22/02/2014

13/02/2014
This is not some kind of obsession of mine but this site -http://www.viralnova.com/realistic-paintings/ - was drawn to my attention. Along with the comment 'some of these are rather clever'. Which is a bit of an understatement. They are extraordinary displays of technique and commitment.
Although appreciative of the skills involved my problem is I keep thinking of a quote attributed to 'Gulley Simpson', the artist character created by Joyce Cary in his novel 'The Horse's Mouth'.

05/02/2014

28/01/2014
Pete Seegar. May 3rd 1919 - January 27th 2014
We shall overcome
Last night I had the strangest dream
Where have all the flowers gone

26/01/2014
As part of the ongoing story of trying to get a comic book translated into movie form, John Wagner and I have now signed a contract that gives the option to do that to RINGTHEJING ENTERTAINMENT embodied in Roger Kass. He will act as producer.
Producers, and I quote, select and bring together the key members of the movie making team, including Director, Cinematographer, Production Designer and key cast members. They raise the finance from a major studio or from independents. Producers also approve locations, studio hire, final script, production schedule and budget.

20/01/2014
An occasional series.
The first comic strip was by Rudolphe Töpffer. (Jan 31st 1799 - June 8th 1846)

Comic strip here defined as an illustrated narrative using sequential drawings and text.
Found no examples of Töpffer using speech balloons.

Writers in both Britain and the USA have made claims for their own nations innovators. It is possible the Japanese also have an argument with the first recorded use of the word 'manga' dating from the 1770's.

13/01/2014

07/01/2014

14/12/2013
(Non-Czech readers should scroll down for the English text from which the following translation was made.)
Aniž by se příliš technická , webové stránky mají něco , aby mohli vědět, kolik návštěv se dostat každý den , a odkud . Je tu další věci , vše má pomoci obchodníkům , kdo ohodnotí svých stránkách efektivitu prodeje , ,

07/12/2013
Photorealism
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
November 30th - 30th March
This first European retrospective of art by American artists painting everyday Americana with photographic realism. With work from the 1960s to the present day.

01/12/2013

23/11/2013
Patient man, good with children, kind to animals, relaxed while waiting for the lights to change. With my daughter as witness I cannot claim I never throw a wobbly, but it is usually short lived. When at Heathrow airport with my son and daughter awaiting a flight to the USA and at emigration it was discovered my daughters passport was date expired did I go to pieces? Yes. But briefly, briefly.

16/11/2013
High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse

16/11/2013
Friday, 22 November 2013 to Sunday, 2 March 2014
Thomas Rowlandson was one of the leading caricaturists of Georgian England, mocking fashion, politics and royalty at a time when English satirical prints were admired and collected across Europe.

06/11/2013

30/10/2013
DreamWorks has decided not to go ahead with the Button Man film, seeing "such an inherently violent movie . ." unsuitable for the DreamWorks brand " . . in the wake of . . public shootings which have become a far too common occurrence."
Disappointed of course and a little puzzled since this is the company that asked Nicholas Refn to direct. (Nicholas left some time ago. My understanding is that having said yes Nicholas changed his mind, preferring to work on his own projects.)

28/10/2013

22/10/2013
An occasional series
The first graphic novel to receive a major literary prize was 'Jimmy Corrigan; The Smartest Kid on Earth' by Chris Ware in 2001 when it was awarded both The Guardians First Book Award and the American Book Award

16/10/2013
The EY Exhibition - Paul Klee: Making visible. Tate Modern
16th October 2013 - 9th March 2014
"Klee has an irreducible centre, and though he changed his style and approach many times over in . . his career there is something there that makes you say 'Klee' without hesitation."

08/10/2013

23/09/2013
In the dream I was with some comic book artists discussing climate change. In the way of dreams it turned out the answer was a drawing pin or, as the US call it, thumb tack.( Both have possibilities for a surrealist take but you know what I mean.)
Having a long time attachment to Carl Jung's writings, dreams do sometimes prompt real life engagement on my part and on this occasion it led me to trawling the internet under the banner of 'comic-books - global warming'.

16/09/2013
By Benedict Quilter. When I was around 7 my mother came home from the comic shop with a bag full of New Zealand made comics. I’d seen comics before, but it had never occurred to me that there might be comics made in New Zealand. The only comic I cared about in that pile was one with a bright green cover called Fetus Boy (number four). It stood out to me, the cover was bold and full of black lines. I fell in love. I read that comic again and again until the back cover came off.

07/09/2013
'Art in the Asylum: Creativity and the Evolution of Psychiatry'
The Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park, Nottingham 7 September - 3 November.
The exhibition curated by psychiatrists Esra Plomer and Victoria Tischler looks at the evolution of artistic activity in British asylums from the early 1800s to 1970 with work selected from national and international exhibitions.

01/09/2013

23/08/2013
Comic Collecting In South Africa - My Experience by Bheki Latha
There really aren't that many South African comics.With the exception of a few talented cartoonists . .

17/08/2013
Here's a wheeze.
Curious about other people's comics I have put up blogs about, or relating to, comics in Indonesia, India, Japan, Russia and Serbia. Now it seems a better idea (duh!) if such pieces were written by those with local knowledge and personal involvement.
So I, ever the optimist, am inviting comic readers from wherever to send me an account of their experience. What is available where you are, what if anything is produced there? Interested in what you read, what you see that others may not, what is comics culture like in your part of the world?