Fencers

For those of you who were familiar with my old blog, you’ve most likely already seen the following sketches. I was going to put them in one of the image galleries (like I did with a lot of other drawings from the old site) but since they are an important part of my next project, I thought I’d post them here (again). Sorry for the "déjà vu"…



Generally speaking, I'm pretty superstitious about talking about projects until things have been finalized and contracts have been signed, so until that happens (early next year, I'm hoping) I can't really go into much detail. But stay tuned, there'll be more info (and sketches) to come.

Scourges of the Galaxy

Here are a few of the illustrations I did a couple of months ago for Hero games' role-playing resource book, Scourges of the Galaxy*. As the title suggests, it’s a science-fiction book, and although I’ve never been much of a sci-fi fan (with the exception of Star Wars lightsaber fights and the first Star Trek series) I really enjoyed working on the project. Drawing aliens and space commandos is actually a lot of fun...


*in stores now!

Film noir sketches

I'm in the last stages of preparation for my next project, a noir crime tale that takes place in 1940's Hollywood. I've done all my book research but wanted to watch (and re-watch) as many 1940's-era film noir movies as possible, in an attempt to really familiarize myself with the clothing, hairstyles, decor and automobiles of the period.

Here are some of the sketches I came up with while watching such great DVDs as Out of the Past(my favorite), The Big Sleep, Gilda, Kiss Me Deadly, Phantom Lady, The Killers and The Maltese Falcon:
I suppose I should warn you, though… I’m not very good at drawing likenesses, so don’t even bother guessing who is supposed to be Robert Mitchum, or Rita Hayworth, or Ella Raines, etc., it’s no use...

Watching the movies has been informative and helped me recognize a lot of recurring themes in the film noir genre. One of the things I noticed while watching all these shows is that if you are a character in a noir movie, and you either double-crossed your boss, ran away with his girl, betrayed your gang (or all of the above)—and if you want to stay alive—DO NOT GET A JOB AT A ROADSIDE GAS STATION IN A SMALL TOWN. Just ask Robert Mitchum ( Out of the Past) or Burt Lancaster ( The Killers), they'll tell ya. Instead, try getting a job in the archives of the local library. You won’t find too many gangsters there…

Away we go

Welcome to my new blog (which looks a lot like the old one, but with less spam). In the days and weeks to come, you’ll find illustrations, sketches, comic book pages and information on my current projects and upcoming books. There are also links to some very talented illustrators and cartoonists’ websites, as well as some image galleries with art from my old blog. Enjoy your visit !

Talk to you soon

Dan