Dear Friends,
Most of my fans know that during the mid-’80s to the early ’90s, I worked with Hasbro producing G.I. Joe artwork for their Research and Development Department. This art was done as presentation for the Board of Directors to determine whether any particular character would move forward to future production. My task was to paint the characters designed as 3 1/2″ toys to look like real fighting G.I. Joe characters. None of this work was meant for publication, however, over the years, fans and collectors have seen some of this art via the Web or fan club communications. (One of the future projects I am hoping to get off of the ground is a collection of all of this unseen artwork into a G.I. Joe/Hasbro art volume. I will keep you up to date on information as this project progresses.)
I have many fans contact me directly about the art I did during this period. Recently one of those fans asked if I’d be interested in recreating some of those pieces for his private collection. This is not something that I normally do, but this particular fan showed so much enthusiasm that I thought that it might be fun to see how I would approach these paintings almost 20 years later. I took on his commission for the three recreations and now I present to you one of them as an art progressive:
Pencil on Illustration Board Recreating the Character to Be Painted
Progressive #2:
The original landscape for this painting had a textured rock pattern that I applied with very thick gesso. I repeated that technique on this new board as well.
Progressive #3:
Here I start laying in some of the b/g colors, starting with the explosion in the mid left.
Progressive #4:
The b/g is almost complete at this point with the main figure clean so that when I add color to the figure, it will be unencumbered by underpainting.
Progressive #5:
After the b/g dries, I now lay in the underpainting for the basic colors of the figure.
Progressive #6:
Continuing similar to the previous photo, I lay in the rest of the colors for this figure.
Progressive #7:
With the basic tones being laid down in oils, I now begin the detail work with acrylics, starting with the head and moving downward.
Progressive #8:
Work continues with the acrylics, adding more detail to the body and his equipment.
Progressive #9:
At this point, I've completed some of the finer shadowing details and refinements with various shades of gray markers. You'll note final details on the ground and some color corrections for the background. The above is the finished piece.
This piece was 16″ x 20″ oil, acrylic and marker on gessoed illustration board. It is the exactly the same size as the original Hasbro artwork. If you have comments or questions about this piece, please feel free to post them here.
Many of my G.I. Joe fans have asked me about commission work or recreations. This is the first one I have ever done, and I did enjoy bringing back good memories of working with the artists and creators at Hasbro. I would certainly be happy to do more of this type of work if any of you are interested. Please feel free to email me directly at dormanart@yahoo.com or message me via Facebook
As always, I thank you for your time and interest in my work.
Dave
Dave Dorman 
Happy Holidays from Dave Dorman & Some Cool Gifts to Share
Posted in 501st, Amazon.com, Author, Blog, Blogger, Blogger Review, Blogging, Chicago Comic Book Artists, Christmas Gifts, Collectibles, Collections, Collectors, Comic Book Art, Comic Book Artist, Comic Book Cover Art, Comic Books, DAVE DORMAN NEWS, Denise Dorman, Entertainment, Facebook, Fan Culture, Geek, Geek Culture, Holiday Gifts, LinkedIn, Lucasfilm, Nerd Culture, Painting, Pop Culture, Product Review, Product Reviewer, Social Activism, Social Commentary, Social Networking, Star Wars, Twitter, Wasted Lands, WriteBrain Media, Writer with tags Alex Toth, Amazon, Apple, Blogging, Christmas Gifts, Chronicle Books, Comic Book Art, Comics, Dave Dorman, Dave Dorman's The Wasted Lands, Entertainment, FaceBook, Gaming, Geek Culture, Geek Gifts, IDW Publishing, John Hitchcock, LinkedIn, Lucasfilm, Nerd Culture, Nerd Gifts, Online Gaming, Pop Culture, Publishing, social media, Social Networking, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Wasted Lands, WriteBrain Media on December 28, 2011 by DaveandDeniseDormanDear Friends,
If your household is like mine, Lucasfilm, Amazon and Apple retailers got the majority of your greenbacks this year. Santa was good to me this year and here’s a highlight of my favorite gifts and holiday cards:
I got The Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic, by Chronicle Books, a fine art book that also has lengthy descriptions on the creation of the game itself, not just the preproduction artwork. My son and I have been playing and are on Level 15 so far. It’s a wonderful game.
Me with my new Star Wars: The Old Republic art book
I also received Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth, by IDW Publishing, which is the best book I’ve received all year. It is a beautifully made compilation of Toth’s early formative years as an artist, and it’s the first of three books to cover Toth’s career. It’s an exciting start to the series and I’m really looking forward to the subsequent volumes. The production on this hardcover book was just amazing and the material that the authors dug through and found to represent in this book was truly astounding, covering Toth’s formative work, both in comics and illustration. I highly recommend it. If you are an Alex Toth fan, you should also pick up my friend John Hitchcock’s book, which chronicles his correspondence and friendship with Toth in the later years of his life. It’s a real treasure. John is a master storyteller and if you’re ever lucky enough to hang out with him, you will see what I mean by that.
My Favorite Book in 2011: The Life and Art of Alex Toth
I was also happy to receive this Christmas card, postcard and trading card from our friend Kevin-Kim, TK-1023 in the German Garrison of the 501st. That was a nice surprise. (My son is in his new Star Wars pajamas from Santa).
My Gifts from 501st German Garrison Kevin-Kim, TK-1023
In other news, we’ve been working hard on updating my Facebook fan page. With the rate at which I’m getting friend requests on Facebook, I will have to split my time between my Facebook Fan Page and my Facebook personal page as I fear I will run out of spaces to add friends on my personal page. I do plan to maintain both, but please “Like” my Facebook Fan Page; we are working hard to get that page up to speed this year with decent graphics, contests, fan exclusives and more. We will be doing a Fan Page for my own creator-owned series The Wasted Lands and I will announce that here shortly.
In other news, I am very pleased with the traction my artist friend Dave DeVries is getting with his own creator-owned concept, The Monster Engine. His site went viral again this month overseas and people all over Asia and Europe are discovering him. This project is really deserving of a TV series, a movie and a videogame and I hope we see it happen in 2012.
Thanks, as always, for reading my post. I’m @DaveDorman on Twitter and I do respond to direct Tweets, and I’m an open networker on LinkedIn, so please connect with me there as well. I am happy to review your products online (tech, movie, books, comics, music, nerd and geek products are my sweet spot) and to do so, please write to WriteBrain Media, Attn: Denise Dorman, P.O. Box 417, Carpentersville, IL 60110 and put “Dave Dorman Blog Review” in the subject. If you need marketing, social media or PR advice, follow Denise @writebrainmedia on Twitter or “Like” her fan page at Facebook.com/WriteBrainMedia.
Dave.
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