comic book store in Schaumburg, IL. Denise and I are fighting over who reads it first. Only one of the two stories is actually Stephen King writing, which I think is confusing to many who think they are buying a solely Stephen King graphic novel. Still, it looks to be a lot of fun. Speaking of fun, I saw Resident Evil Afterlife in 3D the other day – have you all seen it? If so, share with me here what you thought of it.

If you get a chance, please check out my passion project, Project 52 – http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-52. I’m working towards my goal of $52,000 to make this happen for USACares.org. If you can give even $5, that guarantees you or the person you designate is mentioned in my new book. I would love to see you in there. My thanks to all who have already generous contributed and gotten us to the $2710 mark in just a few days!

Thanks for reading,

Dave.

Video of My New Book

Dear Friends,

I inadvertently discovered someone did a great video showcasing my new book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN. This is a great way to see what you’re getting BEFORE you buy! Here is the YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GALqAxFWs_g

They also posted a very kind and generous review of the book, which is here: http://parkablogs.com/node/4420

Now that you can actually SEE the inside of the new book, please let me know what you think of it. Remember, 20% of all earnings from my book go to USACares.org to help all financially challenged military families (I am a USAF military brat, so I have firsthand knowledge of what that’s like).

Before I forget, please be sure to join these two pages on FaceBook: Dave Dorman’s The Wasted Lands: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116672708382673

and

Fans of Dave Dorman Art: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45269533772

My friend and fan Mickey Thompson created these pages, but it’s always good to show Hollywood agents that you have a few fans out there, so please help me  grow these pages to more than 10,000 peeps.

If you’ve never seen my Wasted Lands site, here’s the link: http://www.wastedlands.com.

Have a great day,

Dave.

Yes, Dave Dorman WILL Be at Star Wars Celebration 5

Dear Friends,

I’ve gotten a lot of questions via FaceBook over the last week about whether I’ll be exhibiting at Star Wars Celebration 5 in Orlando this coming August 12-15th. Yes, I will be there, but not in Artists’ Alley. I will be in my own booth next to artist and friend Jason Palmer. 

I will also have a brand new print for sale. It will be in the same letterbox format as my previous Star Wars Celebration prints. My wife Denise will be photographically documenting the progression of my new painting, so once the show is over, I can share that with all of you on my blog.

I will also have with me at Star Wars Celebration 5 my new book, ROLLING THUNDER: The Art of Dave Dorman, which Denise co-authored. It’s 312 pages of my memoir, artwork and never-before-seen work and stories. I hope you all like it – it was a LOT of work, digging in my Indiana Jones-like warehouse of archives to compile it all. It is published by IDW Publishing in conjunction with Desperado Publishing, and it’s a gorgeous book. There’s a regular version for $49.99 and a signed, limited edition version with a separate cover for $79.99. I’m donating 10% of our earnings for USACares.org as I’m a former military brat who supports NFPs that support our military families.

I thank you all for your interest. It means a lot to me.

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.

 

The Pensacola Film Festival Painting I Did

Dear Friends,

Many of you probably recall that I lived in  Shalimar, Florida for 25+ years, which is sort of in between Destin, Florida and Pensacola, Florida. Shalimar is almost like of a suburb of Fort Walton Beach.  It was the only “home” I’ve ever known for that length of time, growing up as a military kid. As you can imagine, I am watching the oil spill situation with a heavy heart, as those sugar beaches — literally bright white, powdery sand–are about to be hit by the ugliness of the oil spill.

My friend Tom Roush started the Pensacola TV and Film Festival, along with the help of Pensacola’s former film commissioner and a great supporter of the arts, Denise Daughtry. (A special thanks to the 501st Garrison down there for ushering me into the film festival that year…) For Tom and Denise, I created this piece, which they used as their promo poster a few years back. This shows the real color of the water on the “Emerald Coast,” which is how it gets its name.  Again, this is a rarely-seen look at some art that I created that didn’t really get released beyond our local film festival. It will be in my new book, “Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman” (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) as well. You can pre-order my new book here:http://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Thunder-Art-Dave-Dorman/dp/1600108229

Let me know what you think of this piece. For those who have often suggested/insisted  my wife Denise was the inspiration for this piece (Steve Baker), yes, it’s true.

Pensacola TV and Film Festival Poster by Dave Dorman

For the Buckaroo Banzai fans reading this, I will be doing some more Buckaroo Banzai work in the next few months, and I will keep you posted on that. I will have my original Buckaroo Banzai paintings with me this weekend at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC.

Thanks for reading & please pray for the animals, beaches, people & their livelihoods on the coastal region,

Dave.