Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix

...and here's a sneak peek. I'm very excited to see this movie, solely because it's a part of a story that's so rich with concepts and ideas. Plus I've love seeing the kids go crazy with joy, over it on opening weekend. It's all such good fun.

Top Shelf's Owly @ Art Is Our Passion Art Show

Hello and welcome to the art show.
Oops sorry. Couldn't help but have some fun with that fish eye lens. The photos by Art is Our Passion owner Tom Violand. Anyway the weekend before last we had our biannual art show at Art Is Our Passion, in Agoura Hills, CA where I teach. We've got a lot of very talented students. I'm so proud of all of them, and there endeavors, so this was a great way to show off what they can do. It was also a chance to raise awareness to another art form which is near and dear to my heart... comic books. I would like to send out a very heart felt thanks to Chris Staros of Top Shelf Comics, for sending us 150 free comic book day additions of Owly, for us to put into our gift bags, for the students.
I feel that a lot of these kids art going to be tomorrow's art stars, in not only fine arts, but comic books, and animation.
Owly is a great example for them to see just how a story (with a beginning, middle, and end) can be told visually, and in a format that is safe for the whole family to enjoy.

I'm not sure what the final turnout was for the show, but I'm happy to report that we had 300 people vote for there favorite pieces of art, in 26 categories. Could this be the Sparta of student art shows?
"Who was there?" you ask. Well in this picture (above) we see in the top left, waring a purple shirt, we have (as one of our art teachers) the acclaimed artist and designer David Durand. In the grey shirt, and blue jeans, just a little lower and a little to the right, is Keva. He'll be a big name some day in either art or sports. Only time will tell which. And in the bottom right hand corner is our surprise celebrity appearance, tween star Emma Roberts. Yes, she's Julia Roberts niece.
...and here is only a small sample of the work that was on display. Note the Alex Ross, Superman, charcoal drawing. You'll be hearing more from that kid in the near future, I'm sure.
Above is the best in show winner, in the adult category. It's by 16 year old Meghan Toomayan; a student who is so good that we hired her as a teacher.

...and here is best in show winner for the kids category, Sonia. Sonia is also one of our lead artist in our upcoming Star Wars fan cartoon, which my animation class is working on as we speak.
There's more to come from Art Is Our Passion. Next up will be our movie night, showing the David Mack documentary The Alchemy of Art. Oh, and if you'd like to know more about Free Comic Book Day, play the You Tube video below.

My Psychedelic Poster

I've been working on this drawing, for the folks at It's Only A Dream to see. It's for a potential job doing artwork for their show. You may remember that it came about from my friend Neil, who's band (Imagine: A Beatles Tribute) is auditioning for it. Who's knows what it'll all come to? A playbill? A poster in the gift shop? Oh crap! I just realized that I'm going to have to paint all this. Anyway, the idea is that it'll be like one of those 60's, San Francisco, psychedelic posters, but pushed into my style. All you old guys, try not to have a flash back, okay.

I shall leave you with some really cool 1960's music.

300

I have seen 300 at last, and all I have to say is that Frank Miller must be so happy. It was truly a wonderful and relevant piece of cinema. I would like to see more movies made like this, where it gives way to some much opportunity for artist styling.



One other thing I feel I should note, is a conversation that I had with a friend of mine. He said much the same thing as I, but also gave way to his vexation with Alan Moore, with this comment. "300 is such a fantastic movie, and Frank Miller must be feeling so proud, where Alan Moore has only expressed shame in comics, and made it a very loud point to distance himself from it all." I paraphrase, and I should also point out that we both feel much love for Moore, and all of his awe inspiring work. Of course, we'll all see what it comes to when 300's director, takes on The Watchmen next.

Suffering For Art

There is no greater testament to love, than through suffering. Before you say "no", think about it. There was just a school shooting where 33 people died. The suffering is immeasurable, yet people are banding together because of it. They reach out to each other and embrace as brothers and sisters, because they share in the most common ground that mankind can share in. Suffering. We're in it together.
Sure, we can send flowers, write poems, and take each other out to dinner, but there is no greater way of showing you care, then to endure pain on behalf of another person, or thing. Ask any parent and they'll tell you that they'd give their life to protect their children.
Think on the Christ. I am of no particular religion, but I must say that the Crucifixion is among my favorite symbols of God's love, because it shows him suffering extreme pain for it. That's love that can't be denied.

I feel sick when TV evangelist tell us that God has allowed so much suffering in our modern world, because we have slowly but surely pushed (Him) away from us. I really don't think that has anything to do with it. I believe it's allowed to go on, because if it didn't, we would no longer need to care for one and other. We would grow could and self serving. Our imaginations would wither and die, because we would have no conflict in our lives to spur us on, to make us want to fight, reach out, prove ourselves, or even love. We need antagonist to rise above. Our worth as human beings comes out in us, when we are forced to show that we are not lesser then another person.
So, we dream and aspire to create a better world for ourselves, as others seek to tear it down. As a result, we imagine ways to make it stronger and more beautiful then before. That's where art comes in.

Art is a scream of pain. Artist labor for years, trying to perfect their work, so that they might tell you their love. They take ridicule from friends and family, because what they're doing isn't lucrative for most. The finer things in life? They go without them, so that they might buy paints, or some other such supply. They risk persecution, guilt, censorship, and well being, just to give you glimpse inside their love of the things they create or depict. Indeed, those who would fear beauty would seek to smash down those who would imbibe it, and then show it's reflection to the world.
Then why bother. For the pure, irrational, God blessed, love of it. For the love of the ideas that drive our world to grow. For the love we share in enjoying art together, as we all say, "I know how this person felt (or feels) and I feel the same way, too. I've been there. I've been through that. I've suffered that. We've suffered that, you and I. We survived it together, and it has made us stronger." That's why we must suffer. That's the proof of our love.

Star Wars and Art Shows

This is just an update on what I've been up to, for this month with teaching. I'd like to share with you the drawings that my animation students have come up with for the San Diego Comic Con 2007 souvenir book. One of the themes, as you can see, it the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. They're also working on a Star Wars fan cartoon, which I'll post more on latter.

Age 11

Age 12

Age 11

Age 11

We're having our student art show this weekend at Art Is Our Passion, where I am a teacher. I'll do a post on that after it's done.

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As I have talked about my goth day's in the last post, I thought this little video good for a chuckle. It's fun, and I feel much love for these people. The only thing I'd make a point to disagree with them on, is that you hear a lot of them talking about how their outer appearance is "who" they are. Come on people; it really is what's on the inside that counts. Gothy clothes are just for fun. *****************************************************************************
Then there's this one, which is just strait out funny to me as Beatles fan, and a horror movie fan. This is exactly the kind of thing my art friends and I liked, back in the day. Not ever taking ourselves seriously, we referred to it as humor. *****************************************************************************
Oh, and here's my pic for the Comic Con book.

Music Spotlight: Birthday Party

It's my hope to one day write the story of my days as a young death rocker/goth, but to do this (I think) I have to first understand those days myself. Truth be told, I'm the same person now as I was then, I just don't go out to clubs anymore. I don't feel the need or want to. Having done my thing, I got off the "stage" before I wore out my welcome. Only the originators of that life style like my good friend Dave Grave, have their place forever cemented into the moldering tombstone of what is the real dark arts. Only he and his like, belong heart and soul to it. However, I will always be a goth deep down inside, with all the artistic atmosphere that comes with it, eternally burned into my beating heart. For your listening pleasure, I give you Birthday Party; a band that encapsulates that atmosphere. You can watch the videos or just listen as you read other entries, but remember that I use these songs and others as part of a creative engine, that drives my ideas farther and farther out, into new territory. Enjoy... or be repulsed. It's all the same in art.




Nick The Stripper

Junkyard

Dead Joe

Deep In The Woods

Release The Bats

Christopher Moonlight Prints: 3rd Series Available

UPDATE: No long available...
Click My Fine Art America Site For Prints.
I give to you, the 3rd series of Christopher Moonlight Prints.

Christopher Moonlight Prints: 2nd Series Available

UPDATE: No long available...
Click My Fine Art America Site For Prints.

...and here are the next available prints, that can be ordered in the same manner as the first run. We are working on also selling them through Ebay, using Pay Pal, and giving shipping options. Look for a third run, coming soon.

Fictional Bands: Satan's Night Out

The idea of a fictional band is a very interesting one to me. When Queen Of The Damned was made, it was widely overlooked as just another bad, Vampire, B Movie. I have to admit, when I first saw the previews for it, I was sure that I would hate it. It was so obvious to me that it wasn't anything like the beloved works of literature (and yes, I do know the meaning of that word) by Anne Rice. It wasn't, but it did turn out to be a great movie. It seems that because it was a B movie, director Michael Rymer had to come up with other ways to make a fun, cutting edge, film, that still captured the essence of Rice's story. The best way he found, was not to make a horror movie, but a rock opera. Of course, I could go on and on about the things I absolutely love about this work, but it was his decision to enlist the help of Richard Gibbs, and Korn's Johnathan Davis that really made the film. In conjunction with their awesome talent, Rymer shot some great (Satan's Night Out) music videos, which not only are great works of art unto themselves, but pay homage to almost all of the pioneering horror films of cinema. These are such works as: Metropolis, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, just to name two.
The reason why I'm really excited by the fact that they did this, though, is because I like the freedom that working under the guise of fiction provides. You can literally do whatever you want, without the concern of being labeled a poser, or accused of being contradictory. It is my hope that in my future comic books, I can make bands with whole backgrounds, whose songs I can use to narrate certain points of the stories. I could then write and produce music that can be downloaded (maybe with videos) to go along with the books, thus making it an interactive experience.
Maybe, I'm crazy to think that I can pull this off, but I happen to know a music genius (named Jeremy Hanes) who I'm going to pester to help me with this. The bands don't have to be confined to one book ether. They can run in The Black Lipstick Curse, or any other story I choose to tell. That's the great thing about it.


Forsaken


Redeemer


System

What I especially like about these videos, is the unapologetically gothy way they go about their presentation of the materials. A lot of people who are into this sort of thing, impose a strong sense of irony on themselves, as if they'd beat someone else to the punch in ridiculing them. These music videos take it way over the top, without looking back.


Slept So Long Concert


Not Meant For Me Concert



Not Meant For Me w/ Movie Clips