Archive for October, 2008

In an earlier post, I mentioned the custom B.U.D. which I did for Hero Design’s This B.U.D.’s for You gallery show which opened last week.

If you’re hitting the comic shop today, go and snag Ghost Boxes #1.  I’d appreciate it! 

I get web stats sent to me every week. I’m always in awe of some of the search words that folks use when they google stuff and end up at my site or blog. I’m also fascinated when folks spend an inordinately large amount of time trolling my image files. I especially find it interesting when the IP address is from a large “hip” clothing and lifestyles company. It makes me wonder if they are trolling for imagery to steal and use on their OWN products. Possibly some young inexperienced art director is just trying to please his superiors with some new “art” that his staff had created (re: stealing stuff and tweaking it to meet his own agenda.) that he hurriedly threw together before a production meeting.

It remnds me of this story that happened not too long ago:

You just KNOW some young, wet behind the ears A.D. was asked to create a hip weathered looking skull shirt. They probably did a google search for skulls, or checked a tattoo flash book and quickly pulled the image without any idea as to it’s origin.

That reminded me of this site, which I love:

Now, i’m not saying that is happening to me. A lot of us are inspired and pull from the same source material or use the same stuff for reference. As artists we’re easily influenced by our surroundings. We might even “copy” things without being conscious of it.

That being said, and because of today’s web stats, two HUGE companies spent a LONG time looking at and accessing my pinstripe skull design.

I think I’ll keep an eye on them. Just in case.

Food for thought.

So, tomorrow is the day that Kathie Olivas‘ Scavengers: series 2 mini-figures drop at toy retailers.

Not only are Kathie and her husband Brandt Peters close, personal friends of mine, but I’ve also had the amazing honor of designing a lot of their toy packaging. Such as the packaging for Kathie’s Scavengers series.

Series one was an instant hit and there is no doubt that her fans will go nuts again for series 2. Kathie’s superb creepy-cute artwork, incredible work ethic and amazing loyalty to her fans, have made her one of the most in-demand artists in the gallery and art toy scene to date.

The quality is outstanding on these figures, which is what collectors have come to expect from MINDstyle. Be sure to pick these up quickly as I’m sure they’ll go fast.

Well, it’s been an interesting past few months since my last update. Been dealing with a ton of family health issues. Myself, dealing with multiple bouts of conjunctivitis, ear and nasal infections and coming down with Bell’s Palsy. It’s a really bizarre feeling to wake up one morning and have half of your face not working. I was on a massive mix of steroids and antibiotics to help fix my facial paralyzation. Soo far it’s been getting better and my face is slowly returning to normal. I’ve also dealt with 2 different incidents of my computer having to go in for repairs, resulting in a ton of lost work, time and almost missed deadlines. Right now things seem to be running okay.

Backup your work now. Backup often.

Some gallery news as of late… This upcoming weekend my work will be part of the Hero Design Studio’s “This B.U.D.S. For You” show. Click the link for some info.  Here’s my kustom painted BUD for the show:
 

Also out this week, my work over Alan Davis’ wonderful art in the book: Thor: Truth of History #1. Here’s some preview pages: