Jeff Doten's Venusian Blog

I hate to say it, but deadlines seem to work for me. Here it is all done. I think. I was thinking about Charles' comment on my use of color. I think I'm an impressionist at the heart. Something I may work on later is on the far left of the painting. Behind the 2 windows is an open wall with more mural on it. That is what the color and squiggle are about, but seeing it here, I think it needs more attention, despite my sketch and photo. But I have a tree put up now.

This is a study of a painting for my wife. It's were we stayed on Vancouver Island last summer. Of course I've left it to the last minute, but I was torn, waiting to see if we were going back this coming summer. Now that we've confirmed our booking, I'm painting.

SO that’s me, happy little guy tagged and ready to party at the beginning of the World Fantasy Con were I live in Calgary. Take note of my Fire Gods of Venus are behind me, and Burroughs images to the right of me. Not that you can see it, but I even had a print of the banner for my Barsoomia.org site ( which I’m in the process of repainting ) Set up Thursday,met a couple artists. I have to go home and be dad. Check out this 20lb bag of book loot ! Fri- Todd lockwood shows up & shames us all, fortunately he's a great guy.I went to a panel with him & John Picacio on process & learned a few things. I've been playing with digital water color now after he gives us a tutorial on his mac. My friend Dan & I take Julia, a starving young artist from Denver out to pub & we discover that everyone from the US wants to talk about the election. We thought it would be off limits. Then I had a meeting with a publisher at their party suite & it turns out there are 2 there

I have a big new banner painting on my barsoomia.org  site where I am following Pixar's development of John Carter of Mars or as I've heard they will be calling it the original A Princess of Mars title.  My dirt sources say it will be live action, despite some of director Andrew Stanon's hedging.    So drop on by barsoomia.org  to see the whole thing, join the discussion and keep up on the news about John Carter of Mars ! - Jeff 

Finished George. Sort of. I think I'm still messing with the mist on the left side... This is a big puppy, 30 x 40 ". I'm off to the World Fanatasy Con and wanted something big and splashy, and of course something for the book.... ( and the color is much better than on the previous post )

Okay, from Mars to Venus. This what happened to her.

This fierce lass was done for my unfinished 'Indiana Jones and the Mind Warriors of Mars' movie poster idea. But alas ( this one ) is being re-purposed from Mars of Venus. I liked her too much to leave her behind.

Yowza, it's been a great summer and I'm getting all geared up for the World Fantasy Con in my backyard this year. So with too much to do I'm inspired to do a huge new painting. Go figure. This is a study of George ( from the book ) for it. - Jeff

Kitha: Princess of Venus. Kitha is a fictional character from the story within the story, The Fire Gods of Venus- the a radio play, circa 1933. George never meets Kitha, but he expects to, because she in his head all the time. - Jeff

Kitha, princess of Venus. Not so Skribble Art.

Skribble Art ! I was talking someone that I'm doing some collaborative work with and I skribbled of this image of John Cater of Mars on my wacom tablet. I use my tablet all the time, but I hadn't sketched with it much. I really liked what I got. I think it capture more of the marks that are usually faint with a pencil. It was kinda cool. So when I started working on some new designs for The Fire Gods of Venus, I thought I'd use the same tool. That would be an opaque acrylic brush, and very flat, no painty dry brushing, which is how I usually work . I have been inclining towards NOT doing much tonal blending but choosing the right color and tone and putting that down, that makes much more decisive, no hedging. This new piece is of the Venusian Golgarath or something, and no, it doesn't look like my other Fire Gods work. The Venus one differs from the Mars one in that it is from a pencil sketch, at the moment I like the lines of the Mars one more. In the story there is

I couldn't help it. With the announcement of Andrew Stanton's scripting of John Carter of Mars I set up Barsoomia.org , a site tied into my main home page. I'm such a geek. Barsoom rules.

From PIXAR BLOG Exclusive: Andrew Stanton confirms John Carter of Mars [Complete post] Andrew Stanton personally confirmed for me and others attending today's roundtable discussion in Toronto that he is currently writing John Carter of Mars for Pixar. The disclosure came at the end of the short, but extremely enjoyable, discussion (excerpts of which will be published here soon), when a writer from Suite101.com asked about Stanton's next project, to which Stanton mentioned (not too loudly) 'John Carter of Mars'. Doubting what I'm hearing, I interject, "What is that?" "John Carter of Mars, Stanton replies." "You're confirming John Carter? Are you serious?" At this point, I turn my tape recorder back on, "...say that on tape!", I tell him. Stanton: "I am writing John Carter of Mars right now." "Oh man, you just doubled my page views!", I say. Everybody laughs. (I'm currently looking for a way to transf

I'm really pumped on wallE and this promo is particularly interesting to me because it shows live humans with animated characters and is made by Pixar, and Andrew Stanton who will be making John Carter of Mars. They are far from the first to combine the too, but it's a first for Pixar.

RETOPOLIS Happy Friday here in the future ! Over at http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/ PZ was gombling on about the cool t-shirt he want's for fathers day. I've seen this artists work before and thought it was great. I have taken note that the Retropolis radio announcer is none other than Normal Bean ! I think I need this one -

How frakin’ cool is this ? I love Hellboy. I sort of read a few of the comics before the first movie. Then I saw the movie on a wonderful sneak peak birthday bash thing. Fabulous flick. Now this. More Hellboy, http://www.hellboymovie.com and cooler posters. The best poster wasn’t used for the first flick ( Drew Struzan ). The suits only like photo posters these days. But this new one crosses the line between the design of illustration and still being fotergraphic.

Danton Burroughs is running with the Tharks. RIP Danton. Above is a photo of Danton Burroughs holding a sword his father made for his grand father - Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. The Tharks I mention in the the title are martian warriors. I’ve spoken to Danton a few times and really liked him. Would have liked to meet him in person but never had the chance. Damn. Hope he’s bouncing around Barsoom now. - Jeff “Danton Burroughs unexpectedly passed away last Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at his home in Tarzana, California at the age of 64. He was the grandson of Tarzan writer, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Danton Burroughs was very active in many communities within pop culture, entertainment, and collecting. He protected his grandfathers’ properties and made sure anyone dealing with them gave them the utmost respect. Recently he had been working with Pixar on a film adaptation of his grandfather’s John Carter of Mars. Danton Burroughs was the leader of ERB, Inc. the

First off - to those who were trying to post, my apologies. I had to switch things over for moderation because of a spam issue. Secondly - Thanks ! Oddly I'm a little ambivalent about the image have actually added to it. In the story George leaps from a balcony to a passing ship. I felt the image was missing something, so I've added depth with the foreground characters. Both exist on my Mac as high res scans, so we'll see which one really goes in the text. - Jeff

I'm posting a lot about other peoples projects - like the John Carter of Mars movie - but I am slaving on The Fire Gods of Venus ! Painting painting painting ! And now posting a not quiet finished painting. How weird is that ? I do this sometimes, scan something almost done to play and see what I think it might need to make it just so. This the main character, George Birmingham leaping from (an unseen ) balcony onto a passing ship. I think I'll leave it be at the moment and go onto the next one. Usually I'll see later just what, if any, changes it needs other that a finish polish. - Jeff

Inverse proof of Life ? ( as in NOT animated ) Disney/Pixar film line up - take note on John Carter of Mars- it ain't there. I wasn't happy at first. For a moment. But that's because this is list of ANIMATED pictures. Hey hey hey.... WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS/ PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS RELEASE SCHEDULE 2008 – 2012: Jun 27, 2008 – WALL•E (Andrew Stanton) May 29, 2009 – Up (Pete Docter/Bob Peterson) Oct 2, 2009 – Toy Story in 3-D (John Lasseter) Feb 12, 2010 – Toy Story 2 in 3-D (John Lasseter) Jun 18, 2010 – Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich) Summer 2011 – newt (Gary Rydstrom) Christmas 2011, The Bear and the Bow (Brenda Chapman) Summer 2012 – Cars 2 (Brad Lewis) And notice Andrew Stanton ( who seems to be the MARS guy )has nothing new after Wall - E - Jeff

John Carter of Mars Movie News from Jim Hill Media. Read the whole thing here - Jim Hill Media But here's the juicey stuff -" suggest that what Andrew Stanton supposedly told the staff at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. back in October of last year is true. That Disney / Pixar definitely is gearing up to do a trilogy of films based on the "John Carter of Mars" books. According to what Mouse House insiders recently told me, Mark Andrews (i.e. the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "Ratatouille") has allegedly already completed a first pass on a screenplay for the first film in the proposed "Mars" series. And given that both Pixar and Disney execs have reportedly responded very enthusiastically to Andrews' script ... Well, both companies are now anxious to put this project in the development pipeline ASAP. "So what sort of timetable are we talking about here?," you ask. Well, really serious work on the first "Mars" movie can't ge

Chris Mills, writer of the amazing Perils on Planet X ! has very kindly posted about The Fire Gods of Venus on his blog. Perils is a Burrough's /Flash Gorden/Buck Rogers kinda thing and I like it. Be sure to check out the blog, the site and the work of the illustrator, the inspiring Gene Gonzales .

This mornings offering is a color study for a painting for the interior of TFOV and ( once I realized I didn't have one ) a (loose) study of a yarrie. What is a Yarrie ? It is a two headed Venusian Predator that often hunt in packs, but are also cannibals. Their mode if attack is stab their prey's body with their conical skulls, removing cylinders of flesh for their pleasure.

Oh happy day ! I have been in contact with the producers of Edgar Rice Burroughs " Pirates of Venus" for over a year. Recently my my artwork has been accepted as part of the upcoming Pirates of Venus live action movie. That means it is being use as early promo and concept work. The full book of art I sent them ( and printed through apple's iPhoto ) seemed to do the trick. - Jeff