MonkeyBusiness

We are moving!!

2009-02-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

just wanted to drop a line telling you of my impending move. No, I'm not physically moving, but my blog is! I'm just about ready to pull the curtain on the new, improved monkeyminionpress.com! That's where I'll be blogging from now on. I've changed the site over to a wordpress-based system that I can update with galleries and pics and a blog. Head on over and check it out!

monkeyminionpress.com

Portlander Artists! Draw Night 2/11/09

2009-02-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

This wednesday is Draw night here in Portland!

What is Draw Night, you ask? Well, Draw Night is a night where artists of all shapes, styles and kinds can break away from their drawing tables and venture out into the big, scary world to socialize and talk with others of their kind.

Here in PDX, we do it every SECOND Wednesday of the month at Hillsdale Brewery and Public House

Map!!!!

Questions? Post them here!

Phoenix comicon 2009 Wrap Up!

2009-01-28T12:25:00.001-08:00

YO!
I'm finally back from Phoenix Comicon. Took me an extra day to recover, because the con was such a BLAST!

To all of you who asked me at the con if I remembered everything, the answer is yes and no. Yes, I remembered everything I needed for the con, but I forgot razors so by the end of the con I was rocking a full-on 6 day long neckbeard (in addition to my freshly-trimmed facebeard). Super-sweet. I looked a little like a homeless person with a pro badge on sunday.

So, I can honestly say that this year's con kicked so much more ass than last year's. I actually managed to get up and wander the con, see some panels and talk to people this year, due to 's Super-awesomeness. This man is a machine! He was doing commissions for people from the minute he sat down on Thursday night. And we're not talking some little piddly head sketch. Oh, no. He was rocking out some totally awesome pieces! Hopefully, we'll see some scans soon.

Thursday night kicked the show off to a great start. tons of people were there which is pretty amazing for a middle-of-the-week preview night. The sketch card panel was great. I got to the room a few minutes earlier than all the other guests so I hung out outside with my wife waiting for the others. A few minutes past 7, breezes in with the grace of a ballerina and the grim determination of a grid iron hero. It started out slow, with just Tony and myself talking about our experiences in the Sketch card world. Having never done a panel with tony before, I learned something: Tony likes to talk. LOL! I mean, I've known him for a while, now, and kinda knew this but tell ya what, the man can hold your rapt attention for hours if you let him. He is a force unto himself. After a few minutes, the room started to fill up, and in the audience was one, Mr. Spencer Brinkerhoff III, Star Wars and Indiana Jones artist extraordinaire, and a good friend of mine. Since our panel of celebrity guests was short by 3 people, I pulled him up on stage to help out. And man, was that ever he right decision. Between him, tony and myself, we rocked the audience questions for about 30 minutes. Then, to add fuel to the flame, cruised in. Better late than never, I say. The chemistry between Tony and Ben is palpable, I must say and it made the last half of the panel super awesome (even though, Spencer had to go). Overall the panel was a qualifiable success thanks to Ben, Tony and Spencer. After the panel, I went back to my table, and sold some books and a sketch card, then went back to my hotel. (I was tired!)

So that was Thursday. Friday brought more in the way of Con-goodness.
Friday was the first full day of the con. We got in and got set up just as they opened the gates and unleashed the masses. Friday brought my first commission request of the con, and one of the oddest. I was asked to draw a guy as Spider-man. I don't know why, but every time I set up in Phoenix, I get at least one commission of someone as a superhero. I've never had this anywhere else! LOL. but, luckily I have some experience drawing likenesses, and the commission came out really well. The guy was super-happy, and hopefully I'll get a scan that I can share. Friday also brought my first meeting with Mr. I bought one of his super-fabulous art books (to call it a 'sketchbook' is insulting, really) and he did me a spidey head sketch in the back. I found out that he and I share a life-long love of the webhead, and that he is a super-great dude, just spectacularly nice and humble and he talks to you like he's known you for years. Even when he was talking to and doing sketches (for free, btw) for people who had no idea who he was, (which is stunning, let me tell you), he was cool. I also picked up a sketchbook from Tom Hodges. Who was busy, but still took the time to do me a sketch of Batgirl in the back. Great dude. I also got to hang with my good bud , Dan Davis. He invited me back into his inner sanctum (behind his table, natch!) so we could shoot the breeze and talk shop a little bit. Then, his son attacked me! Dawna told me that once you come behind the table, you become family and are fair game. There are worse things. The Davis family is awesome. I keep hoping that they'll officially adopt me. LOL!

Saturday was the big day. Thousands of people descended upon the Mesa Convention Center. It was a bit slower in Artist's Alley than it was last year. I blame the staff for getting so many cool guests in the Exhibitor hall that no one wanted to leave! I also got a cool piece of fandom: one of the convention goers came dressed as Zatanna because of my print! I have pics, but the nets are down at my house, so I can't upload them yet. But it was tons of fun, and I got to see friends of mine that I hadn't seen since the last con; Dave, Micah and Lin of BushiTales fame, Mike Bullock of Lions, Tiger and Bears and the Phantom, , Steve Rude and his wife Jaynelle (who admittedly, I had seen since the last con, but not since I left PHX) and Brian Pulido. I also met some internet friends in person; , , . My wife got me an awesome sketch in my autograph book by , of Spider-Man making fun of my strange love of monkies. I was also set upon by a small group of anime girls (usually my wife's fan-base, not mine) on Saturday night, who wanted some sketches. I got the strangest consketch request I'd ever gotten till that point: A teddy bear in a trenchcoat and tie, with a bandage oh is face, a bite out of his ear, and pencil behind his other ear. I did a few other sketches for them, but that one, really stuck out.

Sunday was awesome. I got some more wandering time just before the exhibit hall closed. Got a super-awesome Doc Ock sketch in my autograph book by Cheeks, did a sketchbook trade with Spencer (I did a Aayla Secura sketch for him, he drew my logo monkey, who apparently hates his hat, for me), did a trade with Dave Beatty for one of my Zatanna prints (I definitely think I got the better end of those two deals), and I picked up a sketch card commission from David and did a print trade with him. Once again, I got the better end of the deal.

All in all, I'd say that my first long-distance con was a success. I gotta thank all the fans who stopped by even just to chat (even the girls who made it a point to criticize my art every time they went by). Joe, Fredie, Matt, Rick, Mari, Jeff (all of the Phoenix comicon old-guard), thanks for building this con to where it is now. You've all done a great job and all of us who set up or attend owe you a debt of gratitude. I don't know if we'll ever make it back to PCC, but I hope so. It's a great con and just getting better.

Phoenix Comicon 2009

2009-01-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

YO!

So, how's your New Year going?

Wanted to drop some infos to ya regarding the Phoenix Comicon that runs January 23-25.

I'm going to be there, set up in Artist Alley, just like last year. I'll be sharing my table with my good bud , and I'll have goodies galore! I'll be debuting my Spider-Man prints, a BRAND-NEW 2009 sketch book, 2 new Zombie Card Designs, a Wizard of Oz coloring book based on my versions of the characters (and featuring text by my favorite writer, my wife), and loads more.

It's gonna be weird and cool to come back to PHX. PCC was the first con that I ever went to back when it was basically a one-day flea market type show. The next year (which was the first year the con was 2 days), I was on staff, I designed the program book, and I was a guest liason, shuttling the likes of Jimmy Palmiotti and Ron Garney to their panels and airport, as well as doing other staffy-type jobs. The next year, I went as a representative of the (now defunct) AZCBA, and did sketches at their table to raise money for the organization. Then came last year. I had my first Artist's Alley table at PCC. It was a TON of fun, I met a lot of really great people, drew a lot, and generally had a great time. But I lived in PHX then. So basically the con wasn't any big deal to go and set up at. I just drove there with my stuff in the trunk. This year, however, PCC gets to be another first for me: My first long-distance con. See, I moved to Portland this past May. And I've done a few cons since then. But, every con I've done since last January has been close enough to drive to, since the PNW is full of creators and fans. This will be the first time I set up at a con that I need to actually travel to. SO, I'm a little nervous. I keep thinking "What if I forget something?" It's not like I can just drive home. "What do I need to take," what can I fit in my bags?" "I can't take any of my display crap, what'll I do to display my stuff?" How do you guys and gals that do this all the time prepare? What do you take/leave behind? What are your travel secrets?

I'll also be taking commissions at my table for sketch cards and larger commissions. A full-color sketch card will run you $25, a 9"x12" Inked commission will go for $40, colors will run $60. Head sketches (b/w only) will be $15. So if you want one, and want to be able to get it early, note me and I'll have it ready at the con.

Also, Thursday Preview night at 7pm, I'll be on a panel about Sketch Cards with ,, Tess Fowler & Justin Barrett. Come on by! I'm hoping to have some stuff to hand out, and even if that falls through, it's sure to be a great time with Tony and Ben on a panel together!

will be at the con, too as a guest. I'm really looking forward to meeting him. As well as and a WHOLE BUNCH of others I don't have DA addresses for.

Happy New Year.

2008-12-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hola Everyone!
I hope everyone had a great Holiday (for those of you that celebrate it)! I haven't seen too many 'Loot Lists", so I hope that you all got everything you asked Santa for.

This week, of course, marks the beginning of a new year. But before we move onto new and bigger things, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who have devwatched, faved or commented on my works. This past year was one of my biggest years to date as far as art goes. And I have a lot of you to thank for it. I've done a lot of growing (personally, professionally and artistically) and I hope that will continue throughout 2009.

On that note, 2009 is shaping up to be another big year, starting off with a con appearance on the FIRST Day of the year! I'll be at MEW Con, a small, local anime convention, [link] January 1. (I'll actually have a presence there 12/31 and 1/1, but I won't actually be ther in person until 1/1.) Then shortly following that, I'll be back in Phoenix (1/23-1/25) for Phoenix Comicon 2009! I'm super-excited to see all the friend and fans back in the PHX. I'll also be taking part in a panel about Comic Sketch cards at Phoenix Comicon on Thursday night from 8-8:50 pm. I also have a secret sketch card project coming out that I'm working on. More on that later!

So, yeah, 2009. ROCK! Thanks again for a great 2008, and let's all hope for a SPECTACULAR 2009!

-D

some art:

Portland Comic Artists!! - Drink & Draw! Dec. 10th!

2008-12-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hey!

If anyone reading this is in the Portland area This Wednesday, Dec. 10, you should swing by the new Portland Comic Artists Drink & Draw at the Hillsdale McMenamins Brewery and Pub. We'll be meeting up at around 5pm and hanging out, drinking, eating and drawing. A good time for all!

Here's the FACEBOOK event listing

Here's a map to the Pub:

See ya there!

-D

Marvel Masterpieces Proof Cards

2008-11-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

ZOMBIE HOLIDAY GREETING CARDS!!!

2008-11-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

For A Limited Time Only:

Zombie Holiday Cards by Dane Ault.

Each design is 100% original and I guarantee you've never seen cards like these in your local Hallmark.

Here they are:

Inside reads: "Which list are you on?"

Inside reads: "May you get everything you wish for this year."

Inside reads: "Watch what you eat this holiday season."

I also still have some Valentine's, St. Pat's, birthday and a blank generic design.

Cards are $2.50 a piece, and envelopes are included.

Shipping depends on how many you get.
• $1.50 up to 10 cards/envelopes
• $2.50 from 11 to 25 cards /envelopes
• $4.80 from 26 to 100 cards/envelopes

Any more, contact me for bulk rates on shipping and card discounts.

Email to order:
dane [at] monkeyminionpress.com

Election night BINGO!

2008-11-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

Download it here: http://www.monkeyminionpress.com/electionbingo2008.pdf

OKAY. New Bingo Rules for Election Night!

Here's what I'm doing:
Play two boards. One Board is the McCain Board the other is the Obama board. Write the states you think each one will win in the boxes on each one. Now, you can play traditional bingo rules or Blackout, depending on how late you're staying up.

Here is a List of the States:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho

State

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri

Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania

Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

redbubble!

2008-10-22T22:43:00.001-07:00

This is a new widget from RedBubble, where I sell t-shirts featuring the designs shown in the slideshow above. If you have an interest in one of the shirts above, or in any of the art you've seen me post, click the pic of the pic you like, and it will automatically take you to my sale page! SWEET!

Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.

2008-10-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a downer, yeah? Well, that's reality.

Why do I mention this? Let me tell you. This Sunday (10/26) is Wonder Woman Day here in Portland. Wonder Woman Day is a part of National Domestic Violence Month, and is a big event that raises awareness of the issue of domestic violence, as well as raises money for some women's shelters and hot lines.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, besides the fact that this a good cause, and everyone should support it, I'm donating art to the event.

It's 9 inches by 12 inches done in Marker on Bristol Board. Hopefully, it will help to raise some money for the cause.

For more information on the event and on other artists that will be at the event and who's art will be up for auction, please go here:

"I always sympathized with the people who did work for hire; I was one of them.” - Stan Lee

2008-10-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

This Saturday is the Tri-City Comicon in Pasco, WA.
thetc3.org

I'll be setting up there in Artist's Alley along with my wife, Ashlie. I'll be selling prints, sketch cards and greeting cards as well as Original Drawings and commissions. If you happen to be in the Pasco area Saturday, swing by and say hi!

One of the new things that I'll have for sale at the con will be these prints:

This is the first in a series of Superheroes and their transportation illustrations that I'm planning on doing. they are 8.5 x 11 and I'll be selling these for $10.

Another new piece that I'll have available will be the final piece in my Oz series: The Wizard!

See you there!

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent. - Barack Obama

2008-09-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

So, the debates.
You know, not often am I going to tie my work in with politics, but after watching the debate Last Friday, I got to thinking, "You know what would make this more fun? BINGO!" So, I decided to design a bingo card for bored debate-watchers to make it more interesting. So, this is what it looks like:

Download it here: http://www.monkeyminionpress.com/electionbingo2008.pdf

Now, I'm assuming that anyone who downloads this will know how to play bingo, so fill in your own cards, but make sure that they are different so that you can have a winner. If you need a starter on words to use to fill in the cards, here's a list my wife and I compiled.

Reagan
Terrorism
Terrorist
Veteran
POW
Maverick
Palin
Biden
Liberal
Conservative
Doesn't Understand
Oil
Thanks, but no thanks
Safety
Economy
Golden Parachutes
Roe V. Wade
The Bush Administration
Foreign Leaders (you can use this one as is, or whenever a candidate mentions meeting a specific one)
Russia
foreign policy
Catholic
bridge to nowhere
Alaska
Delaware
Illinois
Arizona
Houses
Earmarks
middle class
wealthy
tax cuts
taxes
war
Gen. Patreus
Rove
History
spending
experience
voting record
lobbyists
• Newspaper
• Tina Fey
CHANGE
Nixon
911 (or September 11)
bipartisan
nonpartisan
pork barrel
bailout
upperclass
Iraq
Afganistan
Iran
Georgia
greedy,
Wall Street
my friends
mainstreet

If you think of some that I missed, please let me know, because I'll be playing this Thursday during the VP debate. Play by any house rules that you like (BINGO or Blackout), you could take a shot every time you get a word on the board, etc.

Good luck and play fair!

Last Thursday!

2008-09-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the Alberta Arts District Last Thursday along Alberta St.

I, with my wife, will of course be setting up my booth out there. Swing on by and check it out, if you're in town!

So, recently I held a Pirate Trivia contest in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day last Friday and gave away 2 pieces of original art. So, I figured that I'd post those here today.

First up, here's what the first winner asked for:
"Tell me if this Commission'll fly. Since I'm a huge Tusken Raider fan, how 'bout a Pirate Flag(Skull and Crossbones), but with a Tusken Head with Gaffi Sticks crossed behind it?"

So, this is what I gave him:

The other guy asked for something a little more complicated:
"I can't believe I won! I think that's what I'm suppose to say. I was going to google for the name of the extra toe cat but figured if I did I'd get beat to the punch!

Pirate themed... I don't want to have to do a ton of work on my account, but I sure do appreciate you donig this. How about Red Skull, of course, and he's sorta piraty - with the traditional captains pirate hat and all that happiness with a black cat in there somehow. A Polydactyl would probably be too hard to show easy.

I trust ya, ye scurvy dog!!!"

So I gave him this:

Anyway, LAST THURSDAY. TONIGHT. BE THERE, or BE SQUARE (oh yeah, I went there!)

It cost 75¢ to kill a man in Caesar's time... - Homer T. Bone

2008-09-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hail and well met, fellow travellers!

I have completed the task set afore me of drawing 75 Marvel Masterpieces cards. I will post them now for your perusal. Let me know what you think of them in the comments section below!

Life never becomes a habit to me. It's always a Marvel. - Katherine Mansfield

2008-07-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

So, doings are afoot at the MMP!

As most of you know, I did 75 sketch cards for the Marvel Masterpieces trading card set from Upper Deck and Marvel which was released this past month. I'm also going to be doing sketches for the next upcoming set due out this Winter. Woo! I'll be doing another 75 for this set.
Yesterday, I got my Artist Proof cards for the last set, so I'll be offering SEVEN of those as commissions. Email me at dane [@] monkeyminionpress.com for details.

Also, Tomorrow is the last Thursday of the month, so that means that I'll be out at the Alberta Arts District Last Thursday Art Walk at This Place Blows glass blowing studio and gallery. I'll have a booth set up out front by the sidewalk, selling my prints (including my world premiere Zatanna print (see below)), sketch cards, watercolor monster greeting cards and Original Monster Paintings. If you're in the neighborhood, swing on by! I'll also be doing convention-style commission sketches.

some art!

Here's the zatanna print I'll have for sale tomorrow:

that's all for now, but tune in next time for more on the strange world of Monkey Minion Press!

Peace,
Dane

“Curiosity is the one thing Invincible in Nature.”

2008-07-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

So, welcome to the first post of Monkey Business, the blog about me and Monkey Minion Press, my illustration and design company. So let's get busy!

Lots of new developments in the MMP world. But let's start off with a little history first: Remember last year when I was helping Steve Rude with some photoshop coloring touch-up work? Well if you don't, I just reminded you. Basically, what it was was that Steve was touching up the 20-some year old colors of his Nexus comic series for inclusion into the definitive printed verion of the stories in the Nexus Archives books from Dark Horse Comics. My job was to use photoshop to make the changes he needed made to the artwork. This included recoloring characters, pages and panels, making the effects more prominent, moving, deleting and rearranging word balloons, and so on, so forth.

So, why do I bring this up? Well, mainly because that gig has pretty much led directly to my new gig: doing color touch ups on Invincible for the new animated comic series coming out from MTV Mobile and GAIN Limited. Check this action out! (I would have embedded it, but apparently blogger can't embed flash vids.:() This is super huge for me because I am a HUGE FAN of Invincible. I've been reading the series since issue #9 when Ryan Ottley started drawing it. I'm really excited about it. AHH!

Also, I'll be doing sketch cards for the upcoming Marvel Masterpieces 3 set coming out of Upper Deck. I'm doing 75 cards, and hopefully I'll get to do most of them in color. Gonna be sweet!

What else? Oh yeah! Since moving to PDX, we have hooked up with a great group of artists here and have been showing my work around, and I have a show of my artwork set up in September at a small gallery here in town. And of course, I found an artwalk to participate in, the Alberta Arts District Last Thursdays! I'll be set up in front of This Place Blows a really cool little Glass Blowing Studio and Shop (This is also where my show will be in September).

So, I think that's enough for now. Check back soon, because I hope to have more news!