Dragon's Keep

Good news - Dragon's Keep written by Janet Lee Carey, with cover art by yours truely has gone into publication. I found it today on the Harcourt Trade Publishers Website. I also found it on Amazon. It's great to see some of my work in actual print. It looks like the book will be available in Spring '07. The picture associated with this post is the original illustration I produced. They did change it significantly for their final publication which dissapoints me, but whatayagonnado? Anyways hopefully I'll get the opportunity to do more!

Comic-Con 2006

Well it has come and gone and this years convention seemed bigger and better than ever. Not much to report other than delivering my portfolio to a few publishers and then spending time ogling on the show floor. Also spent time at the Marvel Studios presentation and I must say Iron-Man sounds cool and I can't wait for Captain America!! Maybe next year when the graphic novel is finished I'll become a presenter, at the very least that would allow me to get in without waiting in the line from Hades. http://www.comic-con.org

Superman Returns

So I've seen it. And I imagine I was one of the first at 10pm Tuesday night. Since Superman "V" plays into the creation of this post (read 1st post), I thought I should write my own review: Four out of four stars ****, a fitting tribute to the best Superman films and a great beginning to reignite the franchise. The film makers and actors created their own world while not stomping on the past. We couldn't ask for anything better.

Bat Cave

And who couldn't resist a stop by the original Bat Cave.

Disney Studio

This is the original location of the Disney Bros Animation studio in Los Felices, now a fax and copy center. The owner has a tiny hand painted sign in the window identifying the location.

Walt

Not long ago I finished the biography of Walt Disney. It was a great read and I learned a great deal about the man behind the mouse. A friend of mine and fellow Disney buff decided to visit a few historical sites from the book. Most aren't found on any map and are left undiscovered and owned by private individuals. This image is the corner lot in Los Felices where Walt and Roy owned identical homes in the 20s and 30s. The garage is where the original Mickey Mouse cartoons were said to be made in secret while his animators we're being commadeered with Oswald the Rabbit.

Making Progress

I've decided to display a preview of my lastest illustration project. I've spent the last few months working on a graphic novel that will be produced in 2006. The story has been written, the layout work has been completed, and I am moving into the final phase of digital painting. This image represents my first completed panel and I've still got quite a few to go. I am very excited to finish the work and see how it all comes together. When it's ready it will be made available to the public. Most likely in digital form first and then hopefully not too long afterward, as a printed graphic novel. This is actually the first in graphic novel in a three part series, so if you're patient there will be more to come.

Frustrated

I tend to get side tracked when I should be doing other important things. And it seems the busier I get the easier it is to get side tracked. Today should have been spent working hard, but of course I spent it hardly working. I've had this idea for a while to build an arcade machine based on MAME. I want to build a complete working cabinet just like you would find in the arcade. And of course it's easy to get lost in all the computer code trying to make these blasted ROMS work. Anyways, I was unsuccessful in my latest attempt to get a valid frontend for MacMAME running on my Mac. And I may need to abandon the whole idea with a mac system and find an old PC, but I really, really don't want to do that. But the new intel macs do offer up interesting possibilities. I guess that's a project for another busy day.

It's Working

Here's a cool digital painting I did today. I was forced to do a quick study for my students and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. For once my technique is starting to make sense.

It Begins

Here goes nothing. I'll start by explaining the title. My wife, son and I went to Comicon in 2004. My young son was wearing his Superman T-shirt. When the three of us exited the shuttle we entered the crazy and wild world of Fandom. We were surrounded by fans dressed in every possible kind of costume. It was definite culture shock for the wife. Within minutes a stranger confronted my wife and while pointing at my sons t-shirt said, "The jury is still out on whether there will be a five." She looked at me totally confused and even a little frightened. Of course it made perfect sense to me. Our friendly neighborhood geek had been referring to the fact that at the time no one knew if they were going to make a Superman 5. I comforted my wife by telling her to stay close and not venture off because "I speak nerd."