The Art Gallery: 2015 Island Dreams Dark Side Of The Island Zombies

This month’s Art Gallery display comes from Dan Gorman a graphic artist who has worked in the comic industry for a while and has sketch cards included in many of the major releases like Topps, Upper Deck, Rittenhouse, Cryptozoic, Leaf and a number of smaller card companies too.   

This specific card is from 2015 Island Dreams Dark Side Of The Island and is a group of zombies emerging from the water. This is part of my recent zombie phase that I have been in and I knew I had to have it.

I am a big fan of the Island Dreams sets, each year the set is based on a theme and the sketch artists are allowed to freely interpret the theme themselves. In 2015 the theme was "Dark Side Of the Island" so there were plenty of monsters, voodoo, witch doctors, etc. The 2016 theme is "Girls of the Island" so expect lots of girls in bikinis, some sketch card subject matter that you will find on previous Island Dreams sketch cards include pirates, sea creatures, super heroes, surfers and a special theme last year was "Prohibition Pretties". They have even included treasure cards which contain a coin from a sunken treasure find.

Some day I have been working on some sketch cards hoping to better my talent, I would like to submit some portfolio pieces in hopes of becoming an artist for one of their future sets.

The Art Gallery: 2012 Island Dreams Pirate Buddies

This month’s Art Gallery display comes from 2012 Island Dreams. The artist is George Leon, a comic strip artist out of Washington State. This is my second Island Dreams sketch card and it is a beautiful combination of colored pencil and Copic marker.

What caught my attention is the hilarious pirates, who are obviously three sheets to the wind with their “XXX” hooch. What is funny is that if you think about it, the smaller pirate looks like he is holding a prescription bottle. Since I was a kid there have been levels of “coolness” with the first level being pirates and ninjas. Second level is cowboy, police officer, fireman and army man. Any time I can add one of these characters to my sketch card collection I jump on the opportunity.

The Art Gallery: 2013 Island Dreams Batman

This month’s Art Gallery comes the 2013 Island Dreams release. I am a big fan of Island Dreams, besides the large variety of sketch cards the money raised from selling the sets goes to the Family Assistance Fund for the Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. I do not have a connection with this hospital but I do know the hardships that families face when a child requires extended treatment. My son was very sick as an infant, nearly dying three times before the age of two. My wife and I spent many trying months at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington while our son was hospitalized and we met parents who were having difficulty due to their child’s illness. We now make annual donations to local children's hospitals (I usually include sports and comic cards too) so any charity that donates to children’s hospitals will always get my attention as a collector.

 

When Island Dreams was created by Marty Kuklinski in 2011 his intent was for the sets to be island themed. The sets have includes a small base set in the past, 2012 had 15 cards and 2013 had 6 cards, though the focus is the sketch cards. Most sketches are island or water related but the artists are able to go with what interests them and that would be the case here.

 

Tom Kelly is a comic book artist so logically his interest is super heroes and that is what his cards reflect. The main focus is the Batman silhouette over a blacked out moon. The trailing cape and the bat logo on his chest stand out beautifully. What is not obvious is the Batman outline in the background. This was such a cool addition. Some of the other cards that Kelly submitted for the 2013 Island Dreams set include Catwoman, Punisher and Superman.

 

I don't remember what I paid but it was on the lower end in comparison to other Batman sketch cards, though not "officially" licensed it still is a wonderful addition to my superheroes sketch card collection.