Dave Dorman on the State of the Comics Industry and Digital Art

Dear Friends,

I thank all of you who came to see me at C2E2. It’s always good to see familiar faces at the show. It was great to reconnect with many of my friends there and some winners of the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards as well. One key business dinner meeting resulted in some exciting news about my own action-adventure western series The Wasted Lands and I look forward to sharing that news when I can. Suffice it to say there will be plenty of new Wasted Lands material to see at my Booth #4500 at San Diego Comic-Con this year.

Image of M. d’Cease, the sexy, bad-assed coroner of Mortal City in Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands.

I was flattered to read today that some of the Star Wars  fans would like to see me do the next movie poster. Here’s their comments: http://bitly.com/137QU69

I did a 2-part interview at Hypno Comics in Ventura, CA a couple of weeks ago with owner George Chase, and a special thanks to Jeffrey Willerth at SliceofSciFi.com for everything he did to create the piece. In this interview, George & I discuss the state of the comics industry and what I, as a traditional artist, really think about digital art, and the deficits I see in a lot of younger artists — deficits that can be fixed if they’re aware of them. Here’s a link to that interview: http://bitly.com/17DN5qj

My next big show is Spectrum Fantasy Art Live in Kansas City May 17th, 18th and 19th, so I look forward to reconnecting with my artist friends and fans there. I will have some original art pieces there that aren’t typical of what you’ve seen from me in the past. Here is a link to information on that show: http://bitly.com/ZHfkTm

Today I deliver my painting to our close family friends, the Haleys, and their lovely daughter Lauren, who patiently posed for this piece I did for the Visions of Oz Gallery Show in Los Angeles, curated by Taylor White:

Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” Painting. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 24″ x 36.”

As always, I thank you for reading. If you have questions, I answer them more readily on Facebook – that link is https://facebook.com/davedormanfanpage. On Twitter I’m @DaveDorman and my wife is @WriteBrainMedia. On LinkedIn, I’m https://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman. Feel free to connect with me on my social media sites.

Dave.

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