Important Artistic Modern Dance Work (NSFW)

Thomas Kinkade, Painter of God's Light and Threat to the Hundred-Acre Wood

Here's a very old article about Thomas Kinkade from the L.A. Times, a favorite painter around these parts.

A lot of it is how he's taken his schmaltzy brain-ruining paintings and turned them into a huge kabillion dollar business, allegedly devaluing it and then buying it back at a relative pittance. There's also a nice bit in there about heckling Siegfried and Roy and peeing on Winnie the Pooh.

NOTE: This article is from 2006, so it's entirely likely that it this point in time, Mr. Kinkade has reformed completely, and is now actually God's Servant on Earth, as originally alleged.

Drawn Out @TCMHonolulu

This is was the Drawing thing at The Contemporary Museum Honolulu was like. About 30 artists at one table made drawings to sell for $20 per to benefit the museum's children's education programs.


All in all, it was pretty fun. There were some really talented people there, and lots of folks I enjoyed talking to, as well as a few old friends. My photographs are intentionally crappy to better protect the identities of everyone present, probably. The rest of the event looked like this.

My finest moment came when I found myself sitting across from Masami Teraoka while drawing a picture of fucking Rom, Spaceknight. I was so very the opposite of proud. I think the only thing I did that I thought really worked was this picture of Hydra Agents yelling.


The rest of the stuff I did (and photographed) is here.

Wasn't a totally wash, though. I snagged this sweet drawing by local artist Cade Roster.

August Moon at TCM

August Moon at The Contemporary Museum this Saturday is a benefit for the museum's children's education programs. Tickets are like, $75, but there's a wine tasting and food eating and stuff, so I don't know.

I mention this because one of the events will be a live drawing thing where a whole mess of local artists (including Galspanic and I) will be drawing pictures for people to buy, also benefitting TCM's education department. I am very nervous, ladies and gentlemen. Galspanic is a local art star in real life. In real life, I am only the friend of a local art star (Galspanic). I have not drawn using natural media in years. I may have asked Galspanic what he's going to draw about 19 times now. This may be a disaster. Nevertheless, I am quite proud to be involved, and we will report on this event in these very pages.

Details here.

Interisland Terminal

It's art day, apparently. This just in: New show from a new local art interest. Drawings by Rinus Van de Velde at a thing called Interisland Terminal. Do you know what's going on here, Galspanic? The location looks familiar.

via F.o.P.o.T. Sarah Honda.

Society6

Hi, artists and likers of art. There are a lot of sites like this, but society6 has a nice interface, community tools, and grants--both financial and non-financial opportunities. Also, some good work to browse.

Flip through the Discover link for a good time.

via @designmilk

Christian Riese Lassen

Behold, the art of Christian Riese Lassen. More to the point, behold the web site showcasing the art of Christian Riese Lassen.

Civilization

Video installation by Marco Brambilla for the Standard Hotel in NY. The journey from Hell to Heaven plays as you ride the elevators. Video and interviews here.

This is my pencil. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

This is a site by Niklas Jansson, a Swedish game designer/artist/enthusiast. This guy takes his work seriously. I find his takes/renditions/upgrades on classic games to be refreshing and inspiring. He has many game retcon projects. I wish game companies would take him up on these retcons. I hope you all enjoy this guy as much as I do. Check out his blog here!

Note: Litcube may be interested in what he has to say about Masters of Orion. I think it resonates.

Art question

Mr. Tanaka, my elementary school art teacher who has taught K-9 art since 1977, says computers are changing the way students experience art.

I think art programs have changed drastically because of the computer ... which makes kids think that they can produce something, because they can make it on the computer. But it's not the same as really making something. They tend to have poor motor skills as a result.

I haven't talked to him personally about this personally - the quote was in an alumni newsletter my school sends out. I think it's fascinating though. What does this mean for the art 20 to 30 years from now? Do you think it matters? Or will talented artists emerge regardless of whether they develop good motor skills when they're young?

Apologies if this is something people in the art world talk about all the time... This was the first I'd heard of it.

Some of the scariest/most awesome things you’ll ever see…

Images taken by Paul Scheer at the Neverland Auction. Click on the show info tab at the top for his amusing photo titles..

I love love love his work.

I am greatly enamored of the work by illustrator Alessandro Baronciani. If your soft insides are also stirred by his reductive brilliance, please see more here.

p.s. Though I prefer some of his earlier (now unavailable) prints, I'm buying that Supergirl silkscreen-new economy be damned.

Hey, while we're at it...

Anyone be interested in doing covers of Vintage Paperbacks??
I just think some of these covers scream for a tribute.

here's another pool of book cover images, these are specifically sci-fi.

A Disappearing Number

This Sunday, theater group Complicité performs a radio version of their current production A Disappearing Number.

Here’s the brief: “…a provocative meditation on the beauty of mathematics and the nature of creativity. It was inspired by the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most notable pure mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor Brahmin from South India, and Cambridge professor GH Hardy.” I saw their productions of Mnemonic (thanks Ponies!) and Murakami’s The Elephant Vanishes, and was blown away (more by the former than the latter).

Link to BBC site/broadcast. Note the time difference.

A new hope

My friend Ray noticed the SW love on PoT, and passed this along for post. Found here.

Here, kitty kitty....

This painting by a young Japanese artist comes to us via Tokyo Damage Report. Maybe you've seen this Web site before? If not, it's basically this American guy's blog about Tokyo subcultures and whatever else. Check out some of his entries - you could get lost for hours.

Here's another piece I enjoyed called "The Chinese Landscape on Kaiju." (Another translation might be "Monsters in Chinese Landscape.")

The Tokyo Damage Report blogger took photos of both paintings at a huge Tokyo exhibition for up-and-coming artists in May. The links above have photos of many, many more pieces.

(I've been wanting to post this for a while but had to wait until Oceanic fixed my Internets. Go Oceanic! They came through. It's a miracle.)

Secret City

I may have learned to draw by tracing comics, but Commander Mark made me the master-drawer I am today.



The guy was actually pretty great. He dealt out a lot of fairly advanced drawing concepts, but he did it a little at a time, so you never got lost. He'd show the occasional art history slide (accompanied here by the music right after the opening cutscene from a Super-Nintendo shooter), along with the occasional weird-ass plot point (4:55).

More here.

Hey, you art people

So you guys who went to art school: What's the art theory/psychology behind repeating patterns in art? They've been there forever, so somehow there's a subconscious trigger in the brain to find repetition aesthetically pleasing.

Something like Joseph Cambell's universal myth theory, maybe?

Because we see it so often in nature?

Because it's mathematically sophisticated?

Because it reminds us of the concept of excess, which was a good thing to have in hunter gatherer days?

Wish I would have met this guy when I was four years old.

A South Korean artist has brought some children's visions to life.

!!!

Lookie here Fugu!