Last week, my e-mail offered up a few updates on some topics that I thought might be of interest to the loyal readers of this space.
First up, the folks at E-Ville Press are hard at work finishing their next collaboration with Afterworks 2. From their blog, the following update:
“Afterworks 2 is going to be published by IMAGE comics! The full color book is well underway and here’s the rundown of awesome artists that will be contributing stories to the anthology.
Mark Andrews, Scott Morse, Brian Larsen, Peter Sohn, Nate Stanton, Anthony Wong, Jennifer Chang, Angus Maclane, Bill Presing, Ted Mathot, Rob Gibbs, Louis Gonzales, Nate WraggMatt Majers, Josh Cooley, Derek Thompson, Jeff Pidgeon and Mark Holmes.
And here’s the cover design done by designer extraordinaire Mark Holmes.”
Jeff Pidgeon, one of the story veterans at Pixar, also shared the first panel of the story he and wife Anita Coulter have finished for this issue.
Looks like another great book to add to the collection!
Speaking of Pixar folks, thanks to Jerry Beck and the folks at Cartoon Brew for alerting everyone to an upcoming show in San Francisco at the Canvas Gallery.
“…Combined Weight, a collection of work by artists from Pixar Animation Studios, “produced in their spare time to show the world through their eyes”. Artists include Daniel Arriaga, Enrico Casarosa, Janet Lucroy, Jennifer Chang, Liz Holmes, Lori Klocek, Mark Holmes, Nate Stanton, Noah Klocek, Paul Topolos, Rich Quade, Robert Kondo, Robin Cooper, Ronnie Del Carmen, Simon Dunsdon, Steve Pilcher, and Steve Purcell. Opening reception is next Thursday April 27th, from 7pm – 12am. The exhibition runs from April 27 through May 22nd at The Canvas Gallery, 1200 9th Ave. at Lincoln, San Francisco.”
And while you’re in the City, the Cartoon Art Museum has a few things of note that you might want to stop by and check out, too.
From press releases from the Museum:
Earthquake!!!
Bay Area Cartoonists Look at 1906, 1989 and Beyond
April 15 – June 25, 2006
In 1906, The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire devastated the entire city. The Bay Area experienced a second major quake in 1989, as the Loma Prieta leveled houses and bridges, causing over $6 Billion in damages. In the event of a third major disaster, San Francisco is completely prepared for anything that Mother Nature can throw at us…or is it
Earthquake!!! features the works of two-dozen local cartoonists as they reflect on the long history of natural disasters in the San Francisco Bay Area. Artists reflect on the 1906 earthquake, provide first-hand accounts of the 1989 earthquake and speculate on a wide variety of current topics, from the modern day San Franciscan’s preparations for “The Big One” to life on the West Coast in the aftermath of the next major disaster.
This exhibition includes works from a wide array of Bay Area cartoonists including Mark Bode (Heavy Metal), Phil Frank (Farley), Jon “Bean” Hastings (Mad Science), Keith Knight (the ‘K’ Chronicles), Steve Lait (The Oakland Tribune), Paul Madonna (All Over Coffee) and Trina Robbins (The Great Women Cartoonists) and more.
The Cartoon Art Museum
Participating in Macy’s Community Shopping Day
Friday, May 12th, 2006, 10am to 10pm
Buy your $10 ticket today and help support
The Cartoon Art Museum
The Cartoon Art Museum is proud to participate for its third year with Macy’s Union Square for their Community Shopping Day Benefiting the Arts on Friday, May 12th, 2006. This event raises thousands of dollars for local small to medium sized arts organizations.
Community Shopping Day is an all-day shopping event dedicated to raising funds for local nonprofit organizations. By purchasing a Macy’s Community Shopping Day ticket directly from The Cartoon Art Museum, ticket bearers will help raise funds to support The Cartoon Art Museum’s community programs, plus enjoy exclusive 15-20% savings at Macy’s, exciting entertainment and events, special samplings from event sponsors, and the chance to win a $500 Macy’s shopping spree.
In addition to The Cartoon Art Museum’s efforts to sell tickets, Macy’s employees and Union Bank of California will be involved in the fundraising event by selling tickets to their customers three weeks prior to Community Shopping Day. Macy’s will split all funds raised by their employees among participating charities.
The Cartoon Art Museum supporters who are unable to attend Community Shopping Day or who want to avoid the crowds are invited to pre-shop beginning on May 6th. Items purchased through pre-selection may be picked up beginning the day of the event and ending Friday, May 26th, 2006.
For more information about The Cartoon Art Museum’s participation in Macy’s Community Shopping Day, to purchase your $10 ticket or to volunteer to sell tickets contact Summerlea Kashar at 415-227-8666 ext. 300 or via email at office@cartoonart.org.
Cartoon Tunes: Capturing Music in Comics
May 9 – October 15, 2006
Opening Reception Tuesday, May 9, 2006
from 7:00 – 9:00pm
Comics are, by nature, a pairing of two mediums more often kept apart: pictures and words. For many cartoonists, that pairing so often provides a vantage on yet another medium: sound. The Cartoon Art Museum’s latest exhibition, Cartoon Tunes: Capturing Music in Comics, examines the ongoing love affair between comics and music through more than 40 pieces of original artwork on themes from the unabashed love of the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan as he might have been imagined by legendary comic book creator Jack Kirby, and musical tastes from classic rock to classical and from opera to hip-hop.
Featured artists include R. Crumb, Gene Deitch, Justin Green, Ellen Forney, Dylan Horrocks, Megan Kelso, David Lasky, Jim Mahfood, Tony Millionaire, R. Sikoryak and Carol Tyler. Among the musicians included in this exhibition are Prince, Run DMC, Philip Glass, Jenny Lind (“The Swedish Nightingale”) and They Might Be Giants.
The majority of the work has never been exhibited before, and reflects a wide range of output by largely alternative or indie comic artists. Although “music” is the common theme uniting these artists, the individual entries cover subjects including biography, musicology, illustrated lyrics, abstract meditations on sound and humorous autobiographical reminiscences. Many of the pieces on display in this exhibit originally appeared in Pulse! magazine and its sister publication, Classical Pulse! , between 1992 and 2002.
Cartoon Tunes: Capturing Music in Comics is co-curated by artist Keith Knight, creator of the syndicated comics The K Chronicles and (th)ink, and Marc Weidenbaum, the Editorial Director of the manga magazine Shonen Jump and former editor of the Pulse! comics.
The opening reception for this exhibition takes place on Tuesday, May 9, 2006, from 7:00-9:00pm. The reception is free and open to the public.
About the Cartoon Art Museum
Founded in 1984, the Cartoon Art Museum was started by a group of cartoonists and collectors who wanted to share their appreciation of this unique art form with the rest of the world. The Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation, study and exhibition of original cartoon art in all forms to benefit historians, cartoonists, journalists, artists, collectors and the general public. For more information, please visit http://www.cartoonart.org/
And if that isn’t enough from Northern California to keep you going, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa has a fascinating summer event planned:
The Summer of Woodstock
June 3 through October 23, 2006 – Snoopy’s feathered friend takes center stage at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and in Santa Rosa’s Summer of Woodstock (100 statues of Woodstock will be placed throughout the community, read about it at www.peanutsonparade.com). The first birds that Schulz drew were very realistic, but over a ten-year period they gradually became more abstract and stylized. A single bird was separated from the flock in 1967, but he wasn’t given his name, Woodstock, (yes, he was named after the great counter-culture event!) until June 22, 1970.
The exhibition looks at the many roles that Woodstock filled from Legendary Sidekick to Snoopy’s Secretary. Woodstock’s distinct, if non-birdlike, personality will also be examined including his difficulty in flying and his directional dyslexia, as well as his unfortunate attempts to participate in sports
Because he was such a popular Peanuts character, Woodstock began to make appearances in many products in the 1970s. On display in the exhibition will be four decades of Woodstock-themed products. In addition, the visitor will be taken behind the scenes to learn how the Woodstock statutes were manufactured and then decorated by local artists.
Finally, if you were thinking about attending the “Cars” premiere at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway, in Charlotte, North Carolina and haven’t found the time to get tickets, then you might want to check back next week to find how you can win two of them right here…
And speaking of “Cars”, folks on the west coast aren’t being left out entirely. The El Capitan Theater in Hollywood is now selling tickets for an 11:59 p.m. showing of the film on Thursday, June 8th. Sounds like a great way to be one of the first to see this movie!
Finally, Disney railroad fans might want to mark their calendars for two events in California on the same weekend in May – the 6th & 7th. First up, Fullerton Railroad Days takes place in the area around the Amtrak station with a great collection of events and displays. This year, the Disneyland Railroad joins in the festivities as the “E.P. Ripley”, steam locomotive #2 of the fleet travels down Harbor Boulevard to greet admirers.
Somewhat further up the coast line, The Pacific Coast Railroad Roundup is being held in Santa Margarita. This is where the coaches of the original Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad have found a home. This special event is a rare opportunity to see them in service carrying passengers as Walt Disney intended. Pulled behind vintage steam locomotives, guests will be able to enjoy the ride along a stretch of railroad through the Central California Coastal mountains. And it all goes for a good cause as this event benefits the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.
So there you have it — a full plate of exciting opportunities, just waiting to be taken advantage of… Here’s hoping you get the chance to enjoy one or more of them soon!