Meanwhile, back at stately Wayne Manner...

Over on Tor.com: Julie Bell talks about a tarot set that she, Boris Vallejo, Dave Palumbo and Tony Palumbo have been serializing in Heavy Metal Magazine. Includes quotes from the whole crew.

I'm a Zombie!

OMG! Just saw this via, John Joseph Adam's Twitter. Dave Palumbo grabbed a couple Master Class peeps and asked us to act like zombies. And so, here we are. I'm at the far right. Too much fun!

More Eating

Rebecca Guay is in town – yay! So, of course, dinner. Minutes before this photo was taken there was an amazing dark chocolate fondue on the table. Rebecca is in town for a number for reasons, a Magic tournament is among them. I envy the artists that Magic sends them all over the world to attend these tournaments. I may try to stop by and check it out in the next few days, although someone warned me that unless you are playing, it’s “a bit like watching a chess game, only geeky.”

PHOTO: Dan Dos Santos, Dave and Tony Palumbo, Donato Goancola, Julie Bell, Rebecca Guay, and Boris Vallejo.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Party

Last night was the annual SFWA schmooze fest. Let me start by saying, Liz Gorinsky is a horrible influence. She’s made me stay out for more 3:00am breakfasts this month then I have in all the years since college. But besides the groggy wake up this morning, I had a great time.

Once again I got a few artists friends to bring in some work for a little mini display of sf/f art. This year we had Dave Palumbo, Tiffany Prothero, Bruce Jensen, Scott Altmann, John Jude Palencar, Eric Fortune, and David Grove. (Thanks again guys!)

You are spared the traditional food eating shot since I had forgotten my camera at that point. (Although the truth of the matter is, I only set up these exhibits/lectures/whatever for the excuse to have good meals with cool artists.) Here are some random photos of the evening:

TOP SET:
Jozelle, F. Paul Wilson, Gordon Van Gelder, Anna Genoese, Richard Curtis, Ellen Asher, Michale Swanwick, Jim Frenkle.

SECOND SET:
• Lots of Tor peeps. I think just about every department is represented here: Steven, Melissa, Kristin, Sara, Melanie, Cindy, and Liz.
• Tor authors David Keck and Kate Braillier.
• Liz Gorinski and Diana Fox.
• Jannie Shea and Andrea Senchy -- the people that make the Chesleys and many, many convention art shows happen.

BOTTOM SET:
Some of the artists in attendance: Arkady Roytman, Tiffany Prothero, Dave Palumbo, Doug Beekman, Scott Altmann, Tony Palumbo.

Race Brook Lodge

I’m back from the awesome Race Brook Lodge. Twenty-plus artists friends and I were there for a week -- some working on assignments, others working on personal projects, and then there was me, doing absolutely nothing but hanging out, eating, and sleeping.

Sadly, the waterfall was sans water, but a lovely hike nonetheless. The pizza was amazing...until Baba Louie's burned down. (I swear we had nothing to do with it.) And teaching whiffle ball to the Hungarian artist duo Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai was more amusing than the actual game. It also seems that I am an excellent first-game bowler but suck at any subsequent rounds.

Unfortunately I can’t show any of the work that was done since some clients are more sensitive about that than others. But a quick run down of a few of the projects:

Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell were working on their next calendar. This time they will be telling a visual story throughout the months.

Tony Palumbo was working on a few “sword” cards for a tarot deck that he, Julie, Boris, and Dave Palumbo are all collaborating on. (It was fun to hear Julie talk about being in the art director’s seat on the project.) The set is being published three cards at a time in Heavy Metal magazine, starting now, and will take three years to complete.

Dan Dos Santos was working on a Tor cover, the sequel to Dark Warrior Rising. When the painting is done I’ll post a few shots in progress.

Greg Manchess was finessing a few sketches of Egyptian pharaohs for National Geographic -- a cover plus two large scale interior paintings that will run in the February edition. (Progressions on that, once published.)

The only bit of work that I did was to go through a few Spectrum books and start making a first pass stab at curating the next Spectrum exhibit. Based on the post-it notes, we are not in for an easy ride. Somehow we’ll need to select just 150ish works of art out of four editions.

Everyone else was working on private commissions and personal works. Some stunning pieces that I am very much looking forward to seeing done.

Our "Free To Be You and Me" photo::

TOP: Dave Palumbo, Ben Foster, Dave Seeley, Scot Brundage.

MIDDLE: Dan Dos Santos, Donato Giancola, Christine, Tiffany Prothero, me, Rebecca Guay.

BOTTOM STANDING: Steph Laberis, Wesley Allsbrook, Greg Manchess, Tony Palumbo, Julie Bell.

KNEELING: Arkady Roytman, Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai .

THERE IN SPIRIT but sensible to get out before people started climbing on the rafters: Boris Vallejo, Steven Stroud, Lars Grant-West, Cyril Van Der Hagen, Giancola’s Carrie, Naomi, and Cecilia, and Dos Santos’ Chris and Uno.

ComicCon Friday

Home now. I left San Diego on Saturday for my brother's wedding. (Congrats, Dave and Sara!) Now I am looking forward to a Sunday with nothing to do but nap, sleep, and rest.

A quick show and tell of my Friday...

LEFT ROW: Skeletal Cheerleaders -- who could resist. ComicCon crowds. Shelley Wan showing off her purchase of a Justin Sweet painting.

RIGHT ROW: Donato Giancola doing a quick watercolor study at his booth.The (much too) late night drinking crowd. Dave Palumbo.

I had a really nice dinner with David Apatoff, author of my favorite blog, Illustration Art, and his wife, Nell Minow. They are as gracious as you would expect from reading Illustration Art. (Thanks again, guys, for a great evening.) Nell is a film critic for Yahoo, among other places. She's given the nod to Stardust, making me even more excited to see it.

Fresh Paint: David Palumbo

David Palumbo is another rising star in the field. He is one of the most dedicated and focused young artists I have ever met. He has a real love of all things science fiction and fantasy, whether it be games, books, art, comics or film. His passion for the genre comes across in every piece. David is following a twin track career path -- exhibiting gallery paintings while creating illustrations for card games, books, and CD covers.

Where did you go to school and how do you feel they prepared you for your career, both artistically and in business?
I went to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and before that I had studied figure drawing at a community college for a few years. PAFA didn't teach illustration, but they did have a serious approach to representational painting and working with the figure. I also took a Business of Art class in my last year which, once again, was not specifically aimed at illustration but still very useful. I wish I could take it again now. It was a small school and, by the second year, most students were fairly serious about their work, which I quite liked.

What has been your biggest challenge post graduation?
What I think every artist faces: starting the job hunt cold. Working in illustration seems to me like a snowball effect, building something from nothing. The first couple years can be discouraging.

What where some of your successful, or unsuccessful, early promotions?
I don't think any promotion is completely unsuccessful if somebody at least sees it, though some are certainly less successful. I've had many mailings and emails go unanswered. If we're talking about early promotions, I can look back at those mailings now and see why. But now I can send the same people better work and hope for a better response. Also, networking is not really one of my strengths, though it has certainly been a help in getting work.

What do you feel is your biggest hurdle in getting commissions?
Hmmm... It's tough competing with the veterans with connections and reliable records certainly. That's probably the hardest part, because it's something that we're immediately faced with and we'll all be running that race for the rest of our careers.

Do you feel as though you've had your first break yet?
I don't feel like I've had a "big" break, but I've had many small breaks come along. I tend to think of every new client I pick up as a little break, another inch on the snowball.

Do you have a clear idea where you'd like to be in five years?
Lets say I have a hazy idea. I guess I just want to be doing what I'm doing right now only moreso. There are certain companies whom I'd like to work with and other mini-goals I have, but they all basically translate into just building my career and improving my abilities.

Any advice to students still in school?
Don't slack off. I think that's the big one. You have to be wholly and completely committed. Most art students have heard that whole "99% of you will not making your living in art, etc." and I believe that's fairly true if you're not serious about what you do. Nobody will give it to you, you have to earn it yourself.

Race Brook Lodge, continued

Well, I had meant to use the week to write insightful, substantive posts. Honest, I did. In the end, there just didn't seem to be enough time for anything besides eating, talking, sleeping, and eating. So, instead, here is a quick run-down of the remainder of the week:

On Wednesday a bunch of friends met us at the Rockwell Museum -- Jon Foster, Dave Seeley, Scott Fischer, Rebecca Guay, and Lars Grant-West. Afterwards, we headed back to the barn for great, late night drinking, eating, talking, and intense Pictionary playing. (Some might argue that the winning team, which I happened to be on, was not altogether gracious about the slaughter we unleashed on the rest of the group.) Somehow we ended the night by watching Evil Dead....at 3 in the morning. (I blame Dave Palumbo!)

Thursday: everyone was very mellow in the morning. Rebecca Guay read us the first chapter of a comic book that she is writing as well as drawing...Not only is she a wonderful artist but this story is so funny and charming I cannot wait to see it done. Her reading of it was priceless...anyone that meets Rebecca must ask her to read it to you. Scott Fischer surprised me by bringing in the final John C. Wright "Chaos" cover. It may be my favorite of the series. A frisbee was thrown, more food, and an earlier night.

Friday was a nice long goodbye. We all had a final relaxing breakfast...which somehow rolled into a final relaxing lunch and then back to New York to prepare for the following day’s Art Out Loud demo with Todd & Donato.

Despite all of the above, I was impressed with how much work got done. (By others, not me.) A few of us were in much-needed vacation mode, but the majority of the group was very focused. (I'm sorry to have avoided showing the paintings here but I'm not sure who was working on projects that clients may not have seen yet.) It was particularly exciting to be in a group of artists at so many different stages in their careers. Artists typically work in isolation...It was clear that everyone enjoyed being able to walk around, look at other people’s work and chat while taking breaks. Todd was the only one working digitally but most everyone sat down with him at some point for a private tutorial. All agreed that it was the most refreshing and energizing week that we could have hoped for. We already miss our barn.

Pictures: Scott Fischer with his cover for John C. Wright's Titans of Chaos. At the Rockwell. Relaxing in the barn. Outside the barn. Everyone: Scot F., Dave S., Dave P., Rebecca / Lars, Scott A., Me, Jinju / Cyril, Arkday, Julie, Todd / Mark, Christina, Sara, Jon / Tony, Scott B., Greg / Boris, Dan, Tiffany.

Race Brook Lodge Retreat

Here we are, at the fantastic Race Brook Lodge. I'm glad to say some work is actually getting done...I'm even more glad to say that I am not doing any of it. It's been such a great few days. We've been hiking and eating and talking... the more focused among us have been working.

Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo are working on their next calendar, Scott Brundage got a job from The Wall Street Journal while we were out for lunch, Tiffany Prothero is working on a piece for a ConceptArt calendar, Tony and Dave Palumbo are working on paintings for a gallery exhibit in Philadelphia, Todd Lockwood is working on a poster image for a tattoo company, Dan Dos Santos is working on a number of things, including a cover for Tor, Scott Altmann and Arkady Rotyman are working on various projects, and Greg is working on some thumbnails for a new children's book.

Top to bottom: Greg in the barn. Painting in the barn. Julie and Todd. Dave. Everyone at the waterfall. Todd and Dan. Boris.

Retreat!

Todd Lockwood flew in late last night. We were supposed to spend today doing fun New York things, like visiting museums and such. Instead, we were held captive in Greg Manchess' apartment waiting for Delta to drop off Todd's lost luggage, including all of his painting supplies. What a pain. It was the only full day he had to explore the city. Instead, we hung out and watched a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...Which is a good day for me but not what Todd was expecting, I'm sure.

Todd has come into town a week before his painting demo at the Society to take advantage of a working retreat organized by my friend Dan Dos Santos. Dan found a B&B with a barn-turned-meeting space up in the Berkshires -- he talked them into a nice price and then invited a dozen artists to come on out. The group will include Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Scott Altman, Dave and Tony Palumbo, and a bunch of others. The idea is to get lots of work done while still having time for light hiking, reading, and Pictionary....Or at least that's the plan. In the end, I'll be just as happy to fall asleep in a hammock for much of the day.

Comic Con: Thursday

Jason Chan drawing in front of Dan Dos Santos’ booth. You may not know Jason’s name now, but you will soon. He’s just out of school and already doing amazing work...including some covers for Starscape. (I’ll get those posted soon.)


Razorbill was giving away advance copies of Black Tattoo. It’s sporting a beautiful John Jude Palencar painting. The marketing info on the back says that the final jacket will fold out into a poster. I’m very much looking forward to seeing that.


Dave Palumbo (in white) showing his portfolio to collectors.


Illustration House has a great collection of work on display, including this nice Jeff Jones painting.