Terminator Salvation ARTIST RETURN Sketch Cards Available for sale.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let everyone know that I have received my return sketch cards for Topps Terminator Salvation sketch cards and they are available for purchase.

Each card is Unique and hand illustrated with Prismacolor Markers, colored pencils, and acrylic pain. These are the ONLY full color sketch cards I did for this set. Only 6 are in existence!

Each piece is 3 1/2" X 2 1/2" on OFFICIAL Topps Terminator Salvation Sketch Card stock.

Normally my Return cards sell for $400 or more,

but I am selling these cards for a low flat rate of $250.00 each.

This covers Shipping and handling (on sketch cards) for customers in the U.S.

Discounts available if you buy multiple cards or order other "Randy Martinez" commissions or products with the card.

I great piece for any sketch card Collection!

Email me if interested.

randy@randymartinez.net

Thank you!

Randy

New Style to keep things fresh

Hey kids, a new style and some new art.

Everything but the Aayla Secura, and Princess Leia are for sale.

The card stock is from Star Wars fan days II 2008.

Each card is painted in acrylic paint.

$100 each.

That covers shipping and handling for customers in the U.S.

Let me know what you think!

Randy

Art runs in the family

So who said this blog had to be all about me?

My sister sent me this awesome drawing my 4 year old nephew Lucca did of Wolverine.

Taking after his uncle?

Jabba is Tons of Fun

Finished up a commission piece of Jabba the Hutt tonight. I have to tell you, Jabba the Hutt is so much fun to draw and paint. I know he's gross but he got so many different textures and colors, it's just fun. 

I don;t want to call thsi a break through piece because it looks pretty uniform to my recent work, but it was a break through for me personally to let go of the Markers. For the last year I've been doing work almost exclusively in colored markers and pencils. I love the colores and what I am able to do with the markers, but at teh same time they are very rigid and don't leave a lot of possibilities to experiment with out ruining my pens, well, at least I don;t know of any yet.

The thing is The markers are a must for sketch cards as they don;t buckle the cards, but for bigger stuff I have been really wanting to use REAL paint again, and play with the wet media. So for Jabba I went for it. 

I broke out the WATER COLORS, and started puddling bold colors instead of trying to match the photo tones in my reference. Relearned a lot of things like patients, and knowing when to layer more color to get different effects. 

I used to work EXCLUSIVELY with watercolor for many years, but I found that I was limited when I need to do things that only acrylic could do, so I started using acrylic a bit, but got frustrated and stopped.  But I love acrylic, and I'm hoping that venturing BACK into watercolor will lead me back to doing acrylic again.

The other thing I enjoyed about this Jabba piece was working bigger. This piece is only 9 X 12 but compared to the little 2.5 X 3.5 sketchcards, it felt like I was painting on the great wall of China. I love sketch cards, but when I do TOO many of them I start feeling like I'm drawing in a little tiny room. Working bigger lets my limbs and joints move around more which makes it more relaxing and fun for me.

Let me know what you think of this EXPERIMENT.

I'm gonna start doing a lot more!

Randy

Well, you can't win them all...

Okay, so I'm sure you all are wondering if I'm devastated by the Lakers loss tonight.

 Truth is I'm fine with it. I fully expected the Magic to come out and give their best effort tonight and they did. They shot almost 70% on jump shots. It would be hard to beat a middle school basketball team shooting that well. Yet, the Lakers were right there with them the whole game.

The Lakers actually played well. They still rebounded. They created turnovers, and they scored.

Kobe made a couple bad plays down the stretch, which was weird, but despite the Magic playing their best, the Lakers could have won the game tonight.

Absolutely nothing to hang our heads about.

I give the Magic credit for playing up and winning a game they had too.

Game four should be a good game, and will really show what each team has in themselves.

I expect the Lakers to attack this game as the one they REALLY want.  Orlando still has the pressure on them to HAVE to win, and I think it will effect their shooting and metal. Tonight they played with nothing to lose. Now they have a win, and they have some hopes. They don;t want to let that go so they will naturally tighten up a bit. 

The Lakers need to come out and stomp em. 

I still think the Lakers will win in 5.

That's it, now I have to go finish this Jabba the Hutt painting... surreal world I  live in:)

RARE Star Wars Book Cover Art For Sale!

For the first time ever, I am offering my original cover art from Star Wars: Rebel Force "Renegade". This is the third Book in the brand new Scholastic series. This is not a sketch card people this is the ACTUAL art work from the book cover. Okay, I know the Art on the book is so small. Well, I don't actually create the art that small I work much bigger, and then we shrink it down. For this project I do each figure separately, and then we photoshop the cover together.

So this makes for several pieces of ORIGINAL art.

. The goal for all of the art on these books is to show outfits or poses that are not seen that much or at all in the movies. Some characters like Han Solo, don;t really change outfits that much. But with Luke, there are a few different looks that not many people have seen, so it's fun to step out of the normal white tunic.

We have to be careful too, because the story line takes place right after the first death star has been destroyed. So the character still have to have that late 70's look to them.

For "Renegade" we chose to go with Luke Skywalker wearing his briefly seen PANCHO. He does wear this poncho in Episode IV: A New Hope. we see it when Obi Wan and Luke are arriving at the Millenium Falcon in Docking Bay 54 on Mos Eisley (right after the cantina scene for all you non Star Wars nerds:). It's the scene when Luke utters the famous line "What a piece of Junk". 

The funny thing about this Pancho is he put it on right before they go to the docking bay. Luke boards the Falcon with his Pancho on, and then the next scene he has obviously taken the poncho off, never to be worn again... Until Book 3 of Star Wars:Rebel Force. Right?:)

So here is Luke on the cover in all his Pancho Glory. Lightsaber ignited. BTW, it is intentional that Luke looks a little unsure about holding the lightsaber. He's not really "Return of the Jedi" expert Lightsaber wielder yet. All that is explained in  the Book.

At his sides are his faithful droids R2D2 and C-3P0.

Amazingly it was really hard to find a clear photo reference of these poses. I worked with Lucasfilm photo archive, and believe it or not the production photos from "A New Hope" are TERRIBLE. Seriously, it looks as if George Lucas had an aunt come on the set with an old Instamatic camera and take OFFICIAL shots. It's comical! One picture looks good, but it's blurry, while another one cuts off the top of some ones head or their feet right at the ankles. Crooked pictures ALL over the place. Which is why for " A New Hope" we see the same pictures over and over again. But it was explained to me that there are few production pictures from A NEW HOPE because most of them got lost...I mean, they still have a lot, but they HAD 5-10 times more photos back in the 70's. Things were different back then in the 70's.

Here are some of the reasons they lost photo's, or what was explained to me.

1. They had several photographers take lots of photos, but many of them kept the negatives and original prints. Records from "A New Hope" were apparently a mess, so the names of many photographers got lost. Many of those Photographers probably lost the photos themselves.

2. Boxes were mislabeled, or never labeled at all in the archives. So there actually could be a box of pictures hiding somewhere.

3. Star Wars had such a hard time finding screen to play on (in the beginning), many people figured it would be  a flop and scrapped all their Star Wars stuff, only to regret it a few months later.

4. Time, some pictures deteriorated with no copies ever being made.

In a way, I feel privileged to be able to bring back to life rarely seen outfits and poses. It's fun.

For the back cover we have a completely new Star Wars character X-7.  This was great because I got to design a never before seen Character in the Star Wars Universe. I don;t know...that is just COOL!

X-7 is an interesting  character. You gotta read the books to get the details.

When I got the description of X-7 I was perplexed. Basically they said "X-7 needs to be fierce, scared, and grizzled yet calm, unintimidating, and easy to talk to". WHat? 

We went through so many looks, and nothing was coming back ok.

Finally I decided to use my Brother in law as my model, and BINGO they loved it. They said "That is x-7"! So, Ladies and Gentleman, X-7 is indeed my Brother in Law Guillaum. Granted, I added the scars, but he really does look the part.

All of these pieces are available for purchase.

Each piece is 9 X11, illustrated with MArker and colored pencil on Bristol. 

For more details and prices visit my webesite  randymartinez.net

 

These are the only four  pieces from "Renegade" so get them before Someone else does!

Randy Martinez

randy@randymartinez.net

kung PAU! The Lakers and Comic Book Metaphors!

Wow, not that was a hard game to watch last night.  Both teams really came out awkward and ugly. 15-15 after one quarter? Felt like I was watching a game at the YMCA not the Finals.

Although, I have to say I wasn't upset. The Lakers played good defense, really good defense, but they had no offense. But to me, that is okay. I'd rather the offense go to sleep than the Defense.

It should be a lesson to anyone learning basketball. As long as you play Defense you have a chance to win. And the Lakers did. 

I asked guys at the gym today if Orlando should feel confident that they almost won a game, or discouraged because they lost to a struggling Lakers Offense? I think the latter of the two. 

No matter what Orlando does, The Lakers just have to many ways to win.

Comic Book Metaphors and Sports:

Most interesting in these last two season has been the growth of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

I was ready to throw the towel in considering Lamar Odom after last years no show in the Finals. But, as a Lakers fan I am very proud of the way Lamar has turned things around and instead of fading away he is embracing the fact that the Lakers need him. He came up big last night rebounding and  on defense.

Pau has grown in to the leagues most consistent reliable player. Coming to the Lakers his rep was a skinny finesse player who simply couldn't rise to the occasion. Great talent, but no real threat. Last year Gasol definitely played Robin to Kobe's Batman. And he did it well. But I think that may have been his down fall, really the whole team. They played well, but to use another Comic Book simile, the 2008 Lakers were like Wolverine leading the New Mutants on a Mission. 

In contrast this years Lakers that we are watching now is like the full team of Xmen.

Each player is a Super hero in their own right, but they use their super powers together to defeat any foe.

So who is who

in the Lakers X-men team?

Wolverine: Kobe Bryant

The Rogue Leader. Like Wolverine Kobe CAN single handily take over a mission and destroy everything and everybody. Both are unstoppable ad both love a good fight. Kobe and Wolverine are both masters of their art and take it to a whole other level when you piss them off. While they can go solo, they have learned over time to trust their teammates for a group effort.

Cyclops: Derek Fisher

The Elder of the team. The total leader by example and poise. Has seen just about every situation, and while they have few weapons, what the do with their powers can be powerful and clutch.

Night Crawler: Trever Ariza

 Like Nightcrawler's Teleportation BAMF! Trevor Ariza seems to appear out of nowhere to steal a ball. Fast, Agile, and incredible leaping. Not the strongest on the team, but no doubt valuable to the teams success. Has BAMFED in to save the day at the last second MANY TIMES.  

Gambit: Pau Gasol 

Both have funny accents at times. But like Gambit Pau can do so many things and be devastating with them. Pau is agile like Gambit and has great hands, Gambit has great hands too... that can create explosives. Both came to the team as outsiders, but have become key members of the team. Both have cool hair too!

Beast: Lamar Odom

Super Strength and Agility. For a 6' 10" guy he makes moves quicker and better than some little guards. Like Beasts super strength Odom can out mussel just about anyone in the league for rebounds.  Like Beast Lamar Odom has gone through different metamorphosis but has mutated into a dependable force.

Colossus: Andrew Bynum

The lumbering Giants. Both posses great power and strength. Immovable and dangerous on defense. Intimidatingly HUGE, but both have soft spot right on the surface. Until they turn their skin to metal and then they are unstoppable.

The Bench:

Iceman: Jordan Farmar

Cocky as hell. Loves to show off their COOL powers. Sometimes gets the best of them. Jordan is fast like ice.

Storm:Sasha Vujacic

Sorry Sasha, you get to be the girl. Why Storm? They both can make it rain...3's that is:)

Angel: Shannon Brown

Both seem to have Wings and soar.

ThunderBird: Luke Walton

Solid, dependable.

Bishop: DJ MBenga

Both have big guns. 

Long Shot: Adam Morrison and Sun Yue

The Power of Luck. Adam and Yu are just lucky to be on this team.

Go Lakers

Back at it.

Not a whole lot to write about today. Hit the gym, so-so work out. Lifted weights for the first time in a couple months, then tried to play basketball. It was like playing with two lead pipes for arms. But you know, lifting upper body just feels like you didn't do a whole lot at first, but like right now, I feel it. So I shouldn't feel as bad as I do for not coming home drenched in sweat.

So last nights game was Great! The Lakers look fantastic! I love their focused attitude FINALLY! 

Orlando just looked like they didn't know what hit them. I was most happy with the way the Lakers kept Orlando off the Offensive rebounds. That killed us the last couple of series. But rebounding is a mind set, once the series starts, if your not focused on boxing out, it's hard to change gears. So I was happy to see that they were making an effort to grab every loose ball.

Kobe was just killer.

I'm not being biased here at all, but honestly, I think Kobe is better than Michael Jordan was.

Yes, Kobe has had a bumpy road to this point, but he's arrived as the complete player now. His understanding of the little things and energy of the game put him in another galaxy from everyone else. 

What puts Kobe over the top of Jordan is, having watched both play, Kobe has had to play through WAY more physical play, he's had to play through refs not giving him calls, he's had to play through negative media. Through all of that, he does things that I have never seen Jordan do. What has made Kobe a complete player, is he has finally understood how to be a leader.

Magic is still the bast basketball player ever, as far as all around. I put Larry Bird at a close second. Michael Jordan was third, but I have to put Kobe above him now. IF Lebron James can become a better leader...then he'll pass Jordan next.

But Kobe, in the playoffs, just has something in his eye, in his swagger that you just know beating his team is next to impossible.  

So after the game I was all jacked up from the win. I wanted to get some work done but damn it I was still in the at BLAHS. So i sat down and wouldn;t you know it, I started drawing something FOR ME! That was the trick. I was all excited about teh Lakers, so I went with it. Drew out a cool Pau Gasol, and I'm gonna draw teh whole team eventually. But it's exciting, because it felt like I was expressing myself through my art for the first time in a long time. It wasn't work, it was FUN. I'll post the art as I finish it, it's just in sketch phase right now.

Okay, gotta go make lunch.

Have a great weekend!

Over and out!

Randy

GO LAKERS!!! Why I love the Lakers!

I have been salivating since Friday. That is when the Lakers eliminated the Denver Nuggets to advance to the NBA Finals for the second year in a row. I am a proud Laker fan at that fact alone, but as you know the Lakers simply made it last year and lost to the Hated Celtics. Disappointing would be an understatement for me. The fact that it was the Celtics... has driven me crazy for a full year! So here the Lakers are, one year later BACK in the Finals against the Orlando Magic. While Full redemption would be to take the championship back from Boston, winning it this year would help us Lakers fans move on... a bit. :)

 

Understand I LOVE the Lakers! I mean, I am totally emotionally invested in this team. You can ask Denise how involved I get into the games. When they win I am on top of the world. When they lose (especially in the playoffs),  I get depressed... for at least a couple hours. 

Only a couple hours? That doesn't sound like a real fan to you?

I should clarify that I am PHYSICALLY depressed for at least a couple hours, but the underlying competative fire is never put out until they win again.

I admit, I am not the kind of fan that tailgates, spend all my money on game tickets, and decorates my entire house in Purple and Gold (well, I don't do this since I started living with Denise:).  Sure I have both Home and Away Lakers Jerseys with "Martinez" across the back. Sure I have a huge Lakers logo for my desktop wallpaper. Sure I drink almost exclusively out of my Lakers cup. Of course I have a Magic Johnson Action Figure...BUt who doesn't:) There are all kinds of ways to express ones fandom, mine is just a little more subtle in between games.

But make no mistake I am a Faithful Lakers fan, with my second favorite team being Anyone who plays the Celtics.

 

So where does this Lakers fanaticism come from? Why so Crazy about the Lakes! 

I grew up in a very sports involved family. There was not a season that went by with out my siblings and I playing Baseball, basketball, vollyball, or football. We didn't just participate, we all excelled and if we were not the star players, we were KEY to the teams success. My family drank up the glory of victory and tears of defeat. Because of that,  I was born into being a fan of all the local the Dodgers, Angels, Rams, Raiders, and of course the Lakers. But being born into a Lakers family is not really the reason I'm such a big Lakers fan. 

Over time some of those other teams have dropped off of my radar for one reason or another.

The Rams dropped off because they moved to St. Louis. The Raiders dropped off because they moved back to Oakland. But more than that, over time I just really came to caring about Football at all. I just lost interest in it. Following suite I lost a lot of interest in baseball. The Angeles are okay, I don;t dislike them, but I can take them or leave them. I would say I am still a Dodgers fan, even though I don't follow baseball that close. I like the Dodgers because I like going to the ball games, that is fun, and I have a lot of great memories from my childhood at Dodger Stadium. So why have a stayed a big time Lakers fan? I would say that a big reason is I just LOVE basketball. In my life basketball has been one of the five things that bring me absolute happiness(Basketball,Art, Music, Star Wars, and Sex... c'mon if Sex doesn't bring you bliss, you may be doing it wrong:).

 

The other reason I 'm such a huge Lakers fan is one person... Magic Johnson. Magic is my all time favorite basketball player, and was my idol while I was growing up.  

Watching Magic play was just awesome. You never knew what he was gonna do next, and it seemed like the each move he did was more incredible than the last. The feeling I remember most while watching Magic and the Lakers as kid was exhilarating. Some much so that it was one of the fist times I felt "I want to do that". So I guess you could say that I love basketball because Magic Johnson sparked a passion for the game in me. I would watch my lakers videos over and study the moves of my heroes Magic, James Worthy, Kareem Abdule Jabbar, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, AC Green, and all of the supporting cast that played with them through the years. During the 80's the Lakers won the World Championship 5 times, including Back to Back titles in 1987 and 1988. This was a lot of exciting basketball through out my childhood and I loved every minute.

But it wasn't just because of the winning and the excitement. The Lakers had a much more personal meaning to me while I was growing up. Much like Star Wars was for the Lakers represented something positive during a time in my life when there wasn't much to be happy about. I had a rough time with my parents getting divorced, and continuing to fight through out my whole life. Different circumstances made me a very insecure little kid, and I was pretty depressed most of the time. 

My saving grace was my star Wars movies, and of course the Lakers. There was nothing I looked forward to more than Laker games. Every once in a while i was lucky enough to go to a live game at the Forum with my brother. Those were extra special times.

During a time in my life when I was really sad, Magic and the Lakers gave me excitement and hope. They made me believe that if you worked really hard you could accomplish your goals, or come really close to it.

So the Lakers became like family to me, and I shared all of their emotional ups and downs....and that tradition continues today.

 

I love the Lakers, and I will be glued to each and every game of this series.

 

Go Lakers! Make us all proud!!!!

 

Randy 

 

 

Artist's block. Do's and don'ts to beat the BLAHS.

Every once in a while I get what I call artists block. I guess it's sort of like writers block, except it's not a lack of ideas, it's more a lack of motivation. It's a weird feeling because there you have a list of a TON of things you can and should do, but you just feel kind of BLAH. As noble as we all try to be as artists and say that we are always inspired by art... There is a shred of BS to that line.

I don;t think it matters what you do in life, no matter how passionate you are about it, sometimes we just get the "Blahs". 

I'm not comparing careers or anything, but I can say that the BLAHS are a bit more difficult for the artist. Simply because to create art you do need at least a bit of inspiration to make good art. The worst thing you can do is sit there and poor out uninspired art. Everyone can see through it, and most of all you the artist know it. When you make a living with your art, it is important to learn ways to get over it  quickly because deadlines don't wait for anyone. 

So what do I do to get out of this feeling of lethargic creativity? Over the years I have tried many many many many many different things. Because the Blahs are brought on by different things, not every remedy is right for every kind of blah. So naturally, the first step is to figure out what brought this feeling of "Blah" on. This is not always easy. A lot of time it's difficult to slow down in life, meditate, and ask ones self "So what's the story there Sparky?" (sometimes a little self sarcasm helps ease the tension of that first pick at the ice). Sometimes, this could be the very problem we just start going to fast in life and don't meditate.

But if it's a little more deep than that I try to get everything out that I have been thinking about. Often, the BIG issue that is giving you the"Blahs" is something lingering in your head that won;t allow you to focus. It's like getting a sharp pebble in your shoe. You can walk around like, but it's constantly irritating you until you take the shoe off and remove the pebble. 

If your like me, you have a TON of things floating around in your head. Even if I don;t have the BLAHS, I have difficulty organizing my thoughts.

The worst thing you can do is just think "Get over it. Push through it". If it's in the middle of a project your already working on, okay, I'll give you that, but if not, Never just "Get over". Work it out, and fix the issue or it will keep coming back to haunt you.

So here are some things I do to find the problem...

1. I talk to someone. Never doubt the power of human interaction. Talking to people is underrated sometimes. Granted you have to have some one to listen to you, and sometimes you can't find anyone free to talk, but if you can find a helping ear, just talk and listen back.

2. Write it down. This is probably one of the best ways to get things out and figure out what ails your mind. I actually need to do this more. The hard part is starting, but once you do everything starts flowing out. I like to number my thoughts, and then maybe even put a little star or two to denote something that has been on my mind a lot.

3. Write a Blog, Why do you think I'm writing this one right now?:)

4. Meditate, Go hike somewhere quiet in comfortable clothes and just chill. allow your self to completely space out. If you can learn deep meditation skills. Meditation, is sometimes the easiest way to clear your head and find out what the big issue with you is.

Once you find the issue, you have to find a way to fix it, or at least get the wheels in motion so it will be resolved. As I said before there are different remedy's for different BLAHS.

These are some remedies for different things that give me the BLAHS.

1. Exorcise, I am a firm believer that Exorcise helps EVERYTHING. IT's very simple, exorcising makes you feel good physically, it makes you feel good about yourself doing something good for your body, therefore it effects your demeanor and self esteem in countless positive ways. That boost in self esteem can usually help you feel like you can deal with any troubles in life, and helps you see things more clearly. Walks are good, but I find that a good sweat is the best. Get the blood pumpin' so all your focus is on your exorcise. 

2. Eating Healthy, This is similar to Exorcise that it helps everything. Eating an ice cream might give you a jolt of good feeling, but then you feel like crap because you know you just ate crap your body doesn't really want. It's a knock to your self esteem. I don;t ever go HEALTH nut, but you know I opt for a healthy sandwich rather than a Burger or Pizza. Oh I eat bad too, but when I get the BLAHS junk food can put you further into the hole.

3. Go See a movie, I find that this is helpful if your stumped with creativity.  Basically, your getting your mind off of your art, and you let someone else's art inspire you.  For me a good movie will make me feel like creating something good myself, and a good movie will usually spark some sort of conversation afterward, and thus usually sparks an idea to create from. A bad movie is inspiring too. Bad movies make me feel like "I can do something more creative than that". Either way a movie usually gets me past the creative BLAHS.

4. Go do something fun. Anything, just get your mind off things and smile. Sometimes you just need a jolt of laughter and fun.

5. Fix something around the house, Helps you get your mind in the problem solving mode. Thinking step A, to step B might be the best thing for a BLAHS caused by say something wrong in a relationship. Helps you see that if it's broke you can fix it. 

6. Spend some time with friends. Hangin' with friends and hearing about what they are doing can really help you put your issues in perspective. And your friends can sometimes help inspire you. Good for beating Blahs caused by routine (if your routine isn't already hanging with your friends).

7. Deal with it, Sometimes the issue is bigger than you are allowing your self to see it as. At this point you really just have to confront the issue and deal with it head on. If you've got money issue, sit down and figure out ways to make some money. If you're in love, profess that love. If your not getting along with someone sit down and work it out with them. 

Sometimes it takes doing these steps more than once, but as long as you are taking positive steps to get out of the BLAHS you should be cool.

Well, writing this blog has helped me out a bit.

Instead of writing it, I need to go do it.

Till next time...

Randy

BTW, I know the image has nothing to do with BLAHS, but I thought it would be fun to post this ancient piece of work I did for self promo. Actually seeing the piece  does inspire me...I see how far I have come since then.  Not just with skills but from where I was in life back then. Wow, that does make me feel good.

50% Off Sketch Cards Sale ends on the June 15th 2009

For those who haven't heard Denise and I made a move back to Hollywood! It is really great to be back home. Ventura was nice but LA is where we are connected.

Anyway, To celebrate my good mood:) I put on a 50% OFF sketch card sale through April and May. Well, I never really announced a cut off date, so I am officially extending the deadline to JUNE 15th 2009.

 

All Sketch Card orders (before June 15th) are 50%.

Black and Whites down to $20

Full color Sketch cards just $40

Panoramic Full Color  Sketch Cards just $80

To order email me at     randy@randymartinez.net

 ATTENTION!

Order now because this is the VERY LAST TIME I will be offering my "Style A" sketch cards at these low prices!

Seriously, no way no how will you be able to get them this cheap again!

 

All orders after June 15th are subject to new 2009 Prices!

Yes, it is true my prices are going up a bit for my "Style A" artwork. Because of a bigger work load, and the amount of time it takes to render these little cards, I have to raise the price of my Style A Sketch cards.

 

What is Style A? (see attached samples)

Good question. Over the years I have tried a few different approaches to the style of art I put on my sketch cards. I've found the most popular so far has been a more realistic rendering of the subject I am drawing. I use many different colors, and use a multitude of Colored Pencil colors to render these up and get fine detail. It is a time consuming process.

 I call this high rendered technique my "Style A" Sketch cards.

 I do a number of other styles from Cartooning, and Caricature, to graphic design.

I am currently working on defining these styles Better, and thus will have the distinction of "Style B, C, and D"

All will have separate price tags, which will give collectors with small to large budgets the chance to own some of my art.

These Styles and prices will be announced very soon!

Thanks in advance everyone!

New iPhone

So Denise and I broke down and finally got with the times and bought iPhones. All I can say is WOW!  These things are so much more than I ever thought they were. I am so happy that we took the big step and entered 2009. I was really happy with my T-mobile slide phone that I had had for 3-4 years (and it looked 3-4 years old), and the service was fine, but I had been itching to get something new.  I had been checking out the iphones a little, nd it seemed everyday friends, associate, and family were getting them. I was afraid it was all a fad, so I held out. Denise caught wind about a year or so ago, and increasingly wanted one. Just couldn't swing it. That was until Denise got a little birthday money and decided the iphone would be here prize! So we went into the Apple store down at the Grove in Los Angeles...which is always a dangerous place to go for us Mac users. End up buying half the store. So as denise was being helped and shown the features, i listened in, ask questions of my own, and started looking at everyone walking around with iphones. Then I kept looking at my old slide phone, then the iphones, then my slide phone... and I have to say that the moment swept me up and I said screw it, I'm getting one too (trusty credit card ready to go). I have to admit, I was DAZZLED before asking all the questions, and figuring how this was a MUST have for me. I just wanted it. 

However, sometimes following your desires work out, and in this case it has. Having spent tow days with my iphone, I have discovered so many things that WILL make my life better, easier, and improve my buisiness practice. So it actually was a MUST have all this time. The appa are very cool, but right now, my favorite feature is how it syncs with our Macs and the Macs work as control centers for our phones. It really is revolutionary, in my life at least. I now have all my contacts, emails and everything in one spot, with my iphone acting as a satalite of my mac.

The most helpful part for me will be the info you can store about your contacts. I meet a lot of people out there at cons and in business. It makes it really tough to  remember everyone on top of the fact that I am HORRIBLE with remembering how I know someone I've only mete a few times. I'll admit it, I'm HORRIBLe at it. But with the iphone, I can add photos and notes to how I know anyone in my contact list. It's like having an extra brain!

The only down side I have found to my iphone is that it is so damned addicting. I spent an hour just playing with the lightsaber app. OMG how fun is this simple little app? 

Part of the addiction is setting everything up for the iphone. My ipod lay lists, iphoto albums, movies, contacts, calendar, wall paper, and OMG ring tones!

How stupid is the ring tone idea, but how brilliant at the same time. Do we really need fancy ringtones? Hell no. But can we get enough? Not on your life. And itunes knows this, so they charge an extra .99  cents for it. But it rocks because you get to create your own 30 second ringtone from the full song that you buy from itunes. But still, for under $2.50 you get a complete song, and ring tone (if you ever decide to make a ring tone out of the song).

I made three!

I like to change the tone from time to time, and some tones are better to use in a loud room. 

My default right now is the "Imperial March" from The Empire Strikes back.

But I also made ring tones out of Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop" (Opening riff and verse Makes a great ring) 

And "Nobodies Fault but mine". This is my LOUD room ring.

I used to use the opening riff to ACDCs "Highway to Hell" on my slide phone, but I kind of played it out, so Wanted something new. 

I have a couple songs in mind once these songs get old.

"Basketball Jones"-Cheach and Chong

"Superman Theme"- John Williams

"Asteroid Field"-from Empire Strikes back

So now I have pretty much everything set up. So I better get some work done!

If you thought about it, go get an iphone, especially if you are a mac user! This rocks!

  

X-Men Archives Sketch Cards

I had mentioned a little here and there but never fully announced that I will be part of the much anticipated Trading card/Sketch card set of "X-men Archives". These cards are being produced by Rittenhouse Archives Ltd. and will be available at most hobby shops or online. This is a Really fun set which covers everything and anything that has to do with the Xmen. I tried to cover as many characters as I could on 100 cards. Of course I did some different variations of popular characters Like Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, and Rogue (Just to name a few), but I also did a hand full of bad guys too.  This will be my first run with Rittenhouse, and I'm very excited as I have wanted to work with them for years.

Xmen Archives will be released: July 8, 2009

Get more info and samples here: Rittenhouse Archives LTD.

Workin' Out

Here I am again, tying to wake up, and get my butt out the door to the gym. I love the gym, but I hate waking up. I go in the morning for a couple of reasons. First and foremost because here in Hollywood, that is when people get together to play Basketball at the YMCA. Seemed weird to me at first when I started going about 6-7 years ago. But it makes sense. Most everyone that works out and plays at the Y during the morning hours works in the entertainment business. Most everyone works AFTER 12 noon, so the morning run is perfect for all of us. I Love basketball, so to get my fix first thing in the morning 3 times a week is like heaven to me. 

It's ,y goal to lose some weight...okay, a lot of weight and get back to looking HOT. I wanna feel great inside again and Basketball is my best means to getting there. Running, Jumping, Shooting, and the best work out of all is wrestling for rebounding position. Yeah, I come home with cuts and bruises that Denise hates to see, but it's the only way I LIKE to exorcise. treadmills and machines bore me. 

I love playing in the morning because it gets that great work out in and it leaves me energized for the rest of the day. Problem is when I stay up late, it makes it REALLY hard to get up.

But my other motivation to go is the community at the gym. Over the last 5-7 years at the Y I have made some really great friends that I love to see.  So playing basketball is not only my work out, it's all my social activity...one of them anyway.

Okay, So I'm about ready to split here. My eyes are staying open now:)

Time to sweat and get in shape!!