CHOKER Pinup

Way back in spring, my friend and colleague - Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Wormwood) - invited me to do a pinup for his new miniseries with writer Ben McCool -- Choker (Image Comics).

I took my sweet time finishing it... snatching moments here and there, painting it in between other projects and deadlines. But I was finally able to put the kiss of completion on this puppy, a few nights ago. At 2am or so, I called it like a doctor in an OBGYN, and my Choker pinup was born.

This piece will appear in either issue 5 or 6 of the Choker miniseries. Hell yeah.

"Oh, Ramona! If there was only something between us... other than our clothes."
- King Gum.

"Goblin With Helm"

This is the finish on a quick, mixed-media piece I started in my notebook, a weekend or two ago. It was a nice exercise in letting a piece come together "naturally"... just trying to tap into my creativity, without over-thinking every step of the process.

"Little fish, big fish, swimmin' in the water. Come back here, man. Gimme my daughter."
- Gum.

On The Slate: The Quick & The Dead

This is one of a few Wild West-themed paintings that I started awhile ago. I was taking some photos of it for a prospective buyer and thought, "What the hell? I'll post these for On The Slate."

I've got stacks of paintings-in-progress, spread out in my studio space. And I'll invite collectors over to look through them. It's fun and allows me to indulge the "gallery artist" side of myself, I suppose. It's also a nice way to trick people into visiting me in my Fortress of Solitude. Sometimes, art can be an awfully lonely endeavor!

"You get the ankles, and I'll get the wrists! Ya come down ta this!"
- Dave

PICK UP THE PIECES Online Art Sale

To wrap up this year and support my relocation to L.A., I'm holding an online art sale, called "PICK UP THE PIECES." The sale offers a variety of art from 2010, 2009 and 2008, with drawings and paintings from previous gallery exhibits, including my solo San Francisco exhibit, "Undefeated," and the ever popular "I AM 8-BIT" video game themed art shows.

The title and pertinent info for each piece is listed below its image. An * indicates that the work is framed. To make a purchase, please contact me at hiredmeat@gmail.com for the price list. Serious inquiries only, please. Shipping rates will be determined on a per-purchase basis, due to the variety of size and weight of the works.

“Those Things’ll Kill Ya” / 4” x 6” / mixed media on watercolor paper *

“Stone Faced” / 4” x 6” / mixed media on watercolor paper *

“Grimace and Bear It” / 4” x 6” / mixed media on watercolor paper *

“Devil Exhale” / 4” x 6” / mixed media on watercolor paper *

“Box” / 5” x 8.5” / mixed media on paper

“Experience” / 5" x 8.5" / mixed media on paper

"Caffeine McQueen” / 4" x 6" / collage & mixed media on canvas

“Blues Man Greene” / 6” x 6” / collage & mixed media on canvas SOLD

Captain America” / 9” x 12” / mixed media on bristol

“Destroy #2” / 9” x 12” / mixed media on cardboard

“Attack!” / 12” x 14” / mixed media on watercolor paper

“Morning Study Tina” / 8” x 14” / mixed media on watercolor paper *

“Bedlam & Blade” / 8” x 14” / mixed media on watercolor paper * SOLD

”Dead Bloom” / 14” x 18” / acrylics on illustration board *

“Animal Attraction / 14” x 18” / acrylics on illustration board *

“Super” / 12” x 12” / collage & mixed media on canvas

“Kong” / 12” x 12” / collage & mixed media on canvas

“Busines As Usual” / 9” x 12” / collage & mixed media on wood

“Urban Flight” / 9” x 12” / collage & mixed media on wood

“Holy Haymaker” / 16” x 20” / mixed media on wood panel *

“Brute Breath” / 16” x 20” / mixed media on wood panel *

The Unavoidable Conflict of Plus Versus Minus" / 9" x 12" / collage & mixed media on wood *

Come one and come all, o' ye collectors of art.
I look forward to hearing from you.

- Dave Crosland, aka King Gum.

Face Fifteen

This is the finish of a small painting from the past weekend, titled "Face Fifteen." It's approximately 9" x 14", on a delightfully soft paper stock. I've got a stack of different printmaking and watercolor papers that I've collected throughout my travels. Canvas is a lovely beast, but I've really gotten into painting on paper, this year. I'm starting to prefer it over my usual go-to surfaces.

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
- David Gum.

On The Slate - 11.10.10

It's been way too long since I posted on here. I've been all over the place, since returning from Los Angeles, last week. Luckily, I've been making art the whole time! The pics above include (in this order) -

1. My woefully overdue pinup for CHOKER (by Ben Templesmith and Ben McCool, Image Comics). I've been attacking this thing off and on, for months. Painting can be such a different process for me, than drawing. But I try to learn something new with each piece. And this pinup has been a crash course in glazing techniques.

2. Warm-up paintings. Since painting is usually an adventure in layering, it helps me stay on point by painting several pieces at once. So while I'm doing the CHOKER pinup, I'm also painting random faces, and pulling strange stunts in my experimental sketchbook, Little Clouds.

3. The Love Growl, drawn in Mat From France's amazing travel journal. After seeing his, I totally endorse travel journals as a way to track your adventures abroad. Hell, I might even start taking a travel journal with me to the supermarket!

4. Yo Gabba Gabba. I'm drawing a sweet Muno mystery tale, penned by the one and only Kelly-Sue DeConnick. The pace has been a little hectic, but I'm having a blast. I've actually penciled the story twice, now. I wasn't pleased with my first take, so I redrew it at a bigger scale. With more room to move around the pages, I was able to draw with much more fluidity. One of my professors (David Groff) told me, "Don't be afraid to scrap a piece and restart it, if it means you'll get a better product in the end." And he was right. Plus, I've been out of comics for too long, just to come back with the weak sauce.

"I like my asses fat, not flat!"
- The King Gum.

On The Slate - Pencils and NYCC Prep

I'm typing this to the sounds of Willie Evans Jr's high-powered solo LP, Lab Shrapnel. The photos above include the rough pencils for a new drawing, some of my packaging prep for NYCC, and the further adventures of my "El Vaquero" warm-up painting.

Yippee-kai-yay.
- Dave, The King Gum.