Sometimes you realize....

...that this is why you love the genre....

Once again, Gail Cross never ceases to amaze me with her design work. Just had to post this because it looked so cool.

Update 2/29/08-Ordering info is several posts down, Feb 21st has the link to Subterranean Press, on this book.

On a very busy week...a spacewalk would be nice!

What a busy week! I'm trying to finish about three projects in the next week. One will be done tonight-see the above concept sketch. So nothing too new to report, and I think it will be sparse for a few days. Don't give up. I should be posting some more "Things they don't teach you in art school" (part 4) soon.

The above is generally how I work out an idea. If I have an especially good inner vision of what it will look like, then it pretty much all comes together without alot of prep work. If I work on a painting more than four days I get really antsy about it, and I get the itch to move on.

Remember The Land that Time Forgot...?

Dinosaur(oils, 8x10, SOLD!)
Fun little piece, done at Boskone as a demo. Someone suggested that I put in a small plane to "complete" it and they were right in that suggestion as it works!! I have an idea for a book called "Barnstormin' Brontos" and, I can get away with calling an Apatosaur a Brontosaur because it involves biplanes and, the term Brontosaur was used in the 1920's and '30s. Besides, it sounds cooler. Pictured here is in fact some kind of carnivore, nondescript. We have only found 1% of all dinosaurs ever known, so it's safe to say there will be some oddities in the other 99%!!!

Ben Chapman RIP

Again, we lost a great guy who gave us some great silver screen moments. Ben Chapman who played The Creature from The Black Lagoon, passed away today, at 79. I did the above painting for the San Francisco Creature Fest poster and, both Ben Chapman and Julia Adams signed so, so he got to see it.

Me with Chapman a few years ago at Chiller theater.
Ben in action as The Creature. Ricou Browning actually played him swimming.
Ren Brown's classic iconic Creature movie poster from 1954.

The details of Chapman's passing-(info thanks to Bob Johnson-I just copied and pasted here)-Ben Chapman passed away this morning at 12:15 AM Hawaii time. He wasadmitted to the hospital two days ago and died peacefully in his hospital bed. He had a living will and they turned off his life support yesterday about noon Hawaii time. They will be having a memorial service at a Catholic Church located near the beach and he will be cremated. He turned 79 last October.

(I wore a Creature shirt today, drank tea from my Creature mug, and had my Creature key chain in use-in his honor.)

See you on the dark side of the moon...

Space seems to be making news lately. Not only did the US Navy successfully shoot down-from 130 miles up- the "Death Star" faltering spy satellite...but we had a pretty amazing Lunar eclipse last night! The top photo was shot in Dallas by one of my best pals, John Davis( director-writer-Jimmy Neutron, The Ant Bully, Santa vs The Snowman) and shows in great detail the Lunar eclipse he shot via his telescope. Very cool. And indeed it was cool...freezing in fact around my neck of the woods, so I withstood half an hour in the cold with binoculars to see it.

Below image is the cover to the Subterranean Press' Robert A Heinlein scripts Vol1 book! I did it as a 20x30 inch wrap painting, and sort of "channeled" Mel Hunter, Ed Emshwiller and Chesley Bonestell, via my own touches and came up with this. (By the way, all three artists are quite happy in their studios beyond the blue horizon-they told me to say "Hi!") The book contains the scripts to Project Moonbase and a bunch of other stuff. It'll have an intro by the one and only John Scalzi, and be signed by both of us. I am also doing an RAH portrait for the signing page. Anyway, it's available for pre-order at:http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=heinlein&Category_Code=PRE&Product_Count=12

Painting...live in Boston!

Morning Castle(8x10, oils, SOLD!)

Here's some pix of the live painting I did at Boskone 45, in Boston, the local lit n' art SF con. I always like painting live this way. Forces me to think fast and not get too hung up on problems. I had been under the weather with a throat infection that, while not painful, made talking a bit of a problem without sounding pretty terrible. Doing better in that dept now, but I still was able to paint for the crowd, this castle image. I also did a dinosaur, but that will be posted later! Painting live and on the spot, really makes you solve problems fast. This is a GREAT exercise for doing any paintings or concepts you need to get working on quickly.

A good day at the castle...

Castle by Day(oils, 8x10" WITH frame-SOLD)
Fun, small painting I did, that features a fun castle I painted. This one I put a nice frame around it, to compensate for the fact the image is 5x7 inches. It's all ready to hang!! I like doing work like this-very spontaneous and came together nicely.

Some paintings done at Boskone, soon. Note the Rainbow Dragon piece, several posts below, is now for sale!

Podcasting....

Just a quickie. Did a fun Podcast interview with Rick Kleffel. My only problem was this week I had a sinus/throat infection that's on the mend, so I sound a little "croaky"...so bear with it...or maybe it makes me sound better...?

http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2008/02-11-08.htm#podcast021508

A Little Help from My Friends...

Kind of hip deep in a few things, and off to Boskone, a major East Coast SF Con, later on Friday. But here's me in the studio with some of my Japanese toys, dragon and dinosaur/prehistoric beasts that are all in one way or another, used as inspirations for what I do. The man on the T shirt is Eiji Tsuburaya, a man who made Godzilla come to life and supervised the effects for many sequels up until 1969 when he passed away. More art soon, just a look at what surrounds me on a daily basis....

Left Us....

This weekend, it appears we lost two fine people in the arts and with movie careers...

John Alvin-the "other" poster artist of the 1980's(Drew Struzan being the first) who did such iconic PAINTED posters for BLADE RUNNER, E.T. and hosts of other films,passed away from an apparent heart attack. He was 59-frighteningly young. His work inspired a number of us in the day and, it was what was to be some of the last painted movie poster art done. Here's a gallery of some of his amazing posters-

http://www.impawards.com/designers/john_alvin.html

And, Roy Scheider who was always one of my favorite actors with iconic roles in JAWS, THE SEVEN UPS, ALL THAT JAZZ and, 2010 as well as the TV Series SEAQUEST DSV. He was an active supporter of the arts. Two people who, in their work, affected me in positive ways. I had a strange encounter with Scheider some years ago-I walked right into him in a street in NYC as he stopped and turned to get a paper. He apologized but so did I and I told him I enjoyed his work which is the best compliment you can give an actor.

A better write up is available here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23102484/


And not to forget, Barry Morse, star of The Fugitive, and of course, the sci fi series SPACE:1999 died the other week at 89, in London. I had a chance to meet Barry in 1982 and, we both agreed on our favorite episode of Space:1999-"The Black Sun". He was a charming and gracious person and made this world-or any-a better place.

Inspires all of us to live in the moment and reach for great things.

They'll be missed.

The Rainbow Dragon...

The Rainbow Dragon(sketch, 8x10,oils SOLD)
Primarily a sketch for a large 30x40 painting I started about six years ago. I got distracted and concerned that I had to be working in oils awhile in order to finish it. And I wanted to work on some color sketches and work ups for it before diving into such a massive painting. This is the year, for me, of doing some more personal work. This is based on a story I cooked up in my head about a dragon who can channel color from the the sky. His scales will turn the colors of the rainbow as well. But I wanted to get the primary lighting done and overall look established. Expect more "progress" reports on this one.

Sebago Lake...

Sebago Lake, Maine(8x10, oils, $100) Just a quick painting based on a photo friends of mine sent me from the porch of their home in Maine. I couldn't resist some cloud work here with a darkened foreground. I figure I will try and post three paintings a week that are new and for sale within the $100-$250 range. It's been the busiest time in ages and that's pretty good, but still, I enjoy breaking away to do these little pieces. Enjoy.

More Things They Don't Teach You in Art School Pt 3

Some more thoughts about all the things that make for being a working artist:

1) Get exercise. Walk around the block even if you're on a tight deadline you have time for this. Barring that, join a YMCA (it's cheap, and if needed for health, deductable) or a gym. Try and work out 3 times a week. You'll feel better about your work-who doesn't get pissed off with their paintings or drawings from time to time-break away, go for a walk, get some sun- and just move your body from being in a single position. YOU WILL feel better!!! And that "lousy" painting will somehow look better afterward.

2) Don't smoke. It's unhealthy and just, disgusting. You're feeding a corporate industry(Tobacco) that tries to run the universe. Don't play their game. They claim smoking "helps you think". Well, I *think* I'd rather not.
There are dozens of reasons I could go into...but, just don't smoke. You'll live longer. And, DON'T DO DRUGS. It's bad stuff. I need not say this more strongly. I could quote KISS' Gene Simmons on this. It will suck your health, your life, and your money dry and not in that order neccessarily. Myself-never had it, never will. One thing I'm proud of to say. The highs in life come from creativity and love.

3) If you drink to anything, drink red wine. It's good for you. One glass a day at the end of the day. Red wine is full of anti-oxidants and anti-aging stuff and it thins your blood and gets rid of cholesterol. And, it's good at receptions and celebrating finishing a good job or a painting-I'll alway drink to a painting done. I prefer fine Australian wines myself but that is just me. If not wine, you're not into alchohol, drink it's former-grape juice. Try it with seltzer water and a twist of lime, over ice. Tasty, classy an thrist quenching and none of the crap that's in carbonated soda.

4) Drink tea. Coffee doesn't like me. Caffiene is in both but the "better" caffiene is in tea. Cappucinos are nice though, on occasion.

5) GET REST. Have set hours you work. There are no "deadlines" that are worth spending "all nighters" on. Just tell people, that's your hours, that's how you work.

More thoughts soon. Hope this is helping anyone, I got some nice comments from a few people so I'll keep it up with the tips.

Across The Universe...

Tonight at 7pm EST, NASA's deep space antenna in Madrid beamed a song by The Beatles into space, appropriately enough, "Across The Universe" toward the North Star-Polaris where it will take a mere 431 years to get there. Cool. I've been humming the song all day, and figured I'd commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the song, and 50th for NASA, with posting up this astro painting I did some years ago that I still think looks pretty cool. (Btw, I long sold the painting, however I do have prints of it for $20 each, so inquire if interested! )Click on the painting to see a nice close view.

More ocean....

Coastal Assault(8x10,oils, SOLD!) Like I said, I'm into the ocean alot now. In the background of this is some crumbling tower, built untold years ago for some castle and now just crumbling into the sea, as the waves pound relentlessly away. I kinda made up the image, just from wanting to paint the ocean from memory. Painting from memory is a great way to make things really have your own special feel to them, and romantic mood. Painting ocean is like creating the best happy accidents, whilst at the same time following a general structure to a wave.

Things They Don't Teach You in Art School Pt 2

Yes, there are more things I can dispense about the reality of working as an artist after these many years....they apply to most anything but they really apply to this thing we call art.

1) Don't get jealous. There is a quote from somewhere I heard in a song from 1997 called "Sunscreen"-"Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes behind; the race is long and in the end, it's only with yourself" . Be the best artist YOU can be, don't try to be the best there is. The first option is a lifetime of exploration, study and constantly getting better. The second option is a way to total heartbreak, anxiety and..jealousy. Jealousy is unproductive.

2) Listen but don't listen too much. If you listen too much you'll have someone always talking you out of something you want to do. Or, into something you don't. Do you own thing, be your own boss. A million people tried to talk me out of art. Many of them failed at what they do while, I still keep going on doing what I do.

3) Don't try to save the world. You can't. No one can. Don't try to change people, because you can't. Global Warming is happening...you can't do much about it but adapt. People won't change, don't try and convert them, it doesn't work. Politicians will change but they are all the same. They play a different game than artists. Politicians use lies to *hide* the truth, artists use them to *tell* the truth( quote from V FOR VENDETTA). They fight to win office, and what they percieve as power. We've already won, we don't hold "office" and we have the power to make the 2D look 3D.

4) Change YOUR world. Paint and draw the things that give you bliss. Compete with yourself to be better at what you do, and how you take care of your health, and those close to you.

These are at least some of my "common sense" things I follow. Hope they help.

Heinlein to The Moon...

SO here's a concept I am working on for a Robert A. Heinlein book of his scripts. It has some terrific stuff in it such as the script to PROJECT MOONBASE, written in screenplay format. It's part 1 of a double set of books. Again, the idea is to convey something VERY RAH, which means a cool moonscape and rocket THE WAY THEY SHOULD HAVE BOTH LOOKED and don't. Should have the finish done on this in due course. Enjoy!