Hey Everyone,
Happy Fall. If you’re not offended by vulgar language, check out this guy’s “Gourd-geous” blog. I think my wife is going to need oxygen soon, she’s laughing so hard: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2009/10/20nissan.html This guy may replace the spot in my wife’s heart she has reserved for David Sedaris.
Okay, here is a quick step-by-step of the Star Wars Celebration 5 painting I did called “A Slight Disturbance on the Battlefield of Hoth.” Let me know what you all think of it. By the way, I’m using paint, not crayon, as many people seem to assume.
Step One:
Here Is My Pencil Rendering Transferred to Illustration Board
Step 2:
See? It's PAINT, folks! Not Crayons! Dispel those nasty rumors!
Step 3:
Here I am finishing up the background layer. For you CG artists: It's like a layer in PhotoShop except it's not digital!
Step 4:
Eek! It's Darth Vader! He's a bad, bad man. I'm breaking the rules, baby! I'm using a black marker! I'm committing artist anarchy! Woo-hoo! I feel so FREEEEEEE. Where's the art police when you need 'em?!?
Step 5:
Darth Vader needed to be finished first to set the contrast of the piece, being so monochromatic in black & white. Now I can finish the rest. Cue in music: Dum-dum-dum, Dum-da-dum, Dum-da-dummmmmmm
Step 6:
I start working more traditionally now, from the background forward. You'll see more detail in the ships and some of the characters behind Darth Vader being finished.
Final Outcome:
And now, like magic, it's FINITO! Oh, and see the red stripes on Luke Skywalker's burning snow speeder? That's the work of the "Next Gen Dorman" (my son Jack) adding to his daddy's painting.
And here’s the cute anecdote that goes along with this painting:
So my son Jack likes hanging out in my studio, practicing his light saber moves that he’s learned from LEGO STAR WARS and THE CLONE WARS cartoon. I work on the other side of the studio, and in the middle, we have a bathroom.
I took a break from painting, grabbed a book and headed into the “porcelain library.” I kept the door open to keep an eye on Jack. All of the sudden, I looked up to see Jack running past the door, making a beeline for my drawing table. Thirty seconds pass and Jack appeared in the doorway holding a brush saying, “I’m going to go paint on your painting, Daddy.” I laughed and said “Okay,” thinking I was just going along with his little joke. Another minute passed, and Jack appeared at the door again with the brush, laughing, saying, “I’m painting on your painting, Daddy!” Again, I laughed and said, “Okay, Jack…” I continue reading for a few more minutes and then Jack popped in again. “I’m still painting on your painting, Daddy!” and I said with just a hint of a warning, “You’d better not be…” and he just laughed and declared “I am! I am!” I replied in an ominous tone, “Okay…” So I finished reading and I walked into the studio.
Cue the great reveal music here: Nothing surprised me more than actually seeing Jack sitting at my drawing table, brush in hand, happily painting away… in red paint, no less! After the cartoon scenario of the steam coming out of my ears and my eyes popping out of my head, I reigned in my temper and pulled the chair away from the drawing table to study the damage. Jack looked up at me innocently, with nothing but love and excitement and said, “I wanted to finish the red line for you, Daddy!” I looked at it and understood that the definition of “line” for a 5-year-old is much different than it is for me. I smiled and took the brush out of his hand, explaining ever-so-gently, “Daddy’s art is Daddy’s art. Jack’s art is Jack’s art. No more touching Daddy’s art.” He smiled and said “Okay,” grabbed his light sabers and went back to practicing his moves. The moral to the story is, when your son tells you three times he’s breaking the rules, believe him!” And now you know the truth. If you own this limited edition print, you own a historic piece of Jack Dorman’s worldwide art premiere as well.
Tomorrow I will post the iconic Batman painting I did that is now up for sale from my private collection. It’s hard to give up, but I am working hard to raise the money to take some time off of full-time commercial work and finish my passion project, aka Project 52. FYI, 50% of the profits for books and print sales from Project 52 will go to USACares.org, and 50% will go to 501st founder Albin Johnson’s favorite charity, the “Make a Wish Foundation,” in honor of his daughter Katie. Here’s a link to check it out if you want to be named in the book (for just a $5 donation) or if you want 2 lines to commemorate a fallen soldier (a $25 donation). The 501st who donate will be listed in a separate chapter of the book. Project 52 = http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-52
As always, I thank all of you for reading.
Dave
Dave Dorman 
Building Your Foundation for a Future in Illustration
Posted in Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Chicago Comic Book Artists, Collectibles, Collections, Collectors, Comic Book Art, Comic Book Artist, DAVE DORMAN NEWS, Entertainment, Fan Culture, Geek, Geek Culture, Illustration, Military, Nerd Culture, Painting, Pop Culture, Social Commentary, Star Wars, United States Air Force with tags Acrylic Painting, Art, Comic Book Art, Comic Book Illustration, comic book industry, Comics, Dave, Dave Dorman, Drawing, Illustration, Malcolm Gladwell, Oil Painting, Pencil Illustration, Sketch (drawing), Sketchbook, Visual Arts on January 19, 2012 by DaveandDeniseDormanDear Friends,
Last week’s post I have since removed from this blog. The post was badly worded, poorly thought out, and hastily written. And, unfortunately, it completely missed the point I intended to make. It also created a discussion completely off of my intended subject, and one that I had no interest in debating or pursuing further. I appreciate all who dropped in to read the blog and those who took the time to post some very thought-provoking comments. I apologize to all those who took offense, and for those who missed it, let’s move on to more creative topics. (Dave waves his hand in the air cryptically and says in a low voice, “These are not the words you are looking for. Move on…”)
Next Topic: Maximizing Your Success By Learning Illustration Basics
When I was 19 and just learning my craft, one of the main things I did was to draw…all of the time. I would sketch in bed, sketch at breakfast, practice at the drawing table, at work on break, and after dinner in front of the TV. I had set a goal for myself to become the best illustrator I could, and I knew I needed to work at my craft and invest as much time and work as humanly possible.
Dave Dorman Student Sketches, Circa 1979
Most artists have sketchbooks filled with the work product to prove it. Oddly enough, I have very few “sketchbooks” from that time in my life. The bound drawing paper-style sketchbook was way too restricting for me. It never laid flat, it was usually not good paper–at least not the sketchbooks I could afford as a student and military kid— and I could only review one to two open pages at a time.
Dave Dorman Student Sketch Sample #2
My solution? I discovered it was better for me to purchase packages of 5″x7″ blank index cards and use those for my work sketches. The paper was good and stiffer than sketchbook paper. It held up well for pencil, ink and watercolor. Buying a 500-sheet package was way cheaper than buying a 500-sheet sketchbook. If I was working on a series of images or thoughts, I could do them individually and lay them out like panels in front of me rather than flipping pages in a book.
Dave Dorman Student Sketches #3
As a student, I produced literally thousands of these little sketch cards. I used them to
This was my ongoing training daily, practicing my craft. Without this groundwork, I could not and would not be the artist I am today. For all of you students and up-and-coming illustrators, I believe the work you put into learning the basics will pay off enormously as you build your career. There is no magic or shortcut to it. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers summarizes it in two words: 10,000 hours. I sat down one day and calculated how many hours I would have put int before I reached my first professional sale. 10,000 hours seemed about right.
Thanks for reading,
Dave.
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