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"

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

Original Art Sundays # 32: A Private Myth, p. 8

So nice when all the pieces fall together.
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!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Original Art Sundays # 31:revision: A Private Myth, p. 7

Well, finally got the scan done. Looks like the new Alvin tech markers are the short-term answer to my scanning woes, though I may take a friend's advice and go to the disposable tech pen.
Still need more darks!
Ahem.
The page:
 
Not mad for that last tier. The middle  tier is doing what I want it to, but it may seem ambiguous until more of the plot is revealed.
I'm using the old form of overlapping multiple plot elements, all revolving around the central character. Reed Waller and Kate Worley were/are Zen masters of this process/style in their work on Omaha.
On Sunday: page 8.