Saturday, December 31, 2005
Pandorama IMAX print back in action!
Thanks to alert reader Karl Cohen, I've learned that the original, cameraless, 70mm print of Pandorama is being shown at British Columbia's Science World Omnimax Theater in Vancouver. I haven't seen the big print on the big screen in many years, and I'm thrilled it's back in circulation, even if I'm unlikely to make it to BC.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Stuck Rubber Baby
10 years after its release, I finally read Howard Cruse's magnum opus Stuck Rubber Baby. Only once in a while does art affect me so strongly. The book has such soul, its characters are so engaging and human, the storytelling is impeccable, the whole thing is so moving...I can't find the words to praise it sufficiently. Please read it.
Cruse also wrote a "making-of" the graphic novel, the Long and Winding Stuck Rubber Road. His descriptions of forming a committed relationship with the Muse are spot-on:
My "muse" was charging me up with creative inspiration; my practical side was screaming, "Are you crazy? Do you realize how long it would take you to draw all those pages? You’re already in debt and you have almost no money coming in. How could you support yourself?" link
....
I suddenly recognized the feelings I’ve been having the last day or so. They are a possible storyline emerging from my subconscious. They come with a rush of adrenaline that feels like the best kind of high, but they also come with a throbbing sense of dread.
"It’s like when you feel that you may be falling in love," I told Eddie this morning. "There’s tremendous exhilaration, but the implications are scary.
"I could end up committing myself to a long-term relationship here. But how do I know it’s really love? Maybe it’s infatuation. Next week it could abruptly cool off. (Or worse yet, what if I cool off a week after a contract is signed…?) There’s a point when you’re thinking about entering into a new relationship when you know you can turn back and not take the risk. Backing off may be the smartest thing you can do, since sometimes loving feelings are 100% illusion and wishful thinking.
"On the other hand, backing off can become a very bad habit. Sometimes it is love. Sometimes you have to trust your feelings and just jump off that cliff into the unknown."
That’s where my head is today. I’m scared at the way my impulse to create has shifted into overdrive. A few days ago I had a vague idea of the possible seeds of a story. Since then all sorts of intriguing characters, subplots, and dramatic moments have begun piling into my head. link
I can relate. Because the Universe is capricious and cruel, Howard Cruse continues to struggle without the financial compensation he so richly deserves. His story doesn't give me any hope for my own financial future. But he made an awesome work of art. If Sita turns out anywhere near as good, I'll be more than satisified.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Keep On Drivin'
Today I received a plea for a drawing from someone named Jessica:
I'm in need of someone who can, seriously, draw a cartoon of someone driving with their head up their backside, to be polite. Somehow it needs to show that the operator of the vehicle is completely oblivious to anything outside their vision, which is to say limited when surrounded by a generous overlapping of butt cheeks.
....I have a customer who was T-Boned last summer, turned his bike into an accordian, and really, really, wanted a law in the Oregon Revised Statutes that literally prohibited "operating a vehicle with their head up their ass"! A good friend, who is experienced at wording such documents, completed that. I just need a drawing to accompany it, for the individuals who drive like that are likely to be illiterate as well!
I hadn't done an illustration in over a year, but because I was doing a three-hour render in Studio Artist, I sat down and knocked this out. Oh yeah, I still got it.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Holiday Wishes
Sometimes the best arguments for Christmas Resistance come from its critics:
Yoou people are so fucked in the head it aint even funny i mean get rid of christmas jesus christ im an athest and i celebrate it its like the only holiday that normal blue collar people can say up ur ass world and spend spend spend i mean its like being anti american and if so u should be shot u muslim sob now stop ur whineing and grow the fuck up u stupid bastards
For more eloquent expressions of the True Spirit of Christmas, go here.
