A Lie That Tells the Truth

The kid’s book I’m writing (Odd Squad, Disney-Hyperion, Spring 2013) uses Picasso’s quote as a major theme.  But it’s tricky to interpret.  We intuitively know what Picasso is saying.  A painting doesn’t have to be representational to depict reality.  Consider Picasso’s Gurenica — probably the 20th century’s most powerful depiction of the horrors of war.

Which then would be more “true”?  Picasso’s painting or a photograph of the Basque villiage of Guernica in Northern Spain while the Germans bombed  for 3 hours killing 1600 men, women and children on April 27th 1937.   A photograph would certainly be more representational.  If only for a specific moment.  The painting however, while an abstraction of reality, is for me more real than any photograph could be.

Is it therefore more “true”?

Is it that a lie can only tell the truth when the lie the truth tells is a greater truth?

Yeah, I know…  it sounds way better when Picasso said it.

And didn’t try to explain it.

Self Portrait of the Squirrel as a Young Mower

Give a squirrel a power mower and he can etch the world.

Dance as Art: You Will Thank Me For Watching This

I can’t add anything to this. Just watch and enjoy.

Snappin’ Synapses

Saw this in my email subscription from comics.com and thought it was funny.   I drew this 13 years ago.   I like the art a lot.  So many of my cartoons back then look labored, but this one looks fresh.   The wacky borders were an experiment for a year or so to distinguish the panel on the comics page.  The problem was that when it was shot down to the size of nano-nit, it just looked like a muddy mess.

Okeanos V

Okeanos was (is?) the Greek god of Rivers.  The painting above, Okeanos V, is by my good friend and fellow Buda-ite  Kathleen Holder.   I like her work a lot.  It’s not exactly abstract and it’s not exactly impressionism.  It’s abstrapressionism!  (Forgive me, I’m a cartoonist, not a painter).   

Her work reminds me of a lot of pre-production concept art you see for a feature animated film.  The big studios like Pixar or DreamWorks Animation do a “temperature color chart” of the film.   It’s a color graph accompanied by concept art that depicts the tone (or temperature) of each scene in the film.  They’re looking for a good mix of cool and warm colors.   

For Over the Hedge, the painting above could have been a depiction of where RJ’s soul was going to go if he didn’t redeem himself in the third act and help out his new found furry family.  

Or not.   

To see more of Kathleen’s wonderful work go to the David Lusk Gallery

Or check out Kathleen’s web site.

La Cage aux Folles Rejected Poster Art

I love stuff like this.  Over at nytimes.com, Drew Hodges, founder of the ad agency, SpotCo, narrates a behind the scenes look at how they picked the winning design.   Can you pick the winner?  Link