Beach Blanket Bingo!

Here's a new piece that I actually did for my day job as a Graphic Designer for an insurance company. I work on a couple of their monthly magazines and they let me do a drawing for story about their upcoming convention in San Diego. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do more.

The empty space at the top and on the left is where the copy for the story went in case you're wondering. And it's a two color magazine, that's why it's not full color.

Live Art Show and Benefit Auction

Come out to the Metro Grill in Dallas this Saturday night (September 30th) at 9:00 pm for some great art and a great cause. Zeus Comics, PVP, Pop Syndicate and Fanboy Radio are sponsoring CAPE 2.5, a Live Comic Art Show benefiting comic book artist Lea Hernandez and her family. I’ve been asked to participate; hopefully I’ll overcome stage fright and produce a nice piece.

From the press release… “After a house fire claimed everything the Hernandez family owned including her art, the comic book community is rallying around Lea with a live comic art jam and comic art auction. While a DJ spins, comic artists work on oversized canvases before an assembled audience. Once an artist finishes a piece it moves to an auction area where anyone can bid on it.”

Not only did she lose everything she owns but she lost six of her family pets, two dogs and four cats. Luckily, she and her family, including two special needs children, survived. The proceeds from the art auction will go towards helping them get their life back on track.
Click here for more details.

Two Recent Pieces

Here are a couple of pieces I did recently and just forgot to post. One was for a logo for a company called the "Lawn Rangers", the other was for a banner promoting a kid's face painting event. See if you can guess which one is which. Make a game of it.

I have a ton of other pieces that I've done that I'm dying to share but I just can't yet do to contractual obligations. Hopefully soon.

Kirby Dog!

Well, the wife and I got a new addition. A six week old Yellow Lab, that we named Kirby. Named after legendary comic artist and visionary Jack Kirby. I figure most people that stop by here are into comics and art and know who that is. If you don't, then do yourself a favor and look him up.

And if you know me and are into comics, I'll answer a question you might be thinking. No, I did not steal the name from my buddy Scott Kurtz. As a matter of fact, when I met Scott's hound, I actually said, "Hey man, I've been holding on to that name for when I get a dog some day." Well, that day finally came and I'm using it. There's room for another dog named "Kirby" in this world.

Anyway, he's sweet, cute and all those other descriptive puppy words. The cats still haven't taken a shine to him. But hey, it took them a while to take a shine to each other.

In other news, busy with freelance and David, I will get to the LBS. Promise.

Back in the Day (or The Rare Art of Cal Slayton)

This should be good for a laugh or two. I'm a bit of a pack rat when it comes to drawings, I have years and years of them. And the majority of them are pretty bad when I look back on them. I mean, I'm fairly happy with the stuff I'm producing these days, but I sincerely hope I look back at these new pieces and cringe.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a handful of drawings I did years ago as a crazy kid with a crayon. I think they all fall between the ages of maybe 5 or 6 to 11. Man, it brought back some memories going through these old things. Hope you have at least half the giggle I did.

Paint Shop Pro Groups (You have my permission)

I had no idea there were all these groups that were dedicated creating signature tags, web sets, calling cards and email tags using Paint Shop Pro. There must be hundreds of them. Most of them on MSN. They use artwork from different illustrators and add effects, change backgrounds, create animation and things like that. And apparently they're very copyright conscience (which I applaud) because in the past two weeks, I've had about 30 people email me for permission to use my stuff. Everyone has been extremely kind and polite and very serious about copyright issues. They always will credit the artist, give them link and adhere to any restrictions the artist may demand.

So, to save me from having to reply to a bunch of emails, if you've found your way here through one of these groups and would like to use my work, yes you can.

My restrictions are:

1. Credit me and link to me.
2. None of the images can be used in anything of an adult manner and the clothes stay on the figures, no nudity.
3. None of the images can be used in any way for profit.
4. Send me a copy. Maybe I'll post some here.

So there you go. I'm honored and humbled that any of you would have any desire to use my silly little drawings. Thanks for checking it out!

Colorado Revisited

If for some crazy reason you've been checking out this blog since the beginning, you might have seen the photos we took in Colorado last Fall. Well, we're heading back agian this year and it inspired me to add more of the pictures we took last year to the page I created. I think I added about about 16 or so more.

So, if you're into nature or photography or you're just bored at work, give 'em a look. I'm sure when we get back for our second visit, I'll post the new ones. Should make for some good photos since we will be hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Just like last year, we're renting a cabin in the woods. We're pretty darned psyched about the whole thing, I gotta tell ya.

Click here to check out the updated pictures from last year.