SPRING ISSUE
Tapping Into Your Brain’s Originality The editor’s take
INTERVIEWS WITH Illustrator Bob McMahon MASTER OF LIGHT Bruce Munro INSIDE: THE FIRST EDITION OF LPIK INTERVIEWS WITH James Vaughan Justin Rosenberg Tony Donaldson
Cover illustration by LON LEVIN
:
A LOOK AT CHRISTY MARX
AUTHOR OF “Writing for Animation”& “Write Your Way Into Animation And Games”
Illustrators Journal/Spring
table of
contents All the work depicted in this magazine are the expressed property pf the artist who created the work and cannot be used in any way without the expressed written permission of the artists.
“Change
is the one thing in life
we can depend on”. “..
“The great miraculous
bell of translucent ice is suspended in mid-air. It rings to announce endings and beginnings. And it rings because there is fresh promise and wonder in the skies. Its clear tones resound in the placid silence of the winter day, and echo long into the silver-blue serenity of night. The bell can only be seen at the turning of the year, when the days wind down into nothing, and get ready to march out again. When you hear the bell, you feel a tug at your heart. It is your immortal inspiration.” ― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration
MASTER OF LIGHTS An interview with visual lights master artist Bruce Munro
BOBTOONS Children’s illustrator Bob McMahon reveals his inner child
CHRISTY MARX Writer and developer of some of the most opular games and comics answers a few questions
TAPPING INTO YOUR CREATIVITY Editor Lon Levin discusses the art you always wanted to do.
GALLERY The editor’s commercial work
LPIK PHOTO MAGAZINE The first edition of IJ’s photo magazine
THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF JAMES VAUGHAN The first part of our interview with this unique artist
JUSTIN ROSENBERG: PHOTOGRAPHER Making the most of his second chance
TONY DONALDSON: ACTION PHOTOGRAPHER Athlete turned photographer excels under pressure
It seems to me we can
never give up longing and wishing
while we are
thoroughly
alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and
we must hunger after them. George Eliot
“My parents really encouraged my art. They were very open minded and loved to see their kids happy and inspired”.
“Growing up, I was lucky to have a lot of encouragement to pursue art (aside from when I drew on my bedroom wall of course.) My parents, teachers, and peers often encouraged me to continue drawing.”
master 0f light British artist Bruce Munro is best known for immersive large-scale light-based installations inspired largely by his interest in shared human experience. Recording ideas and images in sketchbooks has been his practice for over 30 years. By this means he has captured his responses to stimuli such as music, literature, science, and the world around him for reference, reflection, and subject matter. This tendency has been combined with a liking for components and an inventive urge for reuse, coupled with career training in manufacture of light. As a result Munro produces both monumental temporary experiential artworks as well as intimate story-pieces. As a kid were you interested in art? Were you encouraged to pursue it by parents, siblings, friends? I loved it from a very early age. I can remember painting a picture of the sea and hoping that moving the paint around the paper in a similar way to water crashing on the rocks it would look like the sea. It did not but I recognised I had captured an essence of the sea. My parents really encouraged my art. They were very open minded and loved to see their kids happy and inspired. When did the aspect of light and illumination as art come to you? What were your first attempts at “lighting as art� like? Experimenting with Light formally started in Sydney when I was 24. My first conscious pieces were started at art school where I created irregular 2D window hangings from white layered paper.
These were in part inspired by a Disney film The Castaways that I had seen as a child. A sequence in the film involved traveling through a glacier on an iceberg. I remember the beauty and colours of the ice. How did art school shape your work? Did you have any teachers that helped you or inspired you. What other professional influences did you have. My first art teacher (at eight) was a lady who wore no nickers . That inspired me! My next art teacher (sixteen) taught me to love drawing and keep skech books (that inspired me). At art school I learnt that I could not live happily without art (that inspired me) at twenty four in Sydney an advertising man called me a butterfly. That angered me but led to me focusing on light. (that inspired me). How did you come to splitting your company into commercial lighting installations , lighting sculptures and lighting art? I wanted to make art from the beginning but I realised I must wait until I found the truth of what I wanted to do. Meanwhile I set out to learn about light , and raise a family. At forty just after my father died I felt I had enough experience to give it a go. I also discovered that I wanted to express those fleeting precious moments of clarity where one becomes almost invisible from the ego. What process or processes did you use to promote yourself? As an artist, commercial lighting firm and as a light sculptor? Initially it was simply word of mouth. I have been lucky and had many lovely clients. Eventually I decided to look into PR because I live and work in the countryside. Fortune has favoured me again. I found a company who is as passionate as me in what they do. Claude Communications have been brilliant!
“My parents really encouraged my art. They were very open minded and loved to see their kids happy and inspired”.
“Growing up, I was lucky to have a lot of encouragement to pursue art (aside from when I drew on my bedroom wall of course.) My parents, teachers, and peers often encouraged me to continue drawing.”
master 0f light continued
Do you create your own fixtures exclusively or do you mix them in with available components? The sculptural components we make them from scratch . But I purchase off the shelf and specialist luminaries . When you get a project what is your approach or process in coming up with the optimum design and usage? It varies. Installations are often site specific so one is responding to the environment . I keep sketch books and have lists and doodles of things I must create so many of these are introduced into projects when I feel they are appropriate. Can you tell me about Longwood and how that came about? Also some of the challenges in lighting such a spectacular area? Longwood came about because they originally saw my work at The Eden Project, which was very well publicised by Claude Communications. Longwood invited me to see the gardens and I was gob-smacked by it on my first visit. It was a challenge but did not feel like that. I felt like I had won a Willy Wonka bar! Do you test your design and fixtures before you install them or do you install then test? When I was younger I was much more Cavalier... But these days we test thoroughly . But there are still a few surprises . Thank goodness real life is always different to theory.
What is your favorite installation or piece of art you’ve created? They all remind me of special moments of my life so in that respect I do not have a favourite . I love the whole process from inspiration , idea, execution,and installation. By the end I am ready to move on. I often think I could have done things better . I see this more as a way to be rather than producing finite things. Do you work in any other mediums to create art? I love painting but am pretty bad at it. I am light based but i have many projects in other media that I want to bring to fruition ....if any of your readers are interested give me call! Do you have any hobbies or interests away from lighting? My family and friends. Not much time for anything else. Advice to young emerging artists? Love it!
“
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
–––
”
Thomas A. Edison
Interview answers Bob McMahon Humorist&Kidlit book artist The art of Bob McMahon is funny, endearing and adorable.
Bobtoons Interview with Bob McMahon by Lon Levin
How did your parents influence you as a young creative ? Were they encouraging? Who discovered or encouraged your talents? I don’t think my parents actively influenced me, they just left me alone to find out what interested me and when I started drawing they never fawned over my art or anything but they always made sure I was well supplied with paper and ends and stuff. They also took me to the used book store on weekends so I could root through the boxes to find old Mad Magazines to add to my collection. As I look back I admire their self-restraint in not projecting their hopes and ambitions on me. There wasn’t anyone who had that really discovered me. There’s plenty of people who encouraged me though, from my parents, teachers in school to the fellow artists who worked with me at the art supply store after I graduated. In college I loved doing political cartoons for the school paper and won a few state awards for those and after I left the art supply store an animator named Phil Mendez really helped me try to get started by paying my salary so I could work at a local newspaper drawing political cartoons. Great artist and a great guy, Don’t know what happened to him though. 2. Did you have any major influences as a boy that motivated you to become an illustrator? Any incidents that fueled your desire? I was greatly influenced by Mad Magazine growing up. Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Sergio Aragones, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Don Martin and the whole Mad gang. While other kids were into superhero comics, DC and Marvel, I was all about Mad Magazine and the artists in Mad. My friends and I all drew comic books as kids. Theirs were superhero types and mine were superhero parodies. 3. What was your schooling like for illustration? How did that form you as an artist? Teacher influence? In college there were only two ways to go as an artist- either you were a graphic artist and designed publications and advertising graphics or you were a fine art painter. There really wasn’t anything in between. I loved doing political cartoons and comic strips for the college paper! I thought I got pretty good at it too but unfortunately it’s hard to find a newspaper outside of college that will pay you to be a staff cartoonist.
Interview answers Bob McMahon
Your style is so distinctive, how did that come about? Or did it just happen? Who are your art heroes? Mine are all the artists of Mad magazine, Charles Bragg, Tenniel and Daumier among others. I think we have most of the same influences! To add to that list I would put political cartoonists Jeff McNelly, Pat Oliphant, Paul Conrad. You’ve work in many areas of the commercial world, any you like best? Back when I was doing advertising work I liked doing movie posters and I also did art for a number of corporate publications too. Met some great people there. The posters I did were for some really, really small straight to video type movies but it was fun anyway. I remember the deadlines for advertising work were just insane! They would have you do a full color artwork from sketch to finish in like three days but they did pay good money back then. finally responded.
You and I have had the same agent. Has she helped your career? Do you recommend having an agent? How did you get an agent to begin with? An agent like Ronnie Herman, who is well connected in the publishing industry, can be a great help but that doesn’t mean you can stop sending out postcards and promoting yourself. Only you are responsible for the success of your career. You have to keep getting your artwork out there and do good work. For me an agent is invaluable for negotiating contracts and trying to get you the best deal. They know the ins and outs of the publishing industry and they know what to can be changed in a contract and what can’t. I got an agent by sending out lots of postcards to all the representatives that I thought would be a good fit for my style. It took a while but Ronnie Herman was the one who finally responded How has the shift to digital affected you, your business and your work? I used to work with pen and inks and then I slowly worked my way toward being all digital. I started off scanning my original ink drawings and then coloring them in the computer but then I got experienced enough with the Wacom pen that I started doing the whole thing in the computer and never looked back. I do miss the tactile part of doing art with pen and inks though and I use to love to go to the art store and pick out papers and see what new art toys they had. Are there any areas of the business that have heated up for you and why don’t we see more Bob McMahon children’s books? Early last year I was asked by a NY PR agency to illustrate and e-book for kids about a childhood disease to help kids who had it understand it better and not be afraid. It was the first e-book I ever did and the first for the PR company too so we learned together. I think the growth in e-books in the future is going to be explosive and they’re going to need illustrators so hopefully this means more work for us all. I’m working on projects now but it takes at least a year before they hit the stores. In September I have a book coming out that I illustrated called Apple Days.
silly robots....gr8 friends
MAKING HER MARX...
BIG TIME Article written by Lon Levin
One of the best game and animation scriptwriters is Christy Marx. In a world dominated by males with heroic dreams in their minds she has thrived. Christy Marx grew up in Danville, Illinois and is an American writer and a
photographer. She has written scripts for various episodes of TV-series, mainly for kids’ shows, including Jem,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Conan the Adventurer, G.I. Joe, Hypernauts, Captain Power and others. She is known for her original comic book series Sisterhood of Steel as well as work on Conan, Red Sonja, and Elfquest.
I caught up with her and asked her two questions (which is all I could squeeze out of this brilliant and very busy creator) But first a little background...in her own words.
Who am I? Who wants to know? Why do you care? Well, since you’re here, I may as well give you the tour. I’m a writer. What’s even more unusual is that I’ve been able to earn my living as a writer and sometimes it’s a very good living. Of course, other times it’s a famine, but that’s typical of the scriptwriting trade. Feast and famine. Did I set out to be a writer? Yes and no. I was born with the innate desire and talent to tell stories, but I was about twenty-six before the little light bulb went off in my head, the one that said, “You’re a writer, stupid! Do something about it.” EARLY DAYS I grew up in the midwest, in Danville, Illinois, a small city or big town, depending on how you look at these things. From as early as I can remember, I’ve loved books. I love to read. I was especially attracted to visual sequential storytelling in the form of newspaper comic strips and comic books. I recall a four-panel story I drew as a young child, when I could do nothing more than stick figures. In the four panels, I established the heroine, heroine is kidnapped by villain and tied up in cave, heroine escapes and runs into arms of man.
“I’ve had a lifelong love for comic books.”
I would ride my bicycle for miles and knew the location of every single spinner rack in town in order to track down the latest BATMAN or X-MEN. My parents forbade me to buy more comics at one point, but it didn’t stop me. I’d smuggle them inside under my clothes, or shove them under the screen of my bedroom window. They finally gave up. My mother was a frustrated artist. I had the barest modicum of artistic talent, enough for her to encourage. Unfortunately, this sent me down the wrong path for many years when I went into arts at the University of Illinois. Around that time, I met Robert Kanes and moved to California with him. He came to L.A. to pursue Scientology. We got married and did Scientology together, though I have to admit I was unable to turn off my skepticism meter. I got divorced and quit Scientology at the same time. Rob is a dear, sweet man and we remain friends. I had no idea what to do with myself when we first arrived in L.A. I had no skills or training. I quickly discovered that my artistic skills were utterly inadequate. Call me slow, but I decided this was not what I wanted to do with my life. I finally realized I was a writer and needed to do something about it. I had a lifetime’s filing cabinet full of folders, packed with things I meant to write “someday”. “Someday” never comes. If you mean to do something, you need to do it now. I managed to get a job as a production secretary for a TV production company, then became a script reader for several movie companies.
“As Peter loved to say, Life is too short to drink bad wine.”
One night, at a gathering of comic book professionals, I met an Australian artist named Peter Ledger. We were wildly attracted from the minute we met, but he was on his way back to Oz via L.A. A year and half later, he returned. We met again. A month later, we were living together and a year after that we were married. Peter was an amazing man. A gentleman barbarian, a man of vast talent, a man of “gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirths” (as Robert E. Howard described Conan). We had many adventurous and sometimes turbulent years together before he was killed in a car accident. I’ve written a biography and included many examples of his artwork in a special website. Please visit the Peter Ledger Memorial pages to learn more about him. During those years, my career progressed. Peter and I did a number of comic book projects together. I wrote lots of animation and did development work on series. I did live-action shows, and development in that area. I particularly enjoy development work because I love creating whole new worlds. By a total fluke, Peter and I ended up in Oakhurst, California to create a computer game for Sierra On-Line. He hated it and quit after the first game, but I’ve remained active in the field. I enjoy the challenge of the interactive media, the non-linear vs. linear demands of interactive writing. I’ve worked on PC adventures games, console games, and MMOGs (massively multi-player on-line games) and enjoyed all of them. I see great potential for MMOGs and hope to work on more of those in the future.
LONFELLOW’S CORNER
tapping into your brain originality?
Article written by Lon Levin
How original are you?
I ask myself this question quite often. I’m constantly in search of who I really am as an artist. When I started working on the “Devolving Earth” series I had no idea what I’d come up with. I made some
Lon Levin, the magazine’s editor is a working designer, illustrator, photograher and writer. He worked in the entertainment business for 25 years on hundreds of movie and TV campaigns. He has 33 published published books to his credit. His book “Treehouses” published by Globe Pequot Press in 2010 features his writing, illustration and photography
simple rules for myself and started drawing. The results of my work took at darker, tone than normal Illustrations from the “Devolving Earth” series
and somehow started to evolve into some core beliefs and views I have on life itself. This wasn’t planned. It was something that sprung to life on it’s own. I realized I had tapped into what I really wanted to say artistically. I also realized it was original though the influences of artists I have studied and seen clearly were there.
I started to post some of these sketches and later on the painted work. The response I got was favorable and surprising. The interesting part to me was I could clearly see in what I had created a point of view, hence the word “devolving” popped into my head. In all I drew the theme of pollution as a physical and a mental process seem to dominate my thinking. I realized my bent on this subject is the earth and it’s key inhabitant, humans, have a tenuous relationship. The actions of most humans clearly state we don’t care much about our earth.
On the face of my work I think it is unsalable, but that is only my jaded uber commercial brain talking. The other side argues this is truly good work and it deserves recognition. The point is I am satisfied with the look and the message and it clearly is not (knowingly) derivative. It has opebned me up to other possibilities as well.
Illustration from “Art For Barks” website
My art tells me that despite all the good intentions of some the efforts seemed doomed, so why not add some black comedy to the work. Perhaps it’s my cynical, satirical way of dealing with a problem that is overwhelming at best.
Keep thinking. We do and that’s what you want in an agency.
gallery
Illustrations by Lon Levin lonfellow@gmail.com (818)268-9953
Keep thinking. We do and that’s what you want in an agency.
photo: Lon Levin
I had art directors tell me my style
“
“
More than once was way too ‘European’. Of course that proves the fallacy. I’ve never even visited Europe.
“I never wanted to be a rebel. I don’t like attracting gruff frowns. But I just do not comprehend the concept of ‘you can’t do that!’. I noticed James Vaughan’s work on the internet and I was compelled to contact hi. I liked about James work is the story telling aspect of the photos and the artistry. He was kind enough to answer some questions I asked of him.
vaughan james
INTERVIEW PART ONE
How did your parents influence you as a young creative ? Were they encouraging? They were both encouraging- in different ways. My mother, who was an artist, was very enthusiastic. She got me into art classes at a very early age. Took me to museums etc. My mother had a kind and sensitive soul drawn to that which was beautiful and noble and I’m proud to say some of that rubbed off on me. My big sister is also an artist and teacher. She was a role model and inspiration. When I was a little kid she was this cool ‘artsy’ beatnik type. My father was a scientist, a chemist. The director of research at Goodyear. Later he started his own company and was a very successful pioneer of modern plastics. He was himself very creative. But I think that art, with a capital ‘A’, intimidated and confused him. It’s a regretful separation that is all too prevalent in the modern world. Todayworking with business clients- I think of my father and try extra hard to keep my process transparent and my ego in the backseat. Looking back, I see that my father was much more supportive, and tolerant ... than I gave him credit for. Do you have any pet projects you’re doing for yourself that you could let me in on? I have a wildly successful website about imagery in pop-culture and history. It has
What motivated you to become a photographer? When I was a kid the big picture magazines were going strong. Every week I looked forward to LIFE and LOOK. I would cut out pages and put them up on the bulletin board in my room. It seems like I just sucked in everything visual. Television, magazines, movies. My family took long car trips and I stared out the window hour after hour like my brain was a movie camera. Three events stand out; and they are a credit to the ‘adults’ in my life. When I was five my big sister took me to a revial showing of Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’. My mother took me to ‘ Expo-67’ - the world’s fair in Montreal. And my big brother, on a whim, took me and a buddy to see Kubrick’s ‘2001’. But it was my interest in politics and social causes that actually directly led me into photography. Being a photo-journalist seemed like a noble cause. That was my major at Columbia College of Chicago. I ran around shooting a bunch of freelance photo-stories. It was exciting and romantic. Wearing an old field jacket with a couple of beat up Nikons around your neck makes you feel a kindred soul to Hemingway. It was all a product of the times... the 1960’s. And those years staring at LIFE and LOOK.
vaughan james
You studied photography and Journalism. How did that form you as an artist? I am a romantic and an idealist.My interest in photo-journalism was a way to utilize my natural artistic talents to crusade for a better world. Using images to convey an idea, to tell a story, is the essence of photo-journalism.
END:PART ONE
“Tony Donaldson will do anything to grab that electrifying moment. Watching him in action has a magic all it’s own.”
– Steve Kmetko, Television Personality
TONY DONALDSON
Tony Donaldson got his start as an athlete, racing BMX then starting his own BMX freestyle team. His freestyle team toured the Midwest doing shows at fairs, festivals and events. He started his first business when he was only 15. Associated Press photographer and friend Seth Perlman took Tony under his wing and taught him the basics of photography, within months he was working as a stringer for AP then earned himself a staff position at a BMX magazine he had grown up reading. After working for several years on several magazines, he went out on his own. Tony’s clients include magazines like ESPN, Time, Millimeter, Golf, and the New York Times,
“Tony is the real deal. A photographer who both understands the artistic In high demand for his knowledge of the business, creative and technical sides of photography, he’s written product and software reviews, an editorial column, consults with government and aerospace contractors and lectures at conventions around the country on photography. You can find the two books he’s written, both on BMX, on Amazon.com. He’s currently working on another book or two. Clients love him for the power of his images and the ease of working with him. He can work within extreme time limits, Tony has a gift of developing instant rapport with his subjects, drawing out interesting and sometimes rare sides of them. From a quick editorial portrait to a large layout, Tony and his crew bring out the best in people.
value of the “right look”
Article written by Lon Levin
rosenberg >
JUSTIN
“After shooting for many years in South Florida, I decided to pack up and head west . . . way west, to Los Angeles. I have fallen completely head-over-heels for this city, and after living here for a few years, I feel I have a greater understanding of Dr. Dre and Tupac’s “California Love.”
“My name is Justin Rosenberg and
contrary to popular mythology, I was not born with a camera in my hands.”
WRITTEN BY LON LEVIN Two years ago I walked into my new position as president of a design firm called BTS Communications. I inherited 14 people who would work for me and the first one I got to know was photographer Justin Rosenberg. Within a hour he had given me all the information I needed to know about the firm. I was skeptical of him at first but I came to realize that somehow this big bear of a young man was dead on. Aside from that he was enormusly talented and I was determined to mine his talent and encourage him to break out.
I’d like to claim I had something to do with his growth as an artist but that’d be a lie. It’s all him. He is always searching for a different way to do things or trying to discover a bit of information that will increase his abilities. He lives and breathes photography. Late nights trolling downtown LA or early jaunts to the LA River are not uncommon for Justin. He and I have spent time together shooting at different shoots and I have l;earned so much from him noy only technically but artistically. He is an artist’s artist.
rosenberg >
JUSTIN
M
y name is Justin Rosenberg and contrary to popular mythology, I was not born with a camera in my hands. I was born a normal birth, in a hospital, in Plainview, NY . . . and unless my parents lied to me, I popped out cold and hungry, sans camera. Fortunately, the trauma of entering a new and scary world didn’t phase me all that much and I eventually picked up my first camera (in the odd chance you’re dying to know, it was a 1978 Canon A1 that my father still owns). After shooting for many years in South Florida, I decided to pack up and head west . . . way west, to Los Angeles. I have fallen completely head-over-heels for this city, and after living here for a few years, I feel I have a greater understanding of Dr. Dre and Tupac’s “California Love.” My main-stay is photographing humans– editorial, commercial, music and family Sometimes I professionally photograph non-human entities such as dogs and cars. I’ve had the lucky fortune of photographing magazine covers (WeMerge Magazine, Beit T’Shuvah Magazine, The Vista View) as well many other national and international publications (Jewish Journal, Octane Magazine, Thoroughbred and Classic Cars, Jewish Week, CSQ, and more)
• I once was suspended on the back of an ATV while photographing a $1 million+ car (with less than stellar brakes) barreling after me on a steep hill. I survived, and my got first double page spread.
•I believe in transparency and authenticity, something I’ve learned since I decided to get sober from drugs and alcohol in January of 2011. - I do not have a large intestine. Long story short, I have battled Crohn’s Disease since 2001 and subsequently lost my large intestine in 2011. I only put that here, because as I mentioned above, I believe in authenticity and Crohn’s Disease is a major part of my “story”. I am currently working on some photoRandom Facts: graphic projects geared towards spread• I have a full-on obsession with Sushi. ing awareness of a disease I have dubbed, I might even consider bartering my “The Little C”. Incidentally, If anyone finds services for copious amounts of good raw my large intestine, hit me up on Facebook, salmon. Instagram or Twitter.
levin
photography
levin lon
photography
(818) 268-9953
