Moving Out

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxDCJAfgEaU9HP-g2QrBmonyL1NWZr-TPg57V2Wnj2f9BVu2jJ7MKkM1a_Eiid4w20zcAuPJ4Zo2xAMupC7RJwScft55VG8BYCy2qTMhJfuZKwPEDv7irryj5J5BnY_KmaI0aoOrnvXU/s1600/Moving_Out.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The old house stood beside the railroad tracks. A satellite dish turned its ear to the dead sky. Some of the windows were covered over with clapboards, like blind eyes. A freight train rumbled by, screeching and grinding. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EQD_cJcYMzlujsW4QzbeidyMsxXq7SPh3PIupwhm9U5KobEe0rNgBCl5-T-74HJ1fgDFJkgoS5EJprcObHPEbhMIGzErLL7XQlHYTmQqmOuKoehXdPvnrZKpUOBBMgbNv3iqXQRK4H8/s1600/Moving_Out.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EQD_cJcYMzlujsW4QzbeidyMsxXq7SPh3PIupwhm9U5KobEe0rNgBCl5-T-74HJ1fgDFJkgoS5EJprcObHPEbhMIGzErLL7XQlHYTmQqmOuKoehXdPvnrZKpUOBBMgbNv3iqXQRK4H8/s400/Moving_Out.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxDCJAfgEaU9HP-g2QrBmonyL1NWZr-TPg57V2Wnj2f9BVu2jJ7MKkM1a_Eiid4w20zcAuPJ4Zo2xAMupC7RJwScft55VG8BYCy2qTMhJfuZKwPEDv7irryj5J5BnY_KmaI0aoOrnvXU/s1600/Moving_Out.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />A man came out of the house. He lifted a TV into the back of the pickup. Then he loaded in a chair and a table. He stretched a black plastic tarpaulin over the load and tied it down, jerking the rope and muttering. The black tarp shimmered in the March sunlight. <br /><br />A woman leaned her head out of the door. “Get lost,” she yelled. “I don’t care if I never see you again.” The door slammed.  A turkey vulture circled overhead.<br /><br />I sat on the sidewalk across the street, painting quietly. Cigarette butts were scattered beside my feet. <br /><br />The man got into the truck and started the engine. The train passed and the crossing gates lifted. The truck roared across the tracks. <br /><br />A half hour later the woman came out, wiping her eyes with her sweatshirt sleeves. She walked by, pushing a baby carriage, slowing down a little to see what I was doing.<br /><br /><i>(Note--I did this painting on location last week, and parts of it happened--the action of the truck and the train and the vulture, but the human story was imaginary. Sometimes I can't stop my mind from overlaying a story onto a scene, and I'm attracted to sketching in bleak neighborhoods because of the strange glimpses of human existence I encounter there.) </i>

Moving Out

The old house stood beside the railroad tracks. A satellite dish turned its ear to the dead sky. Some of the windows were covered over with ...

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Video Game Talk

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVijmVzdlxnY-h5ipDqbaqh-4fpEQCQOC2dhPq5znfazrASuS_GZzjTNaPI9SYoHQohWlXIxeMJFtTUQWV71cGAMoaz3GdI7JGTLdDUN1tk0XBAJA85iIip1OtygkjfVzksUv3ltcNJn8/s1600/Game_Boys.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Don’t you love the way people talk when they’re playing video games? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVijmVzdlxnY-h5ipDqbaqh-4fpEQCQOC2dhPq5znfazrASuS_GZzjTNaPI9SYoHQohWlXIxeMJFtTUQWV71cGAMoaz3GdI7JGTLdDUN1tk0XBAJA85iIip1OtygkjfVzksUv3ltcNJn8/s1600/Game_Boys.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVijmVzdlxnY-h5ipDqbaqh-4fpEQCQOC2dhPq5znfazrASuS_GZzjTNaPI9SYoHQohWlXIxeMJFtTUQWV71cGAMoaz3GdI7JGTLdDUN1tk0XBAJA85iIip1OtygkjfVzksUv3ltcNJn8/s400/Game_Boys.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />It’s a cascade of antic surrealism, of dying and coming to life again, of hippo people and apes on go-carts trying to kill you before you can find the magic acorns. <br /><br />Viewed from the outside, the player is a picture of calm focus and attention. Inside he fights to live another moment and to fly to safety on the wings of rabbit ears.

Video Game Talk

Don’t you love the way people talk when they’re playing video games? It’s a cascade of antic surrealism, of dying and coming to life again, ...

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Hyperlink Placement

In the world of print, you can attract attention to a word by placing it in <b>bold face</b> or <i>italics</i>. Or you can <u>underline</u> it. Or you can put a number after it to refer the reader to a footnote¹ or an endnote². <br /><br />In the world of the Internet, you can also give it a hyperlink. Since the link is usually colored and underlined, it automatically conveys emphasis. A hyperlink is similar to a footnote because promises clarification or contextualization.<br /><br />The <i>Chicago Manual of Style,</i> drawing upon centuries of established print tradition, suggests rules for using boldface, italics, underlining, and footnotes. <br /><br />What about hyperlinks? When and where should we use them?<br /><br />According to prevailing wisdom, providing a link in the middle of a section of text benefits the reader. Like the footnote, it can reveal a source, explain a term, or provide a deeper excursion into a given topic. For example, if you link the “<a href="http://www.army.mil/botb/">Battle of the Bulge,</a>” your reader presumes that by clicking on the link, there will be some web page waiting that expounds on that topic. <br /><br />But the reader doesn’t necessarily know where the link leads. Wikipedia, maybe? Or some World War II site? Placing the cursor over the link brings up the URL code at the bottom of the window, and right-clicking it can open it in a separate window for later perusal. <br /><br />Nicolas Carr, in his recent book, <i>The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brain,</i> argues that links embedded in running text interrupt the flow of thought. Somewhere in the back of his brain the reader must make a few judgments: Where will this link take me? Should I make the jump now or come back later? Should I skip it altogether? <br /><br />These judgments must be added to the cognitive load of reading the passage itself. It’s like trying to read while someone is tugging on your sleeve. Carr argues that these competing thoughts interfere with comprehension. Even worse, if the reader actually follows the links, there’s a risk of losing him entirely.<br /><br />One solution to this problem is to resist linking until the end, and then to present an array of choices, like doors at the end of a hallway. That way the reader can sustain attention for the full written piece without distraction. <br /><br />In a web essay, Carr experiments with placing all his links at the end. <br /><br />Carr make an interesting point. Why not link at the end of a piece? The reader can recall the key concepts or names when he or she sees them again in the endlinks. Because endlinks don’t need to fit into the syntax of a sentence, they can be composed to suggest not only the topic but the destination. For example, instead of “Battle of the Bulge,” the endlink can read: “Battle of the Bulge on U.S. Army's Official Site.”<br /><br />Carr’s argument won me over—but not completely. You may have noticed I have generally shifted my linking strategy, putting them mostly at the end. <br /><br />There’s no need to be a purist. Sometimes you might want the reader to head out through a side door, and that a kind of channel-surf-skim-reading style is one of the pleasures of the Internet. Not all pieces of writing are long rational expositions requiring uninterrupted concentration. And, as several people pointed out in the comments after Mr. Carr’s essay, embedded links can signal the credibility of the writer’s source material, something that a reader might want to establish before the end. <br /><br />What link-placement strategy do you prefer? Please let me know in the comments.<br />--------<br />NOTES and ENDLINKS<br />1. Traditional footnotes aren’t really possible on a Web page, since the “page” is scalable and infinitely long; therefore, on a computer, they’re all really endnotes.<br />2. Amazon’s Kindle handles endnotes by following the word with an asterisk. That asterisk links within the e-book database to the relevant note.<br /><br />LINKS<br /><a href="http://www.army.mil/botb/">Battle of the Bulge on U.S. Army's official site</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge">Battle of the Bulge on Wikipedia</a><br /><a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html">Chicago Manual of Style Online (a subscription service with a free trial)</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393072223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296055951&sr=1-1"><i>The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brain</i> on Amazon</a><br /><a href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1224003">"Cognitive Load in Hypertext Reading: A Review." by DeStefano and LeFevre, Carleton U.</a><br /><a href="http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2010/05/experiments_in.php">Nicolas Carr’s Blog Post: "Experiments in Delinkification"</a> (May 31, 2010)<br /><a href="http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2010/06/03/arguing-against-links-are-they-distracting-counterproductive-and-anti-intellectual/">The Scholarly Kitten blog: "Arguing Against Links"</a><br /><a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/links_in_text.php">ReadWriteWeb: "The Case Against Links" </a>

Hyperlink Placement

In the world of print, you can attract attention to a word by placing it in bold face or italics . Or you can underline it. Or you can put...

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Graduation Clichés

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfgRXn-DKG7W5Gu4Bv5Wk_UNs9ktzn_I4boASkAhCASK740B5bPnYpjNIoVHjMyCmn0m4qbTdgO9uUKRvakB5F_1T1ooX-qW9mcqbPecLRtFmfttM-vKBo3JSeRlY5YGv0AtfzgSxzMqv/s1600/Graduate.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472662983387457378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfgRXn-DKG7W5Gu4Bv5Wk_UNs9ktzn_I4boASkAhCASK740B5bPnYpjNIoVHjMyCmn0m4qbTdgO9uUKRvakB5F_1T1ooX-qW9mcqbPecLRtFmfttM-vKBo3JSeRlY5YGv0AtfzgSxzMqv/s400/Graduate.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 376px; height: 400px;" /></a>Note to commencement speakers: There are a few lines you might want to delete from your speeches. They’re nice sentiments, but we’ve heard them too many times already.<br /><br />“I want to congratulate each of you on your journey.”<br /><br />“Each of you has incredible talents.”<br /><br />“This isn’t an end, but rather a beginning.”<br /><br />“Always follow your passion.”

Graduation Clichés

Note to commencement speakers: There are a few lines you might want to delete from your speeches. They’re nice sentiments, but we’ve heard t...

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"Genesis" Exhibition Opens Tomorrow

Thursday evening at 7:30 the art museum of the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire will debut a <a href="www.uwec.edu/art/foster">new exhibit</a> of the work of five author/illustrators.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk9xGVQ0lCKEL3iCDOXeKXlwoKnOq9K32t2_r86DtxdiyIoonLak37y_19RwxxCnl2wWKFcVJkxZqPzImnQQGnMXRvJg6WEpETMWYXFr7UWCh0zPPZXhFK4ldlSj7_zRNH7Wmk4o01N5E/s1600-h/arrival1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431489779252901986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk9xGVQ0lCKEL3iCDOXeKXlwoKnOq9K32t2_r86DtxdiyIoonLak37y_19RwxxCnl2wWKFcVJkxZqPzImnQQGnMXRvJg6WEpETMWYXFr7UWCh0zPPZXhFK4ldlSj7_zRNH7Wmk4o01N5E/s400/arrival1.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>The featured artists include Shaun Tan (The Arrival, above), William Joyce (Rolie Polie Olie and Dinosaur Bob), David Wiesner (Flotsam, Tuesday), Adam Rex (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich), and me. I’ll have ten pieces in the show, all from Dinotopia, including several preliminary sketches, though unfortunately I will not be able to attend. Scroll down for more info.<br /><br />Here’s my introductory essay for the catalog:<br /><br />Many years ago, on the way to a camping trip to Maine with my wife and two young sons, I purchased a secondhand copy of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I read the book aloud to my family each night by the flickering light of a kerosene lantern. In the blackness beyond the curtains of our tent we could hear the muffled roar of the rocks holding firm against the breakers.<br /><br />Pyle, the father figure of American author-illustrators, had us completely in his spell. His words and pictures transported us from the stormy coast of America to a sun-dappled England that he conjured completely from his imagination (he never made the trip there). It made perfect sense that the same hand created both the ornate pen pictures and the stately and intricate language. The two wellsprings of imagination merged in our heads as we absorbed each chapter. <br /><br />The people represented in this exhibition all share Pyle’s love of both writing and picture-making as a kind of stereoscopic creative vision. One kind of vision involves lines and shapes and colors. The other mode of expression encompasses the realm of smell, touch, sound, dialog, and sequence. <br /><br />Since each single storybook is the product of a single mind, it has a unity of effect often missing from author/artist collaborations. In Dinosaur Bob, William Joyce’s visual experiments in scale fits perfectly with extravagant phrases like “two peanut-butter-and-bologna sandwiches and 400 double Dutch chocolate cakes.”<br /><br />Adam Rex, in his Frankenstein books, revises the way we think words and pictures should sit on the page. He switches from typeset lines of text to his own hand-lettering, splashing word bubbles and plastering headlines across the layouts with a magician’s virtuosity.<br /><br />Two of the creators in this exhibition challenge our assumptions about what it means to be a writer, for some of their stories are presented entirely without words. When Shaun Tan created his haunting and lyrical bestseller The Arrival, he first envisioned the whole story in pantomime with the help of friends, who acted out the roles on videotape. The story recounts the experience of an immigrant, baffled by unknown scripts and unfamiliar customs. Part of the power of the presentation comes from its reserve, its silence and its grayness.<br /><br />David Wiesner’s work in the wordless realm includes Tuesday, Sector 7, Free Fall, and Flotsam, all of which deftly unfold their narratives around increasingly mind-expanding revelations, rendered in the precise but unforgiving medium of watercolor.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpW4FEudGhPoVyFa-5Y0Vi1X89z8eJrqinfz1NXmhaET6FBZ-bXK2OdlniBIR4f3QfqEAXPL8gS-BOTT789y9OTglIInJDiZ6da2o0njXVdoNItY7SEhKHIy2Ocj0KjhRuPMZUal63Z5dy/s1600-h/Stinktooth+Running.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431488916636902450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpW4FEudGhPoVyFa-5Y0Vi1X89z8eJrqinfz1NXmhaET6FBZ-bXK2OdlniBIR4f3QfqEAXPL8gS-BOTT789y9OTglIInJDiZ6da2o0njXVdoNItY7SEhKHIy2Ocj0KjhRuPMZUal63Z5dy/s400/Stinktooth+Running.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 249px;" /></a>People often ask each of us auteurs: “Which came first, the story or the pictures?” In my case, the two arrived together, like fraternal twins born squabbling and conspiring. Throughout the creative process of developing Dinotopia, a sketch begets a name, an outline begets a storyboard, and a painting begets a piece of dialog. It’s not as if story is finished first, as some suppose, and then I put on another hat and do the pictures. The two activities enrich each other all along the way. <br /><br />That’s why I think all authors should be encouraged to draw, and all artists should be encouraged to write. Howard Pyle, in his famous summer classes in the Brandywine valley, insisted that his art students spend part of their time writing. I would almost rather look at Rudyard Kipling’s drawings from Just So Stories, or J.R.R. Tolkien’s portrayals of Middle Earth, than see the work of others who tried to climb inside their heads.<br /><br />The two modes of expression are different only in their outward form, not in their source. They both derive from the same deep creative center. Hopefully they touch the reader at the same place. A picture book, whether it has words or not, is an attempt to conjure a half-remembered dream. Those dreams arise from a place in us too deep for either pictures or words.<br /><br />The images in this exhibition, and the books from which they’re taken, escort us to the rocky shoreline of our imagination, where waves roll in from far storms and sunny kingdoms.<br />--------<br />Genesis • Jan. 28 to Feb. 18, with an opening reception on Jan. 28 at 7:30pm • Foster Gallery, Hass Fine Arts building, UWEC campus • FREE • all ages • 836-2328 • <a href="www.uwec.edu/art/foster">Website</a>

"Genesis" Exhibition Opens Tomorrow

Thursday evening at 7:30 the art museum of the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire will debut a new exhibit of the work of five author/il...

Read more »

Verne’s Right Half

Jules Verne’s manuscripts were written in longhand on the left half of the page. The right half was reserved for other purposes.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt4XODnlWRD1C0laQqZxV0V0gtATUaCsJr6oZg_4IZ_sAXDBg6xHSiIpRZ8d-VvkWnvroIZDQMmxi-sMv0zgeW4uDKFsY5G9t-jkE0xzEsdYdqosAwqZTbPj7IwgZANOAV4WeCe0wHOTr/s1600-h/Verne.Manuscripts.sm.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429973882529703250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt4XODnlWRD1C0laQqZxV0V0gtATUaCsJr6oZg_4IZ_sAXDBg6xHSiIpRZ8d-VvkWnvroIZDQMmxi-sMv0zgeW4uDKFsY5G9t-jkE0xzEsdYdqosAwqZTbPj7IwgZANOAV4WeCe0wHOTr/s400/Verne.Manuscripts.sm.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 400px;" /></a>His publisher, Jules Hetzel sometimes wrote comments in the right margin, said Agnes Marcetteau, director of the Jules Verne Museum in Nantes, France.<br />The original manuscript for Paris in the 20th Century, which is kept in the city library, showed angry scribbling from the publisher. <br /><br />“Unpleasant word,” wrote Hetzel. “Wrongly done. Especially for a start.” Another time the publisher commented, “No one will ever believe what you write.” <br /><br />At one point Verne described a medical dissection in gory detail. “It is out of the question. It is shocking,” complained the publisher. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPP9Z62Y_TjmOyUc4ZSdbKMAYVNH5VEBIjeIruhhigSOgU9X3mCKkqlEwOgjhA3r6cXAf_X7ofIGd9iyjS7HkbLDk-IDvpOszzAZ-2X85ShC9Rc9GCMsSY192JeJhOIGGl23cphj5HJFY/s1600-h/Verne.sm.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429973886445623106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPP9Z62Y_TjmOyUc4ZSdbKMAYVNH5VEBIjeIruhhigSOgU9X3mCKkqlEwOgjhA3r6cXAf_X7ofIGd9iyjS7HkbLDk-IDvpOszzAZ-2X85ShC9Rc9GCMsSY192JeJhOIGGl23cphj5HJFY/s400/Verne.sm.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" /></a>Ms. Marcetteau gently turned the pages of precious manuscripts for <span style="font-style:italic;">Mysterious Island</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">From the Earth to the Moon.</span> The right margin was full of corrections, comments, diagrams, and mathematical calculations. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Around the World in 80 Days </span>required careful reckoning, because the story was released in serial form. The count of the mileage and the tally of days fills the right margin. It all had to come out right for the story to work.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nantes.fr/julesverne/acc_5.htm">Jules Verne Museum</a>

Verne’s Right Half

Jules Verne’s manuscripts were written in longhand on the left half of the page. The right half was reserved for other purposes. His publish...

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Selling Out

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEdc5QyEU77S0IOPOnVvRfK7SfEyu12SHMrqtzVAwZluzDSX4I9wyLeKmEvY7h-qQSYpqlq32keOgNlcNNWBd44iPPg3Mbck_d6283FjjArk_nKgmaCTfnIg_OIewfRHyK4bqjnHdIDdE/s1600-h/Selling.Out.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425558277114652098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEdc5QyEU77S0IOPOnVvRfK7SfEyu12SHMrqtzVAwZluzDSX4I9wyLeKmEvY7h-qQSYpqlq32keOgNlcNNWBd44iPPg3Mbck_d6283FjjArk_nKgmaCTfnIg_OIewfRHyK4bqjnHdIDdE/s400/Selling.Out.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" /></a><br /><br />An art student named Stephen raised the question, “What is selling out?” He said the word has come up in a lot of his discussions, and he’s heard it bandied about in creative fields.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Stephen asks:</span><br /><blockquote>1. Is it someone who very overtly markets themselves? Because many of us have blogs that we direct others to.<br /><br />2. Is it someone who sacrifices their artistic instincts to make someone else happy? Because most people with clients do that.<br /><br />3. Or is it just a term we toss at people who have the success that we'd like but don't have? Because that's not honest criticism, that's just jealousy.<br /> </blockquote><br /><br />Thanks, Stephen! Here are some of my own questions and an attempt at an answer:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">More questions:</span><br />Another way to think about your question is, what kinds of artist is the most removed from being a sell-out? An independently wealthy amateur? An artist drawing in a sketchbook that no one else will see? A child who is drawing for the pure love of it? A modestly successful artist who is misunderstood and undiscovered? A university art professor? <br /><br />Is personal vision incompatible with commercial success? Is there another way to arrange a system of patronage to keep artists from having to compromise expression? <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Some thoughts:</span><br />In the past there has been state support for the arts. And there have been art-oriented popes, or enlightened patrons, but that’s more of a rarity now. Let’s face it: artists who have to please politicians, popes, or patrons have to make compromises, too. So like it or not, apart from people who do art for the pure love of it, the commercial marketplace is where most American art has to live or die. <br /><br />I think it’s reasonable for any artist to want to reach a wide audience, because communication is an important part of art. And it’s reasonable to want to be compensated by the people who enjoy the work. It is wrong to assume that something is automatically bad because it’s popular. But if marketing considerations begin to drive the process, something is worthwhile is lost.<br /><br />I believe that one kind of art isn’t any purer than another. There’s original, daring work in every category: gallery landscapes, portraits, still lifes, figure work, illustration, concept art, animation, comics, game art, packaging design, and logo design. Some of the most creative filmmaking is in the 30-second TV ad spot. And in every one of those categories there’s hack work manufactured with the sole purpose to please a supposed market. <br /><br />Any kind of work can meet the demands of a crass client and still be deeply inspired: look at Mozart’s Requiem, for example. (He was paid by an anonymous patron who wanted to pass it off as his own work). Mozart died in the process, but delivered some of the greatest music of all time.<br /><br />Ironically, you have to be gifted with a personal vision to be commercially successful. Just trying to make a calculated product to make money only leads to hack work that doesn’t sell. Stuff that’s original and daring is often is very successful and remunerative.<br /><br />So, Stephen, I’d say you should ignore people who talk about selling out. Do the kind of art you love. If you make money doing it, more power to you. If not, that’s OK too, just do your best stuff, even for what may seem the lowliest commission, and never do something just because you think someone else is going to like it. <br /><br />Regarding comments: For this topic, I’d suggest that we don’t mention names of any living artists (You can talk about your own experience, of course). Corporations and deceased artists are fair game.

Selling Out

An art student named Stephen raised the question, “What is selling out?” He said the word has come up in a lot of his discussions, and he’s ...

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Art By Committe: Cinderella

It’s the 15th of December, and that means it's time for our group sketch game called "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/search/label/Art%20By%20Committee">Art by Committee</a>." This month it was the Business Card Challenge. Your job was to start with a real business card (taken off a bulletin board 25 years ago) and figure out who it belongs to.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBLCf4OhjgxlfJ2RmCKPzdsl1YeOGB6KhoTOWVFw12K8kP8BOkmM44Www69nOzB_e7SbP9JOFRVRA3DSjJBx7Jo1k5AYm0G20W2RNm-6Ww3mSBFW_4YxQ8DcDGnuU2-kLxffh4J6BD1nS/s1600-h/Cinderella.vsm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415416729444488882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBLCf4OhjgxlfJ2RmCKPzdsl1YeOGB6KhoTOWVFw12K8kP8BOkmM44Www69nOzB_e7SbP9JOFRVRA3DSjJBx7Jo1k5AYm0G20W2RNm-6Ww3mSBFW_4YxQ8DcDGnuU2-kLxffh4J6BD1nS/s400/Cinderella.vsm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 249px;" /></a>The Cinderella maid service card sparked some creative character studies. What really happened after the fairy tale ended? Scroll down and find out, and be sure to follow the links to the artists' sites to learn more.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNF6oxhVsHmM4Fef266faA8toJhXUpcWHIvoUzN1ktaX3s2YmN-Un2HmBbSNMzVk-7sky35hyZoraHNQ3TMY7PhDZalyYLn9fQUJOZg1qtgppQagPmpTbsX6W3YShthMcDOHkz3s6nEg0V/s1600-h/Susan_adsett_ABC.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417219146155474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNF6oxhVsHmM4Fef266faA8toJhXUpcWHIvoUzN1ktaX3s2YmN-Un2HmBbSNMzVk-7sky35hyZoraHNQ3TMY7PhDZalyYLn9fQUJOZg1qtgppQagPmpTbsX6W3YShthMcDOHkz3s6nEg0V/s400/Susan_adsett_ABC.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 400px;" /></a>Susan Adsett<br /><a href="http://www.theeverythingproject.com/2009/12/somedays.html">Blog</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4v6fbm6jMulOKZyixXv4kWCLY1UuapyM23zA7O4cD-JUe4-zTVX0PrE6GNH9HhL2lR88t5pAsxzG4D-bw98CkmOKcN_53Bulj0NiHCI0thV3UNZ10B0ilaCFY9HqSqDGX-HHeNCTBZBvL/s1600-h/mario_zara.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415416740095696626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4v6fbm6jMulOKZyixXv4kWCLY1UuapyM23zA7O4cD-JUe4-zTVX0PrE6GNH9HhL2lR88t5pAsxzG4D-bw98CkmOKcN_53Bulj0NiHCI0thV3UNZ10B0ilaCFY9HqSqDGX-HHeNCTBZBvL/s400/mario_zara.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" /></a>Mario Zara<br /><a href="http://mariozara.blogspot.com/2009/12/maid-service.html">Blog </a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gGkhaYSU_tPzArsnbBQkagpy4vKBedPOdrkeDpUQivT0Eniqc3DQLGZFUsSKrpGBO4_qm79hJTWdmMpVa8HK2ag3_B6-D0M_fBDrEi0Fx4Qf4sJXPB8kiLrlBjTnfEaZnzL2NS1xxskw/s1600-h/Robin.A.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417211275641570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gGkhaYSU_tPzArsnbBQkagpy4vKBedPOdrkeDpUQivT0Eniqc3DQLGZFUsSKrpGBO4_qm79hJTWdmMpVa8HK2ag3_B6-D0M_fBDrEi0Fx4Qf4sJXPB8kiLrlBjTnfEaZnzL2NS1xxskw/s400/Robin.A.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 193px; height: 400px;" /></a>Robin A.<br /><a href="http://www.glowinthedarkpictures.com">Website</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFauX5Bhthiqd7Mjv2g2awwKTQoHpL_NMxDJqXGk5sGIN8J8M3sPYbEo8RhlSR8CkO-MwA9lr0T0hygpwEIAKu0g0tCt1qf33zunGCtiZR2sXn6YlbTUQEn0tYs5ZDvyE6uJQHstJY9Yg/s1600-h/AndyWales.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415416722519801218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFauX5Bhthiqd7Mjv2g2awwKTQoHpL_NMxDJqXGk5sGIN8J8M3sPYbEo8RhlSR8CkO-MwA9lr0T0hygpwEIAKu0g0tCt1qf33zunGCtiZR2sXn6YlbTUQEn0tYs5ZDvyE6uJQHstJY9Yg/s400/AndyWales.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 271px; height: 400px;" /></a>Andy Wales<br /><a href="http://andrewwales.blogspot.com/2009/12/abc-25-cinderella-story.html">Blog,</a> with the full comic story <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHASoMoWqWkPa8iA99GrLzRv1FOA65N5CfiSMi6mtHPBIG-gdoTfY39agKip_iK8LU8mbLrx8GHKwPv46QTuwOv1aqdmU1CvkxkXzNydI0-mWrhqFkx5xLPbADx1Lbb1eWTr4yshDOSRwU/s1600-h/MeiYiChun.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417045759289042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHASoMoWqWkPa8iA99GrLzRv1FOA65N5CfiSMi6mtHPBIG-gdoTfY39agKip_iK8LU8mbLrx8GHKwPv46QTuwOv1aqdmU1CvkxkXzNydI0-mWrhqFkx5xLPbADx1Lbb1eWTr4yshDOSRwU/s320/MeiYiChun.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" /></a>Mei-Yi Chun<br /><a href="http://pages.cthome.net/mychun/ABC15.html">Website</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XRybvVTx7eqp_Qq7bNPrlaP3RD93o_HMeMVWK2CBb1GyLoYTznegWTLwvUgvgP6iOnE9LamepCjGYNodTEgk1Ml4b4BvYclt9oIpjcH46oufw6EXKgUfhkyoF0lQt75_xHiGdUueCSfe/s1600-h/cinderella+maid-service_RobertaBairdsmall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415416735622606850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XRybvVTx7eqp_Qq7bNPrlaP3RD93o_HMeMVWK2CBb1GyLoYTznegWTLwvUgvgP6iOnE9LamepCjGYNodTEgk1Ml4b4BvYclt9oIpjcH46oufw6EXKgUfhkyoF0lQt75_xHiGdUueCSfe/s400/cinderella+maid-service_RobertaBairdsmall.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 335px; height: 400px;" /></a>Roberta Baird<br /><a href="http://www.robertabaird.com/blog/index.php/2009/12/12/art-by-committee-cinderella-maid-service/">Blog</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOC_laG0VzBSvvX4cNj3XWIB5-yAlM5vbJGPFO0rdMYvjjGLRZ0qCyIkSDXKHVjbcNhj-DPU_2VvPY2F-1M22x9fuhswsKiQuM6puZ-rYON7fqn0PkYWH1QUMmxt4g_pMjKKkqqFwZ752/s1600-h/Cinderella's+Maid+Service+(Ian+G+Mason+400px).jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417037778292674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOC_laG0VzBSvvX4cNj3XWIB5-yAlM5vbJGPFO0rdMYvjjGLRZ0qCyIkSDXKHVjbcNhj-DPU_2VvPY2F-1M22x9fuhswsKiQuM6puZ-rYON7fqn0PkYWH1QUMmxt4g_pMjKKkqqFwZ752/s320/Cinderella's+Maid+Service+(Ian+G+Mason+400px).jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 320px;" /></a>Ian Garrick Mason <br /><a href="http://www.iangarrickmason.com/">Blog</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJftHgR7EkWTI1NVPFQDTMPpvy5uqLgZIjkbQCnP3it6X7ZTAYbtgmyEh5xNkLU7MZnZ75R5vmdViAt7-uAvSjoOhbgYvXAcWKeVhb9KooU5HXBXiVC58E8HFcBq4o_qgVGUsSSalcJrX/s1600-h/georgesemionov.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417043945948194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJftHgR7EkWTI1NVPFQDTMPpvy5uqLgZIjkbQCnP3it6X7ZTAYbtgmyEh5xNkLU7MZnZ75R5vmdViAt7-uAvSjoOhbgYvXAcWKeVhb9KooU5HXBXiVC58E8HFcBq4o_qgVGUsSSalcJrX/s320/georgesemionov.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" /></a>George Semionov<br /><a href="http://geos.cghub.com/">Website</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltwE85NhfGRFyx7_cZZP4cY8P95yLftg-3fUfxO7_TeusxpZz4fjuUdafmksGmtQMUtzMV5wtm-lzdVK3ly-jAFfpTE75PpYw1fS7Yx_XWUPIsoUTxKLeQQagLFG1qXmHr7czB9JyOLY4/s1600-h/Paul-Bozzo-Final_MaidService.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415417043991819970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltwE85NhfGRFyx7_cZZP4cY8P95yLftg-3fUfxO7_TeusxpZz4fjuUdafmksGmtQMUtzMV5wtm-lzdVK3ly-jAFfpTE75PpYw1fS7Yx_XWUPIsoUTxKLeQQagLFG1qXmHr7czB9JyOLY4/s320/Paul-Bozzo-Final_MaidService.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 320px;" /></a>Paul Bozzo<br /><a href="http://bozzoart.blogspot.com/">Blog</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vs4Qxwgp3eBXSrnc5qIfeNKkIGS5U2TxSK0_ZL0ZBZ-YpLl6hXHhEgpjphNv9zV4JCaCdkI9Y9M_GUzPewEb6Ffbyi9xwRTr49nyeqcic4TQe2H634RNvzK7LhyBjf5_q63ChjnvRRHU/s1600-h/jin_lee.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415416737490778674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vs4Qxwgp3eBXSrnc5qIfeNKkIGS5U2TxSK0_ZL0ZBZ-YpLl6hXHhEgpjphNv9zV4JCaCdkI9Y9M_GUzPewEb6Ffbyi9xwRTr49nyeqcic4TQe2H634RNvzK7LhyBjf5_q63ChjnvRRHU/s400/jin_lee.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 400px;" /></a>Jin Lee<br /><a href="http://thejinlee.com/blog/blog.html">Blog</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBBkHIZq12foF_mEq_veujbyJi6w_UEykJCU2-TNeOGR3aPJBPz_D4FpptNb1hpgGGZ7ZhoDpryifXaOOlXL11u_mW4zhucXpgEJG9BRc6zQsSfAjHPgBMyohfpgQjSB_0jH4ZgnFJExN/s1600-h/Conversation.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415419668791800722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBBkHIZq12foF_mEq_veujbyJi6w_UEykJCU2-TNeOGR3aPJBPz_D4FpptNb1hpgGGZ7ZhoDpryifXaOOlXL11u_mW4zhucXpgEJG9BRc6zQsSfAjHPgBMyohfpgQjSB_0jH4ZgnFJExN/s400/Conversation.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 400px;" /></a>For next month, here's an actual dialog from a science fiction novel manuscript. Your job is to illustrate who is talking and by what means. <br /><br />Have fun! Please scale your JPG to 400 pixels across and compress it as much as possible. Title it with your name, send it to: jgurneyart(at)yahoo.com, subject line ABC. Please let me know in your email the full URL of the link to a larger image or your blog or website so people can see your image at full size and learn more about your other work. Please have your entries in by the 12th of January. I'll post the results January 15.

Art By Committe: Cinderella

It’s the 15th of December, and that means it's time for our group sketch game called " Art by Committee ." This month it was t...

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Artist’s Statement Generator

Next time your gallery dealer asks you for an Artist’s Statement, don’t despair. Instead of sweating over writing one yourself, just use this all-purpose Artist’s Statement Generator. <br /><br />It’s easy! Choose a line from Column 1, a line from Column 2, and a line from Column 3, stick ‘em together, and you’ll mystify the best of them. <br /><br />"My recent work is:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Column 1</span><br />An exploration of the irreducible act of mark-making...<br />An investigation of the mimetic process...<br />An excavation of the inheritance of the past...<br />A disquisition on our shared narratives... <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Column 2</span><br />...which seeks to unravel the threads of visual discourse <br />...which delves into the connectedness of the real and the abstract<br />...which re-encodes ambiguity and authenticity<br />...which reveals the undercurrents of ritual <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Column 3</span><br />...by creating a conversation between color and texture."<br />...by disjunctively animating it through a process of mimicry." <br />...by mediating clichés through a retro-nostalgic lens."<br />...by alluding to tropes of the built environment."

Artist’s Statement Generator

Next time your gallery dealer asks you for an Artist’s Statement, don’t despair. Instead of sweating over writing one yourself, just use thi...

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100 Free Audio Books

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobjVvB7md4hRIiB0AnBFZ49kDa1riY9vyPGepP9zQrfQn9pei36HR7BVjLy5T162P7V0s-s5NKnRNZrno9GdncSQd86M-jeppWy-ZYo8dscHTmtsXsli5Mp1T4zaEXIdQ-UW3ETdSGXkP/s1600/Audio_for_Artists.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405462866598754402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobjVvB7md4hRIiB0AnBFZ49kDa1riY9vyPGepP9zQrfQn9pei36HR7BVjLy5T162P7V0s-s5NKnRNZrno9GdncSQd86M-jeppWy-ZYo8dscHTmtsXsli5Mp1T4zaEXIdQ-UW3ETdSGXkP/s320/Audio_for_Artists.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 315px;" /></a><br />Strap on your earbuds and take a journey while you're painting or drawing. Here's a link to titles like <a href="http://librivox.org/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-by-lewis-carroll/">Alice in Wonderland</a>, <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28807">The Story of My Life by Helen Keller</a>, and <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9552">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a>.<br /><br />Check out the full list of the "100 Free Audio Books You Should Have Read By Now" at <a href="http://onlinedegreeprograms.org/blog/2009/100-free-audio-books-you-should-have-read-by-now/">Free Audio Books</a>. Thanks, Carol!<br /><br />Related previous post: "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/08/music-while-painting.html">Music While Painting</a>," with 52 comments on what people like to listen to.

100 Free Audio Books

Strap on your earbuds and take a journey while you're painting or drawing. Here's a link to titles like Alice in Wonderland , The St...

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How to Get Published

A blog reader recently posed this question, and agreed to let me answer it here:<br /><blockquote><br />“I have a book that I'm thinking about publishing. My friends and I worked on the book before I graduated and it's not 100% complete by any means, but I already have a mock up version of the book done and was wondering how I would approach publishers and pitch them the idea. Which publishers should I be looking at? Anybody that I should talk to in particular for something like this?”</blockquote><br /><br />This question comes up a lot. Let me offer a few quick answers and some links for more information.<br /><br />1. I assume you mean an illustrated book. If it’s a short picture book, write the whole manuscript. Prepare a detailed dummy or storyboard, and a half dozen sample pieces of art. If it’s a longer book, like an illustrated novel, you can submit a sample chapter, an outline, and sample artwork. Make sure it’s really good. Join a local writer’s group to get feedback. Also, in your case, before you go any farther, work out on paper your business relationship with your collaborators.<br /><br />2. Do some research about the publishers who have already published books similar to the one you’re conceiving. Start your approach there. Get the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/2010-Writers-Market-Deluxe-Online/dp/1582975809/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257855338&sr=1-1">Writer’s Market</a> books and check publisher’s websites for submission guidelines. <br /><br />3. Usually you should send a very well-written query letter to see if a publisher wants to review your materials. Try to target your query letter to a specific editor, and find out what that editor is likely to buy. You can often find out editor's names in the dedications or acknowledgments of published books. <br /><br />4. If you get a positive reply, then you can submit your idea. Follow the publisher's guidelines closely. You don’t necessarily need an agent, but you’ll need advice or help on how to negotiate the contract at least.<br /><br />I recommend joining a local chapter of SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They’re a helpful group who can answer any question that may come up about the submission process. The Author’s Guild is another helpful professional organization, but they only allow members who have published books or who have a contract in hand.<br /><br />One other request: please don’t send ideas to me to look at. I honestly don’t have time, nor do I have any connections that can help you. But I wish you good luck! Never give up.<br />-------------<br /><a href="http://www.scbwi.org/">SCBWI website</a> with <a href="http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Top-10-FAQs">frequently asked questions</a> about getting a book published. <br />Another SCBWI page on <a href="http://www.scbwisocal.org/kitetales/query.htm">query letters</a>. <br />Authors Guild<a href="http://www.authorsguild.org/"> website</a>.

How to Get Published

A blog reader recently posed this question, and agreed to let me answer it here: “I have a book that I'm thinking about publishing. My ...

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Moebius and Miyazaki

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraud">Moebius </a>(Jean Giraud) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki">Hayao Miyazaki</a> are two of the faces that would be carved in the Mount Rushmore of fantasy comics and animation.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2L0YgdIpXas&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2L0YgdIpXas&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />So it's kind of a treat to watch them as they admire each other across the gulf of language. Mr. Miyazaki has the take-home lines:<br /><br />"I believe one's view of the world and one's technique are indivisible. As far as technique is concerned, we basically use the method learned from European painting, which revolves around light and dimension," and then he goes on to explain that his team discovered unexpected resources as it found its own voice with Japanese subjects like <span style="font-style:italic;">Spirited Away</span>. Mr. Miyazaki continues:<br /><blockquote><br />"The 21st Century is a tricky time. Our future isn't clear. We need to re-examine many things we've taken for granted, whether it's common sense or our way of thinking. We need to reconsider each norm in the field of entertainment and children's films, too. We must question the format we've been following. You can't just create a baddie from a mould, then beat him. We must not make a film in the easy way."<br /></blockquote><br />About his respect for his audience, Mr. Miyazaki says:<br /><br /><blockquote>"Inside me I have negativity, despair, or hopelessness; in fact a lot of hopelessness and pessimism. But I don't feel like expressing it in my films, which children see. I'm more interested in what drives me to make a happy film or what makes me feel happy."<br /></blockquote>

Moebius and Miyazaki

Moebius (Jean Giraud) and Hayao Miyazaki are two of the faces that would be carved in the Mount Rushmore of fantasy comics and animation. S...

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Death of Print?

This month our Smithsonian magazine came wrapped in a paper sleeve that says “Go Green.”<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVu2TO2Nb3gQhpB5c05Tu992nIZeLcTZX2gW-K2LRG9Lk7-LyrhqpcJtqWnbSQSxknkAcOwr7YTM_MzWZhyphenhyphen6PgGPHucf1g1XwoAdFTLD16be1sKZmtFHtvyuo8FooklXYD3fOSnbz7_0/s1600-h/Smithsonian.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373814123104305282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVu2TO2Nb3gQhpB5c05Tu992nIZeLcTZX2gW-K2LRG9Lk7-LyrhqpcJtqWnbSQSxknkAcOwr7YTM_MzWZhyphenhyphen6PgGPHucf1g1XwoAdFTLD16be1sKZmtFHtvyuo8FooklXYD3fOSnbz7_0/s400/Smithsonian.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 295px; height: 400px;" /></a>The marketing copy promises that any subscriber willing to quit getting the magazine and instead switch to a digital version will receive TWO FREE ISSUES.<br /><br />The copywriters came up with nine reasons to dump the paper option:<br />1. There are those two free print issues.<br />2. Faster delivery than the print version.<br />3. Download anytime.<br />4. Less paper clutter. (Have they seen my coffee table?)<br />5. Adjustable font size for easy reading.<br />6. Advanced search capabilities.<br />7. Easy access to Web goodies.<br />8. Easy to search, share, and save (sounds like #6 again).<br />9. Help the environment.<br /><br />I sympathize with the venerable Smithsonian, one of the best magazines out there. Surely they’re facing the same financial crunch every magazine is dealing with: declining advertising, declining subscribers, and rising print and distribution costs.<br /><br />But it makes me wonder. Is Smithsonian’s print-to-digital special offer one we’ll see repeated at other magazines? Is this just a one-time move to siphon off screen-friendly subscribers, or part of a wider strategy to phase out the print version entirely? (Their <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/contact-us/digital-mag-faq.html">FAQs</a> don't say). Do those nine incentives make you want to switch away from paper?<br />--------<br />The Smithsonian’s <a href="http://www.smithsonian.com/godigital">GoGreen campaign </a><br />Sample digital issue,<a href="http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416091491&o=ext"> link.</a>

Death of Print?

This month our Smithsonian magazine came wrapped in a paper sleeve that says “Go Green.” The marketing copy promises that any subscriber wil...

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Draughtsman

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVljxA_jkulu1So5gkuShCJZfloNRzZNNjtYBERcpIPx2x4ipxZ2GrqXTtoUpr-UmthnvKllT2mdGS_NroGN6PUjvGpweWcJR6s03GxvKQg4TuIxIR0FINzF1mLQVsnsBnVi0gnB0XeU/s1600-h/sargent327.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373125948840443570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVljxA_jkulu1So5gkuShCJZfloNRzZNNjtYBERcpIPx2x4ipxZ2GrqXTtoUpr-UmthnvKllT2mdGS_NroGN6PUjvGpweWcJR6s03GxvKQg4TuIxIR0FINzF1mLQVsnsBnVi0gnB0XeU/s400/sargent327.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 311px;" /></a><br />English has perfectly good words to describe a "painter," "sculptor," or "animator." Why don't we have an ordinary word for someone who draws? <br /><br />(By the way, these hands are by the supreme drawdiddler John Sargent.)

Draughtsman

English has perfectly good words to describe a "painter," "sculptor," or "animator." Why don't we have an ...

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G.P. (Golden Palm)

The letters “G.P.” are hidden in many of my science fiction paperback covers from the 1980s. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8ISRs6ZVlfIhmOu4lGD_rlF7NB7CNAec3ZB4cPu_7riDrl3jaXLu5iFF6EUYFp8ccE_OlF9xbWe3cTkSpE7d8ikz3orCfTGPMGtI1xgVnszHPdv4oEJ90y_uVQKJevIyY1EXnPZ9Q4g/s1600-h/Gurney.GP.Montage.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335330148486072546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8ISRs6ZVlfIhmOu4lGD_rlF7NB7CNAec3ZB4cPu_7riDrl3jaXLu5iFF6EUYFp8ccE_OlF9xbWe3cTkSpE7d8ikz3orCfTGPMGtI1xgVnszHPdv4oEJ90y_uVQKJevIyY1EXnPZ9Q4g/s400/Gurney.GP.Montage.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" /></a>The letters stand for the Golden Palm, an apartment building that I shared with many other Art Center students. <br /><br />Many of them have gone on to become well known in comics, illustration, and painting. They include <a href="http://concrete.blogs.com/">Paul Chadwick (Concrete)</a>, <a href="http://www.brynbarnard.com/Home.html">Bryn Barnard (Writer, Illustrator, Muralist)</a>, <a href="http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.home.web.tk.HomeServlet">Thomas Kinkade (Painter of Light)</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Ryan">Ron Harris (Crash Ryan)</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0613082/">Alan Munro (Visual FX)</a>, <a href="http://verheiden.blogspot.com/">Mark Verheiden (Writer)</a>, and <a href="http://www.davidmattingly.com/">David Mattingly (Animorphs Illustrator)</a>. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmIZSvNumsh51OdZD2SOlR9FfN6iWdWaGwcfSViNgG5L6dcIUpWo9o8H5ZpEkjKAFdrlXAcmQUQPhmGel1bmypeE0w35hGGBBphSD5JkPGILwWrPW-8Kb5hF0DGQtTfBe9aICJwK2ra0/s1600-h/P1010015.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335331853085012882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmIZSvNumsh51OdZD2SOlR9FfN6iWdWaGwcfSViNgG5L6dcIUpWo9o8H5ZpEkjKAFdrlXAcmQUQPhmGel1bmypeE0w35hGGBBphSD5JkPGILwWrPW-8Kb5hF0DGQtTfBe9aICJwK2ra0/s320/P1010015.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 152px;" /></a><br />We all called ourselves “GP-ers,” and we got together for sketch groups, field trips to movies and museums, and art-themed potlucks. <br /><br />I’ll send a free Dinotopia map to the first person who correctly names all of the covers from which the details above are excerpted.

G.P. (Golden Palm)

The letters “G.P.” are hidden in many of my science fiction paperback covers from the 1980s. The letters stand for the Golden Palm, an apart...

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Hotel Continental, Tangier, Morocco

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFiZ16V5dl3XmUO_JyH0Zkfy2cVZ19wXb7s7j_-nq-DKCLKpAN6BaTfJXqaqkWHr_rDG2cJ1XNdqk5X3TKbz7TsidcON7FwIBj5m9xC3NVbqegEXAOt7X9BocKKm0PGvWaNBq5BWbY5o/s1600-h/Hotel.Continental.Tangier.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299667679822411890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFiZ16V5dl3XmUO_JyH0Zkfy2cVZ19wXb7s7j_-nq-DKCLKpAN6BaTfJXqaqkWHr_rDG2cJ1XNdqk5X3TKbz7TsidcON7FwIBj5m9xC3NVbqegEXAOt7X9BocKKm0PGvWaNBq5BWbY5o/s400/Hotel.Continental.Tangier.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 399px;" /></a><br /><br />The couryard of the Hotel Continental in Tangier, Morocco is wedged between the the busy harbor and the crowded medina. It is the “dream at the end of the world,” inhabited by the ghosts of the Beat expatriates. <br /><br />The American Paul Bowles lived there for 52 years. He attracted his eccentric friends William Burroughs, Truman Capote, Timothy Leary, and Jack Kerouac. Their wild adventures found their way into works like <span style="font-style:italic;">America </span>by Allen Ginsberg, <span style="font-style:italic;">Let It Come Down</span> by Paul Bowles, <span style="font-style:italic;">Desolation Angels</span> by Jack Kerouac, and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Thief's Journal</span> by Jean Genet.<br />------<br /><br />P.S. There's still time to guess the Mystery Artist (see post below and poll at left).

Hotel Continental, Tangier, Morocco

The couryard of the Hotel Continental in Tangier, Morocco is wedged between the the busy harbor and the crowded medina. It is the “dream at ...

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