I have a nice update from the Marriage show at Krab Jab last weekend. Emily and I both sold paintings!
The painting I sold was "The Green Man" and Emily sold her companion piece titled "Children of the Forest." They were bought by the same patron and it's nice to know that the two pieces made an impact on someone. I actually had some reservations with putting my painting up for sale. It was a personal piece and I was happy with the way it turned out. But beyond that, the painting actually meant something to me. Many of my freelance illustration paintings are fun or interesting but they don't have much long-lasting meaning for me. I'm still working on a post about "The Green Man," but the painting represented a feeling about nature, compassion, and happiness that is hard for me to describe. My only solace is that whoever bought our paintings felt a strong connection to them and just had to have them!
Our two sold paintings!
The show opening went really well. There was a steady crowd throughout and Emily, the other attending artists and I gave an interesting artist talk about living and working with our spouses. (I think Krab Jab recorded it but I'm not sure when it's going up on their youtube channel)
Emily and I will be showing some pieces in the upcoming show at KrabJab Studio this weekend! The show has a special theme featuring artist couples. It's a really great idea for a show since in our years of being professional artists we've come across many artist couples and it's always interesting to see how they work together.
Emily and I got to know each other because of art, and art is a huge part of our lives together. We'll be doing a talk during the show's opening night on Saturday April 11th from 6-9pm. I'm sure all the art-couples in attendance will have alot of interesting stories about the ups and downs of being with an artist. So if you're in the Seattle area this weekend please come by and check it out!
We'll be a bit late to the opening because we're attending a
workshop taught by Omar Rayyan that also takes place this weekend, but
we do hope to arrive in time for the artist talk.
Emily
and I recently watched the 2013 documentary about Studio Ghibli and its
founders Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and Isao Takahata. It was wonderful.
(We actually ended up watching it twice!) The director, Mami Sunada, seemed to
take inspiration from the thoughtful, detail-oriented, and quietly paced films
of Studio Ghibli when directing this documentary. It’s more of a “fly on the
wall” style documentary as opposed to a “talking heads” style. Sunada followed
Miyazaki (or “Miya-san”) and Ghibli's producer Toshio Suzuki for a year during
the production of Miyazaki's final film The Wind Rises. It also
“features” Isao Takahata while he was working on his latest film Princess
Kaguya. I used quotes since Takahata is obviously not interested in that much
interaction with the camera. I think he only appears on film for a few minutes
towards the end.
One of the reasons I liked this doc is that it gives you a real insight into
the Miyazaki's thought process and outlook on storytelling, animation, work,
and life. I've always thought of him as a bit of a lovable grump from reading
other interviews and watching behind the scenes features, and he is, sort of,
but he also has an amazing work ethic and a zest for creating art that really
comes through in his films. Some highlights of getting to see Miyazaki’s
typical work day are when he and the office break for calisthenics, watching
him storyboard with a stopwatch (for checking the timing), and taking the other
animators up to the roof to watch the sunset.You also get to see what it must be like to work at Studio Ghibli.
All the animators seem to be there because they highly respect Miyazaki, and
even in moments of stress they seem to be enjoying themselves. It was also
interesting to see how many women work as animators at the studio, something
you don’t ordinarily see at animation studios.
There
is one interesting directorial choice in the documentary that I found to be
very effective. There are no clips of Miyazaki’s movies that run while people
are talking. The only time you see any animation is when the camera is watching
some of the animators work.The only exception to this is a scene towards the end of the film,
which was very emotionally effective. I don't want to give it away but it
summed up why animation is such a beautiful and powerful art form, and also
made me reflect on the Miyazaki’s amazing career.
So the
TLDR version of this review: See this movie! See it if you’re a Ghibli fan, see
it if you’re an artist or are interested in the creative process, and finally
see it if you just like good movies!
FYI, we rented it via our PS3 on the PSN network, but I noticed that you can also get it from Google Play, Amazon streaming, iTunes, and Netflix.
The Internet is full of infinite beauty and horribleness... (mostly horribleness)
But here's some interesting stuff that isn't that horrible.
I recently got this great Norman Rockwell book, Rockwell on Rockwell: How I Make a Picture: http://www.amazon.com/Rockwell-How-Make-Picture/dp/082302380X
It's basically a reprint of Rockwell's book How I Make a Picture that he wrote in the late 1940's. That book was the first time his course for the Famous Artists School was made public. Rockwell on Rockwell: How I Make a Picture is expanded from How I Make a Picture and contains more images and more insight into his process. I love reading books about making art written by the artist because they always feels more personal.
Interesting lecture by Dreamwork's CG modeler Michael Defeo. http://www.zbrushworkshops.com/lessons/how-to-design-appealing-characters-part-1
The stuff he talks about is pretty Pixar/Dreamworks/Disney-centric but it's good, interesting stuff nevertheless. There's six parts, the first few being more about what makes appealing characters and the last few about 3d modeling.
I wanted to bring your attention to a new book that's up for funding via Kickstarter.
At this years Gen Con an art fan by the name of Mike Phifer approched our table and told us about his book project. Mike and his brother are trying to put together an art book, but not just a random assortment of fantasy art, rather, a themed book about some of the old stories and mythology that feeds so much of genre art.
I was instantly impressed by the artists that he already had signed on. Prominent artists like James Gurney, Donato Giancola, and Todd Lockwood! Also a bunch of my friends and colleagues have signed on. Emily and I are also contributing to the book. Emily's painting "The Lady of the Lake," and I'm painting "The Green Man."
So if you're a fan of fantasy, mythology and art, please contribute to the book! Mike's promo video might not be very flashy but the book itself will be well made and printed. (He showed us an example of a very well designed book he worked on before this project.)
I love Dave Rapoza's work on his comic, Starveil. It has that great mix of European, Japanese, and American comic styles that I love! Great bold Moebius inspired colors too. http://daverapoza.cghub.com/images/
The Internet is full of infinite beauty and horribleness... (mostly horribleness)
Here's some nice stuff that's caught my fancy as of late:
Been watching some interesting documentaries lately:
This was a great doc that starts out about female superheroes in comics but then expands into a greater discussion about women's representation in popular culture and media. http://wonderwomendoc.com/
This was an eye opening documentary about five youths that were coerced by the police to admit guilt for a very serious crime they didn't commit. http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/
The internet is full of wonderful and horrible things. (mostly horrible)
So from time to time I thought I'd share some stuff that's caught my
interest.
My friend Steve Prescott is starting to post some of his concept drawings for the Innistrad set for Magic... great stuff: http://prescottdrawblog.blogspot.com/
Did you see the behind the scenes pictures from the new Robocop reboot? http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-new-robocop-is-part-man-part-hollywood-machine,85017/
Blargh, Robocop's "costume" from the original 1987 movie is one of my favorite mech/robot designs ... but this one is just devoid of character. Maybe it'll be better if the silver metal gets put on top of this suit?
Don't get me started with Hollywood and all of these remakes.
The internet is full of wonderful and horrible things. (mostly horrible)
So from time to time I thought I'd share some stuff that's caught my
interest.
Larry McDougal had to re-start his blog, for various stupid internet reasons. But his new one is full of the same amazing art, check it out! http://larry-macdougall.blogspot.ca/
The internet is full of wonderful and horrible things. (mostly horrible) So from time to time I thought I'd share some stuff that's caught my interest.
Really wonderful talk with Jean Giraud at CTN 2009. They go over his life, his work and his philosophy: http://vimeo.com/channels/ctnanimationexpo#24123610
There's also a moving clip from a documentary where he's talking to his daughter and for some reason it made me sad now that he's passed on.
Continuing on the same theme, a 40 min documentary about Maurice Sendak (it will also make you sad): http://youtu.be/rCwGcVd_qmI
Sendak is irreverent, self reflective and honest. He also has a way of speaking that really gets to me. You can hear the wisdom and experience of an artist and writer that has truly accepted the good and bad with the life he's led.
Beautiful LOTR concepts by Wes Burt: http://wesburt.cghub.com/images/lord-of-the-rings-online-turbine-inc/
His rendering skills for all the different armor, fabric and materials is amazing. Like Ian McCaig, Wes's stuff is primarily realistic but he still puts so much character into the faces and gestures that nothing looks stiff or stale.
New trailer for Prometheus:
http://youtu.be/HHcHYisZFLU
Looks good, but I'm still worried we find out way to much about the weird derelict ship and the space jockey from Alien.
