"The Great Escape"

“The Great Escape” / 11 x 14”

watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper 

Howdy, all! I'm really getting into this season's football drawings. This one features Seahawk's quarterback, Russell Wilson, narrowly escaping the vicious grasp of the 49ers' defensive tackle, Justin Smith.

Enjoy!
- Dave C.

Vancouver Comicon Weekend!

Yours truly will be a special guest at this weekend's Vancouver Comic Con! 

We're kicking off the festivities Saturday night, with a Live Art Funk Jam featuring myself, Jim Mahfood, Troy Nixey & Tyler Jenkins painting to the sounds of DJ Mykro Douglas. Then, the convention is on Sunday, from 11am to 5pm at the Heritage Hall.

I'll be bringing an assortment of art prints, including selections from Alphabet Attack! Series 1 & 2. I'll also have 18 x 24" giclee prints of my Danger Mouse illustration, as well as my DOOMBOX and LIONSEATYOU limited edition sketchbooks.

And to top things off, I'll have copies of my Image Comics anthology, Slop: Analecta on hand. To celebrate restocking my inventory of this book, I'm customizing each one with an original drawing on the first page. So come get these hot tamales while they're... well, HOT!

I was last in lovely Vancouver back in 2011 for this same convention, and it was an absolute blast. So I'm stoked to return for another weekend of British Columbia-style hijinks!

For more info, visit www.vancouvercomiccon.com.

Hope to see you there!
- Dave C.

Note Card Drawings

"ZzweebleZweebleZee"

"Say What?"

Both of these are acrylic & ink drawings, done on 4.5 x 5.75" manila note cards. Seems like I have an endless supply of random paper and board stocks, stashed away in my studio. So I figured I should start exhausting some of it!

- Dave C.

"Thrills"

"Thrills" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

Yet another drawing, from one of my recent scribble sessions.

- Dave C.

Big Works In Progress

Here are a few works-in-progress photos, featuring two new drawings. I haven't worked larger than 14 x 18" in awhile, so pieces this big make for an exciting workout. It's nuts how much of your body you can put into the drawing process, when you do things at a larger scale.

Putting my back into it,
- Dave C.

"Cadet 13" and "Mad Dash"

"Cadet 13" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

"Mad Dash" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

Here are a couple more warm-up drawings to feast your peepers on!

Cheerio!
- Dave C.

"Sci-Fi Quarterback" and "The Inspector"

"Sci-Fi Quarterback" / 9 x 12" / acrylics & ink on paper

"The Inspector" / 9 x 12" / acrylics & ink on paper

These are a couple warm-up drawings, in between painting & inking a few recent assignments. Enjoy!

- Dave C.

"Everybody's A Somebody!" Opens Tonight in LA!

"A Helpful Rampage" / 14 x 18"/

watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper

The wonderful folks at iam8bit have teamed up with Sanrio (of Hello Kitty fame) to put on "Everybody's A Somebody!" It's a group exhibit of works dedicated to the world of those childhood favorites, the Mr. Men & Little Miss.

My latest illustration (see above) will be featured in the show, which opens tonight in Los Angeles. For more info on the exhibition and tonight's opening reception, peep the show flyer below or visit www.iam8bit.com.

Hope you can make it out!
- Dave C.

Act Now for Tr!ckster & Comic-Con Sketch Pre-orders!

Look out & shout! I'm now accepting pre-orders for convention sketches, in anticipation of next week's San Diego Comic-Con & Tr!ckster conventions! 

I'll only be in San Diego on Friday through midday Saturday. We can make arrangements for you to pick up your finished artwork during the time I'm there, at the Tr!ckster space (www.trickstertrickster.com). I can also mail your art directly to your home, for a small shipping fee.

I’m accepting sketch pre-orders up until Wednesday, July 17th. Contact me at hiredmeat@gmail.com for pricing info, order placement, questions, and all that good stuff. Serious inquiries only, please.

- Dave C.

Here are some examples of my previous convention sketch commissions:

"Go, Team Venture!"

"Go, Team Venture!" / 11 x 14.5" / watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper

With their new season airing right now, The Venture Bros has been coming up a bunch of conversations. And in a funny coincidence, I just happened to be working on a Venture Bros illustration, this week.

I've only seen the very first season, plus a handful of random episodes from later seasons. One of these days though, I'll have to sit down with the DVDs and catch up. Even with my limited knowledge of the series, this is still one of my favorite current cartoons. I mean, damn, how can you NOT like a cartoon where the characters actually age & develop, from year to year? And as a child of the 80's, I'm a total sucker for all the Johnny Quest, Scooby-Doo, classic cartoon homages they toss in there.

"Someday the grapes will be wine, and someday you will be mine."
- Dave C.

IAM8BIT Entertainment System Opens Friday in Los Angeles!

"Robot Rock" / 12 x 16" / acrylic & collage on canvas 

This week marks the opening of iam8bit Entertainment System. Being the annual flagship, video game-themed exhibit of the iam8bit gallery, this show promises to be a real treat! My submission is the above piece, dedicated to Rockman (aka Mega Man). It was totally inspired by the epic summer after the 7th grade, when I spent days on end trying to beat Mega Man 2 on the old school Gameboy. DAMN, were those games difficult. Even for the insane reflexes of an adolescent!

I actually began this painting back in 2008, as part of my series of pieces dedicated to Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda & Donkey Kong. The rough collage, drawing & underpainting of "Robot Rock" (previously titled "Mega") sat in my studio, untouched for 5 years. That is, until this group exhibition gave me a renewed purpose to see it through to completion.

iam8bit Entertainment System features 80 artists from around the Earth, fulfilling their retro gaming fantasies. The opening reception takes place Friday, June 7th, from 7-11pm. For more info, visit www.iam8bit.com.

"I own the first Nintendo Power, with the maps of Zelda, help me conquer in an hour!"
- Dave C.

Alphabet Attack! Series 4 Has Begun!

Awww yeah! I just launched Series 4 of my daily illustration blog, Alphabet Attack! Tune in Monday through Friday to www.alphabetattack.blogspot.com for a brand new, black & white, word-themed drawing each day!

"Corrina, Corrina. Gal, where ya been so long?"
- Dave C.

Long Beach Comic Expo Commissions

The above are commissioned drawings I made for collectors, during the Long Beach Comic Expo. Thanks to everyone who came out to support & show love. And many thanks to Mike, Martha, Ian and the rest of the organizers & volunteers who helped make it such a memorable, successful whirlwind of a convention. I had an absolute blast!

"All the kids, all the kids these days. Do you really wanna be that way?"

- Dave C.

"Alphabet Attack!" Returns on June 3rd!

Alphabet Attack! Series 4

Fresh Illustrations, Monday through Friday

Starting June 3, 2013

www.alphabetattack.blogspot.com

The attack is back, ya'll! Click the above link for further details!

"More than ever hour after our work is never over."

- Dave C.

Sketch, Sketch, Sketch!

These are a couple acrylic sketches I rocked, recently. They're pretty layered for warm-up drawings. But I find that going through something a bit more involved than quick sketching helps crack open different parts of my imagination, and prepare me even more for the creative tasks of the day.

"I'm on a plain. Mm-mmm. I can't complain. Mm-mmm."
- Dave C.

DOOM BOX & Danger Mouse Prints at The Long Beach Comic Expo!

I'm proud to announce that I'll be a guest at the Long Beach Comic Expo, this Saturday in Long Beach, CA. Yes, the land that brought you Snoop Dogg, gin & juice is also a hot spot for comic books, art & nerd culture!

I'll be set up at Artists Alley table #6003, next to the rascally Jim Mahfood, aka Food One! Along with creating commissioned sketches right on the spot, I'm going to have several limited edition items on hand. That includes the remaining stock of my latest sketchbook/zine, DOOM BOX, which collects drawings, sketches & a 3-page comic short from the past two years.

I'll also have a small batch of 18x24" giclee prints of my Danger Mouse piece, "You Can't Hide Forever." These prints are the real deal, made with archival ink on 310gsm textured paper. And each giclee comes with a signed certificate of authenticity, complete with a sketch of Danger Mouse!

This is a one-day convention, being held at the Long Beach Convention Center. Check out the highlighted floor map below, to see where Jim & I will be set up. For tickets and other details, visit www.longbeachcomiccon.com.

"May I kick a lil something for the Gz, and make a few ends as I breeze through?"

- Dave "King Gum" Crosland

C2E2 Commissions!

Batman trading card sketch

Batgirl, ahoy!

Ultra-bearded self portrait

Panther Helmet sketch

Dogster Doom/Infinity Gauntlet
collabo with Jim Mahfood

Kermit & Jim Henson

Breeders era Kim Deal

Beastly live art painting

Baroness sketch for

Mecha Melissa!

Baroness close-up

Skull Helm sketch

Leonardo, slicing & dicing!

Goliath vs. Ulric Wolfrom!

X-23, gettin' angsty!

Bowser, grumpy as ever!

These were my convention sketches from last weekend's Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the our booth to get their art on! Big ups to the Nerd City crew for hosting myself & Jim Mahfood. And heaps of gratitude to the C2E2 organizers for putting on another fantastic convention. I'm looking forward to rocking it again in 2014!

"I'm bored. I'm the chairman of the board."
- Dave C.