freaky tiki

hi all! more info about the dd1 reprint. if you don't remember what the dd1 reprint is (and why should you?) it's all in the post right below this one.

anyway, in addition to development art, the book will include a reprint of the short story "freaky tiki", which i drew in the middle of dd1 as a style test, and which first appeared in an anthology in 2005. i don't think it's been online anywhere since then, so this might be your first time ever seeing it; and if it isn't, just pretend anyway. for me.

here's one panel that manages to succinctly sum up everything you need to know about the story — namely, that it is awesome and why is that tiki zombie fat? do zombies even have a metabolism? there's only one way to find out! (but until we have zombie autopsies your just going to have to read this story instead.)

NYCC in 15 days!

"THE DARE DETECTIVES" RETURNS AT NYCC!

howdy!

remember that time you asked me when more DD was on the way? i thought so.

well, fantastic news for haters of mendacity and lovers of gun-toting-bunnies everywhere! archaia publishing (aka the "mouse guard people") will be delivering full-on cartoon action with new cases of the dare detectives. millions of them.

even as we speak (or more accurately, as i type and you semi-read), pages for the all-new, all-kidnapping, all-kissing, all-tiki-zombie dare sequel are being drawn! with drawings.

"the kula kola caper" pits the world's most defective detectives against world-conquering red dingo, bungling kidnappers, the boss of assassins, and the most annoying party princess ever, sarah kincaid! someone will fall in love! someone else will die! or not! two fierce foes will battle over buffet choices! no really! that part's definitely in there, while the whole dying thing is still TBD!

but wait — you never read the first dare case? or you read it, but you always wished that it was somehow reprinted, as a single, beautiful book on real paper? (yeah, i said it.) archaia loves you almost as much as i do — and let's be honest, i love the hell out of you — so they are reprinting the almost award-winning "snowpea plot" for your personal gratification. the art is big and bright, the jokes are funnier in a larger font, and maria's kicks have never been so... kicky? kickish? well, i'll let the wordsmiths hash that one out, although my spellcheck insists that "kicky" is okay. whatever, computer. and there's bonus art too, because seriously... you know how much of this stuff i have in my desk? so merry christmas. and hey, what do you know...

...the new and improved "snowpea plot" will be in stores just in time for your christmas shopping pleasure!

do you want to know more? yes. yes, you do want to know more. don't worry, i have that covered, too! COME VISIT ME AT THE NEW YORK COMICCON october 13-16! i'll be in artist alley, either drawing or in a fistfight with a hobo (i assume there are hobos in an artist alley.) either way, there will be lots of dare goodies there, including a new sketchbook and a sneak peek at upcoming dare books! knowing me, there will also almost certainly be new prints, from dare and from my other universally beloved work. if you didn't know my work was universally beloved, don't fret — no one else knew, either.

and if you can't come to NYCC, then boo! but i still love the hell out of you, so you know i'll be updating this blog with everything you will want to know, and probably many other things that do not interest you.

because i care.

cheers!

ben c

1988

do you ever wonder what my art looked like in eighth grade? of course you do.

well, now you can consider yourself enlightened, because it was full of pouty-lipped mecha that had visors, sunglasses, and a monocle.

and naked lady tats.

you're welcome, world.

seven stars

too crazed to even think, but a sketch from new sketchbook. from the same world as empress blue and these guys. (and these. and this guy, too.)

c'est manga!

test pages for a french manga...

Fans seem to think that the more lines that go into a drawing the better it is. Actually, the opposite is generally true. The fewer lines you can put into a drawing the quicker it reads, and the simpler it is. [Alex] Toth is one of the few guys who can simplify an illustration to a minimum of lines with a maximum of impact

-jim steranko

BCTV (ben caldwell television)

howdy all!

great news for the 3 of you who wondered when i was going to be on TV, the answer is TONIGHT! ok, i'm only on TV in the berks county PA area, but if you have a computer (like the one you are reading this post on) then you can watch it live at 7pm here:

i'm going to do some classes and workshops at the Art Institute this fall, and having an exhibit aug 4, so the interview is part of the exciting and informative* media blitz that will put my name on everyone's lips (in the greater berks county region, who is watching channel 13 tonight)! i don't know what they will ask me, but since i throw random comments into every conversation anyway, no worries, right?

as for the exhibit... it will open aug4, and feature tons of original art and development notes, etc, plus i will print up some of those WW pages to fill up the whole wall! and there will be prints and original art for sale! and ninjas, too!**

see you tonight! or at the exhibit! or NYCC! and if i don't see you at any of those places, let's just pretend i did AND YOU LOVED IT, ok? thanks!

i'll post more details about the exhibits and classes and some exciting stuff that's coming for new york comiccon!

cheers!

ben c

*i make no guarantees that it will be even remotely informative.

**due to budget constraints, there will be no ninjas.

more exonauts

no time top post lately (or no energy, same thing). here is more from the exonauts, i think you can see a little bit of it on the site.

project exonaut

hi all!

one of the projects i was working on a while back was cartoon network's online "project exonaut" game. some of the art for that is still secret, including all my character (re)designs, but here is a battle scene i drew up that was rendered by massive black. the whole project was AD'd by drawing board regular jeremy vanhoozer:

i'll post more later!

fight like a girl!

amusing myself by thinking of fun graphics to put on shirts

wondy

i was working on something completely unrelated and this kind of popped out.

*edit* waiting for something to save, finished doodling it.

BAZU!

exactly

manga manga manga!

sorry i've been gone so long, moving and work and blah blah.
still working out the details, but i might have a very manga summer:

recent portfolio stuffs

if only i can get the job! also, boo hoo.

the barge captain's house

well, i was keeping it a secret (ha ha, get it? becau-- ahh, nevermind)... but whatever.

another coloring etc test for st michel. this is the barge captain's house, once a salt-taffee factory. as always, i love showing age and past usage in my characters and enviros.

originally, everything was going to be covered with snow, like a bruegel winter scene.

wolverine

stylin' 2

still working on projects i can't post or talk about...

in the meantime, some doodles of costumes for the same history as empress blue.

howdy all!

sorry i've been absent, in addition to being very busy, i've been pretty wiped out. fun!

so just something short and sweet.

last month was my twins' birthday, so i drew up a coloring/activity book for their class, then went in and read it. fortunately, i'm about as smart and lucid as a 4-year old, so it worked out really well.

it was based on a bunch of bedtime stories i made up for them (the batman/cinderella team-up stories were getting old). it's not shakespeare, but it put off the day day when they inevitable realize that i am an embarrassment. anyway, here are the first few pages:

i'm posting them (relatively) hi-res so you or your liked ones can also color them if you are bored and the tv is out or whatever.

my favorite part is the title lettering.

ain't no party like a —

x184

howdy!

well, NYCC was more exhausting -- and more interesting -- than i was expecting. i didn't really have a plan, and i know there were a lot of people i was planning on looking up who i missed. that's one of the things that always bugs me about big cons, even though it's obviously my own fault.

fortunately, i did get to see a lot of fantastic people, including old pals like steven silver and cheeks (who are way out of my league but don't seem to realize it, which is fine with me)! thank god mike (miss mucci if you're nasty) got me through saturday, and he didn't even use his imaginary ninja sword on anyone the whole time! that was a first.

and of course i have to mention joao and nuno and ricardo (wait, i think there were 2 ricardos?) and basically the whole portuguese comics cartel, who had some beautiful work and were nicer than nice! people who are so positive make me uncomfortable, because i am made out of complex carbohydrates and spite. hopefully some of their new projects make it to american publishers!

on the more soulless side of things, i had some interesting business meetings and, if all goes well, it looks like i will be very busy next year.

anyhoo, talking to joao inspired me to revamp some characters from an old pitch of mine, originally for a cartoon. maybe it would work better as an online comic?