A couple of years ago author Mark Simon released a terrific reference book for artists, simply titled Facial Expressions
Simon is now releasing a follow-up volume, Facial Expressions Babies to Teens
You can order both volumes from Amazon.com through my Recommended Resources page.
Since July of 2007 I’ve been committed to posting something new every weekday. It’s a lot of fun and I’m glad that so many of you have found my humble ramblings helpful.
However, there are only so many hours in the day and lately I’ve been feeling the squeeze. I’m blessed with a lot of wonderful people and projects to fill up my day, and at the moment it’s overflowing. I’m about to start work on a very large animation project which, along with my regular client work, will mean spending more than a few evenings and weekends at the drawing board during the next three months.
At the same time my baby daughter is becoming a toddler, which means Daddy needs to be more available to spend one-on-one time interacting with her. I believe strongly that there are few things in life more important than family, and I want to be careful not to fall into the trap of putting my career ahead of my wife and daughter (especially when I think about how fast she will grow up). It would be very easy for me to become a workaholic dad, and I have to work hard to guard myself against spending too much time on things that ultimately aren’t that important. If it’s a choice between my daughter or this blog, my daughter wins hands down.
It was a tough decision but I’ve decided that, at least for now, it would be unwise for me to keep blogging at my current pace. I’m pushing the limits of my schedule as it is, and something’s gotta give.
I’m not giving up blogging. I still plan to post regularly, it just won’t be every day. Some weeks I still may write five posts, other weeks I may only write one or two. I want this blog to remain a fun project and not turn into a heavy burden. I’d also rather write a few quality posts than a lot of mediocre ones.
To my regular blog readers, I want to say thanks for your interest and support. I hope you can understand where I’m coming from, and I hope you will keep enjoying this blog. It sounds cliche, but I really do appreciate the fact that so many of you take time to read my ramblings. I look forward to posting more fun and (hopefully) helpful posts….it just won’t be quite as often.
My wife and I are having a garage sale this weekend and I’m unloading a few art books. While thumbing through my collection I came across a terrific book for Superman fans: Superman: Cover to Cover
Superman has always been my favorite Superhero. I fell in love with the Christopher Reeve movies as a young boy in the mid-80’s and soon started reading the comics. In sixth grade I saved up enough money for a year’s subscription to Superman (back then I think it cost $9.00). Every time an issue showed up in my mailbox it was an indescribable thrill. I was practically walking—no, running on air all the way home from the Post Office.
Thumbing through Superman: Cover to Cover brought back a lot of memories, and at the same time showcased some astounding artwork. It’s no secret that comic book publishers save their best artwork for the covers. This 240-page hardcover book, printed in full-color, showcases over 270 of the greatest Superman covers of all time. Samples range from the early drawings of Joe Shuster (Superman’s co-creator) all the way to the modern painterly stylings of Alex Ross. It’s not just a hefty dose of nostalgia; it’s also a who’s-who of DC’s greatest artists. Some of my favorites such as John Byrne, Curt Swan, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, George Perez, Jerry Ordway, Gil Kane, and even Adam Hughes all have samples showcasing some of their best work.
The book has only a limited amount of text. Every few pages features an acclaimed Superman writer, artist, or editor commenting on his/her favorite cover. There are thoughtful mini-essays from industry giants such as Alex Ross, Jerry Ordway, Janette Kahn, Mike Carlin, Marv Wolfman, etc. Even movie directors Richard Donner and Bryan Singer share some brief thoughts.
One of the challenges of crafting stories for Superman is that he is literally the perfect superhero. His powers are virtually unlimited and he has no character flaws. While I find his strength and character refreshing in our cynical age, nevertheless it creates a problem: How do you find worthy challenges for someone so fantastically perfect without getting absurd? Thumbing through the book, it’s fascinating to see how Superman’s creators dealt with the problem through various story lines, some mundane and others outright bizarre. It’s also fun to observe the various twists and turns the Superman mythology has taken over the decades. Superman has at times been ultra-cool, other times ultra-corny. His story lines have ranged from the brilliant to the bizarre. But he was always the model hero every kid could look up to.
But I digress. Superman: Cover to Cover
Like logos? You’re gonna love this.
My friend Sherwin Schwartzrock is a super-talented illustrative designer. One of his specialties is designing logos, and he’s very good at it. Several of his logos will be published in the newest edition of the Logo Lounge series, Logo Lounge 5.
To celebrate, Sherwin recently created a poster showcasing nearly 200 of the logos he’s created over the last few years. Give it a looksee over at his blog.
Blogs are becoming more and more popular. Not only are blogs popping up literally by the millions, but blog readership is skyrocketing too. Chances are most of you have at least one favorite blog that you read on a daily or semi-daily basis.
Most people still read blogs by typing in the URL and actually visiting the blog website to see what’s new. Problem is, not all blogs update themselves every day. (Even this here blog has seen a couple of hiccups in the posting schedule over the last week or so.) It can be disappointing, maybe even frustrating, to visit a site only to find there’s no new content. Wouldn’t it be great if you could know instantly when new content has been added to your favorite blogs without actually visiting their websites?
Have no fear. RSS can help!
What is RSS you ask? It stands for Really Simple Syndication. Here’s how it works:
Every blog has something called a “feed”, that is, a list of all the latest posts. Every time a new post is added to the blog, the feed is updated immediately. By subscribing to the feed, you computer can tell you when your favorite blog (or blogs) have added new content. It’s very similar to how your computer checks for new email messages. In one click you can download all the new content from your favorite blogs.
All you need to get started is an RSS reader, which is a software application designed to read and organize RSS feeds. Google and Yahoo! both offer free RSS readers. If you have a Mac you already have an RSS reader in Safari (if you use OSX 10.4) or in Mail (if you use OSX 10.5), although in my experience neither one has proven to be overly reliable. My favorite RSS reader is NetNewsWire. There are many other options as well. Just do a Google search for “Free RSS Reader”.
Once you’ve set up your RSS reader, simply tell it which blogs you want to keep track of. Most blogs have an RSS symbol that looks like this:
Just click on the symbol, or look for the words “RSS feed” (or on some blogs it may say “XML feed”, but it’s the same thing). Your blog reader should latch onto the feed, and from then on you can read all the latest posts using your RSS reader. It will download and organize the feeds in a way very similar to how your computer downloads and organizes your email. Its much faster and easier that visiting each blog directly, and it will help ensure that you never miss a blog post.
If you want to give it a try, my RSS icon is at the top of the page just beneath the cartoon pig.
Happy blog reading!
In case you haven’t heard, today is National Cartoonists Day. It’s been pretty hard to miss with all the National Cartoonists Day sales at the Mall. I think government workers get the day off too.
Seriously, here’s the scoop: The Yellow Kid, the very first color comic strip, was first published today (May 5) in 1895. Gradually the comics became a staple in every newspaper in the country, and hence today has been designated as National Cartoonists Day. Although the internet revolution has created an uncertain future for comic strips, it’s hard to dismiss the impact they’ve had on American culture. I grew up on classics such as Bloom County, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes. Maybe later today I’ll pull out one of my old paperback collections and read through it for old times sake. My hunch is the humor will still hold up strong.
Of course, cartooning goes far beyond the newspaper funny pages. Animation, greeting cards, children’s books, illustration, even toy and game design, are all heavily saturated with the work of talented cartoonists.
So don’t forget to hug a cartoonist and tell them how much you appreciate them!
