LEGENDS OF THE BOO-MONSTER KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN'S FINAL HOURS!

The Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for LEGENDS OF THE BOO-MONSTER is in it's final hours and it's been an amazing and interesting ride.
My friend,Shawn Colton, is writing the book. His son David has Autism,so Shawn decided to write a book in a fantasy setting for David, and for the world, to help promote tolerance and understanding of the condition.


First, and most importantly, I want to thank all those that have participated in this campaign and for help making it a success. Your funds,support & kind words have done an amazing thing in making this project a reality. We could not do it without you. Support like this has helped us to realize that what we are trying to create is special and that it means something to you. We love ya all for everything!

For those who still want to contribute, the Kickstarter campaign has 30+ hours to go, and you still have time to help make the book even better! Just clicky on to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster/posts

This project is, and continues to be a great learning experience for us who are all involved and it's been amazing the response we have gotten for it.

I would like to ultimately thank Shawn Colton. I have known Shawn since the early 1980's. We have been thru a whole hell of alot together-the best times & some of the worst. We have always enjoyed being creative partners. We've both worked together in a comedy troupe. a rock band, on comic books,and tons of other projects. He's taken care of me in bad times & I've done the same for him. I couldn't ask for a better friend and he's one of the most giving persons I've ever known.

So, when Shawn asked if I would be interested in doing the artwork for his book I couldn't say no. I'm having a blast in helping to create the visual look of the book, the characters and the super fun scenes from the book. I think I know Shawn well enough to understand where he's coming from. We both share a huge love of old giant monster movies and cartoons, so I understand his reference point. 

It's also given me a chance to work on a style of artwork I don't delve into that much. I tend to lean towards more the dark & creepy corners of comic book and illustration work. And I don't usually jump onto causes. And, in all honesty, I knew very little about Autism and heck, having kids period. So, I've learned alot about Shawn,his son and his family and the difficult situations of raising a child as I've proceeded with the artwork. It's given me the opportunity to be playful with my artwork in a much more "innocent" way and to try things I haven't done before.

I thank Shawn Colton for giving me this opportunity and for reaching deep inside my creative mind and believing in me and my abilities to help make his dream a reality.
If anyone deserves to have his dreams come true, it's Shawn.

Our focus is now going to be on getting the book the best it can be, and hopefully into your hands by the end of the year. 
Keep checking back as more updates on the book is posted and you can learn right along with me about The Boo-Monster, Autism, Shawn Colton and my creative process in creating the artwork for this book.

LEGENDS OF THE BOO-MONSTER UPDATE!

The funding for "LEGENDS OF THE BOO-MONSTER" has reached it's goal on Kickstarter! Yay!!!!!
The book, is being written by my pal Shawn Colton with artwork by yours truly-Me-David "Ragzdandelion" Hanson.
The Boo-Monster is based on Shawn Colton's son, David, who lives his life with low-functioning autism. He is Shawn's best friend, greatest teacher, and, quite frankly, his whole world. So he felt it only fair that he create a whole world for him.
There's still eight more days left on the Kickstarter site to raise funds, which will go to making the book even better,so please, if you can, donate or share the link - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster
We have some awesome rewards for those that do and it's a very important project for us. We thank everyone BIG TIME for all the support!

In the meantime, I have been busy designing more characters for the book and doing initial concept art & other artwork for it, so I thought I'd share some of it with you. I'm having alot of fun with it and I think you'll get a kick out of it too!

SKETCHBOOKIN' SCRIBBLINZ & BOO-MONSTERS!

Time again to share some of my sketchbook scribblinz and such-


Brendon from the show "HOME MOVIES."


ALIEN INVASIONS OF THE NOT SO PLEASANT KIND!



KISS UNSKINNED!


IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN SEE YOU SMOKE!
(I love the idea of an astronaut smoking a cigarette INSIDE his space helmet. Cracks me up!


VENOM



COUNT DUCKULA!



WHO DOES YOUR HAIR?


And I couldn't do a post without reminding you all of the KICKSTARTER campaign my friend SHAWN COLTON is doing this month to help raise funds for his book LEGENDS OF THE BOO-MONSTER. Shawn has hired me to do the artwork for this very special book about a little monster who has THE DISTANCE. His Father, mother and a whole cast of colorful characters are taken on an adventure to help safe the CONTINENT OF MONSTERS from a horrible threat all the while helping us, the reader, to understand Autism. It's a very meaningful book.As someone who didn't know anything about Autism and the relationship between my friend Shawn and his son, who has Autism,I'm learning more and more about it by reading the chapters and doing the artwork. Please, if you can, donate to his Kickstarter project so Shawn can make this book available to us all. It's more than worth it.
 Here's the Kickstarter link - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster

Character Designs for LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER!

One of my all time fave things to do is designing and coming up with looks for characters. So when Shawn Colton asked me to do the artwork for his book LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER,I,of course, was thrilled because I get to come up with all kinds of fun and exciting characters.

The process for me, is a journey that starts out with making a "template" in the basic pose of the character,that way the character's attitude is immediately set, no matter what they look like facially or how they dress. Then, I take that personality that the character is to have and try to find a "look" for them. What they wear, their hair, their facial expressions and features,and any accessories they may have.

Sometimes it's almost instantaneous. Other times it takes awhile and a lot of re-drawing of them, til I get it right. Also, it's important to keep in mind that the character needs to look like they belong in the universe or world they take part in,both visually and in the story.

So, I thought I'd share with you some of the rough designs and sketches that lead to the final character look.

SISTER GEMINI



TYGER REDD



SARAH GONE


RAINBOW


VIVID VANCE


CAREEN


You can find all these cool creatures and more in the book LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER which is being written by SHAWN COLTON. We are currently having a KICKSTARTER campaign to raise funds so Shawn can publish his book. It's a very special book as Shawn describes here- “Legends of the Boo-Monster” is the fantasy story of a little monster who has a developmental disability known as the “Distance”, which would be our world's version of autism. For over three centuries the Continent of Monsters was a place where diverse and amazing creatures lived in harmony, but now an ancient prophecy is being fulfilled and a group of other-dimensional baddies known as the Intolerance are going to try to make the Continent their own. The Boo-Monster is the center of the prophecy due to his “dimensional frequency”, so the greatest monsters of the Continent gather to protect the Boo-Monster and the peaceful world they’ve always known.

PLEASE visit the KICKSTARTER page at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster and contribute if at all possible, or please share the link.

More artwork and updates to come!

LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN CONTINUES...

“Legends of the Boo-Monster” is the fantasy story of a little monster who has a developmental disability known as the “Distance”, which would be our world's version of autism. For over three centuries the Continent of Monsters was a place where diverse and amazing creatures lived in harmony, but now an ancient prophecy is being fulfilled and a group of other-dimensional baddies known as the Intolerance are going to try to make the Continent their own. The Boo-Monster is the center of the prophecy due to his “dimensional frequency”, so the greatest monsters of the Continent gather to protect the Boo-Monster and the peaceful world they’ve always known.

This story is being written by my buddy Shawn Colton and he has asked me to do the character design & artwork for the book, which I'm thrilled to do because there are so many colorful characters I get to play with. Plus the story is awesome. PLUS, well, Shawn Colton has been one of my creative partners for a few decades, and I wasn't about to say no to this.

We are currently running a KICKSTARTER campaign to raise the funds to get this book published and into the hands of all the fans of fantastic characters and also to help raise awareness of autism.

I'll be doing alot of updates on this project within' the next few months and today I'd like to share just a few of the character designs for some of the supporting cast of this book. I usually do dark, creepy horror artwork, but for a change, LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER gives me the opportunity to get a little more colorful and light hearted and, well, just plain fun with my artwork.


RAINBOW, THE BOO-MONSTER and his PLUCKABLE.


THE LOVELY MISS V


SISTER GEMINI


NEZAR GATH


SARAH GONE


VIVID VANCE

More concept art and designs will be posted, so keep checking back and PLEASE take a look at our KICKSTARTER campaign and donate so YOU can be part of this fun and exciting book.
Here is the link to the KICKSTARTER site - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster

LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER creator SHAWN COLTON's B-DAY DEAL!

BOO MONSTER and his Pluckables by ~ragzdandelion on deviantART

To celebrate our friend, Author/Shawn Colton's Birthday Artist/Dave 'RagzDandelion' Hanson will be offering free digital sketches to ALL who pledge at least $5 towards "The Legends of The Boo-Monster" Kickstarter Project athttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster

, between 12:00 a.m. EST - 11:59 p.m. EST, on June 4th, 2012! Sketch will be of a character of the backer's own choosing!!

Pledged at least $5 BEFORE Shawn's birthday? Increase your pledge by only $1 by 11:59 p.m. EST on 6/04/'12 to get your sketch! Pledged less than $5 before Shawn's birthday? Increase your pledge to at least $5 by 11:59 p.m. EST on 6/04/'12 to get your sketch!

To claim your sketch, e-mail proof of pledge, along with character request, to AtariStacey@gmail.com by 1:00 a.m. EST on June 5th, 2012!

Happy Birthday Shawny, May All Your Kickstarter Wishes Comes True!! Ah-Boo, David & Stacey

LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN!

In the early 80's I met Shawn Colton. We shared an obsession with all things bombastic- KISS, Godzilla, comic books, boobies. We became instant best friends when another friend introduced me to him as we were getting made up in drag for a contest at the nearby college. We were dressing up for a Mock Rock contest, a lip syncing "talent show". We performed two songs by The New York Dolls. We didn't win the contest, but we had so much fun we decided we had to put a real band together. And we did. The band was called Strictly Taboo and we stayed up late, wrote songs, designed logos and posters, dressed flamboyantly, made a bunch of noise and found others that wanted to do the same.We also joined forces with other creative friends and wrote & performed comedy sketches in the troupe called Belco.
Some of the very best times of my life happened in this period. The kind of stuff you see in young adult comedies. Crazy stuff.
As time went on, we, of course like everyone else, formed new relationships, moved to different towns,cities and states. Lost touch, regained communications and forged on with new lives.
I went on to concentrate on an art career, Shawn wrote for The History Channel and had a son, which, for some reason I will never understand, he named after me-David.
We have all had major obstacles and hardships we've had to deal with along with the good times.I'm not going to go into all that, because this post isn't about that,really. It's about friendship.
Shawn's son,David, has Autism. An extreme case of autism.
I know nothing about autism, or having kids at all. But, in speaking with him in phone conversations, I'm learning more and more about it. But, the way I'm really learning about autism and Shawn's very special relationship with his son is thru the story in a book which Shawn has written and hired me to do artwork for.
The book is called "LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER". A fantasy mixed with reality story about a Continent of Monsters,a threat to their world,and the hero of the book, a little rambunctious monster called The Boo-Monster. The Boo-Monster has a mysterious gift called The Distance,and his unique ability carries his father,mother and a whole world of colorful creatures through an amazing journey.
Shawn wants to publish this book to help others,like me, understand autism and his own personal relationship with his son David,also known as The Boo-Monster.But, he didn't want to go the usual route. It's a celebration of their relationship and the joy that his son has given him. David, The Boo-Monster, is the world to Shawn. So, Shawn wanted to create a world for him.
To make this a reality, Shawn has set up a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money to get the book published and out there for people who love fantasy,monsters and adventure, but also would like to learn about Autism.
I've jumped head on into this world too, because Shawn wanted me to do the artwork for his book. I get to do what I love to do the most-create characters-and I'm having a blast doing it.His writing inspires me to go crazy with ideas,and to create artwork a little different from the usual dark things I do.
I ask, whether your a fan of my work, a friend, a family member, a fan of monsters & fantasy,or,who,like me,want to learn about autism and my friends special relationship with his son thru an amazing adventure, to help and to donate to his Kickstarter project.He has tons of incredible rewards available for those who donate,and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Even if you can't donate, please,PLEASE, share the link and spread the word.We would truly appreciate all the help we can get to make this book a reality.
The link to The LEGEND OF THE BOO-MONSTER KICKSTARTER can be found here- http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055563101/legends-of-the-boo-monster

Here's just a few of the artwork I have done for the book and campaign so far. Many more will be to come, and more will be in the book that isn't posted here. I hope you enjoy the visuals enough to get you wanting to get the book and read the even more exciting words that Shawn Colton has written.
LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!







More artwork to come!