FIRE AND ICE:LIVE ACTION?

Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi got together and made Fire and Ice back in 1983. Using his rotoscoped animation technique Bakshi tried to make the paintings of Frank Frazetta come to life. The results were mixed at best.

Now director Robert Ridriguez wants to use the same cinematic techniques he used to bring Frank Miller's Sin City to the screen to film a live action remake of Fire and Ice.

“I want it to look like you just stepped into one of his (Frazetta's) paintings, where you get to see his world, and how he saw people, anatomy, and composition and color,” Rodriguez said. “It will feel like it’s real, but not real. It’ll be his reality. He saw things differently. He painted from his imagination. He didn’t take a photograph and just paint it.”

Here is some of the concept art:

Can this happen? Pleeeeease!


I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
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IMPERI

Quick sketch I did this morning based on a vintage photograph.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

DAVINCI'S DEMONS

 So last night I started watching DaVinci's Demons, a British-American series which presents a highly fantastical representation of Leonardo Davinci's early adult life as an artist, inventor, idealist and intellect and Florence under the Medici's. The series is conceived and written by David S. Goyer.

Described as a historical fantasy, the series explores the untold story of DaVinci "inventing" the future at the age of 25, at a time in history when “thought and faith are controlled...as one man fights to set knowledge free.” The young DaVinci struggles with his inner darkness “tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He is a heretic intent on exposing the lies of religion. An insurgent seeking to subvert an elitist society. A bastard son who yearns for legitimacy with his father.”

I was not expecting much with this show so I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. It strikes the right balance of history and fantasy. DaVinci is presented as a sort of Florentine Sherlock, his unique vision and insights highlighted by moments of slow-motion and animated DaVinci drawings.

In fact, if you're waiting impatiently for the new season of SHERLOCK in October (and, let's face it, who isn't?) then this just might be the series to tide you over. Visually it is very lush with beautiful scenery and costumes and, as this is Starz, there are enough expletives, boobs, bums and dicks on display to satisfy the GAME OF THRONES/SPARTACUS crowd. There is also enough action, sword fights, spurting blood, clever chases and explosions to satisfy attention deficit viewers.

Tom Riley does his best Benedict Cumberbatch/Johnny Lee Miller as Leonardo. He is difficult, a womanizer, a drunkard as well as a man of frenetic action and tortured genius. The rest of the cast is good and mostly British. DEEP SPACE NINE fans will recognize Julian Bashir -- Alexander Siddig as Al-Rahim and SHERLOCK aficionados will recognize Irene Adler -- Lara Pulver as Clarice Orsini.

I'm only two episodes in but I'm enjoying it enormously and I would recommend it based on the opening two. There are only eight episodes in the first season but it has been renewed for a second. It's certainly worth a look.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

RANDOM GUY

Freehand sketch, no references -- something I have been doing far too infrequently lately.

I think I need to do more of this -- just pure drawing with no expectation of what it's gonna look like once it's done. It's very freeing.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

BELLA VonCATWOMAN

Here is the awesomely awesome Bella Von Doom as Catwoman.

This is the second time I have worked with Bella and once again I had a blast. She is a fun person, a fantastic model as well as a terrific artist herself.

Go visit her tumblr and give her a shout out. (Just be warned that her tumblr can get very NSFW). Check it out here. 

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE DESECRATION... Sorry, I mean THE DESOLATION OF THE HOBBIT

So here is the trailer for the second instalment of the movie adaptation of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Now, honestly, I love Sylvester McCoy. I thought he was terrific as Doctor Who back in the early 90's. And I love how he played Radagast the brown in the first movie and I am happy to see him back in the sequel. But his character is NOT IN THE BOOK.

I love Evangeline Lilly. She's beautiful, she's a great actress and she is a fellow Canadian. She hails from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. She plays an elf named Tauriel who looks like she will kick ass. But her character is NOT IN THE BOOK.

I like Orlando Bloom. I thought he was great as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Carribbean movies. I though he played Legolas excellently in the three Lord of the Rings movies. He was great as Legolas. I'm glad to see him play the role again. But that character is NOT IN THE BOOK.

Clearly this is not The Hobbit. It is, but it has been messed with, expanded, encumbered, even, with stuff that seems to be required for big-budget 3D blockbuster filmmaking. A freaking dragon, the dreaded Smaug (who IS in the book) Gandalf the Grey, thirteen dwarves and one hobbit are not enough, it seems for modern moviegoers.

Well, at least they haven't taken anything out. It just seems a shame while they're adding characters left right and centre that they couldn't have included Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, Farmer Maggot and Gan Buri Gan who were cut from the original trilogy. If you're going to be bringing characters in Willy Nilly, why not them?

Mind you, this is nothing new. I suppose L. Frank Baum purists would have complained about the musical numbers carelessly shoe-horned into The Wizard of Oz, or the pointless addition of distracting cameos of big name stars in Mike Todd's technicolor adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days. Or perhaps the awful travesty of taking Isaac Asimov's Susan Calvin, a central character in his robot stories, and making her a stiff sidekick to Will Smith's wisecracking detective in the execrable adaptation of I,Robot.

The raping and retro-fitting of classic literature to suit Hollywood's need for extravaganza is nothing new, but it still rankles deep in the guts of many a book lover.

It's kind of like taking a bedazzler to a Faberge Egg.

Yeah. Think about that.
I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

POST-APOCALYPTIC PAINTING

Spear Girl visits the Future. My usual kind of image. Finished this morning.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE NEXT DOCTOR?

I think it should be this guy... 'cause I hear he's not doing anything right now.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SUPERMAN SPEED PAINTING

I haven't drawn or painted ANYTHING in 8 days. I thought maybe I'd lost my mojo, so I did a quick, ten-minute speed painting of Superman just to warm up the drawin' hands.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

KRYPTONIAN SHIELD

Yes, I am MICHAEL-AK

(Pronounced "md.j.kɛ.l æk")

http://glyphcreator.manofsteel.com/

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

HEROES!

...ready for action!

My brothers and I... a long, loooooong time ago. Obviously we were cosplay before cosplay was cool.

My brother Drew, Myself and my brother Dave in the cowboy hat. We were the coolest kids on the block. Actually I think we were the only kids on the block. We lived on a pretty secluded street.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS:How it Could have Been Made Better

 I'm not going to spoil the whole movie with this article. I'm only going to spoil the first five minutes.

If you want to see it completely fresh, then stop reading. If you're not to concerned about having what is essentially a prologue spoiled, then you can read this article and still enjoy the bulk of the movie fresh.

The movie opens in the middle of the action. It hits the ground running as all action movies seem to want to do these days. That's fine. All good action fiction should hit the ground running.

But what is essentially a prologue to the main film was, for me, a really good ending to a potentially great episode of Star Trek if it were back on TV (where it belongs). I would really like to have seen the first 40 minutes of that episode. It could easily have been more like Star Trek then the rest of the movie that comes afterwards.

The Enterprise crew has clearly chosen to break the Prime Directive by saving a planet full of white-skinned aliens. It would have been interesting to see the crew wrestle with their responsibilities not to break the Prime Directive, and their desire to save an entire species who are doomed to die. Do they break their Starfleet oaths? Or do they let an entire species die. That would have been riveting to see Kirk and Spock and McCoy wrestling with that dilemma. That would have given further gravitas to McCoy's answer to Kirk's question: "What would Spock do?"

Obviously Spock is argued into action because it is he who has to set the device in the volcano. I imagine Kirk wanting to do it himself and Spock pointing out that it should be he who sets the device as his Vulcan physiology would allow him to function long after a human would have passed out from the extreme heat. It would also have been a great opportunity for a scene between Uhura and Spock. "You may not care about your own life, but did you ever consider what your death would do to me, you selfish Vulcan?"

Why was the Enterprise hiding under the ocean? That would have been interesting to watch the decision making process that led to that development. I imagine Scotty's initial resistance at such a mad idea, then watching as he reluctantly solves the engineering problems that allow them to do just that.

Why did Kirk steal the scroll? Perhaps it was a last minute thing. Perhaps Spock determines that he cannot set the device fast enough to guarantee the safety of the temple. Kirk has to figure out a way -- fast -- to get them out of the temple without revealing who he is. It would have been entertaining to see the aliens worshiping the scroll and Kirk's spur-of-the-moment decision to steal it in order to get them out of the temple.

And what about McCoy? He obviously had to spend some time getting that beast that Kirk stuns to be cooperative enough to be their ride. Imagine The potential for a number of humorous scenes of McCoy trying to coax a recalcitrant animal into taking riders on its back. McCoy as a grumpy "alien whisperer" would have been priceless.

See? Now THAT would have been a decent episode of Star Trek if Star Trek were to return to television, like it should.It's just too bad that the rest of the movie was not quite as good. I mean, it was exciting and thrilling (and in 3d!) but it wash't really Star Trek.

Not my Star Trek, anyway.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio