The  Reports Of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

When I started this blog, I had such high hopes of posting topical observations on art, movies, painting and illustration in general. Well, if wishes were horses...

The truth of the matter is, as an artist, I'm a bit less organized than I'd prefer to be. I can be rather adept at prioritizing my goals for a given day but I find that when it comes to a thing like blogging, I tend to fall though the cracks. In the last two years I've added into my life-mix a desire to finally get my Bachelor's degree in art. The upshot of that desire is that it leaves very little time for anything else, and that includes dinners, family time and...blogging. Now, at the tail end of this experience, I feel I can finally breathe. 

That being said, I'd like to show you my latest project. It is a cover for Tobias Buckell's latest book called, Tides From the New Worlds. It is going to be published by Wyrm Publishing, within the next several months. I'll update that publication date as soon as I have it. In the next few days, I'll be posting some new info on the process of creating this work and how it came to be. (for anyone interested in reading that far)

In the meantime, here is the cover art before the text is put in. Till next time...

Can you imagine...

If you read my last blog, you know that I've just returned from Boskone. As such, I've been doing lots of catching up on work and such and haven't had much chance to cruise my favorite sites. What a surprise to see my friend John Picacio's blog this morning with a mention of SFRevu's Hugo Recommendations. Not only is John's wonderful work suggested in the Professional Artist category, but yours truly as well. I'd like to thank John for his kind words and to SFRevu for including me in a list of artists I've admired for many years.
I was also pleased to see two other friends recommended, Lou Anders for Best Professional Editor (Short Form) and Chris Roberson's Paragaea (Novel).

Some love for The Prodigal Troll

The fans at Boskone found something that they liked in my booth and my painting for the cover of The Prodigal Troll received a fan award ribbon. It's always nice to get some feedback from the people who see your work. Especially so, when they aren't throwing tomatoes or carrying pitchforks.

Back From Boskone 44

Just returned from my first Boskone since 1990. During the intervening years I kept telling myself that I was going to show some new work but one thing led to another and I just let the date go by and said I'd do it next year. Well, this year I finally got my stuff together and went. The cons are a great time for artists and writers and for fans too. I'm rather partial to the artist side but truth to tell, having some time to interact with writers and other creatives make these events that much more amazing. I spent most of the time hanging with my friend and editor Lou Anders from Pyr. An amazing man who can converse on seemingly unlimited subjects and do it with authority. As I mentioned, being an artist, I had the chance to chat with two of my favorites. The first, Dave Seeley, I knew the work of fairly well, and Rick Berry, who I only knew from seeing his work in Spectrum books in my collection. Dave invited Lou and I to visit his mom's home and see some of his work that he stored there. Mrs. Seeley was quite charming and gave us the grand tour. Dave's work is all the more amazing when you see it in person. I suppose we all say that though. His work is full of very expressive characters, totally realized creatures, environments and occasionally a sense of danger. There is that electric feeling of a split-second pause before the hammer drops. When time just seems to stop, only for a moment. Amazing. Dave and I actually share a love of creating props for our paintings. He showed us a pair of hand-gun type weapons that he was constructing for an upcoming piece. I thought that was as cool as seeing the art itself.
Later that day we were invited to Rick Berry's studio. Rick and his charming, cool wife Sheila hosted an impromptu gathering for a few of us after the con broke up.
As my primary illustration technique is digital and hand-rendered colored pencil, it's been a number of years since I've been in a workspace filled with the smell of oil paint. Oh, it was like smelling a fresh-mowed lawn after a long winter. It made me reconsider my thoughts about abandoning my oil painting technique. There is a spontaneity to Rick's work that is truly striking. Grabs hold of you and won't let go.
I would give the advice to any artist working or trying to work in this field to visit as many cons with art shows as you can. They are an invaluable resource to talk to other talented people and share ideas and ask questions.
I also got to chat with Irene Gallo from Tor books, whom I've met a few times but never really got to talk with at any length. She had some wonderful stories of the artists and writers she has worked with. You would think that someone who is under the gun constantly to get projects done and out the door, might have showed some stress. Not so. Irene is a person who genuinely loves what she does. She has a calmness and joy that just comes through.
All in all a very enjoyable and productive experience. I'm looking forward to hopefully attending the World Fantasy convention in November in New York and showing some new work. Thanks to all those whom I neglected to mention who shared their time and experience with me. It was greatly appreciated.

Boskone 44

I just wanted to mention that I'll be showing some of my original work at Boskone 44 from Feb. 16-18 in Boston, Mass. It's been a number of years since I've shown anything there and it'll be nice to participate in the art show again. If you haven't been to a Boskone art show before, you are missing something special. All I'll say about the artists who exhibit there is that they were a great inspiration to me when I first dreamed of becoming an illustrator of Science Fiction and Fantasy art, and an illustrator in general.
Also, you may want to visit SFRevu this month where I had the great pleasure to be interviewed by Gayle Surrette whom I met at World Fantasy in Tempe, Arizona 2 years ago.
Insert shameless plug here, but my newest piece is for Alexis Glynn Latner's novel, Hurricane Moon being published by Pyr. It should reach bookstores sometime around July I think. I'll be including the art on this site as soon as I find out where my cats have hidden my keyboard.

My Interview At Memetherapy

The folks over at Memetherapy have bestowed upon me the honor of being included in the Artist Interview section of their website.
If you are so inclined that you have some time to blow off and would like to read my hopefully pithy comments to their intelligent questions, you can do so at the above link. I've been reading Memetherapy for a little while now. The frustrating thing is that there is so much to do there and not enough time to do it. If only I had a little room that I could shut out the passage of time, I'd be able to get all the stuff done that I need and want to. Well, something else to add to my To-Do list. Suffice it to say that there is something on Meme for everyone. I encourage you to visit this site and spend a little time looking around. You won't be disappointed.

Man, What A Year (so far)

Well, I'd like to say that I've been working up a storm or relaxing on a beach somewhere but truth to tell I've been doing neither. I've been trying to figure out if I should post this or not, so I'll just set it down here and since it's my blog...well there it is. Back in December of last year I needed to have my aortic valve replaced and my aortic root reconstructed. Quite a Christmas present that. It wasn't exactly a surprise. I've known about the impending need for this proceedure for a few years. I just thought that it wouldn't need to be done for another ten or so. In short, I had two open-heart proceedures in the span of about one month. Not something everyone has had, but I must say that what really amazed me was the relative ease of going through this. Not at all what I expected. Now, I must prefice this by saying that I'm not exceptionally brave or have a strong pain threshold. In fact, I've been known to whimper and cry like a little baby for the simplest of injuries. What I mean to say is I was more amazed at the marvel of medical science than I was scared of what I was going through. After years of reading science fiction literature and speculative fiction about what the future was going to bring, here it was, and I had a front row seat. I bring this all up because to my way of thinking it was science fiction and fantasy that helped to prepare me for what was to come. Perhaps I'm being overly simplistic, but that was the way I processed it. By now, I'm pretty much back to normal, although, I have discovered a renewed sense of wonder about this incredible genre that I participate in. It truly can change, and in point of fact, save lives because, at least for me, it changed my way of looking at the world and my place in it. I may be accused of being overly dramatic but as I said, this is my blog. At it's worst, science fiction is a temporary indulgence and a way to spend a lazy afternoon. At it's best, it shows us what we are and what we can be if we open our minds to the possibilities.
I've been reading Lou Ander's blog for a while now and found a quote he has there. It's by Robyn Hitchcock. "A good influence is someone that liberates something in you that was already there.
A bad one is one that just makes you imitate them."
That really is it in a nutshell. Science fiction was that one good influence, and it really made a difference.
Now, whenever I hear the metallic tick, tick, tick of my new titanium heart valve, I feel that sense of wonder all over again.

Till later...
-B

Inspired Brilliance

You know, there are some moments in your day that you just need to kick back and laugh. I had about 5 minutes today to do just that. I would like to share what I found. Ordinarily I'd would have said that some people have wayyyy to much time on there hands, but this is not one of those times. The first one is a Matrix inspired ping-pong game. Truly, it is brilliant. You'll find it at Matrix Ping Pong

The second is actually two things. Classic movie shorts, ie: 30 seconds long, of War Of The Worlds and Jaws. Both starring cute little animated bunnies. You'll find them at Bunny War of the Worlds
Bunny Jaws

And third, Tom Cruise Kills Oprah. Nuff said. I laughed for days.
Tom Cruise Kills Oprah
That's about it for now. Enjoy. I really should get some work done now.
-B