Paintings from the Atelier Museum

There was a tragic story around the model below. That's all I remember now...

Locomotive hits Metro Toronto Convention Centre during Fan Expo

Fan Expo was almost engulfed in disaster when a locomotive was driven right onto the convention floor, presumably after running out of control from the neighboring rail yard.

I stood my ground, took out my camera, and fearlessly snapped this picture before it bumped into my table and came to a stop.

And checked out some comics.

Whew.

Akhenaton

From the British Museum. Had this image in a colouring book when I was a kid. Such a pleasure to see the original.

Rebel Angels has LAUNCHED on Comixology!

Rebel Angels has LAUNCHED!

Available now as a digital download on Comixology... for FREE.

That's right: FREE.

Support an indie artist: download a copy today!

It's good luck. Every time you buy a copy of Rebel Angels, an Angel gets their wings.

http://www.comixology.com/Rebel-Angels-1/digital-comic/47398

Sand sculptures at the Canadian National Exhibition

Really striking work, particularly the first piece. Always something to see at the CNE.

Princesses in Peril: Hostages of TM

Interesting article.

It focuses mostly on the use of trademarks to monopolize the presentation of a public domain character, strangling usage by independent artists. It effectively preempts copyright. You'll be beaten down by trademark infringement claims and never even get that far.

When large corporations build their revenue flow on characters that will eventually enter public domain, it means... they will never enter public domain.

 

My understanding is that copyright was meant to protect an author's revenue during his or her lifetime, and for a period after. Then the property would enter public domain, giving it new life and adding to the cultural stew.

Instead, laws will be changed. Not only that, corporate legal teams will work to nail down and monopolize as much material as possible, including public domain characters.

They will bully and intimidate independent voices into silence, which is unforunate to say the least.

If the article is correct, corporations are just expanding their arsenal by misusing trademarks.

More on the difference between copyright and trademark here.

Nature

 

Rebel Angels Poster: Diving into the Phlegethon before DIs

Behold, mighty Balthazar leaping into the River Phlegethon, before the City of Dis.

Image from the Rebel Angels, the upcoming satirical graphic novel by James Turner, of Nil: A Land Beyond Belief and Rex Libris fame, about the beginning of a counter-revolution in the Infernal Realm. Find out if Hell really is other people in this instant classic comic book. The first 70 pages are available right now for FREE from Comixology here.

Available next spring from your local comic book shop.

Fridge Chess Set

Packaged set of button magnets, including board and turn indicator to remember whose turn it is between trips to the fridge.

Second Printing reviews Max Zing

Graig Kent over at Second Printing give Max Zing, my latest book, a gander.

"His Warlord of IO characters are perfect fits for the three and four panel template giving a quasi Peanuts-meets-Calvin and Hobbs-meets-Flash Gordon feel."

Exactly what I was aiming for! Very gratifying. This calls for a drink on a patio.

Take a look at what else they had to say while I'm gone.

Russian artist flees to France after painting Putin in drag.

Russian artist Konstantin Altunin fled to Paris to escape persecution after painting Putin and Medvedeve in drag.

The style reminds me of Max Beckmann.

4Panel

Carousel Magazine presents 4Panel. Promoting Canadian comics four panels at a time. Check out the site. It's cool.

Fan Expo 2013: Ninja Turtle mosaic

Wasn't sure what it was at a distance, but when you get close...

It's LEGO. Never made murals out of it. Neat. And probably expensive.

The work of George Barbier

Great stuff from the Age of Deco. Reminds me of Erte, but then the whole era does. Worth a look.

Cell phone: deadly weapon?

A Detroit police officer took a camera from a woman to prevent it from being used 'as a weapon'.

Doesn't mention what kind of phone it was, or what weapon features it has. Lasers? A taser function? Grenade app?

Stapler?

Cell phones are getting better and better.

Saul Bass Poster Collection

Great collection of Saul Bass posters, including many I'd not seen before, over at the Saul Bass Poster Archive. The man was prolific, as well as a genius. Take a gander.

Huggamugga

Look! It's me in the morning.

Life Drawing

130 of the best FREE fonts

It's a fun collection. Always on the lookout for great, free fonts. Amazing the quality these days. Head on over to Creative Bloq and take a gander.

TED talk by Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

They do if they churn out future factory workers.

Sir Ken Robinson decries the censorious nature of mainstream schooling and the crushing of eccentricity.

School is often a conformity factory, shoving round pegs into square holes, pushing until they fit.

Instructors have a my-way-or-the-highway attitude, and they're up front and belligerent. Do it their way or get out. Others take it upon themselves to 'cull the herd' by being as vicious and discouraging as humanly possible. They even take pride in their self-appointed role of eliminating the weak.

Thank goodness for open minded teachers, who try to excite and encourage students, rather than blinker them. Schools note aberrant behaviour (too active, too eccentric, too this, too that) and suppress it.

Robinson's talk presents some excellent reasons why this can be counter-productive.

There are many ways to go about things. People think differently and approach problems in a multitude of ways and from wildly different perspectives. You have to leave people room to 'breathe' mentally, as it were. Humans vary to such an extent that a one-size-fits-all education system will never be able to accommodate the breadth of human diversity.

The question, I suppose, is how can discipline be imposed and costs kept within reasonable limits without stunting the intellectual growth of students or neglecting their potential.