Dear Friends,
I hope you are all enjoying a Happy Labor Day! Our 8-year-old son Jack proudly hung our American flag in front of the house first thing this morning, and we’re hitting a barbecue in a few hours, so a fairly traditional day over here. And now, here’s my latest news:
My Wasted Lands/RAIL project: The IRON WARS Game by the team at Silent Gunfight (Mike Bawden and Tim Bawden) is coming along nicely. We will have a playable prototype to show at New York Comic Con, which Mike Bawden and I will be attending in person this year! I will be joining the Artists Alley section with Kevin Eastman, Joshua Ortega and Digger T. Mesch, all of whom I partnered with in a variant President Obama cover for their The Other Dead comic book by IDW Publishing, plus I’ll be promoting my creator-owned work http://wastedlands.com.
Since this is Labor Day, I thought I would share with you some of my thoughts on the fruits of my labor–my art work. During the 30 years of my art career, I taught myself many mediums to stay on top of my game. When I decided to begin painting, I blindly chose oil paints, because that’s what I thought painters used. I was very much a novice and didn’t know about acrylics. (Besides, my most influential artist at that time Frank Frazetta, worked in oils.) I taught myself how to paint with oils and used that medium almost exclusively for 20 years, before finally feeling comfortable with them!
I began experimenting with acrylics, markers and pencils as mediums to augment my work about 10 years ago, and I’ve been very happy with the results. However the Digital/CGI Age came creeping up. I have attempted to keep it to the side, as I felt the art and imagery I was producing could hold its own against digital art. However, today I’m finding in many instances, I am losing work opportunities and being marginalized by editors and art directors because I am NOT producing digital art. While I see no difference between a digital image and a traditionally painted image as the end result–the art should speak for itself, not the medium it was produced in–there are some art directors and editors who turn away the moment they learn your specific art is NOT produced digitally, even though they want to hire you based on your specific style and your previous traditional body of art pieces. (I have very strong opinions on this, and you can hear them in this interview with Hypno Comics owner George Chase: http://www.itscomicbookday.com/2013/05/meet-dave-dorman-part-2/ )
To remain competitive in today’s field, I am now being forced to learn a new tool–the digital tool. I have researched what I will need to work digitally, which is mainly software and a tablet. I have decided to get a CINTIQ tablet because that will offer me a more natural feel like traditional work; I will be able to watch my hand paint on the tablet surface without having to look up at a monitor from a separate tablet surface. I will work with PAINTER and PHOTOSHOP to start out, so if you are one of my many digital artist friends, don’t be surprised if you get a call in the middle of the night asking for help or tips!
To fund this costly move to digital, I am offering my fans the rare opportunity to grab just a few of my ORIGINAL STAR WARS PAINTINGS for sale at a cost of just $2,000 each. These are STAR WARS paintings that have been used as covers for Dark Horse Comics. I don’t usually offer my original paintings on my blog, but I felt this would be the best way to get the word out that these pieces are available, and to offer to my fans an exclusive opportunity to purchase some art without having to travel to a convention or signing. The art is listed on my webpage http://www.davedorman.com/sworiginalart.shtml with purchase buttons for PAYPAL. These are one-of-a-kind paintings, not prints.
All of these original pieces are oil and acrylic on gessoed illustration board. They are 20″ x 30″ in size. Take a look at the art below and visit the webpage. If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly dormanart@yahoo.com.
Price: $2,000. Dave Dorman Original Painting of Darth Maul cover for Dark Horse Comics
Price: $2,000
Dave Dorman STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE COVER #3 for DARK HORSE COMICS
Price: $2,000
STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE COVER #4 by Dave Dorman, Cover for Dark Horse Comics
Price: $2,000
Dave Dorman Original STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE Cover for Dark Horse Comics
Price: $2,000
Dave Dorman Original Art – Star Wars Invasion, 25th Anniversary, Dark Horse Cover
As a friendly reminder, please be sure to “Like” my Fan Pages on Facebook. They are as follows:
http://www.facebook.com/davedormansstudio
http://www.facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands
On Twitter, I’m @DaveDorman.
As always, I thank you for reading, getting in touch, and supporting my work. I’ll keep you posted on my digital efforts.
Dave.
Dave Dorman 