Monday, December 12, 2016

Artsy


Artsy features the world’s leading galleries, museum collections, foundations, artist estates, art fairs, and benefit auctions, all in one place. Our growing database of 500,000 images of art, architecture, and design by 50,000 artists spans historical, modern, and contemporary works, and includes the largest online database of contemporary art. Artsy is used by art lovers, museum-goers, patrons, collectors, students, and educators to discover, learn about, and collect art.





Tim Noble & Sue Webster
Since the late 1980s, collaborators Tim Noble and Sue Webster have been known for their shadow sculptures built from objects like household garbage, taxidermy, and scrap metal. Under directed light, the assemblages cast recognizable shadows, often self-portraits. In a series of Noble and Webster's light sculptures, they use computer light sequencing to flash messages of love and hate, referencing shop-front-type signage and carnival shows of British seaside towns. Merging form and anti-form, high culture and anti-culture, their anti-monuments explore psychology and the way we attach meaning to images.

https://www.artsy.net/artist/tim-noble-and-sue-webster

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Moana

Moana [PG]
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
November 23, 2016 - Disney
Directed by Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall & Chris Williams

Grade: B+
Up-graded from B

+1: Characters including Moana (voice, Auli’i Cravalho) & Maui (Dwayne Johnson).

par: Songs (by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i & Mark Mancina).

par: Story.

-1: Cute pig quota.

+1: Art direction (Ian Gooding, Production Design).


par: 3D effects.

+1: Post-credits bonus scene.



Sunday, November 13, 2016

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange [PG-13]
(Marvel Cinematic Universe, phase 3, part 2 of 10)
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
November 4, 2016 - Marvel Studios
Directed by Scott Derrickson

Grade B-
Up-graded from C.

+1: Cast including Benedict Cumberbatch (as Dr. Stephen Strange).

par: “Bad guy” Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), motivations.

+1: Visual effects.

par: Story.

par: Installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


+1: 3D effects.
par: Mid-credits & post-credits bonus scenes.

Art by Bryan Mon

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven (2016, remake) [PG-13]
Action, Adventure, Western
September 23, 2016 - MGM
Directed by Anton Fuqua

Grade B-
Up-graded from C.

+1: Cast including Denzel Washington (as Chisholm), and Chris Pratt (Jon Faraday).

+1: Big gun battles of cowboy armies.

par: Mythic Hollywood storytelling including bullet-proof heroes and all-powerful Gatlin guns.

par: Character development.

par: Story - entertainment vs. commentary.

8/10 against the original source film “Seven Samurai” (1954, Dir. Akira Kurosawa)


Art by Bryan Mon


Thursday, October 27, 2016

Client Feedback!

a.k.a. My Client Is a Graphic Designer
graphéine, graphic design [grapheine.com]
Posted October 10, 2016

Reported on Creative Bloq [creativebloq.com] as
Famous Artworks Ruined with Design by Committee

Satire based on an initial idea of Twitterer @MarieJulien with imagined clients’ feedback on several iconic posters.

See graphéine’s article for HD images.

Swiss painter, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s 1896 poster promoting the Parisian cabaret, Le Chat noir (the Black Cat).
A black kitten?

Graphic designer Saul Bass’ minimalistic poster for Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder.”
Blood, please!

Milton Glaser’s poster that was originally included as a bonus in a CD compilation of Bob Dylan’s songs.
Dylan isn’t black!
Graphéine continues the treatment on the Louvre museum’s logo as seen on it’s web site.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

How to Draw with Proper 2-Point Perspective

Here’s a nifty and totally, geometrically valid way of guiding yourself in drawing with 2-point perspective as demonstrated @ThingsWork Twitter feed, a.k.a. “How Things Work”:

https://twitter.com/ThingsWork/status/780853951868571648

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Storks

Storks [PG]
Animation, Adventure, Comedy
September 23, 2016 - Warner Bros.
Directed by Nick Stoller & Doug Sweetland

Grade B+
Up-graded from B

par: Story.

-1: Logic and physics.

+1: Characters including Tulip (voice: Katie Stoller).

+1: Wolf pack as Transformers.

par: Humor of emotionally manipulative kids.



Art by Bryan Mon

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Art of Minnie Mouse

The Art of Minnie Mouse
Disney Editions
available of Amazon September 27, 2016

Minnie Mouse embodies a constant reminder to girls of all ages-including grown-ups!-to live confidently and express themselves. In The Art of Minnie Mouse, Disney artists, designers, illustrators, and animators from around the world reimagine their favorite Minnie styles and portray them in a variety of mediums. Minnie's earliest incarnation, her classic red polka-dot look, and trendy modern styles are all newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. The book also features a never-before-published comprehensive filmography of Minnie's animated appearances as well as a visual timeline of her career milestones.

My tall piece pays homage to the Hollywood portraits of George Hurrell (1904-1992) because Minnie (and Mickey) splashed on the silver screen in the early days of the motion pictures.  I am very please to have my contribution make it in the pages of this new art book – Bryan Mon


And here is a sampling of posting on Instagram for contributors and others:
@bebopdesigns

@bigmac8

@cclarkart

@dariavinog

@delacruz_ofthecross

@disneystyle

@drewmetaylor

@erictanart

@jtq3

@mark_jonathan_repaints

@rickyanimation

@robertfarrell

@rocio_cintron

@son_of_crom

@stephchowww

@sthompsonart

@twistedrat

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Kubo

Kubo and the Two Strings [PG]
Animation, Adventure, Family
August 19, 2016 - Laika Entertainment
Directed by Travis Knight

Grade A
Up-graded from B

+1: Stop-motion animation.

+1: Characters including Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey).

par: Story.

par: Music.

+1: Fighting a giant skeleton, witches and a moon worm.



Behind the scenes footage in credits.

Art by Bryan Mon

Monday, August 15, 2016

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad [PG-13]
DC Extended Universe (DCEU), part 3
Action, Adventure, Comedy
August 5, 2016 - Warner Bros.
Directed by David Ayers

Grade C+
Up-graded from C.

+1: Character introductions in music video flashbacks.

par: The Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).

+1: Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).

-1: Story line in second half including the climactic battle with the big baddie.

par: Installment in the DCEU franchise.


Man of Steel (2013): C-


Art by Bryan Mon


Saturday, July 30, 2016

Star Trek, Vol. 2, No. 3

Star Trek Beyond [PG-13]
Action, Adventures, Sci-FI
July 22, 2016 - Paramount Pictures
Directed by Justin Lin

Grade: B+
Up-graded from B

+1: Moments for each main character.

par: Villain, Krall motivations.

par: Space ships.

par: Low tech solutions to high stakes futuristic problems.

par: Installment in the Star Trek movie franchise.



Art by Bryan Mon.

X-Men, Vol. 2 No. 3

X-Men: Apocalypse [PG-13]
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
May 27, 2016 - 20th Century Fox
Directed by Bryan Singer

Grade: B-
Down-graded from B

+1: Mutant powers moments including Quick Silver.

-1: Large cast.

par: Story.

-1: “Bad” guys standing on a mountain getting new costumes.

par: Installment in the X-Men movie franchise.


Captain America 3

Captain America: Civil War [PG-13]
(Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase 3, Part 1 of 10)
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
May 6, 2016 - Marvel/ Disney
Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Grade: A-
Up-graded from B

+1: Fight Choreography including team of here fighting in an airport.

+1: New heroes including Spider-Man #3 (live action movie) and Black Panther.

 -1: Reasons for fighting including the Sokovia Accords.

par: The “villain”/ opponent.

+1: Installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.



The Jungle Book (live action)

The Jungle Book [PG]
Adventure, Drama, Family
April 15, 2016 - Disney
Directed by Jon Favreau

Grade: A-
Up-graded from B

par: Cast including Neel Sethi (Mowgli) and Bill Murray (Baloo voice).

par: Story including Mowgli’s fate.

+1: Character animation.

par: Animals talking.

+1: City of monkeys.



Monday, June 27, 2016

Juan Ortiz

New Blog:



Juan Ortiz is an artist and designer who has worked for Disney, Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network. Most recently Juan has been creating poster imagery for every Star Trek episode for the Original Series, Next Generation and the Animated Series just as a start.









Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Seven Things You Can Do Towards Becoming a Comic Creator

by Ramon Gil 
RamonGil.com, June 19th, 2016


Writer and publisher, Ramon Gil runs down some career tips for comic creators in their early years.

1. Build Those Relationships.

2. Reputation Is Everything. Don't Burn Bridges.

3. Communicate! Communicate!

4. Artists, Learn to Draw Everything!

5. Baby Steps. Start small, then move on to bigger projects.

6. You Get What You Pay For! I.P. holders, pay you collaborators.

7. It’s The Story That Matters.


[Read the article]


Ramon Gil writes stories mostly for comic books. His signature genres are sci-fi, comedy and espionage with a healthy dose of conspiracy theories, a smattering of superheroes and a generous helping of witty dialogue.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Robert Downy, Jr. and Chris Evans Fight Over the Last Donut


Posted on Moviefan2014 April 21, 2016 on YouTube 

It's Captain America and Iron Man in the battle for the last doughnut. Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) bears witness.

https://youtu.be/zvkWGrIQ7r8

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Ma'agalim - Jane Bordeaux


Published by jane bordeaux April 9, 2016 on YouTube.

Jane Bordeaux is an act based in Tel Aviv, making Live n' Kicking' American  folk-country music in Hebrew.

Doron Talmon - Vocal & Percussion
Amir Zeevi - Guitar, Ukulele * Vocals
Mati Gilad - Double Bass & Vocals

visit their site: http://www.jb-band.com/en/home

Video
Director: Uri Lotan
CO-Cirector: Yoav Shtibelman
Art Director: Ovadia Benishu

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Batman v Superman

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [PG-13]
DC Extended Universe (DCEU), part 2
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
March 25, 2016 - Warner Bros.
Directed by Zack Snyder

Grade: B
Up-graded from B

par: Story targeted to DC comic fans.

+1: Characters including Batman (played by Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).

+1: Big battles.

-1: Multiple (prophetic?) dreams scenes.

-1: Sparse expository dialogue and story cues.


+1: 3D


screened Thurs. Mar 25, 2016, and in 3D Wed. Mar.31, 2016


Deadpool

Deadpool [R]
Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
February 12, 2016 - Marvel
Directed by Tim Miller

Grade A-
Up-Graded from B

+1: Meta humor including opening credits.

par: Cast including Ryan Reynolds (as Wade Wilson/ Deadpool).

par: R-rated frat-boy raunch script.

par: The X-Men universe.

+1: Gun fights and super-human battles.


+1: After credit bonus scene.



screened Sat. Feb. 27, 2016

Zootopia

Zootopia [PG]
Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Family
March 4, 2016 - Disney
Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Grade: A
Up-graded from B

+1: Characters including Judy Hopps (rabbit voiced by Ginnier Goodwin), and Nick Wilde ( fox, Jason Bateman).

+1: World building of the city of Zootopia in habited by anthropomorphic mammals.

par: Gazelle's (Shakira) song on repeat.

+1: Crime/ mystery story.

par: “Anybody can be anything” theme.



screened Sat. Mar. 5, 2016