Published! - My first prose short story...

Hey, all-

Most of you know me as an artist, but, if ya didn't know, I also write.

Wanted to let you know that my first prose short story has been published by the online literary magazine, Angel Atrophy Magazine on MySpace!



And the accepted story is here:

"Hot and Cold" by Ray Dillon
- 2861 Words; Thriller/Adult -
Synopsis: Brian's conscience teaches him a lesson he'll never forget.

This is the first recognition I've gotten for my writing since the literary magazine "Papercuts" back in High School and ... well, I hope none of you track that down. ;o)

I feel pretty good about it even if it's not ink on paper, because it feels like a good start. Someone out there liked it enough to highlight it, so someone down the line (if I spend more time submitting...) might like it enough to print it.

I've written 4 novels, three children's adventure, one adult thriller, an all ages graphic novel, and several short stories in prose, comics, and film. Working on editing and developing them.

Anyway, go check it out if you have some time and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

~Ray

New Sketchbook!

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Not a whole lot to look at. Just got a new sketchbook (that's always fun!) and since I had my scanner out anyway for the Oz cards I took the time to scan this.

So, yeah, for a change this is done with pencil on paper instead of Wacom tablet and PS. OoooOoO. ;o)

Renae told me to draw Batman looking like "What the--?" So, I gave that a try. Just goofin' around.

Let me know what you think and thanks for stoppin' by!

~Ray

RayDillon.com | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | DeviantArt

Batman Cinematic!

Hey, all!

Got an extension on one of the projects that has been kicking my butt, so I decided to take some time to relax and just draw for fun today. Kinda give me a restart for tomorrow morning (and the upcoming week).

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This just kinda came out when I started sketching. Going for a classic Batman in cinematic style. Wanted to do something quick and thankfully this only took a couple of hours, especially since I sketched the background and relied on colors. ;o)

As usual, it was done entirely in Photoshop 7 with my trusty Intuos II Wacom tablet.

Batman Wallpaper 1024 x 768

I also did my first writing today since finishing NaNoWriMo back in November. I wrote a flash fiction (under 1,000 words) story for my online writing group. I'll have that posted up soon as well.

Anyway, it's gettin' late, so I will say goodnight and have a wonderful tomorrow.

Thanks for stoppin' by.

~Ray

Illustration Friday - "Monster"

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Just a quick digitally painted sketch for the latest Illustration Friday; prompt of "Monster."

Anyone who takes their anger out on a child, physically or verbally, is a monster.

Listening to Gary Jules "Mad World" (from the Donnie Darko soundtrack) while drawing this:


Gotta get back to the Wizard of Oz sketch cards. Still a couple hundred to do.

Thanks for lookin'.

~Ray

Wizard of Oz sketch cards!

Yippee!! My newest project (the one I've been hinting at) is Wizard of Oz sketch cards for Breygent and Warner Bros. And I'm psyched!



I'm hard at work on 'em, as there's very little time left to get through them all (not sure if I'm allowed to say how many). The best part is that a bunch of the Golden Goat Studios members are working on them, too. Mark Winters, Renae De Liz, Josh Ross, and Brent Engstrom are all wizarding up some cards alongside me (actually, I think they're all beating me).

So, go to this link for more info: http://OZ.GoldenGoatStudios.com

In other news, we've inducted a new Goat into the studio:



Renae De Liz, an incredibly talented artist with a flare for making her characters live and breath. Go read all about her and help us welcome her to the studio.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

~Ray

Jeremy Fiest's "8 a.m."

This is the film we shot on John's boat in Marina Del Rey right before the San Diego Con last year. Jeremy (director) and Jordan Gray (editor) did a great job in taking it in a different direction than anticipated and it gave it it's own flavor. John Robert Johnson, who also produced, gave a fantastic performance. This is our first glimpse of something from their new film production company, Tornado Alley Entertainment. It's not quite finished (some sound tweaks and whatnot), but close:



I'm credited for sound. I pretty much just held the boom mic and tried not to fall asleep (I was exhausted). Oh, and I ran around town buying props (which were incredibly difficult to find in LA). Think I maybe ran the camera for a few shots. Anyway, it was a blast.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts. You should also visit the Tornado Alley Entertainment MySpace page or the GGS message boards to let Jeremy and John know what you thought!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

~Ray

Illustration Friday - "Feet"

Okay, I'm kinda taking the easy way out this week, but there's a lot going on around here so I don't have time right now to do up a new image. And besides, the first thing that popped into my head for "Feet," the latest prompt for Illustration Friday, was this image of one of the Proudfeets, part of the familiy of Hobbits from the Lord of the Rings. And this is one of the sketch cards I did for Lord of the Rings: Evolution, the latest LOTR series from Topps cards. You can view the rest of my cards on that site by clicking my name from the list.

In other news, I'm working on another fun sketch card assignment for a well-known film and book. I'll have more news on that soon. Gotta get 300 done in a couple of weeks on top of my other coloring and lettering projects. Just busy, busy, busy.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

~Ray

Holy cow, I'm on ebay! - LOTR Sketch Cards

RAY @

This is nuts! The LOTR cards are starting to arrive in stores and already they're getting up on ebay: Me on ebay

So far most are only set for $.99, but here's one for $24.99: Me on ebay for $24.99


There was another one on there under Ray Dillion (extra I), but they corrected it as I was posting this. But, if you're interested in getting one, you might keep that in mind.

And this is pretty cool. The highest priced card so far is from one of my favorite LOTR Sketch Card Artists, Rafael Kanyanan, for $311: Artist selling for a lot more than me no ebay

This just makes me feel cool. ;o)

I don't get any of that money, but it'd be cool to see those bids going crazy.

Anywho, thanks fer lookin'!

~Ray