hi-res testin yo

SPRING 2018 SKETCHBOOKS

howdy all! just thought i'd park all this updated UPDATED information in one handy spot. i'll be at heroes con june 15-17, including my newest sketchbooks!

all of these books are 80pp, b/w softcover, $15.

all books are available now on my big cartel site:

http://bencaldwell.bigcartel.com

PLEASE INCLUDE THE WORD "SKETCHBOOKS" IN ANY EMAILS/PAYPAL NOTES TO ME, AS I GET TONS OF JUNK MAIL.

SB32 daily doodles 

SB31 comics covers and interiors

(lots of Red Sonja and Wonder Woman)

SB30 daily doodles

SB29 comics covers 

SB28 daily doodles 8

SB27 daily doodles 7

SB26 comic cover and page art 

(almost sold out)

SB24 comic cover and page art

(almost sold out)

SB21 daily doodles 4

there is also my first full-color sketchbook, the dare detectives' "misfits' manual"! hardcover, with 60pp of full-color art and notes on the world's most defective detectives, and the people who try to kill them!

misfits' manual

RECENT DOODLES...

2018 COMMISSION RATES ETC

howdy all! i'll be at NICE in Bedfordshire sept 1-2! if you're interested in a commission, i strongly recommend reserving a spot now. i do take commissions at my table, but I've been booked up very quickly the last few times, and I'm doing fewer ink and marker commissions, especially last minute ones.

also note that while the prices for smaller commissions have stayed the same, i have raised them for the marker pieces. these take a lot longer, which means drawing for fewer people. it also means not always finishing commissions until long after the show, of which i am not a fan.

COMMISSIONS

Commission rates: 


Pencils 8.5x11” — $80

(sometimes they cartoony)

(sometimes they ain't)

Inks 8”x11” — $150

Super-Fancy Markers and Inks 9x12" — $300

Pencils 11”x17” — $150

Inks 11x17” — $300

Super-Fancy Markers and Inks 14x17" — $400

(this one is unfinished but you get the idea)

also keep in mind, i am currently only doing commissions at shows, for show pick-up.
(if you have a friend who can pick up for you that's fine)

NEW YORK COMIC CON COMMISSION LIST

howdy all! i'll be at new york comic con in october! if you're interested in a commission, i strongly recommend reserving a spot now. i do take commissions at my table, but I've been booked up very quickly the last few times, and I'm doing fewer ink and marker commissions, especially last minute ones.

also note that while the prices for smaller commissions have stayed the same, i have raised them for the marker pieces. these take a lot longer, which means drawing for fewer people. it also means not always finishing commissions until long after the show, of which i am not a fan.

COMMISSIONS

Commission rates: 

Pencils 8.5x11” — $80

Inks 8”x11” — $150

Super-Fancy Markers and Inks 9x12" — $250

Pencils 11”x17” — $150

Inks 11x17” — $300

Super-Fancy Markers and Inks 14x17" — $400

also keep in mind, i am currently only doing commissions at shows, for show pick-up.

2015 SKETCHBOOK INFO!

howdy all! just thought i'd park all this information in one handy spot. my latest sketchbooks are in and ready to order/ship! all of these books are 80pp, b/w softcover, $15.

All domestic (US) orders: include $2.80 shipping for the first book, $.80 per additional book.

plus $.75 per book for  paypal purchases.

International orders: write me for shipping etc charges,

ben(at)daredetectives(dot)com.

PLEASE INCLUDE THE WORD "SKETCHBOOKS" IN ANY EMAILS/PAYPAL NOTES TO ME, AS I GET TONS OF JUNK MAIL.

SB11 the bigger book of the dare detectives 

SB12 heroes and fantasy 

SB14/15 dare detectives/wonder woman

SB16 animation toy and game design 

SB18 daily doodles 1 

SB19 daily doodles 2 

SB20 daily doodles 3 

SB21 daily doodles 4

SB22 comic cover and page art

SB23 daily doodles 5

there is also my first full-color sketchbook, the dare detectives' "misfits' manual"! hardcover, with 60pp of full-color art and notes on the world's most defective detectives, and the people who try to kill them!

misfits' manual, $25 + shipping

PREZIDENTIAL MATH

HEROES CON COMMISSION LIST ETC...

hi all! been crazy with pages but it occurs to men that ‪#‎heroescon‬ is coming mighty soon! so i'm opening up a commission list now. i'm not taking many commissions this year EXCEPT at conventions, and i won't be going to a lot of conventions this year. so let me know!

ps - my commission info is right here:

http://purgetheory.blogspot.com/…/summer-2014-commission-an…

pps - i'll also have all those sketchbooks plus at least one new ‪#‎dailydoodles‬ sketchbook, and hopefully, another general (and generally cartoonier) sketchbook.

THINKY STUFF

i don't have the time/energy to do a panel-by-panel recount of why i do everything i do, but these are the sorts of things comic artists (and hopefully writers) think about as they translate a string of words in a script into a river of images...

this page reminds me of a criticism "infinity inc" recently received. one reviewer was bothered by the fact that i didn't clearly show the infinitor's jet getting blown up, i only showed an energy blast being leveled at the jet, and then the wreckage of the jet afterward.

now it so happens that there is a specific, story-driven reason why i chose that solution. but i was more thrown off by their insistence that instead, there should have been a giant, perhaps even 2-page shot of the jet exploding.

NO.

that's the equivalent of having a michael bay explosion where everything suddenly goes slow-motion, while swelling operatic (or if you're peter jackson, faux-celtic) music erupts from the speakers. that is some premium, grade A, lazy trope shit there. there might be some extremely specific times when that works, but the idea that this is the obvious default solution for a certain sort of scene is just aesthetically, technically, and morally reprehensible.

(to be clear, i'm not really complaining about that reviewer, i just see a lot of that sort of thinking in comics and film, and it rarely improves anything.)

anyway, in this case there was also a reason why i framed the shoot down in this particular way. there's pretty much ALWAYS a reason why i do what i do, even if it's a stupid reason.

here, i wanted a non-sexy, matter-of-fact-news-footage feeling of distance and casualness. the plane shoot down isn't part of some epic battle, it's not the climax of anything and it shouldn't have that slo-mo-opera grandeur to it. the moment when a handful of people are consigned to death is, here, simply a programmed and impersonal act.

PREZ previe page pencils

day 178: sarah kincaid

from the dare detectives, of course! playing everybody's favorite imaginary game that they didn't know existed (because i made it up), ragball. one of the many many things i've cannibalized from my sithri project.

daring day 177: daredevil & maria dare!

 pencil, 8x11". $40*

 pencil, 8x11". SOLD

*there are no shipping etc costs for daily doodles 

day 176

going to try and be more consistent about putting all there #dailydoodles in one organized space...