Star Wars and Me

For some unknown reason folks are talking about Star Wars a lot this week. The din is pretty overwhelming, so I've limited my mentions of that space movie series on the interwebs for good reason. But if you permit me this one indulgence I promise I won't make it a regular occurrence.

I consider myself to have had three small contributions to the greater Star Wars world...

#1.

The first would be the fact I was the first, that I've been able find, to suspect (mid 1990s) confirm (around 2000 by email with Mr. Shearer) and publish (on Wookipedia in the early 2000a, but it was removed after a few years as being "original content") the for-some-reason unknown trivia that Harry Shearer - Simpsons, Spinal Tap, Le Show - looped (replaced the voices of) three actors in the original 1977 Star Wars. Shearer was hired, before he was as well known as he was to become and in his "penurious days", along with a number of LA area DJs and voice actors to replace original British accents of actors playing minor characters with American ones. Shearer's voiceover work was for a Star Destroyer officer near the beginning of the film reporting to Darth Vader on the Blockade Runner ("There's no one on board, sir..."), a different Imperial character a little later commenting on the escape pod ("There goes another one..."), and a Rebel pilot during the attack on the Death Star. Others have picked up on one or two of these since, but as far as I can tell I was the first to write about this. Scroll down to near the bottom of this post for more info on it.

#2.

Along with cofounders Todd Franklin and original idea man Mike Middleton I started the Growing Up Star Wars group on the photo sharing site Flickr (back when it was a fun place to share and socialize) in 2008. With over 1600 members sharing their vintage (1976 to 1985) photos, drawings, and other images it's an amazing place to soak in the fun, more innocent vibe that permeated the original Star Wars craze. Interest in the group grew quickly, with articles and shout outs from sites like Time Magazine and the writers of the Simpsons tv show. Todd and I were encouraged to spend a year putting together a mass market book (along with a major book packager) based on the group and negotiated a deal with a major publisher. Unfortunately it fell apart at the last minute when Lucasfilm pulled their tacit approval due to a conflict with another book they were planning on publishing around the same time.

#3.

After being a big fan of Marvel's Star Wars comic book series as a kid from 1977 to the early 1980s (when I stopped collecting comics) it was really an honor to work on official Star Wars comics (and children's books) from 1996 to 2000. Lassoed in by legendary comic artist Ken Steacy to at first assist on 11 Star Wars book for kids for publishers such as Random House, Disney, Golden Books and others...

 ...and then co-illustrate two serialized Star Wars comics originally published by Darkhorse Comics in Star Wars Kids magazine, and one 64 page mini-comic story originally intended to be included (a chapter at a time) in boxes of a popular fruit snack product for the North American market.

The mini-comic eventually was published online on Darkhorse's website. Both comics were reprinted more recently in the currently out-of-print Darkhorse anthology series Star Wars Omnibus Volumes 1 & 2, collecting obscure Star Wars comics from 1977 to the 2000s. (autographed copies are still available from me in limited numbers - drop me a line!)

To celebrate (ie: cash-in) on the current marketing mania for all things Star Warsy I thought I'd share three never before seen original art pages from these projects. My original Star Wars comic art was sold in the 2000s, but I made high quality copies of all the art before that, so here are the original black and white inked pages before the titles and coloring was added. Ken did the rough breakdowns (sort of stick figure, rough pencil layouts), I drew the final tight pencil pages and laid in the word balloons and lettering by hand. I then inked (went over the pencils with a brush and black ink) the robots, ships, guns, other mechanical parts, and sound effects - and Ken inked the organic characters and final lettering in the word balloons. I helped color much of the mini comic as well.

Interest in my Star Wars work has increased over the past few years, so I've gone from barely mentioning it to attempting to respond to the growing demand with autographed copies of the Star Wars Omnibus graphic novels, commissions (original SW themed art for fans have me draw for them), and original art cards (small, original Star Wars themed painted illustrations) like those pictured below...

There are a few other minor SW related connections, but for now I thought I'd get down in print my brush (get it?) with the Star Wars universe for posterity. Now if I can just arrange for J.J Abrahms to suddenly develop an interest in hiring me for his next SW movie...

...And the winner of the two IFCON Victoria 2015 Junior VIP Passes is....

Alison Spokes!

Congratulations Alison, I'll be in touch shortly with details on how to pick up the tickets. Looking forward to seeing you at the show.
Thanks to everyone else who entered the contest. I hope anyone who is interested can still make it to the con - it should be a fun weekend!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1633921223496584/

CONTEST TIME!!!

Okay gang - how'd you like to win a pair (that's two, I said two!) JUNIOR VIP PASSES (good for adults or children) to the upcoming IFCON Victoria 2015!  IFCON is expected to be Victoria BC's biggest fan / comic / sci-fi / movie / tv / horror / cosplay / steampunk ever, and will be held Saturday, October 31st (Halloween!) and Sunday November 1st 2015 (three weeks away) at Pearkes Recreation Centre in Saanich (5 -10 minutes from Downtown Victoria). Besides entrance to the con for both days, these passes included early bird admission, VIP entrance privileges, priority seating in film rooms, and Q&A panels, free admission to the Sunday after party, and a free convention t-shirt!

Successful winner must pick up tickets in Victoria, and, of course, pay your way - and pay for lodging if from out of town - the tickets cover only entrance and perks listed above.

How to win, you ask? Three ways - if you're on Twitter, but haven't followed my Twitter feed, do so here.

All new followers in the next 7 days will be entered to the contest. If you already follow me or aren't on Twitter you can like my Facebook page here. 

All new likes in the next 7 days will also be entered. If you've already liked this page as well, you can leave a comment on that post saying you want to enter the contest! If you're not on Facebook or Twitter, leave a comment here saying you want to win the tickets. It's that simple! 

Winner of the pair of tickets will be announced in the am on Friday, Oct 16th. Good luck!

(Family and close friends of Glen Mullaly Illustration ineligible to win)

I recently had the pleasure to create an infographic-meets-comic strip style project for the fine folks at the highly respected Commonwealth Fund organization. It's based on a study from the Isle (technically a "Balliwick"!) of Jersey between England and France, where postal carriers checked in on, and helped with reminders and deliveries for, some of the frail elderly population. Really interesting approach. The slideshow and comic strip versions of the project are online now available here!

I'm pleased as punch to announce that I'll be a guest, as well as participating in "The Art of Drawing for Comics" workshop, at the upcoming IFCON taking place in lovely Victoria, BC over the Oct 31st and Nov 1st 2015 weekend. IFCON will be the largest con that Victoria has ever held and will feature comic book, movie, horror and sci-fi celebs artists and writers (among many other things) from around North America. Keep your eyes on this spot in the next couple of weeks for chance to win a pair of Junior VIP passes (sold out, and valued over $130!) to the con that I'll be giving away!

Hey there, parents of young ones in the 3 to 6 year old range - check out the latest issue of much-beloved Chirp magazine (Sept) for a fun, four page story illustrated by yours truly! Brought back by popular demand, this piece won an AEP award when it was first published. At better newsstands, mailboxes (by subscription, of course) and online now!

Here's a small preview of the final poster for Mother Mother appearing at the upcoming RIFFLANDIA music festival here in Victoria in September. This high quality, 18" x 24" glicee poster will be available at the three day festival, and afterwards through my online store. Rock on!

I'm inking my new RIFFLANDIA music festival poster. Here's a quick preview - the finished 18" x 24" poster (and band name) to come in a couple days when this thing is fully inked and colored!

Remember that Monday in biology class when you accidentally punctured that ink sac? Me neither, but I do get to draw things like that for a living, so after a while I think all sorts of crazy stuff has happened to me!

 Great thanks to the hundreds of wonderful folks who stopped by my table at the TD Art Gallery Paint-In.

The weather was hot and sunny, but the turnout was amazing and my gratitude to all those who walked away with original art, prints, greeting cards, books and comics.

Sorry to those who missed out on some things that we sold out on - I promise to be stocked up again at my next appearance in the fall. Oh, and thanks to Marilyn for the pics!

Come say hi next Saturday, July 18th at the 28th annual TD Art Gallery Paint-In in warm and sunny Victoria, BC. Between 11am and 4pm I'll be demonstrating that thing that I do (whatever that is!) along with more than 160 other painters, sculptors, illustrators and visual artists of all stripes. 

Last year's Paint-In, located up and down nearly 2km of beautiful Moss Street from Fort St to the Dallas Road waterfront, was my first - and a great success. More than 35,000 people attended and had the chance to check out my original art, prints, books, comics and more - and once again I'll have free colouring pages for the young set. I'm also pleased to announce that for the first time I can accept credit card payments, in case you run out of cash!

In addition to the artists, there's a large selection of food available, the Art Gallery of Great Victoria is holding it's annual open house, the Moss Street Market will be on that morning, and there will be tons of other activities from a beer garden for the adults to a bouncy castle for the kids. For the bargain hunters among you there will be dozens of yard sales that happen along the street at the same time as well. 

The weather looks to be sunny and warm, certainly much nicer than last year's breezy event, so put on the sunscreen and I'll see you at my spot between George St and Clover Ave - a couple blocks up from Dallas Road.

http://aggv.ca/events/td-art-gallery-paint-2015

Just in time for the incredibly hot and dry weather we're experiencing in western Canada, the new 2015 Fire Safety issue of McDonald's Fun Times children's magazine is now available for free at thousands of McDonald's restaurants across North America. It's filled with fun quizzes and puzzles that help teach fire safety... oh, and it's illustrated by yours truly, too! Be safe out there. Only available during July - so pick your's up today!

I'm happy to announce a new way to access my work online - through the fabulous, industry leading Directory of Illustration and all their online venues and, coming in January 2016, in print in their industry leading 32nd Directory of Illustration.

I know this will be a successful partnership and I look forward to working with the fine folks at Serbin Communications (the publisher's of the Directory). Huzzah!

Every once in a while I get to draw people having a bad day...

Finally decided to join the current century and hitch my wagon to that new fangled Twitter type thing. For more of the same ol' stuff, but in a slightly truncated format feel free to check out the stupendous stylings of Glen Mullaly Illustration on Twitter!

Happy Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) to those out there celebrating today! I'll be commemorating on May 25th, the anniversary of the release of the original (and in my jaded, aging eyes... only) Star Wars movie.

Had a great time talking shop with the students, alumni and pros alike at the Camosun Comic Arts Festival last weekend. Here's a short piece from CHEK News about the event with a surprise appearance by yours truly...

I'll be focusing on my more comics-related work at the wonderful third annual Camosun Comic Art Festival tomorrow. The festival is open to the public from 12 - 5pm for everything related to comics and comic creators, from a professional creators "Artist Alley" with amazing talents like Paul Chadwick, Renee Nault, Glen Lovett, Gareth Gaudin, Ken & Joan Steacy and more (like me!). 

As well the students of the Comics and Graphic Novel program at Camosun College with be sharing their own excellent work. There will be live model drawing for everyone (with the Superheroes of Victoria!), talks and displays, comics, original art and more for sale. And it's all perfect for the whole family... and free! See you Saturday - follow the link above for all the details).

Cake Up!

Back in 2012 I had the pleasure to be involved in a wonderful project lead by Rodale publishing and art director Chris Rhoads. Rodale, based in Pennsylvania had heard that an Allentown PA twelve year old had been battling cancer for the third time and that his one wish was to be a comic book creator. Collaborating with Zachi Telesha during his ongoing battle, sugeries and chemotherapies  Rodale translated Zachi's ideas and stories into a comic book style book that I was privileged to illustrate in a classic Jack Kirby inspired style.

The book's printing, and all of Rodale's involvement was donated and copies of the finished Hero Up were given away to schools, as well as sold over the next couple of years to raise money for children with pediatric cancer in PA. Unfortunately Zachi lost his battle in 2013, but his story and the Hero Up book lives on inspiring others.

I recently ran across a great story about the nonprofit organization Icing Smiles who provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child. Back in 2013 when Icing Smiles was asked by the Ronald McDonald Camp in Greely Pennsylvania to come up with a special superhero hero themed cake for the children attending, they brilliantly decided on adapting Zachi's Hero Up book. Each child got a copy of the comic and a slice of the giant, 4 foot by 2 foot cake (350 servings) featuring the superheroes that a kid battling cancer, just like them, had created. Apparently it was a great success. 

Kudos to cake creators Janet Woudenburg, Kathie Shea and Moreen Pinto for all their hard work, and to Icing Smiles for making it possible. Seeing the characters I had brought to life on the page in three dimensional icing (fondant, I assume) form is really great, but the story behind the cake is even better. 

For those in the Victoria, BC area this Saturday I'll be showing some of my original art from the Hero Up project along some of my other comic book related projects at the Camosun Comic Art Festival. Hope to see some of you locals there!

Happy to announce two new additions to the Greek Gods series of prints at my shop... introducing Hestia, goddess of the hearth and architecture, and Ares, god of war! For local folks I'll have these and my other prints at the upcoming Camosun Comic Arts Festival in Victoria on April 11th!

I've just finished up the artwork for the Sept 2015 Fire Safety issue of Fun Times magazine. Here's a small spot illustration sneak peek! More info and illustrations to come once we're closer to publishing time!