In 2012 I reunited with an old friend and filmmaker, Tony Moorman. We decided to make a film together. The concept was to explore what it means to be an artist, how one makes a living doing what they love and how do we define success.
After three years of hard work I am very proud to announce that Making IT will be released on February 17th 2015.
It has always been our intention to create an open dialogue where artists can share knowledge and help each other along their creative paths. Thank you to everyone who generously gave his or her time and energy to make this film possible.
As we progress toward our release date I will be sharing more information about the film and encourage you to share.
We’re asking these three
about Art School, Business Model, and the future of Illustration, etc, etc. Our
goal for this Documentary is to collect opinions about what does “Making It”
mean to them.
Sneak Peak: Making IT is a wrap! As we move forward to the next phase of the film, (promotion and distribution) it is a great time to pause and say thank you! We owe a great deal of thanks to the cast, crew, artists and family members who have supported us and the film over the past two years. We are all very proud of what we have all made possible together.
As a special thank you to those in our hometown we will be screening a sneak peek of the film and have a short Q&A session following for the attendees at the 2014 Cincinnati Comicon Saturday 6th September.
Also make sure to stop by and say Howdy to the Making IT attending artists: Brian Ewing and Mark Brooks before or after the screening to snag some killer art! For those interested in attending or more information about the film click the links below: Cincy Comiccon
Starting this
Saturday July 12th at the Art Academy of Cincinnati I will begin
teaching two summer Illustration workshops. They will be held each Saturday and
for 8 weeks consisting of 2.5 hour sessions running from July 12th
to August 30th.
Illustration: Materials and Techniques
Saturday, July 12
to August 30 • 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
8 classes •
$180.00
This is an
introductory course in which we explore and demonstrate many of the traditional
and digital techniques Illustrators use in the industry to create professional
illustrations for everything from games, books, comics and film.
I have had the
privilege of studying under some of the most amazing and talented artists in
the business. In an attempt to pay that information forward and honor their
craft I created this workshop to share with you.
This course is:
• Open to all ages and skill levels.
Illustration: Professional Practices
Saturday, July 12
to August 30 • 12:30 pm - 3:00 pm
8 classes •
$180.00
The focus of this
class is to introduce participants to the professional practices and business
strategies of working artists. You will come to this class with an idea of
where you want to go with your art and together we will empower you to achieve
your goals.
This class is
for:
• Driven high
school students with talent who want to create a college portfolio
• College students
looking to create a professional portfolio
• Working
professionals who want to target a specific client
To encourage many
of my college students who have requested and need these workshops I have
worked out a special rate with AAC Community Education.
If you are
currently enrolled in a college program and can show a current student ID you
are eligible for the reduced fee $25.00 per workshop.
To attend either
workshop call:
Art Academy of
Cincinnati Community Education • 513- 562-8748
The price of
anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
Henry David
Thoreau
We are what we
repeatedly do.
Aristole.
I have neglected
this blog for the last two years. It was
at that time I decided to stop working commercially and start focusing my efforts
only on the things in my life I was deeply passionate about. I was struck by
something my wife said to me, “ You have procrastinated before but nothing like
this. You dread working on your Art. It’s worse than pulling teeth. I see you
struggling through your assignments and pushing them off until it’s almost
impossible to complete them. Whether it’s the money or validation you just
don’t enjoy your art anymore!” And she
was totally right! Somewhere along the way I lost the love or it was replaced by
something else. I’m still not sure which or why fully. So after 15 years of staff
positions and freelancing I decided to stop taking on commissions and hustling
for jobs that weren’t right for me and dedicate myself to finding my love again
or quit the business. The German in me
just refuses to produce mediocre work anymore and God knows over the years I
have made some.
In an attempt to
help me reach my decision, I have dedicated myself to two massive projects over
the course of the next two years. The first project is The Golden Thread, which is currently on hold and I will speak
about more in a later post. The second project and reason for the post is
Making It.
So if your reading this you have probably already visited
the site or follow us on Facebook and the question that I seem to get a lot is
what is Making It and what are you doing on the project?
The Idea
On a return trip from San Diego Comiccon 2011 I was
talking with a friend Tony Moorman. He had just hired me to do some art for his
short film and he was asking what his future project should be. I said to him, “
We just a left a huge building full of the most amazing artists in the world,
isn’t it clear and inspiring, you should make an art documentary about
illustration.” After suggesting that concept two years ago, a lot has changed and
it’s kind of bittersweet to realize I am boarding a plane today to finish
shooting that film. We currently have 82 interviews in the bag and well over 200
hours of footage for a 90 minute film. After Comiccon we will shoot a handful
of brief interviews in town and start editing early fall.
Made for TV
I remember it took the idea simmering for a few months
before Tony warmed to it. It took even longer for him to convince me that I
needed to be part of the project. So for a few months we just talked about the
idea. I was also reluctant to work on another big project since I was still in
the middle of working on my book. The original concept was for a TV series. The
majority of Tony’s work is in television so it made sense. We would shoot the
first season, 12 episodes and feature 12 artists around the country. We would
shoot a sizzler and try and pitch it to find funding. We realized pretty quickly
even if a network bit on the idea, why would they need us? They would just take
and adapt our idea without us or we would lose creative control. Either way my
whole mindset at this point was that I’m the idea guy and Tony will make this
happen without me.
Road Map
Tony and I sat down and mind mapped all the possible
movies we could make and then compared notes and created a general outline. We
found some common threads and topics that we wanted to address. One thing we
both agreed on then was that if the film was going to be made it should have a
solid story and not just a bunch of talking heads that only artists know. It
was clear to me then that we wanted to address the whole career of an artist
past, present and future. The best way to do that was to interview students
starting out now.
Then compare their ideas against the veterans of the field.
It was important to be honest. Navigating our story with my lead but be open to
where the story takes us not where we want to push it. This approach would be
most accessible through those people presently in the middle of their career
like myself. Then I started to think if I were going to make an art
documentary what would I want to say and how would I say it? I started to write
down in private a short list of all the things I would tell myself if I was
starting out now. Later Tony added his questions to the list. Which choices
would I make and avoid and why? What questions should I be asking? What is Art?
Is art school worth it? What is success and how do you determine what that is.
Can you have a family and be an artist? What sacrifices will you have to make?
How long will you work in obscurity before you hit it big? How do you find your
voice and style?
Our Guys
The question then is who do we pick and how do we pick
them. Now that I had a direction it was important to find vehicles for the
audience to get there. Then it became obvious that I had some pretty amazingly
talented friends to pull from. Andrew Bawidmann and I have been close friends
since being roommates in college. Watching his success develop as an artist and
entrepreneur has been amazing, so he was an easy first choice.
Eric Fortune had
graduated a year behind me at CCAD. I remember him as this annoying upstart
junior who stole my prize in the art show with this sepia toned trench piece.
It wasn’t long after graduation that I started to see and appreciate Eric’s
work all over. In private I had to admit this guy was awesome! I was even more
annoyed that I had met the guy several times and he was genuinely kind and
passionate about his craft. Once I shelved my insecurity and ego it allowed me
to become friends with Eric and in the process learn a lot.
Tony was set on the idea of three but I needed the other
artist to be at least up to the other guy’s standards if not exceed them. I
also wanted someone relatively close that made a shooting budget manageable and
someone whose work was something completely different from the other guys. I
met Brian Ewing ten years ago at my first Comiccon in 2003. Andrew and Brian
shared a small table under a defunked company’s booth. Over years of ups and
downs at con Brian and I became friends. It wasn’t until later that I became
familiar with his gig posters and how prolific the guy is. He was exactly what
we needed; the only trick now was getting Brian in Ohio. I have this theory
that when you are doing what you are supposed to be doing things just magically
align. As it turns out Brian was looking to move out of New York for more
reasonable overhead; the stars aligned and we had our three guys.
Making It Pictures: On the Job Training
Tony decided he was going to fund the film on his dime. Money
is a funny thing. The few bumps we have had over the year of making this
picture always came down to money. The motto that got us through was lets just
make a great movie to the best of our resources and the rest will work out. So
we drew up contracts and consent forms. Tony got an LLC, Logo, website and an
amazing crew. Once people decided we were making something they could get
behind, offers to help came in frequently, from some amazingly talented people
sharing their time and resources.
It is important to both Tony and I to express
to everyone helping how lucky and grateful we are to all of you. I by nature do
not like to try new things. I’m a safe guy who is adverse to risk so this film
has been a pretty intimidating and thrilling experience. It has allowed me to
nurture a skill set I knew I had but have never really utilized in my work
before. Before this film I was an illustrator and educator. By the time it’s
done I’ll have conducted nearly 100 interviews and somehow become a narrator,
art director, writer and craft and services guy. Anyone need water or a hot
pocket? The learning curve has been quick but one constant message throughout
his film is that successful people ask for forgiveness not permission. So I am
running with it. This might be a good time to also explain the Hell I have put
Tony through over the last year as well. I am domineering, I have secret
agendas that unfold as I see fit, I hate to explain myself, I hate giving
compliments and I really like things to be done the way I want them. In short
at times I can often be hard to work with. With that said I do try to be aware
of my shortcomings.
Tony is not just the director; he is the driving force
behind this whole film. It’s easy to say go make a film but not to actually
make it happen. He has drug me kicking and screaming through this whole process
and I have loved every minute of it. He has allowed me to tell a story in way that
I could have never before. He’s taught me how to make a film and be a better
businessman. For that I owe him a debt of thanks, Maybe!
Spectrum and San Diego Comiccon 2013
We knew we wanted interviews from the best in the industry
to supplement our guy’s narratives so traveling to the major conventions made
sense for us. As we are about to board a plane for California we can only hope Comiccon
treats us half as well as Arlo, Cathy and Arnie did at Spectrum. Spectrum
simply could not have gone better, a great show with great people! The access
we had to the events and the artists allowed us to get so many amazing
interviews it left us with a great problem. We just have too much good stuff!
A funny thing occurred to me while interviewing. I
realized one of the best reasons for doing this film. I get to walk up to
artists that I love and admire. I don’t have to uncomfortably schmooze or pretend
to be their best friend. But because there is a camera present I can ask them
the most intimate questions about them or their work. And thus far people have been
surprisingly candid engaging and often down right brilliant. Talk about a
priceless opportunity! So if you see us running around at Comiccon this weekend
and you have something profound to say let us know. We will be checking back at
Brian Ewing’s Booth from time to time (Booth (4503) at comic con July 17-21).
We look forward to smelling you. And If you happen to be an amazing
artist we’ll film your two minute interview of you simply explaining the
Meaning of Life and Art but you need to wrap that up in a nice little bow and
be under two minutes if you could, please and thank you…. No pressure!
