Oh winged horse of marble white, take me on a magic flight! Luno The White Stallion.
Taking Pictures With Your iPhone
Perception is everything. What we think we look like and what an iPhone captures are two entirely different things. Cameron Stewart’s diarycomic is dead on about self-taking pictures on your iPhone. Thank god for the delete button.
Walt Disney Rejects Woman Animator For Job
Don Cherry feels that women have no place in male dressing rooms in sports. Walt Disney felt women had no place in animating movies. Here is a 1938 rejection letter sent to Mary V. Ford from the studio who just put out Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is ironic that an animated film with a strong female cast had no place for an female animator.
Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school.
The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to directions.
It would not be advisable to come to Hollywood with the above specifically in view, as there are really very few openings in comparison with the number of girls who apply.
Surface Pro: Alternative to The Wacom Cintiq
I am looking for a tablet that does the work of a Wacom Cintiq. The people at Staples and Best Buy were helpful but did not understand my needs for a tablet that has good drawing tools like a Wacom device. I just hate those external Wacom pen tablets that you attach to a computer. I feels so unnatural to me when drawing. I have the three generations of iPads and find them to be more entertainment devices than actual drawing precision devices. I checked the Samsung Galaxy Note, I was not too keen on the Android interface of the tablet. It had a pressure sensitive pen but the screen was a tad small.
I kept coming back to the Surface Pro from Microsoft which has a full operating Windows 8 version unlike the cheaper version called the Windows Surface RT. Adobe programs are still not fully Windows 8 ready and from the research I did online, Autodesk SketchBook Pro 6 (app) will suit my needs to both sketch and ink drawings easily. I am sure Adobe will address the needs of a few artists like myself who are looking to go totally paperless. Sure I could just buy a Cintiq, but I feel these machines are expensive and will be out of date in a hurry considering the other tablet makers are knocking at their door with devices that will put them out of the market. Purists will swear by their Wacom’s products. I need a fuller package.
The Windows Surface Pro seems to be the better device out there that fulfills all my needs right now. It is more than a tablet, it is also a computer and with the Windows environment there are many possibilities to add other programs. The portability factor also helps. I recommend you try Surface Pro as an alternative Wacom’s Cintiq. I plan to draw a kids’ book on the Surface Pro. Wish me luck guys.
Since the old Windows tablet computers I’ve been looking for a good way to draw digitally on the go. I gave the iPad a shot but I don’t like drawing with the “eraser tip” capacitive touch styluses. When I read that the Surface Pro uses Wacom tech I was interested. I went down to our local MS store to try one on the day they launched. The demo machine only had one drawing app on it called Fresh Paint which seems like it’s mostly for kids but it was enough to see that the pen felt good and the pressure sensitivity was solid. I came home and mentioned on Twitter that I was interested in the Surface Pro as a drawing platform and I was contacted by MS and offered a machine to test out (I love my job). A few days later I had a brand new 128gb Surface Pro to play with. (Penny Arcade)
Tintin Bookend
I had to take a picture of this cool Tintin bookend at the Crow Bookshop in Burlington. This is a great little nest for bibliophiles.
Gatchaman Collection 7
This Alex Ross illustrated box set of Gatchaman Collection 7 is worth over $700.00. In a case of supply and demand, this hard to find Gatchaman box set can set you back a pretty penny. If anybody wants a copy, you can contact me. I am willing to go a bit cheaper than Amazon.
Airing in Japan between 1972 and 1974, the popular and highly influential anime series GATCHAMAN is credited with spearheading worldwide interest in the Japanese style of animation. In America, GATCHAMAN appeared in edited form as the 1970s-era television series BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, the late-’80s G-FORCE, and the updated ’90s spinoff OVA, but the series itself was never aired in its original Japanese format. This reissue finally presents the original GATCHAMAN in all its pristine glory: uncut, unedited, newly dubbed, and with 20 episodes never previously seen in the U.S. Relive the adventures of Professor Kozaburou Nambu; his Science Ninja Team of Ken, Jo, Jun, Jinpei, and Ryu; and their super-weapon aircraft, Phoenix, as they battle to save the Earth from the world-domination plans of the evil Galactor organization. This collection combines volumes 15 and 16 for episodes 73 through 84.
Free Vintage Posters
Download free high resolution vintage posters. Pick from advertising, travel, animals, nature, movies, circus, western cowboys, military, food, art design and sports.
Sandwich Art
It’s amazing what you can do with a Sharpie and a clear sandwich bag. David Laferriere draws cute little drawings for his kids’ lunch to take to school. Let’s hope he does not hook up with Octomom Nadya Suleman, David would be extra busy doodling all night before sending the kids on the school bus.
“Since May 2008 I have been drawing on my kids’ sandwich bags with a Sharpie marker. Each drawing is done just after I make the sandwich. I take a picture and post to flickr. My kids don’t see the drawing until it is lunchtime.”
Smurf Hoarding: Biggest Collection
When you watch hoarding shows, you feel sorry for people who let filth take over their lives. Collectors on the other hand are organized and accumulate vast collections. Many hoarders become this way because of some lacking missing element in their sad plight called live. They become distant and draw away from society. Are collectors any better? Karen Bell has amassed the biggest Smurf collection of merchandise. Sure there is order in this type of hoarding but when do you stop?
Spider-Man is Dead
If you have not heard the news, Spider-Man is dead once again. The mind of Peter Parker is no longer with us. Doctor Octupus’ mind swap left Peter’s mind in his own dying body. We now have Spider-Man with Doctor Octupus’ persona. Holy Freudian mix-up! Fans are in an uproar over the latest calamity. Fans want the skin of writer Dan Slott for killing Peter Parker. Death threats were uttered on Facebook.
This Freaky Friday scenario reminds me of the Flintstones episode Monster Fred where Fred and Dino first swap minds and eventfully the whole cast is swapped also. There was also a Star Trek’s Turnabout Intruder where Captain Kirk swaps his body with a mentally unstable woman bent on killing him. Who could forget Gilligan swapping minds in The Friendly Physician episode. All these episodes have something in common with The Amazing Spider-Man #700, sooner or later the mind-swap will be reversed. Fear not Peter Parker fans, your friendly neighborhood geek will will be back.
“The stronger you are and the more influence you have, the greater your responsibility to be good to people. That idea has influenced generations of children … and I can think of no better message for a superhero to impart than for people to be good to one another, and Peter Parker always led by example.”
“Gone are his days of villainy, but since it’s Doc Ock and he has that ego, he’s not going to try and just be Spider-man, he’s going to try to be the best Spider-Man ever,” said Slott.
Universal Laws of Safe Distance
Respect boundaries. The universal laws of self distance by Wendy MacNaughton.
The ACME Corporation
The ACME Corporation poster is catching the attention of many on Kickstarter because of intellectual property legal tiptoeing. Will Warner Brothers allow individuals to profit from their ideas such as ACME? The studio does not hold a copyright on the name. Illustrator Rob Loukotka sold over 2000 posters already and growing. If not for the volume of posters sold, this would be a non-issue. Is this poster really fair use? Time will tell. Either way, it is a great poster. Well done Rob.
Loukotka is walking a legal tightrope. He is mass producing merchandise based on a corporation’s intellectual property. If this was just a collection of random items with the name Acme on them, no one would ever buy the poster. It’s only because of the role these invented Acme items have played within a series of animated shorts that they are recognizable and of interest to the general public. (source)
Drawing Comics Lab: 52 Exercises on Characters, Panels, Storytelling, Publishing & Professional Practices
I was pleasantly surprised by Drawing Comics Lab: 52 Exercises on Characters, Panels, Storytelling, Publishing & Professional Practices by Robyn Chapman. I thought it was just another cartooning how to book. This little book has something for everybody. It’s not your regular cartooning book, there is a sense of passion for cartooning. Robyn Chapman’s guide is an easy read and insightful for cartoonist of any level.
Robyn Chapman has studied cartooning at two of the medium’s finest institutions, receiving her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA from The Center for Cartoon Studies. In 2005 she became The Center for Cartoon Studies’ first fellow, and spent the next five years as their program coordinator and a faculty member. She has built and managed the curriculum for their successful Create Comics and Cartooning Studio workshops. Her cartooning courses, workshops, and lectures have brought her to classrooms at The New School, Wellesley College, The University of Iowa, and the 92nd Street Y.
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Paperback
Better get a jumbo stocking for this Calvin and Hobbes tome of the complete adventures of your favorite kid/tiger duo. This time around the set is offered in paperback edition. It is less bulky and easier to read. If you are a Costco member you will definitely save a bundle. Amazon is offering equally a great bargain for this complete collection. Get it while it’s hot.
