Sweet Rides

Late news again! Well, just one small item at least. Waaaaaaaay back in June, my art was featured on the Pixar Times blog in anticipation for Cars 2. I was asked to design a Muppet–themed car (surprise, surprise) for the Pixart contest. I did a combination of the always hip and profitable Dr. Teeth with the classic Electric Mayhem bus. Thanks to Jerrod Maruyama (a very talented artist) for inviting me to participate!

In much more up-to-date news, I was invited back as a guest artist for the brilliantly written Cutting Room webcomic! I've really come to enjoy working with these guys, and much thanks for their kind words about my art. Just a heads up, this week's comic I did is a bit more PG than my usual stuff and comes off a bit violent. You've been warned!

And finally, while you can still go over and enjoy all the good times at davehulteendesign.com, the site will be getting a huge facelift within the next month or so and switch over to Wordpress. I haven't yet decided (or more realistically figured out) how this will effect or change this blog, but I suppose we won't break many eggs as barely anyone reads this. HA!

However, if you are one of the enlightened members of the human race who do follow along here, then please remember to follow me on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook, because from what I'm to understand, those two sites in particular are somewhat more popular than my own. AND don't forget to visit my Etsy shop and get some sweet custom art for yourself or a gift for someone special! Peace, love, and recycle!

Comics, Shirts, and Special Olympics

It's been awhile and I have neglected to share a LOT of news that has happened over the past month, so get ready for a blitz of stuff you never even knew you cared about!

The Cutting Room
First up on the list is a bit of older news, but some that I'm very proud of. I was recently asked to be a guest artist on the very funny webcomic, The Cutting Room where I had a chance to draw E and C sharing some hysterical heroic apathy. The Cutting Room is a very funny series that showcases some great artists. I had so much fun doing it that I'm currently working on yet another strip for them for July, so keep an eye out for the news.

Threadless Muppet T-Shirt Design Challenge
A few good friends notified me about the Threadless Muppet T-Shirt Design Challenge and encouraged me to enter. Voting ends on June 27, and there are so many clever and great designs that others have posted that I'm excited for a new Muppet shirt no matter who wins! Of course, I sure wouldn't mind if I got a few more fives, so head on over and vote today and support all the great designers.

2011 Summer Special Olympics
My sister Morgan trains at Ace Gymnastics, and has been competing in the Special Olympics for quite some time now. This year, my wife Niki and I got to go with the family to Trenton for the 2011 summer games, and man, what an amazing time we all had! To see the sportsmanship, dedication, and effort all these remarkable athletes gave was inspiring. My dad asked if I might help show all our support by designing a t-shirt for the weekend, and so I made a fun design featuring the faces of our four athletes representing Ace Gymnastics, including my sister, Morgan! This was an event that I took hundreds of memories home with, and will cherish forever. The Special Olympics and the hoards of volunteers that run it are a highly tuned, well oiled machine, so check your local area and support Special Olympics.

That's all for now, but don't forget to become a fan on Facebook for exclusive artwork, check out my Etsy shop for some great gift ideas, and as always, please stop on by Davehulteendesign.com for a good ol' time!

Look like a cool puppet!

Recently I opened my own Etsy shop where I can happily illustrate you as a puppet! It's a great and unique change of pace from some bland everyday caricature, and yours to use as a profile pic or avatar, or print and display at home or work, or even get as a gift.

So what are you waiting for? Tell all your friends, family, co–workers, teachers, mortal enemies, imaginary buds, pen pals, spirit animals, that weird guy who smells like ginger bread in front of the doughnut shop, and everyone else you've ever met to go get puppet–ized!

Check out my Etsy store here!

And as always, enjoy all the fun at Davehulteendesign.com, follow me on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook. Stay tuned for more news and new items to go on sale.

My marvelous mass of Muppet memorabilia!

The Muppet Mindset and I teamed up again to bring you a video of all the Muppet stuff I've collected over the past thirty years. It's a short little film we're all really proud of and hope you enjoy. Check it out!

Competitions, comics, conspiracies, and collections

Well, the 2011 Muppet Madness Tournament hosted by MuppetFans.com finished up earlier this week, and the cute and lovable Super Grover just barely beat the geriatric duo— Statler and Waldorf. Being the creative director for MuppetFans and the fanboy that I am, I drew a few pictures of the fuzzy and blue super monster as well as the balcony boys. The final match–up between the three was so close that I created winners graphics for both sides! A special thank you goes out to The MuppetCast, The Muppet Mindset, and ToughPigs for all their hard work for this year's competition.

On a lazier note, my new weekly comic series, "Lazy Comics" has been entertaining close to no one! Most of the comics are drawn well, some are even funny, all of them are exclusively on Facebook! In fact, you can read all of the current Lazy Comic strips and see the custom Muppet Madness Tournament artwork by going to Facebook and becoming a fan of davehulteendesign. It's so easy, it's practically a crime.

Speaking of crime, Governor Jesse Ventura has written a new book exposing the crimes of American government in his latest book, "63 Documents The Government Doesn't Want You To Read". I not only picked up my copy, but had the chance to meet and talk with the governor in person at a recent book signing. Like all celebrities, Mr. Ventura was very nice, and very chatty, taking his time to talk to everyone who came out to meet him… everyone. I never really watched Jesse "The Body" Ventura on wrestling as a kid, but I became a big fan after hearing him as a semi–regular guest on The Howard Stern Show. He's a colorful guy who I think is very smart and has some fascinating ideas. Whether you think he's looney or not, listening to him speak, I always think, "Man, that's so crazy it just might be true!" Check out Jesse "The Mind" Ventura's book at your local book dealer today.

And finally, what's next in store for your old buddy, Dave? Well, it's top secret and the government doesn't want you to know… however, they're shutting down later today, so I'll tell you anyway. For a few months now I have been working on a new video to show off my monster mass of Muppet memorabilia I've managed to accumulate. I'm excited to show off what kind of fanboy I really am, and within the next month or so, you'll be able to watch in wonder and amazement at all the stuff my lovely wife allows me to display in our home on the sensational Muppet Mindset!

So stay tuned, and as always, swing on by davehulteendesign and make sure you become a fan on Facebook!

2011 Muppet Madness Finals!

The 2011 Muppet Madness Tournament (MMT) is in it's final two brackets. It's the cute and lovable SUP–er Grover verses the curmudgeonly old Statler and Waldorf. You can vote for your favorite every two hours by visiting the official MuppetFans MMT page!

 Remember to stop by MuppetFans.com regularly for all your Muppety news, fun, and mayhem and get the latest from The Muppet Mindset, Tough Pigs, and The Muppet Cast!

As always, don't forget to swing by davehulteendesign.com and become a fan on Facebook as well.

MuppetFans.com!

For a long time now, I have been working on a top secret project in collaboration with The MuppetCast, ToughPigs, and The Muppet Mindset. I'm so excited to announce that it's finally here!

MuppetFans.com is the quintessential place to get all your Muppet news, and then some! It's a monumental achievement in fandom that words can't express, so I won't try. In the meantime though, try and get an idea of it yourself and go visit MuppetFans.com!

Lazy Comics

Did you know davehulteendesign.com has a Facebook fan page? It does! But up until recently, there wasn't much to be a fan of. However, now and every Monday you can read the all new Lazy Comics — an exclusive comic strip available only on our Facebook fan page! It's real easy, just go to our fan page and "like" it.

www.davehulteendesign.com

This news is bananas AND weird!

First off, there's some fun new art for you to enjoy over at Deviantart! You can enjoy a collection of vector art, including the wily and elusive Banana Snake, as well as the World's Greatest Detective — The Bat Intruder!

In other news, I am proud to announce that I am officially listed as a staff member on the fantabulous Muppet Mindset! It is really an honor to be the Mindset's go–to artist. Ryan is a good friend of mine, and he is so genuinely kind and razor sharp smart, and I'm delighted he nabbed me to do all this stuff for him.

Finally, the legendary Weird Al Yankovic has written his first children's book, and I got to meet him at a signing where he graciously took pictures and signed autographs for everyone who came. Weird Al has been a hero of mine since I was a little kid, and meeting him was a once in a lifetime treat.

2010 – My Year In Review

From January to December, here is 2010 from my perspective and crammed in to six minutes! Check out the latest video on my site to see it all!

Happy New Year!

And a late "Merry Christmas"! Typically, I don't care for New Year's, but I do happen to love Tough Pigs, and they thought I was important enough to feature with a bunch of other Muppet–y people who have Muppet–y resolutions! Go there now to read what people like Muppet comic book writers and artists, Bear (from Bear In The Big Blue House), and legendary Muppeteer Jerry Nelson are planning to do in 2011! Oh yeah, and me too!

DaveHulteenDesign.com is online!

My site is finally online and ready for your viewing pleasure! So go! Now! To www.davehulteendesign.com! Yes, that's right, www.davehulteendesign.com is where you need to go. Make sure you follow this blog, Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook. www.davehulteendesign.com! Woo–hoo!

Christmas Nintendo Science Theater 3000

My DeviantArt page has some fun new stuff up, including (but not limited to) an illustration of the classic Mario Brothers as they get ready to stomp some Koopa butt. So please go check it out!

It's also that special time of year when people everywhere start panicking that their Christmas shopping hasn't even been started. If you're one of those people (like me), and need some joy and cheer, or you just want to have some holiday happiness; then get on over to the Muppet Mindset and see the Christmas banner I made for my good friend Ryan. It's everyone's favorite and oldest Muppet dog Rowlf, based on an illustration Jim Henson drew.

Now it's pretty obvious I love the Muppets, but I'm also a huge fan of the 90's television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. I watch it every day on my laptop while I work, so when I heard that Joel Hodgson's latest endeavor, Cinematic Titanic, was doing a live show at the NJPAC in Newark, NJ, I just had to go! So my buddy Tim and I went and laughed like never before as the original cast of MST3k performed in Victoria Theater. J. Elvis Weinstein and TV's Frank Conniff opened up the show with some stand-up. Trace Beaulieu and Mary Jo Pehl read excerpts from Trace's new book: Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children. And Joel Hodgson did a magic trick and sang the MST3k theme song before the whole cast came on stage and riffed on a simply terrible movie called "The Oozing Skull". That alone would have been a perfect night, but afterward, the group came out to sign autographs and take pictures with their loyal fans! Everyone signed my DVD copy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection – The Essentials and I got my picture taken with Frank, Trace, and Joel! It was an awesome time, and if you're even the slightest fan, check out their touring schedule to see when they're performing close to you, or buy their latest DVDs!

In the meantime...

Well, it's been awhile, and my site still isn't up yet, but life moves on and so do I. Actually, I shouldn't say the site isn't up, because it technically is, but it's under heavy duty construction. Fortunately, NO one is even aware of this blog yet, so it's okay for me to even mention it. I think of this as retroactive–archival news.

However, if you are reading this at any point in time, I do have some saucy new fun stuff up on my DeviantArt page that you should really go check out! So swing on by, and check out some trendy typography! Or perhaps a quick exercise I did using a Wacom tablet! Maybe enjoy a caricature of my all time favorite author Mark Twain! Be terrified or tickled pink by Piddles The Indignant Clown! See a study of a curvaceous cutie created completely in Illustrator! Or get your "Go–Go" on with a real star!

In other news, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate, producer for The Howard Stern Show, recently released his autobiography; "They Call Me Baba Booey". Being a super–fan, and living in Jersey, it made sense I take advantage of the local touring schedule and meet him. And meet him I did! My friend and co–worker Joe and I took a ride to Bookends n Ridgewood, NJ and met Stern's long time producer. Gary was very nice and gracious to all the fans, and it was so cool to meet him!

Xbox Muppet Lifestyle Collection Review

Recently, the Xbox LIVE Marketplace made a new Muppet Lifestyle collection available, and as a major fanboy and gamer, I freaked out with excitement! DaveHulteenDesign.com is almost up and running, but to give a little preview of the type of some of the content that will be there, I did a video review for my good friend Ryan at The Muppet Mindset.

You should go over there right now and see it! And while you're there, check out all the Muppety goodness Ryan posts regularly; like the artwork I did for the Mindset's 1 year birthday, or an interview with yours truly, or my review on the Sesame Street 40th Anniversary figures!

Stick around for more Muppet news and updates on DaveHulteenDesign.com, and thanks for stopping by!