Hey everyone, thanks again for the comments on the work here. Greatly appreciated it is! Just thought I'd toss down some work so that you all know I'm alive. I don't have much to say art wise though. I'm in a process of re-new, and it's time I hit up the ol' life drawing again. I'm finding that my work isn't at a lvl I'd like it at, so I need to push it further. Also recently watched Bill Melendez's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I remember watching this as a youngin'. My daughter loved it too. You can say that the animation isn't the best draftsmanship, but the story and acting here make it shine. You could say that about his work on the peanuts. Sure he was confined to the comic strip models, but the story's and heart in all of them show that he is a brilliant storyteller. Something in today's day and age is hard to find.

Long time no see! Here's a piece for Illustration Friday titled, "Leavem' In Stitches". The Joker always knows how to dropem dead ;) Alas, I had no time to color it, perhaps in the future. I've been super busy, and this month is no exception. There are lots of cool things coming up, and 2008 is gonna be one heck of a ride!

Here's a fun pic I did for Illo Friday! "Superstition" is the theme. Unfortunately, lucky human feet just don't work the same...

Cheers,

Dan

Who ya gonna call? Four years and counting, here's this years Ghostbusters pic! Thought I'd show some love for #2 and a villain with possibly the best hair ever, Vigo.

Happy Haunts!

Who ya gonna call?

Ghostbusters...2!

This year I'm gonna pay respects to the sequel that may not have topped the first movie, but was fun in it's own right. Plus who can beat a floating Vigo the Carpathian head? This here is the rough, and I'll have the final posted on October 24 th :)

Well I thought I'd post some stuff on my blog here that I wouldn't normally post. I like to consider the blog here as a place to showcase things I don't put up anywhere else, as I think I have a very small amount of visitors checkin' this page out. I dig that, it's like going to a pub and sharing some work with a few buds. I have been a little out of the loop from art as of lately, but I do have some prior commitments that always need tending. Here's a smackerel of things that I've been working on. Feel free to leave some comments or feedback. And yes...even critique is welcome! Actually, I encourage it. No time like the present to get better at what you do. Hope you all digs!


Here's a pic that I colab' with Mike Jungbluth on. After reading the Sinestro Corps I was mused to doodle them up. Mike took my pencils, inked them and then popped down some sweet colors. After that I added some efx and viola! We had this as a print during the Chicago Con and it sold rather well if I do say so myself.



Last but not least, is this here Power Girl. Why Power Girl? And why did I draw her chest so small? Well, the latter question first. Her chest is smaller, as I hate drawing big boobs. Seriously, sometimes they get drawn a little over the top, but that is my personal preference I guess. I'm more of an ass guy anyway. But that is another story. Power Girl was chosen as the next DC animation that I'll be doing. Under the color model you will see some cleaned up stills from the animatic. At this stage, after the timing is down and the keys are done, I'll start to color the characters, and get them ready for animation. I finished up a Batman animation, that should be up mid October on the DC Comics Site, just in time for Hallowe'en. Good fit for the Bats I say. And using that prelude to All Hallows Eve, there is currently a new Ghostbusters pic in the works. I'll post the roughs for that next week ;)

Well the Chicago Con from the 9th to 13th of August has come and gone. Some great memories, and new faces made this one to remember. To all the people that I met, it was a pleasure, and I hope to repeat it next June. Here's a little synopsis of what my travels were.

August 9th, alarm goes off at 3:40, after only going to bed about 4 hours prior. I rush out the door and drive out to the Victoria International Airport. Little did I know, I left my alarm on, so the neighbor downstairs was awoken every morning at 3:40 to blaring music for what I believe to be 15 mins. Flight to Vancouver was smooth, usually about a half hour. Then it was off to Chicago after a layover of and hour. I was unfortunately treated to "Shrek 3" as the in flight film. Now, I don't think Shrek is the worst looking animated film, besides the boring design, but this film was so horrendous...let's just say they murdered my love for "The Immigrant Song," by Zeppelin. Bonham is turning in his grave. I arrived at O'Hare at about 2:30, ahead of schedule. Called the Chairman and Matt, and I met them with little probs. After that, Mike arrived at vestibule 3d. We snatched him up and began our drive to the acclaimed Motel 6. Did I mention we got lost? After driving through 5 towns, and asking for directions 2 tines, we found it. Then it was off to the Con to meet up with Tim and Ian at the Ape booth. Hilarity ensued, as the rest of the weekend was filled with sketches, finally meeting Hen, more sketches and cardboard pizza.
Although the trip to that one deep dish place was good tines. Also something about Megaman glowing and DK not tossing barrels. I was blessed to meet up with some new and old faces alike. Matt from DA who did some wicked colored art to show me. Von Toten, who is as cool as they come, not to mention talented like a beast. Shapestrong, who handed me an amazing maquette she did, Jessica "Animator Xtreme" Plummer, and Joe Bluhm, the best caricature artist I've ever seen! Jon Riggle, Superdookie, Spagetti016, AgentBill, Chip14, uber talented Jeff "Chamba" Cruz, Kweli, Bender, Robb Mommaerts, Yoni Limor, Mike Kasinger, Lucian X and slew of other cool peeps. Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out, I'm sure I have, so please take no offense. My brain has been reduced to mush since arriving back. Kinda like this overview of my trip...so without further ado, the pictures to fill in the gaps! Thanks again to all that swung by, look forward to doing this again in June!

Cheers

Dapper

I wanted to announce a contest we're holding to celebrate the release of Cereal & Pajama's . Here's the low down;

CEREAL AND PAJAMAS ‘BACK OF THE BOX’ Pin-up Contest!

Saturday morning cartoon comics sharing the fun!

Ape Entertainment is pleased to announce the CEREAL AND PAJAMAS ‘Back of the Box’ Pin-up Contest!

Give us your interpretation of any character or characters from the variety of stories packed into the CEREAL AND PAJAMAS Anthology. The three best pin-ups (as judged by the Cereal and Pajamas creators) will be published in the CEREAL AND PAJAMAS anthology! Entries are due June 10th and the winners will be announced June 15th.

"This book has given all of us involved a chance to show our interpretations of the type of shows we loved as a kid," says contributor/ co-editor Mike Jungbluth. "What we hope with this contest is to give 3 more artists a chance to show the world their own unique take on our characters."

Ape Entertainment co-publisher, David Hedgecock added, “CEREAL AND PAJAMAS is a unique anthology that is giving voice to some of the most incredibly talented ‘up-and-coming’ creators of this decade. With this contest, now there are even more opportunities for new talent to shine.”

CEREAL AND PAJAMAS is a collection of original stories meant to evoke the nostalgia of Saturday mornings with a grown-up twist. The stories compile the talents of up-and-comers such as Ray-Anthony Height (Noble Causes, Darkstorm), Jeffrey Cruz (10th Muse, Sinbad: Rogue of Mars), Dan Schoening (Invincible Handbook Vol. 2, DC Online) and Israel Cruz (Atomik Mike), as well a slew of artists from the fields of television and games. The book features a cover by Jack Lawrence (Lions, Tigers and Bears, GoGo-Gorilla and the Jungle Crew, A.T.O.M.)

Inspired in style and execution by fond memories and fueled by mature storytelling, the creators of CEREAL & PAJAMAS bring you endless worlds of adventure: faraway galaxies, zombified tomorrows, fantastic landscapes, crime-ridden cities and many more. Saturday morning grows up with 11 original tales by industry veterans and newcomers alike.

CEREAL AND PAJAMAS currently contains over 128 full-color pages of completed stories and will be released in August. You can see more at APE Comics or Cereal & Pajamas @ ComicSpace

Prizes

1st Place
- Your artwork printed in the Cereal and Pajamas anthology
- A free Collector's Edition copy of Cereal and Pajamas.

2nd and 3rd Place
- Your artwork printed in the Cereal and Pajamas anthology
- A free copy of Cereal and Pajamas.

Cheers

Dapper

In anticipation for the new Spidey flim, and news of a Spider-man animated series designed by Sean Galloway, I thought I'd drop some art. I was trying to really push the posing with Spidey, as he is amazing, so why not try and give him amazing poses. Now, I'm not saying the drawing is amazing, but I know I couldn't stretch that good. Also, it's a nice juxtaposition with having Spider-man very agile, while Parker more subdued. As a bonus, my good friend Cale Atkinson sketched up a Spider-Man VS. Venom pic, which I had to color up. Hope you all digs!

Follow this link to the DC Comics Myspace page and scroll down a tad to watch the video play out :)

Hope you all dig it

Hat tip

Dapper

ZELDA!

Cereal and Pajamas Anthology!

Back in August a good friend of mine Will Caligan approached me about doing a short story for an anthology that he was putting together. I was a little hesitant at first as I'm not fond of drawing comics. I guess it's the lengthy process of drawing things panel by panel. It's weird as I love storyboard, and animation itself takes way longer than any comic possibly could. The short story could also be anything you like, so the freedom to create was foremost appealing. I'm not much of a writer so I mentioned to Will that I'd like to take on a co-created character of his. He hooked me up with the writer and we put our heads together to get something that wasn't the normal fair for comics. I really wanted something human, with feeling and emotion upfront. This way, the story would be more personal to the reader, and it would test my metal at showing emotion in my art. The story itself starts with the hero, Leo, chasing an arch villain through a mid-income residential type area of town. Leo corners the villain and to get away the villain blows up the lower lvl of an apartment. Leo then has to choose between getting his man, or saving the innocent people trapped inside. The rest of the story follows Leo, saving the residents of the building. After he brings out the last person, he finds out that two children are still inside. Exhausted, Leo runs back into the apartment. He finds the kids, but as he runs towards them the floor beneath him breaks and he falls into the fiery floors beneath. Leo awakens in a hospital, only to find out that the children he so desperately tried to save didn't survive.

As I said, I really wanted to bring humanity into the comic, to show that he is a vulnerable character with flaws. I hope that it shows in the art to come.
Due to commissions and contracts I had no time to color it, so I was stoked to find out that Luxun (Silas) was interested in coloring it. See the pin up above for his awesome work. Keep an eye on him, as he will be a rising star soon enough in the color biz. Stop by his Deviant Art page to get more juicy pics that he's colored up, Luxun's Gallery

The pages will be fully colored by April 1st, and then off for printing. I plan to be at the Chicago Con this year with Hen, Mike, and Tim Kelly so we'll have plenty of copies for sale there. And as a bonus, Jack Lawrence of ATOM, Lions, Tigers and Bears and Darkham Vale fame will be doing the cover. HUZZAH!

I'll post some completed pages next month :)

Cheers

Dapper

100 DC VILLAINS! Way back in May of 2005 I began doodling some sketches of some favorite Batman villains. Low and behold almost 2 years later, there are 100 villain designs. It was a labour of love that almost lost the muse in the end. However this last batch made it, and I'd like to share a few of them with ya. Feel free to post any C&C you have.

Cheers

Dapper

Well over the past few months I've been busy, doing work for DC Comics, a little short comic for an anthology and trying to find my muse inbetween. The best thing this winter besides my daughter and I enjoying Christmas, was that I got to see my brother again. I hadn't seen him in over 4 years, so it was just the right time now for him to fly all the way from sunny Australia to snowy Victoria. He was here for about 6 weeks, but it went by so fast. Hopefully within the next 2 years I'll be over there to visit. I lived in Australia for 8 months when I was younger, and thought it was cool. Although being from Canada, the heat almost made it too hard to breathe. LOL.

The Sketch Tavern is planning on hittin up either the San Diego Comic Con, or the Chicago one once more this year. I'll be sure to keep this blog updated, and if any of you reading plan to go let us know. It'd be awesome to meet ya.

Cheers

Dan

What does the Holiday season mean to you? I celebrate Christmas myself, and I'm not a religious person. Honestly, I'm tired of the "buyme-buyyou" attitude, and I sincerely hope within atleast the next few decades (yes it'll probably take that long) peoples thoughts of this time of year changes. I'm a firm believer in that this time of year is a time to relfect and be thankful for the things you have done to make your own life and others around you richer. It's a time for family and friends, and as long as you have a bit of that, you'll have all you need. No Ipods, No XBox's, No Designer clothes. Just people you love. I will always remember the last few lines of Suess' classic, which I think embraces this time of year very well;

"Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand."

Cheers

Dapper

The Bunny Man Cometh

Here's a pic I did for my good bud Tim Kelly
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I'll be posting a bigger journal very soon!

Cheers

Dapper

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone! Here are some ghoulish treats for all you spectres and spooks!

-Undead Dan

The Sketch Tavern is holding a new contest for Hallowe'en! If any of you guys want to join in feel free to pop over and sign up. Here are the rules and guide lines:

The Tavern's very own Haunted Contest! Read the description and rules below. Follow the link here to enter: The Haunted Tavern Contest

The Haunted Tavern's Horror Movie Madness Contest
Contest begins Friday October 20 thru to the closing date of November 3.
All entries will be submitted to either Tim Kelly or Dapper Dan via Private Message at the Tavern Forums. Please use a image host or your own site to submit art.
Winners will be chosen by the Sketch Tavern Crew and announced shortly after the deadline.

“Horror Films are designed to elicit fright, fear and disgust from their viewers. In horror film plots, evil forces, events, or characters, sometimes of supernatural origin, intrude into the everyday world.”

You’re ghoulish task for this creepy contest is to think of an original concept for a Horror movie. The 2 week contest will challenge your design skills, composition skills and overall ability to project the mood required to give people the cold running chills.

Sign up in this thread and state which design you will be creating for week one. The designs will be due one week from today. Send all art via PM to Tim Kelly or Dapper Dan no later than the 27th of October, at midnight. 6 winners from this round will be chosen. They will then will move onto round 2.

1st Week
-Design either a Hero or Victim
Create one design for the main hero or victim of the Horror film you would make. Flesh them out well with a biography, pose sheet and one pose with colors. You cannot use an existing character from any genre, the design must be original. Winners from this round will move onto the second round.

2nd Week
-Make a Movie Poster
Details to be announced after completed designs are submitted…muahahahaha

Prizes

1st Place
- Ghostbusters 1&2 DVD Set
- A Starring role in Lightbomb Mike’s “Eat the Robinsons” short story for the published anthology “Cereal and Pajamas” due out early next year.
- One Sketch from Lightbomb Mike, Hen, Tim Kelly and Dapper Dan (4 sketches in total)
- Dapper Dan’s Ghostbusters “This Chick Is Toast” Print and “Cleanin Up The Town” Print
- Dapper Dan Sketch book
- Lightbombmike Sketch book

2nd Place
- “You being killed by Zombies!” A Supporting role in Lightbomb Mike’s “Eat the Robinsons” short story for the published anthology “Cereal and Pajamas” due out early next year.
- One Sketch from Lightbomb Mike, Hen, Tim Kelly and Dapper Dan (4 sketches in total)
- Dapper Dan’s Ghostbusters “Who Ya Gonna Call” Print
- Dapper Dan Sketch book
- Lightbombmike Sketch book

3rd Place
- “You as a lifeless corpse!” A Supporting role in Lightbomb Mike’s “Eat the Robinsons” short story for the published anthology “Cereal and Pajamas” due out early next year.
- Dapper Dan Sketch book and a sketch
- Lightbombmike Sketch book

I've recently been jammin with some buddys online as well. We all pick a topic and rock out a piece within 20 mins. Here are the ones I've done so far:



Thanks again for all the awesome feedback guys! It's greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Dan

For me, the Fall has to be my favorite time of year. The smell of autumn, the rustic colored leaves, and of course my favorite holiday...HALLOWE'EN! Over at the Sketch Tavern (see above image) we have a spooky animation that Cale Atkinson and I cooked up in the cauldron.



I'm extremely excited this year too, as I get to take my beautiful daughter out to a few houses for tricks or treats. I'll post up pictures of my little Witch (her costume) after All Hallows Eve. But until then, here's a haunted ritual I started 3 yrs ago. Every year I do a pic based on one of my favorite movies ever, Ghostbusters. Until next time, happy haunts!

More from today

And thanks again guys for your comments

:) Dan