Optimus Prime Transformers wallpaper

I cobbled this together from an image I made earlier this year for practice. One day I hope to actually do some transformers work, but I have never had the time to actually contact Hasbro in any way. I'm not assuming they would hire me, but they CAN'T hire me if they don't know I exist.

My 2008 calendar is filling up and I am as busy as ever so I will have to force myself to put together a submission package. If only I didn't need to sleep! Well, enough of my ramblings... here's that wallpaper @ 1600 x 1200

LEGO Castle Wallpaper

It's SNOWING!!! Looks like we will get 6-10 inches today and a bunch more on Sunday. I used to love snow but now that I have to shovel my own driveway I'm not as happy to get large amounts as I used to be :)

I have been making an effort to post more often, but that is hard since I don't usually have a lot of news that I can share. Artists always have to sign "Non Disclosure Agreements" for just about everything that prohibits us from talking about anything that isn't already released through the "proper" channels. Everything I am currently working on is under NDA so the best I can do for now is to make you all a desktop wallpaper featuring the LEGO Castle toys. Size is 1600 x 1200 because that is my desktop resolution :P

December LEGO Mars Mission Comic

Brrrrrr!! It is getting cold outside, but here is a little something to warm you up :)

I was out at Lego yesterday and picked up the latest issue of LEGO Magazine, which featured lots of cool stuff including this new Mars Mission 2 page comic. Want to know what the characters are saying? Guess you will just have to join the Lego club so you can get the magazine too!

Images removed by me. Sorry.

LEGO Mars Mission Wallpaper #2

Hey all, just a quick update to post a new wallpaper from LEGO Mars Mission. This time it is the Claw-Tank from set 7697. Enjoy!

Brayn Baugh, an old college chum, has released another volume in his fine line of inspiring "how to draw" books. This time the subject is Swords & Sorcery, which covers everything form dragons to trolls and a Valkyrie or two for good measure. I have 8 or so pieces in the book (I forget exactly how many since I did the art so long ago) and my pal William (Bill) Bronson has a lot of work in the book too.
Check out the book on Amazon...
See some of Bryan Baugh's work...
See some of Bill Bronson's work...

New Exo-Force Chapter Book #6

Amazon UK finally listed the 6th Exo-Force Chapter book, Golden Doom. I haven't been able to find it on the US Amazon yet :( Here's apreview of the cover...

I wasn't super happy with how the last book turned out with regards to pretty much everything but I think this book was better written and the illustrations requested were a lot more fun so I am optimistic that chapter book 6 will be quite good. My fingers are crossed. My favorite Exo book so far is "Ghosts of the Past". Who knows, I might even get a credit for the illustrations in this book! So far I haven't gotten a printed credit for anything done for Scholastic or LEGO.

Tales of the TMNT #42 Cover Color

WOW! Two posts in a single month???!!!! OK, all sarcasm aside, I actually have some news to report. Here is a little preview for the cover of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #42, which was penciled/inked by Dan Berger and colored by me. Interior art by Jim Lawson.

You can read a synopsis of the plot and preview other upcoming Mirage books by following this link...
Mirage Upcoming Projects

LEGO Castle comic

Sorry it has been so long since my last post but I've been super duper busy. I just finished my 7th book for scholastic (this year) and I am beat. I was going to take a few days off but I got a couple of new assignments in just the other day so it's back to the drawing board instead.

Business is going great and I am pretty much booked for the rest of the year. If you are interested in working with me then you might want to contact me in advance!

The art featured in this post is for the LEGO "Castle" product line and was featured in the last LEGO magazine. The first (single) page was a bonus page for the Brickmaster edition of the mag. The second set of pages was in the regular and Brickmaster versions.

Images removed by me. Sorry.

LEGO Mars Mission Cutaway Illustration

OK, here is the full illustration I promised in the last post! I hate to brag but I honestly do love this illustration. It reminds me of the illustrated space vehicle books I used to borrow from the local library when I was a kid. Those books truly inspired me to be an artist!!!

I wish I had a copy of the LEGO Magazine that featured this art so I could show you what it looked like with all the annotations for the different cut-outs.... it is awesome! If you want to get the free LEGO Magazine then just head over to LEGO's web site and sign up for the club! Here's a link...

Get LEGO Magazine FREE!!!

Lego Mars Mission Desktop Wallpaper

I put this together for myself using some elements from a recent Lego Magazine Ad. I'll eventually post the whole ad but this should be enough to wet your appetite! The concept was to show the vehicles with cutaway sections that revealed the inner workings. The final 2 page spread looks really outstanding!!! It has all sorts of interesting call-outs that tell you what everything is. I can't wait to get my own copy of the magazine so I can hang the pages on my wall.

Mars Mission Wallpaper 1600 X 1200

New look for web page?

I've been thinking of re-doing my web site for a while now due to some criticisms I have received as well as some reasons of my own.

Criticisms:

• overall look isn't eye catching
• portfolio images are too small and unappealing
• people will almost always look at my physical portfolio and then tell me that I am much better than my web-page makes me look :(
  

My reasons:

• page layouts are not very flexible
• front page images aren't the best I could be using
• I have two styles (comic and painterly) but only one of them ever really gets me any work (comic) so I want to re-focus my samples and general feel

With these things in mind, I have been toying with some different layouts and looks. here's a preview of the one I did today. I don't know if I like it or not. I tried to make a logo of sorts but since my business initials are D.W.I. I'm not sure if it is good to use them. I'm afraid I'll get a lot of "driving while intoxicated" comments. "Drawing while intoxicated" comments would be fine ;)

So what do you think? Please let me know, thanks!I would make the sample images random so you would get a different set of pictures every time you visited the site or reloaded the page. I was also thinking of adding a little news section at the bottom so I could post important messages and updates.

LEGO Mars Mission Comic #1

If you haven't seen the new MARS MISSION product line form LEGO then get ready to see some cool toys! This is the first comic I created for the bi-monthly LEGO Magazine and was the first time I got to see all the awesome ships for Mars Mission. Too bad this comic only shows a poor spaceman being chased by some Martians. Don't fret!!! The next comic, which is actually a 2 page spread AD, is really, really cool and features most of the vehicles. I just can't post it until it is released for print :(

Anyway, this first comic does a great job of conveying the feel of the overall brand and I am pretty proud of how it turned out. Hope you like it too!

Images removed by me. Sorry.

Science Fiction Book Club!

One day not long ago I got a cold call from The Science Fiction Book Club about using an illustration of mine for their newsletter cover. I'm not sure how they found me (Though I suspect it was Bob!). Luckily I own the rights to the image they wanted! I got a call a couple of months later from a friend working at the Art Institute in Phoenix who had just received his SFBC newsletter and recognized my art. Jim was nice enough to mail me his copy or else I would never have seen it. THANKS Jim.

I have lots of images that are available for second rights usage but I never seem to have the time to make a web page for them. I'm sure I could make a little extra cash if I made the images known. Maybe some day...

Here's a scan of the newsletter. I think it has a cool retro look to it because of the print screen.

2 New Exo-Force Chapterbooks

I just finished the interiors for Exo-Force Chapterbook #6, which you can already pre-order on Amazon.com :0 That reminded me that I wanted to add links for the previous two chapterbooks which are now available. Here are links to the two newest releases on Amazon.com

Book #4: Ghost Of The Past

Book #5: Race To The Golden City
I always have a blast illustrating these books! The completion of #6 marks my 4th book in the series since I wasn't brought on by Lego and Scholastic until the 3rd book. Too bad, but at least I was invited to the party ;)

Do you have any of these books? I would love to know what you think!

LEGO Exo-Force March comic

Whew! I finally finished 3 books for Scholastic back-to-back and I am tired! I have another one coming up next month but there is a bit of a reprieve so I can finally catch my breath and make some posts.

Look below to see the two page Exo-Force comic I created for the March LEGO Magazine. Not quite as fun and exciting as the last Exo comic, but still a joy to create.

Images removed by me. Sorry.

Karate chop my head :/

Wow-e-wow, what a month! My wife and I finally bought a home and moved in last month and I also had to move my office to a new location in town last week. I am completely exhausted from all of the painting and prep work we did to have wood floors installed.

My hands are so sore that they feel swollen and keep cramping while I draw. Hopefully this will pass soon! I was having trouble completing a drawing for LEGO last night because I could barely hold the pencil. Lots more work to do today so no rest for the weary.

So why "Karate chop my head"? Imagine my surprise when I found out there is a karate studio directly over my office!!! They start making A LOT of noise around 4:30 and since I usually work until 6 it can be very infuriating. Yesterday they decided to have class outside and were standing RIGHT in front of my window and breaking boards. SERIOUSLY!!!! They could see me giving them the evil eye but apparently didn't care.

Today there is a carpenter in the room next to me and he is sawing and hammering like a mad man. I know it is his job, but I could use some quite.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, sorry for the complaining. I just had to get that off my chest.

My e-mail, phone, and PO Box are all still the same despite my new physical address so you should not have any trouble contacting me by the regular means. Oh wait, my cell phone reception is even worse now than at my last office... so good luck.

Here's a photo... I need to rearrange everything to make better use of the space. I also need to get my pictures up on the wall as well as some cork strips over my drawing table so I can tack up reference. I would like to get all new furniture so maybe an Ikea run is in my near future?I still have a book shelf I need to squeeze in here as well as some mecha toys!

LEGO Exo-Force December comic

I haven't had much real news to post lately so I thought I would just post some recent work. This is a 4 page comic I created for the December issue of LEGO magazine. I think it also got printed in Nickelodeon Magazine, but I never got to see it. Overall this is one of my favorite Exo-Force comics so far. I recently did a 2 page comic for LEGO's new Mars product line and that was a lot of fun! I'll post those pages once they have printed.

Sorry there's no text on these pages, but the action is pretty self explanatory. The printed version I have of this comic is in German so it wouldn't do me much good to scan it ;)

Images removed by me. Sorry.

Black Book: RAW

Last year I paid for a one page display in the photo and illustration annual Black Book: Raw. The book finally came out this week and I got my first call form the ad yesterday. I hope the calls keep coming... that ad was EXPENSIVE!

You can preview the on-line version of the book here ( I am on Page 102)...
Black Book RAW On-line

Here's my Blackbook.com portfolio...
Black Book Portfolio

And here is a preview of my ad...

Watch me draw a Ninja Turtle!

The lovely Ana from PulpSecret.com video recorded me drawing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle at the recent New York Comic Con. Now, thanks to their most recent podcast, you can see me in action.

My segment is in the middle of the podcast and is shown in fast motion for extra effect. The actual drawing took me approximately 8 minutes (I asked Ana when it was over). After you watch the video you can enter for a chance to win the drawing.

Have fun watching and be sure to visit PulpSecret when you are finished to see more of their podcasts.

MechWarrior Commission

Here's a look at a commission I finished early last week. This was created for an avid MechWarrior gaming fan that found me when I posted about the NY Con on some MechWarrior and Battletech forums. The client is very pleased with the final outcome, which features the four mechs from his gaming group. This highly compressed j-peg really doesn't do the 11 x 17 final printed piece justice.

1st Year Anniversary

This week marks the 1 year anniversary of my freelance illustration business. It has been a long year full of twists and turns but most importantly it has been a really GREAT year!

I wish I could put into words exactly how thankful I am of A.C. Farley for his important role in my (thus far) successful freelance career. Craig introduced me to LEGO almost 2 years ago and it was LEGO that really helped get me going. LEGO continues to be a great source of creative work, inspiration, and friendship- they are a truly superb group of creative people!!!

All of my friends from the old gaming studio, Cyberlore, as well as my buddies from Mirage have also made profound contributions to my career and well being. THANKS EVERYONE!Here is a desktop wallpaper to celebrate the occasion. This is a female paladin, or holy warrior, that I made for an upcoming "how to draw" book by my college pal Bryan Baugh. Hope you like it :)

Original LEGO and MECHA ZONE art for sale

UPDATE: I have also posted 4 original mech from my website www.mechazone.com for sale on e-bay so be sure to check 'em out!

I just posted an original piece of LEGO Exo-Force artwork on eBay. I've never sold art on eBay before so this is a bit of a test. Hopefuly it will sell.

If this goes well then I will probably post some exo-force comic pages among other things.

This piece is a large 11 x 14 beauty shot of the Iron Crusher, which is made by combinig several of the new bad guy sets. The art was featured in the last LEGO Magazine as a teaser. Please check out the actual auction for more info...

IRON CRUSHER on eBay
GRENADE BOT on eBay
COMMAND BOT on eBay
COLEOPTERAN BOT on eBay
GUNDAM ZAKRELLO on eBay

NY Con: WOW

Man, I am totally baked from the con. Everyone in my gang worked their collective butts off doing sketches for the rabid TMNT fans. Lots of prints and original art was sold as well.



Unfortunately my camera batteries died after the 4th picture I took and I never got new batts. One guy was nice enough to mail photos of some sketches to Jim Lawson so I have one image of a sketch I did. I was doing these things FAST! This pic is of SLASH from the first cartoon series.


Thanks to all of you who dropped by and showed some support. Especially JOHN, my biggest fan ;)


The Transformer prints were a huge success. Optimus sold out by 1:00 on Saturday and the last Starscream sold first thing on Sunday. I am currently talking with someone I met at the con to make the prints available at other cons through his service.

I still have a bunch of original art that I want to sell off so I may be doing some auctions in the near future.... depends on how busy I am.

TMNT book covers

I was hired a few months ago to (digitally) paint 3 covers for some TMNT books based on the new CG Movie coming out this March.

The books are now on store shelves across the country :)

I would like to note that I only did the paintings. The layout and rough drawings were provided to me. I'm assuming they were drawn by the interior artist for each book.

The first two covers look great but I am concerned about "Mikey's Nightwatcher Scrapbook" because the colors are all whacked for the online preview pics. It looks like they inverted some of my colors... maybe to make it look more exciting? I don't know but it looks garish to me. It may be an error since I have some copies of the book and the cover looks just like I intended. I won't know for sure until I see it in a store.

Special thanks to Murph for the project- I had a lot of fun doing these!

Check 'em out at Barnes and Noble...
Leonardo Returns
The Legend of Yaotl
Mikey's Nightwatcher Scrapbook

New York Comic Con This Weekend!!!

I will be attending the New York Comic Con this weekend with all my pals from Mirage. I'll be selling original art and on the spot commissions as well as mecha minis (of my design) and some prints.

I'll have two 11" x 17" transformer prints. Optimus Prime, which you can see in my first blog post, and Starscream.

These two designs are my interpretations of the original toys and I tried not to be influenced too much by other artists interpretations. I did not add the autobot or decepticon logos to the designs because I want to avoid any legal issues when selling the prints. I think the odds of Someone from Hasbro stopping at my table are good simply because of the proximity to their home base in Massachusetts.

The other print will be personal favorites. It is slightly smaller at 11" x "14" but the Artifact 16, which is one of my really offers a lot of originality and engrossing detail.

It looks like my name was actually added to the artist alley list thanks to the efforts of Eric Talbot so you should be able to find me by name in the program. My fingers are crossed. Thanks Eric!

50 Fantasy Vehicles to Draw & Paint

I have 5 designs in this new book by author and artist Keith Thompson. This is the second in the series by Quarto Publishing, and I hope its not the last! (the first was 50 Robots to Draw and Paint)

There are a lot of "how to draw" books out there and I am am in quite a few of them, but this series is my favorite. Why? Simply because I think you can actually learn something from these books. Each artist was responsible for providing notes about how the art was created, what the artists was thinking while creating it, or any other tips they wish to share with the reader. These tips often provide a lot of insight and are way better than the usual fluff text of similar books.

The quality bar for the art is also a lot higher than usual, at least in my opinion. Some of the author's art seems a bit too macabre and dark for the intended audience but it is still well done. The fantasy aspect of the book as called out in the title seems secondary to the sci-fi content but I guess it really doesn't matter if you have fun with the book.

You can order the book from Amazon right now. It may be at real bookstores... I haven't checked yet. I only saw the first book in the series one time at a Waldenbooks. Here are some links...

50 Fantasy Vehicles to Draw & Paint @ Amazon.com

50 Robots to Draw and Paint @ Amazon.com

LEGO Exo-force Collector's Guide

You have gotta check this out!

My first book with Scholastic should now be on shelves across America. I created dozens of illustrations for the LEGO Exo-force Collector's Guide and really had a blast doing it.

I have not seen the actual book but I am sure it is fun. I am supposed to get some comp copies but who knows when I will actually receive them? Publishers usually take their time with that sort of thing but that's OK as long as I can go to Barnes $ Noble and check out a copy.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon...
Buy the Exo-force Collector's Guide

And here's a link to the next chapterbook (#3), which I also illustrated...
Exo-force: Search For The Golden City

TALES of the TMNT #29

This is kind of old news, but since this is a new blog I figured it would be good to post it just in case...

I am really excited to announce that my issue of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released in early December!!!

I wrote and illustrated the 26 page B&W story. Peter Laird helped out with some creative input and Steve "Murph" Murphy gave me help with my script.

You can order back issues directly from Mirage - the order forms are in the back of all Tales issues. Here's the address just in case...

Mirage Publishing
P.O. Box 486
Northampton, MA
01061-0486

LEGO Knight's Kingdom

Here are some some illustrations I created a while ago for an issue of LEGO Magazine. I love creating this style of work for the Knight's Kingdom toys!

Image 1 - King Jayko Defends the Tower.

Image 2 - Lord Vladek is ready to rumble.

Keeping up with the Jones's's

Yep, I finally joined Blogger. Several of my friends have recommended this service so I checked it out. I already have a blog through my Yahoo business account but it isn't very good. I am hopeful that this will work better and reach more people.

To celebrate my first post, here is a preview of an image I created for the upcoming New York Comic Con. Let me know what you think. If you like the image then you can buy an 11x17 print from me at the con. If they are successful then I may make them available through my paypal shopping cart. Who knows?

Here's a link to the con info...
New York Comic Con