KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul - Parent wants graphic novels pulled from schools
Incredible.
BONE has won countless awards as a children's book. And here, some conservative woman is trying to get rid of it over its "objectionable content"- people who are of age gambling and having a few drinks.
But then, "concerned" parents have tried to ban material as wild as Dr. Seuss and Laura Ingalls Wilder!
This is why I renewed my membership to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. These idiots are still out there!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 38: Sheltering the Taste
I know you were expecting a new page. And there's one on the board, the research is done, and the layout is solid.
But this is a minor occasion.
This week marks the one year anniversary of this blog.
To celebrate, I've taken one of my guitar pieces, Sheltering the Taste, and made a small video of it, using images posted here since we began.
The title comes from the two pieces that comprise this work, Gentle Giant's Acquiring the Taste and Sky's Keep Me Safe and Warm and Shelter Me From Darkness, the piece I played at my niece Jessica's wedding.
Back next week with the next page of A Private Myth.
Until then, may life be kind to you!
Actually, life should be kind to you even after next week....
But this is a minor occasion.
This week marks the one year anniversary of this blog.
To celebrate, I've taken one of my guitar pieces, Sheltering the Taste, and made a small video of it, using images posted here since we began.
The title comes from the two pieces that comprise this work, Gentle Giant's Acquiring the Taste and Sky's Keep Me Safe and Warm and Shelter Me From Darkness, the piece I played at my niece Jessica's wedding.
Back next week with the next page of A Private Myth.
Until then, may life be kind to you!
Actually, life should be kind to you even after next week....
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 37: I Am A Camera (Jack)
New page next week, time permitting. This week was eaten by meetings, grading and writing.
This week's art comes to us from the world of photography. It's an image of my first photography teacher, Jack Mader.
This is not done in Photoshop.
This is traditional photography. You know, film, negatives, paper developing, the works, old school.
I took an image of Jack with half the lens masked. Then I rotated the mask and took an upscaled shot of a Nikon 35MM camera. For the second negative, I took a shot of a broken mirror, shattered from the center out.
Then, projecting the negative through the enlarger, I cut a mask of the projected area of the Jack/camera composite.
Masking first the mirrored area and then the composite negative, I exposed both areas of the paper. The mask was slightly off-register, which gave the nifty solarized edging.
I've always been rather proud of this one. When I applied for credit transfer at MCAD, this was the only photo I showed in my portfolio, and they accepted my photo credits.
It remains a favorite.
There are at least three songs titled I Am A Camera: one by the Buggles, one by Gentle Giant, and one in the musical Cabaret.
next week, more of A Private Myth.
This week's art comes to us from the world of photography. It's an image of my first photography teacher, Jack Mader.
This is not done in Photoshop.
This is traditional photography. You know, film, negatives, paper developing, the works, old school.
I took an image of Jack with half the lens masked. Then I rotated the mask and took an upscaled shot of a Nikon 35MM camera. For the second negative, I took a shot of a broken mirror, shattered from the center out.
Then, projecting the negative through the enlarger, I cut a mask of the projected area of the Jack/camera composite.
Masking first the mirrored area and then the composite negative, I exposed both areas of the paper. The mask was slightly off-register, which gave the nifty solarized edging.
I've always been rather proud of this one. When I applied for credit transfer at MCAD, this was the only photo I showed in my portfolio, and they accepted my photo credits.
It remains a favorite.
There are at least three songs titled I Am A Camera: one by the Buggles, one by Gentle Giant, and one in the musical Cabaret.
next week, more of A Private Myth.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thoughts on PCA
As promised, I'm taking a minute away from grading to offer some observations on the PCA National Conference in St. Louis, MO, this past weekend.
Highlights:
Meeting and chatting with Kim Munson, whose body of knowledge on comics art exhibition and legal matters is formidable. She's also great fun to hang out with. Her paper on the NY show was quite revealing! Here's Kim with Trina Robbins from last year's San Diego con!
Photo credit goes to Micheal Dooley!
A bit sad that this was the same weekend as WonderCon. I have much more fun at WonderCon than I do at San Diego, but it's better for my career to attend and present at PCA, so if it remains a scheduling and monetary choice, there's my mandate. It may be better in other ways too- see below.
I also rather enjoyed getting to know Jacque Nodell a bit better. Like Kim's, her blog is linked on this blog. I was quite embarrassed as a comics scholar to not have made the connection to her name, and that her grandfather was the creator of the original Green Lantern! Jaque's paper on the romantic aspects of 70s Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Lois Lane comics was quite engaging.
Here's Jacque at San Diego last year. Not the best vid I've ever seen, but it does give a sense of her energy.
Of course, my old and dear friend Frenchy Lunning made the whole thing possible for me, both by offering an affordable (to say the least) room share and by being a constant support for my career, my work and my ideas. I have such a blast hanging out with her, but I get it that her time is at a premium, so I'm always grateful for what I can get.
Frenchy always finds a different approach to the material, and her view of Ranma 1/2 as a horror text was certainly no exception!
I mean, really. It takes a very flexible mind to see this as a horror story. But Frenchy made a very compelling case!
Here's Frenchy in her milieu at the Picto-Plasma conference, one of dozens she routinely attends and at which she offers presentations. In addition, she is the editor and spearhead of the academic journal Mechademia.
Also a pleasure to meet fat studies scholar and performance artist Cindy Baker, whose piece I was sorry to miss.
Some great papers on aspects of Grecian legend in Watchmen, issues of identity in Persepolis, Wendy Goldberg's delightful paper on The Rabbi's Cat, contemporary noir comics, superhero musicals and their failure, the usual spate of papers on MAUS, and Randy Duncan's excellent piece on 17th century Ethiopian manuscript as comic form.
My own piece on hypermasculinity in superheroes as a catalyst for relationship failure and Concrete as a repudiation of that notion was fairly well-received, though I think I could have fleshed out my ideas quite a bit more.
However, I will have the opportunity to do so if my conversation with the rep from U Mississippi press bears fruit and I am able to do an analytical tome on Concrete!
There's much talk about how academic conferences like PCA are more about professionalism and career advancement, and fan-oriented conventions like WonderCon and SDCC are more about fun and industry schmoozing. But not only did I feel like I advanced my career more at PCA, but I think overall I had more fun than I usually do at comic cons to which I travel (as opposed to our local one, which I quite like).
But possibly the venue is not as important as the opportunity to, in the words of the Wizard, "confer, converse and otherwise hobnob with my fellow Wizards."
Highlights:
Meeting and chatting with Kim Munson, whose body of knowledge on comics art exhibition and legal matters is formidable. She's also great fun to hang out with. Her paper on the NY show was quite revealing! Here's Kim with Trina Robbins from last year's San Diego con!
Photo credit goes to Micheal Dooley!
A bit sad that this was the same weekend as WonderCon. I have much more fun at WonderCon than I do at San Diego, but it's better for my career to attend and present at PCA, so if it remains a scheduling and monetary choice, there's my mandate. It may be better in other ways too- see below.
I also rather enjoyed getting to know Jacque Nodell a bit better. Like Kim's, her blog is linked on this blog. I was quite embarrassed as a comics scholar to not have made the connection to her name, and that her grandfather was the creator of the original Green Lantern! Jaque's paper on the romantic aspects of 70s Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Lois Lane comics was quite engaging.
Here's Jacque at San Diego last year. Not the best vid I've ever seen, but it does give a sense of her energy.
Of course, my old and dear friend Frenchy Lunning made the whole thing possible for me, both by offering an affordable (to say the least) room share and by being a constant support for my career, my work and my ideas. I have such a blast hanging out with her, but I get it that her time is at a premium, so I'm always grateful for what I can get.
Frenchy always finds a different approach to the material, and her view of Ranma 1/2 as a horror text was certainly no exception!
I mean, really. It takes a very flexible mind to see this as a horror story. But Frenchy made a very compelling case!
Here's Frenchy in her milieu at the Picto-Plasma conference, one of dozens she routinely attends and at which she offers presentations. In addition, she is the editor and spearhead of the academic journal Mechademia.
Also a pleasure to meet fat studies scholar and performance artist Cindy Baker, whose piece I was sorry to miss.
Some great papers on aspects of Grecian legend in Watchmen, issues of identity in Persepolis, Wendy Goldberg's delightful paper on The Rabbi's Cat, contemporary noir comics, superhero musicals and their failure, the usual spate of papers on MAUS, and Randy Duncan's excellent piece on 17th century Ethiopian manuscript as comic form.
My own piece on hypermasculinity in superheroes as a catalyst for relationship failure and Concrete as a repudiation of that notion was fairly well-received, though I think I could have fleshed out my ideas quite a bit more.
However, I will have the opportunity to do so if my conversation with the rep from U Mississippi press bears fruit and I am able to do an analytical tome on Concrete!
There's much talk about how academic conferences like PCA are more about professionalism and career advancement, and fan-oriented conventions like WonderCon and SDCC are more about fun and industry schmoozing. But not only did I feel like I advanced my career more at PCA, but I think overall I had more fun than I usually do at comic cons to which I travel (as opposed to our local one, which I quite like).
But possibly the venue is not as important as the opportunity to, in the words of the Wizard, "confer, converse and otherwise hobnob with my fellow Wizards."
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 36: A Private Myth, p. 9
After taking time at PCA to present a paper on the wonders of Concrete, I am delighted to post the next page in this story.
Mostly happy with this one. It advances the narrative, the backgrounds are adequate, and it does some interesting things with the light. Not as successful as I hoped, but better than I thought when I finished it!
At PCA, I discovered that there are more people reading this than I had thought. I'm grateful for that, and hope to post stuff that's worth your time.
I will post more on the wonders of PCA on Tuesday, after I've dispensed with my primary teaching duties for the week and am no longer trying to type with a purring cat on my breast.
Next week, page 10 or a photo with some surprising aspects.
At PCA, I discovered that there are more people reading this than I had thought. I'm grateful for that, and hope to post stuff that's worth your time.
I will post more on the wonders of PCA on Tuesday, after I've dispensed with my primary teaching duties for the week and am no longer trying to type with a purring cat on my breast.
Next week, page 10 or a photo with some surprising aspects.
Monday, March 29, 2010
"Hi, Jack." "How's it going, Frank?"
I cannot say anything about this image.
Frank Zappa with Jack Kirby.
The King of Comics and the Duke of Prunes.
So many possibilities.
Thanks to the great Scott Shaw! for posting this on his Facebook page.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 35: PortuGGuese panorama
The good new is that the next page of A PRIVATE MYTH is complete.
The bad news is that I will not be able to post it till next week. Once again, scanner access is not our friend.
Offered as a placeholder: a panorama of shots from the Portugal Jam at GORGG.
This jam was particularly rough, as it had only been a couple days since one of our members, Joerg Weinert, died unexpectedly in the middle of the event.
However, the boys in the band rose to the occasion. While not a full on Gentle Giant reunion (there will never be one), this shot does contain three members of that elusive ensemble.
From right to left, then:
Pierre (mon ami) Bordeleau, guitar
Malcom Mortimore (drummer, Three Friends) skins
Gary Green, guitar
Kerry Minnear, bass
Fred Rosenkamp, guitar
Gary Green again (ah, the miracle of the panorama!), guitar
the illustrious Dan Bornemark, keyboards
Technical: Shots taken on indoor setting and stitched using the automatic option in PS CS3.
Cropped to even, minor patching with clone stamp and a texture overlay of canvas.
I'm mad for the auto correct options in the forthcoming CS5, which would have neatly solved that sloppy patch job in the upper right corner.
And here's a sketch I did of Joerg the day he died. This was posted on the PortuGORGG bulletin board, and was included in the materiel sent to Joerg's widow and children.
The text reads, "Thanks for coming, Joerg! See you at the reunion concert!
Love, Diana & the GORGG gang"
The bad news is that I will not be able to post it till next week. Once again, scanner access is not our friend.
Offered as a placeholder: a panorama of shots from the Portugal Jam at GORGG.
This jam was particularly rough, as it had only been a couple days since one of our members, Joerg Weinert, died unexpectedly in the middle of the event.
However, the boys in the band rose to the occasion. While not a full on Gentle Giant reunion (there will never be one), this shot does contain three members of that elusive ensemble.
Pierre (mon ami) Bordeleau, guitar
Malcom Mortimore (drummer, Three Friends) skins
Gary Green, guitar
Kerry Minnear, bass
Fred Rosenkamp, guitar
Gary Green again (ah, the miracle of the panorama!), guitar
the illustrious Dan Bornemark, keyboards
Technical: Shots taken on indoor setting and stitched using the automatic option in PS CS3.
Cropped to even, minor patching with clone stamp and a texture overlay of canvas.
I'm mad for the auto correct options in the forthcoming CS5, which would have neatly solved that sloppy patch job in the upper right corner.
And here's a sketch I did of Joerg the day he died. This was posted on the PortuGORGG bulletin board, and was included in the materiel sent to Joerg's widow and children.
The text reads, "Thanks for coming, Joerg! See you at the reunion concert!
Love, Diana & the GORGG gang"
Monday, March 22, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 34: Under Construction
Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted this here yet.
One of my first printed pieces, this was used twice in the booklet for Gentle Giant's Under Construction, a 2 CD set of rare GG material.
The piece was done on coquille board using grease pencil (AKA China marker) and ink. While I wish I would have spent a bit more time on the background, given that there was text laid over it in both its final uses, it's probably for the best. In the world of illustration, the client's needs come first.
One of my first printed pieces, this was used twice in the booklet for Gentle Giant's Under Construction, a 2 CD set of rare GG material.
The piece was done on coquille board using grease pencil (AKA China marker) and ink. While I wish I would have spent a bit more time on the background, given that there was text laid over it in both its final uses, it's probably for the best. In the world of illustration, the client's needs come first.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Original Art Sundays # 33: Man of the Land
I think it's time to take a realistic tack on this.
Rather than plan on posting specific material every week, I plan on posting art every week, and will post new pages in A Private Myth when they are completed.
Needless to say, this is a response to my not having the new page done yet this week- again.
However, I do have a fascinating new piece to post.
A while back, I was playing with the colored pencils and spontaneously came up with this.
For a change, the scan captures most of the nuance of the piece.
I used to be troubled by the force lines coming off his sleeve. Then I realized that he wasn't giving energy to the Earth, the Earth was constructing him out of Her energy.
I avoid conventional fantasy art, because it's been done to death and because there are pros out there who can do the material splendidly despite The Cliche' Factor. I'm thinking of folks like Colleen Doran (see side links) and the indomitable Patrick Woodroffe and Dave McKean, frequent collaborator with Neil Gaiman.
New page next week if all goes well- I'm very inspired by this one and want to give the work the time it needs, within reason!
Rather than plan on posting specific material every week, I plan on posting art every week, and will post new pages in A Private Myth when they are completed.
Needless to say, this is a response to my not having the new page done yet this week- again.
However, I do have a fascinating new piece to post.
A while back, I was playing with the colored pencils and spontaneously came up with this.
For a change, the scan captures most of the nuance of the piece.
I used to be troubled by the force lines coming off his sleeve. Then I realized that he wasn't giving energy to the Earth, the Earth was constructing him out of Her energy.
I avoid conventional fantasy art, because it's been done to death and because there are pros out there who can do the material splendidly despite The Cliche' Factor. I'm thinking of folks like Colleen Doran (see side links) and the indomitable Patrick Woodroffe and Dave McKean, frequent collaborator with Neil Gaiman.
New page next week if all goes well- I'm very inspired by this one and want to give the work the time it needs, within reason!
RIP Lesley Duncan
Another immensely talented and underrated singer has left us.
Lesley Duncan passed away March 10, 2010 at the age of 66.
I'm not as versed in her work as I am in that of, say, Sally Oldfield, so I'll let the above video and link speak for themselves.
Lesley Duncan passed away March 10, 2010 at the age of 66.
I'm not as versed in her work as I am in that of, say, Sally Oldfield, so I'll let the above video and link speak for themselves.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Neil Gaiman's Sunday morning
I slept through this when it aired this past Sunday, in anticipation of a possible (but by his own admission unlikely) Oscar win for Neil for CORALINE, a film I thoroughly enjoyed.
If, like me, Sunday morning is sleepy time for you, here's what you/we missed.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
While bemused by The Strangeness of It All, the interviewer managed to transcend the usual Muggle sort of attitude in mainstream reporting of SF/fantasy events and to recognize the innate quality of Neil's writing.
I've thought for some time now about the potential for a Gaiman film fest:
Neverwhere
A Short Film About John Bolton
Princess Mononoke (Gaiman translation)
Mirrormask
Stardust
Coraline
I'm sure there's something I'm overlooking, but I hope Neil will forgive.
If, like me, Sunday morning is sleepy time for you, here's what you/we missed.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
While bemused by The Strangeness of It All, the interviewer managed to transcend the usual Muggle sort of attitude in mainstream reporting of SF/fantasy events and to recognize the innate quality of Neil's writing.
I've thought for some time now about the potential for a Gaiman film fest:
Neverwhere
A Short Film About John Bolton
Princess Mononoke (Gaiman translation)
Mirrormask
Stardust
Coraline
I'm sure there's something I'm overlooking, but I hope Neil will forgive.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Prog rock from India: motherjane
I haven't posted much of a musical nature for a while, but this is making the rounds of the Gentle Giant list.
What with my housemate's devotion to the land of India, posting this seems a good idea.
As so much of music is really about moving energy, can it be any coincidence that forms meld in the Far East, the seat of Buddhism, Shinto and Krishna?
Here's some more on Motherjane!
What with my housemate's devotion to the land of India, posting this seems a good idea.
As so much of music is really about moving energy, can it be any coincidence that forms meld in the Far East, the seat of Buddhism, Shinto and Krishna?
Here's some more on Motherjane!
Original Art Sundays # 32: A Private Myth, p. 8
Technical notes: this page was done entirely in tech marker and crowquill. The gray values are the same trick, grayscale marker with a box blur added in Photoshop.
For the next page, I'm going to try to structure it entirely in shadows, or as much as possible, stealing from the masters Krigstein and Rude.
Plot- wise, things are moving forward. Slowly, slowly. Remember, this IS a novel, and we're on p. 8!
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