Dave Dorman’s Walking Dead Daryl Dixon Art

So I had a lot of positive reaction to the pencil piece of Daryl Dixon from “Walking Dead” that Denise posted last week. That drawing was already spoken for, and Denise said, “Dave, you should do a PAINTING of Daryl…he’s hunky!” So I rolled my eyes, like those who know me have seen me do on many occasion, and eventually thought about it. I have wanted to do some “Walking Dead” art for a while and not found time for a big piece, but a smaller portrait style…hmmmm.

Walking Dead portrait of Daryl Dixon by Artist Dave Dorman

 

I worked on this in some free time the past few days and had a lot of fun with it. It is oil on gessoed wood block, 8″ x 10″. I have priced it $400 if any is interested in purchasing. The first to send me an email directly at dormanart@yahoo.com will get it. I will send a Paypal invoice. (I have been having problems with the Paypal buttons on my webpages so this is the best way i can think of to handle art purchases for now).

Thanks again for stopping in and looking, and as always, for your support of my work!

Dave

Dave Dorman Reveals Peek at New ALIENS Art and His Fall Schedule

Dear Friends,

Here’s a peek at my new ALIENS art, launching at New York Comic Con in October, my fall appearance schedule–hyperlinked for your convenience–and a brief interview for the folks attending my free Mathnasium of Whitefish Bay, WI event, where I’m appearing on October 2nd to teach art. Without further adieu, here’s the scoop:

September 17-18, 2016 – Panama City Creative Con, Panama City, FL

October 1, 2016 – Discovery World Museum, Milwaukee, WI

October 2, 2016 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. –  Mathnasium, Whitefish Bay, Whitefish Bay, WI

October 6 – 9, 2016 – New York Comic Con, Javits Convention Center, NYC

Want to book me at your convention or event? Please contact denise@writebrainmedia.com

ALIENS 30th Anniversary commemorative art work-in-progress painting by Dave Dorman for NYCC 2016 Launch

Rohita Shah Interviews #1 Star Wars Artist Dave Dorman:

RS: Can you share with our readers your connection to Mathnasium Whitefish Bay?

DD: You (owners Kal and Rohita Shah) are like family to us, and our sons have been best friends since kindergarten. In fact, Kal and I coached their football team together, which remains a very happy memory for me. I’d never been to Whitefish Bay until you moved there, and in a perfect world, outside of my home in Florida, I’d be living in Whitefish Bay. I like that it’s a community where you can walk to everything you need, and nearby Milwaukee is a great city with a great art museum.

RS: What will attendees of the Mathnasium Whitefish Bay event on October 2nd, 2016 experience?

DD: I’m going to teach drawing geometric shapes and how they can be easily transformed into your favorite STAR WARS characters. I will be doing two classes–one at 11 a.m. and one at 2 p.m. Additionally, I’ll have my prints for sale–Star Wars, Batman, Alien, you name it– and I’ll sign anything anyone brings for me to autograph. Autographs are always free.

RS: What projects have you done lately or are working on now?

DD: I’m working on STAR WARS comic book covers for Marvel Comics, superhero trading cards for Upper Deck, and a commemorative ALIENS print for the 30th anniversary of the 2nd  ALIENS film. This piece premieres at New York Comic Con on October 6th. I’m also taking in requests and doing a lot of commissioned art for fans worldwide.

RS: What advice would you give young artists?

DD: The main advice I’d give them is to draw as much as they can. The more you draw, the better you get. Draw everything, not just what you like to draw. A good artist should be able to easily draw whatever they’re being asked to draw by an art director or client.

RS: Do you recommend any art schools?

DD: That’s such a personal choice, depending on your particular focus. I’d spend time evaluating each program to find the one best fitting your direction. I had a false start at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, where I majored in art and they had me doing these large, contemporary art gallery pieces, which was not at all my interest. I switched schools my sophomore year and attended the Joe Kubert School in Dover, NJ. That school taught me comic book illustration, which is what I thought I wanted, but then I realized, I was geared more towards telling a whole story with one single illustration, which led me to doing cover art. It was only the Kubert School’s second year in operation, so Joe Kubert advised me to graduate early (he said they’d already taught me everything they could) and he encouraged me to go on my own to learn color illustration. My color work is self taught, but it all boils down to the amount time I spent in front of my drawing board. It took me until I was 25 to sell my first piece, the Heavy Metal magazine cover I did. 

 

DAVE DORMAN’S “AMERICAN HERO 3” GI Joe Art BOOK COMING SOON!

Dear Friends,

 At the end of September 2015, I will be publishing the final volume of my AMERICAN HERO Series. AMERICAN HERO 3 will be shipping during the 3rd week of September. This is the matching edition to the previous books, in size and in design.  This will most likely be the last of these books, as I have searched my private archives and can no longer find additional examples to show. I hope you all enjoy this final edition!   

To order AMERICAN HERO 3 please click on this link to my webpage: http://www.davedorman.com/americanhero3.shtml

For those not familiar with my AMERICAN HERO books, here is a brief synopsis: Between the mid 1980s thru the early ’90s, I had the great pleasure of working with Hasbro toys, producing art for in-house use in helping to create the design of GI Joe action figures. This work was for production only and not intended for reproduction, promotion, or packaging. I have had many fans over the years ask about this art. Because there is continued interest to this day to see these unpublished pieces, I have taken your wishes into consideration and decided to publish some of these in a small book. While there have been a few articles in collector’s magazines and online interviews about this work, and a few scattered publications of a couple of pieces, this will be the first real collection of my Hasbro work from this time period.

The art featured in the books are full color paintings produced to make the GI Joe toy figures look as they would in real life. I am also featuring some of the pencil preliminary work that went into my painting preparation. The art covers both Joe and Cobra, and some variations of uniforms not produced. I have kept film of these works in my personal archives, as I do with all of my artwork, and so the reproduction of this art is the best you will find.

The book is 6″ x 9″ full color with card stock cover, 24 pages including cover.  All copies are signed by the artist, me, Dave Dorman.

 •Price is $20.00 (plus$5.00 postage worldwide).

 •Please use the PAYPAL button to order.

To order AMERICAN HERO 3 please click on this link to my webpage: http://www.davedorman.com/americanhero3.shtml

I am also offering, for a LIMITED TIME ONLY,  the first two volumes of this GI JOE Art Book series at a DISCOUNTED price. Both Books 1 and 2 are being offered at $10.00 each (plus shipping).  These can ordered from my webpage at  www.davedorman.com/americanhero1-2SALE.shtml 

 As always, thank you so much for your support of this project.

Dave.

KROS: Hallowed Ground – A Kickstarter by John Ostrander and my fellow Joe Kubert Alum Tom Mandrake

Dear Friends,

As you can imagine, every one of my friends has some sort of Kickstarter going at the moment, and I could make a full-time job of reposting them here. But I won’t. However, my friends John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake have a really cool Kickstarter campaign for their new graphic novel with just 1 day left on it, and I am hoping they make their goal – they’re just about $3k away from it. The log line: Vampire Hunter Kros fights a battle at night as fearful and horrific as the battles fought during the day at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here’s a link to support them on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kroshallowedground/kros-hallowed-ground

Here’s an image of the Kickstarter page: 

What you’ll see on the KROS: Hallowed Ground Kickstarter home page

I’m at Denver Comic-Con This Weekend – Come See Me!

Dear Friends,

I am here at Denver Comic-Con this weekend (show ends Monday), so please come see me if you’re in the ‘hood. I’m at the very end of “Aisle I” in Artists Alley. If I’m not there, I’m in the BattleKasters Booth, which is in the “game room.” I did the art for their mobile app game, which is being released this weekend, but I can share it here.

Artwork for BattleKasters mobile app game by Artifact Technologies, based on book series “Legends of Orkney” by Alane Adams

 

And another piece:

 

Also, a dear fan created this for me on Facebook (this is a photo taken of me this weekend at Denver Comic-Con) and I promised him I would post it, so here it is:

Created by a Fan

Dave Dorman Art Now on EveryDayOriginal.com Art Site

Hi Everyone,

I have joined a new group/website and I wanted to share it with you. It is called Every Day Original (http://www.everydayoriginal.com/). It is a group of very talented artist; some are my friends in the fantasy art field, some are new to me, but all are worth taking a look at. The concept behind the website is to add an original piece of art every day–a small piece priced at $500 or under–and it can be any subject matter the artist chooses. There are quite a few artists already on the site, so you won’t necessarily see a piece from any particular artist for weeks at a time. I think this is a great idea to get exposed to many different artists and new styles of work.

 

 

Dave Dorman contribution to Everyday Original, “The Creature.”                             8″ x 10″, acrylic and oil on gessoed wood block

Which brings it to me. My first piece is going up today! I would love it if you could take a moment and point your browser to the EDO site (http://www.everydayoriginal.com/) and take a look. While this is my first piece and reflects some of my film/ genre interests, future pieces will allow me to play with other interests and subjects that I would not necessarily get to work on in my commercial work. But fear not! You will occasionally see something that is very familiar as well! (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more….)

So please take a minute to see some wonderful work by some very talented artists… and me!

Thanks all!

Dave

A Short Anatomy of My Star Wars Painting: Lord Vader’s Persuasion

Dave Dorman’s Star Wars Painting: Lord Vader’s Persuasion of the Outer Rim

I’d like to take a moment to clear up some misconceptions and explain my thoughts on creating my painting “Lord Vader’s Persuasion…” The main reason for creating this piece was to show Vader leading his troops into battle. I wanted to actually show him in the midst of his beloved 501st Squad, being the leader he was born to be. This was not a scene we were able to see in the films themselves, and obviously, it would be a scene taking place between Episodes 3 and 4. This art has caught the imagination of Star Wars fans around the world, and has inspired me to create other scenes capturing potential story elements that were not in the screenplays, but are part of the canon of the Star Wars history.

The two most confusing elements of Lord Vader’s Persuasion are the inclusion of the Imperial Guards (the red armored figures surrounding Vader) and the fact that Vader is rising above the squad. The Imperial Guards were introduced in Episode 6 as visual elements in the background, in scenes featuring the Emperor and Lord Vader. They are not exclusively the Emperor’s private, but the elite of the Imperial forces used to protect those of the highest power. So the Imperial Guard would certainly be on hand to protect a high value target such as Vader during an invasion operation. Vader’s loyal 501st troops form a phalanx around them, always pushing forward towards Victory!

Why is Vader above the troops? He is not on a hoverboard, nor is he standing on a trooper’s shoulders! We know from the end of Episode 3 that Anakin/Vader is fearless in carrying out the Emperor’s order. Why would Vader not be fearless in leading his Troops into battle? Like any commander worthy of his troops’ respect, he will join them in battle. And as a powerful leading figure, he will not hide behind his troops, but will be where they can see him and be inspired by him. During the course of the battle, Vader uses the FORCE to levitate himself above the fray, leading and directing his troops ever forward, knowing he will become the primary target of his opponents. He is unafraid because he uses the power of The Force for protection.

I have also taken an artistic license and compacted the field of battle so that I could show a few other elements that would be involved in this type of skirmish. The officers and scouts to the far left would not so close to the battlefield in a real situation, and the ATAT/ATSTs would not be so packed together. But the art I wanted to create would show the full impact of all elements of the Imperial Forces, so I pulled a few visual tricks out of my creative hat.

Aesthetic Placement of Elements in the Art: Speaking artistically about the art, there are reasons I put elements where they are in the art. As you can see, there is an explanation for what is the battle scene from a “warfare” point of view. But to paint what I wanted, I had to have both an “Artistic” reason and a “Realism” reason. When laying out the the art, the first thing I noticed artistically was that the piece was primarily black and white. Black and greys in the Vader figure and white and greys in the trooper armor. I found working the Imperial guard into the piece not only added a focusing element, to bring your eye towards the main element–Vader–but also added that bold stroke of color I needed. That red would eventually tie in with the red of Vader’s lightsaber and the red/oranges of the explosions in the background. With that element of red, it was no longer necessary to add another bold statement of color, because the contrast of the dark figure of Vader made him the focus against the whites and the greys of the rest of the piece.

One Last Visual Element to Note: There is one last visual element that you may not see right off, but if you look closely at the art and let your eye roam, you will probably focus on Vader first, then follow the line of his arm and hand deflecting the blasterbolt. Your eye will follow the red of the ATAT explosion and smoke back over Vader, then follow the path of his Lightsaber back down to the far left of the art, now seeing the Officers and Scouts. As your eye follows where they are looking, it catches the front-most Stormtrooper with his arm raised, pointing the troopers forward. We follow that line through the bottom of the art into the field of troopers. From here, the curve upward of the red and blue blasterbolts brings the eye back up to the exploding ATAT in the background and then right back to Vader.

There was much more that went into this piece and the contribution of the 501st Midwest Garrison in helping me shoot reference for this cannot be overstated. But this should help you understand a bit of what is going through my head when creating a piece of art.

A special thanks to Jesus Diaz of the SPLOID column for Gizmodo who wrote this piece today about my Star Wars art (including Lord Vader’s Persuasion):

Thank you, Jesus Diaz!

and to writer Marlon McDonald of MoviePilot.com who wrote this article today as well:

Thank you, Marlon McDonald!

Thanks for reading!

Dave Dorman Original Art Sale

Dear Friends,

I have a number of pencil pieces of art I am selling this time around. I did these pieces for myself to do more pencil work and practice texture and  detailing. These are all listed on this webpage with the sizes and prices. There is a Paypal button for each as well. These are one-of-a-kind pieces of art, so if you see something you like, don’t hesitate too long– it may be gone when you return. Thanks so much for looking and for your continued support of my work. Thank you also, to those of you who have sent your condolences on the passing of my wife Denise’s dad.

Link to Art Sale: http://www.davedorman.com/originalartsale020815.shtml

Dr. Who original pencil illustration by Dave Dorman, 11″ x 17″

Luke Skywalker Original Pencil Illustration by Dave Dorman

Willis G.I. Joe Cover: Original Pencil Illustration by Dave Dorman

The Baroness G.I. Joe Cover, original pencil illustration by Dave Dorman

ScarJo original pencil illustration by Dave Dorman

Dave Dorman 2015 Schedule and More

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://twitter.com/davedorman

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

 

 

 

 

 

DAVE DORMAN STAR WARS PRINTS SALE – Last Time Many Items Are Available for Sale

Dear Friends,

One of many DAVE DORMAN STAR WARS ARTIST PROOFS ON SALE NOW.

For those that responded to my last blog and Facebook posting, I appreciate your kind words and support. While it was disheartening to get that news, it will not be my last opportunity to create new Star Wars art. Keep your bookmarks here for coming news of more projects ahead!

As most of you know by now, I will not be attending SW Celebration 7 next year. I had planned on having a sale at Celebration of what was left of my Artist Proofs of previous year’s Celebration prints, along with the new exclusive print. Since that isn’t happening, and I’ve had a lot of fans and collectors asking if I was going to have a Holiday Print Sale this year, I’ve decided to hold it now. Here is the link to my Star Wars Holiday Prints Sale:

http://www.davedorman.com/2014swprintsforsale.shtml

Each print on the webpage has a PayPal button for ordering and if you want to buy more than one it will make a shopping cart for you. **Shipping is FREE worldwide.**

I am now offering the last of my Artist Proofs at a substantial discount for a limited time (I will take this sale down on Dec. 31st, so those who have gift funds after the holidays that they would like to spend here may do so before the sale ends.)

All Star Wars Dave Dorman Prints You Purchase Will Be:

• Signed By Me
• Marked an an A/P (Artist’s Proof).
• I will be happy to personalize the prints for you as well. (You can leave a note on the Paypal purchase form).
• Extra Bonus–As a thank you for all your support over the years, I will add small remarque (original pencil drawing) on every print that is ordered at no extra charge.
• Sent out using Paypal’s shipping, which will include a notification to you of when your order shipped and a tracking number to follow your shipment.
• All orders in the U.S. made before Dec. 19 will get to you before Christmas.

 I only have a limited number of these prints left, and this sale may be the last time some or most of these will be available.

AND A RARE FIND: I also have one more newly discovered print from my private collection to offer for the first time on my webpage. This is “Knockin on Jabba’s Door” — a small 11×14 print produced as an incentive for purchasing the now out-of-print “Jabba’s Palace ” print.

So go ahead and check out the page. I hope you find something you like that might brightens your holidays, birthday, or special occasion, or those of your loved ones.

Thank you again for all of your support of my work over the years. Every smile and handshake at a show, or email or private message on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter unexpectedly saying you like my work, makes my enjoyment of this work grow more and more.

As always, my own I.P., the WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS book (published by Magnetic-Press) special gift offer is still available, and that link is here:

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

Be Well, All, #MTFBWY, and please Tweet out #DaveDormanPrintSale!

Dave.