dantat.com

PINK EYE(S)

Along with being sick I now have Pink Eye in BOTH EYES! I'm not going to go into details but I'm sure it had something to do with wiping my son's nose every 2 minutes for the past 4 days.

*sigh*....... Here's a picture....... Now go....

B is for Ballet

Hey folks, just another sketch to pass the time when I should be working away...

THE CONTENDER-PAGE 3

It's up. Sorry for the delay...

Calendar Club

Just in case you were all wondering what I've been doing with my time. Here are some pieces of art for the Calendar Club series that are due the end of this month.

You may have pushed the schedule up a month Scholastic, but I'm all over you like white on rice.
..

Sketch

Here's a sketch I did for a possible idea I'm putting together.

A Century of Thai Cinema

My parents had spent 3 weeks in Thailand, as I like to refer to as "The Motherland" (I do, my parents don't) and my mom asked me if I wanted anything from the trip. I asked for one book called "A Century of Thai Cinema" because I'm a HUGE fan of old vintage movie posters and the artwork in it is stellar. I wasn't able to find the book here in the states and so I figured why not buy the book in the country it was inspired by

Here's a sample of some of the artwork....

Lettering, color palette's, composition.... it's all there. (You'll probably see some of these designs in my future work) Now you all get a glimpse of one of my many inspirations. I might have to dress up as one of these fellas for Halloween someday.

All yellow ochre outfit?

Check.

Yellow gloves?
Check.

Yellow falcon mask?
Check.

Feathered Hair?
That's a go!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Happy Valentine's Day...or Not?

Valentines Day is the kind of day where it can either make you feel lucky you have a significant other or make you want to shove your head in the oven basking in your own loneliness when you realize you're playing RockBand in front of your XBox 360 all by yourself. I, for one, have been on both sides of the fence and I have to admit, dating in todays fast paced society is close to near impossible. So, it is with this post I salute you, the single person, as we discuss the horrid nature of dating.

Over the holiday season I happened to come across a GOLD MINE of my wife's old creative writing assignments from her childhood. To my surprise I stumbled upon a short story so cynical it was as if my wife defined the very term "Gen X'er" before the term was even coined.

Here is her short story LOVE WENT DOWN THE DRANE (she wrote it in 2nd grade)
Click on the image... Read the story. It basically reads, "Once there was this date. It sucked. THE END."

SECOND GRADE?!

Well, I decided to adapt this little short story and turn it into a little comic for all of you to read. Sadly, it's not finished for this Valentine's Day. (God only knows I've wasted too much time on stuff like this when I should be cranking away on my mountain of assignments) I couldn't seem to help myself. I originally planned on just drawing a simple one page comic, but now, I find myself painting panels. It's as if realizing the collaborative process of working with my wife has ignited a flame in my heart....

I LOVE MY WIFE!

....So I guess this is kind of like a very elaborate Valentine's Day card for her...

Just goes to show that sometimes in pain we find love.

Happy Valentines Day.

Las Vegas - Aches, Pains, and Glory?

I thought back to when it was I last played hockey. Yes, this friendly neighborhood children's book illustrator/author used to play goalie. When I was a microbiology major at UCSD I spent a lot of my free time playing the sport and I reached a point when I actually got pretty good. I even won a championship in the top level intramural division (patting myself on the back) Soon after I graduated, though, I packed up the pads and left them back at my parents house and left that part of my life behind me.

Present day... TEN YEARS LATER I was asked to play in a Las Vegas tournament for my friends bachelor party. "Let's get the old gang together!" my friend says. Well, I AM in the wedding party. I guess I DO have an obligation to uphold.

Being that I was so busy with my current workload I couldn't really prepare myself all that well. A jog here and there, maybe some stretching. All my other friends were still playing hockey and here I am painting cute animals and kids on a piece of Bristol paper. I was going to be an embarrassment. The weak link of the team. The kink in the chain. Out of practice, out of shape, and I was expected to simply leap back into a top level of competition?

Oh the humanity.

I have a bad knee, I was fighting off a cold, and things are a little fuzzy without my eyeglasses. The team that I was going to be playing for had never won a game in the three years they had played in the tournament let alone score a single goal. The oldest player on the team was 46 years old. Ten years was a long time to hop back into the saddle.

And so, the tournament began.....After a horrible beating from the top ranked tournament team from Vancouver, Canada (I believe they ended up winning the entire tournament) I shook out most of the nerves out of my system. Afterwards, there was another beating from another Canadian team. (Those Canadians LOVE their hockey) But, surprisingly after that, we actually got our act together and scored a few goals. We actually won THREE games! I had a few glorious moments. A couple of oohs and aahs from some friends and onlookers. I even got a shutout!

Can you believe it? Our team actually came in second place in the B Division. (A Division being top level, B being uh....not so top level, but still quite respectable)

I'll actually be getting a silver medal in the mail.

Surprisingly, I realized this old dog still has a skip in his step.

(But I can only skip after taking painkillers to cease the horrible aching from the waist down)

Sorry no comic this week. I ache too much and my body reeks of Vegas stench.

Kill Me Now...

This is what you need to know....

FACT 1: I'm sick right now

FACT 2: I have to attend a friends bachelor party in Las Vegas starting today and it ends on Sunday. (I'm a groomsman in the wedding party)

FACT 3: I have to play in a hockey tournament (I'm the goalie) in the bachelor party (Keep in mind that I'm sick)

FACT 4: I haven't played hockey in 8 years which makes me a little concerned about Fact 3.

FACT 5: I'm not particularly fond of Vegas (It smells like old people and smoke)

FACT 6: I have some big deadlines coming up.

FACT 7: My laptop (less than a year old decided to crap out on me and is with these folks for the next 7 to 10 days...)

I'm currently using my old archaic one that I believe the monkeys were worshiping in 2001: A Space Odyssey

FACT 8: I'm sick

Now, with all that said, I'd like to fast forward life one week.

Post Super Bowl *rant*

I'm sure you're like me. You probably have a favorite sports team (if you even watch sports) that never ever wins a championship or performs well.

Where are my Chicago Blackhawk fans at?
Raider fans? Do you hear me?

After watching the Super Bowl on Sunday I realized that I watch most sporting events for one reason. To cheer for someone else to LOSE. New York Giants. OK, I know Eli Manning, there's that guy, and then there's...... OK, well as long as it's not New England hoisting that trophy then I'm happy.

What's wrong with New England might you ask? Nothing particularly, I guess it's the desire to see an underdog win. That and Tom Brady looks like a bear with an awful haircut. How much do you make a year Brady? And your hair looks THAT LAME? (As you can see, It doesn't take much to tip me)

Needless to say it was still an exciting game and if New England had come out on top I don't think it really would have made a bit of difference to me anyway.

Yay to the underdog.