Godzilla stomps Pittsburgh

The story of Dora Iwler - a Holocaust survival story

I was asked to illustrate a story for a new comic book anthology called Chutz-Pow! Superheroes of the Holocaust. The project is sponsored by the Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Toonseum. The book contains 4 short stories, true stories of local Pittsburghers who survived and fought against the Holocaust of WWII. Each of the stories was researched and written by Wayne Wise and the other three stories were illustrated by local Pittsburgh artists Mark Zingarelli, Chris Moeller, and Marcel Walker.

I illustrated a 4-page story titled Escape, which is the story of Dora Iwler, who escaped from the Nazi concentration camps not once, but twice!

There's a big book release party happening next week, Thursday Aug, 14th, 8-11 in front of the Toonseum, where that block of Liberty Avenue downtown will be closed off to accommodate all the people, activities, food trucks, live muscic, etc. I'll be there along with Wayne and the other artists, showing off our original artwork pages from the book. Here's the Facebook Event page with more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/663130153771826/

I have access to several complimentary tickets for anyone who wants to come, contact me. First come, first served!

Alice in Wonderland's Caterpillar

I was asked by Pittsburgh Toonseum director Joe Wos to do a piece for an upcoming art auction and display taking place May 6th and 8th. It is a partnership between the Toonseum and the Pittsburgh Symphony celebrating the symphony performance of a dark take on Alice in Wonderland. The proceeds from the auction are split between the Toonseum and Symphony educational programs.

It felt really good to get back into the watercolors. I got the bug again after doing the Rocketeer piece last month, so I ran out to the art store and bought some overpriced art supplies to do it up right.

Free Comic Book Day 2010

Saturday May 1st was Free Comic Book Day! FCBD is an annual event where comic shops across the country give away a selection of Free comic books. I was invited by Phantom of the Attic, a great shop here in Pittsburgh, to set up shop at a table and sell my wares, and Amber was invited in her Wonder Woman persona to help attract and entertain the fine folks who attended. The shop was packed for most of the day and I was busy with sketches. I sold a few prints, a bunch of the Guns preview books, some of the Monsters!*Mostly sketchbook, and even a t-shirt, (which I wasn't even displaying, I just brought them along in case).

It was great fun talking with a lot of local folks in this active comic scene they've got going in Pittsburgh. The good folks at Phantom were efficient and gracious, as always. They even had sandwiches for us guests, and later they brought out a bunch of cupcakes for whoever wanted one! I also walked away with a huge stash of free comics! Along with a three week backlog of my regular books, I've got a lot of reading to catch up on.

Here are the sketches I did at the show. See more pics on my facebook and flickr:

Thor and FCBD reminder

Just a friendly reminder that May 1st is Free Comic Book Day! Local retailers will have a selection of free comics that they will be giving away. I will be set up along with artists Kristopher Smith(Lady Gaga comic) and Wayne Wise(Grey Legacy) at Phantom of the Attic in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. I'll be selling the Guns preview book, the Monsters! sketchbook, prints, and original art. Please, stop on by!

Phantom of the Attic
411 South Craig Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412) 621-1210
pota-comics@verizon.net

A night with Dr. Sketchy

This past Monday I attended my first ever Dr. Sketchy Anti Art School event. A Dr. Sketchy event is described as "life drawing with a twist. Drinking, Drawing, Dames and Games!" It was held at the Gypsy Cafe, a fantastic little Mediterranean place here in Pittsburgh owned by my friends Jim and Mel. It was enormous fun, I even won a couple of prizes for my sketches: a bottle of wine and a rather unique balloon animal creation.

I've posted the sketches here. Each one drawn between 2 and 10 minutes. The theme for the night was "Hobo Erotic." You can see some photos from the night at Amber Love's Facebook page. Did I mention I had a great time? Well, I did! I can't wait to do it again next month.










Here's one of the sketches that won me a prize. A hobo clown created a balloon animal before our very eyes and we had to sketch what we thought it might be:

My sketch was the night's winner for that particular round, so I won the balloon animal. I'll let you guess what it is: