Art is all about practice, and I practice all the time! My father used to marvel at the fact that I didn’t need any impetus to do art, I just do it. This month I’ve focused on improving my line and brushwork with ink. In this week’s ROCKETEER I show you what I’ve been up to, including a short video, detailing my practice pieces for the month of May. You can read this week’s newsletter here.
Recently, I have become frustrated with the quality of my brush and ink linework. I was aware that the type of lines I wanted to create should be created with a real brush and ink but I stuck to my brush pens. They are more convenient, certainly more tidy than dipping a brush into ink. Plus, I have good control over them. Decades ago in graduate school I used a dip pen and brushes with ink. Honestly, when good quality brush pens became available I was glad to make the…
I don’t often review books, mainly because I’m either too soft a touch or, if the book is too bad, I don’t want to talk about it. But here is a case of something well worth a review, not just because the book it’s good, but because it’s historically important. Roy V. Hunt: A Retrospective is a treat, both for pulp fanatics and for artists. You can read my review here.
Dear Diary, The funniest things happen sometimes! I recently found a small stack of my first coloring book, “My Day at the Horse Show.” I really thought the entire first run was out of print. As soon as I mentioned them on social media, I sold two! Since the Flying Sauce Party is coming up on the 17th I decided to put together a flying saucer coloring book for the event. This reminded me that I’ve had plans to do a series of pulp-based coloring books for some time (as…
George Rozen cover painting for The Shadow magazine featuring “Serpents of Siva” in the April 1938 issue. This copy was something of an experiment. I was struck by the luminous green color of the buddha and wanted to try to recreate it with colored inks and densely-applied colored pencils. I set it up on Stonehenge paper. This is a heavy paper with good tooth and can take some wetting. I feel the results are a mixed bag. The luminosity comes through but the color isn’t dense enough. Probably, casein or…
Over the past year, I’ve dedicated a great deal of time to the improvement of my pulp art. George Rozen is one of the many pulp artists I’ve been studying. His “Shadow” covers from the 1930’s are truly wonderful–the art is punchy and the visual storytelling, top notch! To date, I’ve copied several Rozen “Shadow” covers. My most recent one is a copy of the June 15th 1938 issue featuring the novel, “The Rackets King.” This was my first attempt at copying one of the famous Shadow “hand” covers. It…
No, it wasn’t one of my books. Not yet, anyway! Instead, I have an illustration in a book that has made the 2020 Locus Recommended Reading List! The book is The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom, Volume One: The 1930s and my illustration is “The Science Fiction Special.” First Fandom Experience Project got two books onto this prestigious list in 2020, the second being The Earliest Bradbury which is another peach of a book. Congratulations to the First Fandom Experience project for this wonderful (and well-deserved) accomplishment! Here is…
Today’s challenge, create a George Rozen SHADOW magazine cover reproduction. And here it is, side-by-side with the original cover art. I love these old 1930’s SHADOW covers, the images are so iconic, the colors so bright, and let’s not forget about all those anatomically correct hands! Simply fabulous! This cover is from the November 1, 1932 number featuring “The Five Chameleons.” My reproduction is painted in gouache and watercolor in a Stillman and Birn Delta series sketchbook. The original was probably done in oils. I really enjoy doing pulp reproductions,…
Recently , I got a really fun commission–to illustrate an ice cream sundae called “The Science Fiction Special” for THE VISUAL HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION FANDOM: VOLUME ONE: THE 1930’s. This book is a compilation of rare material and ephemera from the early days of science fiction fandom. Then, as now, fans would gather for meals and drinks and excitedly discuss favorite books and movies. In an interview with John L. Coker III, David Kyle recalled this treat [Science Fiction Sundae] as a regular feature of meetings of the International…
I WON!! This is big…VERY BIG!! I just won the 2020 Cosmos Prize for my pulp story, “Battle at Neptune.” This is a big win for me as it was judged as a pulp science fiction story by people who really know what they’re reading. From the judges: Grand Prize: Battle at Neptune, by Sara Light-Waller In which a desperate last stand buys time for a united Solar System to invent a new and devastating dimensional weapon to defeat the invader Ay-Artz. Includes original illustrations! We chose the winning entries…