Widevision Sketch Cards: Batch 2

Here's a look at some more of my sketches for the Clone Wars Widevision set. I did 150 cards, so this is just a small sampling (check out my first batch of samples here). Like the last few sets, I went for variety - from pencil sketches to full color.

Fan Days III Cards on eBay: Ahsoka & Grievous

Click here for Ahsoka!
Click here for Grievous!

I've got a limited number of Fan Days III sketch card blanks, so I'll be putting a couple at a time up on eBay.

You have the option of choosing your own character, too. $50 a card, headshot of any Star Wars character you want. Just shoot me an email: grantgoboom@gmail.com.

Fan Days Rundown

Texas was a great time! I had tons of fun hanging out with my pals, and my cousin Emily and her husband Michael came to the show, which was awesome -- it all flew by way too quickly. As always, I had a good time talking to fans and meeting new faces, and I'm happy to report that I sold out of my special Fan Days sketchbooks! If you pre-ordered one before the show - don't worry, they're on their way. If you didn't pre-order and you weren't at the show, yerr outta luck. :)

I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with James Burns of JediNews.co.uk - really cool guy. Rebelscum founder Philip Wise once again invited everyone to his museum of Star Wars collectibles - always an awesome experience. I had a chance to talk to all of the Clone Wars voice actors, who are all incredibly nice (and attractive), and some of the usual celebs that go to these shows. I'm forgetting a million details, but that's okay - Over all, I loved the show and am glad my last convention of the year was a great one.

If you want to check out my photos from the show, here's a gallery.

And I've had a few people asking about Fan Days III sketchcards. YES, I will definitely be selling full-color Fan Days III sketch cards. I plan on posting details soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to Texas. Fan Days was awesome. Lookin' forward to going again next year.

Bane Return Card Process

I'm back from Fan Days III - had a great time, will definitely be posting a "con review" sometime soon. I have a lot to catch up on, including emails and SLEEP. For now, here's a quick series of process shots, showing how I created this Cad Bane sketch card.

Top 10 Halloween DVD Picks

Now, I'm not saying these are necessarily the BEST horror movies of all time. They're just 10 of my top favorites, and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for some fun 'n' freaky Halloween viewing. :)



Dawn of the Dead (2004 remake):
My favorite zombie movie. I was a big fan of the original Dawn of the Dead, too, but this one just knocked it out of the park in every possible way, from the opening scenes to the very last frame. It caters to everything I want in a horror/action/survival flick.



Dog Soldiers:
It seems that a lot of people have never heard of this one, and that's a shame. It's easily my favorite werewolf movie. The beasties look awesome and the characters are great.



The Thing:
John Carpenter's 1982 classic. Not just one of my favorite horror movies, but one of my favorite movies, period. Kurt Russell is amazing, the setting is perfect, and I love love loooove the ending. I'm a sucker for tragedies.



The Blair Witch Project:
I know there are a lot of people out there who dislike this movie, and a lot of people who claim it didn't scare them whatsoever... I am NOT one of those people. I saw Blair Witch on opening night with a bunch of friends - we went into it with no expectations - we didn't know if it was real or not. The movie scared THE CRAP out of me. The "leave it to your imagination" aspect really got to me, and it was the creepiest movie-watching experience of my life. I still remember the final scene - the entire audience screamed or gasped, and then we literally sat in stunned, freaked-out silence for about two solid minutes. I still get chills thinking about it. (And of course, right as I'm typing this, something - a tree branch probably - hits my window, making my heart frickin' stop. NICE...)



Poltergeist:
Such an awesome movie on so many levels. I saw it multiple times as a kid and it always fascinated me and scared me (that swimming pool scene - yikes). For me, the concept of ghosts and poltergeists felt much more real than, say, Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th.



Interview With The Vampire:
I don't care what anyone says, I love this movie. I think it's well-made, I think it does justice to the book (which I was a huge fan of as a teenager), and I think Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are excellent. This movie deserves way more love than it gets.



Trick 'r Treat:
I recently discovered this one, and I loved it. In fact, I find myself thinking about it a lot - it's got a bunch of creepy, cool scenes that (for me, at least) are really memorable. It's not super scary, but it's fun, and it harkens back to the 1980s short story style horror flicks like Creepshow.



Fright Night:
An underrated classic. Creepy, funny, goofy, awesome. And let's not forget - one of the scariest smiles in cinema history (click here if you dare).



28 Days Later:
It's hard to argue that this was a revolutionary zombie flick. It changed the genre and spawned an era of copycats. It gave us a bleak, serious look at a post-outbreak world, not to mention FAST zombies. It's still just as creepy today as it was the first time I watched it.



The Lost Boys:
Okay, so when you watch it now, it's more comedy than horror. It isn't a movie that's going to give you nightmares. But it was a staple of '80s childhood, and I still think it's a blast to watch it. I can't deny my love for The Lost Boys. And, c'mon... Easily one of the best soundtracks ever.

Fan Days - This Weekend!

Star Wars Fan Days III (FanDays.com) is almost here... and boy o boy, is it gonna be a race to the finish for me. There was some miscommunication (non-Fan-Days-related) with a certain deadline of mine and I'm frantically trying to get some stuff done before I fly to Texas. This week is drivin' me batty. In any case, I know I'm behind on a TON of emails. I apologize for that - I'll try to respond as soon as I can. If you emailed me about something Fan Days related and I haven't written back yet, PLEASE send it again and write "URGENT" in the subject line so that I don't miss it.

As some of you know, artist Mark McHaley won't be able to make it to Fan Days, but those of you who were hoping to grab one of his Fan Days sketchcards are in luck -- He's mailing them to me so that I can give them out at my table (this is part of the VIP program - see site for details). They'll be a random pull - I believe he's doing some b&w and some color, whatever time permits. Anyway, so definitely stop by my table for Grant goodies AND Mark goodies.

Another quick note: I'm not bringing my color markers with me to the show, but I will have my greyscale markers and brush pens, etc. So I'll be offering nice inked sketches.. Just no color. AFTER the show, I'll likely have a few Fan Days blanks that I can sell online, and for those I'll probably offer up full-color.

I think that's all I got right now. Gonna be a crazy busy week - hopefully this weekend will be really fun and awesome -- I hope to see massive crowds that are in a spending mood! heh :) And for those of you patiently waiting on commissions: I'll finally be done with conventions after this weekend, and that means a lot more free time to play catch up.

The book is finally out!

Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally in stores (and on Amazon of course). :) I picked up a copy today at my local Barnes & Noble, and it looks great -- I'm really proud of it.

Bossk: Zombie Hunter

It's "Zombie Week" over at StarWars.com and my contribution is this Bossk image. I luvs me some Bossk. Click here to see all of the various zombielicious, brain-eating pieces of art.

And, yes, I'm an idiot. It was pointed out to me after the fact that I gave the zombie two right hands. Ugh... This, kids, is why you need to sleep regularly. Sleep deprivation is not your friend.

EDIT:
The zombie gallery is no longer on StarWars.com, but you can still find 'em all right over here, courtesy of Bonnie B.! :)

Webcomic Update

My first five pages for season 2 are up on the official site.

Fan Days Sketchbook - Announcement!

I've created a new convention sketchbook for Star Wars Fan Days this month -- 30 pages jam-packed with Grant goodness (Star Wars, BSG, movie fan art, all sorts of recent work). And for THIS WEEK ONLY, those of you who aren't going to Fan Days will have a chance to order one.

Sketchbooks are $20 plus $5 shipping (international shipping: $10) -- Send payment via Paypal to grantgoboom@gmail.com and write "Fan Days Sketchbook" in the subject line. You get a custom inked headshot sketch on the last page of the sketchbook, so let me know which character you'd like. If you don't specify, I'll probably just draw one of the Clone Wars characters for ya.

I'm only offering this until the end of the day on Friday (the 16th), because I'm only gonna have a limited number of these things. Please note that I'll be shipping orders after I get back from Fan Days (I won't have time to mail them out before the show, because I'm visiting some family in Texas next week).

Thanks, folks!

Dirty Diana

This is a fan art pic I did awhile ago -- sort of my own take on Diana from the series "V" (which is getting a remake next month). I based it on the classic poster.

Figured I'd hold off on posting it and then debut it as a print at FallCon, but that ended up being pretty anti-climactic. I think I sold maybe one print of it. Hah :P Ah well...

FallCon down, Fan Days to go.

Another FallCon in the can. Big thanks to everyone that came out to say hi and buy stuff from me. Attendance seemed to be down this year (maybe partly because of the chilly, snowy weather), but it was still great to see friends and just hang out.

I didn't take very many photos, but I did grab a few Star Wars costume pics:



And of course I have to thank my booth babe (ie. my nephew Bowie). :)

So now I only have one convention left this year -- Star Wars Fan Days III in Texas -- and it's coming up fast. Frighteningly fast.

I also want to remind everyone that the Marla Bea Benefit art auctions start today! So if you're interested in bidding on that Padme I did, or any of the other awesome drawings, go to marlabeabenefit.com. It's for a great cause, so please go check that out and help spread the word.

FallCon is here!

Minnesota's biggest, bestest comic convention is this weekend - Oct. 10th and 11th! Here's a quick list of what I'll be selling at my table:

• The Wolves of Odin
• Big, brand new 11"x17" art prints
• 8.5"x11" art prints
• Special double-sided 8"x10" art prints
• Battlestar Galactica art cards
• Original drawings
• The White Album: Beatles art tribute books

And in addition to all that, I'll be doing a limited number of $30 black & white inked headshot/bust sketches. Head over to my table early to get on the sketch request list. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope to see some of you at FallCon.

Shaak Ti Sketch

Shaak Ti (for Jon) - drawn with pencils, brush pen, and greyscale markers.

I am making some decent progress on my commission list. Some of you have been SUPER awesomely patient, and I thank you from the bottom of my nerdy heart. In another month or two I should be caught up and at square one, knock on wood. I'm probably gonna try something a little different for 2010 - I'll have a list on my site of all current commissions and what the status/expected finish time is on each one. So look forward to that.

I'll be back very soon with some last-minute FallCon info, and then next week I'll have a bunch of art to show, including some more Topps Widevision card scans, AND my first pages for the Clone Wars season 2 webcomic go live next week, so ... lots of stuff.

Fandomania Contest

Fandomania.com has a contest right now where you can win prints of my Rex and Ahsoka artwork -- Here's the link!

Zombieland

It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, and that's not a bad thing at all (I loved the trailers). It's a FUN movie. There's no other way to put it. It doesn't take itself too seriously and I loved every minute of it. I could've watched these characters for another six hours. In fact, that would probably be my only big complaint - I wish the movie weren't so short.

I can't wait to see it again. P.S. Emma Stone, if you're in the market for a big nerd who draws Star Wars comics, please contact me, because I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU. Seriously.

Clone Wars Season 2 Webcomic Begins

The Clone Wars Season 2 webcomic starts today! You can find it by heading over to StarWars.com or by clicking directly on the webcomic link: starwars.com/clonewars/comic.

We're doing something different this time. Instead of each chapter serving as a tie-in to that week's given episode, for season 2 we'll be following NEW original characters, and it will be an entirely new tale (written by Pablo Hidalgo) set during the 2nd season of Clone Wars. It will still connect with the series here and there, but for the most part, it's a self-contained adventure!

The four artists onboard for season 2 are Tom Hodges, Jeff Carlisle, Daniel Falconer, and myself (don't worry, Katie Cook fans, she's still very much involved in Star Wars - they just have her doing something else at the moment). The first two chapters are by Tom, then I'm on week 3, Jeff's on week 4, Daniel on 5, and we rotate from there. The first cover (shown above) was drawn by Tom and colored by me.



Like last season, the webcomic has a toolbar near the top of the page. I recommend you all view the comic in full-screen mode - it makes it easier to zoom in and move around. Just click the little box icon on the far left to get full-screen. And now there's a "menu" box that allows you to go back and read the webcomics from season 1.

I hope you all enjoy the new story and the new characters! There's a lot of great stuff on the way --