The 2013 animated film Epic, by Blue Sky Studios, is loosely based on the children's book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. Why the marketing department at Fox choose to go with Epic as the title instead of The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs or just plain Leaf Men is difficult to understand. But alas, most marketing decisions are archiac to those of us who dwell in the land of imagination.
Although the Epic film received mixed reviews from the critics, I thought it was absolutely wonderful, crafted with a rare beauty seen in American animation. This little gem, in my opinion does not contain the over stylization of humans and over the top songs, seen in so many animated features these days. The creators did add an annoying pop songsat the end—but at least one can turn the volume down when watching from the luxury of your home or device.
The critics main challenge with this viscerally rich film was that they'd already seen this story, citing Fern Gully and Avatar as examples. I read a few reviews which felt the characters appeared very "plastic-y and doll-like", where as for me they looked so much better than the plasticine-like characters that Disney churns out of their profit driven animation factories.
I was captivated with the depiction of the wee fairy folk in the forest, particularly the leaf men and their arch nemesis, a Boggan named Mandrake. The lighting of the scenes, character textures and costumes, and the fantastical depiction of nature in all her glory, including decay. Perhaps the critics are correct, this is a story that we've heard told over and over again, but humans are dense, slow moving creatures who need to hear things over and over again, particularly when the subtleties of nature are competing various forms of technology and an onslaught of loud, gore driven media.
In the eighties when I moved to New York City one year out of college I worked as a freelance illustrator. Among my first jobs was a series of illustrations for Money Magazines Mutual Fund Issue. The great thing about that entry point job for the Time Life conglomerate was I was able to work for variety of other magazines within the corporation and start meeting several art directors.
One art director along that pathway was Sandra DiPasqua who eventually ended up at Connoisseur Magazine in the late eighties. I was called in to contribute an illustration to the monthly fragrance column which turned into a regular gig. At the time I had no inkling what-so-ever that eventually I would find myself working in the field of perfume.
Life is so crazy and interesting when you get to survive it for over half a century! My astrology chart has a dualistic element to it, which may account for each artistic venture I get into has two forms to it. For example, as an illustrator my color work was paintings but my black and white work, like these images done for Connoisseur, were scratch board. In fragrance I make liquid and solid perfumes.
I came across all these old tear sheets while looking for a postcard to share with a visitor. It occurred to me that you might find them interesting. I was also curious about the articles, so I took them to bed one night and read through them all.
Unfortunately no pearls of wisdom were gained from the articles, other than there sure is a lot of misinformation about perfume ingredients! I know, no big surprise, as this is still happening today. The fragrant components referred to in the article made it sound like the big perfume houses and trendy fragrances of the 80s were using essential oils, the writer sometimes even alluded to historical uses. (Sigh) Anyway, it sure was an interesting journey into the past.
I have quite a lot of these images, although not sure if I still have all the originals. I'm going to check and see if I have enough to print up a little book and perhaps a calendar for 2015.
While in art school at Otis I fell head over heels for the work of an illustrator named Lane Smith. The specific piece is this one pictured above from the third American Illustration Annual that we were both in. This image was created using alkids and was part of his portfolio, although there was no title the description reads: Illustration showing the effects of spontaneous combustion. He-he, so very Lane-like.
Later when I moved to New York Lane became a dear friend and introduced me to a handful of art directors who gave me some of my first big jobs. One of those art directors was his wife Molly Leach. Those were fun times back then in NYC in the 80's. I must admit I miss sitting at my drafting table conceptualizing ideas for assignments and then painting them. Life as an editorial illustrator was much easier than that of a perfume artist. I miss the camaraderie between the artists. Nothing like the cat fights one encounters in Natural Perfume, yuck, that's a whole different story.
Here's a recent video featuring both Molly and Lane in their home/studio in Connecticut.
Normally while at Comic Con I spend much more time wondering the floor and checking out what friends, artists and fellow comrades are working on. These year was a little different in that I didn't get out much except for early mornings before the doors of the hall opened.
Tara McPherson, one of Eve's fav artists and a great example of Artist As Brand.
The Hi Fructose booth had a super nice display with lots of high quality printed books
and oddities to tempt you.
Cool, suave retro design by Ragnar. His 320-page retrospective book Eponymonstrous is published and available through Brand Studio Press.
Over at our old stomping ground, the Allen Spiegel Fine Art booth Barron Story taking a break with Clair McKean.
The yearly lego display featured Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
Who needs to leave the booth when you have fine folk like Jeff Soto coming by to see us! Jeff, pictured above on the left, has a really great painting in the Survey Select Show down the street on Imperial at the Wonder Bread Factory. The painting is titled Matterhorn.
Sometimes the views outside the hall were just as interesting as inside. Check out this fellow his pants match his artwork!
Last night I started jumping up and down, clapping and screaming when I heard Obama won. I rushed into the studio to tell Greg, and then both of us were jumping up and down screaming with glee. My teenage daughter walked in and proclaimed "You guys are spazes!"
"Perception is an act of creation."
After a few minutes our focus shifted to Proposition 8, or Prop Hate as we started calling it. This is the Proposition that wants to ban marriage between gay couples. Remember way back when a black and a white couldn't get married here in America (the land of the free), well, this is the new version of that. The surreal thing is that it passed, in California of all places. I find this very disturbing, even though we have scored a huge victory with Obama, there is still much work to be done.
During art school days at Otis, one of my buddies introduced me to the magazine The Progressive. I remember looking through the artwork in awe and proclaiming my illustrations would one day be in there. Well, that materialized just after graduating. The art director at the time, Patrick JB Flynn, hired me to create an illustration to go along with an article on Unions. After that illustration I began contributing to The Progressive on a regular basis as well as The NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post and the Boston Globe.
It was an inspiring time to be an artist. Now that the political tides have changed I feel some of that same sense of exhilaration.
There is a show of artwork done for The Progressive while Patrick JB Flynn was art director of the Magazine. There are some good essays and a schedule of where the exhibit is currently on view, here at the website.
I have a little blurb in the July issue of Illustration Magazine. This publication comes out of Japan. The little feature is in the news from foreign illustrators' pages.
We were all excited to peruse the magazine when it arrived, as we adore Japanese culture and illustration. During art school days this was one of the magazines that we would all check out on a monthly basis for its excellent worldwide coverage of the field.
For those that do not read Japanese, like me, the editor was kind enough to e-mail me the translation. She apologized for the translation from one language (culture) to the other. I don't feel it sounds awkward at all.
"Feeling the Energy of Peace in Painting (or, direct translation was "Healing Power Composed in her Painting" )
Roxana Villa is an illustrator known for her spiritual images beautifully painted in mixed media. 15 years in aromatic study and certified in Aromatherapy, she started her company "Illuminated Perfume". Her studio and home are in the Santa Monica Mountains where she walks and collects plants in her own hands, they become her own botanical perfume. One of a kind aroma is completed with the combination of her artist's spirit and her wisdom about nature. Quote from her website, "Roxana melds her love of nature into an authentic self expression as an artist working in several mediums"
Thank you Keri and the publishers of Illustration Magazine for including me in the wonder filled publication. It is an honor and I so look forward to visiting Japan one day soon!
I took my hearthrob, aka Greg, to the airport last night. He caught the red eye into NYC. He invited me to come along, now I am rather thinking I made a mistake in not going with him. I chose to stay and focus filling orders, custom perfumes and the second edition of Chaparral. After all, we are going to be in San Diego soon and Mexico after that. Still, New York beckons, it's in my blood.
Shortly after graduating from Otis Art Institute I moved to the big apple. I was fortunate to get freelance illustration work immediately. My first apartment was in the Cobble Hill district of Brooklyn. After a few years, with the help of my mother, I purchased an apartment in Brooklyn Heights. The building had once been a hotel right on Montague Street a few blocks from the Promenade. An old brick building featuring apartments high ceilings. I loved it there and still regret selling the apartment with the view of the Statue of Liberty from the balcony.
I also shared a small studio space in Manhattan with a painter. The studio was for my rather large and cumbersome Van der cook letterpress. More on this soon.
{{{{ sigh }}}}
Greg is in New York for ICON, the illustrators conference. He is the moderator for a panel discussion called "Moving Imagination: Concept Design in the Film and Gaming Industry" with his buddies Stephan and Barry. Ugh, I'm getting really jealous just keystroking this information, best focus now on what I stayed here to do...perfume. Comic Con is right around the corner anyway!
"All pictorial art is the transformation of dead material into something spiritual."~ Anonymous
We are just back from another inspirational five day adventure at Comic Con. It has become clear that our favorite reason for attending is meeting new friends and spending time with all our artist buddies.
Comic Con is a magnet for artists working in the genre of fantastical art, whether they are there as attendees, showcasing their latest visions at a booth or promoting a project upstairs at one of the programs. This year, for the first time in the history of the Comic Con, it sold out. The spirit of the archetypal super hero remains at Comic Con, despite the Hollywood take over. It has become crystal clear that the public adores good stories. Philip Pullman alludes to the power of story in "The Amber Spyglass", the third book of "His Dark Materials Trilogy."
Day One: Wednesday, July 26th
Our booth was located in the "illustrators" section, across from Greg's artist rep, Allen Spiegel Fine Arts. This year we had the usual bounty of limited edition artist giclees, postcards, posters and Vespertina CD's. Greg introduced a first look at the illustrations created for the children's book "The Eyes of the Unicorn" by offering large, limited edition giclee prints and a beautifully printed set of greeting cards featuring six of the images from the book. The Adorning the Muse handmade jewelry by Heartworks by Lori and my perfumes were the new additions to the collection, creating a sensorium of visual, aromatic and musical delights. I introduced my new perfume Vespertina, inspired by the music CD "The Visions of Vespertina" created by Greg and his friend Michelle Barnes. What a thrill it was to share a new perfume at such a large venue. The immediate praise and feedback garnered is priceless. More on how this perfume was orchestrated in the next blog entry.
Day Two: Thursday, July 27th
The Con opened its doors to a swarming mass of sprinters Thursday morning, as well as every morning there after. What were these fans running towards? Booths offering free booty and Comic Con exclusives most likely. At 4:45pm I treked upstairs to hear "Lost, Season 4" presented by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Little did I know that there had been Losties waiting to get into the presentation since early that day, with a line that wrapped around the entire ballroom!!! Obviously Damon and Carlton are masters of the fine art of story telling. A special "Dharma Initiative" short was showcased with interesting clues into the work of the mysterious foundation. The Season 3 DVD will be released in early December, can't wait!! Day Three: Friday We met my daughter Eve and her dad Ben early for breakfast Friday morning. Eve was keen to know ALL the details from the LOST presentation. At the Con Greg took Eve on a tour to see all her favorite artists including Kinuko Craft, Dan Dos Santos, Charles Vess and Jon Foster. Lori, the jewelry artisan, came to join us at the booth, much to the fans delight. By that time we had completely sold out of all versions of the jewelry with my bee logo. What a joy to discover that the bee image utilized as the emblem for my perfume company strikes a chord with the public. In the afternoon New Line previewed a special extended trailer for The Golden Compass. See the trailer at the link provided below. We are particularly excited because we are huge fans of the book and because Greg did visual development on the film. After Con that evening we went to dinner with a large group of friends followed by late night conversations at the bar of one of the hotels. These late night evenings with fellow artists are one of the highlights every year at Comic Con. This year we had the pleasure of meeting an up and coming illustrator named Eric Fortune and Stephane Martinaire's daughter Madeline. http://www.movieweb.com/news/94/21494.php
Day Four: Saturday
Traditionally Saturday is the largest attendee day of the Con and proved to be our most prosperous. We were graced by the appearance of several authors Greg has illustrated covers for at our booth, including Orson Scott Card and Holly Black. Due to the celebration of costuming to popular art culture, Saturday night features the "Masquerade", an annual on-stage costume competition. The exhibit hall is always filled with interesting clothed, or sometimes barely clothed attendees. Quercus seemed to resonate most with all those who sampled the perfumes and was the biggest seller. Although all the perfumes were appreciated, this botanical oak inspired scent seems to resonate with the largest cross section of the population.
Day Five: Sunday
The last day of Comic Con began with breakfast with the artist David Seeley and his lovely family followed by Greg and I visiting all our friends at their booths and accumulating fabulous books, prints, posters and original art. (As if we need more of these items!) I took a gander at the props and costumes for the upcoming Golden Compass film. WOW! What an amazing treat for the eyes. I am a huge fan of both Philip Pullman and the trilogy "His Dark Materials." From what I have observed, the film makers seem to have done justice to the story. My perfume Lyra is named after the protagonist in the first book of the series titled "The Golden Compass." Sunday evening, after having packed and loaded all our items , we joined our fellow creatives for dinner and the usual late night gathering. During dinner we noticed that four out of five of the women present were wearing our new jewelry! Monday morning before departing back up to LA we had the pleasure of meeting Baron Storey and his lovely wife Petra for an early lunch. What an inspiration to be in the presence of Baron, chat with him and Petra and peruse his sketchbook (#144).
As always following Comic Con I am inspired to draw, draw, draw. The image which I am creating as the visual for Quercus has morphed. The final drawing will be posted soon with a blog entry showing the development of the idea. The painting will follow later in the year. The artist's I tend to gravitate toward , as well as those in our inner circle of friends are quite accomplished drafts people, Greg being one of the group. Listed below are the websites of friends and other artists from Comic Con that I adore. Unfortunately Baron Storey and the upcoming Eric Fortune have no websites. Dave McKean also does not have his own site, but, between his rep and a fan is well represented on the world wide web.
"There’s something delicious about writing those first few words of a story, you can never quite tell where they’ll take you. Mine took me here, where I belong." - Beatrix Potter
My daughter Eve and I recently had the pleasure of viewing the film Miss Potter together. Beatrix Potter, not to be confused with Harry Potter or the potter Beatrice Wood, was a writer and illustrator during the Victorian period in England. An extremely creative and talented young lady from a very early age, who had a terrific ability of translating and observing nature. Having read Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny stories to Eve when she was a tot, we found the movie delightful. The film makers choose to animate some of her characters and drawings splendidly throughout the story, adding an extra dimension to the telling of the life of this independent and best-selling author. Most inspirational, and something both Eve and I were not aware of, was Miss Potters devotion to the land. She was passionate about conserving both land and community in the Lake District, her muse, where she spent many summers as a child. . When she passed Beatrix donated over 4,000 acres of farmland to The National Trust, a land preservation trust in England. (Similar to the Santa Monica Conservancy here in Los Angeles.) This land remains as lovely as when she began purchasing in 1905. Miss Potter was a modern woman in Victorian times committed to a strong sense of values. If you purchase or rent the DVD, make sure to watch the special features for a more in depth look into the life and impact of this incredible artist. An environmentalist, a pioneer, an independent free spirit...an innovator and a visionary. Enchanting!
Peter Rabbit http://www.peterrabbit.com
The National Trust http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/
The Lake District http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-localtoyou/w-northwest/w-lakedistrict-feature.htm
