I have been taking my son and my brother-in-law to Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find each year since my son was born for Free Comic Book Day! It is one of those things that we all like to do together. We get to go and hang out a bit, and look over comics which isn’t something that I do that often now-a-days and that is probably why I am so gung ho about it.

I guess the other reason I feel I have a Flag to bear for FCBD is I always thought that comic book artist and writers never really got the respect that they should. (Until recently that is with the spat of good comic book based films coming out) Comics have always had that persona that they are for kids, and to a degree that is probably true, but there is a lot of smartly written stories and amazing art that is poured into these pages that anyone should be able to find something to admire and enjoy.

Now, Free Comic Book Day to me is also a primer. A primer for Heroes Con that is held in uptown Charlotte, NC. Heroes Con isn’t a large con like San Diego or NY, but it is very comic/artist based. There are a lot of independent artists and a lot of amazing art to look at as well as a lot of interesting people to meet.

So this weekend head out to your friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Store and celebrate comics and the people that make them.

psst…go see Iron Man too.

Harriet Bucy was one of my old art teachers in School. Sure I use to goof off in class some (drawing cartoons) and I remember getting under her skin a few times, however I did like her a lot. I have seen her around town from time to time since having her in school and she was always very kind.

Not that we were ever close or communicated a lot after school, but one thing that I do remember is that when I did see her she would ask if I was doing anything with my art. Of course I would have to respond, “no, but…”. However, it is Her asking is what sticks out in my mind and I am reminded sometimes it is the little things that people do that can make a huge impact on your life.

So perhaps this is a reminder to me that life is too short, and I should “do something with my art” today.

Thanks Harriet!

The Herald - Life. Captured Every Day. - Serving York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties.

Harriet Bucy, who started the Rock Hill school district community partnership program in 1985 that became a national model and ran it until her retirement three years ago, died Thursday night at home, said Elaine Baker, spokesperson for the school district.

Over this last weekend, at the Arts Council in Rock Hill, SC “Vandals” (I have other names, but I will refrain) climbed over the walls of these artists studios and defaced, and in some cases destroyed art that has a lot of time an care put into.

My mother’s studio is across from Phil, named in the article, was also broken into and had paintings knocked over, etc.

This is, I think, a view of a larger problem in todays world. Respect of others.

The Herald - Life. Captured Every Day. - Serving York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties.

“It’s a real shame that the people who did this have so little respect for the hard work and heart that have gone into these art pieces,” said Lyn Garris, spokeswoman for the city of Rock Hill. “It’s sad that people would opt to spend their time doing malicious things like this.”

Technorati Tags: paintings, art, vandals, disrespect

Once again…here is someone I admired and didn’t even know his name. Iwao Takamoto, responsible for lots of cartoons that I have seen and enjoyed over the years passed away at 81.

Thanks Iwao….rest in peace.

Iwao Takamoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Takamoto’s father emigrated from Hiroshima to the United States for his health. He returned to Japan only once, to marry his wife. Takamoto was born later in 1925 in Los Angeles, California. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Takamoto’s family, like many Japanese-Americans, was sent to an internment camp. They spent the rest of World War II in the Manzanar internment camp. It was there that Takamoto received basic illustration training from a couple of friendly co-internees.

Wow…This is Awesome. I don’t have the patients for something like this.
Brickshelf Gallery

Beware Earthlings! Free Comic Book Day is Saturday!

This is the first time that I have seen this guys art, and I have to say it is fascinating. This particular set that I find interesting are these oil paintings that feature Tin Toy Robots in real world scenes…sort of. You have to see this…

Eric Joyner

First off, I want to say that I really like Tim Burton. I enjoy his art, and his film making. The creepy and likable characters that he creates appeals to me. One of my favorite movies is The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was a visual delight.

About a month ago, I saw the trailer for The Corpse Bride and my jaw hit the floor. I thought that it was Nightmare again.

I can’t wait to see this film.

Here is a link to an article talking about the process and the equipment used in making this. I was surprised that they used Canon SLRs and Macs for editing and that is it, no CGI. Awesome.

‘Bride’ Stripped Bare
Technologically, this is a movie of many firsts; it’s the first feature-length, stop-motion film edited using Apple Final Cut Pro (FCP), it’s the first feature shot using commercial digital SLR still photography cameras and, perhaps most significantly, it’s the first movie to choose digital cameras over film cameras based on the criterion of image quality.

This looks like it will be a great resource if you are into photography of any sort.

Camera Hacks
Camera Hacks is a brand new community website to share information in the form of original tips, tricks, tutorials, and links to useful webpages for everyone with a camera—it doesn’t matter if it is a 35mm, medium format, digital, pinhole, or some other sort of camera, in other words.