Shel Dorf

My brother and I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Shel Dorf, Letterer for Steve Canyon and founder of the San Diego Comic convention. Shel was a wonderful man who tried to help young artists to connect with their heroes. He also introduced us to other artists we did not know about.

I remember when he took me to the studios of Morris Scott Dollens.

Not only did Morris publish one of the earliest sci fi fanzines, but he also invented a stroboscope and a color organ that interpreted the various qualities in music into color and motion. The “color organ” linked article also discusses the aspect of his work that I found most interesting and useful. Morris would sculpt the mountains in his paintings using modeling paste to create a 3 dimensional effect. Thanks to Shell, I not only got to meet my childhood heroes, but was exposed to new techniques that helped me expand my thinking and blossom as an artist. Thank you Shel. You are deeply missed.