Ep. 66: Brushstrokes of Genius ft. JEFF PRESTON, BRIAN STELFREEZE, JOE JUSKO and MARK TEXIERA

Labor Day came and went, and once again Dragon Con held the biggest party downtown Atlanta has ever seen. Just like in previous years, it left in its wake a great time had by all 35,000 attendees and some awesome convention audio for us (yaaay)!

Dwight and I did panel moderating at the big show and we're stoked to be able to bring one of 'em to you now. It's all about traditional painters and features some really cool guys. Here's the Tale of the Tape:

JEFF PRESTON - Illustrator, designer, educator and banjo player. The subject matter in Jeff's commercial work has often been an eclectic mix of classic horror, fantasy and religious imagery. At his busiest, he's painted over 300 illustrations in a single year, many of those for Christian groups. Preston's a proud member of The Society of Illustrators and his painting of Uncle Creepy, a character made famous by Warren Publishing in the mid '60s, will be showcased in the new Spectrum 15—due out in October.

BRIAN STELFREEZE- Painter, illustrator, comic artist and wearer of hats. Brian makes his home right here in Atlanta where he co-founded his base, Gaijin Studios. Shadow of the Bat, Domino, Fallen Angel and many a 12 Gauge comic have been adorned with his images, and he too is a molder of young minds. He teaches a workshop in watercolor painting in conjunction with a life drawing class Gaijin offers every Tuesday and Thursday night. Brian is also the art director for the aforementioned 12 Gauge Comics.

JOE JUSKO - Painter, illustrator and former NY cop (listen to the podcast, he'll tell you). Joe is a New York City native and sold his first cover painting to Heavy Metal Magazine at the tender age of 17. His spectacular run as the cover artist for The Savage Sword of Conan is well chronicled and he's worked for almost every major publisher of comics, fantasy and science fiction. Joe's the winner of many awards including the Wizard Fan Award, the Golden Lion and the Chesley. He too is a member of The Society of Illustrators.

MARK TEXIERA - Painter, illustrator, comic artist and not a wearer of shoes..! Known to many as Tex, Mark is also a New Yorker and attended the famous Art & Design High School, and eventually SVA. He worked for Neal Adams' Continuity Associates during the '80s handling art chores on the book Megalith and doing commercial assignments for companies like Salem and Marlboro. Tex's own clients over the years have included New York Magazine, Scholastic Books, Def Jam Records, Marvel, DC and Wizards of the Coast.

Well, that's about it, folks, pound for pound a terrific group of panelists! Our thanks to Dragon Con for having us and to the guests and attendees for hangin' out. 'Twas much fun and we hope you too enjoy!