Category: Art

It’s no secret that I’m a Dave Johnson fan.  It’s no secret that I’m a Howard Chaykin fan.  Up until today I did not know that Howard Chaykin is a HUGE Dave Johnson fan.  At WonderCon this past weekend Chaykin helped moderate a panel along with and about Dave Johnson.  As you can imagine, it was insightful, funny, informative and pulled no punches.  Here’s a taste from a CBR.com report:

Chaykin: . “Dave is consistently the finest cover designer working in the field today. He finds the bridge between the intellectual and the emotional.”

Johnson {when he was praised and not fired after submitting a radical cover): “I realized I just had to be fearless (when creating a cover).”

Johnson (on his influences): “John Byrne, Michael Golden. Byrne is a total *******, though—I met him once and I vowed never to do that again.” Chaykin chimed in again: “The good thing about Byrne is, as long as he’s alive, you know you never have to be the most despised man in comics.”

The piece by Dave Sikula is really well written and informative.  It goes on to tell how Steranko vindicated Johnson after he was over-ruled by an editor, why it’s tough to be the cover artist for Eduardo Risso, what Byrne, Art Adams and Michael Golden have in common, how Johnson approaches covers and much more.  You can read the whole piece right here.

Derek Fridolfs offers a free headsketch with every sketchbook purchased through his website. I own two pieces by Derek and am looking forward to more.  You can check out Derek’s work here.

I made it over to MegaCon yesterday. I got to touch base with John Higashi, Hal, Matt Haloub, Andy Smith, John Beatty [with Bob McLeod and Jason Sobel at the tables on either side], Mark Dail, Pat Broderick, Mike Kott, Joe Pekar, Derek Donovan, and Jimmy Sanders. I split the day between hanging out at Beatty’s table [he got me in on a guest pass] and walking the show with Hal. It was a really enjoyable day.

I picked up two pieces for my Stallone collection. Ron Salas did a very nice Rambo headshot [usually it’s Rambo giving someone a headshot and not the other way around] and Mitch Byrd [who I’d wanted to get a piece from for years] did an amazing Jack Carter sketch. I’ll post them soon.

FX is coming up in April. I plan to attend.  Anyone else going?
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Mood: Tired
Listening to: Every Time I Move I Lose by LTD
Reading: Another Life by Andrew Vachss
Watching: Medium
Playing: Internet Spades
Eating: Muffin
Drinking: Diet Coke [goes good with the muffin]

~whoisrico Mar 1, 2009 Professional General Artist
Aw man, I’ve never seen Mitch Byrd at a show! I woulda sent you some cash to get me a saucy Batgirl if I was paying attention!

~CJZ Mar 1, 2009
Rico,

I’d been hoping for a piece from him for a couple of years. You would have died to see some of the art he had. His Hellboy piece was amazing. He did a King Kong for a guy that was so cool. He charges twenty bucks for a basic commission. More for pre-done pieces. The highest price I saw was $75. Many of his pre-done sketches were five bucks a piece.

I think he is going to be at FX in April. I plan to attend and will let you know as the date gets closer.

~whoisrico Mar 2, 2009 Professional General Artist
Aw man! 5 bucks?! dang!

~CJZ Mar 2, 2009
Yeah, it was amazing.

MegaCon starts tomorrow.

I love me some MegaCon.  There’s a ton of guests, including my buddy, John Beatty.  Although I won’t be there tomorrow, I do plan to attend on Saturday.  If you’re there swing by Beatty’s table.  Odds are I’ll be there.  The main reason to swing by though is to check out the really cool sketches John will be kicking out.  Big John is even offering a coupon for a discount on his sketches!

Hope to see you there!

My buddy, John Beatty turned me on to Derek Fridolf’s artwork.  I was visting John and he handed me Derek’s latest sketchbook.  I was instantly into the art.  I said to John that I bet that Derek could do a pretty cool Stallone.  Beatty laughed and handed me the sketch above.  I was floored.

Derek offers a free headsketch with every sketchbook purchased.  John wanted the sketchbook, but doesn’t collect art.  So he asked Derek to do a Stallone piece that he would give to me.   Derek agreed and created his very cool take on Rambo.  You can check out more of Derek’s work here.  And of course John Beatty can be found here and here.

Thanks to Derek and John.

When I was in Junior and High School, Paul Gulacy was without a doubt my favorite artist. Gulacy, along with writer, Doug Moench, created a comic book called Master of Kung Fu, which should be required reading for anyone who enjoys graphic stories.  The drawing above is a recreation of one of Paul’s classic splash pages.  You can see the man can still rock it.

The back issues of Master of Kung Fu are worth searching out.   I wish that Marvel would repackage them in a nice hardback, but due to rights issues involving Fu Manchu [really], that probably won’t happen.  Still, the back issues are worth a look and you can always check out Paul’s official site to get your Gulacy fix filled.

I love attending Comic Book Conventions. It’s great meeting artists that I admire, and seeing friends that I seldom get to see. Getting sketches for my Stallone collection is an added bonus.

This year doesn’t look to be as promising for me getting to shows. Fewer days at shows will definitely limit my ability to get new art for the collection.

What to do then?

My plan is to purchase more sketches through the mail. Several artists offer free head sketches with the purchase of their sketchbooks. What a great deal!

My buddy, John Beatty, got me thinking about the idea when he ordered Derek Fridofs’ sketchbook. Since it came with a free head sketch, and John doesn’t collect art, he thought of me and asked for a Stallone sketch. [John has done similar things for me many times – and this is another chance to publicly thank him!] Derek came through with a very cool Rambo piece.

I saw that Francesco Francavilla offered the same deal as Derek so I ordered his Chiaroscuro sketchbook with a Cop Land piece. In the mean time I had been checking out Derek Fridofs’ site and really dug his work. I ordered his sketchbook and got his extremely cool take on Jack Carter.

Because these transactions went so smoothly it got me thinking about doing more. The prices were reasonable, the artists were people whose work I admired. The books/art were sent in secure packaging and the time between the orders and getting the pieces was very reasonable.

So I’m on the look out for artists who offer similar deals. I’d like to see if I can work out one a month. Any suggestions?

Mood: Optimism
Listening to: 70’s Music
Reading: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
Watching: “The Wrestler”
Playing: Internet Spades
Eating: Peanut Butter on a Bagel
Drinking: Skim Milk