Jeffrey Catherine Jones Documentary...

...needs your help

I was introduced to Maria Cabardo by Jeremy Cranford at a group dinner during San Diego Comic-Con last year. I had heard about the docu being done on Jeffrey Catherine Jones (an artist I respect immensely). Hearing about the passion she, as the driving force behind it, has put into the project it made me even more anxious to see the end product. Well apparently the project needs a little help in funding the post-production. You can help out with a donation over at kickstarter.com. You can give as little as a dollar, but with a $50 donation you are essentially pre-ordering the dvd and movie poster.

Inspiration: Mike Hill

I have done some sculpture, but I am not a sculptor. I love the work of many of my contemporaries, but I am more often inspired by those who have come before. So this months inspiration will probably seem out of place, but what is more inspiring than something that gives you a greater appreciation for something outside of your comfort zone? All that being said, Mike Hill's monsters do kick unholy ass.

Keep in mind, these are all sculptures, with the exception of the fellow standing in between Lon Chaney Jr. and his alter ego below. That is Mr. Hill himself. You can see more of his work on his outdated webpage Mike Hill Artworks

Biography

Michael E. Hill was born in Cheshire, England. From an early age he developed a passion for the fantastic whether it be comic books, television or movies. Escapism wasn't a word he knew then, but he dreamed of a fantastic world filled with masked vigilantes, men who transformed into wolves and Islands ruled by giant apes. From the age of four Mikes artistic ability started to shine and he began to draw the fantastic images he adored.

Mike's one unique trait was to question how and why these characters looked and behaved the way they do, always over thinking!

"I would ask myself and others crazy questions. What did King Kong do all day, when he’s not fighting dinosaurs and wouldn't he be scarred from head to toe, with all those prehistoric creatures he had to battle? And really puzzling details like, how come we can’t see Spiderman’s web shooters beneath his costume, or his ears…or his underwear? Or stuff that still bugs me to this day, when a werewolf turns back to a man where does all the fur go? Does he lose his teeth fillings? People looked at me as if to say, "Son, you've really got problems"

Mike's passion still remains the same...over thinking the impossible! Through his art, Mike hopes to share with his audience that little boy's dreamland and maybe answer some of his own questions.

Fred Fixler: addendum

Illustrator and roll model, Greg Pro, has created a website honoring Fred Fixler. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Click here

Inspiration: Basil Gogos

Legendary Famous Monsters of Filmland artist, and former Frank Reilly student, Basil Gogos recently did a painting of Benicio Del Toro for the new Wolfman movie. I am a huge fan of his work and I couldn't be more excited about this. Click on the image to see the full illustration as well as read an interview with the man himself.

Inspiration: Fred Fixler

photo courtesy of Dave Darrow

Fred Fixler founded California Art Institute (CAI) in the early 1980's just north of LA in Calabasas. Prior to that he taught at nearby Brandes Art Institute. He studied with Frank Reilly from 1947-49 at the Art Students League, during this time he was roommates with James Bama. It seems that the bulk of his illustration career was spent doing sports illustrations, and movie poster work. It has also been rumored that he did uncredited "sleaze paperback" illustrations for Brandon House in the sixties. Fixler instructed a generation of Southern California artists, including Morgan Weistling, Greg Pro, Mark Westermoe, Shawn Zents, Glen Orbik and Laurel Blechman.
I will leave you with an anecdote from Morgan Weistling

"The secret to capturing the essence of what you are looking at can be found in your high school yearbook.

Fred Fixler would have us look at our high school yearbooks and find that page that has everyone in our grade standing together in one big group shot.

"Can you find yourself?" he would ask. Yes, we could.

"Can you find your friends?" Yeah.

What's the point? Well, in those photos your head is almost the size of a pea - if not smaller! And yet, without seeing eyelashes, nostrils, pupils in the eyes, or any other details, you recognize people you haven't seen in years! Yet, most of us sit in front of a model drawing the most unimportant details and miss the simple overall shapes that form the essence of who we are observing.

Details are not the answer.

Thanks, Fred."

Here are a couple links to some interesting reading courtesy of Norm Nason
Fred Fixler: notes on drawing
Fred Fixler: notes on gouache

photos of life drawings courtesy Glenn Orbik & Laurel Blechman

Inspiration: Harvey Dunn

Harvey Dunn is one of the most influential illustrators in American history. He often sacrificed craft and technique for narrative and visceral impact. Trained by Howard Pyle, he passed many of his teachings and philosophies on to his students such as Dean Cornwell, Saul Tepper, Meade Schaeffer, and Harold von Schmidt. He was known for quotes such as " There are ten thousand people in the United States who can draw to beat the band. You never heard of them and you never will. They have thoroughly mastered their craft. And that is all they have...their craft." According to Dean Cornwell many of these proclamations were for the inspirational affect on the students.

Dunn spent the bulk of his teaching career in New York at the Grand Central School of Art and The Art Students League, but began his life long love afair with teaching in 1915 at a school he founded, the Leonia School of Illustration. It was here that he taught Dean Cornwell, who once said of Dunn's teachings "I gratefully look back on the time when I was privileged to sit at Harvey Dunn's feet . . . [he] taught art and illustration as one. He taught it as a religion - or awfully close to such."




Here are two interesting reads
Harvey Dunn's Class Notes by Charles J. Andres
An Evening in the Classroom

Inspiration: Gustave Boulanger & Jules-Joseph Lefebvre

19th century Paris was a mecca of sorts for the arts. The flagship of the educational system was École des Beaux-Arts; however it was only open to male students of French citizenry, so several smaller academies were born. Many of these academies were open to all who could afford the tuition, regardless of gender or nationality. One such academy was Académie Julian. In the late 1800's many of the American's that went to study in Paris were attracted to Julian and the dual teachings of Gustave Boulanger and Jules-Joseph Lefebvre. Of these American's, several would eventually return to their native shore and bring schools like the Art Students league in New York to the forefront of traditional art training.

Teaching at Académie Julian was nearly always done by pairs of teachers, alternating months of critique, these pairings were not always harmonious. This was not the case with Boulanger and Lefebvere however. One American student noted "The training they enforce is liberal; their methods and their manner are never insisted on.... The one insists on finesse of line and of articulation; the other on the energy of expression and individuality of the model; so these two men supplemented each other."

Among their students were George Bridgman, Frank Vincent Dumond, John Henry Twachtman, Edward Tarbell etc.

For more information check out "The Lure of Paris" by H. Barbara Weinberg


Gustav Boulanger "The Slave Market" (1888) "Reception of an Emir" (1871)


Jules-Joseph Lefebvre: "Ophelia" (1890) "The Japonaise" (1882)