3 Awards in SI-LA's ILLUSTRATION WEST 50

If you are in California, be sure to check out the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles ILLUSTRATION WEST 50 Exhibition taking place at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California!  The opening reception is TONIGHT, March 30th 7pm to 10pm.  I have 4 pieces exhibited in the show, and 3 of them received awards: Gold, Bronze, and an Honorable Mention in the Graphic Novel / Comic Book Category!!!  The show will be up until April 4th, so don't miss it!  If you aren't in California, you can still see everything online on the ILLUSTRATION WEST 50 website.  I am really honored to receive these awards, and I thank SI-LA for the honor!

Here are my 4 pieces in the show:

 

GOLD AWARD

Between the Lines

Interior from The Spider: The Iron Man War

12" x 5.75" Digitally Painted in Photoshop 

 

BRONZE AWARD

Run for your Life

Interior from The Spider: The Iron Man War 

12" x 5.75" Digitally Painted in Photoshop 

HONORABLE MENTION

March of the Machines

Back Cover from The Spider: The Iron Man War 

11" x 17.5" Digitally Painted in Photoshop 

Monster from the Watergate Lagoon

From Presidential Monsters

7.3" x 10.85" Photoshop

Illustrations © J. Anthony Kosar 
Characters © & TM their respective owners.
SILA Logo © Society of Illustrators.

Presidential MONSTERS at SDCC!

About a couple months ago, I did a project for a new action figure toy line, Presidential MONSTERS! These figures are a hybrid between the classic monsters and the American presidents. They are fully pose-able, with real clothes, and styled like the vintage Mego figures. They are being officially released at San Diego Comic Con this weekend July 21-24th 2011 at the Presidential MONSTERS booth #3449!


I was brought on to do three of the seven character illustrations for the packaging cards: Richard Nixon as "Monster from the Watergate Lagoon," George W. Bush as "Zom-Bush," and John F. Kennedy as "The Phantom of the White House." The images were painted wide to fit the back of the card as well as the front.

Here is the art:
(click pictures to view larger)


Here are some details of the art:
(click pictures to view larger)

As each character has a theme color, the theme color for Nixon "Monster from the Watergate Lagoon" is orange, so the original approved colors of the final illustration were adjusted by the packaging designer for continuity of the set between artists. You can see the package version of Nixon and Zom-Bush below which you can also get as T-Shirts:

I had a very tight deadline for this project as the art had to go to the factory in order to be printed on the packaging cards in time to have everything ready to be released by this weekend at the San Diego Comic Con. Plus, I was working on these illustrations when I was finishing the creation of 3 creatures for the film Blood on the Plain, but luckily I was able to complete these 3 creatures as well as the film's 3 creatures in time! They started off as traditional gouache paintings, but once I was about 50% finished, I completed painting them digitally in Photoshop in order to meet the deadline.

Here are what the toys look like:
(click pictures to view larger)


Here is the whole line:
(click picture to view larger)


They even are making MINI Presidential MONSTERS:
(click picture to view larger)

If you are going to be at San Diego Comic Con this weekend July 21-24th 2011, be sure to stop by the Presidential MONSTERS booth #3449 where you can be the first to own these monster presidents and t-shirts featuring my artwork!! The booth is right next to the Mezco Toys booth. Also be sure to visit booths Heroes West Coast #729 and Toy Tokyo #5437! I unfortunately will be unable to attend SDCC 2011 to see the offical Presidential MONSTER release, but if you go, send me some pictures of the Monsters!!

These toys will be hitting the shelves at various national retailers, toy stores, and novelty shops very soon. Also, some REALLY BIG news about this haunted toy line is also coming soon, so keep posted!

Monster Nixon, Bush, and Kennedy Illustrations by J. Anthony Kosar.
Photos of Toys and Logos courtesy Heroes In Action Toys.
Presidential Monsters, Toys, and Art © 2011 Heroes In Action Toys, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.