Archon Program Book Cover

It's been a while since Cindy and I attended Archon this past summer, so figured I'd put up the artwork that I did for the program book cover. It's based on a sketch I've had sitting around for a number of years of a scene from the Charwhimble Valley stories we've been working on. Was great to have an opportunity to finish it off like this.

We USED To Fix Machines by Hitting Them...

The Argent Heart Trilogy

I've worked up various designs based around a simple "heart" theme for my own amusement. This was a series I did a couple of years back I'm pleased with. I call them, from the top down: the Full Heart, the Empty Heart, and the Giving Heart. (Click on the image here to see a larger version.)

Young Martian Displaying...

But...is it Art?

Larry is both Shocked and Awed...

Duckenstein Goes Ice Skating at Night...

Band Logo for "The Texas Diablos"

Here's another one of the fun projects I've finished recently, a logo design for the band "The Texas Diablos". Now you're job is to get out there and make them a huge success, so that I can see this thing blown up on the side of their tour bus, and hanging behind them at major concerts, and on all the usual rock-n-roll bric-a-brac! They're starting out local here in Texas, so you'll have to check out info on their myspace page for now. But, with such a spiffy-keen (spiffy-keeno?) new logo, they have to be on their way to the top!

Here's the cover art I did for the second collection of short stories my writer pal Rhonda Eudaly has put together. She has eight short pieces in this collection, and gave me the choice of which one to use for the cover. Hands down there was no way I was going to pass up a tale about a planet of dinosaurs that had evolved linto Elvis imitators. And now you have the answer to the questions that were running through your head as soon as you saw the above image.


I also felt this would make a nice follow-up / companion to the piece I did for her first collection, shown below. You can go to Rhonda's website and pickup on these if you like. Just let her know that, while you are an appreicator of the written word, it's those funky Foster covers that got you in the door!

Artfest at CityArts

I exhibited my work at Artsfest this past weekend, as part of the annual CityArts celebration in Dallas. All the events are spread around Fair Park, the big fairgrounds area south of downtown that is home of the Cotton Bowl, and the big State Fair of Texas every fall. What I thought was particularly cool was the art portion of the show stretched the 150 or so artist's tents along one side of the pathway that goes around the big man-made lagoon there, which has two wonderfully bizarre massive earth-art sculpture pieces. To quote from the Fair Park site:

"Federal WPA (Work Progress Administration) funds constructed The Leonhardt Lagoon in 1936 at the site of the Texas Centennial Exposition. The site takes its name from philanthropist Dorothea Leonhardt. In the 1980s, workers drained the lagoon, cleaned out excess vegetation, and introduced native Texas plants to restore the lagoon’s ecological balance.

In 1986, artist Pat Johanson fashioned two serpentine sculptures for the lagoon. Made of gunite and steel, the sculptures resemble large plant forms that entwine at the center of the lagoon to create a bridge visitors can traverse."

(Yes, the word there was "gunite". It's a dry mixture of cement and aggregate that is combined with water at the nozzle of a spray gun. blasted out at high pressure. It is the perfect medium for sculpting artificial rock because it does not sag or slump like concrete. )

I just thought it was way too cool to walk around, on, and over those undulating curves which seemed to float on, and rise above, the waters of the lagoon. With their odd pinkish color, it was like strolling along the tongue of some bizarre sea monster that had passed out just below the surface. Or, is that just how I see it?

Argent Park Shrub with Golden Fruit

Moon Dog

Tattoo: The design, and the results

Here's a design I did for a client who wanted a piece of mine as a tattoo. She liked the style of one of the cat heads in my print "Rainbow Cats", and asked if I could do a color version of it. Knowing that you cannot get quite as much fine-line detail in a tattoo, I did a slightly simpler line version of it, then added several color layers from her list of favorite colors. The finished design is above, and the actual tattoo that resulted is below.

(It's not as "narrow" as it seems. The tattoo artist actually did a really good job, it's just my photo here exaggerates the warping of the image wrapping around her arm.) I've had several designs now translated into tattoo art, and this is one of the better results. It doesn't matter how good the art is you take in to them, it's the person who wields the needle whose talent is most important.

It's always an amazing compliment when someone says they actually want to wear my art permanently on their body!

Arthur C. Clarke's "Inner Robot"

I just found out that my "Inner Robot" portrait of Arthur C. Clarke will be in the next issue of Slam Bang. However, it will be running as an interior piece, and thus in black and white. So I thought I'd put up the full color version here for full disclosure.
And, because it never hurts to toss in a plug, I'll point out that these portraits aren't just for the big-name folks. You can get your own Inner Robot portrait done. Just go to the appropriate spot on my webpage, (which would happen to be right here), for more information on getting yourself the total robot treatment.

Your Leader...Loves to Point

ConDFW 10 - 2011 Program Book Cover

I seem to have surprised some people with the last posting. Most folks only know my work in pen and ink. But I have been playing more with color the last year or two. Specifically taking my ink drawings, then scanning them and using a digital airbrush to get the affects I always wanted to, but just took so long with a real airbrush.
Here's another one, from earlier in this year. The good folks at ConDFW in Dallas were kind enough to invite me to be the Artist Guest of Honor this year, and I took that as an opportunity to do my version of their pegasus mascot. Originally it was just meant to be used on badges, so I kept it to a more horizontal format. Then, when they said they also wanted to use it on the program book cover, they let me do the design work on that. I was quite pleased with the graphic result here.

"I Should Have Stayed In OZ"

Here's a piece I recently finished for a new book called "I Should Have Stayed in OZ", to be published by Yard Dog Press. I love the idea of this one: a collection of short stories of what happens to Dorothy when she gets back to Kansas. It'll be an anthology of different authors, and I've not seen any of the text, so I'm really looking forward to getting this one myself when it's printed, and seeing what kind of tales they come up with!

Work 'til You Drop...

This seemed an appropriate cartoon to run today. I'm in the midst of trying to work on about four different projects at the same time, all with different but upcoming deadlines, and find that I'm kind of hitting a wall on all four.
But, just going to have to power through and hope for the best. I'll lock myself to the drawing board and keep on drawing until the bad ones stop coming, and something good starts to appear...

Visual Stutter

Nervous Technology