So,  George Carlin died this Sunday, Stan Winston last Sunday.

W. T. F?  Is Lucas dropping next Sunday?

The 2001 San Diego Comic Con is the seminal moment in my life, it seems.

As an aspiring illustrator/concept designer who had spent about a year getting his freelance career off the ground by doing Star Wars Spaceship illustrations for the Star Wars role-playing game and the Star Wars Gamer magazine, the first trip to ComicCon was kind of like a ( Read more... )

Well, it looks like I am probably NOT going to SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) this year.  Money is just too tight this year--and since I am not in the Artist Alley, there is no chance of selling anything to pay for the trip.  It would take some kind of Lottery/Inheritance/Bequest financial miracle to pop up in the next week to change things...And those ( Read more... )

It's the end of March already, where has time gone?  I guess I have been busy! 
With what, you ask? Why art, of course.

March has seen the release of "The Lord of the Rings Masterpieces II" card set from Topps, and that series has more of their popular hand-drawn sketch cards.  I did 84 cards (75 for the set with and an additional nine that will be ( Read more... )

Dave Stevens, creator of The Rocketeer and "Good Girl" artist extrordinaire lost his battle with leukemia and has died at the age of 52.

Mark Evanier has written a wonderful tribute to his friend here:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_03_11.html#014911

I envy all who got to know him other than the occasional fan-boy handshake and grin--but his ( Read more... )

And by "Beowulf", I mean the motion-capture/animated film that was released in 3-D in November.  Not the horrible sci-fi version with Christopher Lambert or "Beowulf and Grendel" with Gerard Butler (which I have not yet seen) or "The 13th Warrior" with Antonio Banderas.

This is a really great film.

Technically, it is NOT Beowulf the epic poem--many ( Read more... )

So, we are now well into 2008--Time to reflect on 2007 a bit.
What a year.  There was a lot of work, due no doubt to the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars and my professional connection to that world.  There were conventions and trips and new friends and acquaintances. The greatest offer of work yet in my professional career...and the same project ( Read more... )

So, I just found out that I am going to Skywalker Ranch next month.

Originally, the trip I am taking was just to hang out with a good friend and family in San Francisco, maybe stop by Lucasfilm's downtown Presidio offices and see the folks I know involved with Lucas Licensing -- and maybe talk a little shop.  
But, my good friend Daniel is very ( Read more... )

So, it is 3:20 in the morning and I am having trouble going to sleep.

I cannot shut off my mind.

Here is the bitter irony--I am completely exhausted.  I am running on maybe two-three hours of sleep.  It is part of the freelancer's life, when you are working on eight projects at once and what you had scheduled to happen one after another is now all ( Read more... )

I saw "Lady in the Water" on HBO today.

I waited to see it "for free".  I didn't even rent the DVD.
Having spent nothing, I feel like I want my money back.  
It was a train wreck of a movie.  The only shining lights were Paul Giamatti as the main character (he is amazing--look at his performance in the Illusionist) and how naturally beautiful Bryce ( Read more... )