Wednesday, July 20, 2016

15 CLEARANCE PRINTS for $5 EA!

Today I listed 15 older prints in my NEW WEB STORE for just $5 EACH!  There's only a handful of each one left and they will not be reprinted in the future so this is the last chance to score one! 
Also, if you read the front page of my store, you'll see I'm also including one discontinued print with EACH ORDER for FREE!!!  These prints are NOT included in the Clearance prints listed here- you can only get one by placing an order.  So yeah, essentially you can get two prints for 5 bucks while supplies last (or pick up an original drawing if you wanna splurge!!!)

Here are ALL the prints on sale...



Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Melania Trump's New Movie Poster!

Meme's are a great spur-of-the-moment expression in our new digital age and come to define just about any visual parody we create.  Now that so many folks have visual editing tools at their disposal and right in their hand via smartphones, it's a great way to communicate and get a laugh. I don't always share meme's I create here on DREGstudios.com but this one was pretty fun this morning and did require a little bit of work.  Over coffee this morning, my wife showed me a video comparing Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech to Melania Trump's last night at the '16 RNC.  She had a great idea of making a parody poster of he movie Face/Off.  I thought it was a funny idea and ran with it- here's the results!

Friday, July 15, 2016

JULY ART JAM


It's been long overdue for the gang to get together and sling some paint.  Collaborative sessions are always a ton of fun and we never know what artwork will come out of the experience!  Charles "Wolfman" Bennett hosted myself, Jeff Bertrand, Abby Coppage and Joe Melanson for an all-day jam session yesterday.  We worked on several paintings together and had some great fun clowning around in the process.  A bit of rain had us running in and out of the garage but also gave us some cool patterns on our paintings!  Here are a few shots I got along with some of the other artists...


Tuesday, July 12, 2016

20 RECENT COLOR STUDIES

I spent the majority of last month working on markers studies of pop culture subjects for the Comic Cons I have coming up  I wanted to work on a quicker drawing style aside from my usual illustrations.  A big part of working a Con is drawing on the spot and my process takes far too long for that.  I don't ever really sketch much other than laying down the groundwork for a finished piece.  I also didn't like the idea of just doing pencil drawings for folks when I'm known for popping colors.  I set out to over the course of a few weeks to practice creating quick studies with a short range of markers.  I ended up with over 60 studies to take to FanBoy Expo in Knoxville a few weeks back where I was able to confidently draw live for three days to keep myself busy!  All the studies I have left are up for grabs in the NEW DREGstudios Store!  Here is a sampling of 20 of my favorites...

Sunday, July 10, 2016

TOP 10 MOVIES which Made Me Fall In Love (with Film)

"Topsy-Turvy: Wagger" (Inks on Paper / 2006)
In another life, I'm obsessing over camera angles and voice inflection rather than line weight and how many shades of blue I can fit into a sky.  Since I was a child, I've been consumed with the wonderment I've found through the world of cinema.  You may have noticed many of my Top 10 lists focus on the very subject.  Speaking with a friend recently, I acknowledged the impossibility of naming my own Top 10 favorite movies.  I find myself breaking things down into genres in such conversations.  Its been a while since I made a new list so I thought this would be a good place to start.  Today, I was thinking about which films really pulled me into this devoted love of movies and began jotting down titles.  I suppose this will be the closest I come to a general Top 10 Favorite Movies.  The considerable factor here in choosing is what influence the film had on me when I first viewed it.  I could compose a dissertation on each I'll try to keep it short.  Here are the Top 10 Movies which made me fall in love with film...

Thursday, July 7, 2016

BLACK MAN'S BURDEN (Please Keep Filming)

The epidemic of justifiable homicide being perpetrated on black men by American police officers is still being uncovered on a daily basis here in our county.  It's being uncovered by the loved ones of the victims, the bystanders and the new media  (that's you and your smart phone).

Of course, curbing (nevertheless solving) the problem of excessive use of force and civil rights violations begins with admitting there is a problem in the first place.  There is one and it's a cultural rift which has never healed.  Being part of the "post-racial" generation, I was taught growing up as a white student in a predominantly white school how this was all behind us.  African Americans fought, they marched, they earned equal rights and the rest is history.  Well what's all this marching, protesting, sign-holding and rioting we see through our new vast variety of media outlets?  It's what never went away boiling up to the surface of public discourse- the effects of systemic racism.

Where does change start and when does this end?

If we believe The Andy Griffith Show, there was a time where police were civil servants- peace officers if you will.  Officers knew their neighborhoods, knew the neighbors and acted as representatives of their community.  From the same vein which war-profiteering thrives, companies who manufacture tools of conflict profit handsomely by selling their products to our police forces.  Today local municipalities are equipped for combat, not protection.  They have tasers, nets, tear gas, batons, handcuffs, pistols, automatic weapons, riot gear, cars, trucks and tanks.  Who are they at war with?  The people they are enlisted to protect?!  Unfortunately, yes.  

Change begins with how police officers view their jobs and roles as protectors.  Of course, not every cop is trigger happy and ready to go to war on a daily basis but far too many are.  The mindset needs to be shifted back to serving and protecting, not combating and arresting.  There is a reason America has the largest prison population in the world and the majority of inmates are men of color.  Systemic racism places minorities in high-crime areas through lack of opportunity.  The same racism causes police profiling and the effects are well documented.  The best we can do as the public is to continue to document and demand action toward change.

Societal progress often comes from public upheaval.  Our modern age has placed tools in our hands which forge a path to discussion.  The power of the social media is an unmatched force in the world.  Public consensus through the internet has toppled governments, changed laws, brought the wrongfully accused to acquittal and brought criminals to justice.  YOU are the new media.  YOU are social change. Progress can be slow in such a large system but the ox can only turn completely around once he begins to move.  The police and government tell us, "If you see something, say something."  Heed their advice and hold them accountable by their own suggestion.  Keep filming, keep taking pictures, keep sharing and keep the discussion going. If you weren't already, we'd all think we were still in the fantasy-land of post-racial America.  Remember, the first big step is accepting and admitting there is a problem.


Saturday, July 2, 2016

40% OFF COUPON to the NEW DREGstudios Store!

The past week, I migrated my web store over to Etsy where all the cool kids are!  I've loaded up over a hundred original works of art along with all my newest prints and everything needs a good home! I'm getting together funds to attend a couple more Comic Cons soon so I'm pricing things to sell! 

To get things rolling, I'm offering 40% OFF purchases of $30 or more- just use the Coupon Code SURREAL4TH at checkout.  The coupon expires after the 4th of July so CLICK HERE NOW to visit the NEW STORE!

Over 60 marker studies are up for grabs like this Tank Girl Set!