2011 Hugo Announcement Coverage

The 2011 Hugo Finalist announcement and live blogging coverage will begin today at 5pm EST, 2pm PDT.

To watch the announcements live from Eastercon, click here:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/illustrious-2011-hugo-nominations



UPDATE:

The list of 2011 Hugo nominees are:



Best Fan Artist

Brad W. Foster

Randall Munroe

Maurine Starkey

Steve Stiles

Taral Wayne



Best Fan Writer

James Bacon

Claire Brialey

Christopher J Garcia

James Nicoll

Steven H Silver



Best Fanzine

Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer

Challenger, edited by Guy H. Lillian III

The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon

File 770, edited by Mike Glyer

StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith



Best Semiprozine

Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker

Interzone, edited by Andy Cox

Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams

Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong

Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal



Best Professional Artist

Daniel Dos Santos

Bob Eggleton

Stephan Martiniere

John Picacio

Shaun Tan



Best Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders

Ginjer Buchanan

Moshe Feder

Liz Gorinsky

Nick Mamatas

Beth Meacham

Juliet Ulman



Best Editor, Short Form

John Joseph Adams

Stanley Schmidt

Jonathan Strahan

Gordon Van Gelder

Sheila Williams



Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who: "A Christmas Carol," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)

Doctor Who: "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)

Doctor Who: "Vincent and the Doctor," written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales)

Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury, written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti

The Lost Thing, written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures)



Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner)

How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks)

Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal)

Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)



Best Graphic Story

Fables: Witches, written by Bill Willingham; illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)

Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

Grandville Mon Amour, by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)

Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode)

The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man, written by Mike Carey; illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)



Best Related Work

Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)

The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing, by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)

Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea (Mad Norwegian)

Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907 – 1948): Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)

Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells



Best Short Story

"Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)

"For Want of a Nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's, September 2010)

"Ponies" by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)

"The Things" by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)

Best Novelette

"Eight Miles" by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)

"The Emperor of Mars" by Allen M. Steele (Asimov's, June 2010)

"The Jaguar House, in Shadow" by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov's, July 2010)

"Plus or Minus" by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's, December 2010)

"That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made" by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)

Best Novella

"The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)

"The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)

"The Sultan of the Clouds" by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov's, September 2010)

"Troika" by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)

Best Novel

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)

Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

Happy Easter

The Baltimore Examiner's "Miranda" Review

Here is a cool write-up about Miranda (the short film) by writer/producer Corey Williams of The Baltimore Examiner.



"Writer/Director Kent Sutton tells a very real story of what happens behind the scenes with some couples. 'Miranda' is the film that deals with the question of leaving or hiding from domestic violence. The story centers on an engagement party were Miranda (Maria Guzman) is smiling as she shows off her engagement ring to friends and family. The party is very upbeat with multiple coversations taking place between the guest. The groom to be Arthur (Derek M. McAllister) seems to have it all - money, confidence and a beautiful future bride in Miranda."

Continue reading review HERE.

Dorian Vallejo: Workshop

Dorian Vallejo, whom we have spoken of here before, is holding a portrait painting workshop next month in New Jersey, May 28th through the 29th.



I can personally attest to Dorian's teaching abilities, and strongly recommend that anyone on the East Coast who is interested in realist painting look into it further. I honestly believe Dorian is one of the finest portrait painters working in the United States today.



The workshop is two, 7 hour days, and includes demos as well as one-on-one instruction. Workshops of this nature have a limited class size, and tend to fill up quite quickly.





If you're interested in taking this workshop please contact: info@burlingtonLyceum.com - www.burlingtonlyceum.com

432 High Street - Burlington, NJ 08016 - 609.614.0542



For more info click HERE and HERE

Getting There

by Arnie Fenner

One of the myths that sprang up around Frank Frazetta (and there were and are many) was that he didn't do roughs, that he just sat down and drew or painted spontaneously without any forethought or preparation. That, of course, is all hooey: Frank was a constant doodler and he created roughs for virtually everything he ever did (we gathered a number of his sketches and comps in Rough Work). How an artist "gets there," how they problem solve and noodle out a piece, is perhaps the most fascinating part of the process—and that fact is clearly proven by the marvelous examples Jesper, Justin, Greg, Donato, Dan, and Eric have posted here in recent weeks.

So, for those that are curious how Frazetta "got there," I thought I'd quickly show some of the thumbnails Frank did in preparation of drawing an illustration for the 1973 Science Fiction Book Club edition of The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

IlluXcon Scholarship!

Despite the fact that it is only in it's fourth year, IlluXcon has quickly become one of, if not 'the', best con for those interested in SFF art. Just about every major genre illustrator exhibits there, and the weekend is jam packed with live demos and lectures.



Another exceptional aspect of the con is it's scholarship. Last year, IlluXcon granted all expense paid trips to the con to three very deserving students. I repeat... 'all expense paid'. That means they cover your travel expenses as well!

The 2011 competition will be judged by: Jon Schindehette of Wizards of the Coast, Lauren Panepinto of Orbit Books, Brom, James Gurney, and Kekai Kotaki.



Submissions for this scholarship just opened. So go to IlluXcon's website, and apply!



You can only submit one piece, and you only have until June 15th.

Don't think you have anything good enough in your portfolio? Make something for it... paint THIS!

A Closer Look : Dean Cornwell

-By Dan dos Santos

Every year, Heritage Auctions, the third largest auction house in the world, holds an auction of classic American illustration. One of the coolest things about this auction is the preview. Not only are there a lot of pieces you will not see elsewhere, but Heritage consistently posts amazingly high resolution scans of the works available. These scans are a great opportunity to get up close and personal with some of your favorite painters.



As painters, we are always encouraged to step back and view one's picture as a whole. But there is equal value in doing the opposite. Every now and then, it's great to zoom in, and live in the details... where every single brushstroke shows intention. Suddenly, seemingly unimportant passages turn into amazing microcosms of paint.



Today, we have for you a few excerpts of Dean Cornwell paintings found in this year's auction. Click on the details below to view the entire painting in high resolution.