HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

Illustration Friday, "Clandestine"

So I got a new 24 inch screen for Christmas and this is what I drew this evening on it for illustration Friday!
My Wife really loves me!!!!

The clandestine meetings of the woodland Princess and her lover had to end. So she is saying goodbye to her love The Beetle King.



man you wouldn't believe the amount of detail I can put into this art now....! WOW!

(Please Click on the pic. the large view is much better!)

Woot! Woot! somethin to shout about

JR Poulter and I have a published poem and poster at Sharing-books, of course all I did was the art but hey gotta start some where hehe. Here is the e-mail I received today "YAY" what a nice early Christmas gift! Just click the Woot Woot title above and it will link you to the sharing-books page!





Expelling spell by J.R.Poulter
Written by Jennifer Poulter
Illustrated by John Blackford


Published on December 23, 2008

Hi,

We are pleased to inform you that you recently submitted book, Expelling spell by J.R.Poulter, was accepted for publication.

A committee of qualified volunteer librarians evaluates each submission against the Contribution Guidelines available on our site. In this case your Works were judged as fitting within our guidelines. We thank you for contributing material suitable for our audience.

Your book will now be available for all our visitors from around the world to read and appreciate. We recommend you let all your friends know about your success and invite them to visit our site and see your book by following this link above to ...Expelling spell by J.R.Poulter


Congratulations,

The Sharing-Books Volunteer Librarians.
www.sharing-books.com

Happy Happy Everyone!!!!!!!!!

For Illustration Friday " Voices"

I was rumaging thru some of my old stuff and found this. It was a pic from a thread I started over in the Animation forum, It was only ment to be a few funny little drawings that ended up having a life of it's own for a while. It was sort of like a daily ongoing web comic that just got nuts......anyway I rememberd drawing this one because the character had voices in his head telling him what he should do......go after the bad guy? stand true to his freinds? take the town hooker and run? or take his true love the sheriffs horse and ride off into the sunset?..........you had to be there. anyway enjoy.....

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This pic was one I drew while I was at a very dull all day meeting and I remember doing this one so well, because all I remember about that day was the mundane voices that lay in the back ground as I was off in the world of "John" hahahahaha

Our 16 year old came Thru!!! YAY!!!

So here is Our Son Brennan's Christmas card.....Cool huh?
Since he is 16 notice the EMO Santa hehe.

Our kids are making Our Christmas cards!

I had to post these they are all so much fun and they each worked hard on them. Our kids wanted to do the Christmas cards this year so please allow me to introduce the next great artist they are......

"Sierra" Our beautiful 12 year old Daughter created this gorgeous piece. She's always drawing and I can see natural talent in her.



"Casey", Our other cutie pie of a daughter (10 years old) created a Christmas frog...hahahahaha she hates it when I tell her to be original and this is what she created!



"Ryan" Our Son, (8 years old) thought a chili pepper santa was funny so here is his take on it hahahaha good isn't he?



So there you have it the Blackford Christmas card review!!!!!! Now if we can just convince our 16 year old Brennan to contribute hummmmmmmm?

3 more pages of Aurther Ant.

Stick around and I'll post the remaining pages soon!!!

Yay...Christmas is on it's way!

3 more pages of Aurther Ant.

We are ready for Halloween!

Our front lawn Muah-hahahahahaha, This is the Silver Star Ghoul Mine. Scary looking huh?

Things I've built for my kids

"Shrek's Play House"
I built this last summer for the Children's make a wish program. They auctioned it off for close to 10 thousand dollars. It was a ton of fun to build and a ton of fun to participate....I won an award too. hehe

Here are a few things I've built my kids in the recent past few years and I thought I'd share them with anyone who cares....ya I know I spoil them rotten! (click on the pictures below for a larger view)

it actually snowed here yesterday and last night!

Ugh I wasn't ready for the snow....It felt so cold last night.....I took my wife to see Paul Anka, (Classy old singer) My wife had no clue as to who he is. hahahaha but he has been not only a great entertainer but a great song writer. She recognized a bunch of his songs ....Anyway!!!....when we left the concert hall the snow was coming down so hard it felt and looked about like this......Funny thing is, the day before yesterday it was 80 degrees.



(a painting I did for a book I'm illustrating)

3 more pages of Aurther Ant.

"Mauricio Herrera"

Lets All give a great welcome to an International Favorite artist, "Mauricio Herrera",
(For interview in Spanish), Please click on Mauricio's name at the top




1. When did you know that drawing comic art was going to be your life and why?

I believe at the age of 14 I started collecting comic books choosing them by their authors. In collage I would comment to my friends and ask them what they thought. They really liked my work. So, in turn my aspirations started growing for the world of pencils and drawing boards. It was a typical case of a student drawing for his Peers.



2. Who inspired you the most in the comic art arena?


As the same as many colleagues I loved "Sword and Sorcery", So I'd have to say of course "Frank Frazetta". He is my maximum idol. Even though in the 90's I also loved the work of "Simon Bisley" and before that it was "Jim Lee". I believe that Frazetta's art pushes something in me to prove my abilities to myself some day on my own. It's also the doing... the dedication to entertainment with a logical content with a prospective of youth that is valid, solidity and honor that deepens through the visual art and surrealism that one can find in the images of Frazetta.



3. Does comic art differ in your country as it may in other countries? Or is it just the dialog? Or are there any differences at all?

Of Course, In Chile during the 60's there was an epic of gold in comics. A lot of our Comic book titles formed part of a collective memory in Latino America. But during the 70's and the 80's A Military dictatorship ruled our country so comic art and it's expressions all but disappeared for a very long time. But later it would emerge as a way to speak out in protest with a mixing of social tribute of urban and punk. I was able to read and witness all this during my boyhood. In the 90's, There was no more dictatorship and I began working.
As for the tendency of entertainment today, the reconciliation of attractive graphics and interesting content can be found in the development of many comics and a lot of today's authors.



4. Was it difficult to get a contract with Marvel and or DC comics to draw their Comic books?

No I believe it wasn't (That is if you have what they are looking for). But So far getting them to look at new projects is another story. haha I haven't had the guts to do this yet. but I do know a lot of other authors that have. They have met with defiance that forms part of this industry.

5. Do you do all the inking and coloring of your own work?

Yes, In my country every author is in charge of their own production of art. We artist in Chile gathered our influences from French comics, Belgen and comics from Spain.
Although there are other authors that work for other publications and they have the original artist do the pencils and another artist do the ink and add their personal touch and then a colorist artist that adds their influence so then the original interpretation of the original artist is kind of lost. But that's my opinion.



6. What has been your most Favorite piece of art you have created and why?

I got to produce a piece of art that I really enjoyed a drawing of a myth and legend card game from my country. It's called "Kitsune", A little more elegant and refined game than "Monsters and Gentlemen" hahahahaha Even though it is not the most technical or detailed piece I've ever drawn. It took a lot more time to create the correct look and tough poses.

7. What do you like to do besides draw?

A lot of my time deals with family activities. I enjoy watching movies and cartoons. I play video games with my son and I love to travel and seenew places and meet new people.

8. Just for fun: If you could have any artist from the beginning of time sit down with you and talk. Who would it be and why?



Need you ask!!! hahahahaha "Frazetta!" of Course. I would tell him I would exchange 100 drawings of dinosaurs for 1 of his of Eva.

Thank you Mauricio for such an in depth interview.

If you would like to see more of this mans wonderful works please visit:
http://el-grimlock.deviantart.com/
http://www.berserker-comics.com/

Aurther Ant and his ABC's

Three more pages to color and have fun with before the next interview! Enjoy!

"I invented these for my kids and they love them every year for Halloween"



A freind of mine got me to thinking......(I'm dangerous when I think hahaha) So I thought I'd share this with everyone.
OK here is the recipe for Hairy Hot dogs........ One packet of Hot dogs brought to room temperature (this is a must because cold Hot dogs straight from the Fridge are too hard to poke the pasta through) One Package of angel hair pasta Spaghetti sauce (your Favorite)Hot Dog Buns and Kids to do the Fun What you do is You take the package of angel hair pasta and break the pasta in half and divide among the kids and have them poke the pasta thru the Hot dogs. As much as they like. The more you poke thru the more hairy their hot dog will get. Then You put all the hairy hot dogs in a large pot of cool water (I use a large glass pot so the kids can watch the hot dogs cook. That's even more fun.) You bring the water and hot dogs to boil. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes.Warm your spaghetti sauce and have on the side. Serve the hot dogs on toasted buns with garlic butter and spaghetti sauce (or no garlic butter at all). You can add cheese to this as well. You'd be surprised at how delicious these are. My kids love them.......I invented these for my kids.....

Hope you all enjoy them. Please let me know how they turned out for you.

An Interview with "Kathleen Rietz"

Allow me to introduce and welcome the beautiful "Kathleen Rietz" A fantastic childrens book illustrator and designer. One of the top illustrators who are always in demand!

I'm a freelance artist and a "sometimes" art teacher. My hope is to make a positive difference in the world in everything I do

1.) I’ve read that you are Teaching Art Classes. So What is the most fun thing to teach about your Trade and what has been the most Challenging? (Sorry this was a double sided question haha)


Actually, I have taken a break from teaching this year. But I do miss it. I really enjoyed teaching children between the ages of 11 and 18. They are able to understand more complex and sophisticated concepts and their brains are fertile grounds for creative development. I find that when they love art, they willingly spend hours mastering and learning their craft. I find a lot of satisfaction in helping them to develop that love of art, since it is something they will take with them for a lifetime. I also know that if you give a bored teen an activity to enjoy, they will be less likely to get caught up in a bad crowd.





2.) I understand that when you were in college you also did freelance art work at the same time. So was this a hard thing to do or was it rewarding and in what ways?

Art was something I always wanted to do, whether I got paid or not. But they pay is definitely a reward. It was fun to be able to experience the business side of the industry first hand while I was still in school. I did everything from hand lettered calligraphy to painting murals for children. I am still very diverse in my skill set to this day.


3.) I know there is something about art that draws us all in either just be a viewer and appreciate art work, or the creator of artistic expression. What was it that made you want to become the creator of art work?

I was drawing and painting before I learned to write my name, so for me it was innate.



4.) Do you ever just create for your own enjoyment anymore?