My Pet Monster?

I spent the day working on a My Pet Monster project at AG. I have always loved the character, and enjoyed revisiting this old brand from the 1980's.While working on it I decided to do a quick My Pet Monster sketch, and in the process the poor guy kind of got...'Gromanized'. What can I say...I make no excuses. So here he is in raw sketch form, with a quick Photoshop color version as well.
Now time for an early New Years Resolution. This year I did not do nearly as much free-style sketching as I would have liked to, but 2009 is going to be different. I am going to make a serious attempt at trying to do a new quick sketch for this blog on a more timely basis. Like this drawing of My Pet Monster, I have hundreds of heroes, villians and monsters that I have been wanting to sketch up my version of, and this is going to be the year to do it.
So let this be the first of many...

South African Pygmy Plushtookan Warrior Fetish Figure

I was recently asked to participate in the Midwest Plushform Show and create a customized plush figure as part of a gallery event and auction for Toys for Tots. Busy as sin, but just could not pass up a chance to join in the fun. There is quite a line up of talented folks that are taking part in this show, so pop on over to the Shoparooni website SHOPAROONI and check out the list of artists, and the date of the show.
Until then, here is my South African Pygmy Plushtookan Warrior Fetish Figure.

The Mighty Thor!!

Man, has it been a long time since I did a sketch-o-rama drawing!!
Carlos Villagra has finally succeeded in prodding me into putting down my freelnce for a few minutes and doing a sketch of one of my favorite Marvel Comics heroes:
THE MIGHTY THOR!
And, by crazy coincidence, the trades have just announced the name of the man set to direct the big screen motion picture debut of the Thunder God.
Kenneth Brannagh
Mr. Brannagh is best known for directing a number of Shakespearian film adaptations, as well as the mediocre 1994 Frankenstein film starring Robert Deniro. Though Frankenstein is not a good indicator, the man is an interesting director. Besides, the Thor I grew up with spoke alot like someone who walked out of one of the works of The Bard.
Anyway, heres my Thor, inked by hand and colored in Photoshop.
BY ODIN'S BEARD!

New Madball Paintings

Yes, I have been missing in action for the last few weeks.
I am overloaded with freelance and some other personal projects that need my undivided attention, so the blog has been neglected once again.
But, I did realise that I hadn't posted my two new Madball paintings that I had done a few months back. These were created for our American Greetings Madball Gallery Show. I challenged myself to get these two painted as fast as I could, and ended up spending 2 hours a piece on them...
Don't be too impressed, they are only 6 inches square in size.
So, here they are, for your viewing pleasure, (or horror...)
DUSTBRAIN and SWINESUCKER!!

Boose & Gar are at San Diego Comicon!!

They're here!
I've finally got my first shipment of the Boose & Gar Collected Graphic Novel! I am taking a bunch to San Diego for Comicon, and will be passing them out as a promotional item to comic shops, dealers, distributers, movie stars, film producers, or franklly, any one who will talk to me...
When I get back from the show I will be offering them up for sale on my blog, so check this site out in about 2 weeks to get yours.
And soon I will be starting on my next publishing project...

San Diego Comicon Madball Exclusive!!

Howdy!
I'm off to San Diego Comicon today, and will be stopping by the Basic fun/Underground Toys booth at the show to check on Madballs and see how things are going with the 1000 signed and numbered limited edition Madballs art prints that they have at the show.
Thats right! The first 1000 people to stop by their booth at the show will recieve one, 20" by 20" , limited edition art print of our Blech Beard the Pirate signed by the artist (me!) with the purchase of any Wave 1 or Wave 2 Madball!
These are beautiful, full-color prints on high quality, heavy stock ,acid free paper. They will be given out contained in a huge protective envelope with an official Madball sticker of authenticity. Come to the show, and get one while they last.
Wow, it is Thursday, and the show started yesterday...they may be gone already!

Inside the Studio...

My wife took this photo for the opening pages of my Boose & Gar collected comic.
Thanks, my sweet!

Arrrr, Madballs!!

Its Madball painting number 3! This time it's Blech Beard the pirate, a real cool Madball design from Wave 2, (should be on toy shelves right about now!). I also did this painting as an addition to a Madball art-gallery show we will be having here at American Greetings.
Uh, Oh...I feel my painting hand a-twitching... could I actually get a Skull Face painting done in time?
STAY TUNED!

Boose -n- Gar Front and Back Covers

Here is the nearly finished front cover image to the Boose n Gar Collected book! (I say nearly because I have been known to tweek these things right up until the day it goes to print.)
I enlarged the background to allow for the logotype to be applied, and added a blue border treatment. (A homage to the border treatment on the comic's original covers in the 80's)
I also began coloring the image to be used for the back cover as well, and here it is. More of a portrait study of the two heroes, in a more relaxed moment between adventures.

The Boys Are Back...

I have mentioned before on this blog that I created, wrote and illustrated a comic book back in the 1980's-90's called Buce n Gar. At the time the book's sales were on a steady increase all the time, and there was a group out there who even started a fan club. But when the last seven pages of the 100 page story arc I was working on were lost at the printer, and I was offered a new job right out of college, I abandoned the publishing world and went on to have a rather lucrative career in toy design.
About 3-4 years ago, RAK graphics publisher Robert Kraus found the lost pages, and I at last had my complete 100 page Buce n Gar comic back together. And in the interest of finally seeing this large part of my artistic past finally complete, I am now planning to publish this entire, 100 page epic myself. I have cleaned up and re-typeset every page, and recently began work on a brand new cover for the book, (which you see here.) I have also decided to re-design the logo, and go with a new spelling for Buce's name. It will now read: Boose n Gar.
This cover is still in the finishing stages, but will be completed soon. My planned book will be over 150 pages long, and will contain the now complete first saga of Boose n Gar as well as a number of my other early works.
Finally, after all these years.
Stay tuned for further updates...
(Special thanks to my friend and co-worker Dave Fedan for his constant incouragement during the course of creating this new cover. )

Charlton Heston:1924-2008

I heard the news that Charlton Heston died this weekend. This demanded that I pick up a pencil, and honor him with a sketch.
Heston was one of my all-time favorite actors. The voice, the presence, the face that seems to be carved from of stone. Like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, Charles Bronson and Steve Mcqueen, there isn’t a movie star alive today that can touch him when it comes to his stature as an iconic, larger than life hero.
Some of my favorite films he starred in are: The Naked Jungle (fighting killer army ants), Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, The Warlord, The Big Country, El Cid, Will Penny, The Agony and the Ecstasy (as Michaelangelo), Major Dundee, A Touch of Evil (great film noir), Planet of the Apes (the great original), Soylent Green and The Omega Man, to name but a few.
If you ever want to see what I believe to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones, check out Heston’s ‘ Secret of the Incas’.
If a ‘real’ Batman movie had been done in the 50’s or 60’s, he would have been my choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman.
The sketch that appears here is based on Heston’s portrayal of El Cid from the 1961 film of the same name. The actor is best known for his oscar winning portrayal of Judah Ben Hur in the film: Ben Hur, and as Moses in the Ten Commandments. But my favorite, big-budget film epic with him in the lead is El Cid, the story of Spain’s greatest historical hero. Don’t take my word for it, the film was just released as a limited edition collectors set DVD with a ton of way-cool extras. No CGI here, those massive, castle and beach assaults and battles are all extras, props and sets. Do yourself a favor, and check it out.
Charlton Heston is a true hero’s, hero.
Who do we have today: Keanu Reeves?

War of the Collossal Freaks of Frankenstein's Planet Comic Book Page!

This comic page was sent to me by an anonymous source from somewhere in Florence, Italy. It was rumored that a comic book adaptation of WOTCFOFP had been initiated, but no one had any samples of the art until now. This page was sent to me with an original typewriter written plot synopsis for the film, which I believe to be the first document used to pitch Clint Eastwood back in the 1960's. I am committed to tracking down the source of this find, and attempt to piece together the rest of this strip, if it indeed does exists.

War of the Collossal Freaks Trailer

Film Fan and archivist Jorge Lacera has begun reconstruction of the original movie trailer for this lost film. This is a work in progress, but like The Time Machine in HG Wells classic story, it gives us a glimpse of this amazing treasure from the past. Anyone out there that may have uncovered any news or images from this film, please contact me on this blog.

YO, JOE!!

Saxton Moore is having a Gi Joe art contest over at his blog and Channel Frederator, and I decided to add an entry.
Back in the late sixties/seventies Hasbro introduced The Intruders to the GI Joe Adventure Team toy line. The Intruders were billed only as 'Strongmen from Another World' and their point of origin was never revealed. They looked like a mix of Neanderthal, Pro Wrestler, and Alien Warrior. Most likely this was Hasbro's attempt at creating a foe for the Joe's that could not be associated with any specific world nationality or ethnic group.
Anyway, I decided to make them the subject of my contest entry, which I did in the vein of a vintage paperback book cover.