09/08/09 - Report from 2009 Gen Con, Indianapolis IN

The following blog entry was written by Stevie Moore who attended a portion of this year's event held August 13-16 2009:

Gen Con Indy - Great Opportunity for Aspiring Sci-Fi and Fantasy Artists

Gen Con is one of the largest conventions of its type in the world, originally started by Gary Gygax (of Dungeons and Dragons) fame. Besides Gen Con INDY, there is another Gen Con in California, which is now owned by the ex-CEO of Wizards of the Coast and represents much more than just gaming. Having been to Gen Con Indy for the second time; this year my biggest complaint is there is simply too much to see, even if you were there for the full 4-5 days until 2 a.m. every night. My focus at Gen Con and this article will therefore be on the Art related features which are so wonderful and close by.

A major part of every years convention is the heavy emphasis and recognition bestowed upon the talented artists that work in the gaming industry. This has led to be an all inclusive mecca for the fantasy artist, where you can go to the art show and see artists that are very novice to seasoned veterans of illustration, from Dragon Lance novel covers to Magic Cards, to just about any artwork created for any game. Every year Gen Con selects an "Artist Guest of Honor" this year being Omar Rayyan, whose work has appeared on many magic cards.

I had a great opportunity to go the last day of the convention this year and talk with many of the 75 or so artists at their booths. I was amazed at how friendly the artists were and how helpful they all were with information about portfolios, networking, and other aspects of the freelance and illustration business. Artists booths range from $200-$400, depending on the number of panels behind their tables, where artists display their best work and sell pieces to a target audience of collectors and fans. Interestingly enough, many artists I talked to said they usually do better than break even but its much more than an art sale. Gen Con being one of the largest trade shows of its type, the networking is worth its weight in gold! Many artists talked about new jobs and contracts that they get every year just by showing up to the show. In addition to that there are free portfolio reviews by professional art directors and also many artists were happy to look at portfolio's, as I personally witnessed at one point and was surprised by the positive nature of the critique that differed greatly from my upbringing at the University of Kentucky school of Fine Art!

With just about every art director in the business crawling the floors searching for new talent there is no reason not to either investigate getting a booth or bringing your portfolio for any fantasy artists. Although not specifically geared to the comic world, Gen Con has plenty of Comic, Manga, Anime, Card and Board Games, Role playing Games, Video Games, and just about any other related activity you can think of. What sets it apart from many other conventions is the respect and highlight they give to the creative artists and designers that make so much of that imaginary world visible for those that enjoy it.

09/03/09 - 2009 Lexington 24HCD Event Interest

24-Hour Comic Day (24HCD) is an annual event where comic creators attempt to produce from scratch a 24 page comic in 24 hours. This idea was born in 1990 from a dare Scott McCloud, noted comic creator and author of Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics made to his friend, and fellow comic artist, Steve Bissette.

Additional information about 24-Hour Comics Day can be had at :

• http://www.scottmccloud.com/4-inventions/24hr/index.html
• http://www.24hourcomicsday.com/

The Lexington KY Comic Creators Group (CCG) is considering organizing such an event for October 3rd 2009 with the help of a Lexington comic shop host. Sponsorship is still a question but not a requirement. A small ($10-25) entry fee may required to help cover expenses.

The Colorado Alliance of Illustrators is hosting a 24HCD event and has some interesting plans:

• http://www.allianceofillustrators.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=651408&item_id=97832

Please follow the link below to complete an online survey form ASAP (hey it is a Census year!) so the CCG and any potential event hosts can determine :

1. length of event
2. number of people interested
3. anything we didn't think of

Go to FORM

8/30/09 - GLC NCS Meeting News - Superman and Comic Strip Superstar

Last weekend the Great Lakes Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society or GLC NCS had their annual summer get-together in Cincinnati and invited some guests to attend - among whom I was lucky enough to be included. Many thanks to Craig Boldman for the invite! This meeting was fun and informative. Last year, myself and few other CCG members attended a similar event and info gained from then and there led to my being able to attend the NCS Tribute luncheon and presentation of the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank Frazetta at his museum in Pennsylvania in September 2008.

Well this year had some interesting news items as well. Ed Black, the GLC's secretary told of a project to preserve the homes in Cleveland Ohio of the two creators of Superman. The Siegal and Shuster Society is a registered charity and was founded last year by writer Brad Meltzer. With the generous help of many current comic artists it has raised over $100,000 in the last year to preserve the home of Jerry Siegel. This past July there was celebration of this achievement - see this link to CBR story for more details: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21998

Another brief Ed shared was about Comic Strip Superstar. This event is a contest (entries must be in by September 12th 2009 to be eligible.

The winner will receive a publishing contract from Andrews McMeel Publishing, a $5,000 advance from Universal Uclick, and a monthly stipend for the development of 20 comic strips that will be considered for syndication.

Two well known cartoonist judges for the event include Gray Trudeau (Doonesbury) and Lynn Johnston (For Better or Worse) Also judging will be two veteran Universal Press Syndicate editors. The contest is sponsored by Andrews McMeel Publishing and hosted by Amazon.com. You need to have two weeks of daily cartoons and two Sunday strips in order to enter.

I did some further web searches upon hearing of this contest and have cooled somewhat in my initial enthusiasm for this project. There seems to be some concern that the contracts are somewhat one sided in the interest of the sponsor and not a good deal for the lucky winner. See these links for some of these commentaries:

• http://forums.leasticoulddo.com/index.php?showtopic=30264
• http://blog.comicspace.com/?p=1686
• http://www.webcomics.com/home/2009/8/19/comic-strip-superstar-contest-announced.html

Revised 09/08/09:
Oops! I forgot to mention previously the National Caricaturists Network (NCN) 2009 National Convention:

http://www.caricature.org/index.php?page=convention-upcoming

The event will be in Sandusky, OH over November 2-7, 2009. Big discounts for signing up before 9/15/09 - see site and below (copy and pasted from Tom Richmond's excellent blog):

On or Before September 15th:

• Members- $165
• Member guests- $100 each
• Non- Member “Seminar Only”- $99

After September 15th:

• Members- $250
• Member guests- $100 each
• Non- Member “Seminar Only”- $125

08/02/09 - Lousiville Cartoonist Society

There's a new comic creator group in Kentucky!

The Louisville Cartoonists Society!

I had heard about this group when I was in Louisville last May for the excellent WonderFest convention. There, by chance I bumped into Jason Guest who was also visiting the artists alley. After I introduced myself and gave him a CCG card he told me about the newly formed Louisville group. Fellow Louisville artist, Joe Welsh, whom I already knew from his participation in our 2008 CCG/LexArts Comic Art Show, confirmed this in an email conversation.

I later managed to track down Ted Lee Nathanson (the organizer - and artist for the cool zombie pic gracing this post) on Facebook and we have since continued a friendly email exchange. Below is a quote from one of those emails that briefly explains the group's purpose:

Our (the Louisville Cartoonist Society) goals are:
1) to encourage and critique each other's work- and create the kind of conditions that help creators finish projects.
2) to promote and show work together as a group- create an outlet for people's work

Ted started this group earlier this summer (in May) and their fourth meeting is coming up this Monday, August 3rd in (of all places) Louisville! Here's the info cut and pasted from their site:

Next Meeting: 7:00PM MONDAY AUGUST 3RD @ RAY’S MONKEY HOUSE on Bardstown Road- so decided because they serve both coffee and beer. Pick your Poison and Bring your Sketchbook, we’re doing a drawing Jam! No theme, but it’s been suggested that you should bring an image or phrase to throw in an idea pile. I like this a lot, and instead of explaining what I think an idea pile should be, I’m gonna leave it up for interpretation.

Looks like they are off to a great start! I wish Ted, Jeremy, Jason, Joe and all the other LCS members (whom I hope to meet soon!) all the best and look forward to some exciting collaborations between the two groups and even more great comics coming from the bluegrass state!

07/24/09 - July CCG Meeting/Workshop and Sal Villagran

Just in case some of you don't know the CCG has monthly meeting/workshops. These are typically the last Sunday of each month and usually are held at a Lexington Public Library Branch between 1:30 and 4:30pm. The link in the right navigation bar for the CCG Calendar has the most current information about where, when and who will be at the next meeting.

This coming Sunday, I am excited to tell, we will host a guest speaker: Sal Villagran. Following is brief listing of his accomplishments as an artist:

• He is a classically instructed/influenced figurative artist, specializing in drawing and oil painting. see his site here:(http://www.salvillagranart.com/)
• He is a recent winner (3rd best in show) Art Renewal Center 2008/2009 Salon Competition. (http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2009/Salon/winners1.asp#Best%20in%20Show)
• His commercial illustration clients include Wizards of the Coast (magic cards) (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/193, https://www.abugames.com/buylist.cgi?command=showdetails&itemid=177899&invid=301496)
  
• He is a drawing/painting instructor (UK Art Department and private) here in Lexington

Sal will give a brief talk about his working process for commercial illustration art, specifically his recent pieces for Wizards of the Coast Magic Cards. I am sure many of you will find this of particular interest and value.

A little more about our meeting/workshop format.

• The first segment - the meeting - has the usual announcements of upcoming events, guest speakers, recent events of interest that someone attended and reports on, group business and planning.
• Then we have a break (sometimes with some light refreshments) and next we are on to - the workshop portion. Here we can do round table reviews of new work that has been brought in. Constructive criticism is the goal here - input that is of benefit for the cartoonist. This is one of the primary benefits of meeting with other comic creators and is a good way to promote learning and growth. We will often have some creative exercises and or a jam comic. Jam comics are a group effort with one person starting the page with a title or the opening panel and passing it on to someone else in the exercise. This continues until the page is full and hopefully comes to some sort of (usually humorous) ending. We are currently reviewing two "structured curriculum" to include either as a regular part of the monthly CCG meeting/workshop or possibly as break off meetings. The two programs we are looking at are the Famous Artists Cartooning Course (FAS CC) and Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (DW&WP) by Matt Madden and Jessica Abel. Both are excellent resources (and I know I will continue to use both to advance my personal learning).

07/23/09 - Mazza Conference and James Gurney

Last week I was able to attend the Mazza Museum's Summer Conference last week for one day. The Mazza Museum is a teaching museum for picture books located in Findlay, OH on the campus of Findlay University. The five-day event was their 17th annual summer conference with a mixture of professional authors, illustrators, teachers and librarians in attendance. This is is a similar institution in purpose to the Cartoon Library & Musuem at OSU.

The way I discovered this event was through reading James Gurney's excellent blog GurneyJourney and seeing that he was going to be making a speaking engagement fairly close to home (about 4.5 hours away).

If I appear dazed in the picture below, it may be from lack of sleep from the night before! That week my family and I were on the way home from a summer trip to the northeast so we were coming from CT the day before. We arrived at our hotel in Findlay around 2:30AM but I was able to arise and attend the 9:00 AM keynote speech on Wednesday July 15th. James gave an excellent presentation detailing his growth as an artist, researcher and author (the Dinotopia series being the most notable). Come October look for his new art instruction book: "Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist".

Later he led a pull out session where he showed his sketchbooks and demonstrated the use of water soluble pencils for field sketching. He closed with a short question and answer session.

It was a pleasure to meet this kind and gracious man and his lovely wife Jeanette. James is a truly gifted and skilled artist. But I think he is just as significant as an arts educator. He shares an incredible amount of knowledge he has learned over the years on his aforementioned blog. He is able to show the nexus of science and art: through his work biology, history, anthropology, optics, are integrated with architecture, illustration, oil painting and sculpture. Please let me know if you would like to help advocate for James Gurney to come and visit our area. He makes numerous appearances each year, around the nation and internationally, speaking primarily at private art colleges.

05/05/09 - Educational Opportunities

Some comic/cartooning educational opportunities coming up this month (don't wait to check this out as these classes will fill quickly!).

School of Visual Arts (SVU) instructors and authors of Writing Pictures and Drawing Words, Matt Madden and Jessica Abel will lead a two week Summer Intensive Comics Seminar at SVU in NYC:
http://mattmadden.blogspot.com/2009/05/pre-mocca-art-festival-class-summer.html

Matt is a good teacher (I attended his one-day workshop at OSU's Wexner Center last summer) and can help you get through the inertia often stymieing a new cartoonist. Some additional info taken from Matt's blog:

Starting the day after Memorial Day, Jessica and I are offering an intensive 2-week class at SVA, the goal of which is to learn how to make comics by writing, drawing, and printing a minicomic in time for the MoCCA Art Festival the weekend of June 6-7. We'll teach in the mornings and afternoons will alternate between open studio time and visits from a group of stellar guest cartoonists: David Mazzucchelli, Becky Cloonan, Tom Hart, Gary Panter, and Kim Deitch! Each will have a three hour session that will be a combination workshop/craft talk/crit.

The roster's filling up fast so sign up sooner rather than later. Info below, registration info here.


If you can't travel to New York then this may be for you: Bobby Chiu's Schoolism is offering a "Build a Powerful Comic Book Portfolio" online course taught by Alvin Lee:
https://www.schoolism.com/
Click on the sample video link to see and hear Alvin critiquing a students work. There are two tuition rates: you can get reduced rate if you opt out of instructor feedback. This "self taught" option saves you more than half the cost of the regular rate!

05/05/09 - NPR Story on Adults and Drawing

When did you stop drawing for fun? If you are the average adult you probably stopped sometime in your Elementary School years. Somewhere along the line many decide they just aren't "good enough" and stop.

NPR ran a story today (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103818071) about why adults stop drawing and Mo Willems, a cartoonist and children books illustrator wants to get adults back to drawing and doodling. To quote Mo, who has been working with NPR on their Radio Cartoonist series: " Cartooning doesn't have to be realistic...if you can write your name, you can draw a cartoon. Your name is series of letters in the right order and a cartoon is just a series of shapes in the right order".

Visit the web link for an audio archive or maybe you can catch the story today on your local NPR radio station. Here is a link to Mo's blog with even more content: http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/

05/0109 - Wolverine Movie Opens and Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow! The new Wolverine movie opens today! Here is a video talking about both!



Here is a list of Kentucky comic shops - visit with your friends, family and young ones!

04/11/09 - National Illustration Event - Mazza Museum Summer Conference

Just as comics has the often mentioned (at least here on this blog) OSU Comic Library and Museum - children's picture books has the Mazza Musuem on the campus of Findlay University in Northern Ohio.

During the week of July 13 - July17 2009 they will have their 17th annual summer conference. There will be numerous notable presenters including James Gurney of Dinotopia fame who will be speaking there Wednesday July 15th in the morning.

Here in Lexington the University of Kentucky Library has a group with a similar mission - The McConnell Center seeks to study and support childrens literature.

04/10/09 - National Events - Redstick Animation Fesival

Animation doesn't get the attention it deserves here on the CCG blog - but I definitely couldn't miss the opportunity to spread the word about this soon to happen event in Baton Rouge, LA: the Redstick International Animation Festival! The Festival runs from Wednesday April 22nd to Saturday April 25th 2009.

There are discounts for students and educators - passes for the screenings are free. Some of the workshops your Gold Pass will buy you are:

• Drawing Dinosaurs
• Guerilla Animation
• Video Game Development

I also discovered a, here to unknown, compatriot comic creators group - The Baton Rouge Cartoonists Society! They will be teaching children's cartooning workshops during the festival.

04/10/09 - Regional Comic Event - SPACE

Coming up April 18th & 19th in Columbus OH is SPACE - Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo.

The Friday (4/17/09) preceding the Expo the newly renamed OSU - Cartoon Library & Museum will have an open house from 3-5pm.

03/03/09 - Next Meeting Time

Our first meeting of 2009 will be Sunday March 29th, 1:30-4:30pm at the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library. We will be meeting in the large conference room (on the right side as you enter). See the CCG Calendar link for more details.
Please contact me if you have some ideas on what you would like to talk about or work on. I have some ideas but would love to get more input from those of you who will be attending. If you are new and wondering about what we do at our meetings see the CCG Mission Statement (WIP) link.

01/25/09 - Gaming Event in Louisville next weekend

Conflux should be an interesting event! It is coming up in Louisville next weekend (Saturday 1/31/09) and is hosted by Brennan Moody of www.Bluegrassmagic.com. This looks like a fun time for Magic card gamers and fans of fantasy art (I was informed about this happening by local painter Sal Villagran who will have a table there).

For more information contact skullman@bluegrassmagic.com. If you go: make sure and visit Sal's table and help support our local talent.

Salvation in a Newsletter

In the spirit of full disclosure I need to clarify that following is an extract of material from ConceptArt.org / Massive Black's website posted here by one our CCG members. - J.Gilpin, CCG Coordinator.

In an effort to give back and to begin to take on bigger challenges as a community, ConceptArt.Org has been quietly working to solve the pending Orphan Bill (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Yc for more information on what we are up against and what we desperately created a solution for).

The new viewer is here: http://www.conceptart.org/search/index.php?cat=bestof&forumid=5

This summer we helped send thousands of emails to the members of the US House and Senate to stop this bill. What did we get in return? Canned email form letters thanking us for sharing our views. The bill drafts went the House and Senate anyway. The artists, professionals, and creative organizations who were trying to protect artist rights were ignored by the US government completely. Realizing that even a hundred thousand signatures wont stop the copyright bill, at least that is how it looks from here, I got to thinking what we have to do to solve the problems right here at home.

Artists having to pay to be in searchable registries is potential problem number one. I believe this will be left to the private companies based on my research into who is supporting this horrible bill and what businesses are opening preparing for it. I went in and checked the domain registry to search to see if people were buying the domains (registermyart.com, artregistry.com, etc..etc...) and every one I searched was gone. This was the red flag that began the real push to solve this assault on artist rights. The corporate sharks are already preparing to feed it seems.

Since the business world reads the laws and tries to capitalize on the loopholes, it is obvious to me that this would happen. Money is already flowing that direction. My guess is the art registries will launch as soon as the law passes or shortly thereafter, unless some miracle happens. Smart buggers but not smart enough. Imagine the photographers who take five hundred images a day or more...ugh. Artists cannot pay for this service...at least those I know who produce quantities of work...and none should have to.

Anyway, that problem is now solved in low tech fashion here: http://www.conceptart.org/search/ind...rumid=5&page=1 ConceptArt.Org has created a search system for locating art and artists, essentially cutting off the paid registry industry before they can even get off the ground. Click the images and find the original thread. Click the artist name and contact them directly. This also keeps these readying companies from acting as middlemen, between the searcher and the artist who they wish to hire. There is no room for that in our business.

I designed and we rebuilt all our databases and set up conceptart.org servers to handle up to 200 terabytes of secure storage. This service is entirely free and is a gift to the community from ConceptArt.Org. It is also nice as you can now browse through the images on the site very quickly. What used to take a week to view, now takes hours. Released in this viewer are five hundred thousand images. More will be added shortly. When you post on the forums your images go in the copyright search registry we created. It is all automated for you. Just keep doing as you do and at least your work can be found. The watermark will be site wide, and contains the appropriate information.

You can search best of (five star threads) for fun...or from each forum if you click the "forums images" text tab...there are a ton of ways to look for stuff. key wording is in progress. That is the final piece of the basic search tool.

The idea is to simply kick the entire start up registry industry in the nuts before it can even learn to stand up by taking action ourselves.

Anyway...just some thoughts...my vision for where this heads is deeper than this but it should at least help some, i hope. I spoke at length with Brad Holland and others involved in putting up the fight for artists rights and we have solved two of the biggest issues.

1. That artists could have to pay for their works to be registered and protected in the US, and there is evidence supporting this.
2. That these companies would then act as middle men between prospective clients searching the databases by requiring the company or person searching to pay them for your information.

Obviously, these problems must not happen.

There are other problems being solved, as related to this bill and this is just a first step in the best defense is a good offense mentality when it comes to artist rights. If we sit around and wait for someone to provide these solutions it is going to cost us dearly. Instead, we are taking action.

Happy New Year too!


Jason Manley
Founding Director
ConceptArt.Org
President
www.massiveblack.com

10/21/08 - Society of Illustrators Call For Entries

Here's a chance to be entered into a prestigious NY art show and be included in the 2009 Illustrators Annual 51. Online submissions accepted but deadline is November 7th, 2008.

Here's the link to their website with a fun poster PDF call for submitting your work.

http://www.soicompetitions.org/

10/20/08 - Lexington Catholic High School - College Arts Night

Here's a great opportunity for High School students looking for a college or adults wanting to go back to school and interested in a performing or visual arts program to find out a lot of of school options:

Lexington Catholic High School
Performing and Visual Arts College Night (event pdf) (poster pdf)

• October 21, 2008 Auditions/Portfolio Review 5:00-6:30
• General Fair 7:00-9:00 pm

Register at this link: http://www.lexingtoncatholic.com/images/files/PVA%20Audition%20Portfolio%20Review%20Registration%20Information%202008.pdf

This Tuesday evening at Lexington Catholic High School numerous local and a few national level (Savannah College of Art and Design) art programs will be be present to answer questions and assist with getting info about their programs to potential students.

10/16/08 - 24 Hour Comic Day - Last Minute Planning!

If you want to participate in the upcoming 24 Hour Comics Day as an artist click here to sign up and here to check your input - no promise yet that it will happen - still need a venue!

The official date is this Saturday October 18th! As long as you start or finish within that 24 hour period you are fine.

Comic Shops, Colleges, Art Studios: if you want to host this 24HCD event (either as a full day or the shortened 6-hour & 6-page version we typically do) email me ASAP or post a comment here on the blog. Remember the full 24 hours hosting has some special needs - see the official website: FAQ Hosting 24HDC.

OK I like to make comics and I'm intrigued: how does this work?
Here is the basic set of rules as defined by Scott McCloud: The Dare.

So far, in the past half hour, I have two people who want to participate....speak quickly if you want to play along!

09/29/08 - Orphan Works Act - Rep Chandler's Previous Response

Update: 11:00am - I just called Congressman Chandler's local district office (219-1366) to inquire about his support for S2913 or HR5889 (Orphan Works Act - Senate and House Bills). Please call and let him know your opposition to these bills and make the same inquiry so we can maybe get some attention directed to this issue while everyone is looking at the Home Mortgage Bailout! Becky at his office is going to fax my inquiry to his Washington Office. Stay tuned for more...

Here are some points of contention with this legislation:

• The high cost of digitizing and registering work with commercial databases will make compliance impossible for most artists.
• This will cause billions of unregistered works to fall into the public domain.
• To make money, commercial databases will have to promote and facilitate infringement.
• Infringer-friendly databases will compete with artists for clients.

This is the response letter I received from Ben Chandler's office after completing the online letter campaign earlier this summer to voice my opposition to the Orphan Works Act.

August 13, 2008

Dear Mr. Gilpin:

Thank you for contacting me with your views regarding H.R. 5889, the Orphan Works Act of 2008. As your representative in Congress, I think the most important part of my job is to understand your concerns so I can better represent the Sixth District in our nation's capital.

As you may know, the U.S. Copyright Office conducted a study in 2006 to identify the problems that have incurred with orphan works. Orphan works are defined as works which have owners who are difficult or even impossible to locate. This can often lead to unintentional infringement by subsequent artists and creators. As with most sensitive intellectual property issues, some of these situations can be addressed by existing copyright law, but many cannot.

H.R. 5889 was introduced on April 24, 2008 and provides compensation for owners harmed by deliberate infringements while also limiting the penalties for infringers who were diligent in their efforts to locate the copyright owner. This bill is currently awaiting consideration by the House Committee on the Judiciary.

While there are good reasons to reform our intellectual property laws, I also believe this bill, as written, may have unintended consequences for artists that would infringe upon their intellectual property rights. I will continue to closely monitor this issue as it moves through the House and will keep your thoughts in mind.

I appreciate the time you have taken to contact me about this matter. I hope you will stay in touch and contact my Lexington or Washington office if I can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Ben Chandler
Member of Congress

I certainly hope that this letter indicates his OPPOSITION to the coming house bill!

The backers of this legislation SNUCK their Senate version of the bill through with a tactic called Hotlining - where the Senators are rushed to vote and don't even read the bill they are voting on!!!

09/28/08 - Nonpartisan Reporting - Orphan Works Act - Educate Yourself!

Many of you probably don't even know what the Orphan Works Act is or how it's passage into law will effect your life. Here are several articles or blog posts to consider:

Print media articles:

• NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html?_r=2&ex=1211947200&en=dcf3c1149318e375&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
• Boston-Herald: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1095637

Blogs:
Animation World Network

• Mark Simon: http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=3605
• CBR Forum: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=217795
• Drawn Blog: http://drawn.ca/2008/05/13/oppose-the-orphan-works-act-of-2008/

National Cartoonists Society

• The Daily Cartoonists: http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/05/12/ncs-urges-opposition-to-orphan-works-act-of-2008/
• Tom Richmond: http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?tag=orphan-works-act
• Crafting a Green World: http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/06/23/the-shawn-bentley-orphan-works-act-how-new-copyright-legislation-will-affect-indie-artists-and-crafters/

American Association of Editorial Cartoonists

• The Daily Cartoonist: http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/09/28/aaec-responds-to-passage-of-orphan-works-act/
• AAEC official site: http://editorialcartoonists.com/news/article.cfm/629/

Professional Photography Groups: (yes, you guys need to ACT too! Any visual art work is at RISK!!)

• Photo Business News & Forum: http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/04/orphan-works-act-thieves-charter.html
• Advertising Photographers of America: http://www.apanational.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1
• American Society of Media Photographers, Inc.: http://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.php

This bill is regressive and pro big business - most artists are small business - we must stand up now to this legislation that will adversely effect our ability to make a living!

The international Copyright Law called the Berne Convention states that"no artist should be subjected to mandatory registration to allow for copyright protection"!

"Under the Berne Convention, copyrights for creative works do not have to be asserted or declared, as they are automatically in force at creation: an author need not "register" or "apply for" a copyright in countries adhering to the Berne Convention. As soon as a work is "fixed", that is, written or recorded on some physical medium, its author is automatically entitled to all copyrights in the work, and to any derivative works unless and until the author explicitly disclaims them, or until the copyright expires. The Berne Convention also resulted in foreign authors being treated equivalently to domestic authors, in any country signed onto the Convention. The UK signed the Berne Convention in 1887 but did not implement large parts of it until 100 years later with the passage of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. The USA did not sign the Berne Convention until 1989."

09/28/08 - Band Together STOP HR5889 Orphan Works Act - Congress has let us down!!

To all my Artist Friends,

Recent Development (fact checked see below):

Please read this Sunday 9/28/08 (today) post by Brad Holland of the Illustrators Partnership:

http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/09/orphan-works-devils-own-day.html

I trust this site and it sound like some nasty tomfoolery has allowed this bill to pass the US Senate. Yes, Gladys this is real.

PLEASE ACT NOW TO STOP THIS BILL IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!

Or else our livelihoods as visual artists will be greatly reduced (more overhead to register with private registries ($50 per registration) for a right we have now for FREE) and imperiled (no damages for COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT - no lawyer will ever take your case on commission)!!

OK here is DUE DILIGENCE - I have fact checked and it looks REAL! Links from govtrack.org a project to track congress"

Here is a link to the Senate bill (S2913) showing passage on 9/26/08: (Yes Sen McConnell (KY) has let us down AGAIN!!)
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2913


Here is a link to the House bill (HR5889) which can still be stopped: (Will Rep. Chandler (KY) step up?)
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5889

--
Jonathan Gilpin
Coordinator
Lexington KY Comic Creators Group
web: http://lexkyccg.blogspot.com
email: lexkyccg@gmail.com

09/27/08 - Education - Living Arts & Sciences Adult Art Classes Fall 2008

I am thrilled to see more adult art education opportunities in Lexington this Fall. Besides the resurrected UK Fine Arts Institute (UKFAI) (classes have already begun - not sure if you can enroll anymore?) - we have the following classes offered by a venerable Lexington institution: the Living Arts and Science Center (LASC). I know several of these instructors and suspect as long as they have adequate resources for supplies and materials (a real issue for many of these classes - so always inquire) they will do everything in their power to help their students succeed! Remember to think of LASC when you are considering charitable giving - the Joseph-Beth Gives Back program is an excellent and easy way to help fund a tremendously under evaluated arts program that has served the arts and crafts education needs of Lexington's children, youth and adults for more than 30 years! Why, I even took a bird drawing class there, while a mere lad of thirteen (circa 1976?) - wish I still had those pictures or knew who instructed that class!

Teen & Adult Classes

Thursdays
October 2-30
12. The Silver Process: From Blank Film to Finished Print
Sarah Marie Miller
Discover the world through the eye of a machine: a 35 mm camera! You will learn to shoot a meaningful photograph, process your own film, and print from negatives. We will often work in the darkroom, so you’ll also learn to conquer your fear of the dark. Bring a snack and your own camera if you have one.
AGES..............Teens and Adults
LIMIT..............6 students
TIME...............5:30 - 8:30 pm
COST..............$150/160 (nm)

Thursdays
October 9-30
13. Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving
Beth Rosdatter
We will learn how to plan our own individual design, how to ‘warp’ the loom, and weave our projects. The rigid heddle loom is a basic loom that will allow you to weave light work, such as placemats, dishtowels, scarves, shawls or fabric for clothing. The skills and techniques you learn using a rigid heddle loom are all transferable to other types of looms. Depending on your project choice there may be an extra cost of $15 to $25 for your yarn.
AGES..............10 yrs - Adult
LIMIT..............8 students
TIME...............7 - 8 pm
COST..............$40/50 (nm)

14. Realistic Drawing 101
Donna Eads
Develop powers of observation and analysis by learning to draw. Drawing is the foundation of art and just like a new language, it can be mastered. With a variety of media, students will expand their technical skills including realistic rendering, shading, texture, three-dimensional shapes and composition. This class is for individuals with no prior experience, and for those who wish to further develop their skills.
AGES..............Adults
TIME...............7 - 9 pm
COST..............$65/75 (nm)

Tuesday and Thursday
October 14 and 16
Two-Day Workshop
18. Creating Digital Art
Bruce Frank
An overview of the process of creating art using a computer. Included is an introduction to Adobe Photoshop (retouching, color correction, special effects) and using a graphics tablet with Corel Painter (drawing and painting with a computer). Students will have hands-on experience scanning images, creating an art piece, and printing it.
AGES..............15 - Adults
TIME...............6 - 8 pm
COST..............$45/55 (nm).

Saturday
December 18
One-Day Workshop
19. Multiculturalism
Christine Kuhn
Throughout history, religious ideas have motivated and inspired people and sometimes provoked war. In this class we’ll look at different religions and how beliefs are expressed in beautiful artforms. We’ll create some of our own beautiful images and shrines to express some of our own beliefs. CKCPJ
AGES..............Teens and Adults
TIME...............12 - 2 pm
COST..............$15/25 (nm)

Tuesdays
November 4-25
50. Photoshop: The Basics
Steven Littrell
Have you had trouble getting those photos off your camera? Don’t know to which format you should save your files? This class is just for you. We’ll go over the basics of Photoshop, how to manipulate photos and get them ready to print or upload them to the web. This class is great for artists who want to get their work into a digital format. If you have a laptop feel free to bring it with you.
AGES..............Adult
LIMIT..............6 students
TIME...............6 - 8 pm
COST..............$65/75 (nm)

Wednesdays
November 5-19
51. Intro to Oil Painting for Homeschooled Teens and Interested Adults
Frank Boyer
Oil Paint has very unique qualities that can produce beautiful effects. Learn the elements of good composition, color mixing, and techniques specific to oil painting. Materials will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own brushes.
AGES..............Teens - Adults
TIME...............2:30 - 4:30 pm
COST..............$80/90 (nm)

Thursdays
November 6 and 13, December 4 and 11
52. Scandinavian Holiday Crafts
Beth Rossdatter
Learn to craft decorations and gifts using Northern European traditional techniques. Learn how to craft charming Scandinavian holiday embellishments using straw, paper and foil. Note:This class will meet twice in November and then continue twice in December.
AGES..............10 yrs - Adults
TIME...............6 - 7:30 pm
COST..............$50/60 (nm)

Saturdays
November 8-22
55. Intro to Oil Painting
Frank Boyer
Oil Paint has very unique qualities that can produce beautiful effects. Learn the elements of good composition, color mixing, and techniques specific to oil painting. Materials will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own brushes.
AGES..............Teens - Adults
TIME...............12 - 3 pm
COST..............$95/105 (nm)

Thursdays
December 4 and 11
Two-Day Workshop

67. Essential Oils for the Holidays
Melinda Boyer
In the first week you will learn how to unlock the power of essential oils and put them to work for you. We’ll discuss the history of essential oils and aromatherapy, then we’ll delve into the properties and uses of 10 basic essential oils. The second week will present tips on blending and creating bath salts and bath oils. Everyone will put together their own bath salt, massage oil and a perfume blend. This class will meet in the Gallery in Bronte Bistro at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.
AGES..............14 yrs to Adult
TIME...............6 - 8 pm
COST..............$55/65 (nm)

Tuesday
December 9
One-Day Workshop

68. Holiday Wreath Making
Melinda Boyer
You will craft a colorful and stunning, scented holiday wreath, using preserved evergreens, lavender, rosemary, dried strawflowers, larkspurs, and globe amaranth topped with German statice. All materials and plenty of expert guidance will be provided. Melinda will also have some add-ons for you to purchase if you wish.
AGES..............Adults
TIME...............6 - 9 pm
COST..............$50/60 (nm)

09/21/08 - Academic Art Instruction - Where Can I Get This?

Academic Art Instruction is all the rage now. Some call it the Atelier Method. The word "atelier" is French for "artists studio": which makes it obvious the roots of this movement go back to the French Academic movement (but much further back if you trace their inspiration).

...to be continued, hopefully by guest bloggers and collaborators!

(add to this blog post - email me and I 'll tell you how!)

09/18/08 - Art Instruction - Excellent Post and Comments of Gurney Journery about drawing from Plaster Casts

James Gurney is an amazing artist and has a great learning resource - his personal art blog Gurney Journey.



Here he talks about every imaginable aspect of art; from fine art oil painters technique from17th century Europe to building a maquette of a man riding a dinosaur. He is most well known for multi book series Dinotopia but here is a link to an interesting post he put up about the decline of cast drawing after iconoclasts destroyed many in the 40s and 5os. The post is good but the discussion it provokes is even better! Damn those iconoclasts - can't we all just get along?



IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE:

Contact me if you will join in on a campaign to try and get this marvelous speaker and artist to come lecture/demo for one of our area Art Programs (UK, EKU, BEREA, TRANSY? )- he has two speaking engagement openings in April if we can consolidate support and get a plan together!

09/17/08 - Professional - Job Links

Do what you love. Love what you do. No, not this: Money, Monyeyeee , Money. Do it for the LOVE.
This page should get a lot of updating. To do what you love you need to get paid for it - so the necessity for finding an employer who loves what you do! Please comment on how this should be organized or if you see ways to make it work better.

09/12/08 - Video Games
At his recent talk at Jo-Beth R.A. Salvatore explained that the gaming industry currently makes more money than the music and movie industry put together!

Company Name:
Wizards of the Coast
Industry:
Trading cards, Gaming, Novels, Guide Books
Employs:
Visual artists, writers, programmers
Website:
http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Jobs/
Submission guidelines (games, novels, art):
http://ww2.wizards.com/Company/Submissions/default.aspx
Famous employee:
R.A. Salvatore, fantasy novelist, Sal Villagran, Lexington area painter