Diary of a Mad Artist

2008-07-11T13:40:00.002-04:00

Just announced today is the dates for the 2009 Emerald City Comic Con!!
April 4-5 at the washington state convention center!

http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com

Here is a list of the people that are going to be here for the show!
(all taken from thier newsletter you can sign up for at thier website)

"Aside from the great list of guests we've already announced
(including first-timers Humberto Ramos, Barry Kitson, Darwyn Cooke,
Mark Brooks, Joe Casey, Chirstos N. Gage, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda
Conner, plus returning favorites such as Frank Cho, Stuart Immonen,
Adam Hughes, Steve Niles and Joe Linsner), we've just added another
half dozen new guests to the show including:

ADI GRANOV, who designed the Iron Man suits (and Iron Monger) for the
movie, will be making his first NorthWest appearance. He is currently
illustrating a four-issue miniseries written by Jon Favreau and also
a Spider-Man story written by Mark Waid.

Speaking of MARK WAID, the current Editor-In-Chief of Boom! Studios
and writer of the Brave and the Bold, Spider-Man and many classic
comics will be returning to the show in 2009.

MATT FRACTION, writer of The Punisher, Casanova (are your reading
this book? It's freakin' good!!) and Immortal Iron Fist will be
making his first ever appearance next year.

Indy legend STAN SAKAI is making his triumphant return to the Emerald
City ComiCon. Stan celebrated the 20th anniversary of his creation,
Usagi Yojimbo, with us in 2004 and is coming back in 2009 to
celebrate his 25th!

Eisner Award winning artist TONY HARRIS is another gentleman who
hasn't graced us with his presence for quite a few years. Since he
was last at the ECCC, he's continued his work on Ex Machina, along
with illustrating Spider-Man: With Great Power and the upcoming War
Heroes with Mark Millar.

Lastly, though he had to cancel early on for the 2008 show, BRIAN
MICHAEL BENDIS (you know, he's the guy who is writing that Secret
Invasion thingamajig over at Marvel, along with two Avengers books,
Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers and some other stuff too) has signed on
for 2009."

2008-06-09T23:13:00.003-04:00

well things are moving faster than i expected... here is my latest project.. hope you enjoy

Art Donation for Vegas Show

2008-02-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Two of the best SL musicians are traveling to Las Vegas. Cylindrian Rutabaga and Keiko Takamura will be playing in Vegas on the weekend of the 1st of March. Their goal was to be apart of Singing Arc.. but unfortunately that opportunity is not a feasible option. I want to do a tribute show for them.. an art walk.... Anyone reading this please send some ideas.

Its just an idea now, but i hope it turns into something bigger.

~me~

Cylindrian in RL

2007-12-28T19:45:00.000-05:00

I have the rare opportunity to know SL Musician Cylndrian Rutabaga in Real Life. Her music is influential on all aspects of my life and lifestyle. So being able to see her play LIVE.. not in second life, but in real life is absolutely overwhelming. Last Night, here in Raleigh NC, she took the stage at a local Open Mic. The energy in the room was peaked, the house band members set an upbeat mood with some great funk and rock covers. When Cylindrian had her chance to go and play, she rolled with the energy in the room. Instead of playing covers, like all the other talented musicians that were there, she played her original songs. Opening with "The Demon Song", she wowed the crowd. Being able to see the reaction of people who have never heard this wonderful singer was not at all shocking to me. Jaws Dropped, literally. "An Open Door" rocked the crowd just as hard as the first song.. Unfortunately she could only play 3 songs, and finished with "Tangled in Strings", which was written in collaboration with Jeff Lipsky aka Filthy Fluno (SL). I have heard her play this song before and it normally has a mellow atmosphere about it, but last night Cylindrian put all the energy of the crowd into the way she played it. It kicked ass.

If you have the opportunity, and the money, she will be playing in Las Vegas on March 1st along with 10 other musicians from Second Life. Check out www.singingarc.com to get details.

Juel Resistance (Suzan Juel)
Takamura Keiko (Amy Te)
Astrin Few (Sam Hokin)
Frogg Marlowe
Jaycatt Nico
Lyndon Heart (aka George Michael USA)

These are just a few of the artists that are going to be sharing the stage with Cylindrian. You can pick up her two CD releases at CDBaby.

Back to where i was going with my thoughts on this.. having someone this inspiring in my life is truely a blessing and i cannot thank her enough for the things she does for me.

Cooking for the Masses

2007-08-24T02:53:00.001-04:00

My full time job is as a cook/chef at a local fine dining establishment. Not a bad job, seeing that i get to create all night long and people enjoy what i create through their dulled taste buds. At least that is what i perceive.. Besides the few regulars that i have grown to love and cherish, not many people appreciate the creation that goes on in a dining establishment. People get a masterpiece of flavor and bicker about the child who is sitting squealing because they are enjoying their food and/or life more than these people can even understand. So they pursue a free meal or a discount cause of the lack of respect for their dining experience... Sorry folks, you're in Public!!!! there will be other people invading your "Privacy" heh.

So in essence, I love to create and i know that nobody is ever completely satisfied, so i have decided to just go with my gut feeling---> If you cant appreciate what has been toiled over for your enjoyment and fulfillment then you can just go and f-off. But those few souls who actually take the time to stop and smell the canvas, or platter, or whatever has been created, should be recognized and honored... so tonight, after re-evaluating my view on other's opinions, i hereby announce my forfeiture of interest in 90% of all opinions. but the 10% that do matter need a solemn bow and a smile their way. For they are truly the eyes of the soul, forced to live 10,000 lives and still come out with an appreciation for the mundane.

I did a random piece of artwork today, as i was thinking about the "soul" and i came up with a bit of my dogma mixed in with some reincarnation idea. No clear thought passed my way when i was creating this, except i was listening to "Tool - AEnima". In particular, 46 and 2.. a great song about evolution and human progression. its not the quality that i am satisfied with, but it does show a bit about my Buddhist nature and living many lives with final appreciation for all of it.

enjoy, comment, critique, bash dash and hack and slash, I would love to get some more comments!

Oh, Osprey!!! thank you so much for the comment about "lost in meditation" the blue face painting. It means a lot to me... Osprey's Blog talks about Second Life. Apparently she had found my blog through Cylindrian Rutabaga's Blog. or i might be mistaken.. Either way it brings up an interesting point. Second life is a community of maniacs who assemble in a virtual 3d environment. A great place to expand your horizons, a marketing tool for creative minded people. It is completely engineered by the habitants of the world. I suggest you check it out if you haven't heard of it. Second life is where i realized my potential as an artist. I set up my first "virtual gallery" about a year ago in this virtual world. It gave me some worldwide recognition! I attribute my motivation for securing my artistic career to Second Life(SL).

In conclusion: Opinions are like A**holes, everyone has one, but they usually stink; Stick to your roots, they keep you grounded; Pink Floyd Rocks; and when you find a gem, (osprey), let it shine its brilliance on your ego... it makes you feel really good. :D

~jb~

Rant Painting #1

2007-08-23T00:36:00.000-04:00

Here it is... the first of "rant to a painting" series... I think its still a bit rough, but I like it... if you want to go check out the rant go and check out my first blog entry at the bottom of the page.

Its late, and i'm about done looking at the monitor.. my eyes are killing me. so this is gonna be a short message for now.

Guitars and Mars

2007-08-22T21:35:00.000-04:00

Mars is The closest its ever been to earth!!!! This hasn't happened in over 5000 years... get your butt outside and look up.

The painting from yesterdays post is nearly complete, i spent about 3 hours on it today. It wont be ready for posting till tomorrow or the next day, but just wanted to keep you informed. Ok, now before you go any further press play on this video, even though there is no video there IS however audio that pertains to the rest of this post. do it!!

My creative outlets are actually growing. I have a good grasp on painting weather it is digital, acrylic or oil. I am also studying guitar, which is a great release. I spent another 3 hours today playing some known and a few unknown songs. I etched a few new songs into my brain during that time too, and one i am very proud of. "Black" by Pearl Jam.. one of my all-time favorite songs, and bands... ever.

Music moves me. I have created more pieces of art based on songs than on anything else. I haven't had the chance to capture my interpretation of "Black" on canvas yet, so that is what my next painting will be.

Hope you enjoyed the song. Look for the inspired painting soon!

~jb~

The Journey Begins

2007-08-22T00:14:00.000-04:00

I've got a beer, a cigarette, and an idea. The path ahead of me is split too many ways, and i have selected my lot in life. I WILL be a recognized artist. So its time to narrow those paths down to the one i have selected, though i have no idea where to start.

I have always had a great appreciation for all things art. Anything that shows the inner soul of the creator is a great tool. Not all works of art are going to be masterpieces, and not all masterpieces are works of art, but they do show a single moment of the creators life. That one precise stroke of the brush that shouts out "LEAVE ME ALONE", or "I LOVE YOU" can be seen by anyone, but it is only the creator that truly knows the meaning. Speculation of the meaning of a piece shows that feeble minded idiots are trying to pick apart the artist's psyche... and thats just a worthless avenue.

Look at a piece of artwork, it makes you feel something about yourself.. trying to know what the artist was thinking or feeling, only show that the analyzer is too damn sheltered.

I spew all these mutterings forth because i was confronted today about a piece of mine, and someone was trying to piece together my feelings based on the art. Needless to say, they were way off base. The conversation went a bit like this;

Me: Did you have a chance to see that painting i did a while ago? The blue face one?

Them: Yeah, it was great. What medium did you use?

Me: oh, its completely digital. i did it a few years ago on my computer.

Them: Really? interesting, it looks kinda like an oil painting.

Me: yeah, not really.

Them: Well, anyway. who was the face of?

Me: I pulled it strait from my imagination some sort of buddhist idea.

Them: Looks to me like you were in a very depressed state of mind when you made that.

Me: not really. I was more in a zen state of mind.

Them: well you shouldn't be so sad all the time, maybe you should do something more lively and happy.

Me: thanks for the idea. now can we change the subject, you're boring me.

(end of conversation)

I have chosen to keep Them anonymous because they are unaware of their obtuse views and insights. Either way, that conversation got me thinking... Why not blog a crap-ton of feelings and then create a new piece of art based on those feelings, and see what comes of it. That way, nobody needs to analyze my feelings about a piece, they can just go back and read my blog to know what i was thinking at the time.

That is why I am here.

I hope you stick around and see the results of this experiment.
Oh, just to keep you interested, here is the piece of art that the dull-minded conversationalist was analyzing.

In conclusion. Please comment, add your wisdom, or mockery, or complete and utter stupidity.

Criticize as much as you can, i will use it to fuel my creativity.

If you made it all the way to the end of this blog, then i salute you. Please come back for more. I should be posting every day for a while.

The results of todays "rant into a picture" will be posted as soon as the picture is done. Thanks again for reading.

~JB~