Not willfully obscure.

The next poster in the Enzian Cult Classic Series is for "Tommy," Ken Russell's 1975 paean to rock and roll and pop culture. Completely over-the-top, this film stands as a monument to excess and the unbridled creative synergy of director Russell and The Who's Pete Townshend.

You will never view baked beans the same.

And yes, I used the word paean.

Occupy this.

A friend of mine once said, "if you can't make it good, make it big. And if you can't make it big, make it red." There you go. My design philosophy in a nutshell.

This a poster I originally did to advertise an Orlando art show given to support workers' rights. Go, workers.

It can be had at the web site of my pals and collaborators, Lure Design.

Going back to Kali.

This is a 3" Vinylmation figure I did for Disney's Park Series 7. It is a representation of Animal Kingdom's Kali River Rapids. Thanks to Thomas Scott.

Well, butter my biscuits.

I just found out, like, two minutes ago, that one of my Enzian Cult Classic Movie posters just got accepted into the Society of Illustrators "Illustrators 54" show. In the Society of Illustrators' words: "the exhibit will be held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators (NYC) February 25 to March 17, 2012. It features works by leading contemporary illustrators worldwide, selected by a prestigious jury of professionals."

Oh, yeah.

If you're interested in getting your own copy of the "To Catch A Thief" poster, go visit my pals at Lure Design. They'll set you up.

Jemimah.

I used to have a crazy dog, Jemimah. She looked like a Doberman, German Short-haired Pointer mix - skinny long legs, all milk chocolate brown with a pointy snout. Sometimes when she'd get out of the yard, she'd run full throttle in a straight line like a nitro-fueled dragster. Where was she going? No one ever knew, but she sure needed to get there FAST.

This is a sketch I did for painting that never happened. I feel like someday I should do that painting.

This is crazy.

I could look at this for hours.

A few more Enzian posters.

Finally. Here are a few posters from the Enzian Cult Classic Movie series. These can be purchased at Lure Design's joint.

Go, and never darken my towels again!

BEHOLD the cheerful insanity of the Marx Brothers! You'll LAUGH OUT LOUD at the wacky antics of this celebrated comedy foursome. SEE the delightful mayhem! HEAR the witty dialogue! MARVEL at the costumes and sets!

This poster is the first in a series for Enzian's new Saturday Matinee Classics film festival.

Abandoned Projects, the First

One day I was going through the garage to pull out some things for a yard sale and I ran across a box of dolls from my wife's childhood. Among the dolls was an Eskimo Pie advertising doll. It was just two pieces of printed fabric that were sewn together and stuffed with cotton, or something. A very simply process that left lots of room for design potential. I decided then I'd like to make something like that.

I sat down to ponder and draw and came up with some stuff that I didn't hate — "Devil Dolls" — limited edition hand-screen printed, stuffed dolls. The dolls would be sold on a subscription basis only. For, let's say, $150 you'd get a total of six dolls guaranteed to be in a limited production of no more than, let's say, 50 or 75 each. The dolls, packaged like cheap dime store toys in clear plastic bags with printed cardboard headers, would arrive once a month for six months. The header would have depictions of all the dolls in the series except for the last one which was shown only as a Devil Doll silhouette with a big question mark reversed out of it. The last doll of the series would be a "Mystery Doll." The Mystery Doll would arrive packaged like the other dolls except that instead of a clear plastic bag, the bag would be opaque black and the header would be all black except for a big question mark on the front (secretly I hoped that people would never open the last doll's packaging to see what it looked like).

I worked for a while on some doll and header designs. I even made a few prototypes. It was exciting and fun to think about.

Work from paying clients heated up and I wasn't able to spend the amount of time on this project that it needed. I still like this idea and I hope to revisit it some day. Maybe someday soon I'll have the time pick this up again and actually make it happen.

I've had a few more thoughts on it...

Vinylmation Sea Creatures Series

Powder Blue Surgeon Fish

Raccoon Butterfly Fish

Freshwater Puffer Fish

Giant Octopus

Bottlenose Dolphin

Black Tip Reef Shark

Spotted Eagle Ray

Humpback Whale

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Brain Coral

Maine Lobster

It was about a year-and-a-half ago that I started designing this series for Disney's Vinylmation™ collectible figures. As an illustrator, it's tough to be working on a project that takes so long to come to market when you can't tell anyone about it. People like to know if you're actually working or if you're just looking at celebrity gossip blogs on the internet. I insist to my friends and potential clients that I'm working.

They ask, "What are you working on?"

I say, "I can't tell you."

They say, "C'mon, you can tell me. Who'm I gonna tell!"

I say, "No, seriously. I can't tell you."

Disbelief sets in. You see that foggy distant veil of doubt spreading across their faces.

See, I have too been working. So there.

I've got some more cool projects coming up.

But...I can't tell you about them.

Transplendent!

Another poster for Enzian Theater's Cult Classic Movies series.

Fresh Squeezed Indies

This drawing I did in collaboration with Jeff Matz at Lure Design has been accepted into Communication Arts Magazine's inaugural Typography issue.