Here's what looks like a great book that was just delivered to me today, "Digital Collage and Painting" by Susan Ruddick Bloom. It's a thick book, much like a school textbook.
Back to work on my animation now. I need to do some texture work. :)
Following up on yesterday's test of an animation... My current project is creating a short animated movie, to highlight my digital artwork! The movie is primarily being made in Blender, and will likely be spliced together and edited with iMovie. Here is a Blender screen shot of the work in process:
The movie will probably be only a couple of minutes long, at most! I would love to output the scenes with the LuxRender engine, for global illumination and maximum realism, but I estimate that it would take 3 months just to render a final version of the movie. That doesn't include modeling, texturing, lighting, animating, and the killer test renders.
I'm currently working in Blender version 2.49b. I haven't upgraded to the new Blender 2.5 yet, as the last time I tried it, the button panels had graphical glitches. Plus I haven't had time to learn the new interface. :) Version 2.5 has a totally revamped interface (much better organized than the current edition, whose button panels have suffered for too long from continuous forced additions). Also 2.5 features stronger sculpting tools, and at some point will allow for multiple open windows that are further customizable by the user. Lots of changes really, but all that will just have to wait while I try to get stuff done. :)
Okay, today's blog post is really lame. Basically I'm testing if a self-made animation can be successfully installed onto this web page (rather than grabbing a movie off of YouTube)! I made a simple animation in Blender (a 3D modeling and animation program):
Hey, it's working!
If anyone has trouble running the animation, please let me know (and indicate what browser you're using). The movie is simply three seconds of a blue ball following an invisible path, against a purple background. Thanks.
Yes, this is all simple baby stuff. But you'd be surprised how much trouble I've had getting simple movies to run on different people's computers. So I don't take anything for granted! In one case, a person claimed not to have QuickTime on his computer, even though it's pretty much standard equipment (a bold assertion given all the different operating systems out there). But also I've wondered if there are issues with movies that are made with Blender.
Anyway, if you're all extraordinarily unfortunate, maybe I'll be posting more exciting animations here someday. :)
Here is a Youtube video clip from the artist Alexander Jannson of Sweden... It's a trailer for an upcoming graphic novel called "Ramone Bosco":
The video has the look of a Tim Burton production (or even a level from the LittleBigPlanet games), with its playful but sinister domestic landscapes and a wide variety of dysfunctional characters. I really like the abundant textures, which seem to stand out as much in the background skies as anywhere else. The inhabitants of this domain must surely be despondent about their lot in life, but most are likely not inclined to leave anytime soon (where else would they fit in?). Little clips like this one make moviemaking an attractive looking endeavor... as was the case with "Carpates Express"! (See post dated Feb. 6, 2011).
Alexander Jansson's cool website can be reached by going to www.alexanderjansson.com
My uncle Jerry, who is a landscape painter, showed me this interesting test online, which evaluates your ability to differentiate shades of color (basically testing for any degree of color blindness). The test can be viewed and taken here.
The test is administered by a color technology company called X-Rite (which owns the company Pantone Inc., who is well known for their color matching system that is used as a color benchmark in different industries, such as printing companies).
I scored a 7 on the color test, which I think is pretty good (zero is the best score). A few people I know who took the test, whom are not artists and are not impressed by working with colors, did not score as high. However, I do not feel that the test scores are extremely valid. While taking the test, it was immediately apparent that patience and effort were critical to success. Anyone who blew through the test and settled on something less than their best evaluation of the colors, would not score as high. Thus the resulting test score could really not be a measurement of their "color blindness", but rather their impatience. Indeed, some of the differences in shade of color were quite subtle, and without proper attention and comparison on the part of the test taker, one could easily score lower than necessary. On my test results, I could see differences in colors which the computer claimed I had had trouble, which might mean that if I had concentrated a little harder on the test, I would have scored better. Also, there's no accounting for the way that different monitors display color, so I suspect that some colors which should appear different, have no discernible uniqueness at all on some computers. I've worked on some monitors in which the color is absolutely horrible (in comparison to the gorgeous hues on my current computer, an Apple iMac).
Still, the test is quite interesting, and could be of some value. If you put in your best effort and still struggle to score well, it could indeed indicate that you have some problem with color blindness. I found the test to be rather eyestrain inducing. :)
Today I heard from Pam Johnson (Director to Dorothea Tanning's collection of artwork)... I had requested information on where I could send a personal letter to Dorothea, and Pam was happy to oblige. She even said that she would make sure that Dorothea receives my letter! So I was happy about that. Pam said that the email address I had sent my request to, had been having issues with delivery, thus the delay in getting back to me. Anyway, I'll send a letter off to Dorothea shortly!
Here is a photo that I took of Dorothea Tanning's painting "Birthday", as it hangs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
The painting is a self-portrait of course. (I'm showing it here at a small resolution so as hopefully not to conflict with any copyright laws). When I see a painting like this, I sometimes wonder, what's lurking just off the canvas, out of sight? I guess only Dorothea knows what lies beyond the doors. Although as most Surrealists might say, it's whatever your deranged mind can imagine!
Ooooh, oooooh, this here was one of my favorite toys as a youngster! The awesome "Castle Dracula" Colorforms set!
It's hard to express the creative urges that were kindled in me while I was playing with these Colorforms... I LOVED them. It's safe to say that this toy was one of the earliest catalysts for my love for art and (ab)using my imagination. I think I must have gotten the Colorforms from my parents as a Christmas present. I just remember that from the moment I saw the artwork on the box, I was hooked. The famous characters of horror, the colors, the detail, the haunted house / laboratory, and of course the personal customization of 1,000,00 scenes, it was truly an inspired gift.
Playing with the Colorforms is the first time I remember getting that frustrating creative dilemma... That deep desire to create something grand, something which is beyond my capacity to imagine, and needless to say beyond my artistic technical ability. This reminds me of an old Batman comic book, in which the Joker acquired from the Shaper of Worlds, the unlimited ability to create anything his mind could conceive.... But instead of building a universe to his tastes, the possibilities drove the Joker insane and put him in the mental asylum. I was actually getting those frustrated feelings today (thus prompting me to look up Colorforms on the internet). The Colorforms introduced me to the joy of arranging things in space, which eventually lead to my certain tastes in video games, and even in how I imagine scenes when I was drawing comic strips.
I remember wearing out the vinyl stickers until they would no longer cling to the board, and I'm sure that this wonderful toy ended up in a landfill somewhere. Aaaargh!
I don't recall ever having another set of Colorforms as a kid, which is kind of odd, given how much I enjoyed this one. This is the second time that I've seen this item for sale on Ebay. Maybe I should put in a bid for it, although this particular set is missing pieces and is banged up a bit.
Today, I often like to tell an expectant mother that one of the great joys of having a kid, must be exposing that child to things which will spark his / her imagination and perhaps set him / her on a path of exciting self discovery. I don't have kids, as I'm still trying to corral the one that's inside me. That little guy is still playing with his Colorforms and occasionally peeing on my sense of mature responsibility.
Here's something different that I did for a friend. We were discussing the last painting that I finished (ref. post dated 03-19-11) and I mentioned that I could change the woman to be Betty Boop (her favorite character)! Then I decided to do a whole new image instead, because I had been wanting to do something cartoony anyway! Clicking the image will impose a larger view. :-)
I've added a few more items to my store (www.zazzle.com/michaelricketson), for my latest painting of our heroine with her cat, skull, and bone collection. :) I had to do a little cleaning up of some white anti-aliasing on the painting in order to make it presentable on a dark t-shirt (if I had used layers properly in my paint program, that wouldn't have been necessary)! Also, a mug, stickers and a coaster are available. There's always the danger that more is forthcoming, as well! As mentioned previously, I am still leaning towards creating a vector image version of this artwork, but I won't start working on that immediately. Right now I'm doing a personal artwork which I'll show shortly!
Here's another Zazzle store which impressed me... The artist, Chad Wiles McCown, does some stylish illustration which has a feminine flair to it, if you'd like to take a look at it! www.zazzle.com/wiles44
Today I was reading about the crackdown on comic books which occurred during the 1940's and 50's, in which the issue of over-the-top violence, gore and sex in comics came under heavy scrutiny and criticism in both the U.S. and Canada. The central figure behind the movement to clean up comics was Dr. Fredric Wertham, whose book "Seduction of the Innocent" took no prisoners in describing the decaying filth of society which was a result of children reading uncensored comic books. The public was outraged about the publishers' crimes that Dr. Wertham brought to light. Eventually the U.S. Senate held hearings to examine the scope of comic books' influence on the nation's youth. One of the voluntary witnesses at the hearings was Willaim Gaines, publisher of Mad magazine and the notoriously graphic EC Comics (there's a website featuring Gaines' testimony, which can be viewed here).
Although there had been some local community / state laws passed in the United States, which enforced approval of comic content before publishing and distribution (or outright banned certain comics), no federal government action occurred in the U.S. as a result of the Senate hearings. Instead, publishing companies found it necessary to police content of their comics themselves, through their creation of an independent supervisory board, called the Comics Code Authority. This was effectively necessary since wholesale distributors of comics, completely spooked by an angry American public, were refusing to sell uncensored comics. The publishers had to regain the trust of the consumer, and the Comics Code Authority's big stamp of approval on the covers of their watered down comics was just the thing to do it. Woo hoo. It's only very recently that the Comics Code Authority's influence on publishing houses has been reduced to zero (after a long, slow decay), with some publishers now creating their own ratings systems for their comics.
I have mixed feelings about the crackdown on comics, but ultimately I would have been against the creation of the Comics Code Authority. Something such as what is available to read, and what children are reading, should be left to individual adults / parents to decide. If adults don't like violent comic books, then the publishers will go out of business on their own (strangely, parents seemed totally unaware of the content of comics being read by their children, until Dr. Wertham and his cohorts pointed it out to them. That's the real problem most likely).
If you haven't already, you should check out the art website of "Dirty" Donny Gillies (www.dirtydonny.com). I was reading about him yesterday in "Rue Morgue" magazine, and although I'm sure that I've seen his artwork before, I had really not been exposed to enough of it to be familiar with the artist (his kind of art is typically not what you find hanging in museums). Donny does "lowbrow" artwork for album covers, pinball machines, skateboards, etc. and his work usually consists of hideously grinning monsters residing in garish terrains, accompanied by motorcycles, soaring rocket ships and the occasional bare chested lady friend. Of course the first thing that hits you when you look at the artwork (aside from an errant nipple) is "Wow, this guy has a style alright!" It's a celebration of arrogant color and strong linework, and is a reminder to me that there are so many ways that one can put color on a canvas! Donny's art looks like something that you'd see painted on a wall at some cheap deli restaurant in Florida.
Today I ordered his book "Monster Revolt! The Art of Dirty Donny" so that I don't have to tour cheap deli restaurants trying to find his work. :)
Tonight I spent a little time online in Second Life, the virtual world simulator which has been a wonderful creative and social platform for some years now. There's really nothing like it, in my opinion (aside from real life itself). The simulator features a real world economy (with Linden dollars that are convertible to real dollars), with people using highly personalized avatars to exchange virtual goods, services, and even weird kinky stuff if you're into that. Here's a picture of a virtual party that I just went to:
