The David Combs Blog

Portrait of Thomas Sowell

2010-06-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

UN Traffic (with Fluffy McNutter)

2010-05-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Death Frieler 2

2010-05-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Frank Frazetta died yesterday. He was 82 years old.

There were a handful of illustrators that inspired me when I was growing up, and Frank was at the top. I've been ripping off his work ever since.

Death Dealer (1973)

The first Red Eye inspired Death Frieler:

I have no excuse for this.

2010-02-27T05:48:00.000-08:00

SE Cupp Redux

2009-10-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: As promised here's the final scan of "S.E. Cupp: Lioness".

SE Cupp: Lioness

2009-10-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Amended Petition for Roman Polanski

2009-09-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Original here.

We have learned the ~~astonishing~~ fantastic news of Roman Polanski's arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of ~~morals~~ drugging a 13 year old girl and sodomizing her against her will.

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

We think this is awesome.

~~By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.~~

~~The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.~~

If the fucker would have paid for his crime after he pled guilty he would be out in time to make ~~great~~ films like The Ninth Gate.

Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom which is AWESOME!

Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians - everyone involved in international filmmaking - want him to know that ~~he has their support and friendship.~~ if he was a real man he would have paid for his crime instead of running away like a bitch.

On September 16th, 2009, Mr. Charles Rivkin, the US Ambassador to France, received French artists and intellectuals at the embassy. He presented to them the new Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, Ms Judith Baroody. In perfect French she lauded the Franco-American friendship and recommended the development of cultural relations between our two countries.

Of the 30,000 participants in an online poll by the French daily Le Figaro, more than 70 percent said Mr. Polanski, 76, should face justice.

If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand ~~the immediate release of Roman Polanski.~~ the US government uphold justice and put Roman Polanski behind bars.

Before This Post There Were None Other

2009-09-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Until my website gets back up I thought I'd set up this here blog to showcase some of my work, let you all know about my auctions, and give some tips on painting for beginners.

The best place to see my work currently is on my Myspace page. But as I was going through my computer looking for pics for this blog I came upon this painting from 1999, which I never put up on my website:

Alabee 1999, 16x20" Acrylic on Canvas
Although there isn't a lot of skill involved in Alabee it remains one of my favorite pieces. And that brings me to my first tip:
Don't let lack of skill keep you from creating a piece of artwork you love. Many beginners think they have to paint for years before they get some satisfaction. I'm a big fan of realist painters like Maxfield Parrish but at the time there was no way I could paint like him (still can't). So I chose to paint like one of my other favorites Marc Chagall:

And it was a joy. Not only was I creating images that I loved, I was picking up techniques that built a bridge to where I am now. A wide appreciation of art will help you develop your own style, and get you through the otherwise difficult years of mastering finer techniques.