Argonaut's Pacific Rim Line Kelp Bed Greeting Card

MODELS: The top fish is a Southern California and Channel Islands juvenile opal eye perch, the adult fish in the lower right hand corner is an adult Garibaldi Damsel which is the California State Fish and the smaller one with blue spots is a juvenile. The two starfish embedded in the algae are local species as well.

CUSTOM GREETING CARD: Pulled from the "Sleeping Mermaid" poster art I sold to my associates in Kobe, Japan, circa 1993, this portion of what my Sharpie pens, inks, Dr. Martin quill inks, Prisma pencils and acrylics poster was zoomed in on at Wood Holly near Paramount Studios so that the eight-color scans could be conveyed to a number of art house greeting card printers around the Pacific Rim and all the way to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Originally released by Moorish Idol of Honolulu, Hawaii in 1993, I even used these classic "Any Subject" cards as an exotic oversized business cards at a number of Comicon and California film network events to include the annual American Film Market expos in Santa Monica. My wife Lori redesigned this card a number of times, applying a number of graphic arts 2D rebuilds between 1996 and today.

I sourced my fish models from the research aquariums maintained by both Marine Biologists and their volunteers at the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point Harbor, a number of free dives (Mask, fins, & snorkel) between Monarch Bay on the south and Fisherman's Cove in Laguna Beach on the north end of town.

At the time I was patiently waiting for an "Aquaman" movie that would not piss off Captain Jacques Yves Cousteau and his entire family to hit the theatres until the summer of 2017. This greeting card found its way into card shops and art galleries all around the Pacific Rim.

The creation of Argonaut's Pacific Rim Line was triggered by and fueled by my bitterness as to how the Corporate Offices for "Crazy Shirts" turned every one of my pseudo-photorealistic Quill point inks and Pentel pen renders with my occasional Sharpie down. They turned me down cold. Time after time.

My detective job while having no wife and kids to feed gave me the money to launch my own line. My post-United States Marine Corps contacts in the California Army National Guard fetched me connections and contacts as did my connections and contacts through the LAPD. "Spooky Bill" earned the money while "Artist Bill" invested it.