Smoke Signal #4 + Other Stuff

Hi All,

Dirty Mike has been published in Desert Island's Smoke Signal zine. Thanks, Gabe!

It's available in-store (540 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn) and online.

OTHER NEWS!

♪ I will be at San Diego Comic-con.

♪ I will be on a panel at MoCCA.

♪ Skim will appear in my foreign translations! Edicoes SM (Brazil) will publish the book in Portugese and Uitgeverij Sherpa (Holland) will translate to Dutch. NICE!

♪ I'm attending this year's ICON event in Los Angeles, where I will eat many, many burritos.

Lotte Reiniger

Yesterday Sam and I watched Lotte Reiniger's Prince Achmed, which some consider the first animated film (1927). It was done using little hinged silhouettes. We were absolutely spellbound. How did we not know of her work earlier? (Note: we rented it thru Netflix)

Unfortunately there aren't that many good clips I could find. This is one of the opening sequence, although it doesn't really allude to the complexity and sophistication achieved in other sequences. Still, you can see the creativity and charm possible within such a "restrictive" medium. I love it when the wizard looks in the mirror at the end.



Here is another later film, Hansel and Gretel.

Garden Lady

This is a portrait of a Risk Adviser lady for an online magazine called ai5000, part of the "Plansponsor" family. I noticed a resemblance between this and some of Paul Smith's prints in the last pot.

Whenever I get paid to do online stuff, I feel very very happy. It makes me hopeful that illustration can be viable on the internet. Paid illustration, that is.

You can view the rest of the magazine, which has lots of other illustrations. Here's John Cuneo's.

On another note, I love it when the layout actually makes the illustration look BETTER. Pretty.



AD SooJin Buzelli.

2009 Cape Dorset Print Collection

The 2009 Cape Dorset Prints have been posted!

Above top, Quilt of Dreams, Suvinai Ashoona
Above bottom, Aujaqsiut Tupiq (Summer Tent), Suvinai Ashoona
Below: Arctic Appetizer, Ningeokuluk Teevee

Celia Neubauer

One of the most influential teachers I ever had was Celia Neubauer. She wasn't really an "official" teacher of mine and she definitely wouldn't remember me-- I was required by ACAD to take some make-up courses for credit so I took a very introductory course at Queens University (where I did my Foundation year) as an excuse to go back to Ontario and hang out.

As luck would have it, Ms. Neubauer was conducting the course. She was less interested in "drawing" (as I understood it) and more focused on "mark-making", which was a very new, strange concept for me. The course left quite an impression, although obviously my work is in no way abstract. The lesson about mark-making is now, for me, about the broad strokes, relinquishing a degree of control about embracing "The Incidental". It goes to show, you will never know where you'll pick these things up.

The Yearling

Maybe inspired by this article/video.

Functional Squares

Been thinking a lot about Josef and Anni Albers lately. I should probably get a book. (Anni above, Josef below) These always remind me of a teacher I had at Queens University who was all about colour squares. Did not get it at all at the time.

Black Acid Co-op

Only a few more days to see Black Acid Co-op at Deitch Projects in Soho. Far and away the creepiest, scariest art I think I've ever... experienced. Installation Images here.

A very interesting cinematic-type experience and exercise in juxtaposition. Plus, it pushed some nostalgia buttons in a really screwed up way. Efff.

Times Review.

Rachel Salomon Dream Drawings

I like this collection of Rachel Salomon drawings. They are based on dreams. There's something sort of comicbooky about them, no?

On Museums

There's an interesting article in today's New York Times about how we engage with museums. Despite my sadly stunted Art History education (1st Year University canonical survey course), it's a topic I find very interesting. It never fails to amuse me to see tourists in the Met who take a lot of pictures but fail to actually look at anything. Not to sound too snobby about it.

The article reminds me of a very good Walrus essay by Adam Gopnik, which explores the evolution of museums' mission and functions.

(As a sidenote, I first heard the Gopnik essay as a podcast produced by CBC's Ideas program... an excellent download.)

Siggi Eggertsson

Here is something very different but also interesting. Siggi Eggertsson is an Icelandic designer and illustrator and I liked these videos of his philosophies. They are two "automated lectures" that took place in Germany.





(skip to the 3 minute mark if you'd prefer to not watch the intro)

Karen Barbour has a website!

I think this may be new! I remember looking for a website a little while ago and not finding one listed.

I love this stuff. I feel the same pangs of jealousy that I get when I see Vivienne Flesher's or Maira Kalman's work. Actually resenting not BEING that person is pretty much as irrational as one can get, no?

(By the way, Vivienne did a absolutely stunning Op-Ed the other day about Cleopatra.)

All three women have been illustrating for a while and yet their work is still so true and fresh. Very inspirational.

Canadian Design Resource

A site I like to check up on is the Canadian Design Resource. I like how they present both good, bad (and REALLY bad), generally without comment. Crafts and First Nations are also represented.

The collection paints a broad and interesting picture. It seems to me Canada once had a stronger visual identity than it does now. 'Could be the Nostalgia talking though.

Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake is one of my favourite illustrators.

Quentin Blake does not need a website.

But Quentin Blake has a website.

And it is TOTALLY AMAZING.

Interviews, studio photos, process sketches, a shop, and this incredible video of Mr. Blake working.

A few things I thought were really interesting about the video:

1. While inking the final image on the light-table (with what looks like an upside down nib?), he is NOT tracing. He is redrawing using the underlying image as a rough guide. Nathan Fox spoke a bit about this when he visited my class a few weeks ago, as he inked over a very loose drawing. I think it's really important you CONCENTRATE when you're drawing and stay very cognizant about what you are doing. You should never be on "autopilot" when you are drawing.

2. Please observe that he will often do a piece several times. I do this too. If something isn't working, sometimes the best thing to do is to throw it away and start over. This is particularly important if "freshness" and "simplicity" is a vital aspect of your work. In many ways, "simple" is the hardest thing to do because you have nowhere to hide.

3. I have noticed that many students do not like doing sketches. Quentin Blake's work looks so free and loose, but please note the amount of planning and roughs behind his pictures. The fact is that illustrators are collaborators and sketches are the way we communicate with designers, art directors, editors, or whoever we're working with. Part of your process development should be finding a way to fulfill this step while still keeping things interesting and fresh for the final stage.

Maira Lincoln

I know I post everything Maira Kalman does with the Times, but I think this one is my favourite by far.

In Love With A Lincoln.

Two for the Road

Tatsuro Kiuchi (above) and Alexandra Falagara (below) are two of my favourite illustrators right now (ie. they make me feel bad about myself).

Not to be a braggart, but...

TODAY I GOT THIS THING AND YOU DIDN'T.

Nathan Fox came to my class at Parsons today to give a little slide presentation and demo of his work. I am a huge fan of Nathan's so this was very exciting. He was humble and funny and very generous with his time and knowledge. And, most importantly, now I get to hang this rad drawing in my studio.

(The drawing was done with a brush and black and red sumi-e ink on bristol.)

Tomer Hanuka

'Just loved this image. Read about it.

Maira Kalman

On the Inauguration.

Absence in Pictures

I liked James Gurney's post on "Absence and Presence" to commemorate Andrew Wyeth. In short, what you leave out of a picture is as important as what you put in. A good lesson for students (or any of us that fall back on too-literal solutions).

If you happen to be looking for a good Wyeth book, check this one out. 'Got it a few years ago and it's excellent.

Réyes S/S 09

Really masterful colour. Love it.

View complete collection.

Matt Huynh

Thanks for your help this month, Matt from Australia!

News

Just a bit.

That Beasts 2 book that I contributed to is now available. I drew this thing for it.

I'll have a few things in the Society of Illustrators Sequential show. Jan 7-Jan 24. There is an opening on the 16th.

Peter Doig.

Happy Holidays, etc.

James McShane

A really great piece of Skim fan-art from James McShane! James is a great cartoonist himself... he has a piece in the new Kramer's Ergot. Also, view the fan-art gallery.

Year in Ideas

This is always one of the best issues of the Times Magazine every year. I'll be picking it up, but here's the online edition.

(photo by Sarah Illenberger)

A namecheck by Lynda Barry? (!!)

I stumbled upon this fantastic, extended interview with Lynda Barry, courtesy of the Walrus. I'm currently trying my hand at writing comics and I really think Lynda's ideas about creativity are very inspiring and helpful. She says some very candid and interesting things about the Best American Comics series.

Part 1.

Part 2.

My last post on Lynda's new book, What it is.

Book Review: The Flying Troutmans

An illustration from this weekend's Book Review. Personally, I prefer Vivienne Flesher's contribution to the section:

Picture Day

Halloween Fun, courtesy Jessica Hische.

More Weirdness

I am very interested in Horror Manga, but it's really hard to find here. I was in Kinokuniya yesterday though picking up some reference material and I remember reading about this book, Cat Eyed Boy, on Chris Butcher's blog.

This is some seriously freaky shit, people. Buy it now. It's so exciting and thrilling... I mean, when's the last time you read something and exclaimed "OH MY GOD!" aloud? It reminded me of being a kid and being absolutely titillated to read about sex or violence in a book... you can hardly believe someone has printed this! And you're READING it!

Cat Eyed Boy is a half-human, half-monster child whose mostly human appearance bans him from the demon world. He lives hidden in the shadows of the human world, hated by humans and demons alike. Wherever he goes, awful events occur as the humans and demons interact. In 11 stories of revenge and retribution full of disturbing images, Cat Eyed Boy acts as a trickster, saving the innocent and helping the wicked receive the punishment that fate metes out. The first volume contains four stories and the first part of a fifth and longer story. CAT EYED BOY was created by Kazuo Umezu, the undisputed master of Japanese horror manga and creator of the critically acclaimed DRIFTING CLASSROOM (also published by VIZ Media). Cat Eyed Boy offers up a concoction of dark vignettes dripping with the macabre and the absurd.

I am excited to see that an alternative manga journal, AX, will be coming to North America. I try to get weirdo Garo stuff when I can because I feel bleaky uneducated about this topic I find so interesting...

Dulac does Poe

Oh, hello. One of my favourite classic illustrators, Edmund Dulac, illustrated some Poe stories.

Via The Beat.

I liked this NYTimes article on wine manga. I have been aware of manga dealing with seemingly "niche" topics like golf, cooking, horseback riding, etc., but haven't really seen many examples of it. It looks really exciting!

Slideshow here.

If you're interested in a really excellent book on manga, check out Paul Gravett's book Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics. It's a great resource.

Hansel and Gretel

A New Yorker slideshow of Hansel and Gretel illustrations. I like the Lorenzo Mattotti ones (above) best.

Speaking of Mattotti, I also read about a show of Italian comic artists here in Brooklyn. I'm going to have to check it out. I really love the work of Gipi and Igort...