Spidey in a New Suit

Like a lot of guys I was really into comics growing up. I spend hours drawing my favorite characters on poster board to hang up in my room. I remember thinking that someday I'd become a famous comic book artist....oh well. Anyways, I had the opportunity at some point in my career to create a new suit for ol' Spidey. It was a contest for HERO Magazine and I was happy with the way my creation turned out. Apparently the judges were too since I was one of 3 overall winners! I think they really liked the fact that he had his 'old' uniform in a 'web-bag.' I still didn't get that 'famous comic book artist' spot, but I did get my illustration featured in HERO Mag as well as some pretty cool (signed) limited edition comics! ~WmD.

MARIAHmaid

When Mariah Carey 'hit the scene' singing like a Mermaid, everyone was like 'WoW' I remember picking up her CD 'Vision of Love' on the way to Saudi Arabia (Desert Shield/Storm/Calm) and listening to it pretty much the whole time I was there (nearly a year). Once back, I began working on the MARIAHmaid illustration inspired by the myth of Mermaids who had unbelievable range in their vocal ablities. I sent a copy of it to Sony (her record lable in the beginning) and received a very nice letter from her staff who said they'd make sure to forward it to her. ~WmD.

Emmitt diggin' for Gold

During my time in the Force, I did a lot of traveling. One of my temporary duty assignments was down in Pensacola FL. A week before I left I found out that Emmitt Smith (then a running back for the Dallas Cowboys) owned a Sports Shop there. At this time I did not have access to the 'Net so I went to a local Sports Shop where I found a few cards with Emmitt's face on them. The cards also contained some very cool information on Emmitt's past (nickname, high school, etc.) so I included them into the illustration. While in Pensacola I met Emmitt's Dad, Mom, Brothers and Sis (and his little niece). I presented the illustration to his parents who both thought it looked just like their 'Scoey' ~Since I didn't have time to have pictures of the illustration developed, I was unable to get Emmitt (who I met 1 day later) to sign one (like Tom Glavine did for me below). He told me that his Mom and Dad told him about the picture, but he'd just arrived in town for a Golf Event and had not had the chance to go by his shop to see it.... I sometimes wonder if he still has it, perhaps hanging up at his home. ~WmD.

Tom Glavine

I was asked to do this caricature of Tom Glavine by a couple of his friends who had seen some of my work years ago when he was still a youngin' in ATL. He signed a copy of the caricature (featured) and a baseball that I still have somewhere....as a side note: "Bill" is a nickname my parents gave me eons ago. I go by 'WiLL' now but hey Tom, it's cool. ~WmD.

Chief O'Brien

At some point, after drawing several 'fly-guys' in their F-16s, I got the opportunity to illustrate one of the most important people to the pilots; the CREW-Chiefs. These guys/gals made sure that pilots had a successful take off, flight and landing! The camo he's wearing was a bit of a challenge, but fun all the same. ~ WmD.

Where It All Started. . . . .

A few years back, while I was still a member of the U.S. Air Force, I began illustrating caricatures to help out one of my co-workers. He was very good at studio caricatures and thought that my style of drawing would translate nicely into caricaturing. The 'fly-guys' really loved being 'tooned flying their F-16s. This illustration of Capt Turner & his puppy Hanna will always be one of my personal favorites. ~WmD..

Caricatures are on the way.....

Hello All ~

Well, if you stopped by my blogspot earlier this year (or maybe last year) you'll note that I've made some much needed changes....For a short spell I took up an interest in Political Cartooning and had a lot of fun with it. After posting a few of my toonz I realized that I really didn't have time to keep up with all that is political. Because of this I recently changed my 'header' and overall view of this cool blogspot. I may keep the few political cartoons I did post just to remind me of how hectic a political cartoonists life must be day to day! I'll be back where I'm most comfortable and posting a few of my other works soon!

Stay 'TOONed!

~ WiLLiam D.