Onessimo Gallery in West Palm Beach, Florida are now offering a selection of the “ethereal” landscapes of Juan Aquino for sale. I have a personal soft spot for the style. I do not know much about Mr. Aquino, excepting that he is from Peru. Interestingly he has a Bachelors degree in psychology and worked as a psychologist for the Employment Ministry for eight years. He then studied drawing at the Nationals School of Fine Arts in Lima. He also has a Bachelors in Visual Arts from the University of Quebec.

Aquino has worked as a decorative artists and had solo shows in Canada and Latin America.

There were a few schools at the 2011 C2E2 and I took time to chat to a couple of them. Westwood College in Dupage (who had their own comic book sample). The Institute for Comic Studies booth was manned by a nice young woman, Hanna Kim, who is a student at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I don’t know much about degree programs that lead to a career in drawing comics or drawing graphic novels. But one thing I do no intimately is that taking classes isn’t a bad thing. Getting into debt taking classes is always a bad thing, unless you are becoming a patent attorney or an M.D.

Nonetheless these videos are worth a look. I might look further into this and find out if it is a sign of something mentioned in the first written piece about C2E2—is this sort of art gaining acceptance in fine art circles? Westwood might not be in the middle of that circle but the Art Institute certainly is.  If I get inspired maybe I will look into a larger piece on this and maybe on what the average illustrator makes and how much you want to spend on the path to that career.

Wow, this is kind of a downer of a written bit. I wish I could draw, I would make a smiley face or something.

Starkweather Immortal is a graphic novel adapted by David Rodriguez from a short story by Piers Anthony. The books are illustrated by Patrick McEvoy and lettering by Charles Pritchett.

Rodriguez was at C2E2 to promote the book—actually a prequel, the original book is currently out of print. Hopefully not for long. I will leave the plot to him. I remember reading stuff by Piers Anthony when I was a kid. His plots always are kind of tough to describe.

Again, I apologize for the audio. I am really looking into a external microphone for this camera.

Kris Simon runs the Comics Pipeline website which is a conduit where you can buy art from noted artists of comics and graphic novels. Among the artists carried are Talent Caldwell, Ben Templesmith, Marcus Perry, Menton J. Matthews, Tyler Kirkham, Jenny Frison, Daniel Leister, Dirk Manning, and many others.

The site has exclusive pieces you cannot find elsewhere and is worth a look for all you enthusiasts. These really are the crème de la crème of graphic novel and comics artists. Quite a collection and the pieces on the site are memorable.

Free Mars is a weekly online comic written by Dave Pauwels and drawn by  Nicolas R. Giacondino. Pauwels was at C2E2 while Giacondino was unable to make it (he is from Argentina, we will cut him some slack). As Pauwels notes in the video the comic appears as a sort of “comic strip” and then is collected into a physical comic…three..four times a year? I don't know. He says in the video. Watch it.

You can find out more, b and see the ongoing story at www.freemarscomic.com. If you like Sci-Fi and rock n roll and hookerbots this is the comic for you (pervert).

I once saw Menton Matthews strangle a guy with his bare hands. Ok, I didn't really but I wanted to get your attention. One of the first interviews done at Mapanare.us was done for artist Menton Matthews III(aka Menton 3). At the time he had released his own, self-released graphic novel, Ars Memoria. He also had a part in the  IDW release (now a hardback) Zombies Vs. Robots (my heart is with the zombies but my money on the robots). He was in the early stages of working on Silent Hill, Past Life when we spoke. He did the art for all four issues from that series and has his own comic coming out on IDW in October. He is writing AND doing the art for this mysterious comic (he never talks about the upcoming stuff…team player).

I look at his macabre artwork and I see it in museums as well as in graphic novels.

I once saw Kasra Ghanbari strangle a...that doesn't work twice in a row does it? I spoke a little to both Matthews and his agent, Kasra Ghanbari. Would love to have chatted more about “breaking” an underground artist. Who knows? Maybe we will.I was razzing Ghanbani a little in the video, not being serious but I sound like a dick. The next step for Matthews and Ghanbani is fine art. A little later we will post a short interview on a website selling exclusive works by Matthews and other comic artists. By the by I like the term “comic” more than “graphic novel.”

C2E2 ‘s panel  from The Walking Dead consisted of a moderator and two of the actors from the show, Jon Bernthal, who had small parts in movies such as World Trade Center, Date Night and The Ghost Writer,  as well as tons of TV and Laurie Holden of The X-Files, The Shield, Silent Hill and a ton of other films and TV.

The Walking Dead is a ratings champ cable zombie extravaganza was the most highly anticipated new show of 2010 (by me at least). It didn’t disappoint, except when I saw some whining about how they was talking that interrupted the shooting and growling of zombies. The show is great, down to the details, which is always the difference between good and great. Great starts with great writing, of course and both Holden and Jon Bernthal noted that director Frank Darabont doesn’t write every script but he certainly “Frankifies” each and every one.

In general, panels at book fairs and shows of asimilarsort, are not always scintillating. Sometimes the people do not want to be there. Sometimes they are stiff and inarticulate. That wasn’t the case here at all.

Commenting on his character’s liaison with his best friend’s wife Bernthal said, “Things happen in a zombie apocalypse.”

When you hear and see Bernthal he comes across as totally different sort from his character. He comes across as laid back and gregarious but on the show his gravitas somehow makes him OLDER. That is good acting. And horror acting may not be trying to do comedy but when your premise is fantastic to be able to play it with Gregory Peck-like seriousness is impressive.

After Holden, in response to a audience question, gave a heartfelt discussion of how the uncertainty in the world has bred a certain fear and that if there were a zombie apocalypse she would gather those close closer Bernthal said “I’d call my best friend’s girlfriend.”

At one point, while praising the minds behind The Walking Dead (and taking a shot at others in the industry), Bernthal made a hand gesture as he said some directors just wanted to stroke their…egos…during auditions, that those in charge at The Walking Dead made the process humane. He then realized there were kids present and tried to make his language more PG. Instead, every sentence he said included at least ONE word that could be interpreted in, let’s say, another way. Finally he said “I am not going to talk anymore”. Mercifully that wasn’t true. He even extended the questions by saying he felt bad people had been cut off telling people to quickly shout out some questions.

Holden wasn’t at all SILENT during this. Bernthal just, sometimes accidentally, received more of an audience reaction.

Holden mentioned there was a RUMOR Stephen King might write an episode. A rumor from a CAST member? Hmm.

An audience question also mentioned how, in the last episode, set at the CDC the CDC guy whispers something to Holden’s character Andrea. They asked both what they thought he said. Bernthal answered that he had no idea and Holden said that it was in the script saying; don’t you read the script? (to laughter). Of course, they never did say what he whispered.

Given that Bernthal said you do not even learn your lines before a script has been “Frankified” maybe he DIDN’T!

Another questioner noted that Bernthal’s character, by the time the first season ended, would be long dead in the comics said you never know when you might get killed on a show like this. He noted that he was in a movie, Tony & Tina’s Wedding (he also said only his mom and he had seen it..he is wrong…I saw it. I have no idea why). A number of the actors from The Sopranos were in the film and they all told him that you never know when you are going to get “whacked.”

It must add a certain edge to the production when you might be dead in the next script. It is to be hoped both of these actors live long and healthy on the show as they are a huge part of why the series is so compelling. 

Comic book conventions are full of dorks. I don’t know, maybe, depending on your definition of the term but I returned a few hours ago from C2E2( Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo)) and I vowed that not only am I going next year, I am going and I plan to dress up like freakin’ Batman.  Or, at least that is what I said at the convention. Later I decided I would have an online vote at Mapanare.us to determine my costume (left to this site’s readers I figure I will wind up going as Wonder Woman or garbed only in tape like Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element). This expo was (and as this posts still IS) a blast.

I decided, fairly last minute, to head to this with my son and I had NO idea that I would interview anyone. But once I was there I had my camera, so why the HELL not. I also went to a couple of panels which I thought were worth talking about (although my photos from both are dubious). My videos, which will be posting soon, also have rather dubious sound for which I apologize. I came unprepared. I was never a Boy Scout. This will not, regrettably, be as extensive as the stuff on the peripheral Art Basel fairs. But there is, in my mind, a connection.

One of the interesting parts of this sojourn included a few discussions I had, on and off camera, about “comic art” as “high art.”  Personally I refuse to accept any such distinction as they remind me of days of yore when priests read entrails and told us our future or chatted with the most high in guarded rooms where the common dare not tread.  Some guy dressed up as Wolverine has every right to pontificate about art as a MFA teaching at the Art Institute--although they might actually agree as well, I don’t sell all academics short mind you. And after decades of being ripped off by fine artists I suppose the artists behind comics are getting more of their due. 

But beyond the art it is just a nice event for people of all ages; panels include discussions on comics of course, but also television and film. Shows including The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood were all represented. There are toys kids can actually play with and others you wouldn’t dare take out of the package lest Thor smite you.

The people present, whether vendors, artists or just your average attendee were pretty uniformly pleasant. They even talked to strangers, regardless of if they were guys dressed in "Poison Ivy" costumes. Think about that for about three seconds. When was the last time you went to a concert, a sporting event or even an art show and were able to say that people were pleasa? I will even give you longer than three seconds.  I know I do hit an inordinately high volume of indie rock establishments so maybe I am biased in thinking pleasantness unusual.

And please feel free to leave comments about dorkiness. I worked all day on my comebacks. It would be a terrible shame to waste them.

Artist, Christina Shurts first NY solo show, Luxury Soup, begins with an opening reception at RARE from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 17 at 547 W 27th St #514, NYC.

This is not Shurts first solo exhibition ANYWHERE apparently but her fifth. I like the first part of the description of Shurts paintings in the press releases; “Shurts' latest work embodies a nostalgic longing for getaways and vacationlands of both a recollected past and an idealized future.”

Isn’t that a nice sentence? It makes me want to see the show. And here I was talking to a friend about how galleries write terrible press releases, even worse than when rock bands try to write their own PR. And here comes RARE to prove me wrong.

Shurts did her undergraduate work at University of California at Irvine and received an MFA from California State University at Long Beach. She has been exhibited at the Torrance Art Museum, Lawrence Asher Gallery, Pacific Design Center, L.A. Municipal Art Gallery, Gatov Gallery, Saatchi Gallery and LOFT Gallery. She has also been included in two recent issues of New American Paintings (#87 & #91).

Bakehouse Art Complex, a resource for artists and, apparently, those who wish to be artists, are offering figure drawing on the first and third Sunday of the month.

March 6 and 20 are the dates this month. We trust you will be able to figure out the dates for subsequent months. Seating is first come first serve, you have to bring your own materials and there is no instruction (which explains the "cheap part" of this we suspect).

If you need practice this may be for you.