gobble gobble!

happy thanksgiving.

In My Head

Hey guys, it's Monday. My Case of the Mondays is extremely bad because I got to come into work all through the weekend, which has left me in a perpetual state of thinking that today is Friday. Or something. I keep waiting, where is the weekend? When can I put on my dancing shoes? When is it my time to shine?

I don't think it's serious. Anyway, I wanted to share a little gem with you all, maybe remind you of something wonderful that you might have seen and forgotten. I bet you have the same story as me. You were really young and you saw this strange film adapted from a familiar tale. Remember?? Jack and the Beanstalk - the Japanese version made in 1974.

Jump back to a couple of days ago. I was in a particularly nostalgic mood and decided to spend my evening watching old cartoons I had loved as young Noey. I had this picture in my head. I could remember a scary looking woman standing on a black and white floor. I love black and white floors. I knew this little memory was from Jack and the Beanstalk but I didn't think I'd be able to find it as I typed "creepy jack and the beanstalk cartoon" in the search box.

I found it and my heart exploded.

I probably saw this for the first time when I was six or seven. I loved it but young Noey didn't understand how exceptional this movie was or how 20 years later, the songs would rush back to her as if she had heard them yesterday. I was six. Six year old's don't think like that.

In this version, Jack makes his way to the top of the beanstalk in The Land of the Clouds. He meets Princess Margaret, who seems like she has just taken a happy pill. Jack thinks she is very odd. She is under a spell and believes she is about to marry handsome Prince Tulip, the man of her dreams. She takes Jack to meet Madame Hecuba, her future mother-in-law, but the princess doesn't realize that Hecuba is a demon sent from Hell and that her beloved prince Tulip is really giant ogre. All of the servants in the castle have been turned into mice, which doesn't seem to bother her either. Once Margaret marries Tulip, Hecuba will become the Queen of the Land of the Clouds. Meet Madame Hecuba:

If you are reading this on Facebook, they choose not to include my little video clips. To watch, click here.

Jack goes through an emotional journey from being a selfish, greedy coward to our brave hero. The climax of the film where he has to save Margaret from the evil Hecuba is so cool it makes me want to cry. History lesson! This film was the directorial debut of Gisaburo Sugil, one of anime's most important artists. He is not as well known as he should be and that's why I'm here - so that the four of you who read this blog can tell all of your friends and then they can tell all of their friends and soon everyone will be infected.

I'm going to get back to the confusing mess that is my Monday. I can't remember what the afternoon sky looks like as my cave doesn't have windows. I wish to escape. If you wish to escape your day, click here to watch the full film, it's worth it.

-Noey

a slice of life

dear friends,

i've posted some stills from our music video of "golem's song" by the maladies. please see them below for your amusement and delight. i hope u like.

the boys of the maladies liked the latest version, so noey and i are really supercalafragalistic about it. we've been working hard and it's half finished thanks to jameson. jameson the whiskey, and jameson our compositing genius. click on his name to view his dope site. he is making our little video look cinematic and pro. noey and i like to work and play with others. it gets rather tiresome to argue, i mean work, only with each other. and i am starting a sentence with the word and, and we could not have gotten halfway done without our amazing star intern, tori. and i'd like to thank my mom.

at this moment i'm sitting in bed with a cold. sniff. sniff. being sick is less fun than i remember. i was hoping to get some work done but i am, to my surprise, bed-ridden. however, i do have a fully charged battery on my laptop and can now unplug it from it's power source. did u feel that? freedom.

in other news relating to my personal life, i have new goals as the year comes to an end. noey and i hope to finish the music video by december! we will need lots of hugs and coffee. also, i want to have some fun and try to use the twin thing to my advantage ... more than i already do. it has come to my attention that most of our friends can't tell noey and i apart. there will be many tricks followed by a lot of giggling in our future. i'll let you know how that goes.

thanks for the support and thanks for reading! come back to visit soon.

sick and truly,

joy

Animation for Johnnie Walker

Noey and I have had a real busy summer. Still slaving over the music video for The Maladies ... Also, we just finished working on a spot for Johnnie Walker:



I am hoping to receive many bottles of delicious whiskey after this :)

DO YOU FEEL UNINSPIRED????

bullshit.  KEEP WORKING.  EVEN IF ITS 5AM AND YOU ARE DRUNK.

Postal Seance

You never realize how much crap you have until you have to move. I like to think of myself as a fairly neat person, but I am guilty of a little hording. I collect more and more things until I have to pick up and relocate, which is when I clear out the rubbish and take with me only the most deserving of items.
While unpacking a box I lovingly labeled, Noey's Miscellaneous Box of Shit, I found the little treasure, a gift from a dear friend I was given about 4 yrs ago, Henrik Drescher's "Postal Seance."

It is illustrated in postcard-style, and the experiment was to send elaborately decorated postcards to the dead. If the letter was not returned, it was successfully delivered. Some of the recipients include Vlad the Impaler, Marquis de Sade, Fatty Arbuckle, Jack Kerouac and Betty Page (her letter was returned because at that time, she was actually still alive.)
This book makes me so happy. The text is funny but minimal and gives adults an excuse to read a picture book.
I am in love with the fun, cruddy art. It is imaginative; even the design of the book is like a letter to be opened. Included in the back is a map of the journey of the letters to the afterlife, as well as unique arty stamps for the reader ... you know, in case you wanna send a letter of your own to the dead.
-Noey

Homage to Jim Phillips

I love this piece by Jim Phillips! I found a small block of wood in my dad's workshop and after sanding it down, I painted it using acrylics. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon :)





~jOy

"Drink and Draw" - Thursday Nights at the Society of Illustrators

~ jOy

Os Gemeos

This entry ended up in a different place than I had planned when I set out to start writing it. It was a happy accident. When I decided to write about Os Gemeos it was because I've always been attracted to their art and wanted to share that. I didn't realize how their work has become so much more than that to me. They are an inspiration, especially now in these hard times.
If you haven't heard of Os Gemeos, maybe you have seen their iconic characters - the poor, the hungry, the theives, robbers and rebels - which cover the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. They are twin graffiti artists. There are strengths of twins collaborating artistically. I once read an interview about how they paint together. It's very similar to how Noey and I work. While they are painters and we are animators, the process is the same. For example, sometimes completing something the other starts. Just like finishing eachother's sentences or saying something in unison. I think twins work so well together because we share the same twisted, imaginary world.
I identify with their work because it is so different, and I'm drawn specifically to their unique characters. Before internet, Brazil was isolated from outside influences and what emerged were their fresh ideas across the canvas of the country. I am into art that isn't necessarily pretty. Noey and I are killing off a cute little bunny in our logo. Gritty, dirty textures and styles that border on creepy, for me that's the kind of work that can evoke more emotion than something that is classically beautiful. In this interview, Os Gemeos explain that their inspirations and influences come from their surroundings - growing up in a city where you have to survive, a dense city where people are living on top of one another, poverty, ugly things, etc. People living in New York can relate to that on some level.
In some of the poorest areas, the techniques, and messages of graffiti are truly stunning. The way their characters interact with their surroundings ... I think this speaks louder than if they were exhibited in a room. It's true that the graffiti will be painted over. But then the artists come back to paint again, and to have a new message to say to the world.
The cultural diversity and unemployment influence art. This has had a huge impact on me as an artist. Their will, determination and resilience is a reminder. Don't sit back and wait for opportunities. Stand up. Produce art. If it gets you down and depressed, use it. React to social issues in an artistic way.


~jOy

Mad Creator

I've been lazy about writing lately, but a friend of mine, Sally Slutkins, reminded me that I hardly ever update and SHE WANTS MORE!!! So, Slutkins, this one's for you.

I usually hate distraction when I'm supposed to be working on something. I'm supposed to be working right now. A few years ago, I was supposed to be working on something and my annoying suite-mate at the time was singing Jewel at the top of her lungs. Jewel. She did this all the time. Jewel has a lovely voice but my suite-mate did not and she was RUINING it. But this was not what distracted me from the something I was supposed to be working on. This was:

Gris Grimly is somewhere in my list of Top Five Favorite Artists. I don't know what it is about this piece. The sketchy ink background on bits of scrap paper is great. His mixed media work makes me smile. I also just learned that he collaborated with one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, on a children's book called "The Dangerous Alphabet." Kids scare me, but this book, along with his "Santa Claws - A Scary Christmas to All" and "Wicked Nursery Rhymes 1 & 2," will be on the book shelves of the imaginary little ones I haven't had yet.

Here's his website, look at all the pretty pictures!

Grimly recently made his directorial debut with a film called Cannibal Flesh Riot. I know he's an illustrator/author, but I was hoping this film would be hand drawn animation. It's the next best thing, live action with stop motion effects, "not trying to look like smooth animation." Translation, it's shit on purpose and I think it's hilarious. It's described as a 50's B film/German Expressionism. I've been trying to find it online, but the best I could get was this trailer. Enjoy!

Noelle