Starting tomorrow: A post every day for the entire month of July!
6.30.2009
6.26.2009
Obligatory Michael Jackson Post
I dunno, it seems like the thing to do. Thriller was my favorite record when I was 12 years old, as I'm sure it pretty much was for almost every other person my age. Hell, I even thought parts of Bad were pretty awesome, but Jacko completely lost me soon after that with the plastic surgery and especially the pedophilia.
Damaged and sad, yes, but I stop short of calling his a tragic case...He was a colossal weirdo, a frankenstein monster with enough fortune to afford any and every of his crazy whims.
Anyway, I've drawn Jacko several times over the past few years. This was the first, for Savage Love in the early aughts. Don't recall why he was holding a tampon, but my brain shudders at the possibilities.
Then there was this from last summer, the "Over It" issue of the Las Vegas Weekly...postulating that people were over MJ sightings around town. I don't remember if having his nose pop off was my idea or the art director's, but it's definitely kinda hilarious.
Damaged and sad, yes, but I stop short of calling his a tragic case...He was a colossal weirdo, a frankenstein monster with enough fortune to afford any and every of his crazy whims.
Anyway, I've drawn Jacko several times over the past few years. This was the first, for Savage Love in the early aughts. Don't recall why he was holding a tampon, but my brain shudders at the possibilities.
Then there was this from last summer, the "Over It" issue of the Las Vegas Weekly...postulating that people were over MJ sightings around town. I don't remember if having his nose pop off was my idea or the art director's, but it's definitely kinda hilarious.
6.24.2009
Heroes Con 2009
(photo by Matt Knapik)I spent last weekend in Charlotte, NC at the Heroes Convention. It's always a great time, well-run and just about the friendliest con in the biz, thanks to the awesome staff led by Shelton Drum, Dusty Harbin and Shawn Reynolds. Also, it's a great chance to hang out for a few days with all my awesome comics pals: J Chris Campbell, Duane Ballenger, Josh Latta, Brad Mcginty, Justin Gammon, and so many others! Being a dad and, well, old, I seldom have an opportunity to geek out and drink for three straight days, so the annual weekend in Charlotte fits the bill.
Some memorable and enjoyable stuff from this year:
• Catching a ride to Charlotte from Greensboro with Ben Towle. I've known Ben for years, but, usually seeing him at cons and larger gatherings, I haven't had the chance to speak to him one-on-one for any appreciable length of time. He's just a smart, hilarious and fascinating dude. Next year, maybe I'll offer to drive!
• Having so many folks coming up to talk about hockey in general and the Penguins Stanley Cup win in particular. I wore my Brooks Orpik/#44 Penguins t-shirt on Friday and gave anyone who said "How about those Pens?" or some such one of the little Pens Girl stickers I made up before the show. There were more than a couple folks who remembered the ignominious details of my Stanley Cup bet with Jeffrey Brown last year, so it was nice to be able to take a little more pride in this year's showing. Also, Rachelle of Living Between Wednesdays, a Nova Scotia native like Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, surprised me with the front and sports pages of the Halifax Chronicle Herald from the day after Game Seven. A rare treat!
• MAN-DAR! We hosted a screening in our hotel room of Brad Mcginty's new animated sword-and-sorcery spoof on Friday night, and it was almost-pee-your-pants hilarious. The twenty or so folks we had crammed into our room were cracking up so loudly that the staff had to come up and yell at us. Even cooler, we used a projector to screen it on the massive window shade, creating an 11th floor show for those outside as well. Wish I had a photo of that!
• I scored some great con deals...the first volumes of both the MAD Archives (which DC put out a few years back) and Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales...for ten bucks each! Retail on each of them is $50...that's the find of the show right there. I also picked up the New Frontier Martian Manhunter figure for $3, and managed to talk a guy down to less than half price on the Jim Aparo Batman: Black and White statue. Aparo's Batman was the one I grew up with, and they did a great job on this supremely geeky item.
• The last several years, I've gotten up a little bit early and gone for a several-mile run down past the Panthers' stadium on Saturday morning. It's a great way to clear the head before the biggest day of the show, and it makes consuming nothing but crap food and alcohol for three consecutive days feel a lot less dangerous.
On the not so good side, there was the fact that I had so few books to sell...well, so few expensive books to sell. I had a preview of the new Atom-Bomb Bikini book on the table, and a lot of folks took a gander...I woulda sold a shit-ton of 'em if I'd had them there. Ah well, there's always next year. My other books all seemed to do fine, including my new mini-comic collection of the Traffic & Weather strips from Richmond Magazine, and (to my surprise) the super-gay Atom-Bomb Banana Hammock, which lots of people really got a kick out of and really seemed to genuinely enjoy. It was awesome.
I did a lot of sketches for folks as well, and though my on-the-fly chops aren't in the neighborhood of some of my peers, I do feel like my con sketches have gotten a lot stronger in the last couple years. I didn't bring a camera (it went to Aunt Sandra's lake house with mom and Evie), so I didn't get photos of any of 'em, but maybe they'll end up on Comic Art Fans or somewheres.
Alas, not having any photos to talk about probably also means that's about all there is to tell...In fact, I had to steal the one of J. Chris Campbell, Dollar-Binner Brian Eison and myself at the top of this post from Heroes' Flickr stream! I promise to take tons of 'em in San Diego next month, where JCC and I are headed next!
6.23.2009
Auburn
Got some thought on Heroes Con I plan to post eventually, but for the moment, have a look at this commission I did for Kevin M. of his girlfriend Nicole in Auburn Tigers garb, which he gave her for her birthday. I seldom get to see where my work ends up once I send it off, so this is a real treat! Thanks, you guys!
6.18.2009
6.17.2009
6.15.2009
6.12.2009
Best of One
Battered.
Bloodied.
Counted out.
Left for dead.
Any yet...
Only sixty minutes away from the ultimate prize.
Go Pens.
Bloodied.
Counted out.
Left for dead.
Any yet...
Only sixty minutes away from the ultimate prize.
Go Pens.
6.09.2009
6.04.2009
Space Girl Screen Print
Big thanks to everyone who's already pre-ordered the new book...and hopefully, I can hook a few more of you with this look at the special screen print that will ship along with the book for everyone who reserves their copy ahead of time! It's an image I created awhile ago, but have always really dug...and I can't help but think it's improved immensely by the somewhat Star-Trek-inspired green space girl color scheme.
6.03.2009
PREORDER Atom-Bomb Bikini: The Lurid Art of Robert Ullman
So, I have a new book coming out soon, thanks to the wonderful Alberto Ruiz and BrandStudio Press. Atom-Bomb Bikini: The Lurid Art of Robert Ullman features 64 hardcover, full-color pages of art from my fevered brain...everything from editorial spots to sketchbook pages, and girls of every kind, be they sporty, super, or birthday-suited. If you've dug the previous handmade issues of Atom-Bomb Bikini, you're gonna absolutely LOVE this little tome.
So I know what you're thinking...How do I get one'a these little babies? Well, here's the really good part! The price of the book is 16 bucks, but as an extra incentive to get you to order your copy in advance (and therefore help me pay for this sucker), I'm offering a special 6"x 9" silkscreened print FREE to everyone who slaps down their cash before the official release date of July 4, 2009. It'll only be available this one time, in an edition only as big as there are preorders...no doubt less than a hundred or so. And of course, all the prints will be signed and numbered, 'natch!
The whole mess will cost just $21 (which includes $5 shipping...a couple bucks more for international buyers), and the books should ship out by the first couple weeks of July...could be a bit sooner, hopefully not much later. Either way, I'll keep everyone posted on the progress via the blog here. I'll also continue to post photos of the book and print as they come together , starting with the images below.
To place your order, just use the handy PayPal button along the right side of the page. Thanks a million, all...your support makes all this work worthwhile, and I couldn't do it without you! I hope you enjoy the book!
So I know what you're thinking...How do I get one'a these little babies? Well, here's the really good part! The price of the book is 16 bucks, but as an extra incentive to get you to order your copy in advance (and therefore help me pay for this sucker), I'm offering a special 6"x 9" silkscreened print FREE to everyone who slaps down their cash before the official release date of July 4, 2009. It'll only be available this one time, in an edition only as big as there are preorders...no doubt less than a hundred or so. And of course, all the prints will be signed and numbered, 'natch!
The whole mess will cost just $21 (which includes $5 shipping...a couple bucks more for international buyers), and the books should ship out by the first couple weeks of July...could be a bit sooner, hopefully not much later. Either way, I'll keep everyone posted on the progress via the blog here. I'll also continue to post photos of the book and print as they come together , starting with the images below.
To place your order, just use the handy PayPal button along the right side of the page. Thanks a million, all...your support makes all this work worthwhile, and I couldn't do it without you! I hope you enjoy the book!
6.02.2009
Sportsblog
Hey, I've started a new blog!
It's called Cups and Cakes (as in Stanley and Cheese), and it's designed as a place to put all my sports-obsessed ranting, which I'm sure the regular readers of this blog find tedious at best, infuriating at worst. I actually started it waaay back in September, but the big launch I had planned never quite panned out, so I've more or less ignored it since then.
Still, as I'm sure not everyone cares to hear my incredibly negative, profane rantings about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I've decided to dust it off and begin hiding said rantings over there. I've also re-posted my last couple of prediction posts over there, just so it isn't quite so barren, and will continue to cross-post my uni-girls and other sports themed pieces as well, in addition to random thoughts about the Penguins, Steelers or whoever.
Cups and Cakes
It's called Cups and Cakes (as in Stanley and Cheese), and it's designed as a place to put all my sports-obsessed ranting, which I'm sure the regular readers of this blog find tedious at best, infuriating at worst. I actually started it waaay back in September, but the big launch I had planned never quite panned out, so I've more or less ignored it since then.
Still, as I'm sure not everyone cares to hear my incredibly negative, profane rantings about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I've decided to dust it off and begin hiding said rantings over there. I've also re-posted my last couple of prediction posts over there, just so it isn't quite so barren, and will continue to cross-post my uni-girls and other sports themed pieces as well, in addition to random thoughts about the Penguins, Steelers or whoever.
Cups and Cakes
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