Archive for category art
Lilli Carré on Eyeworks Festival
A few weeks back, Lilli Carré dropped me a note about Eyeworks, the experimental animation festival that she’s co-directing with Alexander Stewart on this Saturday, November 6 at Chicago’s DePaul CDM Theater. As detailed at the festival’s website: “Eyeworks is a new film festival featuring abstract animation and unconventional character animation. Festival programs showcase outstanding experimental animation of all sorts: classic films, new works, overlooked masterpieces, and quirky footnotes of history.
Jen Ferguson on Monster Mash-ups, Her Music and HBO’s Bored to Death
Posted by admin in art, episodic TV, Music on October 27, 2010
Monster Mash-Ups
This Saturday, October 30, marks the opening of Monster Mash-Ups (check out this video preview of the project) at Brooklyn’s Bergen Street Comics, a “collaboration between Brooklyn artist Jen Ferguson and Chicagoland writer Tim Hall. A hilarious and bizarro series of oil paintings and large format prints, MONSTER MASH-UPS update the classic movie and literary monsters of yore, including Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Blob, the Mummy, and many more.” While I’ve interviewed Hall before, I had not had the pleasure of interviewing Ferguson. As noted at her website, Ferguson is “an emerging artist working in DUMBO Brooklyn, NY. Her focus is on epic & monumental oils, both architectural and figurative. She also is known for small delicate drawings and watercolors.” In addition to discussing the mash-ups, we discussed her art in general, as well as opening with getting background on her musical pursuits through the band, Cows Like Shrimp. I rarely get to discuss art and music in the same interview, so I appreciate Ferguson’s time.
Tim O’Shea: How long have you had the band, Cows Like Shrimp, and who else is in the band with you?
Jen Ferguson: Cows Like Shrimp is a band I’ve been playing bass in for about five years, on and off. Originally, we were called “The Seftones”, after Sefton Stallard, the lead singer and guitarist. Sefton, who I’ve know for almost 15 years, is the main driving force behind the band. In addition to myself and Sefton, we have a few drummers who rotate in and out depending on their availability, and strangely enough are both named “pete.” Lately we’ve added an additional guitarist, Doug Kennedy, so we’re a four piece playing original music. Since I work in the studio alone for many hours a day, it’s a nice chance to collaborate and do a form of art that’s social.
Doogie Horner on Everything Explained Through Flowcharts
Posted by admin in art, comedy, Literature on October 26, 2010
Everything Explained Through Flowcharts
As part of my day job, I periodically have to create flowcharts. None of my flowcharts, however, are as amusing or engaging as the ones that appear in Doogie Horner‘s brand new book, Everything Explained Through Flowcharts, which goes on sale today (October 26) from Harper Paperbacks. Here’s a snippet of what the book offers: “What if all of life’s greatest mysteries could be explained through ingeniously designed flowcharts? The afterlife, the quickest way to gain a supernatural power, even the ultimate guide for things to say during sex, all broken down into charts even your sixth grade English teacher (the one who made you do all those brainstorming diagrams) would be impressed by. Fortunately for humanity, comedian and graphic designer Doogie Horner has done just that” with this new book. You may recognize Horner from his recent appearance on NBC’s America’s Got Talent where he was the only comedian in the show’s final 48 contestants. My apologies to Horner for a typo in one of the questions (I meant to type “designing book covers” and inexplicably typed “designing comic books”), but fortunately enough Horner answered my “mistake” question (delightfully I might add) and my “proper” question (equally as delightfully). To get an idea of the flowcharts, here a few excerpted pages on superpowers and fears.
Tim O’Shea: You concede at one point in the book that this book required a great deal of research. Which of the features required the most research or was the most absurd to research?
Doogie Horner: Yeah, I tried to ground all the charts in solid research. So even charts like Alien Sex, where I’m obviously talking about 100% make believe, I researched depictions of aliens in television, film, and of course the numerous nutball testimonials.
Designer Paint Names required a ton of research, and I probably got a little carried away with that one. After I handed in the sixth page of paint name charts, my editor said, “If you hand in one more page of paint names, I will murder you.” WWF Finishing Moves was challenging as well, because even after I figured out what moves to include, I then had to find video or photos of each wrestler executing the move so I could diagram them accurately. However the Heroes and Villains chart definitely required the most research, because I had to find out how many people each hero and villain had killed in each of their films, and that covered 48 characters in 187 films. The numbers still aren’t 100% accurate for that chart, because I found different sources citing different numbers, and there were some kills that were ambiguous (for instance when Chuck Norris just mows down a whole crowd of bad guys with a machine gun), but I tried to be as accurate as possible. I had to use an equation to figure out Godzilla‘s kill count.
Lesley-Anne Green on Her Clay Sculptures & Dolls
A Lesley-Anne Green piece
I was first exposed to the work of Lesley-Anne Green when interviewing her husband, writer/artist Jeff Lemire. Her work with clay sculptures and dolls caught my attention immediately and I soon after contacted her for an interview. As detailed at her blog, Green “was born in Huntsville, Ontario, and moved to Toronto to attend Sheridan College‘s Ceramics Program. After graduating, I took what I’d learned about clay and started making one-of-a-kind clay sculptures and dolls.” My thanks to Green for discussing her work with me.
Tim O’Shea: When did you first realize clay was a medium you wanted to work with predominantly?
Lesley-Anne Green: After I graduated from high school I took a pottery class from a local potter and I was completely hooked. It felt like the first time I could create something and have it turn out exactly how I imagined it.
O’Shea: Can you talk about the significance of the characters’ teeth in many of your pieces?
Green: Oh, the teeth! People always ask me about the teeth. and to be honest, I don’t know how they got so big. when I first started making the dolls their teeth were not great, but pretty okay, and the dolls themselves were absolutely hideous. then somewhere along the way there was a transition and the dolls got ‘cuter’, but the teeth got huge. I think it’s just part of the gawkiness of being a kid, you know, your legs are too long and skinny, you’re loosing your baby teeth and getting these big teeth, but your face hasn’t had a chance to catch up yet!
Anna Trodglen Launches Biscuits and Bellyrubs Webcomic
Regular readers will recall when I interviewed Anna Trodglen at the start of this year. As an official friend of the blog, I got the headsup when she launched a new webcomic, Biscuits and Bellyrubs (that I believe will run twice a month at the Facebook page of her husband, Dugan). If you don’t use Facebook, I reproduce it here (with a link back to the FB page).
Anna Trodglen's Biscuits and Bellyrubs
Having talked to Anna, I know this is only the first of many she already has completed. There’s a Lynda Barry/Matt Groening vibe to her work to some small extent, but Trodglen has her own distinct voice, I think.
Anna Trodglen on Radial Cafe Art Opening
Tea Party: This is a tea party depicting the fictional meeting of Beatrix Potter (rabbit), Tasha Tudor (corgi dog), and Louis Wain (cat). Beatrix Potter is of course the beloved creator of Peter Rabbit. Tasha Tudor was an American children's illustrator who loved to paint her corgi dogs. Louis Wain was a famous cat artist of the Victorian era and painted from an asylum for forty years. I wanted them so much to meet and share animal stories. This is a very special painting for me.
Anna Trodglen (or her musical pseudonym Grace Braun) is a name you likely recognize from the Atlanta music scene, given that she has fronted the band DQE since the mid-1980s as its singer/songwriter. In addition to her musical pursuits, Trodglen is a painter who is in the final stages of prepping for her January 8 Art Show at the Radial Cafe (1530 DeKalb Ave NE Atlanta GA 30307), where Trodglen’s paintings and prints will be on display. In addition, as detailed at a recent Facebook announcement: “Anna and her DQE bandmates Dugan and John will be performing a short acoustic set at 9pm. There will also be a raffle for a free custom painting. Food and wine will be served. Anna’s paintings will be hanging at Radial Cafe through the month of January.” We also got a chance to discuss the children’s book she is currently working on, City Mouse, Country Mouse. My thanks to Trodglen for her time and to my friend, Dugan Trodglen (Anna’s bandmate and husband) for helping make this interview feasible. Each art piece in this interview is accompanied by a description by Anna. The art opening is this Friday, January 8, 2010, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at at Radial Cafe.
Tim O’Shea: How did the Radial show come about?
Anna Trodglen: Susan Archie, the talented and well known graphic artist and designer, introduced me to the idea and gave me the contact information.
O’Shea: The show will feature your paintings and prints–how long have you been painting pieces in this style? How many pieces will be in the show–and was it hard for you to pick which pieces of yours would appear?
Trodglen: I have been painting exclusively animals (mostly cats and dogs) since July of 2008 when I began working with dogs at a doggie day care, boarding and grooming facility called Paws Playhouse. I initially painted the dogs of Paws Playhouse to decorate the facility and amuse the workers and clients. Gradually with support and encouragement I began to paint in this style more and more frequently until it became a life calling. There will be between fifteen and twenty paintings in the show of various sizes, depending on what will fit. The paintings chosen will be based on the smile factor- what I think will make me happiest and hopefully the viewer as well. It is never too hard to pick. I generally keep the best ones of my dog Jack for myself, Like Dorian Grey, Jack has a painting in the attic and…
Art: Brendan O’Connell Launches New Website
Posted by admin in art, Literature on December 19, 2009
A former high school classmate of mine and accomplished artist and writer, Brendan O’Connell, has launched his new website. As O’Connell describes himself, he “divides his time between writing and painting, between figuration and abstraction.” I consider myself fortunate to know Brendan and hopefully one of these days I’ll be able to run an interview with him, as our respective schedules permit. In the meantime, please visit his website, it’s a visual and intellectually intriguing delight on many levels. Here’s just one of his pieces:
Snacks by Brendan O'Connell
Design: Considering Logos
Posted by admin in art, commerce, media industries on December 17, 2009
Before today, I’ll be honest and admit I had never read the critical analysis of Philip Bump. But after reading his brief consideration of the past decade in logos, I will be sure to read him increasingly more going forward. One of Bump’s valid points in evaluating logos of the past is:
“The web, in essence, is the photo album brought out to show what a logo looked like in its awkward phase – and for that, it should be praised.”
I also greatly appreciate this post by Bump, because it introduced me to Logo RIP, a virtual graveyard for discarded commercial logos.
Eric Nolen-Weathington on Lee Weeks (Part II) & Nick Cardy
Posted by admin in art, comics, Film, pop culture, sequential art on March 26, 2009
Yesterday I featured the first part of an interview regarding the Lee Weeks installment of TwoMorrows’ Modern Masters series. The first part was with Tom Field. This second part focuses on Eric Nolen-Weathington, the co-author of the Weeks book, as well as the designer and editor behind the entire Modern Masters’ series. It’s always a pleasure to interview Nolen-Weathington, so I was game to also discuss another book that Nolen-Weathington co-authored: Nick Cardy: Behind The Art, a work that goes beyond Cardy’s comics work and into his commercial illustration career.
Tim O’Shea: Do you think you could have been able to do the Weeks book without Tom Field’s involvement? Were you afraid that because Weeks and Field were such old and close friends it might make it harder for Field to ask tough questions in the process? Or due to the nature of these books (which intend to honor modern masters) is there ever a need to ask tough questions, per se? (feel free to tweek this question if need be).
Eric Nolen-Weathington: Yes, I do think I could have gotten Lee without Tom’s involvement, as I know several artists who are friends with Lee. And Lee was already on my list of guys I wanted to cover at some point. What Tom’ pitch really did was move Lee off the “sooner or later” list and onto the actual schedule.
Tom had already done a book for TwoMorrows on Gene Colan, Secrets in the Shadows: The Art and Life of Gene Colan, which I feel is one of the best books TwoMorrows has published. That was all I needed to know that he would do a good job with the interview. And having known Lee since childhood, I think Tom knew exactly where that line was of what he could ask and what he shouldn’t. The result is one of the most honest, open interviews of the series thus far.
Ivan Brunetti on An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume 2
Posted by admin in art, comics, sequential art on December 23, 2008
This week, I am trying to give a Christmas present to my readers by posting more interviews than the average of one a week. Today’s interview is with Ivan Brunetti, editor of An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume 2. As detailed at Yale University Press: “Comic art is a vital, highly personal art form in which change—rapid and unpredictable—is the norm. In this exciting new anthology, comic artist Ivan Brunetti focuses on very recent works by contemporary artists engaged in this world of change. These outstanding cartoonists, selected by Brunetti for their graphic sophistication and literary style, are both expanding and transforming the vocabulary of their genre.” In addition to being an extremely talented artist in his own right, Brunetti is also very busy. But he was recently kind enough to grant me a brief (yet in-depth) email interview. My thanks to Brunetti for his time, as well as to Yale University Press’ Robert Pranzatelli for his assistance.
Tim O’Shea: What is the greatest advantage to working with an academic press, as opposed to another type of publisher?
Ivan Brunetti: Well, I’ve never edited an anthology for another publisher, so I can’t really compare it to anything. My own comics are published by Fantagraphics Books, but my dealings with them are in the capacity of “just another cartoonist” in their stable, one with middling sales at best. They pretty much let me do whatever I want, as long as it’s within budget. I was very nervous about working for Yale, since, well… it’s Yale! Obviously they have a high reputation, and I didn’t want to sully it. But the people at Yale Press have been extraordinarily great to work with, and they also gave me a lot of leeway and freedom to make the book I wanted, again as long as I stayed within the budget. So I guess I’ve been pretty lucky in both instances, working with publishers who have trusted me. In both cases, I was able to create very personal books. And I should mention that, in the case of the Anthology, I wouldn’t have been able to make the books I wanted without the generosity of all the cartoonists involved, who have been exceedingly supportive and kind. I got the chance to correspond with my cartooning heroes. Who’d have thunk it? A nothing sort of person like me….
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