Okay, I've obviously been absent from DA for a long time. Truth be told, I've been incredibly busy with illustration work, publishing, teaching, and--of course--my family. Although I tried like hell to be on DA during this time, I was finding the system to be glitchy and s-l-o-w as hell. It once took me a half hour to respond to only a handful of messages. Besides being frustrating, it was getting incredibly time-consuming. I switched browsers, cleaned out and upgraded my computer and it was still too slow.

As a result, I got behind on responding to comments and thanking people for favorites. I felt like one of those DA tools who post their work up but can't even thank those who take the time to favorite or comment on their pieces. I also had over a thousand deviations to comment on. So, reluctantly, I walked away for a while.

However, I do miss the camaraderie of the boards and the many friends I made here. Although I've certainly got a lot done over the past several months, it's been a bit lonely! So, I'm going to try my damnedest to keep some sort of presence on DA. The summer's coming and--although I have about a dozen projects to complete--I should have some extra time on my hands (the summer months are usually my most active on DA).

I look forward to playing catch-up.

T

Summer Vacation 2008

First off, a humble apology to all of my friends on DA. I’ve been a ghost on these boards as of late, and I’ve been neglecting to comment on all of your new work. Usually, the summer is my time to play catch-up and to socialize, but I’ve had a ton of work going on, and I’ve gotten behind. I’ve done some catching up, though (drawing seven days a week for 10-12 hours a day can do that), and I plan on spending some quality time here on DA.

For those interested, here is a list of the projects I’m currently working on:


BLACK INK HORROR:

As many of you know, my wife, Billie, and I publish this journal of horror fiction, poetry, and art under our Sideshow Press label. Our last issue (issue #4) sold out, and I’ve been busy marketing, illustrating, and even editing the mag. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting my illustrations for BLACK INK XXX, as well as issue #5.


MURKY DEPTHS

I was recently asked to illustrate for the fiction/art magazine MURKY DEPTHS. After checking out their site, I knew that I had to contribute. The only problem was my illustration would cover two pages and had to be 11 x 14 (which would make it my largest drawing to date). I’m happy to report that, after many tears, I finished this “giant” illo. I can’t wait to see it in print.




DIFFERENT SEASONS by Trever Palmer (Published by Sideshow Press)




This October, Sideshow Press will release the first book in its novella line. Trever Palmer’s DIFFERENT SEASONS is a darkly-comic ode to horror cinema and werewolf stories in general. This highly entertaining novella skirts the line of extreme fiction, and offers one hell of take on the “werewolf stalks small town” theme. As I’d been dying to do some werewolf illos, I’m doing the illustrations for this publication myself.


MARQUEE by John Paul Allen (Published by Insidious Publications)







This book by IP is sure to be awesome. In case you haven’t been following my gallery, all three illustrations in this book will have plastic overlays that change the picture. I’ve seen the prototype, and it is amazing. Chris Hedges prints and binds all of his books by hand, so these babies are going to be works of freakin’ art. This one will be limited to only 125 signed copies. Can you say collectible?


IP WEREWOLF PROJECT by ???? (Published by Insidious Publications)







As soon as the contract stuff is done, I’ll be able to talk more about this one. Let’s just say that the author is well known to horror fiction fans, and it’s a novella about werewolves. I’ve already done a cover painting and 8 interior illustrations for this book, and I plan to do 10-12 total when all is said and done. This book will be offered in a hand-made, soft-cover edition (limited, signed, and containing half of the illos), and a hardcover ultra edition containing all of the interior illustrations as well as a sketch section. I’ll post more details as soon as I’m able.


POPULATION ZERO by Wrath James White (Published by Cargo Cult Press)





Finally, I was ecstatic to be asked to be the “house artist” by a brand new publisher called Cargo Cult Press. Not only did I get to design the various logos for the company, but I will also be illustrating 30-50% of all the books they release and creating all of the foil stamped images for the entire line of covers. The first book I’ll be illustrating is POPULATION ZERO by extreme horror fiction master Wrath James White. The art in this book will be like nothing I’ve done before, so it should prove interesting. I’m already lined up to illustrate the fourth book they will release as well. More on that later.

Again, my sincere “thank you” to everyone who takes the time to check out my gallery and to comment on my work. I truly appreciate it. Since I began illustrating three years ago, it hasn’t always been easy to keep at it. The people at DA, however, have always been there to offer encouragement and support.

‘Till next time,

Tom

Member of

10,000 Views

I just noticed that I'm getting close to 10,000 views. As I've seen others celebrate reaching various DA "benchmarks", I figured that I would do the same. So, to the person who captures that 10,000th view, I'll offer the following:

A small original illustration
A signed copy of my novella THE PROBLEM WITH MICKEY
A signed and remarked copy of BLACK INK HORROR #3

I sincerely hope that these prizes are not seen as a bunch of self-promoting garbage, I just had NO idea as to what type of "prize" I should offer.

If someone under the age of 17 wins, I may have to make a substitution (BIH is quite ADULT).

Seriously, my sincerest thanks to all of you who have followed my work over the past couple years--it means a ton!

Tom

Member of

Portfolio Question:

Hello all:

Before my summer comes to an end, I would like to send samples of my work to a couple of markets (Cemetery Dance magazine being one). Although some of the publications I'm looking at don't put a limit on the number of pieces I can send in, other have a limit of 3-5. Now, the other night, my wife and I were going through my work to try to decide which pieces I should submit if I can only send three.

We couldn't agree.

It seems that my favorites don't necessarily coincided with hers, and we ended up debating the qualities of various illustrations before finally giving up.

So, what I'm asking of you guys is to help me decide. I can't seem to settle on which two or three stand out among the rest. If you could take a moment and post the names of the three pics you think represent the best of my work (and the most likely to get me hired for illustration jobs), I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks so very much!

Below are the ones that my wife and I were considering. If you don't see one that you think I should consider, please let me know:















Member of

Or, Why I'm so damned pasty white...

Hello, all:

It's been a while since I've updated my journal, and I feel the compulsion to write something, so I figured I'd do a massive (and probably boring) update.

As most of you know, I'm a teacher by trade, and I've been on summer vacation for the past several weeks. This vacation, I promised myself that I would make time for personal projects such as the illustrated collection of short stories I've been working on. Well, as of yet, it hasn't happened. Instead, here is what I've been up to:

RAW MEAT



That's right, RAW MEAT is finally available. Published through Sideshow Press (which is basically me and my wife), the book offers 38 short stories and features art by DAers Jacob Parmentier (beardoMcWeirdo) , Evangeline Doctolero (Squidink) , Meghan Hakes (Fragilewing) , and Geff Bartrand (Drtwisted), as well as some work of my own. Anyone interested in a copy can find one HERE: [link]


CHAMPAGNE SHIVERS/ POTTER'S FIELD

This summer, I also did some work for my favorite editor, Cathy Buburuz. The illustrations below will appear in CHAMPAGNE SHIVERS '08 and POTTER'S FIELD 2. Fellow DA artists Dick Starr and Jacob Parmentier will also have work in said books.



KEN GOLDMAN COLLECTION

After thinking that this project had died, I got in touch with the editor and found out that it was still a go. I did five inks for this one (one isn't on DA) and a cover. Due to a variety of reasons, this project has pretty much made me vow not to do small press, low paying work ever again (and made me think that I wasted a lot of my time). Still, I thought that the art came out well, and the stories were very entertaining.





Anyone interested in the above three projects can find info at [link]

BLACK INK HORROR:

And, of course, I have work in the upcoming issue #2 of BLACK INK HORROR. Not only will I have three illustrations in it, but I've volunteered to remarque the first 50 copies sold (that should be a large chunk of my life!). This mag features the work of numerous DA artists, so make sure you check it out. The illos I have appearing in issue # 2 are below:



I believe that you can pre-puchase copies HERE: [link]

THE PROBLEM WITH MICKEY

Although I didn't do any work on this recently, I should mention that copies of my illustrated novella are still available at [link] .

FINALLY, I spent the last three days designing a website for Sideshow Press Publications. This "company" consists of basically my wife and I, and so far we've published RAW MEAT and Tim Manning's BLACK INK HORROR. Future projects include Dandelions to Razorblades, an illustrated poetry chapbook, and DIFFERENT SEASONS, and illustrated novella by Trever Palmer.

Anyway, I'm still working on the site (the awful Sideshow Press logo is temporary) but if you have a chance, pop by and see what you think. You can find it at [link] .

That's all for now. If you actually took the time to read this entire journal, you're certainly a true friend (or you're just REALLY bored!).

Tom