Great news! I had an idea for a painting, genius robot artist Eric Joyner has agreed to paint it, and now you can watch the whole thing happen right here at The Sneeze!

THE IDEA: I thought it would be cool to see a boxing arena depicting a real life battle between the toy classic Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots. The Red Robot standing victorious over the Blue Robot, who is sprawled out on the mat with his head popped.

The best part about this is I'll be posting every step of the painting as it comes into being. You can follow along from Eric's initial sketch, to my research photos, to work-in-progress shots of the painting itself.

This is going to be really fun. Come back soon, and watch this robot baby come to life! And in the meantime, go pick yourself up some prints from the rest of his fine tin robot collection.

The Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot painting has moved into its 2nd phase! I have received the initial sketch from Eric, and it is outstanding. Click on it for a better view of the outstandingness.

We were talking about what type of arena this fight might be taking place in, and Eric came up with populating the audience with more toy robots. Brilliant!

For the next phase I'll be taking reference photos of the actual toy based on this sketch for Eric to paint from. Luckily, I happened to give my friend Dan a vintage mint Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots set last year.

I'll post those reference pix soon. (And don't worry, we'll make sure the knocked out robot's head will be popped.)

If you have no idea what this is about, click here for the original story.

Last week I took a bunch of digital photos of the actual Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots as reference for Eric, following his instructions for camera and lighting placement.

Above is a photo of Eric putting the finishing touches on the final sketch before the actual painting begins.

Click on the small black and white sketch to the right to get a better view of it. The finished painting will be approximately 32" x 26".

Note that the knocked out robot (it will be The Blue Bomber) has his head popped up now.

And while it's not there yet, my wife has requested a patented yet subtle Eric Joyner donut lurking somewhere in the final painting. If you look at his other toy robot paintings carefully, you will often detect the presence of donuts in them.

You can find all 3 phases right here.

Wow! The Underpainting phase is complete.

This is where Eric establishes the overall values of the painting in acrylic before he finishes the painting in oils. The image may change some during the oil painting stage, which is next.

The whole thing just keeps looking better and better. You can click on the small image to the right to see a larger picture.

As per my wife's request, a pantented Joyner donut has been subtly placed in the hands of a hungry robot in the back of the arena.

Check out Eric's site right here, where you can see all of his cool toy robot paintings, his non-robot paintings, and buy hiqh-quality prints. You can also read a nice interview with Eric here!

All phases of Project Green Paint can be found here.

Click for a larger view

Here's a mini-update on the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em painting.

Eric has filled in the smoky atmosphere, the ring, and the robots in the background. He'll tackle the robots in the foreground next.

All phases of the painting can be found here.

The end is in sight!

The lovely and talented Eric Joyner has completed all the spectator robots in the audience. All that's left are our two stars. I can't wait!

Click on thumbnail at right for larger image.

I was also happy to see they still make the original toy!

All phases of the painting from the initial idea until now can be found right here.

It's hard to believe, but the robot painting is finished and actually in my possession. (Click on it for a better view.)

Eric did a truly incredible job. This blurry jpeg simply does it no justice. It's a masterpiece. After having watched it transform in pictures on my computer screen for so long, it was a weird experience to actually view the painting with my own eyes. It's bigger and even more impressive than I had ever expected. (Approx. 2 feet x 3 feet.)

I'd also like to add that not only has this project given birth to an amazing piece of art, it has allowed me to become friends with Eric, who is a truly good guy.

Eric has recently refurbished his website, and has lots of extremely high quality prints from his tin robot collection for sale there, including copies of this one!

Check it all out at www.ericjoyner.com.

You can follow along with every step of the painting right here.

Following along as Eric painted the original Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot painting for me was quite the blast for both of us, so we wanted to do another one. (I use the term "we" loosely, since he's the one with the paint and brushes and artistic talent.)

A while back we took ideas from you guys on what the next painting should be. Eric and I thought the suggestion of the robots raising a flag like the Soldiers at Iwo Jima sounded like a pretty cool image.

There were actually tons of great ideas submitted, and we might do more of them later.

Here is the first sketch of this painting that is now in the works. Click on it for a better view.

Eric has decided that the flag should have a donut on it. I agree. You can (and should) check out all of Eric's work here.

Extremely cool news!

As many of you know, Eric Joyner painted the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robot painting (known as "The Final Blow") for me last year. And we followed it every step of the way right here on The Sneeze.

Some time back, Eric submitted the image to be considered for inclusion in a prestigious annual book for illustrators called "Spectrum." Spectrum is an international competition of 'contemporary fantastic art'.

Not only did "The Final Blow" get chosen out of thousands of entries to be among those featured in this year's annual -- THE PAINTING HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS THIS YEAR'S COVER!

It's crazy! People Eric admired as a kid compete in this thing.

Eric is absolutely thrilled, and I couldn't be happier for him. As always you can check out his entire portfolio here, and his cool online store here.

Here's the Amazon description of the latest Spectrum book:

Now in its 11th year, and just getting bigger and better, this eagerly anticipated volume in the art and art-buying world represents the who's who in fantasy today. Spectrum is the first and only illustration annual to focus solely on fantastic art, with over 300 artists featured. Divided into seven categories, including one devoted to comics and graphic novels, Spectrum is a feast of disparate vision and artistic imagining, showcasing, among others: John Howe, fantasy illustrator and designer for Lord of the Rings; Peter deSeve, conceptual artist on Finding Nemo; Anita Kunz's work from Rolling Stone; the exquisite acrylics of Michael Whelan; the poignant work of John Jude Palancer; Doug Chiang, design director for Star Wars and creator of Robota; and Jon Foster, also of Star Wars fame. Lively, idiosyncratic, and sometimes shocking, this work continues to push against the meniscus of reality, exploring new realms of inventiveness and creativity, be it from movies, video games, ads, or art galleries.

I'll put the next phase of Eric's latest painting up soon.

Eric's new painting is cruising right along. Here it is in the old timey "values" stage. Sprinkles will be added to the donut soon for all of those who are concerned. Click on it for a better view.

We still don't have an official title. The two favorite suggestions from you guys were "I/O Jima" and "All Your Base Are Belong To Us."

As usual you can check out all of Eric's works of artistic stuff right here.

Eric Joyner's robotic soldiers are marching toward the finish line. Here they are with the background in. Click on the image for a better view, and then why not click on over to Eric's site to check out the rest of his stuff.

And as far as the title goes, it was a trouncing. With 67% of approx. 1100 votes, the title of the painting is now officially: "I/O JIMA." Thanks to Ian for the outstanding suggestion!

I/O Jima is almost done! Eric says he wants to go back in and fix the sprinkles because they currently look too much like rice. Fair enough.

Click on the image for a better view.

When it's all finished up, prints and other goodies will be available in Eric Joyner's online store. Stay tuned for info.