Monday, October 29, 2012

Albrecht Dürer discussing payment with a client... Things never change!

My cousin Maria was just in Cincinnati for a conference about the 16th century (her PhD is in 16th century German Literature) and she sent me this when she got home:

" For your entertainment, I thought I'd send you a little excerpt from some of the letters Albrecht Dürer wrote to one of his clients. Although this was over 500 years ago, I think you'll find that it sounds familiar!"


From Albrecht Dürer to Jacob Heller: [November 4, 1508] ...For I neglect myself for it, suffer loss, and earn anything but thanks from you. I am using, let me tell you, quite the finest colors I can get. I will need twenty ducats for the ultramarine alone, not counting the other expenses. Once the picture is finished, I am quite sure that you yourself will say that you have never seen anything more beautiful. And I dare not expect to finish the middle panel from beginning to end in less than thirteen months. I shall not begin any other work till it is finished, though it will be much to my hurt. Then what do you suppose my expenses will be when I am working at it? You would not take less than 200 florins to keep me for that time. Think what you have repeatedly written about the materials! If you wanted to buy a pound of ultramarine you could hardly get it for 100 florins, for I cannot buy an ounce of it good for less than ten or twelve ducats.

And so, dear Mr. Jacob Heller, my writing is not so utterly unreasonable as you think, and I have not broken my promise in this matter.


You further reproach me with having promised you that I would paint your picture with the greatest possible care that I ever could. That I certainly never said unless I was out of my mind. For in my whole lifetime I could hardly finish it. For with the greatest care I can hardly finish a face in half a year. Now your picture contains fully one hundred faces, not counting the drapery and landscape and other things in it. Besides, who ever heard of making such a work for an altarpiece? No one could see it. But I believe that what I wrote to you was: to make the painting with great or more than ordinary pains because of the time you spent waiting for me....

 

[August 26, 1509] ... I have painted it with great care, as you will see, using none but the best colors I could get. It is painted with good ultramarine under and over, about 5 or 6 times. And then after it was finished I overpainted it twice more so that it may last a long time. I know that if you keep it clean it will remain bright and fresh 500 years. For it is not made as one usually paints. So have it kept clean and don't let it be touched or sprinkled with holy water. I feel sure it will not be criticized, unless for the purpose of annoying me. And I am sure it will please you well.

No one could ever pay me to paint a picture again with so much labor. Herr Georg Tausy himself wanted me to paint him a Madonna in a landscape with the same care and in the same size as this picture, and he would have given me 400 florins for it. I flatly refused to do it, for it would have made a beggar of me. Of ordinary pictures, I will in a year paint a pile which no one would believe it possible for one man to do in the time. With such things one can earn something. But very careful nicety does not pay. Therefore I shall stick to my engraving, and if I had done so before I should today have been a richer man by 1000 florins....

Illustrator News: Marlene Steele


NBC E! Entertainment Series: "When Teens Kill"    October 30th  10:00PM    TV 14

This broadcast features the Andrew Conley Case which Marlene covered in 2010 as a courtroom artist. Drawings licensed to this show portray the convicted teen during the trial consulting with his counsel, the courtroom setting and the presiding judge overseeing the proceedings. In covering this tragic story, she consciously portrayed Conley's hands, the murder weapons, often clasped beneath the defense table.

Set your DVRs!

If you missed the exhibit: "ART & JUSTICE: Courtroom Drama Revealed in the Sketch"  
Loft Gallery, Middletown Ohio, you can see a selection of these historical documents on Marlene's website:
 
Go online at www.marlenesteele.com
Select the Courtroom Drawings tab under Figure Drawings on navigation bar.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Bat Fest at Cincinnati Museum Center and other Signings

I (Christina W.) will be at Bat Fest this Saturday the 27th from 11 to 2 at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

I will be reading Little Red Bat, doing an art demo and signing Little Red Bat and A Warm Winter Tail. Stop by and say hi!

Coloring sheet for Bat Fest, Share and Enjoy!


I also will be at Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, OH along with illustrators Jeffery Ebbeler, Will Hillenbrand, and Jared Lee on November 3rd. I know it is a long haul from Cincinnati, but it is a great show!

Finally, I will be at the Crestview Hills Joseph-Beth on December 5th. More details soon...

Vampire Bat and prey from Extreme Senses, one of the Sensing Their Prey books I illustrated for ABDO Publishing Group

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Article about Broadhope Art Collective in Soapbox

Photo of the group from Soapbox
A nice article about Broadhope Art Collective, which Gabe Utasi helped put together.

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/102312broadhope.aspx

I went to the opening on Saturday, lots of great stuff. I hope they thrive there. (Nice to have some great art in walking distance from my house!)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Rare Animation Festival on TCM October 21st

A lot of us are big animation fans. On Turner Classic Movies on Sunday October 21st starting at 5 pm. It looks like a stellar lineup!

From the site Cartoon Brew about the festival:

"Classic animated films have no outlet in today’s media. Those of us of a certain age may recall seeing classic cartoons in movie theaters. Many of us grew up watching the entire history of Hollywood cartoons on television. Today, except for a few random showings at a festival, museum or repertory theatre, you’d be lucky to find Tom & Jerry or Looney Tunes buried within a block of kidvid. Look even harder and you might find Mr. Magoo and the Fox & Crow (but you gotta look real hard). 

Mighty Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Betty Boop, or the works of Tex Avery are no longer there. Don’t even think of seeking out Flip the Frog, Oswald Rabbit, Felix The Cat or Molly Moo Cow. Disney shorts with Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck are rarer than Clara Cluck’s teeth. Let me repeat, there is no outlet for classic animation in the traditional media. Sure, you can find much on You Tube, or buy the DVDs… but you have to know what you’re looking for. As a teacher of animation history (at Woodbury University in Burbank), take it from me – the younger generation does not know who Winsor McCay is. Otto Messmer? Dave Fleischer? John Hubley? These names are lost on most animation students under 20 – and to the public at large under 30. There is just no exposure to this material."

Read the rest about it here: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/why-animation-on-tcm-is-important-71998.html

Line Up:

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=est&sdate=2012-10-21

3 features and 18 shorts. Set your DVRs!


8:00 PM
adventure

9:30 PM
short

11:00 PM
comedy



11:00 PM
musical




12:00 AM

12:00 AM
silent

12:00 AM
Springtime (1923)


12:00 AM
silent

12:00 AM
musical

12:00 AM
short

12:00 AM
silent

12:00 AM
Haunted Hotel (1907)

12:00 AM
silent

12:00 AM
EXPAND

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/499700|0/Rare-Animation-10-21.html

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/400697199995338/

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Broadhope Art Collective Soft Opening

After you go to Books by the Banks on Saturday, stop by the soft opening of the Broadhope Art Collective in Cheviot.

It goes from 2 to 8 pm


3651 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211
"Come check us out, October 20th, for our soft opening! We'll be open 2p to 8p. Food, beverage, and awesome locally made work. See the space, meet the Collective and learn more about all the cool stuff we're planning for this winter! Parking is on street or in municipal lot just a half block away on Harrison, beside Higher Ground Coffeeshop (our favorite place!)"


https://www.facebook.com/events/475217159185054/

http://broadhopeartcollective.com/

Hope to see you there!

Books by the Banks Saturday

Illustrators include: Brian Pinkney, Loren Long, Will Hillenbrand, Jeffrey Ebbeler, Marlene Steele, Christina Wald, Leah Busch, Marilyn M. Lebhar, Rafael Rosado and possibly others. (If I forgot someone, let me know...)

Saturday, October 20th 10-4

Also, this panel looks amazing:


1:00 p.m. | Room 206
“Children’s Lit Chat: Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books”
  • Derek Anderson, Waking Dragons
  • Mac Barnett, Danger Goes Berserk
  • Rafael Rosado, Giants Beware! (interesting note about Rafael, he is a storyboard artist/animator for Disney and Cartoon Network shows)

Friday, October 12, 2012

Some New Stuff





So, it's been awhile. I moved and don't live near enough to Pam to get to anywhere easily. I'll see about bringing my girlfriend to a lunch group soon. I'm also working on my license, which, when reestablished, will allow me more freedom to join you all. In the mean time, here's some new stuff. All of this is digital, save the obvious graphite piece.

Hope you're all doing well. I'll hopefully be adding more soon.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Elephant illustration

When I got home from illustrator lunch today I saw this on fb and I just had to re-post it here.  It's amazing!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=He7Ge7Sogrk


Friday, October 5, 2012

Life Painting Friday

This painting was done in acrylic on canvas by Christina Wald

I just started a going to an 8 week "Painting the Figure" class at the Art Academy.  I have been meaning to go to one of the programs at Manifest, but was finally motivated to go to this because it is taught by my professor from University of Cincinnati Gil Born. He taught there for 40 or so years and recently retired. He was known for his amazing gouache painting demos of product and interiors.

In his retirement, he has taken up oil painting both landscapes and the figure.It is always good to see him again and of course paint...

Anyway, the first class was a lot of fun. One of my fellow alums (and occasionally lunch attendee) is taking the class with me. It is not so much a drawing class, the model holds one pose the whole session (this was a little under 2 hours). I did start with a loose watercolor sketch in my book.

Anyone else doing some life drawing/painting these days?




Monday, October 1, 2012

Brian's Other Children's Book


Good Resources for Prints

I just recently heard that Color Q is out of business. Does anyone have good resources for making prints these days?

Let me know and I will add to the post.

Illustrator News: Loren Long at Blue Manatee on October 13th

Loren Long will be signing his new book Nightsong by Ari Berk at Blue Manatee on Saturday October 13th at 11:30.

From the Blue Manatee site:

"Written by Ari Berk, Nightsong is the story of Chiro, a young bat who is sent by his mother into the night for the first time alone. It’s an adventure, but how will he find his way? And how will he find his way home? As the young bat discovers, navigating the world around him is easy as long as he uses his good sense.

 

-Free, all ages author event

-Line numbers will be given with purchase of the book, which releases on September 25th. 


-For more information, or to pre-order Nightsong, please contact blue manatee at (513)731-2665."

Illustrators at Books by the Banks October 20th

Duke Ellington:The Piano {Prince and his Orchestra
There are a lot of great illustrators at Books by the Banks this year, but I just found out that Caldecott winner Brian Pinkney will be there.

"Brian Pinkney’s work as a children’s book illustrator and fine artist is known worldwide. He has illustrated numerous books for children, including two Caldecott Honor Books, The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci and Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney, his wife and frequent collaborator; and Alvin Ailey, a Parenting Publication Gold medal winner, also authored by Andrea."

http://booksbythebanks.org/authordetail.php?recordID=1175

This is in addition to many others at the show: Jeffery Ebbeler, Will Hillenbrand, Loren Long,  Marlene Steele. Full list here: http://booksbythebanks.org/2012/06/childrens-authors-2012/