John F*$!-en Malkovich

Someone else noticed his favorite word when acting.  He has truly developed this into an artform. Watch.

Challenge: Name a movie where he doesn't say it.

Interview with Art Spiegelman

Here's a light interview with well-known comic artist, Art Spiegelman (author of graphic novel Maus) on one of my favorite podcasts, KCRW's Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt. 

Enjoy.

Links:
Direct Link to the Interview's webpage, click here.
Visit KCRW's Bookworm and subscribe to their podcast.

pinch me now

For the first time in what I thought was two or three and a half years (which I now realize has actually been four and a half years!!) I can say that I'm actually writing a poem again.  The funny (and scary) thing is that it wasn't even writer's block.  One day there was just nothing.  As for being back....it wasn't a big moment of sudden creative energy or a dried-up dam suddenly overflowing with water from the gods up above. No, it was not a sudden rush of inspiration nor was it the muses filling up my well with creative juices and inducing a brilliant flow of words which I couldn't stop.  No.  It was nothing romanticized like that, but a simple moment--just like any other in the past four and a half years--where I attempt to write. This time there was something different, something very small and deceptively inconsequential ...  And I think it's here to stay.  The dormant period is over and maybe all the work of trying is paying off.  This "poem" is only a start to an awful, banal poem perhaps, but it's something and I'll toast to that and kiss this awful year off. 

I am very rusty.

To be frank, it was probably fear.  Fear of failing, of dying, of aging and withering away in this city that I cannot learn to leave despite all the bad hands it deals out to me.  I still have some fight in me, I guess.  I better, as I'm too young not to.  And perhaps this poem by Jenny Joseph had something to do with it.

Warning

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples' gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that jeep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

By Jenny Joseph

Freebies for Photoshop

2008 is almost to an end and as a "gift" I wanted to share this great newsletter from The Green Bulb Gang. From time to time they give away photoshop brushes for free -- every month actually.  You can also become a member and purchase brushes for a discounted price. Commercial licenses are included so you can use them anywhere to create any design, no stings attached.  Design away in 2009!

nocturnal being

I missed an entire day and didn't even realize it! I thought it was almost 5am when I woke up this "morning" and so I set-up a still life, made a pot of coffee and began my day early. Little did I know it was PM instead of AM. The days are so short nowadays that the skylight was just about the same so I didn't notice a thing....even when it was past 8am. I simply thought, "Wow, the days are getting really short." Not only until I checked email and saw PM did I realize my mistake. It was a twilight zone moment to say the least. 15 hours of sleep after two months on being unable to sleep a normal night. I guess I caught up. That's what happens when there is no sunlight in your bedroom. Now....since I started my still life painting, no dancing shoes tonight. The painting I started is too compelling. I still can't believe it though....it feels very strange to miss a day like that and not notice for almost 4 hours that you are living 12 hours behind. It's a mind trip and now my sleeping pattern will be really screwed!

Masters of American Illustration

Great news!  The Illustrated Press will soon be publishing a compilation of Taraba's "Method of the Masters".  These articles were originally published in Step-by-Step magazine and I can't wait to get my hands on this 400 pg book, Masters of American Illustration: 41 Illustrators and How They Work!

long time no blog

I haven't been blogging in a while, but I'm back and intend to blog more regularly. Well, we'll see how it goes. I heard about this old school Drawing Manual/Course, something a bit different from the Bargue plates of The Drawing Course (Charles Bargue) though they spawn form the same idea: to teach people how to draw. It is a series of lessons called Famous Artist Course, where animators and illustrators such as Norman Rockwell, Robert Fawcett, Fred Ludekens...click here for the complete roster...created a correspondence course so that children could follow along with exercises, receive critiques from famous artists/illustrators/animators. It's a pretty neat concept.

Bargue and Jerome set-up these plates in the 19th Century when ateliers and the Academy training reached it's peak so that others could train themselves how to draw Academically. One was supposed to follow basic concepts and approaches to train their eye and learn how to simplify with the goal that one day they will go on to become a fine artist/commercial artist. I say both since they may have considered themselves strictly as fine artists, but the commissions they competed for were political in nature, if not meant for the State (ie France). So be painting battle scenes, historical paintings, portraits of government officials, etc artists of the day weren't necessarily free to make artistic decisions (though some certainly had this freedom or were able exercise this freedom despite their Academic training. But that's another story for another post). In the same vein, FAC lessons teach others how to practically learn and improve their drawing skills as a commercial artist. The correspondence element is pretty fascinating.

Imagine sending a painting study or exercise to be critiqued via letter, email or blog by realist/representational painters today like Odd Nerdrum or Jeremy Lipking, or even those with a more Classical bent/training/background who are already legendary teachers and artists in their own right such as Michael Grimaldi or Jacob Collins. Juliette Aristedes' books on the Classical Atelier training could provide the lessons as the painting book already covers different exercises covered in an atelier setting. One could train themselves until they were able to attend an atelier system themselves. It wouldn't be such a bad thing. The roster of instructors could be quite expansive, the critiques fulfilling and worthwhile. Check out one of the lessons by visiting the blog, Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. He did a great job posting these up on his blog and if you click of the Famous Artist Course label, you'll find three additional lessons from the series that he has posted to this date. They're pretty basic and simple, but still worth a glance.