Continue reading »]]> Today (Wen) I had the opportunity to visit the newly remodeled Oakland Museum of CA to check out the PIXAR art exhibit. The exhibit ends in a couple days and I knew it was popular, but I did not realize the large crowds that would be at this wonderful gem of a museum.

I arrived at 10:30 by BART (the only way to go) and found all-ready a line by the gate to get in to the PIXAR exhibit. As I lined up and waited for my friend Linda the crowds got larger and larger and by the time they opened up at 11am there were a couple hundreds people waiting. School groups of kids and excited fans were so loud that we could not hear the directions of where to line up for tickets and when the gates opened it was insane. We were in the wrong line till an employee took our complaints (I had been lined up for a half hour in what was the only line at the time) and she asked the folks next to us in the correct line to let us in which they did. The line organization was the only issue I had at the museum, but I am grateful of the kindness of the other patrons letting us switch lines. As crazy as it was, it will be sad to see the place a bit more quiet after the PIXAR exhibit is gone.

When we got our tickets we were given a time 1:15pm to return to enter the PIXAR exhibit. I had avoided buying a ticket ahead of time since they were through TicketMaster and I did not want to pay the extra fee. Looking back I probably should have bought the tickets ahead of time.

I put my messenger bag into a fancy new locker that allows you to set your own code and you can use for free. Excellent perk.

Next we went over to the Museum’s Blue Oak Café and had a nice lunch. I had a delicious and fattening Croc Monsieur sandwich (gruyère and ham on grilled bread) with the signature Blueberry Mint Lemonade which was just sweet enough and just tart enough. Excellent.

Then we journeyed on to the brand new history wing on the middle floor. I won’t go into super details, but the new changes are really a notch above. The exhibits now have plenty of interactive activities (analog and digital), audio stations, videos, and plenty of fun ways to learn. My only complaint is that the height of the sound stations are aimed at kids and not tall people and I sometimes had to stoop over to use them.

Highlights of the History Wing:

- A small room that features a Conquistador helmet and a Feather headdress that stand alone but have a montage of audio of the thoughts of the Spanish, Native Americans and others and their thoughts of meeting people different then themselfs. Effective and really intriguing.

- A digital table (sort of like a big iphone or ipad) that allows you to view maps virtually

- Lots of video screens to punctuate the artifacts and history

- A photo opp with you as an artifact

- A ship’s hull full of treasures where you can ‘document’ the items with a sketch to take home or to post on a bulletin board. I left my kiwi sketch there

- View 3D images of the San Francisco earthquake

- Lots of places to sit and draw and think.

- Interactive game and keyboard to make music with everyday objects.

- Cinema showing a silent film “family man” and portions of the documentary Hollywood Chinese by Arthur Dong. Both are worth seeing portions of.

The museum’s goal is to be shaped by the participants and so there are plenty of chances to have a say in the results.

We finally headed to line up for PIXAR at 1pm (15 min early) but entered right away thanks to a kind museum employee and a lull in guests in the previous group entering at 1pm.

The PIXAR exhibit was wonderful with the work set up by groupings of things like settings and characters. I actually have seen at least half the art at the PIXAR fundraisers for the Cartoon Art Museum so I headed to the back to check out the highly recommended ArtScape animated film.

The film took up the full length of the wall and used 3 projectors to make one long image that uses concept art from the films and brought to life with digital technology. We felt like we were flying as we zoomed into 2D art that gained motion and depth in the progress. No music, but sound effects in surround sound. The second time watching, my friend and I laid on bean bags on the floor. LED lights over the back of the dark room changed colored with the changes in the film. So a blue “UP” sky had bright blue lighting and a lazer guns flash strobes over the audience as well.

After that we made our way back, moving to the images that we were most attracted too. The work is so varied and so amazing that it’s really had for me to even pin point a single image. Ah, all the details and talent. It’s enough to make an artist both inspired and scared and jealous all at the same time.

After exiting through the gift store we went up to the Art Gallery on the top floor. Once again it’s hard to go into details, but the revamped space is equally interactive and informative. Art is harder then history to explain since it’s so individual, but they have really gone to lengths to educate the guests (us) on the process and ways to experience it. This is where I got out my sketchbook at started to take notes and do doodles. So much to absorb it seems.

Art Gallery highlights:

- On a digital tablet do your own self portrait finger painting style that can be emailed to you and appears amongst traditional painted portraits on the wall.  (below)

- Comfy chairs with view of a beautiful turn of the century painting of Yosemite National Park and audio players and headphones that help you explain ways to appreciate the artwork. Really a great way to learn about viewing art.

- The California Impressionist and Arts and Crafts gallery is great and they have a nice sitting area with comfortable chairs and books to read. A great place to sit and draw.

- A digital touch screen to watch video clips of artist speaking on different topics.

- A kids area with ways to explore a statue with audio, and other interactive enhancements.

- and other stuff I can not remember right now.

I ended up staying till 4:30pm and revisiting the History Gallery another time as well.

All in all a very enriching day of history, art and technology which I hope I can do again later this year. The museum promises to continue to grow and change in exciting ways with an entire floor (the bottom one) not opening up till 2011 that will feature the plants and animals of California.

So if you are in the Bay Area, why not go by and check it out. I think you will enjoy it if you take the time to explore all it’s treasures.

Check out the official YouTube page here.

Continue reading »]]> The Cartoon Art Museum has a multi-faceted art exhibit coming up starting on September 20th. The show will actually appear in segments with the fist one opening in a week. So by December the show will encompass 1/3 to 1/2 of the museum. The art work was created as part of a fund raiser for the Totoro Forest Project.

Now you might be asking yourself, what’s a Totoro?

Totoro is a mystical forest creature that appeared in the delightful Japanese animated movie by Hayao Miyazaki, my neighbor Totoro. Here is a clip from the movie:

The Totoro Forest Project is an a group who have set out to protect the forest that inspired the movies setting and story. To help raise money many of the artist who have been inspired by the movie and it’s talented director donated original art for an auction that was held at PIXAR animation studios a week ago.

Sayama Forest is one of the most remarkable urban forests in Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. This forest is said to be the inspiration for legendary animated film My Neighbor Totoro. With Japan’s rapid urban development in the 1970s and 1980s, the forest has been diminished to a small fraction of its former self. In 1990, Miyazaki helped set up a national trust, Totoro no Furusato National Fund, to preserve the park and promote awareness of environmental issues.

It is estimated the PIXAR art auction raised about $201,236.00 to protect the forest. Much of the artwork will be on display for the museums show. You can see all of it at the official website, Totoro Forest Project.

I will be teaching the drop-in cartooning class at the Cartoon Art Museum on the same day the show officially opens, Sept 20, 2008 and I am trying to create an art project to tie into the exhibit. My idea is to take a painted blog and turn it into our own version of the Totoro. Here are some experiments I did below, inspired by a kids art lesson where they turned fingerprints into people.

What do you guys think?

As a bonus, here are some short animations made from the art that was part of the fund-raiser…

Continue reading »]]> Watercolor paintings of Warner Bros. Cartoon Characters by Scott Seeto for the Warner Bros. Store. Great stuff. LINK

Blue Sky Disney has reported the loss of movie poster artist John Alvin who is best know, to me, for the beautiful moody preview poster for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. LINK

He also worked on: Aladdin, Pocahontas, Atlantis, Quest for Camelot, Hunchback, Lion King, Harry Potter, Hercules,  Tarzan, StarWars, etc. He did all the serious Disney movie posters vs. the happy kids posters.

Felix Lorioux’s Puss In Boots at the ASIFA Archive. Great illustrations. LINK

Charles Vess shows progress photos of a painting commission. Some amazing stuff. LINK

Dinotopia artist James Gurney has posts on doing a painting with a limited pallet. Great idea for illustration as well maybe the color of comics. LINK

A lucky lady has won to be immortalized (for a year) as a pirate in the line for Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Check out the beautiful watercolor here. LINK

Continue reading »]]> Amazing painter and illustrator James Gurney, artist/author of Dinotopia, has been posting to a blog about his recent book tour as well as lots of excllent notes on art and classic painting techniques. Really a treat for art traditionalist as well as the digital devotees.

His recent posts on COLOR and INSIGHT/DELIGHT were both fun to read and very educational.

Here is one of his images that was on the cover of Prehistoric Times magazine. Check out there website too since I am borrowing the image with out permission.

Continue reading »]]> Yesterday, Saturday December 8th, 2007 was really long…and really fun.

The day started off in Fremont CA at a book signing at SeaWolf Trading Co, a great store that is all pirate stuff. Richard Becker was signing his Graphic Novel Blackbeard along with singer/songwriter Skip Henderson. Richard had some of his Oil Paintings with him as well as a stunning portfolio of watercolors and pen and ink drawings. I sadly could not stay as late as I would have liked, but snapped a few pictures.

Captain Kristofer Nicklaus, Pirate Lord of the Arctic Sea – my kind of Santa. Captain, how about some rum?

Here is Richard Becker (on right) with the arch-pirate Blackbeard himself. Watch out for the burning hemp rope under his hat.

Next I scurried off to BART and into San Francisco to teach a cartooning class at the Cartoon Art Museum. Here my assistant Toni watches over as the kids create mini-comics.

Then a bit later I got to see the 5th Annual Parol Lantern Festival & Parade 2007 at Yerba Buena Gardens, which was beautiful.

The Parol is the quintessential Filipino symbol of hope, blessings, luck, peace and light during the holiday season. The annual Parol Lantern Festival and Parade, was started by the Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF) in 2003…It has become a must-see event during the holiday season.

I hope it gets bigger and better every year since it is something to see. Maybe in the future the park will be filled with people from all walks of life sharing a magical moment under magical light up stars.

Then it was off to the gallery show Graphic Novel which features the work of my fellow Cartoonist Conspiracy San Francisco members. The show was at Tree Frog Treks on Hayes St and featured cages of reptiles along with the original art. The show features original comic book art by the talented Mike Hales, Kraig Rasmussen, and Daniel Salcido.

Mike signs a comic book.

A long roll of butcher paper was on a table so people could add to a giant Jam Comic that will be published in book for for a future show.

Doc Popular adds to the Jam Comic.