Catching Up...

Since my last posting, I am happy to report, I managed to get my hands on a copy of the new book about Alex Raymond 

and it was sufficiently impressive, that I bought it!

Alex Raymond: An Artistic Journey,

is well worth the money and anyone with an interest in seeing the artwork, at or near, the size it was actually drawn, will love this volume.

I didn't find the text, written by Ron Goulart, to be anywhere near as in depth, as the detailed life story in,

"Alex Raymond, His Life and Art"

by Tom Roberts.  Which I highly recommend.

But, then again, the intent of the books is slightly different too.

This week, we get to see, Comic Book Creator #11 and Illustration Magazine #51.  I have been buying both publications since they began and so far, they have both impressed me.

Comic Book Creator #11, from the TwoMorrows publishing empire, is a look back at the life and times of Gil Kane.  It should be an interesting read, since Gil was one of the workhorses of the industry and he had a lot of opinions about it too.  One of the earliest interviews with him, in my collection, is in Roy Thomas' Alter Ego #10, from 1969, which is still worth seeking out for any fan of the medium.

For those who would like to read the interview, I have just found this Link to it, on the Hooded Utilitarian Blog:

http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/07/the-interview-as-criticism-gil-kane/

Illustration Magazine, is a fine publication and their latest issue, #51, promises to dazzle us with a look at the, "spectacular art of John Gannam".  Gannam is a particular favourite of mine, one of many, I freely admit, but special none the less.

For some reason, perhaps because it is a whole lot more striking than the familial scene that they used, by John Gannam, during the planning stage, the published cover will be the one above.

It is by Ted Coconis, who was a spectacular movie poster artist, responsible for the iconic images of Hair, Dorian Gray and Labyrinth, among many others.

If anyone from the art book community is reading this, a volume, dedicated to the life and art of John Gannam, would be greatly appreciated!

One other item that has caught my attention, among the other 'coming attractions', is

Samantha Youseff's Movement & Form.

Art instruction books are my weakness and this one appears to be right up my alley.

 This is a photograph of the lovely Samantha and I love the animator's desk that she is sitting at.

I actually have an animator's disc,

it was given to me, many years ago, by a friend, who was passionately interested in animation.

One of these days, I will have to get off my ass and make a desk for it, not to mention some of the other bits that it is missing.

I am not an animator, but it would be an interesting lightbox if nothing else.

The Labyrinth, on Bloor Street West in Toronto, is a great place to shop for these kinds of books and I buy most of mine from them.  So if you are looking for somewhere that stocks unusual art books, I can recommend them wholeheartedly. 

A Rainy Day Posting

The winter, almost seems to have passed us by this year

and here we are, experiencing an end of March that feels

like the middle of May!

Until last week, I was unaware of a new book, about Alex Raymond, from Hermes Press.

It looks to be quite the object but I have reservations about 

Hermes Press and their publications.

I have passed over a couple of their earlier books because the production values were less than stellar.

This appears to be the cover, or at least, it is the image shown on the Hermes Press site, for it and it would seem to be a strange choice.

The only extensive preview available, is a Youtube video, by the publisher and it runs for over twenty minutes!

During that time, the publisher does his best, to convince his audience of the merits of the publication and shows many pages to the camera.

It looks like a well printed piece of work but I will still wait and see.  I hope that one of my local comic book outlets, will have an open copy and I will make a decision based on that.

At $75 USD, it will probably be have a $100 Canadian price sticker on it and it will have to prove to me, that it is worth it.

I ran across a link, to a website that allowed Japanese graphic artists, to post pictures of their studio set-ups.

It makes for interesting viewing because as north americans, we take having large homes with lots of space inside them, for granted and in Japan, space is at a premium; for the most part.

This is one example that really spoke to me and I love the home made modifications to the drawing board.

Notice the 'dog kennel' underneath, to raise the board up and then, the car jack under the drawing surface, presumably to adjust, either the height or the angle, of the board.

Ingenious and compact.

I also love the headphones, hanging off the board, connected to the music centre.  Obviously the artist likes to 'rock out'

while working.

Just a couple of cosplay girls and I am done.

I thought this young lady made one of the best Scarlet Witch costumes that I have seen and she looks lovely in it.

Jessica Nigri.

This is a fantastic image of a super heroine, that I have never really paid attention to, from the comic books.

Vampirella has been a staple of the comic book convention costume parade, since it's inception and some costumes have been better than others.  I thought that this one was pretty good.

Finally, there is this beautiful Russian Cosplayer, Hannuki.

This one, gives Malin Akerman, as Silk Spectre,  a run for her money.