Tumblnoodl

Vaudeville in the Park

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:36:00 -0700

Dear Angeleno Tumblrs!

If you are going to the Independent Shakespeare Company’s benefit vaudeville show tomorrow (which you should, because it will be great, and if there’s anything in LA you should support, it’s the ISC) here are some helpful tips from the Company for tomorrow:

This Sunday, May 19
Show time: 3 - 5pm
Location: Old Zoo, Griffith Park

WHERE IS THE STAGE?
Download directions & map here

WHERE DO I PARK?
Sundays are busy in Griffith Park! There will be a lot of signs announcing birthday parties so look for the HOT PINK SIGNS with an arrow that says “Free Shakespeare.”
Parking is free.
We suggest giving yourself an extra 30 minutes to find parking and to walk up the hill and to check in at the Will Call Table. (so aim to arrive at 2:30, or before)

DO I NEED TO PRINT MY TICKETS?
There is no need to print your tickets. We have a Will Call/Check-in Table at the top of the hill where we will check off your name.
If you are bringing friends who want to buy tickets at the door, they can do so at this table.

WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
Pack a picnic, roll up a blanket (low back beach chairs are fine too), bring cash to buy goodies and don’t forget your sunscreen!

WHAT’S HAPPENING BEFORE (AND DURING) THE SHOW?
Concessions will be selling cold drinks and snacks!
Get your picture taken at Vizid’s free photo booth!
Buy raffle tickets for great prizes!
Enter the silent auction for one-of-a-kind sessions with ISC Company Members!
Buy ISC merchandise! There will be Vaudeville t-shirts, buttons, CD’s & posters.
(Note: we can take your credit card but cash is preferable.)

Questions? Call us at 818-710-6306. [They are very nice, do not be afraid of calling.]

Vaudevillian Picnic

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:15:21 -0700

HEY L.A. PEOPLE!

This Sunday (May 19) at 3:00pm at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park, the Independent Shakespeare Company is holding a benefit show, for the purpose of raising enough funds to put on their summer season of FREE awesome intelligent accessible Shakespeare. They’ve assembled a festive picnic basket of vaudeville-themed talent, including

John C. Reilly (yes, that one) who will be headlining with the ISC’s house band the Pinchtones
The Lampshades, a comedy lounge act consisting of Kate Flannery of The Office and Scot Robinson of Anchorman
Helen Slater, film and TV actress, but in this case songstress extraordinaire
Mariachi Flor Angelina
¡Aparato! (described as “post-punk(y), socially conscious ethereal rock performed with traditional Mexican instruments” which is pretty intriguing if you ask me)
Nick Bottom and the Rude Mechanicals (the amateur theatre troupe from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) in a rendition (truly the only appropriate word) of Macbeth
assorted tumblers, tricksters and “razzle-dazzlers” (this is a family-friendly show so that can only mean so many things)

Considering this is a fundraiser, the single ticket price of $30 is really surprisingly low, and $60 for a family* is practically a bargain. Please come join in the fun – you’re not only getting fresh air, and afternoon out with your fellow citizens, and a really great show, but you’re helping to make possible one of the best things in Los Angeles, which unlike most attractions around here has at its core the principle of being freely available to all.

*two adults and as many children as you can manage; there will be no DNA testing at the park

Talking It Over (or, Exactly Not) and Love, Etc. (Heavy On The...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:03:40 -0700

Talking It Over (or, Exactly Not) and Love, Etc. (Heavy On The Etc.) are listenable on the Radio 4 iPlayer until Friday and Saturday, respectively.

I’m really not usually one for fraught domestic dramas about deeply flawed people being cruel to each other, but these are such brilliant productions, brilliantly written, directed, acted, and edited, I find I can’t stop listening, even when it’s really difficult to do so.

And because they don’t give you any advance notice on the iPlayer: Mature content! Adult themes and situations! Those easily upset by intense interpersonal conflict should perhaps listen to the Dawn Chorus instead!

Last Few Days to Buy Prints!!!

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:15:59 -0700

lightgreyartgallery:

This week is the last week to buy Macro+Micro prints, so if you’ve had your eye on one, head on over to the shop!!

I have a question: What are the chances of being able to get a job (any job that involves art of some sort) without going to art school first?

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:30:28 -0700

I don’t know much about art careers outside of animation, but I’ll do my best to answer this.

Art school (or formal art education, not necessarily getting a degree, but ‘art school’ is quicker to type) teaches you more than just how to do art. You can have the most amazing inborn talent and do a lot of independent study and still benefit a lot from art school. Things which you don’t get from independent study:

specific assignments which challenge you to try new things
feedback from and influence of teachers
feedback from and influence of your fellow students (often more beneficial)
confidence
connections
introduction (at least) to the non-artistic side of your career, such as self-promotion, industry standards, terminology, technical knowledge, jargon, etc

It is possible you could land illustration work (as an example) by sheer talent alone, but you may not know what format publishers want your work, how to mark it up for printing, what your rights to it are, how to get your next job after this, and so on.

The hardest thing in an artistic career is getting your first job, or first series of jobs. Schools really help with this, as they promote their students, and the school you went to ‘brands’ you in such a way that employers know a)whether you’re worth their time and b)what to expect from you. Chances are, the people you went to school with will turn out to be very important in getting you work, in the future.

So to answer your question more directly, your chances of getting a job involving art without going to art school (or formal art training of some sort) might be OK, but making a sustainable career out of art is much more likely if you’ve had some formal education.

That’s about all I’ve got – I could ramble on but I don’t think I’d cover any more than that. Anyone else got anything? I know there are non-animation professional artists who follow me and I’m curious to hear what you have to say.

Deeper 'n Ever Redux

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:08:40 -0700

xenopheles:

[…]
Alternately, if you’re on an LPF* menu, leave out the cheese or possibly replace it with hummus?

*Least Processed Food. […]

I think hummus would be too strongly-flavoured and upset the delicate balance of more subtle root veg flavours. But you could make a gravy of vegetable broth and roux and pour it in the pie before you put the top on and bake it. The cheese is there as much for structural integrity as flavour, so if you had a thick enough gravy it might serve the same purpose, and make it moist and savoury besides. Some of the books describe a gravy, if I remember correctly, and I’ve always been tempted to try it but never quite confident enough.

Fun fact: the beets are painted with actual beet juice. If you...

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:30:00 -0700

Fun fact: the beets are painted with actual beet juice.

If you have a pie crust recipe and a cheese substitute you can easily make this vegan.

Art and School and Stuff

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:38:22 -0700

Could you possibly give some advice to a 16 year old aspiring artist who really wants to do something art-related after high-school but doesn’t really have a lot of financial backing? ie are student loans worth it? Can you get a job that pays them off if you go into art? I know you’re an animator at Disney, so I was hoping you’d could give me a few tips? Is it really hard to get a job at Disney, for example …

The short answer is: Don’t take out student loans and expect a job at Disney to pay them back.

The long answer is much longer:

You can get a job in art, and you can get this job by going to school, but if you are getting into the art field (or “the arts” in general) I would advise against taking out student loans if at all possible.

First of all, think about what sort of art you like doing, and then look around and try to see how people make a living at that. Cartooning can take you into animation, storyboarding, or comics, landscape painting into background painting or environmental design, drawing clothes into fashion or costume design, etc. You might have harder luck if abstract expressionism or textile arts are your thing. If the only professional application for the art is ‘selling knicknacks on Etsy’ you might want to refocus.

I’d also recommend looking for schools in your price range. Even if you can’t afford any school out-of-pocket, a smaller local college will put you much less in the hole than a national private institution. “Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb” is NOT a good philosophy in this case. Especially if you’re still figuring out what field you want to get into, this sort of school is a good place to experiment and build foundations, then if you want to go on to something bigger you won’t be wasting your very expensive time there.

‘The’ school for animation is CalArts, but there was no way my family could afford that when I was looking for colleges. I found a cracking animation program at a small vocational school instead, learned an awful lot, and had a great time, made wonderful friends, and graduated without any debt. It was a longer hill to climb from there to Disney, as opposed to CalArts which, for its price, does give you a world-class network and a diploma that opens doors, but I did it, and other people have, too. The great thing about going into animation these days is with all the blogs, videos, online tutorials, and DVD bonus features, you have access to the same resources as everyone else, you just have to know what you need and where to find it.

Another strategy is to go to school for something else and continue your art on the side, then get into it more seriously when you’ve earned enough money to go back to school. Learn a trade that’s in demand, won’t be outsourced, and which you don’t actually hate doing; if it gives you some flexibility in your schedule or a fair amount of leisure time that is ideal, because if you’re really passionate about art you will continue to do it no matter what your day job is. And this gives you a valuable fall-back skill between art jobs. (There is always a ‘between’ with art jobs.) Remember you can always take night classes or seminars to improve your skills, as well as independent study – your first pass at post-secondary education is not your only chance.

If you have a killer portfolio and high-level skills they need right now to finish their movie, Disney is not that hard to get into. Getting the portfolio and skills is much harder work. If they don’t need whatever you have to offer at the moment, you won’t get in no matter how good you are, but you have those skills and can shop them around. As with any studio, timing and luck are important ingredients as well.

Keeping that job is another challenge – it used to be a job at Disney would keep you employed for years, but recently they’ve started to become more like the vast majority of animation studios, in which a core staff is retained but the majority of people are hired on a show-to-show basis. This is another reason why counting on them to pay off your student debt is not a good idea.

Luckily you are still young and have a couple more years of high school to find your artistic path, rather than being rushed into a decision immediately. Take advantage of that! A job where you get to do art every day is pretty great, so be strategic. And whatever you do, keep arting! It’ll keep you sane.

Who wants coffee?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:28:59 -0700

Apparently the train just came in because wow, so many new faces! My curiosity is piqued, not least because I’ve been slack in posting lately, so if you don’t mind sharing what or who brought you here I’m dying to know.

Welcome!

Happy Shakespeare day, internet! Today we honour an amazingly...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:39:00 -0700

Happy Shakespeare day, internet! Today we honour an amazingly tidy man who entered and exited this worldly stage on the same day of the year. (Maybe.) Also he was pretty good at writing plays.

What better way to celebrate the matter of dramatists and supreme celebrator of the humanity than by supporting a brilliant theatrical company that does the Bard proud by mounting really seriously entertaining productions of his plays and making them accessible to people who might not know Shakespeare, or think they don’t like it, or couldn’t afford it, by offering a whole summer of free shows in Griffith Park?

If you know anything about the Independent Shakespeare Company, you know how awesome they are, and if you don’t know anything about them, then I highly recommend you find out. It is no exaggeration when I say that, for me, the ISC makes LA worth living in – and I really profoundly dislike LA so that’s saying a lot. They inspire me and sustain me and prompt me to make a 1940s pastiche poster for their ‘house band’.

As they’re approaching the summer season, they need to raise an awful lot of money in order to put the festival on, so I’m trying to do my part by SELLING POSTERS! They’re $20, very nicely printed on 11x17 cardstock, shipping included if you live in the States – if you’re elsewhere and want one we can figure that out. I don’t yet have a store, but you can drop me an Ask or email twirlynoodle at gmail, or just go straight to PayPal with my email address. ALL proceeds go directly to the ISC, who will put it directly towards the summer festival, so if you’re in or near LA this summer you can come have a picnic and watch a show, and know you helped make it possible.

Help set Shakespeare free!

I have a piece of art in a gallery! Like a real artist! Light...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:30:30 -0700

I have a piece of art in a gallery! Like a real artist!

Light Grey Art Lab is putting on a show of science-themed art, and I couldn’t be more honoured to be a part of it, because I love both of those things (all three if you count LGAL). If you’re in the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can drop by and see them in person – it sounds like a lot of fun, they’ve got activities and everything.

madain-sari: twin-city-ankh-and-morpork: (x) Moist von Lipwig...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:30:55 -0700

madain-sari:

twin-city-ankh-and-morpork:

(x) Moist von Lipwig in Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal

Credit to Tealin who actually has a tumblr now.

Why hello there old drawing of mine! You can come sit here with the others.

Unless I Tumblrized this already and forgot …

Jam Tomorrow

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 09:30:41 -0700

Jam Tomorrow:

Jam tomorrow or (older spelling) jam to-morrow is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise. It originates from Lewis Carroll’s 1871 book Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. In the book The White Queen offers Alice “jam every other day” as an inducement to work for her:

“I’m sure I’ll take you with pleasure!” the Queen said. “Two pence a week, and jam every other day.”

Alice couldn’t help laughing, as she said, “I don’t want you to hire ME – and I don’t care for jam.”

“It’s very good jam,” said the Queen.

“Well, I don’t want any TO-DAY, at any rate.”

“You couldn’t have it if you DID want it,” the Queen said. “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.”

“It MUST come sometimes to ‘jam to-day’,” Alice objected.

“No, it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.”

“I don’t understand you,” said Alice. “It’s dreadfully confusing!”

I keep using this idiom on people who have no idea what I mean, which makes it kind of useless. I share with you now a simple way of summing up a complicated abstract idea! Go forth and propagate its usage!

Disney layoffs, 2D animation, and you

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:31:00 -0700

Disney layoffs, 2D animation, and you:

lindbloem:

by *tombancroft

A very nervous animation student (he didn’t say, but I assume he is studying 2D animation) asked me about my opinions on the state of animation these days. What are the companies thinking with laying off all the employees, not doing 2D animation, canceling great TV series, etc.? Are the business people just evil? AND the even bigger question: Is John Lassiter a jerk (or worse) for letting all the 2D animators at Disney go yesterday?

MY ANSWER: I have a slightly controversial (for an artist) perspective on businesses and business people. Over all, I like them. At times, I have even been grateful for them. (Steady paychecks should never

Read more

I don’t usually reblog things on this Tumblr (that’s what twirlytumblfluff is for) but this is a topic that’s been coming up a lot this week and I thought propagating this writeup would benefit everyone.

Tom Bancroft speaks TRUTH and is much better-informed and measured than others out there, that I’ve seen. Though I think perhaps he meant to write ‘If you can’t imagine not drawing and being creative every day’ in that last paragraph.

And it’s Lasseter with an e, not an i.

And whether.

I’m done now.

Long haul flights can be a real bear. But when life gives you...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:30:32 -0700

Long haul flights can be a real bear.

But when life gives you lemons …

tonycliff: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, coming out...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:50:19 -0700

tonycliff:

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, coming out on August 27th from First Second! You can even pre-order this handsome, shiny book from Amazon right now, though it’s always nice to get your favourite local bookstore involved.

More pics over at the First Second blog!

HOT DIGGITY there’s something to look forward to!

And now we are into I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, the...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:30:38 -0700

And now we are into I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, the antidote to panel games, which has been running so long it’s practically built up its own subculture and mythology. I won’t try to explain Samantha, or the Lionel Blair running gags, but I will tell you that one of the frequently recurring rounds is called One Song To The Tune Of Another. This is always explained to the audience by the host in as confusing a manner as possible, but does what it says on the tin.

I’ve already featured one song from this round, Bob the Builder to The Girl from Ipanema … This has the same tune but substitutes the lyrics of “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” instead.

Yes, fellow young(ish) people, it is an actual song, and was not invented for Zazu to sing in The Lion King. I was surprised, too, the first time I heard it.

Goin’ home …

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:30:54 -0700

Goin’ home …

More sketches of the Casbah Cafe, including one of the...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:30:33 -0700

More sketches of the Casbah Cafe, including one of the proprietors.

By this point the sun was starting to go down and I didn’t fancy the idea of walking back to the Sunset/Vermont station in the dark, so I packed up.

Another review from Front Row, my favourite source of movie...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:30:46 -0700

Another review from Front Row, my favourite source of movie reviews; this time some serious discussion of the preview clips of Avatar. ‘No substitute for story and characters’ indeed, but $2.7bn+ in the meantime suggests someone out there is OK with James Cameron’s priorities on this one.

I’d rather be in agreement with Front Row than with $2.7bn, myself, which may explain why I’m not making important decisions about films.