Dave Dorman Interview with Vinnie Penn on WELI in New Haven, CT

Dear Friends,

I keep forgetting to upload this to share with you, so here it finally is…my Clear Channel station radio interview with radio personality and author Vinnie Penn of WELI in New Haven, CT. If you think his name sounds familiar, that’s because I did the cover for his DJ Zom-B book cover (referenced in a previous blog where I showed you the progressives of the art), or it may be because he’s often on Howard Stern’s show. I had a total blast painting his zombie horror art cover and we’re already talking about a future collaboration. Vinnie’s taking zombies into a fun new direction. Be sure to follow him on Twitter if you’re there – he’s @VinniePenn. (I’m @DaveDorman and my hashtag is #DaveDorman.).

One point I’d like to make about these interviews is that we get into a discussion about the importance of the book cover art, and the importance of the illustrator (in this case, me) REALLY understanding the material before creating the cover art. I think there’s nothing more frustrating to a fan than to read a book and say to themselves, “Self, this has nothing to do with the cover!”

Here are the links to my radio interview. Let me know what you think.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3089239/041811%20710%20%20Dave%20Dorman%20part%201-1.mp3

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3089239/041911%20710%20%20Dave%20Dorman%20part%202-1.mp3

Thanks for taking the time to listen!

If you enjoy hearing about the creative process or hearing interviews with artists, writers, directors, producers, actors, etc., check out my podcast, It’s Comic Book Day, with producer Michael Mennenga of Farpoint Media on iTunes. Here’s the link to the podcast: 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/its-comic-book-day/id373866909

A special thanks to Walter Mulso of Cougar Media Music in Genoa, IL who created our show’s intro/outro music for us.

Thank you, as always, for your time and support of my career.

DAVE

Buy my new career retrospective art book from IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing for Grads and Father’s Day Gifts: http://amzn.to/li3Rrs

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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

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.

COMIX ACADEMY Offers Scholarships!

Hi Everyone,

From the very start, it was the collective goal of my co-founders and me to offer a scholarship program through our Comix Academy. I am very pleased to announce it is finally here – this is what’s posted online:

Comix Academy is pleased to announce a scholarship program! There will be one (1) FULL TUITION* scholarship and three (3) $200 scholarships applied against total tuition costs.  Students who are interested in participating in the scholarship competition must send their name, hometown, and portfolio of four (4) best images (7 inches tall, 72 ppi) to comixacademy@gmail.com.

A sample from each portfolio will be posted in the STUDENT section on the website. Mentors will announce the FULL TUITION scholarship winner by May 1, 2010. Any registrant who wants to be eligible for $200 scholarships must deliver their portfolio images and registration information by July 5th. PARTIAL Scholarship winners will be announced on July 7th. Recipients of the partial scholarships will have $200 credit refunded from the tuition payment.

Installment Plan

From 3/20/2010, Students can pay for their tuition to Comix Academy through installment plans. The payment plan is comprised of three (3) payments of $300 each. The first non-refundable deposit must be in by May 1, 2010. The second payment is due in the month of June. The third and final tuition balance must be settled by July 7, 2010.

The Comix Academy is brand new, but it addresses an old question:

“How do I make it better?”

From comics storytelling to concept art, fantasy illustration to storyboards, digital imagery to oil painting–learning, growing and improving are the watchwords of serious professionals and students. The Comix Academy exists to help any who love to create pictures and/or tell stories improve and polish their current work.

We only have six days, so Comix Academy students will be expected to hit the ground running; professionals will present their work and/or methods through talks and demonstrations and students will show their current portfolios to faculty members. Then the fun begins. The serious student learns best by DOING–taking direction, problem-solving, implementing new techniques. Therefore, students will be expected to polish and refine existing work and/or create new presentation pieces while attending.

Through interaction with working professionals, seeing what they do and how they do it, Comix Academy students will leave more informed and inspired than when they arrived. They will develop camaraderie with their fellow students, gain “the inside scoop” about the industry through their mentors, and find the confidence to go forth and make their dream projects a reality.

Okay, back to me again. Thanks for reading the announcement, and if you know of any really talented, gifted artists who are in need of a scholarship, please send them to our Web site: http://www.comixacademy.com

This weekend I will be at Planet Comic-Con in Kansas City, and I will be part of a Star Wars panel, so if you’re there, come armed with some challenging Star Wars questions.

I don’t if any of you reading watch “LOST,” but my wife and I are huge fans – our friend Dan Roebuck is one of the  actors on the show – and we are happy with where they’re taking us this final season. It’s been a fun and wild ride and we’re just sorry to see it end. It just goes to show you how interesting a storyline can be when comic book writers take it on.

As for my forthcoming podcast, I think we’re getting closer to launch. I’m told our inaugural episode will record next week and the show will be available via iTunes and I’m told, FarpointMedia.com. My podcast show is called “Wednesday is Comic Book Day,” and it’s a mash-up of comic book industry interviews, pop culture interviews and whatever strikes my fancy on any given day. My co-host and producer will be my wife, Denise.  If you work in the industry or are a pop culture figure, contact denise@writebrainmedia.com to get booked on as a guest. If you are an advertiser interested in being part of the show, again, please contact Denise.

I’m off to cook up Rachel Ray’s “Long Live Chicken ala King” recipe – if you haven’t tried it, I recommend it.  I hope to see you this weekend and as always, I thank you for reading.

Dave.

Dave Dorman Special Guest at SDCC 2010

Hi Everyone,

As always, thanks for reading my posts. I received great news this week that San Diego Comic-Con would like me to be a Special Guest this year. It is a great honor to be recognized by the folks at SDCC, especially since the Con is at its apex in terms of popularity and traffic through the show. To the folks at “Attack of the Show,” I AM available to you for interviews this year. As always, I will have an end cap booth this year, same bat time, same bat channel with WriteBrain Media. I’m kicking around ideas as to who will be with me in the booth this year, and I may have a really fun announcement to make, but I’ll have to wait a while longer to share that news.

The Joe Kubert School has asked their distinguished alumni – and also me – to join in an international gallery exhibit, so I just shipped some fun pieces to them for display in Spain, which officially makes me an “internationally exhibited artist.”

We are still working with Farpoint Media on the logistics of my podcast, and I will keep you all posted on that. I do know it will be available via their site and iTunes. Anyone interested in advertising on our show, please let me know. It will be a weekly show about “insider” news in the comic book industry, interviews with artists, writers, creators, pop culture celebrities and more. I hope you all really like it, because it’s a huge investment in time and energy.

In other news, I will be a featured artist doing a live painting at WildClaw Theatre’s big fund-raising event, “Dance of the Demented” at the Viaduct Theater in Chicago on Saturday, February 20th. My other artist friends painting there will be Charlie Athanas, Tony Akins, Alex Wald, Ray Frenden Anthony Kosar and Jessica Joy. This event is a horror/art mash-up, so be sure to bring your sketch pads or tablets. For details, please visit http://wildclawtheatre.com.

Speaking of horror-meets-art, my best friend’s son is in a band called the Turbo Vamps. This is a punk rock horror band in Chicago, so if you like this kind of music, check them out at http://www.myspace.com/turbovamps.

I want to say a special thank you to Chris Ryall, Editor in Chief at IDW for mentioning me on his blog, and to all others out there who post my stuff and comment on my work. I appreciate it.

Also, a special thanks to Colin Wilson, who just emailed that he saw the Imagine F/X issue featuring me in December. For those of you who don’t know Colin Wilson’s gorgeous art work, I’ve been a fan of his for years and finally got to meet him in person this past year. He is committing to making the 15 hour flight to San Diego again this year, so watch for him there. He’s a great person and it’s an honor to know him.

I don’t want to go buzzkill on you, but I must mention that we are mourning the loss of my wife’s longtime business partner, motorsports legend, Mr. Jan Gabriel, or as gearheads know him, the voice of “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” He was a mentor to my wife and a steadfast friend to our family. He even filmed our son’s baptism. The loss is huge for us. Keep his family & friends in your prayers, if you’re the praying sort. If you’re New Agey like John Edwards’ mistress, just send good vibes.

I also send a shout out to my brother Jeff, sister-in-law Vicky, niece Stephanie and nephew John who are being snowed in this weekend in greater D.C. Stay safe, Bro & Co. To my sister Nancy in Alexandria, LA and her husband Dave, I have revoked your license to complain about your weather.

To Howard Feltman up in Michigan, I hope you’re staying warm.

Until next time, thanks for reading,

Dave.

It’s 2010 and I Have New Art on eBay!

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year! We spent our holidays moving into a new home and studio, so it’s been hectic and I apologize for the delay in posting a new blog. Now we’re living closer to comic book artist Bill Reinhold and his artist wife Linda, which is nice, so we can all get together more regularly.

As you may already know, I am planning to attend MegaCon in Orlando, San Diego Comic-Con, and Star Wars Celebration V this year, so watch for me at these 3 shows for certain. We are conferring with Denise Gideon and Farpoint Media owner Jeffrey Willerth regarding the new podcast for 2010, so I will let you all know when this hits iTunes. We are planning to do it weekly and I hope that’s not too ambitious. We have some really fun guests lined up for the show.

Some of you have asked what I thought of AVATAR. I have to give it to you straight. The story was weak – a retelling of cowboys and Indians, but I did like the 3D work Cameron created. It was definitely worthwhile to see it on the big screen, so be sure to do so if you haven’t already. As our friend Charlie Athanas pointed out, you really have to retrain yourself in how to watch this film – focus on what’s in focus, and not be looking in the out-of-focus screen area for some monster to pop out, as we are all used to doing.

Last but not least, I am posting some new art for sale on eBay–Magic Card art, Highlander art, and a promo piece I did for the Weinsteins’ movie, “Arthur and the Invisibles,” so here are the links for all of you:

Magic Card Art
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270510254295&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Highlander art
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270510272133&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Arthur art
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270510274633&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Thanks for all of your comments. Much appreciated. I hope to revamp my everyday Web site in 2010 to better showcase my art. I recognize that it’s not where it needs to be.

Thanks for reading.

Dave.