Six Chix: The Comic Strip

Here’s a little girl I spotted at Kennedy airport this summer. She looked as if she had decided she needed something important to drag behind her, like all the people with their wheeled luggage. By deciding on her doll, she was also unwittingly doing her part to keep the hallways clean.

Hey, Everybody

If you’re in the New York area, and you’re a newspaper comics fan, then you should definitely know about Thursday night’s discussion titled, “The Future of The Traditional Comic Strip In An Era of Dying Newspapers” (Their words, not mine.  I don’t think newspapers are necessarily “dying”.)

Anyway, if you’re interested and want details, please go to my blog: rinapiccolo.com

or directly to Mocca.

Hope to see you there!

In case you don’t know it, I love movies. And I love Netflix which allows me to discover films I could never find anywhere else. I also love my sister-in-law Margie who has once again given me this wonderful gift. And since I’m extending love and thanks I should add plenty of both for my astute friend Riva who has given me a growing list of films that never fail to delight and inform.

But sometimes, by sheer fool’s luck, I stumble upon a great movie all by myself. And that happened not too long ago when I thought I was typing in the name of a Michael Douglas movie that received good reviews. That movie, which I haven’t seen, is called “A Solitary Man.” But I typed “A Single Man” and that was my good fortune.

How many films have I seen with Colin Firth in the cast? I have no idea because I always found him to be rather bland and forgettable. He played Vermeer in “The Girl With The Pearl Earring” but I barely noticed him; I was watching Scarlett. And he was also in those Bridget Jones movies that left me cold. But from now on I will pay attention when I see his name ; I am won over.

It turns out this film garnered Firth an Oscar nomination last year and now that I’ve seen it I think he was robbed by Jeff Bridges. But that’s another story. First time director Tom Ford also deserves high praise for his adaptation of the Isherwood novel; (Who knew? I thought Ford was just a fashion designer. )the visuals are stunning and the story is told cleanly and concisely. The whole movie is well under two hours and yet the pace feels leisurely; that’s great editing.  Okay it’s not the happiest movie in the world; if that’s what you’re looking for move on. But if you’ve seen this film and have an opinion I would love to hear it. And if you have any suggestions for me don’t hold back!

I’ll be back with more movie blather /reviews. And I should add a disclaimer here in case I sound like I know what I’m talking about; I only know what I like. And sometimes I’m as surprised as anyone by what that may turn out to be. Gotta go, I have a netflix waiting!

One question cartoonsists get asked all the time is where do you get your ideas.
I’m sure it’s been discussed here on the Chix blog.
There’s a lot of staring into space involved.

Followed by what characters to draw to go with what you’ve written.

Once you’ve chosen your character…they will let you know what they need you to draw.

And, eventually, you give them what they want!

Okay, I know I should be reading the classics or at the very least the back of my cereal box but instead I’m watching the Bravo channel. It’s not my fault, Project Runway enticed me 7 years ago . I admit, I fell for Tim Gunn and the whole concept of a fashion designer challenge. {Project’s 8th season starts this Thursday on Lifetime, if you’re interested.}

The latest Bravo enticement is “Work Of Art“,a reality challenge that boggles the mind. Beginning with 14 contestants the show winnows down one or two each week. Simon de Pury, the so-called mentor, states the challenge and the gang of artists are off and running. Or, more likely, off in a corner scratching their heads and moaning.

The early standout in the pack is Miles the OCD boy who tends to take naps and wake up inspired. I think Miles has been given a bit of a pass; he inked an obvious Murakami rip off that none of the judges called him on.

But some of his work is pretty interesting.I’m rooting for Abdi but Nicole may be the most consistent of the bunch. Her broken tv with landscape was wonderful!

Look, I know all about how this sort of tv works; the editing is key. And personality plays a larger role than talent most of the time. But if you’re zoning out at 10 o’clock on Wednesday night turn on Work Of Art and tell me what YOU think. Is Miles playing head games or is he really all he claims to be? And what would you do if told to create a piece that exemplified your childhood awakening to art? My answer would’ve sent me home.

Okay, so it wasn’t a real migraine, but I did have a headache on Sunday. Then I made the mistake of stepping into the TV room while my husband and son were watching The World Cup. My head started pounding even more from a horrible buzzing sound. I thought there was something wrong with the television, and asked my local sport fans what was wrong. “It’s the vuvuzelas“, they said. I felt as though it was one of those whistles that drive dogs crazy but that humans can’t hear, because they were just happy as clams watching that noisy soccer.

My daughter, Nico, is a YA librarian in Arlington, Virginia.  (She is also an amazing cartoonist!) She writes their teen blog and recently attended the ALA Conference held in DC.
I thought you might enjoy her tale of stalking, hiding from and meeting her favorite author. Here’s the link:
http://www.tatalonline.blogspot.com/
And be sure to scan down and read her hilarious “play” starring a certain Edward and Jacob.

This is a (cropped) sample of Chris Spinozzi’s art, from a children’s book, called “Mantis and Worm” that he wrote and illustrated during the 5 weeks he was with me this Spring. Chris was participating in a program at Hastings High School that allows seniors who are finished with all their exams to work as interns, or on independent projects.

This is a sample from Wilmer Jimenez’ comic book called “Bad Boys”, produced during his internship with me. 

In addition to their own projects, the interns helped me finish a draft of part 2 of a graphic novel I am working on. This is a sample of Wilmer’s work. It is a scene outside of The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.

This image is Chris’ interpretation of one of my mom’s childhood memories, which will be incorporated into the graphic novel.

Isy’s great post about the Reuben’s seminars reminded me of a little treasure I have from another Reuben’s weekend. The date on this is unreadable but it was the Cancun weekend, perhaps 2001? I didn’t make it to that Reuben’s either and Isy kindly sent me this.

It’s signed by John Kovaleski of “Bo Nanas”, Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman of “Zits”, Jay Kennedy, Sergio Argones of “Mad Magazine,” Isy’s sister, Katie Bannerman and a mysterious George. Could that be George Booth? Perhaps Isy’s remembers.

I’m sorry I missed that Reubens but not terribly sorry. If I had to trade this little gem for a weekend in Cancun there’s no contest. The postcard wins!

Here’s a sketch I made from Bill Plympton’s Seminar at this year’s NCS Reubens weekend on May 28, 2010. He showed  some films and made drawings. Here he is drawing from one called “Idiots and Angels”. Since all his drawings and films are hand made, the images come seamlessly from Bill’s imagination to the screen. The films were great, but the real treat was watching Bill draw. He was also very informative and frank about what it’s like to be an independent filmmaker – and what it’s like to turn down offers from Disney.

I didn’t get to all the seminars, but made it to one with New Yorker cartoonist George Booth. He’s one of those cartoonists who is also very funny in person, and he told great stories, and offered advice: (paraphrased)”I realized at the beginning that I was submitting drawings that I thought The New Yorker would like. I had much more success when I finally just started sending in things that I thought were funny.” This was confirmed by his daughter, who told us she often heard laughter coming from the studio where her dad was, laughing at his sketches.

He gave a “chalk talk” at the end, and showed us one of his time saving techniques of sketching up little bits and pieces, and then cutting them out and moving them around until they looked right. His daughter suggested he was trying to teach us all to make George Booth paper dolls.