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Get your ART ON!
Hola Minions!
Today’s podcast has a bunch of really cool things going on!
So put down that weak little salad dish, grab that big honkin’ plate and belly up to the Man vs. Art Buffet!
Minion Opinion
I shared some Man vs. Art Minion Opinion by reading emails sent in by a few of you awesome listeners.
Hi Raul,
I started listening to your podcast few months ago and wanted to say thanks. I recently ‘rediscovered’ art/drawing after spending most of my life playing music (and a few other eclectic forms of making a living) and find your podcast to be informative, inspiring and freakin’ hilarious. As soon as I started listening to you I felt a sort of kinship since I’m from So Cal and can relate to your point of view on many things, but the thing that made me have to email you was the Halloween episode when you and Geo talked about Mad Monster Party! That is one of my favorite movies and like you talked about, I remember waiting for it to come on once a year on channel 5 when I was a kid. Now, the movie is required watching for me and the kids during the Halloween season, and for days afterward we’ll imitate the voices of the characters and talk about how brilliant the movie was for its time (and still a timeless movie classic in my book). Anyway, enough about my geekin’ out, I know you’re busy and just wanted to take a minute of your time to say thank you for the podcast, and thank you for giving back by sharing your knowledge and experience.
Thanks and respect,
Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa
Well congratulations Raul!
You’ve just acquired yourself a new subscriber and follower! I basically was looking for a podcast, that can help and keep me motivated to drawing and improving it. So, I bumped into your podcast on iTunes and said WTH..I might as well listen to what he’s saying and I’ve fell in love since then.
I’m 20 years old and I’m currently going to a local community college to major in fine arts for 2 years. After that, I plan on going to an art school in Houston, Texas to start my career and basically get on my own two feet!
I intend to become a graphic artist/illustrator. I’m improving my drawings so I can work with Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator to create digital art. I don’t know if you’re quite found of this software, but I would love for you to talk on Adobe Software.
Special Thanks from “Royal T”
Pantheon of Awesomeness!
Listener Shawn Encarnacion nominates Rod Serling into the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!
“What is this so called Pantheon” you ask?
Think of it as the Hall of Fame but for Artists. The nomination process is open to all! The rules can be found here.
Art and words by Shawn.
Raul,
I am a brand new fan of your podcast, having just now discovered it! I love your show and I am catching up on past episodes. I am a full-time freelance cartoonist with no art education, and so listening to your podcast is like drinking water in a desert of questions and concerns about how to do I do what I do.
I am sure I will be writing you with some questions soon. But for now, I wanted to send you this. Attached is my artwork for my nomination into your Pantheon of Awesomeness. Here is my paragraph explaining why I nominate Rod Serling:
Submitted for your approval....
Leaving you with a sense of awe, a moment where the surreal holds your breath hostage as it surgically peels away the deeper layers of the human condition, it is clear that the Twilight Zone is much more than sixties science fiction. Though the technology and the terrors of that TV era may now seem kitsch to some, the messages Mr. Serling shared are as timeless as infinity. Challenging not only the morality of ever present issues such as censorship, war, racism, sexism and greed, he also challenged us as his fellow human beings to recognize the motivation of these issues as well.
Motivation, it seemed to him, was something that every human from every place and time, would discover to be the deeper stairwell that leads us all down to the pit of our fears, and upwards to the summit of our knowledge. Never too heavy handed for humor, and always willing to shake up the status quo, this great man’s art came ahead of his time and blazed a path for future thinkers to follow in. Rod Serling made us laugh and lament, stand and squirm, and most of all, think. In the halls of the Pantheon of Awesomeness, where boxes are not even allowed for jumping out of, I offer my nomination, the great Rod Serling for inspiring me to think, and more importantly, to have fun while doing it.
I am a big fan. Thank you for doing this podcast.
Marylin Monroe by Shawn Encarnacion
Thank you all for the kind words and for taking the time to write!
30 Characters in 30 days challenge!
Tyler James runs the 30 Character Challenge. It’s a really fun project where cartoonists from all over the world try to design 30 characters in 30 days and post them individually on the main site blog. I jumped all over it and am keeping up by creating a menagerie of cartoon misfits straight out of my sketchbook. 15 of them at last count. I’m trying to create interesting, appealing characters in many different styles. From wacky cartoony to more realistically proportioned comic book hero types as well as horror and animation character designs!
Like I said it’s really fun, but also demanding. I put a lot of thought and time into each one of my characters. I even bust out a cool little bio for them. I want to do classical cartoon archetypical characters but with a little “Raul” twist. Or put extra salsa on the tacos as I like to say.
Check out this collage of all of my entries thus far.
Click the collage to see all of my characters in more detail!
Independent Comic Book Creators At Large!
Grasiela Rodriguez
My good friend and colleauge Grasiela Rodriguez just released her newest self published independent comic book Spadra No. 1
Meet Billy Rubottom, the founder of Spadra and then take a
ride with the Bride in the Stagecoach! Ghostly Appropriations Of
A Town That Time Forgot.
I highly recommend this book people. The story is really good and wonderfully creepy as well. That coupled with Grasiela’s uniquely surreal and pretty style gives the book a very unsettling vibe that is PERFECT for a ghost story. This is only her second book, but by the looks of it she has her technique nailed down. Ask any comic book creator out there and they will all agree that attempting a Western Comic is ambitious as hell! Horses and cowboy hats are tough to draw son!
Grasiela succeeded in pulling off a western book that is elegant in its simplicity.
Grasiela Rodriguez
click the pic to see Grasiela's blog and purchase a copy of her book.
Javier Hernandez
Book Release and Signing of his latest book The Coma!
Supa Pirate Booty Hunt
Kickstarter Campaign!
Steve Seivers and Dahveed are the creators Supa Pirate Booty Hunt the wacky independent animated webseries that chronicles the hilarious adventures of Captain Zack Stevers, a wannabe rock ‘n roll pirate, and his lovable sidekick Daniel the turtle as they search the seven seas for what else, booty.
Dahveed and Steve
The upcoming episode promises to reach new heights and for that we need the help of our friends at Kickstarter! Their upcoming episode “Metal In My Shell” will feature Dave Mustaine of Megedeath who will face off against Zack and Daniel in a rock-off that will warp the boundaries of time and space!!
Supa Pirate Booty Hunt Kickstarter Page
Why do Steve and Dahveed Need Your Support?
Animation is a highly skilled and very time consuming endeavor. As an independent studio they have no backing and everyone has been putting in their time for free. They hope to eventually bring the show to television but first need to build up a large audience. To do that Steve and Dahveed need to produce episodes independently and offer them for free online but that can only be done with the support of generous backers. Although they have come very far they still have a long way to go. Even if you choose not to back the project please check out the past episodes and give your feedback.
Check out the collection of episodes at SupaPirateBootyHunt.com. The latest episode won 6 awards at the 2011 Burbank International Film Festival.
Southern California Independent Animation Scene Upcoming Events
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Hola Minions!
On today’s show the subject is Poetry.
These days the word poetry has some lousy stigma attached to it. Most people think poetry is only for greeting cards and angsty teens who like to cut themselves. I happen to love poetry with a passion. A truly great poet can touch your soul, cram volumes of truth about the human experience into just a few lines, and make a you rethink your views of life. Let’s see a Hallmark card do that.
Christopher Luke Trevilla The Stand Up Philosopher
My guest today a very talented young poet named Christopher Luke Trevilla. Chris refers to himself as a ” Stand-Up Philosopher”. He was inspired by the great Mel Brooks and his line from History of the World Part I. Chris said “As a Stand-Up Philosopher I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and logical comprehension. You know, a bullshit artist!”
I met Chris back in the summer of 2009 at the Nuvein Foundation West Covina Literature and Arts Festival. I was tabling at the event, selling prints, books, and doing portrait commissions. All of a sudden the DJ started spinning a Jamiroquai beat and this big shaggy haired kid in a red shirt started belting out a powerfully passionate poem called “Modern Living”. I was so moved and impressed by his belly fire that I busted out my easel and painted this sketch of Chris.
Chris by Raul
Christopher Luke Trevilla (aka ǣT) is a 31 year old artist residing in Whittier, CA who has been an active artist in the fields of poetry, prose, drama, and music from his youth. He has sung sessions with musicians, written short comedic sketches and dramas, organized artistic events, performed in theater productions, done stand up comedy, and continues to explore artistic opportunities all over Southern California.
His true passion is for the art of poetry. He has been working the poetry circles around Southern California for several years, participating in Open Mic readings and Poetry Jams across Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, and the San Gabriel Valley. From 2005 to 2008 Chris maintained an active poetry and prose blog on Myspace where he enjoyed a considerable following and has been published in several anthologies over the years.
Christopher collaborates with various writer and poetry groups throughout Los Angeles and is a board member at the Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts where serves as the head of the Literature, Letters, and Literacy Project or Nuvein 3LP. Their mission is to address illiteracy by creating opportunities throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond for children, youth, and adults to express themselves through words.
The focus of Christopher’s poetry has always been on the relationships between humanity, culture, modernity, and the mystical underpinnings of our existence. A theme he plans to explore in an upcoming poetry publication with the Nuvein Foundation due out the Summer of 2012.
Southern California Poetry resources (groups, gatherings, open mics, etc.)
Enjoy a sampling of Christopher’s works.
Dia De Los Muertos
By: Christopher Luke Trevilla
See the people, see their lights
The flickering flames in the wind of twilight
Shadows in the dark
They remember, they never forgot
those that built them up, tore them down, defined, refined them all
The crucible of living
Sounds of song emanate –
Como quisiera que tu volvieras
The minstrels in mariachi garb recite their poems
of lost loves,
of lost days,
of lost ones
the memory, the wound
ever fresh, ever present
a communion of souls
See the village, see their procession
The ordered cadence of life’s very heart beating
into the silence of the time
a moment to hold thoughts and tongue
for those who speak no more but haunt the memory
The minister cries aloud to the huddled masses-
De Polvo fuiste, De Polvo Seras –Kyrie Eleison
Pilgrims with gifts
arrayed in spectral colored regiments
defiant of the black sorrow on their mourning garbs
a procession of food and familia
a Feast of friends, kin, and foe alike
They gather under the ceiling celestial
nature’s temple to honor those gone
the community of saints and sinner alike
under the same moon
under the same stars
under the same sun
Dia de Los Muertos
I will always love you
my fallen one
my muertito
Asi como fue en el principio,
hoy,
manana,
y siempre sera
Amen
Man vs. Art
By: Christopher Luke Trevilla
I see
a world of colors
it challenges
my black and white mind
vision a prisoner
y hecho oscuro
by the cruel tyrannts
nature and nurture alike
hollow sights we call horizon
I struggle
to open my eyes
quiero ver para mirar
I hear
a sound unknown
removes my silent vigil
a music rising and harmony born
into the raucous, unstill air
my unfamiliar ears
desconocen tono y melodia
having been drowned out
by dissonant necessities of living
ears bleed
to manage
the lost art of listening
quisiera oir para escuchar
I touch
With numbed fingertips
Places, spaces, situations, circumstances
Things beyond my control
They rub against my own plans
Sanding my dreams down to nothing
As I try to build myself up
beyond a bump, a groove upon the earth
un grano nada mas rodando la superficie
yearning to rise up and be fruitful
reaching up to the sky
not kept low and bound by levity or gravity
to but only hold onto those things that last
as they fly rrom my own grasp
Quisiera tocar para retener
I taste and want
all things the same now
a bittersweet damnation
my preference
meaningless
long ago
I knew enjoyment and satisfaction
all I know
now is abatement and mitigation
instantly gratifying
has me constantly mortified
siempre queriendo mas y mas
never having enough
food, comforts, luxuries
quisiera probar para saborear
I make
then war upon myself
to let Art create of me within
un mundo nuevo
within this one
embracing
the necessary anxiety of inspiration
that new born thing
that kills an older part of me
eternamente luchando estaremos
Today tomorrow forever
Ahoy manana siempre
Man versus Nature
Man versus Man
Man versus God
Man versus Art
