Monster Brains

Monster Brains, and art blog specializing in fantasy and horror art, just posted scans of the Official D&D coloring book from 1979. I've already printed these pages out and my kids are coloring the Beholder as we speak!



Also, be sure to check out the Monster Brains post from a few weeks ago, where they posted two dozen high resolution scans of classic Hildebrandt paintings.

Tom Reviews "Green Lantern"

Tom's Corner:




Green Lantern
(2011, Martin Campbell, dir)

Ryan Reynolds, if broken down into percentages, would be about 45% abs, 35% sarcasm, 15% bright white teeth and maybe 5% acting ability. I have been trying to figure out how, aside from Van Wilder, he keeps getting cast. This movie is no exception. But he's not the only problem with Green Lantern. Journey with us, to the center of the universe (or at least the center of this movie), to attempt to figure out just what went wrong.

I think the first thing that needs to be pointed out is that just as too many chefs spoil the soup, too many screenwriters spoil the script. This movie feels like two different movies: Hal Jordan, smarmy test pilot, and Green Lantern, guy with awesome power ring. Reynolds “turns off” during the scenes he's using the power ring for heroic deeds, becoming a humorless cipher (though I'm not sure if this is the fault of the actor or the script). Also, why does the script call for GL to wait so long to react? Things are being destroyed, people are dying, and you, Mr. Reynolds, have a costume that appears on you with a thought, yet it takes you about a minute of ho-hum CGI for you to do anything about it. Also, Parallax. You all knew I was gonna go there, if you've read a GL comic. Comic book crash course time! Parallax is a fear entity. He possesses you and makes you his host, utilizing the powers of the yellow fear energy (I've always assumed fear was yellow because when you're really afraid you piss yourself) to make you stronger and tougher than you were, and you can shoot energy. It's possible to fight an entity like this in the flesh, and it IS powered by fear, but come on, a giant space octopus? Is it wrong of me to assume they could have done better? It wasn't scary looking, it was just...cheesy.

The inclusion of Hector Hammond was just to give Hal something to fight on Earth. In the comic, Hector was a big ole head with a teeny little body, thanks to meteorite fragments. It looked like they were trying to go there, but it just didn't work so well.

There was some good. The special effects, at least when they pertained to the Lantern constructs, were well done. The other members of the Corps were wonderfully diverse and I saw a few of my favorites in the shots. They were also voiced well, with Michael Clarke Duncan and Geoffrey Rush turning in excellent performances. Blake Lively turns in a decent performance as Carol Ferris, but she really isn't given enough to do (if there's a sequel, she will, but that's another story). Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett turn in wonderful performances, but both could have been better utilized.

Unless you're a big Green Lantern fan, you'll want to give this one a pass. Apart from the awesome Lantern special effects and alien CGI, the movie was just missing something. It feels disjointed, like two movies mashed up...badly.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:

Preview: Justice League #1 Digital Comic
Preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series

THREE DISC BLU-RAY/DVD COMBO SPECIAL FEATURES:

Same as above, plus:
Theatrical Feature & Extended Cut Films
Maximum Movie Mode with PiP
Ryan Reynolds becomes Green Lantern
Universe According to Green Lantern
Deleted Scenes

Pirate Paintings for National Geographic Pt. 6

Gregory Manchess



The Whydah went down in a storm not far off the coast of Cape Cod in April 1717. Seven survivors were rounded up when they made it to shore. They were held in prison for some time, wearing the same clothes as when they were captured. They got pretty raggedy by trial time.



Most of them were hanged. Two were made slaves again. Second from the left is Hendrick Quintor, whose portrait I did for the first post of this series.



The title is "FATE." I designed the trial scene from a couple of thumbnails. Again, moving very fast as the deadline was approaching.

The sequence of painting. I modeled for many of the figures, just to get the anatomy and attitude right. Definition of insanity: painting a gazillion faces in a crowd from 1717.

At the last, I realized I had to change one of the faces from a black man to a Mojito Indian man, third pirate from the right. And I really liked that black guy’s face, too.

The Puritan minister in front of the podium is Cotton Mather, son of Increase Mather, notorious minister of the Salem Witch Trials.

Rick Borgia Wins Best Actor Award

Congratulations to Rick Borgia, who just won the award for Best Actor in a Feature for his performance in Twists of Fate! The award was presented by the Downbeach Film Festival in Atlantic City, NJ.

Rick was also featured in a cool press write up in Atlantic City newspaper, who wrote about the festival. Congrats to you, Rick!

Here is Rick's updated reel:



- Lena

UVU Demo

By Justin Gerard

Last post I showed a few studies for a demo I was scheduled to do at Utah Valley University. I am back and today I will show how the painting progressed and eventually turned out. 

Thumbnail

Digital Color Comp 

Drawing on paper

9 x 15 

 Values

Color

Detail and Final Adjustments

I didn't get to the Detail and Final Adjustment stage in the demo because I am slow.  This piece is relatively simple, but even still it ends up taking a little over 30 hours for me to finish. (Which was too long for the students because they apparently have other, non-art-related classes they are forced to go to.)  

I will repeat Lesson #2 from the lecture: Draw all of the time.  Especially in your non-art-related classes. 

The lecture itself went well and only once did technology stab me in the back. (I'll get you Bill Gates if it's the last thi..)  

No, really it was great. Nobody got shot or mauled or anything. I wish that every time I go speak in public it could go as smoothly.  

It was a ton of fun and I hope to get the chance to visit again in the future.

"Cookies & Cream" Free Screening

Live Stream is streaming Princeton Holt's Cookies & Cream FREE of charge all night. The last screening is 9:30pm and may include lead actress Jace Nicole and others. The online event is in celebration of the kickoff campaign fundraiser for "The Butterfly Chasers."

Watch live streaming video from onewayoranotherproductions at livestream.com

Follow our channel for FREE screenings during this campaign!

- Lena

Norman Lindsay

Norman Lindsay ( 22 February 1879 –  21 November 1969) is one of the artists that inspired Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta. Lindsay’s bawdy portrayal of myth and pagan beliefs fueled his art and created controversy in his time. Some of his work was removed from a train wreck in route to an exhibition and burned by over zealous censors who deemed it pornographic. Yes - that happened here in the States. Although mild by today's standards his unique personal vision is contagious in it’s free exploration of the primitive animal drive and pagan eroticism. He worked in a variety of mediums including sculpture and was also an accomplished writer and illustrator.



If you get a chance - rent the movie “Sirens” which is based on the life of Norman Lindsay. Don’t watch the censored version on television because it changes and skews the actual meaning of the film. The movie stars Hugh Grant, Sam Neil and a bevy of super models. A great film score by Rachel Portman (Cider House Rules). and... the movie poster absolutely sucks. Why didn’t they use one of Norman’s paintings?



There is also a museum dedicated to his work in Australia. The museum is located on the grounds of his estate and home in Faulconbridge, New South Wales in the Blue Mountains National Park region.







Wiki Link

Norman Lindsay Bio

Norman Lindsay Museum and Gallery



Here is a small sampling of Mr. Lindsey’s work: