So, near the end of the video NYU Researcher Jeff Han mentions this technology is available for purchase. Anyone willing to go half-sies with me?

When art is good, art is timeless. And I'm not talking about the art with a capital "A" crap. "Art" is the stuff that ages quicker then used bubblegum. But real art, this is the magic that doesn't care what you call it but finds a way to sock you in the gut while not looking.

Style Wars is a late 70's documentary that shows true art and artists in action. Enjoy this mesmerizing movie about people who are simply compelled to create, and the risk they take in doing so.

In my opinion, The Twilight Zone is one of television's greatest accomplishments. It wraps a human message around the strangest situations, and in making our world a bit more abstract we finally see the hidden truth. Here are my very biased top ten "classic" Twilight Zone episodes (with a few extra for fun):

10) Living Doll



9) The Howling Man



8) On Thursday we Leave for Home




7) The Monsters are Due on Maple Street



6) An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge



5) Nightmare at 20,000 Feet



4) It's a Good Life



3) Five Characters in Search of an Exit


2) Time Enough at Last


1) Eye of the Beholder




EXTRA CREDIT:

Nick of Time



To Serve Man



Death's Head Revisited




As a storyteller, I've read many books that actively discourage the use of "Twilight Zone" endings, or stories that close with a dramatic twist. The interesting part of this argument is that all compelling tales are based on deliberate plot twists. Why should we discriminate merely against it's placement within the story? William Sydney Porter, who worked under the pen name O. Henry, was famous for his story shifts. His stories were so revered a group of friends started a memorial after his passing. This memorial became the O. Henry Prize Stories, a famous yearly anthology of short fiction. The list of talented artists that effectively use surprise to enhance storytelling is endless: M. Night Shyamalan, Hitchcock, Palahniuk, Lucas...all of the defining voices of their chosen mediums!

So in other words, enjoy the ride and ignore the stuffy textbooks.

You really have to be a cruel hearted ogre not to love YouTube. I hate everything and yet I always seem to find something that brings a smile to my face.



Psalty over at YouTube has been videotaping his flipbook creations and this kid can draw! View the above for a taste or you can always visit HERE to flip through his full catalog of amazing handcrafted work. Amazing work man.

-Josh

Surrealism + 1970 French Animation + Updated Techno Soundtrack = One mind-bending experience

Giles Trehin has built his own city. A little inspiration for to help do the same...

I stumble upon many inspiring videos that may be of use to comic/cartoon artists and thought it would be best to share them here. I hope you'll find a bit of refreshment in them!

Windsor McKay is one of two early newspaper comic artists that I believe opened up the industry to be recognized as an art-form. McKay's work on Little Nemo is a stunning visual accomplishment and showed the power of sequential art to transport a reader to a far away place. "Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend" is an interesting newspaper strip as it is very one-note and almost always ends negatively.

McKay was also the inventor of animated film, and below are two of his early examples: Gertie the Dinosaur and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. They're worth a watch, though I feel that they Rarebit contributes 1/20th that which Gertie added to animation. I'd take them instead as a good sample of the where Animation was over 90 years ago.

(The second artist would be George Herriman's Krazy Kat, though this remains popular for its' exceptional use of honest and like-able characters.)