View of Crystal Cove

We were enjoying some healthy shakes (peanut butter) sitting behind the famous Date Shack off Pacific Coast Highway, with a nice view down the cliff to the ocean below and Crystal Cove. I had my handy sketchbook with me and so--.

Laguna Beach and Rembrandt

We spent a long-planned weekend with my inlaws visiting the galleries in Laguna Beach. A beautiful place that, believe it or not, I've never visited before. I saw some fabulous sculpture work by Richard MacDonald and Paige Bradley; and I was really pleasantly surprised to see some Rembrandt etchings - unbelievably inspiring. My favorite one was an etching of The Resurrection of Lazarus. Check out the image in the link. Look how casually the Christ figure exerts his powers - like "no big deal" - like a superhero but without all the self-conscious, silly superhero drama. While all the people around him witnessing the scene are freaking out. Just awesome. If Rembrandt were around today he could easily have been a storyboard artist. That's the kind of emotion, storytelling and staging that we all strive for.

I did a little sketching which I'll post here later, but not in the same post as Rembrandt. I just can't follow that act.

Miyazaki storyboards on DVD

My kids and I just watched a whole slew of Miyazaki movies: Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service. The art is of course fantastic in these films and the whimsical, human and personal storytelling style is quite "un-Hollywood" and refreshing to watch. Hayao Miyazaki, the writer / director, storyboards everything out before they animate it and these new DVDs include the storyboards edited to the finished sound track, so it's like watching a full-length animatic story reel of the entire movie. What's asounding is that his storyboards are the movie. Every shot, every angle, every composition, every bit of acting or nuance is in the storyboards. Look at the comparison above. That's typical. (I got those images from a site called jbox.com which seems to sell a lot of Miyazaki's stuff.) The quality of Miyazaki's storyboarding is amazing, especially considering the sheer number of drawings he must do for each film. I also rather like his use of a warm, yellowish pencil to indicate light and shade (see drawing above). The man is truly a treasure. A few years ago I picked up all four volumes of Nausicaa in graphic novel form - every frame of which Miyazaki drew himself. His finished manga style is a bit reminiscent of Moebius, but with even more of a careful, delicate and "warm" line than Moebius uses. And, once again, he averages about eleven panels per page - crazy considering the unwritten international standard is about six. He's a drawing monster!

Happy Mother's Day

American Artist - Drawing

The latest issue of American Artist - Drawing (quarterly) is loaded with some beautiful drawing and sketch work. The article on combat art from Iraq is really amazing. For me the ability to draw on the spot with accuracy and speed is a powerful, difficult and rare skill - something worthy of eternal practice. To add the life-threatening element to that mix is awe-inspiring.