An Artistic Process

Once upon a time I received an assignment for my History of Illustration class. It went something like this:

1. Pick an illustrator from art history. The illustrator must be dead.
2. Create an image using the same technique as your chosen illustrator and in the same style.
3. This will be a semester long project. Have fun!

To begin I made an extensive list of illustrators I admired. I even asked Facebook what illustrators it liked. I got many answers varying from William Blake to Frank Frazetta. After compiling a list of 20-odd illustrators, doing a detailed study of their artwork, and contemplating what I would have to go through to copy their technique I finally landed on the Swedish illustrator John Bauer. I had discovered Mr. Bauer over the summer and had become obsessed with him. Looking back at my scrupulous study of illustrators, I don't know why I made such a big ordeal; I knew I would pick John Bauer from the get go.

Having successfully picked my illustrator I sketched up 25 thumbnails of ideas for my final image. As with all drawings created for this project these thumbnails were part of the project and had to be turned in...I forget when, sometime at the end of September or something.

These 25 thumbnails were then narrowed down to 7 images which were then expanded upon. They were turned in at some point in October.

I loved all of these images a lot and I had a hard time deciding on which one I would pick for my final. So I asked Facebook which one it thought I should do. It decided I should do the sky boat one. I made a final mock-up image which was turned in at the beginning of November.

I then proceeded to freak out that my image wasn't true to the style of John Bauer and put off working on it until a few days before it was due. This is of course the best way to deal with stress.

The result of a semester of planning, sketching, and stressing:

The final was a two minute presentation talking about the artist's process. It was very anti-climatic.

Directly after class I learned that this final project actually doesn't count for much grade-wise and that our teacher was more interested in us learning about the artists process than about the quality of our final work.

This was my inspiration for my image.


John Bauer drowned along with his wife and their young son while taking a ferry to Stockholm. He was only 36. Although his career was cut short he managed to create some absolutely stunning illustrations. I chose to do a viking ship in the sky because although Mr. Bauer died so tragically he is still an inspiration...still lighting stars in the sky you could say.

My Top 5 Most Influential Books

A few weeks ago I finally caved and watched the trailer for the new Les Miserables movie that comes out later this month. After watching the trailer I was filled with the desire to re-read the book. I will probably go see this movie (I will admit, it looks really good) but when it comes to Les Mis, the book will always be my truest love. It has had a massive influence on my life.

This got me thinking about what other books I feel have had a great impact on my life. So I compiled this list of the top 5 non-religious books that have influenced my life (I have to add the "non-religious" because putting the scriptures in there would be too easy). This isn't a list of my favorite books (although my most favorite book is listed as number 2) and my favorite author doesn't even make the list (Jonathan Safran Foer). These are books that have changed my way of thinking, the way I look at others, and have lead to pivotal choices I have made in my life.



#5 The Rainbow Fairy Anthology
edited by Andrew Lang

So this is technically 12 books, not one, but for the sake of my post it counts as one.
Who would have thought that a collection of fairy tales would make such a big difference in my life? I love these stories. My absolute favorite is "Heart of Ice." It is perhaps one of the most ridiculous fairy tale love stories out there. The hero's name is Manikin, there is an island of talking dogs, sand that turns into a forest, and a princess who literally doesn't have a heart. Go read it. It makes anything Disney produced look pathetic.

I include this in my top 5 most influential books due to the illustrations (naturally). I went crazy for these pictures the first time I picked up these books and they are the reason I still go check one out from the library occasionally. These pictures have had a huge impact on my artistic style and the subject matter I prefer to draw. I'm talking about the original artwork that was produced for these books, although the Folio Society recently released a set of these fabulous books with all new illustrations that are breath taking. Each book is illustrated by someone different but The Red Fairy Book was done by one of my favorite illustrators. If I had $200 to spend on fine literature, I would totally go out and buy this anthology instantly.

And if I have any benevolent and wealthy friends out there...I wouldn't be upset if you kindly opted to buy the set for me.



#4 A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess

I'm certain I'm getting some very concerned looks from a few people for adding this book to my list. No worries, I feel I have a valid reason for adding this particular book.
I read this book around the time I graduated high school. Due to various things going on at the time, I found myself wondering about why it is that if we want to progress in life we have to do it God's way. Satan's plan seemed pretty legit at the time. The whole idea of coming here, doing everything right and then heading off to something greater sounded totally awesome. Then I read this book and suddenly concept of "freedom to choose" completely clicked.
Here's how that works:
In about the middle of the book our main character Alex, who is a gang leader, is arrested by the police and put in prison. He is started on an experimental method of treatment that basically conditions his system so that if he does something that's wrong he feels a physical reaction to it. He gets sick, his muscles cramp up, etc. Due to this treatment Alex is rehabilitated and is released back into society. Hurrah for the government!
However, although he can no longer physically do any evil he still has the strong desire to act evil.
Long story short, the courts dispute this experimental treatment as being unethical and Alex somehow gets the treatment reversed (the author is kind of vague as to exactly how this happens). The second Alex is back on the streets he goes back to his life of crime...it's where he was mentally so nothing stops him from returning to it.
Now here comes the moral of the story and how I realized that God has it all together:
A year or so later, Alex is the leader of a new gang and he can't stand it. He doesn't see the point to it any more, it doesn't make him happy, etc. While glumly wandering the streets he runs into a member of his previous gang from before his prison days. This ex-gang member has completely reformed, he no long speaks in absurd slang and he seems genuinely happy. This perplexes Alex and he finds himself wondering how his old cohort in crime could be so happy. As he ponders over it he realizes that this old chum of his has chosen to live a better life and that he can do so as well. It's at this moment that he decides to give up his old ways and live a life of good from now on. Because, he discovers, that's the way it's supposed to happen. You cannot be forced into good, you must choose it for yourself or else it won't genuine and it won't reflect what you truly desire.
And that is why I list this book as part of my list of most influential books. It was here that I realized why we must have the freedom to choose for ourselves and that no one can choose for us. Because even if we are physically doing everything we're supposed to if it is not the desire of our hearts it will get us no where in the end.



#3 The Last Day of a Condemned Man
by Victor Hugo

This is one of Hugo's lesser known books but it is brimming with awesome truth.
To start, you must know that Hugo was a humanitarian and he was staunchly against the death penalty. He felt life imprisonment was a better option than taking another man's life but that the ultimate path to social reform was through education to the poor and destitute and general compassion to all mankind.
So this book has an obvious political undertone to it. In fact, it's not much of an undertone at all, it's more like Victor Hugo wrote it out in bold letters and underlined it ten million times.
The story chronicles the last day of a man who has received the death sentence. It's told from his perspective in the form of a letter he's writing to...someone. I always assumed it was his daughter, but I could be wrong. It's not important anyways. You also never find out his name or what crime he committed. To put it simply it's a very depressing story.
I recall shortly after reading this book that I went to Village Inn with my Best Friend in the Whole World and her dad. My friend's dad is among one of my favorite people. He is always full of insights I never thought of. (He's also super clever and witty in a lawyerish sort of way, but that's irrelevant to the story.) Anyways, I remember telling him about this book I'd just finished reading and how it left a bad taste in my mouth. I recounted the last few pages of the story which describe the crowd waiting around for his execution; they're cheering and yelling like it's a great and entertaining spectacle they're about to see. I told him about how horrifying I thought it was that people back in the day would actually watch someone's execution as a source of entertainment. It felt inhumane and disgusting.
Then my dear friend's father filled me with sage-like wisdom. He said that wasn't much different from how much we delight in violence for our entertainment now. We eat up action movies and TV shows like they're candy and we don't think much about the violence, death, and slaughter that's being represented. For my then high school aged mind this was an epiphany.
I don't want to get too political in this post (it's going to be long enough as it is) and I'm really not interested in debating the pros and cons of taking another person's life in the name of justice. I will say that after reading this book and thinking very seriously on the sanctity of life and our right as humans to take it away I decided that I'm against the death penalty and that Victor Hugo was right, prison's and death will not solve our problems, they are simply a cheaper and easier way to ignore them. If we want violence to stop we have to reach out the hand of opportunity to all people and teach them that there's a better way.
Coincidentally, this is also around the time that I stopped having a solid interest in violent movies. I still enjoy the occasional super hero movie but beyond that I don't have much of a taste for explosions or casual killing.



#2 The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay
by Michael Chabon

I. Love. This. Book.
Seriously.
This book is awesome.
I don't even remember how I heard about this book or why I decided to read it but whatever it was it was certainly a stroke of luck.
After two years in college with two different majors that I wasn't satisfied with, I had just moved home to prepare for a mission. I was contemplating what I would do school wise when I returned from my mission. I had been attending Utah State University at the time and although I loved the school very much and deeply appreciated the time I spent there once I left it just didn't feel right to go back. I was also pretty unsatisfied with what was then my major (International Studies) and I really had no idea what I would study when I returned home.
It was during this time that I picked up Kavalier and Clay. I won't get into details about the plot (you should go pick it up yourself because it's amazing), but our main character, Joe Kavalier, is a comic book artist during the 1940's who uses his artistic talents as his only way of expressing the deep emotional turmoil he's experiencing and as a beacon of hope for all the terrible things going on in his life. It was while reading this story about a young man trying to express himself on the panels of a comic book page that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. I had tried English as one of my majors, after about two English classes I concluded that was a bad road for me to go down. I felt I had so many things I wanted to say to the world but I had no outlet for expressing them. When I read this book I remember thinking "You aren't much for writing Virginia May, but you can draw." So I decided it was time to stop denying my original passion and head back to the drawing board. It was among one of the best decisions I've ever made.



#1 Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo

That's right, Hugo gets a double feature on my most influential books list. He's that awesome.

I first read this mammoth sized book the summer before I entered 8th grade. I will admit, I skipped a lot of it. I was 13, I didn't understand all the wonderful things I could learn from this piece of literature at the time. No worries, I have since repented... although I still maintain that the battle of Waterloo section is nearly useless. In any case, this book was life changing.
I have a pretty staunch policy that movies that are based on books should not be compared to the book. They are two different mediums and therefore aren't really comparable. I have gotten on my soap box a few times about this subject and have made an idiot of myself more than once trying to argue my point. My  exception to this rule is Les Miserables. After I read this book the musical; which I had hitherto loved, became flat and full of one dimensional characters. I hated the movie that had come out in 1998, they completely failed to capture the point in that little flick.
To use a painting analogy, it's like if someone made a copy of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. Everyone knows about this copy and says "Have you seen this painting? It is breath taking in its beauty." Then you, who know about the original, will say "Yes, it is lovely, but did you know it's a copy? You should see the original. That one will change you life." However, everyone shrugs and says "No, I'm good with the copy." It's around this time that you want to pull your hair out.
I love this book. I rank it right underneath church canon when it comes to spiritual insights and enlightenment. Victor Hugo shows the greatest depth of humanity that it's possible to show in a book. He teaches us about true repentance and the eternal power of the Atonement. That no matter where you start in life you can always become better. Your past mistakes can be erased if you choose to live a life of peace and charity. He shows us how we can change the world around us by living a Christ-like life. It is truly spectacular.
I know it's a massive book but it is worth reading. It will change your life.

So, This Is Christmas?

Well, it's the Christmas season again.

I'm going to be frank with ya'll; I don't get Christmas. This holiday feels like a paradox someone else told me is important. Also, it must be celebrated in a certain way or else you aren't doing it right. If you don't put up a tree and deck your house with lights or buy gifts and love holiday songs you're some type of monster who has no kindness in your heart. I also don't get the extra concentrated effort to be kind and charitable toward your fellow man. Shouldn't you have a consistent amount of charity all year long? If you try super hard to be filled with charity for one month out of the year you will give yourself ulcers and come off as superficial.

I often wonder what this holiday is really about. In church we talk about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and being grateful for the wonderful gift He has given us in Atoning for our sins....and that's about the only place we talk about it.

Starting in about seventh grade I really started disliking Christmas. I had way too many friends who would ask me what I got for Christmas only to interrupt me halfway through so they could tell me what they got. They didn't really care, they just wanted to brag about their gifts. This is why I don't usually ask people about the gifts they receive, it's really not important to me, nor do I think it should be.

Basically, I really despise the commercialism behind Christmas (or I should say blindingly put in front of it with gigantic neon signs advertising 50% OFF FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS!). This includes holiday songs. I worked in the mall for a few years, this is where I discovered that there's about 15 different Christmas songs and about 50 different variations of them that are played over and over and over again. (I must exclude Christmas hymns from this list, those mention Jesus and I'll discuss why I don't hate them later on).

If I had my way, gifts wouldn't factor into the equation during Christmas. We could still decorate a tree and deck the houses with lights because I do love Christmas decorations. But our time would be spent visiting our friends and family, baking tasty treats, and basically showing our love for one another the same way the Savior did: by listening to and caring for each person individually.

Let me tell you about the best Christmas I ever had. It was during the winter of 2009 while I was in the area of Racine/Kenosha, Wisconsin serving my mission. This is the only Christmas I've had that played out just the way I think it should. My fellow missionaries and I went Christmas caroling every single night from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years. The pages of my hymn book that are about the Savior's birth are all wrinkled from being snowed on while we would walk down streets singing to people on their door step. I saw countless miracles doing this. Christmas morning dawned with a few presents sent to me from home but I don't remember what they were (except I do remember my sister sent me an etch-a-sketch). The thing I am most grateful for on that day was getting to talk to my family. I also loved being with the members who were just happy to share a meal (or five) with us. It felt so right. In fact, when people hear that I served my mission in Wisconsin they usually ask me if it's really that horrifyingly cold there. I tell them it is because I'm sure it gets wretchedly cold but I personally don't remember it being too bad. I just remember being so happy.

I know someone out there just rolled their eyes and said something to the effect of "yes, but that was your mission and everyone loves their mission Christmas." Well, that may be true, but there's a reason for it: it's because missionaries are celebrating the Savior's birth by taking away the parts that have nothing to do with Him and sharing with the world a message of pure joy! Just as the angels did one evening to a group of shepherds many years ago.

What's Important to Me

Recently I've been thinking a lot about what's important to me. This may have to do with November being a month where we consider all that we're thankful for and the like. I think it has more to do with the election we held as a country earlier this month. Let me explain:

Many people know I'm politically apathetic. I don't see much of a difference between one candidate and another and I frankly don't see what difference any of them are going to make in my life. There are plenty of people out there who think differently; kudos to you. I actually watched the votes come in on election night for perhaps the first time in my life and I watched it with a lot of politically enthusiastic people. It was sort of an odd experience for me. In any case watching all these excited people made me think how interesting it was that they felt this was so important and I didn't. Then it started to make me think "well, if this isn't important to me, what is?"

I've been thinking over this question ever since and this is what I've come up with:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ/ My Family

I've been trying to decide which of these two things is more important to me and I just can't put one before the other. The Gospel leads me to my family and my family leads me to the Gospel.

The members of my family are the greatest people that I have the privilege of associating myself with. They are hilarious and witty and caring and every addition just adds to how great they are. I spend more time with them than I do with anyone. In fact, while I was in high school I would often ditch my friends to hang out with my sisters or babysit my nephews. I've gained more wisdom and insight from my family than I would ever be able to find on the internet or in school. I love my family and I treasure every minute I have to spend with them. I would do almost anything to insure their happiness.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what has led to my family being so important to me. As a young man my dad went on a mission for our church to the state of California. The last person he had the privilege of teaching the Gospel to was a 17 year old girl who happened to be my mom. So my family would not have come into being without God's intervention.

The teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the foundation of everything that is important to me. It fills me with so much joy that sometimes I feel like I'm going to burst. It has done nothing but make me happy. Naturally, when something makes you truly happy you want to share it with those around you, this is why I went to serve a mission for the LDS church a few years ago. Those 18 months of my life were the best I have ever experienced and I don't regret a single minute of it.

My Dear Friends

I don't know how good I am at expressing to my friends just how important they are to me. I hope they know that I care about them and their lives as much as I do my own. If ever they are in need I will do whatever I can to make sure their needs are met. Friends are like an extension of my family; I have some friends that I even refer to as "those cousins that I really really like to see." Just like my family, they have helped to shape me into the person that I am now. They have helped me through my hard times and given me an attentive ear when I'm feeling particularly whiny or upset (sometimes for up to 5 hours while in a booth at Denny's). I will always be grateful to be associated with such wonderful people.

Art

This may seem trivial when considered next to the other things I've listed (though I don't suppose I can rightly count my family and friends as "things") but art is deeply important to me. I'm studying illustration in school right now and the more I learn the more important it becomes. I have drawn, doodled, and sketched my entire life. During a brief interlude in high school I was unable to really draw due to some crippling tendinitis. It was among the lowest moments in my life. However, it was around this time that I realized how important art was/is for me. It is my purest mode of communication. It allows me to say the things my mouth stumbles over when I try to speak it. I have kept literally every doodle that has ever adorned a notebook of mine since 8th grade because those pictures are as much of a journal to me as my written ones are. I can look at those pictures and even though they may not depict anything that happened on the day that I drew them I can remember where I was, what was going on around me, who was sitting by me, etc.

This not only encompasses my ability to create art but includes art in all its various forms. Be it a book, a painting, a sculpture, architecture, music....there are too many things to list them all. They are all important to me.

So there you have it. This is what's important to me. It may not be a long list but it has everything I need, anything else falls by the wayside as my life goes on.

Politics?

I wanted to write a post this week about my feelings on politics, since on Tuesday we're going to be pulling together as a nation to decide whether we want to be led by the "Antichrist" or an "Anarchist Capitalist"  for the next four years. However, I've done a number of drafts and I couldn't get out what I wanted to say on the topic without sounding uneducated and angry. So I've given up on the idea. 

I see so many people say the most horrific things about candidates running for various offices. I don't personally think Obama is the Antichrist nor do I feel like Romney is an Anarchist Capitalist (as a side note: I have not actually heard Romney referred to as such but I think the title rightly defines what those who oppose him think about his ideas). I may get some eye rolls for saying this but are these men not children of God? Are they somehow exempt from the respect you show to anyone else in your life?  It takes quite a person to run for office. That's four years of ridicule, contempt, and public scrutiny. Everything they do will be wrong to someone. They'll be called names that should only be reserved for Hitler and various Soviet Russian leaders. And all this because there's a few things in the country that they wanted to work on. Do they not deserve a pat on the back for at least trying?

There is a scripture in 3 Nephi 11:29-30 which reads:

For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

Frankly, all I see in the world of politics is the spirit of contention and I will have none of it. I know too many people who "check their religion at the door" when it comes to politics and it disappoints me. Who you vote for or if you choose to vote is a personal matter. For some people that choice reflects their hopes for themselves and their future and ridiculing or belittling their choice is insulting.

I know I'm far from perfect when it comes to judging and ridiculing others based on their ideals. I try not to but I'm often a miserable failure. I just hope your political views don't get in the way of seeing just what those politicians are: human.

What I Think About Life Currently

This has been a melancholy year for me (thus far anyways, there's still two more months to go and you never know what could happen). It's been full of a lot of frustrations and let downs smattered with a few very sad moments. I've been upset and stressed and more than a little annoyed on a few occasions. This semester especially has been loaded with a lot of adversity.

Sometimes I feel like the world is leaving me behind. When I was super young I used to get so terrified when  my family was going somewhere and my mom or dad would start the car while I wasn't in it. I would panic thinking they were going to leave without me and never come back. That anxiousness I felt then is a kin to what I find myself feeling a lot these days. I see so many of my friends going off and doing wonderful things with their lives and what am I doing with mine?

Most good natured people I know would now take this opportunity to list off how awesome I am. That I'm witty and fun and super talented in the art department, not to mention I'm such a lovely lady. It's very kind of them and don't get me wrong, I often think the exact same things about myself (it isn't much of a secret that I have a massive ego). However, sometimes that isn't enough when I feel like my life is stuck in the same monotonous routine day in and day out.

I'm sure I'm not the only person in the world who's felt this way.

These past few days I've been feeling particularly self-loathing. Last night I could barely get any sleep thinking about life and how lonely mine is. Naturally it made today kind-of a downer. 

 

Tonight I felt like I just didn't want to sit and watch some show on TV that focuses on the world and doesn't show anything that will ever solve problems or specifically solve any of my problems. So I went to a better source where I found this:

What I love about this clip is that these women share that they are mothers and daughters, wives and friends first. They focus on who they are, not what they've accomplished. The relationships they've cultivated are so much more important than where they've gone and what they're doing. They know they are daughters of God with a divine inheritance and a divine nature. I have always loved the Young Women Theme which states:

WE ARE DAUGHTERS of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. WE WILL “STAND as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth • Knowledge • Choice and Accountability • Good Works • Integrity • and Virtue

WE BELIEVE as we come to accept and act upon these values, WE WILL BE PREPARED to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

That first line has always been so important to me. How significant it is to know that no matter what there is someone out there who knows you and loves you and that even when life is tough and you feel like you're going nowhere someone is there to lend a hand. God lives and loves me, I am His daughter and even if life may be hard and it probably won't get easier for me instantly it's ok because it will someday. Life can only get better from here.

Fairy Tales

Illustration by the Great Arthur Rackham for the story "The Old Woman in the Woods"
I copied this image for a class assignment last fall, it can be found here (gotta love shameless self promotion).

I love fairy tales. I believe I've mentioned this before. When I was perhaps 4 or 5 my parents got my sister a bike for her Birthday. Shortly thereafter my dad ran over it and destroyed it. My parents were unable to afford replacing my sister's bike and my dad, feeling understandably awful about the turn of events, bought my sister a collection of fairy tales to replace the bike.

I know that to most people a few books is not much of a replacement for a ruined bike (at least monetarily) but those books mean the world to my sister and also to me. My dad read those fairy tales to my sister and I  for years. "Cinderella", "Goldilocks", "Little Red Riding Hood", and that lot were not mentioned in this set of fairy tales. This is where I learned about "The Golden Goose" and "The Story of Caliph Stork." The illustrations were beautiful and the stories were wonderful.

This set of fairy tales was followed by other anthologies of children's stories. Ones where I learned about the "Transparent Apple and Silver Saucer" (a Russian version of "Cinderella" that is much more morbid than the French version we are familiar with) and the "Firebird". I don't think I was properly exposed to the fairy tales Disney taught us about until I was heading into my teen years and discovered Andrew Lang's Rainbow Fairy books.

There are 12 books in his anthology. Each one named after a color...The Red Fairy Book, The Blue Fairy Book, etc. It is perhaps the most complete set of fairy tales out there ranging from Grimm's folk tales to Perrault's fairy tales. Baba Yaga makes a few appearances as does Sigurd, and the Twelve Brothers (a personal favorite of mine). There are too many wonderful stories contained in those volumes to enumerate them all. I still go to the library often and read these fairy tales and admire the beautiful illustrations. It may sound odd but doing so calms me down and makes me happy when I've had a hard day.

It was these influences that filled me with the desire to draw. The stories are so lovely and simple, the illustrations so exquisite in detail, all I want to do is create works like that. This is why I'm studying to be an illustrator. The ability to tell a story visually is stunning to me. It makes me hope that some day a young child will pick up something I've put myself into, that I love and cherish, and that it will inspire them to create a visual story.

I love fairy tales.


From "Rosanella" illustrated by Henry Justice Ford for the Green Fairy Book.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

I absolutely love fairy tales. Seriously, I'm not aware of anyone who's read more fairy tales than I have (I could throw around some story names that you haven't even heard of but it's probably pretentious enough that I'm making such a silly claim as it is).

That being said, I take issue with Disney. Now don't get me wrong, I love Disney movies. They're an essential part of childhood (and adulthood if you're me). My issues lie with the Disney Corporation.

I dislike the how they revamp their princesses every few years to be more modern. They were beautiful when they were created, can't you just leave them that way? I also get super upset when I see a greeting card designed for six year old girls with an array of princesses on it twirling around in golden dresses making shallow comments on looking pretty for the ball. What the hell Disney? When you made those princesses they had different personalities and things they cared about! It's not ok to just conglomerate them into one mass ego with seven different smiling faces.

Anyways....what super gets under my skin is the iron grip Disney keeps on all its films. Every ten years or so they re-release an old classic saying it's "better than ever" (because the original totally needed to be improved upon) and then charge $30 for it.

This brings me to my point. This month Disney has once again re-released their beautiful classic "Cinderella" (as a side note: if you want to read a really excellent rendition of this fairy tale go find a story called "Donkeyskin." It's marvelous.) Naturally, it's been remastered.

Here is the scene where Cinderella's fairy godmother sings a song and what not:

Now here's the trailer Disney put out to promote their re-release:

Am I the only one who's noticed that the voices have been changed??

WHAT THE HELL DISNEY?? You change her looks to keep her modern, you dumb her down to sell her to children, now you gotta change her voice? This is super annoying guys!

Now, I understand this is only a trailer and maybe the whole movie hasn't been changed but still. It's ridiculous.

I'm very disappointed with you Disney. Very disappointed.

Walt would be turning in his grave.

The Artist

The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should also refrain from painting what he sees before him. Otherwise his pictures will be like those folding screens behind which one expects to find only the sick or the dead.

The man who said this is amazing. His more poetic way of saying "if you don't have anything to say keep your mouth shut" may be part of the reason why I've come to idolize him in less than 24 hours (less than 12 hours to be completely honest). Also he created this:

 

Amazing right?

Thank you History of Illustration for introducing me to the fine work of this man.

I should probably mention his name: Caspar David Friedrich.

Speaking of artists I've recently become obsessed with; how is it that more people don't know who John Bauer is?

This man was a huge influence on Jim Henson. As is evidenced here:


This image was created by John Bauer in 1915 for the Swedish collection of fairy tales "Bland Tomtar och Troll."



This image comes from Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal."

Granted, I consider the Dark Crystal to be one super weird movie but can you not see the family resemblance?

In any case, John Bauer's work is absolutely stunning and really shouldn't be overlooked. I'm sure I'll probably have a few more posts concerning him. Especially since my History of Illustration semester long project is based on his work.

As a final piece of imagery:

come and be welcome!

I've mulled over the idea of starting a blog for quite some time now. The main things that have stopped me from doing so in the past is the fact that I don't read anyone else's blog (this includes close friends and family. It doesn't mean I don't love you, it just means I'm lazy and the internet hurts my eyes) therefore why would I expect anyone to read mine. Also, although I think everything I have to say is interesting and witty, I don't expect everyone else to think everything I have to say is interesting and witty.

Anyhow, all that being said, I decided to create this blog the same way I decide to do everything involving creation: on a whim.

I don't expect people to read what I have to say, I just need a place to say it.

...Naturally, the place I decide to say it is in front of a virtual audience of strangers (with maybe a smattering of people who may actually know me).

In any case, welcome to my digital home! Please enjoy your stay.