Wander to the right and you'll find Chad Hardin, Jeff Hein, Stephen Silver, Patrick Morgan, Nathan Fowkes, Paul Hamblin, and Chris Wahl.
Chad and I were roommates for a short time in 1996. We were both recently missionaries for our church and studying with Glen Orbik at California Art Institute in Thousand Oaks. Years later, we were both at Saffire, a game developer, and now Chad's doing some beautiful comic work. Chad has a great storytelling sense and is a great illustrator. Good thing he's doing comics. He kicks butt.
Paul Hamblin is a good friend that I met at Southern Utah University. After 9/11, I decided to go back to school and get a teaching certificate. It didn't take very long for me to decide against the teaching certificate. Paul shared studio space with me for a few months. I hooked him up with his wife, they moved to CA, and now she's putting him through ArtCenter. Been doing some nice work.
I briefly met Jeff Hein at a lecture about a year ago. A couple of weeks later, I was in Salt Lake at a convention and decided to drop by his studio. He's got a few thousand square feet, maybe less, above a Benihana or something. Location, location! In between his broccoli with beef and wasabe, he paints and teaches upstairs. Jeff does some fun stuff.
I don't know the rest of those guys yet, but I certainly enjoy perusing their blogs and websites, and I suspect that you will, also.
I also added Adam Hughes and Glen Orbik to the website links. Adam is well-known, and does the comic convention circuit. Paul Hamblin and I drove to nearby Vegas a few years ago to attend what turned out to be a flop of a Las Vegas Comic-con. It was held on Halloween, was poorly advertised, poorly attended, and gave us a chance to meet a lot of great artists very quickly. Adam, who was uncharacteristically NOT being hounded by an ogling fanbase, was nice enough to answer some technical questions we had. He seemed like a pleasant and engaging fellow, even though he was drawing away on someone's requested sketch the whole time.
Glen Orbik is also well-known, as he is an accomplished and prolific illustrator, as well as one of the finest natural instructors I have ever met. I say that with authority, as he was plagued with me as a student for a couple of years. Some can teach, but suck at art. Others are great artists that are horrible teachers. Glen is the perfect amalgam of the artist/instructor. I may add more later, but for now, divert yourself for an hour or two as you meander the paths of this master craftsman's website. Beautiful work. He shares it with Laurel Blechman, his partner of who knows how many years. Both are very skilled. Have fun!
