Parody: Legal, Ethical and Organizational Communication in Landmark Court Cases
Parody has been a part of media and entertainment for centuries, with seemingly few public figures escaping notice. Parody and satire, particularly in politics and with public figures, dates back at least to a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin from 1754, predating the United States as a country7. From political caricatures and books of the […]
As a parent, one of the things we encourage our children to do is to take in entertainment from various time periods, including books, music, and movies. One of the older films we watched recently was the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee, a comedy featuring an Australian man from the Outback and the female news reporter […]
It is truly interesting that fan art is this week’s topic, since it is something I am not only intimately familiar with as an illustrator, but this week my freelance life centers around that very idea. One of the things I enjoy doing is interviewing the cover artists for Apex Magazine, and I am sending several […]
Imagine for a moment that a visually impaired teenager has an interest in building a marble machine, where a small marble can roll down a series of pieces connected to a wall, landing in a cup at the bottom. This project would take materials that the teenager does not have, with knowledge he cannot easily […]
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen quite a few posts online about favorite things. Seven favorite television shows, fifteen most influential authors, that kind of thing. The problem I usually have is that my favorites change constantly, thanks to the chaotic mind I’ve been dealt. So, instead of merely popping out a list […]
In my home office, behind my computer monitor and at the front of my desk, is a board of various quotes that help me think. Most of them sit outside of my view tonight, in the dark of the evening, but one in particular from Theodore Roosevelt stands out in the light from my lamp.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
When I was attending the University of Wyoming, back when Deinonychus was roaming around, I wanted to be a civil engineer. Well, let’s back up a moment. I wanted to be an architectural engineer. Before that, an architect. As you could probably tell, I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I grew up only wanting […]
Artists, and creators in general, can be a strange breed. Notwithstanding all of the devious and unusual things we come up with, especially as a horror creator, our actions often seem unusual to the general public. For example, I spent a good amount of yesterday looking for a new pencil. Now, for most people, a […]
Twenty-five years ago, as of yesterday, I had the very best steak sandwich. To be honest, I wasn’t hungry at the time. It was well past dinner time, past 8 o’clock at night even. There’s no real reason that a steak sandwich should have even been offered, and yet, it was the right thing to […]
When I was standing in line at the local coffee shop, I overheard a couple of people talking about something awful. That happens, certainly, it’s not unusual at all (I often stand in coffee shop lines). One of the women in the group, after hearing the full details of a plane crash, said, “That is […]
The Devil’s Footprints: Creating Oddities From The Mysterious
For my entire life, from the stone ages until now, seemingly, I have been fascinated by the strange and the weird. Growing up, nearly all of the books that I read were about mysterious happenings around the world. There were no limits on my fascination. UFOs, ghosts, Kaspar Hauser, cryptozoology, strange events and anything else […]
One thing I love about art is seeing the different interpretations that artists have. A different take on a sunset, or a new way to paint buildings, and even new ways to paint monsters. These new methods and creative views drive what I love in art. Let’s face it, especially where monsters are involved. It […]
I constantly look at other artists’ work, in fact I make it a part of my day to at least check out art or illustration boards on the web. There’s something I’ve noticed, and I’m not sure if it’s a trend or if it’s something that’s always been there. Some of these creations are just […]
Perception of the visuals: the look and feel of noir
Picture this: there’s a former cop standing in one spot, with a beautiful woman standing behind him. His gun is drawn, and he’s waiting for the bad guy to show himself so they can have a “final showdown”. It’s a tense scene, where quite a lot of bad things are about to happen. Now, everyone […]
As it turns out, I’m an artist. An artist that has, luckily, convinced others that he can do art. Thus, I produce covers, interior illustrations, and whatever else folks need. I’ve mentioned it before, and I’m not done beating it into the ground just yet, but it can be an up and down game. One […]
Whether I’m creating some new piece of art, or taking a photo, even writing a story (wait, “he writes?”, you say), I have always loved creating things. I especially love to create things that have, shall we say, an unusual feel to them. I love the fantastic, the supernatural, and all of the strange things […]
The last couple of years, with the violent ups and downs as they’ve been, haven’t been the easiest. Long term unemployment, financial issues, near total lack of art sales (and no originals sold at all, let’s not forget that). When a creator goes through times like these, contemplation on the future is sure to happen. […]
I get asked a few times a month for my current commission rates, for folks interested in having me do cover work, or maybe an ink or acrylic piece. Sometimes they hire, sometimes they don’t, that’s just business. But there’s an underlying element often of folks who don’t want to pay anything. Ever. They just […]
Last week, I was doing a free-flowing session of ideas, whatever popped into my head. I started sketching an idea of someone running across a high bridge, with the zombies in heavy pursuit. Now, the thing about being an artist, especially an illustrator, is that you have to come up with lots of interesting ideas […]
A little while back, just before the big rush of my convention art show, I created a new small ink to try and sell. It was an ink version of the famous Creature From The Black Lagoon, which you can see down below on the right. It turned out pretty well (or so I’m told […]
Most of time, life is pretty boring. We go through our lives, through our day to day procedures, and very little changes. Sure, each day and each week have their little ups and downs. After all, I did just eat a Snickers bar and stub my toe, at nearly the same time. But for the […]
I’ve heard the phrase plenty of times that you should always look forward, never back. Which, like any other totalitarian idea, is more of a sledgehammer than a finessed thought. I mean, I understand where they are coming from. You don’t want to be so beholden to the past that you can’t move forward. That […]
The other night, I was watching the new television series Alcatraz, and something started to bother me about it. Now, it’s not a bad show, “decent but flawed” might be a good way to put it. But it suffers from lazy writing sometimes, and the episode the other night made that quite clear. Twice in […]
Misogyny and schadenfreude: 500 years of treating female artists badly
I plan on using two big words today, and that’s two more than I’d use on a normal day. Of course, on a normal day most of my words just have the four letters in them, so it may not be that big of a stretch. Here it goes anyway. The two words we’ll be […]
I’ve been a big fan of the works of Zdzisław Beksiński for a long time. They are like dreams and, often, nightmares, come to life. Beksiński himself even said as much about his own work, and from what I’ve read about him he was a fascinating person. Especially in the many ways that I feel the same […]
Some of my favorite art pieces are those that show emotion, that have an energy to them. True, most beloved pieces have an energy all their own, even if it’s subtle. But there are some pieces where that energy is something more evocative. I’ve seen many of Giovanni Boldini’s paintings over the years, often of the […]
This Week’s Art: Dore’s Death, Life-In-Death, and the Ancient Mariner
I read a lot of poems, and one of my very favorite poems is The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It’s a dream made for an illustrator, filled with such great visions, and it’s probably one of the reasons that it’s been a popular poem for so long. I have a […]
This Week’s Art: Matania’s Paulina in the Temple of Isis
When I post my “This week’s art” articles, I like to have as much information about a piece as I can get. Sometimes, like yesterday’s article, the piece is quite popular, and there’s lots of information about it. Other times, it seems like only one site has the beautiful art, but won’t put any information […]
In my path to learning more about photography, I’m keeping my art sense in mind when I shoot things. The big idea behind much of my art is to simply try new things, to experiment with new methods. Along those lines, I decided to try shooting some lightning. Conveniently, there was an angry storm outside, […]
I’ve been a published artist for 15 years this week, for both cover art and interior art. I don’t say that to brag, I just want to set the stage for a discussion about the rights that go along with using my artwork. Now, to get the obvious out of the way, I own the […]
As with art, writing, and everything else that I do, I like to experiment. Often, that experimentation is very raw, very chaotic, and can lead to fascinating places. Other times, the experimentation is more clear, more precise, and still leads to interesting places. In this case, I wanted to try taking some shots of the […]
Last fall, while we were in Florida for a rocket launch, we decided to check out the many nature reserves along the way. We came across one that had a nice walkway through the swampland, and I thought it would be a great chance to try the Canon T3i dSLR that we had just purchased. […]
On my travels as an amateur photographer, my plan is to write about my experiences in learning about the craft. Living in Colorado affords me a lot of chances to take many different kinds of photos, and my photography articles are here to help me remember the good parts of what I do. I have […]
This article popped up on iO9 today (check it out here), all about “night terrors”. Go ahead and read it, and come on back. My turn? Well, to start off, here’s a gif from the comments in that article that might perfectly tell you what night terrors are: Yeah, they really are just like that. […]
My children tell me that they love that I’m an artist, and that I have a vast knowledge of how to pull things off for Halloween. Now, of course, they just tell me that so I’ll let them stay up late to watch movies. But I have to admit, I think that their excitement with […]
Last year, a couple of friends (Mike Oliveri, Cullen Bunn, and a few others) were really talking up using a small writing or sketching book to jot down quick ideas. I’ve carried a larger sketchpad in my backpack for a long time, but I’d considered something smaller to compliment it. So, I ended up purchasing […]
Family trips aren’t always conducive to finding those unique places that are either interesting, affective or both. But my wife’s family is from Oklahoma and Texas, and both states offer places that we visit when we are in the area. Above is one of the empty chairs from the Oklahoma City National Bombing Memorial, and […]
Now that the visitors are all gone, I’m getting back on track with things. There have been a few developments, and there are a couple of reminders here, so let’s get going. My art is featured in an actual, physical gallery locally now. The On Display Gallery in Fort Collins, Colorado, has a number of […]
I don’t do recaps too often, since, really, you could probably just scroll down and see it all anyway. But there are a few things happening away from this site, so I thought I’d highlight them. My Flickr “sketch every day” project, which is at least getting an OK start. I don’t think my Teddy […]
I don’t often get to art museums, so I make the most of it when a chance comes up (save for the Denver Art Museum, which is only an hour away). I think, though books and the web can certainly show you art you’ve never seen before, that being in the museum in person gives […]
Fantastic news, for the first time ever I will be an official guest at a con! I am one of the guests at VisionCon in January, in Springfield, Missouri (website at www.visioncon.net). Along with Brian Keene, Mike Oliveri, Cullen Bunn and a bunch of other folks. I went last year, and it was a great […]
The whole last week: KillerCon, accidents, and art
It’s definitely been an interesting couple of weeks, and to start things off here’s how last week (Sunday evening) started: Out in Colorado here we call that, “turning on a green arrow”. Basically, we get the green turn arrow (everyone else gets red), we start turning and BLAMMO!, other party never stopped at the light. […]
Most people that know me outside of family (both of you, you know who you are) know me as an artist. But by day, and sometimes even at night, I am also a graphic designer. Sometimes that means signs, or books, or even logos, which is the topic for today. I created a logo for […]
It’s just a point-and-shoot Canon 880, but it’s a far more advanced camera than my 4 1/2 year old Kodak. It takes some pretty decent shots, and I think it’ll be a good camera overall. A few shots… This one shows off the macro ability, which the Kodak never had a chance of doing. The […]
I just returned from a very long trip to Portland, and I snapped a few pics for the website. As always, if you have any comments just let me know on my MySpace or LiveJournal. I like old signs, especially the faded ones on the sides of buildings: I also have a tendency to experiment […]
I created a few computer desktop/wallpapers from the art that I did for Brian Keene’s Scratch. Here they are below: Download here Download here Download here
While we were in Yellowstone, the Tetons and Montana for vacation I snapped a few pics. Here are a few selections below for your enjoyment. The first one here is an abandoned attraction near Casper, Wyoming, that I visited as a kid. Hell’s Half Acre was always a cool stop (the “planet” in Starship Troopers […]
I’m not quite finished moving things over from the old server, hopefully that will be done this evening. Adding links, putting in art gallery pages again, all the stuff that makes moving a website so wonderful. At least installing WordPress again was easy enough.
A brief Vegas-oriented hiatus… and Photoshop World!
If you’re looking for This Week’s Art, I wimped out and decided I had too many things to do this week. I am heading to Las Vegas early in the morning for Photoshop World, which should be quite fun. Wish me luck!
I’m getting excited, NeCon’s just a little bit away now. I leave the week after this coming week for it (on Tuesday the 17th), where I’ll spend a couple of days in Boston checking out the sites with Tod Clark. It should be fun, though I’m not 100% sure what to expect. It’ll be a […]
My friend is looking for music/movie reviews for the site that I helped him build, and I thought I’d pass it along to you fine folks. “Consider yourself a good judge of music? Well aren’t we all? The Culture Shock (www.thecultureshock.com) is looking for someone to write album and reviews from any era. We’d be […]
