Sunday, January 30, 2011

THE NEW MAN OF STEEL

I just got sent an e-mail from my buddy Frank Garcia. Apparently this guy:


Has just been cast as the new Superman. He's Henry Cavill, a british actor who you might have seen in The Tudors. He has been a previous contender for James Bond before Daniel Craig got the role.

More 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

Saturday, January 29, 2011

SHINY


Nothing to say today, well, nothing important, so I'll just post this picture that I swiped from Cerebus660 over at The Glass Walking Stick (Cheers, mate!). Look at them. Aren't thay just the most gorgeous bunch of people you ever saw?

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

Friday, January 28, 2011

TOMB OF THE AMAZON QUEEN


UPDATE: I forgot to mention that this is an illustration for a story called The Tomb of the Amazon Queen by Michael Ehart. which was published in Dark Worlds #3. The story was a Harper's Pen Award nominee and Ehart is a fantastic writer. Even Michael Moorcock says so!

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

Thursday, January 27, 2011

NOIR IN FULL COLOUR: THE ART OF JACK VETRIANO

Jack Vettriano was born in Scotland in 1954. He left school at fifteen, became an apprentice mechanical engineer the following year and worked for five years in the Fife coalfields. Self taught, he began painting in his spare time at the age of 21.

Vettriano's works are popular. I know this because of all the posts on my blog my previous post about his garnered more traffic than all the others put together. I don't know what most other people see when they look at a Jack Vettriano but I see images that are pure film noir, almost pulp derived. Some of these paintings would not seem out of place beside the works of Norman Saunders or Rafael DeSoto. Any of these could easily fit on the cover of Black Mask or Spicy Detective.

Am I denigrating Vettriano's work by comparing him to the lowly pulp artists? I don't think so. I could compare him favourably to any of the Ashcan school of painters (the most famous of which was Edward Hopper).

But this is a blog about pulp as much as about art. So you tell me: Jack Vettriano -- art or illustration? Highbrow or lowbrow? Culture or Kitsch?




















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

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

1000 WORDS


You know, some days It just seems like I've got nothing to say. There is an old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. So if I post a picture with this post I have exceeded 1000 words.

Yay, me!



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

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

NAME THAT LOCATION CONTEST #1



http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio



My buddy Frank Garcia, co-author of the books Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 - 1989 and Science Fiction Television Series: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Prime Time Shows, 1990 - 2004, sent me this picture the other day. It was taken a few days ago by a mutual friend, Ken Mcintyre, the author of REEL VANCOUVER (Whitecap Press, 1988) who is in Los Angeles right now.

So, do you know what this famous landmark is and can you name at least two famous science fiction films and/or television shows that were filmed here?

No prizes for this other than geek bragging rights.

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

Monday, January 24, 2011

KEN KELLY ILLUSTRATES REH

I love Ken Kelly's artwork, especially these he did for a series of Robert E Howard Paperbacks. I didn't always love his work. For many years I dismissed him as merely a Frank Frazetta copyist and I was not alone in that assessment. But time has opened my eyes to what a masterful artist that Kelly was and still is.

















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

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I NEED NEW TEE-SHIRTS








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

Saturday, January 22, 2011

TWO-GUN BOB - 105 YEARS OLD



He went long before his time with many great adventures unwritten. It's hard to believe that this doughy looking fellow with the intense expression from Cross Plains, Texas, created one of the greatest literary heroic figures of the twentieth century.

How can you not love a writer who can come up with something like this:


"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. "
Robert E. Howard
(h/t to Rafael Kayanan for the quote)

Many label him as merely a hack, or a racist or a Mamma's boy. None of that is true as others have argued very successfully as far as I'm concerned.

So happy birthday to you, Two-Gun. You gave us wild and vibrant adventures that we still enjoy today. I hope you are enjoying the peace that you were looking for.



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

Friday, January 21, 2011

PLEASE COME IN. COFFEE? TEA? DANISH?



So as you can see I've made a few changes around here -- spruced things up a bit, rearranged the furniture, put on some mood lighting. I hope you like it. If I can figure out how to do it I'd like to have some nice quiet music playing when people arrive, perhaps some ambient waterfall signs (note to self: make sure the bathrooms are clean and there's plenty of hand towels and toilet paper). If I could manage it I'd install and app that offered continental breakfasts for all visitors. Wouldn't that be nice? "Welcome to my blog. Have a coffee or tea -- we have a nice sampling of herbal teas. Do you want a danish? How about a muffin?"

Honestly, that's how I feel. If my blog were a real place in the physical world there would be snacks and comfy couches. Flowers would perfume the air. I would make my library and music collection available to all visitors (I only ask that you wash your hands after eating a danish before you pick out a book) (Note to self: Make sure there are moist towelettes and/or plenty of hand sanitizer available.)

I've also cleaned up at my other place, mdjacksonart. Again if I could manage it there I would serve snack, perhaps some nice cheese and some wine while people wander around looking at the artwork which would be framed nicely and hanging on the walls. The room would be temperature controlled so that it would be nicely warm but not too much so.

The internet is wonderful for reaching so many people, but I sometimes miss the personal touches that make interaction with others so wonderful. How can this virtual blizzard of electronic pulses that go from my computer to yours ever replace a warm handshake or a welcoming smile? How can pixels, no matter how artfully arranged, replace a genuine laugh at a well-told joke or amusing remark? How can it stand in for the genuine warmth and conviviality of a face-to-face gathering?

It can't at all and that's the truth of it. Having this blog has allowed me to meet and interact with so many wonderful people and I can imagine what it would be like to meet all of you in person, to swap stories and laughs, to break bread together. If I had a bucketload of money I'd throw a big party in a wonderful location and you all would be invited. The party could go on for days with people dropping in, leaving for a while then coming back. What fun we would have!

Until then that is just a dream, albeit a wonderful one. And even though I can't offer drinks or hors d'oeuvres, I will try to be as welcoming and courteous a host as I can to all visitors 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

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A GAME OF THRONES

I don't know about you but I am really looking forward to this:
(h/t to Al Harron at The Blog That Time Forgot)








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

MATT DIXON'S FANTASY PIN-UPS

I love Matt Dixon's artwork. His pin-ups have a quirky style all their own but you can still see the influence of traditional fantasy artists. The painterly results that he achieves using Photoshop are amazing. I would be quite envious of his work if I wasn't such a fan of it.









Check out more at his website: http://www.mattdixon.co.uk/


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

CIMMERIA








Robert E. Howard's poem, Cimmeria.


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

UNUSED ILLUSTRATION

Just a quick sketch today. I did an illustration for a magazine and was so excited about the assignment and the story that I did two drawings. They only wanted one. This is the one they didn't use.

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

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"REAL" BOOKS vs. E-BOOKS

This post started as a comment to a blog post at Patrick Tillett's excellent blog, but quickly grew into a blog post in its own right. Pat's comments about the death of the "record/CD store" are quite valid, but as someone who has been in the publishing industry for years and as a small publisher myself I have a slightly different take on the subject of e-books versus traditional print books

The difference between books and music is one of technology. In order to listen to recorded music in the twentieth century some sort of interface was required right from before the turn on the century be it wax cylinders or vinyl LP's. People are used to having to interface with technology in order to enjoy their music. The latest delivery system, computers, i-pods, what have you, is only a newer iteration of that. 

Books are different. The technology is far older, beginning with Gutenberg's printing press and evolving through mass market presses right up to print-on-demand, but the forum for delivery of the printed word has remained the same - marks printed on paper.

E-books represent a much larger sea change. Different technology is now required. It's a whole different paradigm and the reading public (the majority, anyway) has still not bridged the mental gap between reading a convenient paperback and reading on your computer or your Kindle or your Nook. Most people aren't used to having to have an interface. When you buy a book you open up and read. Simple.

Requiring the user to invest in an electronic interface is turning out to be a big psychological hurdle. Kindles are prohibitively expensive and the way the books are "leased" (for wont of a better term) to your Kindle pad is problematic for those who want to own the books they read. Perhaps the Nook is better. Perhaps the iPad is even better, it may be a game changer. I don't know.

And that's the point. There is no one convenient technology that replaces the experience of cracking a book and reading anywhere -- on the bus, in the park, in the laundromat, in the bathtub, even. Paper is resilient. Drop a paperback in water it will eventually dry and the words can still be read. Drop your Kindle/Nook/e-reader/iPad in the bath... well, you get the idea. There's also less of an incentive to bring an expensive piece of technology out of your backpack while you are riding the bus. If you lose a paperback you're out maybe $10. Lose an iPad (something far more worth stealing then a paperback, let's face it) and you're out a major wad of change. iPods, by contrast, can be tucked in a pocket and still enjoyed without threat of theft as long as you have ear buds.

Pundits have been forecasting the death of print books for decades now but the printed book is still with us because the electronic delivery systems have not been perfected. The economic paradigm is also different. Books have been priced the way they have for decades because of the costs of printing and distribution. Hardbacks are more expensive then paperbacks partly because of the size and the different binding, but mostly because of the number of units produced. They're usually referred to as mass market paperbacks because the printing houses print so many more of them they they do hardcovers because the paperbacks go everywhere -- grocery stores, drug stores, newsstands, airports -- as opposed to hardcovers that mostly only go to bookstores. (same for trade paperbacks).

With e-books there is no printing or distribution charges. For the publisher that should be great news. It's like having the book buyer supply their own paper and ink. All the publisher brings to the table is the formatted text. So on the surface, if the latest Stephen King hardcover costs $25 (or more) to buy in a store, then the electronic version could easily be sold for, say $4.99. Right?

In a word, no. Stephen King's latest hardcover of stories, was the same price in electronic edition as it was in print. Why? Because it's what the market will bear. You have an iPad, you want to read Stephen King's book now you pay the premium. Maybe later the price of the e-book will drop to $10, roughly the price for the paperback, but it won't drop much lower.

Perhaps that's an unfair example. Stephen King is..., well, he's Stephen King. That's a whole different ball game. What about a mid-list writer? They could offer electronics versions of their books for $2.99. The publisher and the author would still see the same profit as they would on the print version. So why don't they do that?


Well, again it is a matter of economics and what the market will bear, but it is also about the inherent value of the product. Average price for a song on iTunes is between .99 cents and $1.99. If you want to buy a whole album you pay $9.99 or maybe $11.99. But a single song is an investment of three minutes or so of your time to enjoy it. It comes up in rotation on your mp3 player and you can listen while you are doing something else.


A book represents an investment of much more time and attention than that. You can't read while you're driving (at least one shouldn't), you can't read a book in three or four minutes, and you can't have a room full of people experience a book at the same time (nor can you dance to a book). A book is an investment of time and attention and book sellers want to price their product in a comensurate fashion. A book should be worth more than a single song. It doesn't matter that it does not cost as much to get it to the consumer, just as it doesn't matter that an entire album delivered to your ipod doesn't cost as much to produce and distribute as a CD, they still charge you $10 or $12 for it.

So, yes, stores that sell CD's are closing up shop at an alarming rate. Is it because of the availability of music online? Partly. Is it because of the economic slowdown? Partly. Will bookstores follow? Probably. The trend is for smaller bookstores to give ground to chain bookstores (Coles, WHSmith)  and smaller chains to give ground to bigger chains (Chapters). Is that because of the availability of e-books? Partly, maybe, but I think it has more to do with the current economic environment and the general trend in North American business. The internet has hastened the the decline of newspapers, but e-books is not threatening the publishing industry overmuch. Conglomeration and the quest for ever more profits has done more harm to publishers than the existence of e-texts.

Will printed books disappear? No. Despite the rise of paper and printing costs in recent times even POD (print-on-demand) books, in which only one book is printed, are fairly reasonably priced and relatively easy to obtain.

At the end of the day it comes down to choice. If you have bridged the technological gap and are comfortable reading e-texts, then for you there will be e-texts. If you like reading hard copy books, as the majority of the reading public still do, then there will be hard copy books. There will likely be fewer bookstores per se, but there will be books in grocery stores and drug stores, even if it's just the latest churned out product masterpiece by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, John Grisham or Diana Gabaldon.

As for the rest of us, those of us who don't write runaway bestsellers? Well, we'll be there somewhere. Like, right here! If you like e-books we got 'em. If you like print books, we have those too.

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
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