Production Design Character Sheets: Godzilla Animated Series

Click on the above image for redirection to a very informative and educational look at the design sheets for the short-lived Saturday morning cartoon Godzilla that came out in conjunction with the big budget movie. Hey, I always liked things Godzilla and my kids were at the right age to be psyched about the reboot and the series, so I watched pretty much every episode and was disappointed a little when it left the air.
These design sheets are fun to look at.

Nerd Hall of Fame: Vote Early Vote Often

I think just the fact that I actually used this lunch box qualifies me for immediate inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
Mark Lenard, one of my favorite actors, portrayed the gorilla general in the series. The artist captured his features well in the art on the lunch box.

Springfield Museums in Springfield, Massachusetts

If you're ever in Springfield, MA for the day and would like to have an interesting museum experience, I highly recommend you visit the Springfield Museums. Basically, it is a complex of 4 museums; Natural History, two fine arts and antiquities and one regional historical. There is a $10 admission which grants you access to all of the museums and a lovely park and sculpture garden. I had a lot of fun and there are some great works of art on display. My favorite was in the fine arts museum, but I don't recall the artist. It portrays Niagara Falls circa 1900 at night. It was powerful!

Link:
Springfield Museums

More Crushed Childhood Dreams for Sale

Look, I had great toys...but, it's time for them to go. Some that are designed well or good graphics I feel might be right to post. That top one of the Cylon Raider from the OG (Original Galactica, Boooy) launched many a space fantasy of mine, probably. Unless it is all confabulation.
Anyway, you can see how I surrounded myself in fantasy and sci-fi during the stages "The Dawn of Awareness" and "Ooh, A Girl. Soft."
There are probably hundreds of toys that I am unloading.
As to the lack of posting to the blog, my apologies. Pure sloth and pride at work. I am working on a "big for me" art project that is taking a lot of research time. More about this later, but, did you know there are some Gruesome pictures on the web of the aftermaths of motorcycle accidents? Ughhh!

Paolo Rivera: Comic Artist

Art Copyright Paolo Rivera

Link:
Paolo Rivera

Comic Book Artist Rob Osborne

Gee, this guy is awfully good! I am sure he is super popular, but I am out of touch and feeling aold.

Link:
Rob Osborne Site

A "Freebird" Moment

"Final Frontier" by Randall Ensley

I missed Yuri's Night again.
Watching "Elmer Gantry" on the tube right now. That's some good actin' by Burt Lancaster.

Artem Mirolevich

Copyright Artem Mirolevich

Fellow Illustrator winner Artem Mirolevich's art absolutely deserves a look. What great detail and vision.

Link:

Artemart Official Website of Artem Mirolevich

Movie Art of Bob Peak

All Rights Reserved

Anyone interested in movies and art, which is I think everyone who visits this blog, will be interested in a Google search of the work of Bob Peak, aka Robert Peak. He was a great movie poster artist and who also did some pre-production design for very big movies.
The artists I spotlight on the blog, especially those from the mid-70's; these are the artists who have most influenced me over the years.

1970's Model Kits

I loved building sci-fi and comic book models in the 70's and these were two of my favorites. Planet of the Apes was what really got me into drawing and I was constantly doodling General Ursus and Dr. Zaius. I am selling a lot of my old stuff to make room for, well, new old stuff and these two unopened kits are available on Ebay. My first real venture into the online auctioning world.
My favorite model was King Kong with the glow in the dark face and also a "working" or semi animated with rubber bands Pirates of the Caribbean model with a skeleton pirate steering his haunted vessel. The sword hand really made a chopping motion. But my all time favorite kit was the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Hope that turns up in my trek through old-time junk collection.

Don't Freak Out

This illustration appears in the magazine The Leading Edge as a companion piece to "Quarantine."
On an unrelated topic, I notice that much of the search engine traffic which points people to this blog involves the search for Joe Kittinger or "world record sky dive."

In the Light

This is about 10 years old. A good start for something bigger.

Soon I Will be Invincible

I must recommend this book to all readers of this blog. It is downright funny and plain good. A novel about superheroes that reads like a soap opera. "Soon I Will Be Invincible" by Austin Grossman was a big hit last year when it came out and I have been meaning to mention it sooner.

The Art of James Steranko

All images copyright James Steranko/respective copyright holders

I saw James Steranko at the NY Comic Con but I didn't get to ask him for an autograph. He was super popular and always engaged in discussion with his fans. His work, now that I revisit it on the web, was probably much more influential to me than I have previously realized. A great, clean, ahead of its time sense of graphic design in sequential art...I am completely loving my current Steranko research.
I am involved in a project currently and what better role model could I emulate, than to try and channel James Steranko for the next three months. I recently sold all my comic books or I'd be tearing through them to find some of his art.

Link:
James Steranko Art

Geir Lanesskog

"Hammer Smote"

"Nokara Orbit"

Above is some artwork by fellow Illustrators of the Future winner Geir Lanesskog. His artwork is reminiscent to me of Ron Miller
Please visit his website and enjoy.

The Art of Bryan Beus

Image copyright Bryan Beus

I want to share the art of my buddy Bryan Beus, a fellow recipient of the Illustrators of the Future Award. He is definitely going to have success in the fantasy/science fiction genre.
Bryan works a lot with the Wacom tablet, an instrument I am a total novice with, but am learning.

Links:
The Art of Bryan Beus

Space Legend by Randall Ensley

Here is an illustration I did to commemorate John Glenn's accomplishments in the United States space program.

New Sketch

Sorry for the lack of posting lately - a tree blew down in my front yard and knocked-out electricity, cable and phone, which meant no internet except by my cell phone. Here is a sketch I'm sharing from a current project. I like the style, very stencil-y and the wings look a little futuristic, hopefully.
The project is in the earliest stages and I will share more as it develops.

Open the Pod Bay Door Hal.

That's some great production design.

Illustrator Cliff Nielsen

One of the Illustrator of the Future contest's newest judges is illustrator Cliff Nielsen. Last year's group of illustrator winners were given a great workshop on book cover illustration and the importance of concept by Cliff and he gave us an impressive slide show and glimpse into some future projects. He told us he averages 3 book covers a week. Whoa!

Link:

Cliff Neilsen Gallery
Writers of the Future Contest