“The Artist Within” Gives You The Ultimate Studio Tour

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On Saturday I was in a comic book shop and came across a real treasure of a book,The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators, and Others by Greg Preston (Amazon.com link). This hefty picture book features full-page photographs of over 100 prominent cartoonists at home in their studios. The long list of legends featured includes Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Mort Drucker, Jack Davis, Alex Ross, Chuck Jones, Peter de Seve, Mike Mignola, Bruce Timm….and that’s just a small sampling. You name a famous cartoonist or comic book artist that is still living (or a few that aren’t), and chances are he or she is in this book.

The format is very simple. The left page of each spread contains the artist’s name, one small sample of his work, and a paragraph summarizing his accomplishments as an artist. The opposite page is one large, elegant black-and-white photo of the artist posing in his studio. If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite artist’s studio looks like, this is your chance to see where all the magic happens.

Many of the artists have allowed the photographer to shoot their studio “as is” with messy desks and cluttered shelves. While a few of the photos look very pristine and artificially posed, most do not. That’s refreshing, because it makes the studios of brilliant masters feel like places in the real world and makes these artistic giants feel more down to earth and accessible. Also, I can point to almost any page in this book and say to my lovely wife, “See? I’m not the only artist with a messy studio.”

Thumbing through the book I noticed that many of the artists have their studios crammed with books. More than a few have giant wall-size bookcases behind their drawing boards with books sometimes spilling out into piles on the floor. Since most of the artists are at least a decade or more older than me and built their careers in the pre-internet era, perhaps many of the books are filled with reference images (for you college kids, that’s how artists did research for an assignment before Google Image Search). No doubt many of the books contain inspiring artwork from other artists. As a hoarder of books myself, I can appreciate the value of a good book to help nurture my artistic brain.

It’s also fun to notice some of the unusual objects that may cross an artist’s desk. In various photos I’ve spotted a baseball, a hand-drill, a plastic skull, a handgun, a juke box, a stuffed poodle, and an Oscar (on Chuck Jones’ top shelf). And of course, there was no shortage of toys lining the studio shelves.

Some of the studios are large and open, others are small and humble, almost cramped. But each photo gives insights into the working habits of a great artist at the top of his/her field.

My wife and I are contemplating either moving in a year or two or adding on to our current house. This books gives me some great ideas to consider as I plan my next studio. I don’t claim to be anywhere near the level of the great artists featured in The Artist Within (Amazon.com link), but if anyone is interested here’s an old post that shows you what my current studio looks like.

We Are Currently Experiencing Technical Difficulties

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Some days it seems like everything goes wrong at once. A couple of weeks ago my computer started acting funny, and after several hours on the phone with five different tech support people, I was told I have to completely wipe my hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch. While I wasn’t thrilled, my Mac is getting old (going on five years) and gets used heavily so I guess it was due for a meltdown.

Before reinstalling, though, I had to back everything up. Apple’s Time Machine backup software has been acting goofy (part of my overall computer going haywire, I think) so I spent all day yesterday trying to get a decent backup. In the mean time, my internet connection also decided to quit on me. Turns out my eight-year-old Airport is dying (I guess Mac products like to all go at once). Have to buy a new one today.

At least I can still access the Internet (and write this post) on my iPhone.

Oops. Maybe not.

For several hours last night AT&T’s Edge network was down in my area. So for a few hours last evening I was in a technological Bermuda Triangle with no computer, no internet, no network, and no phone. Makes me realize how utterly dependant I am on technology, and how frustrated and helpless I feel without it. I rocked myself to sleep curled up in the corner and sucking my thumb.

All that to say, it may be a few days before my life stabilizes enough for me to have time to write a decent blog post. I’ve got a few drafts going but need to get my computer fixed and then catch up on client work first. My apologies to all you faithful blog readers.

My Blog Is Three Years Old

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Cedric’s Blog-O-Rama officially began three years ago today. I’ve sinced switched from Blogger to WordPress, and moved from a semi-daily to daily format and then back again. Readership has more than tripled. Besides just my Mom, I know of at least two other people who read my humble ramblings. A hearty thank-you to all of you!

Favorite iPhone Apps (and most are free)

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One week ago today Apple opened the iTunes App Store, officially allowing third-party developers to write software for the iPhone. So far over 500 apps and games have been posted for download. Most are inexpensively priced (around $5-$10 each), and a large number of them are free. During the first weekend over ten million apps were downloaded by iPhone users.

The results so far are a mixed bag. Since Apple is allowing each developer to set their own price, higher cost does not necessarily equal better features. In fact, some of the free apps are better than similar apps that other developers are charging for. There’s also inconsistency in quality. Some apps are very stable, while others are rather buggy and/or seem to crash often. The good news is that developers are allowed to post free software updates to add new features and address bugs, although there seems to be a lag of days or even weeks between the time when an update is submitted to Apple and when it finally appears in the App Store. iTunes lets users rate each app, so you can tell at a glance which apps are worth downloading.

So far I’ve downloaded about twenty apps (mostly free). I was a little hesitant at first, fearing that a poorly-written app could wreak havoc on my iPhone’s overall perfomance. While I’ve had a few apps crash here and there, overall I’m happy to report that so far my iPhone is playing well with its new roommates.

I’m not much for video games, but here’s a few of my favorite non-game apps so far:

OmniFocus ($19.99)— A souped up task manager . The price is a bit steep but its worth it.

Since the iPhone was first released users have been scratching their heads wondering why Apple doesn’t allow them to sync their to-do lists onto the iPhone. It’s been a year now and there’s still no to-do feature from Apple, so many software companies have stepped in to fill the gap. There are several to-do list applications to choose from, some with more features than others.

OmniFocus is by far the best. It allows you to not just keep track of your daily tasks, but to also group them by project and by “context” (i.e. phone calls, errands, etc.). For example, if you want to run errands, just click the “errands” list and you can see every to-do that you’ve marked as an errand. There’s also a “due soon” folder that automatically gathers together every to-do item that is due in the next couple of days, and an “overdue” folder that lists each item that is past due. So far I’ve been very impressed. I never made much use of Apple’s to-do feature in iCal, but OmniFocus is so smart and easy to use that it’s become my main method of keeping track of all my daily tasks.

Zenbe (Free) — A simple and easy way to make and share lists. You can add/edit a list on your iPhone, and instantly share it with other users who can also add to or edit the list. My wife and I use this for shopping and running errands. When one of us notices that we are low on groceries or need a household item, we simply add it to a list. Then whichever one of us goes shopping can view the list and delete the items as we buy them.

WeatherBug (Free) — A souped-up version of the iPhone’s bare-bones weather app. It gives detailed weather forecasts for up to three cities including chance of rain/snow, wind speed, heat index, humidity, and dew point. It even lets you track weather radar in your city or anywhere in the country.

SpeechCloud (Free) — Finally, a voice dialer for the iPhone! Speak a name and SpeechClould will search your address book to find the best match and bring up the contact’s phone number(s) for dialing. This one’s a little buggy. It’s not as accurate as it could be and its doesn’t always bring up every phone number, but it’s better than nothing when you are driving and don’t want to take your eyes off the road to make a call. Hopefully an improved update will be coming along soon.

Jott (Free) — A handy companion to Jott’s phone service. For those of you who don’t know, Jott is a free online service that transcribes voice notes. I use it a lot while I’m driving and wish I could stop to write down a thought or a reminder. Simply dial the toll-free number, speak into the receiver, and Jott will transcribe your message and send it to you (or someone else) as an email. Pretty slick!

SaveBenji’s (Free) — That’s Benji’s as in Benjamin’s, i.e hundred dollar bills. This is the kind of software that can save you big bucks when shopping. Search for any item by brand name, product number, or barcode, and you can instantly see how much it would cost to order it online from over 100 major retailers (i.e. Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, etc.) The cheapest price automatically floats to the top, and SaveBenji’s lets you order directly from your iPhone if you’d like. This should come in handy especially when shopping for big-ticket items such as electronics or computer equipment.

Light (Free) — Turns the iPhone screen bright white, giving you a handy pocket flashlight and/or reading light.

Ebay (Free) — Shop, watch, and track your items straight from the iPhone. A pruned-down but easy to use version of the full ebay website.

PhoneSaber (Free) — This is just silly fun. Turns your iPhone screen into a light saber and makes saber noises as you swing it through the air.

These are just a few of the hundreds of apps available for iPhone users. Yet another reason to consider getting an iPhone if you don’t already have one.

More Pixar: Spline Doctors, “Presto”

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Following up on my last post, here’s two more inspiring links related to Pixar:

The first is a Presto, the new animated short that is shown before Wall•E in the theaters and will no doubt be included on the DVD. It’s a zany little film animated in a style inspired by the classic Warner Brothers shorts. It’s much broader and zippier than Pixar’s usual offerings. You can now download it from iTunes for only $1.99.

The second is a terrific blog-slash-podcast from Pixar. The blog, Spline Doctors (link), is labor of love from several of the artists and animators at Pixar. The posts are full of great insights on animation.  SplineCast is an accompanying podcast featuring interviews and roundtable discussions with creative folks at Pixar. There haven’t been any new episodes in a while so I don’t know if SplineCast has run its course or not, but there are several great episodes you can listen to for free either on the blog (link) or through iTunes (link). Fun stuff to have on in the background while you toil away at your drawing board.

Wall•E Vignettes: Show vs Tell

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Pixar’s new movie Wall•E opened this past weekend to big box office and rave reviews. I am really looking forward to seeing it. I had hoped to catch it on opening weekend but plans fell through. We had relatives come to visit and then my daughter broke her ankle (she’s doing fine, thanks).

However, I did download some little animated vignettes based on Wall•E from iTunes. You can also view them on the official site (just click on the “videos” link and then scroll through the thumbnails at left). They are absolutely brilliant! Cute, charming, and full of life. Like much of the film, they contain no dialogue. But the animation is so lively and entertaining you don’t even notice.

Go to the official site and view these clips (or download them from iTunes, they’re free!) Each clip is a perfect example of true character animation. Wall•E doesn’t just move, he lives, breathes, thinks, and feels. You get a real sense of his personality and who he is from just a few seconds of film, without a single word being spoken.

If you ever wanted proof that less is more, this is it. Good writers, actors, and directors know that actions and expressions are always more effective than mere words. You can often communicate more with an movement, gesture, or glance than you could with an entire paragraph of dialogue. It’s more powerful to show than to tell, a point these little vignettes make beautifully.