Comic Strip Project Elements Line Color And Shape: Fill & Download for Free

During the 1920s art house cinema was beginning to gain its reputation as respectable filmmaking. This opened the doors for even more radical types of movies, one that would even question the basic narrative structure all films were following at the time. This was known as experimental or avant-garde cinema. They were usually short films produced outside of Hollywood to challenge the cinematic conventions of the film industry.Most directors were forced to use their own money in order to make these films. They were usually shown in the same theaters designed for art house cinema, until their reputation grew enough for theaters specialized in experimental filmmaking.Another factor that motivated the rise of these kinds of movies were the artistic trends of the early twentieth century. Painters and writers were already questioning the norms of their fields and created modernist styles such as Cubism, abstract art, Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism. Many of these artists influenced young filmmakers who were trying to step away from commercial cinema.This list highlights some of the most prominent sub genres from experimental films. The earliest of them was part of the Dada movement which began as a result of the sense of meaningless of life perceived after the consequences of World War I. There are experimental narratives as well, which reworked the narrative structure of movies and surrealistic movies, inspired by psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind. Other filmmakers experimented with the scenery of cities by filming them poetically, these were known as lyrical documentaries of city symphony.With the arrival of sound, even more styles were developed. Animation became a suitable alternative because of its capability of economic productions, considering the high costs of filming pictures with sound. This meant that abstract films would still remain popular since they were based on animated nonobjective pictorial styles.After World War II other innovative trends were created. The rise of documentaries and newsreels inspired the experimental compilation film, in which footage from different sources or a movie would be cut into a specific style to build up emotions or convey a metaphorical meaning. The lyrical film would also focus on emotions but with little association to narrative. The rise of these styles led to another name for experimental films: underground movies, although the audience associated this term with controversial avant-garde movies.Contemporary experimental films are reminiscent of past sub genres. The deconstructive film is directly related to the 70’s Structuralist cinema and compilation film. This time instead of editing over numerous sources the main focus was mainstream films and its artificiality. The most recent film of the list was considered to be part of pluralism, which in essence, is not even considered an official movement.After structuralist cinema’s domination, most budgets were reduced because of costly filmmaking styles. Other theaters were refusing to display experimental films unless controversial themes would be censured. Therefore, filmmakers parted their own ways to create numerous individual styles which did not belong to any specific movement, but were all categorized as pluralist cinema.20. The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928) by Germaine DulacDulac abandoned commercial filmmaking and impressionistic cinema to direct a Surrealist film. The screenplay, written by poet Antonin Artaud, combines impressionistic cinematography and a disjointed narrative logic from Surrealism.In the movie a clergyman carrying a large seashell smashes laboratory beakers, an officer intervenes and breaks the shell. The clergyman witnesses this act with horror. The rest of the film includes the priests pursuit of a beautiful woman through an incoherent series of settings. The officer prevents this love by intruding along the different scenarios.The film’s screening caused an uproar because of Dulac’s softening of surrealistic techniques. Artaud also had several disagreements with Dulac, he wanted to control the directorial aspect of the film but Dulac rearranged the shooting schedule at the same time Artaud was acting for the Passion of Joan of Arc. Additionally, since it was the first surrealist film screened, the critics did not appreciate the meaningless of its images, and was soon overshadowed by Un Chien Andalou. These factors have proved to be obstacles for the film’s recognition.19. The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra (aka Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra) (1928) by Robert Florey and Slavko VorkapićRobert Florey, a Hollywood cameraman, turned to experimental narratives and directed this ingenious film for a reported $100. It combined close ups of actors against black backgrounds with stylized miniature scenes made of paper cut outs and shot with an ordinary light on a kitchen table.The movie satirizes the Hollywood casting process and its mistreatment towards potential talent. The protagonist is a man who dreams of becoming a star, but is dehumanized by being labeled with a number. Towards the end he dies and goes to heaven, where he is rewarded with the removal of his number.The cinematographer of the movie was Gregg Toland, whose work was appreciated enough to be offered jobs for many major films such as Citizen Kane. Slavko Vorkapić was the special effects designer whom was also offered many promising jobs after the movie. With a crew as talented, Hollywood Extra was given enough support from the likes of actors such as Charlie Chaplin to be exhibited commercially.18. Scorpio Rising (1964) by Kenneth AngerKenneth Anger’s underground cinematic classic was an anticipation of the structure music videos would have in the future. The director created a fusion of motorcycle culture, homoeroticism, diabolism, death, and mass media. Aggressive montages of staged scenes, documentary shots, comic strips, movies and mystical traditions were divided in episodes by rock and roll songs.The film was a portrait of American masculinity. It presented the motorcycle culture of the 1960s without professional actors and shot in real locations, techniques used for documentaries at the time. However, Anger’s approach was not documentary, it proved to be experimental because he was inspired by a reality decorated with his own vision. He compares his work with a Cezanne painting of landscapes, vistas drawn with his own perspective.The film stars Bruce Byron as Scorpio and includes music by Ricky Nelson, The Angels, The Crystals, Bobby Vinton, Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. All of the films songs were actually licensed for the film, and even if most of the budget went to buy the rights, Scorpio Rising has remained one of the most famous underground films and one of Kenneth Anger’s best work.17. The Nose (1963) by Claire Parker and Alexandre AlexeieffA pinboard film adaptation of a story by Russian author Nikolay Gogol. For this type of animation, thousands of pins were placed on a board and moved and photographed under different lighting situations. As a result both directors created fantastic transitions and movements within the characters. A notable animation was the nose itself, particularly when it falls from the man’s nose while he looks in the mirror.This man is the protagonist of the story. He lost his nose, and suspects it ran away from his face. He decides to follow it, provoking an uncertainty with what is real or a dream. Another man suggests he found the nose, yet the thin line between fantasy and reality had already been breached, and even the protagonist is uncertain of his lost nose. The pinscreen technique showcases this world fantastically, as the movement between backgrounds is very smooth.16. A Movie (1958) by Bruce ConnerAmerican Sculptor Bruce Conner brought the compilation film to notice with this short film. Thrilling scenes of Westerns and jungles are intercut with newsreel shots of daredevil stunts and disasters with intertitles of the film’s tittle in between.This work of found art received international recognition and exhibition in museums. He evoked a sense of past tense with a retrospective of vintage clips, which included dirt tainted film with stunts and pin up girls. This movie paved way for deconstructive films because of its fixation with destructive images (the explosion) and his free association techniques with editing.The movie represents the tragic foolishness of the human condition. It demonstrates famous images from the recent past which were often used as mass propaganda. These big ideas of commercial (pin ups), war, excitement, and mainstream movie tittles are all recollected in one short film.15. Outer Space (1999) by Peter TscherkasskyAustrian Structuralist filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky’s fascination with Hollywood opulence enabled him to create a deconstructive film by dismantling a widescreen horror movie. He superimposed images from the original to emphasize on genre conventions, which created new obstacles to disturb the heroine via hallucinatory abstract imagery.It’s main target was narrative cinema, but to denounce its storytelling techniques it relied upon its conventions and appeals. Thus, it was a different experience for the director by stirring away from his structural cinema roots to seek narrative tendencies.The original film was called The Entity and stars Barbara Hershey as a terrorized woman being followed by an invisible being. Even if Outer Space presents shots from this motion picture, it was shown in black and white instead of color like the original. It also sounds much more aggressive, because of the crackling and distortions of the track, yet, the original film was violent by itself because of controversial rape scenes.Therefore, even if the movie has a different look than The Entity, the director kept alive the overall emotions, by still making the heroine feeling chased but by images, and the violence still present because of sounds.14. Rain (1929) by Joris Ivens and Mannus FrankenA highlight of Joris Iven’s avant-garde films. It is a modernistic work where the movie was not a reflection of the outside world, rather, it was a world by itself, even if it depended on reality.At first impression it seems like an abstract work, since it is a presentation of water falling on water. It drops on the flooded streets of Amsterdam, the canals, bonnets of cars, and so forth. What makes this short distinct from other abstractions is that it actually tells a story: rainstorm over Amsterdam wets numerous objects and people on its path to soil.Therefore, it could also be referred to as a documentary, which categorized the movie as a city symphony, lyrical films that demonstrated scenic landscapes of a city.By being a city symphony it transforms the short into something much more profound than rain falling on a city. It was a symphony of water, a demonstration of beauty with such a mundane topic like urban rain.13. Surogat (1961) by Dušan VukotićZagreb studios produced this highly stylized cartoon aimed towards art-cinema audiences. The film needed no dialogue to satirize modern life. It has a simple yet charming animation style based out of bold geometric shapes with an undefined background.The story is about a man’s visit to the beach ending tragically as everything, even the scenery and the hero himself, turn out to be inflatable imitations. Some of these include a boat, parasol and girlfriend. This suggestion of inflatable imitations is a reminder of the creation of artificiality in the world, directly insinuated by a nail in the end.Surogat is known by many names, such as Erastz and The Substitute in english. Other translations include Cypporar, Der Erastz, Le Succedane, and Surogatto. This former Yugoslavian short (the region is currently known as Bosnia and Herzegovina) was the first non US film to win the Oscar for Short Subjects (Cartoons).12. Begone Dull Care (1949) by Norman McLaren, Evelyn LambartMcLaren’s abstract films masters hand painting and scratching directly on the film celluloid. He developed these techniques soon after Len Lye’s works, shown throughout art cinemas in North America. Evelyn Lambart also helped make this short by incorporating color corrections and including dust as an artistic image as well as the enhancement of the overall product.The abstract images of the movie are accompanied by three pieces of jazz performed by the Oscar Peterson trio. The music rhythm synchronizes with the shapes and color shifting making this visual music. It invokes feelings that are hard to explain with words and instead are sensed by music dancing with images.The synchronicity of the visual with the auditory was highly planned. The different elements were arranged according to the instrumental sections of the songs, paying close attention to frequency. This makes the film all the more proportionately complex, turning into a visual feast of choreographic harmony.11. Entr’acte (1924) by René ClairThis Dadaist short was screened during the intermission of Francis Picabia’s ballet Relâche, who was also the set designer of the film. It began with a brief prologue where Erik Satie (the film’s composer) and Picabia leap in slow motion into a scene and fire a vintage World War I cannon towards the audience. The rest of the film consisted of unconnected, irrational scenes.The film was divided in two parts, the first assembled a number of disconnected contrasting views of Paris, such as a subway car seen in Méliès style miniature and Marcel Duchamp playing chess with Man Ray.The second half emerges with a young man aiming a rifle at an egg, before being shot by another man and falling from a rooftop to his own funeral procession. From this point on, the film turns into a prewar chase comedy as a vehicle travels along the streets of Paris followed by raging bourgeois in pursuit.Entr’acte convinced filmmakers that modernist style could be created without using completely abstract painted imagery. It challenged the storytelling conventions of the time, the norms of working for the film industry. It relied heavily on graphic editing, with a setting full of geometric relations adjacent to its images. It masquerades reason by presenting the demented pseudo rationality of the world.10. The Blood of a Poet (1933) by Jean CocteauJean Cocteau’s first film, financed by a rich nobleman Vicomte de Noailles , made dreams and psychodrama an essential element of experimental cinema, specifically surrealism. In this personal film, a painter wipes lips from his canvas, but they come to life in his hand.As he tries to eliminate the lips by placing them in a statue, the statue also comes to life and tells him the only way out of his studio is through the mirror. When he enters the mirror, he ventures into a series of rooms which reflect his artistic works.This short film is personal to Jean Cocteau because the artist’s journey through the mirror demonstrates various motifs that are also present in his poetry and drawings. Motifs like this include a lyre and muse figure. This dream narrative was influenced by other surrealists such as Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou, whose work is heavily based on the subconscious.The Blood of a Poet is the first part of the Orphic Trilogy, which is continued with Orphee (1950) and Testament of Orpheus (1960).9. Un chant d’amour (A Song of Love) (directed in 1950, released in 1975) by Jean GenetFrench poet Jean Genet presents a different take of surrealism: desires of prisoners and guards. Instead of relying on dreams or hallucinations, he strictly remains with the transient emotions of the characters. The separation of two prisoners by brick walls forces them to find different means of communication while in a desperate situation.While these two convicts try to fulfill their sexual and emotional needs, a sadistic prison guard spies on them with jealousy, influencing him to beat violently one of the inmates. Even if this encounter happens to be hurtful, the prisoner still fantasizes of his lover, of how their relationship would progress if together.This is virtually one of the most memorable short films, inspiring artists such as Andy Warhol. It also was one of the most controversial, awakening a subject matter unspeakable of at the time: homosexuality. The consequence of the film’s existence was it’s ban for numerous years, relying upon underground distribution for artists to appreciate.8. Street of Crocodiles (1986) by Stephen and Timothy QuayTwin brothers Steve and Tim Quay created this animation of an overtly thin figure who explores a decaying Victorian Street with strange dolls, sawdust, writhing screws and sinister machinery. This entire world based of a novel of Bruno Schulz is repleted with symbolism, as the brothers believed that there is no truth without meaning.Brutal and sexually violent imagery are demonstrated amongst organic materials, such as screws and tailor’s pins representing male genitals. These signs all lead to the insanity and decay the dependence of modern advancement causes, where there is no definite conclusion. It all leads to madness, darkness and temptation. These ideals are invoked with beautifully sinister images, drawn with evocative techniques of shadow and light.These American brothers won numerous awards for the presentation of their animation. Some of them include three awards at the 1986 Zagreb Animation Festival and the Grand Prix at Odense, Sitges, Brussels and San Francisco.7. The Mascot (1934) by Ladislas StarevichOne of the director’s longest works, it mixes live actions and puppets in a story about a poor seamstress who crafts stuffed toys to support her sick daughter. One of these toys, a dog, is sold off with the rest, but decides to escape to give the little girl an orange. She had originally asked her mother for one, but she could not afford it. Amongst the many adventures the dog takes he happens to go through hell, as other toys also want the orange he found.Ladislas Starevich was a puppeteer master. He was one of the first to create animations out of puppetry, as seen in previous famous films such as Revenge of the Kinematograph Cameraman (1912), where he used insects as puppets. He was an expert at moving several characters at once and in giving them mobile, expressive faces.This is very evident when the toy dog ventures into an inn, where numerous characters are dancing as well. These innovations make the film a true classic, which Terry Gilliam recognizes as one of the ten best animated films of all time.6. Window Water Baby Moving (1962) by Stan BrakhageOne of Brackahge’s domestic lyrical films, it documents Jan Brakhage’s childbirth of their first born, Myrrena Brakhage. It is rendered in flashbacks and motifs that set an emotive tone. Motifs include light falling from the window, shinning towards the mother’s belly, the miracle of birth.Stan depicts this entire process without any type of restraint. There is no censorship for the mother’s body, even with the cutting of the umbilical cord and the removal of the placenta. But Stan’s purpose is not to repulse the audience, rather, he cuts from the baby’s head to the mother’s face and recurrently flashbacks to the couple kissing and sharing their love. Part of the explicitness of the movie is to present the natural process and how it is not something grotesque, rather beautiful.The film could also be seen as educational, since it depicts the entire process of giving birth. It shows the head of Myrrena coming out of her mother’s womb. Brackhage payed close attention to have a close up of his daughter’s face, a very moving image of the power of nature.5. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) by Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied (Alexander Hammid)Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid created a masterpiece of avant-garde cinema at their own home with primitive 16mm equipment starring themselves. This was not only the first narrative experimental film, but also a stepping stone for feminism at a time where women filmmakers were scarce in America.The story consists of a woman (Maya Deren) having a series of mysterious encounters with a hooded figure whose face is a mask. She passes through different chambers, splits into different entities of herself, and eventually dies. These psychological characteristics of the protagonist and the dream structure of the movie also brought forth the trance film genre.The short also paved way to experimental psychological dramas, presented as projections of the hero’s anxieties. Maya Deren referred to the film as a pure mythological experience, repudiating any psychological interpretation. The film has often been regarded as an autobiographical work, with interests in nonrealistic spatial continuity.4. The Heart of the World (2000) by Guy MaddinThis short film tells the story of Anna, a Bolshevik scientist who studies the earth’s core. She loves two men, Nikolai, a mortician, and Osip, an actor playing Jesus Christ in a play. Both men form part of this love triangle while the Earth is dying of heart failure.Maddin uses news reel footage style to present a concept for a feature film, all in six minutes. With over a hundred shots, he uses silent Soviet and expressionistic film techniques with dated angles, hectic montage and Metropolis-like machines. Guy Maddin also overexposed and scratched the film to resemble archival footage.There are other details that Guy Maddin payed close attention to make as authentic as possible. Geometric set design recalls European avant-garde styles of the 1920s. For instance, a crucifix Osip carries has art deco patterns. Even the acting is loyal to the time, where facial expressions are heightened according to the tension and rhythm of the film.The movie was originally meant to be a simple short film for presentation at the Toronto film festival, before the various features were screened. Since Guy Maddin heard most directors were making short simple movies with very few shots, he decided to break the norm. Indeed it proved successful, as the destiny of the film was highly esteemed rather than being a mere presentation at a festival.3. Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) (1929) by Luis BuñuelBefore the release of An Andalusian Dog, experimental films were usually represented as static imagery set to motion such as Anemic Cinema and Emak- Bakia. The screening of this short film marked the beginnings of experimental films having an association with a presentation strategy familiar with narrative. It depicted figurative actions rather than abstractions, making famous the surrealist subgenre.Un Chien Andalou’s release marked a scandal for its audiences. It presents violence and sexual gestures not often demonstrated in theaters during the time. The famous eye slitting scene still proves disturbing, as ooze falls out of the young lady’s sockets. The drooling man while grabbing the lady’s buttocks is quite bizarre as well, his attempts to rape her are indeed uncomfortable.It is a true landmark for surrealist filmmaking. It broke through the barriers of conventional storytelling by demonstrating inexplicable occurrences along with meaningless intervals of time. Perhaps a better description for this should be a “dreamlike narrative”.2. The Hand (1965) by Jiří TrnkaJiri Trnka’s films were known as the “Disney of the East”. They were often lyrical narratives based on fairytales. In his last film, the director decided to develop another perspective, a political one that would openly criticize Stalinism and risk his fame for artistic freedom. The hand gives the first impression of a tale similar to Pinocchio’s story: a puppet rebels against his puppet master. As the story develops, it gives an entirely different impression as the totalitarian influence is evident.Trnka’s puppet was drawn with a constant facial expression to use instead shadows and light to convey the character’s feelings. This makes this short film all the more non Disneyesque, it is a dark tale of actual repression.An individual is interested in making only pots for plants, the director takes extra care in conveying this by showing him delicately handling his plants. The man is disrupted by a disrespectful hand, who does not care to destroy his projects. He tries to manipulate him into creating a statue of himself, but the man refuses, which would then lead to a tragic demise.One of the most riveting images of the movie occurs when tears fall from the puppet’s static face. Even if he smiles after being rewarded with medals for creating a hand statue, tears fall from his eyes. These are tears of hopelessness, as the puppet was forced to give up his ambitions for the imposition of the hand. It is a tremendous feat of repressed freedom. Trnka’s work was banned after his death until 1993.1. Dimensions of Dialogue (1981) by Jan ŠvankmajerAn animated stop motion film tells the metaphorical story of communication in three parts: factual discussion, passionate discourse, and exhaustive discussion. Referred as a social representation of human dialogues, it transmits this allegation with repulsive effects.Director Jan Švankmajer’s works are mostly surrealist, evident in Dimensions of Dialogue. Rather than using narrative, he explores feelings and social concerns with everyday objects, such as toothpastes, pencils and even vegetables. These objects come to life representing different discussions with horrible results.For instance, vegetables versus machinery, a heated argument in which apparent three dimensional objects formed as two dimensional faces eat each other up. Sculpted lovers intermixing as they make passionate love, later mashing each other after being overcome by their feelings. And lastly, two heads trying to come to an agreement with each other, but failing as both force to connect objects that do not match.Jan Švankmajer draws his inspiration from his art student years, studying in Prague and also specializing in puppetry. He has been making short films for over forty years, inspiring filmmakers such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton.Author Bio: Maria Cristina is an aspiring filmmaker studying her bachelor of fine arts at UNC School of the Arts. She grew up in Puerto Rico with a passion for classic directors such as Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock. Ever since, she’s been developing a screenplay called “Days in the Streets” hoping to start preproduction soon and wrote a novel currently in the editing process called “A Leaf in the Wind”

No. Joker was a complete Scorsese rip-off, which is bad enough, but it was creatively limited. Arthur Fleck is not Joker, he is in no way, shape, or form related to the “real” Joker. The character has a long and storied history, has worn many moods, has been everything from a common man driven mad by a dip in a chemical bath to a master criminal fully released to embrace his antisocial narcissistic, schizoaffective, bipolar, dissociative, proprietor form of psychopathy any damned way he felt like it. And he felt like it in many damned ways, from kooky gimmick chaos junkie, to deadly organized chaos junkie, to obsessive compulsive chaos junkie . . . Only 3 things are constant with the various ways Joker has been handled in comic books:That ain’t make up and he’s not smilingThe only thing he cares less about than who Batman is when he’s not Batman is who Joker was before he was Joker *Joker’s obsession with the Batman it his only “stable” and defining aspect.Now, how does Todd Phillips’ Fauxker, Arthur Fleck, fit in here? How does a mentally ill “survivor” of childhood physical, emotional, and psychological abuse fit? How does a “Joker” who appears to be too old to have been fathered by “Thomas Wayne” in that world, who believes young Bruce to be his brother so completely at that moment when he reaches out to child in a gesture almost in affection and empathy (possibly because he believes his mother that Thomas abandoned them and therefore assumes Thomas is a terrible man and father, so that he pities his “trapped” younger brother), this little brother who seems young enough not long to be Fleck’s own son fathered when Fleck was well into adulthood, but young enough to mathematically be Fleck’s grandson if Fleck fathered a child when he was a teen (and given how his relationship with Fleck & his mother is presented, the possibility of a child fathered when he was a teen would also be his half-brother). That the actor playing “Thomas Wayne” doesn’t look like he would have been much more than a mid-late teen when he theoretically knocked up Arthur’s mother.This is a film with an unreliable narrator, which calls into question every instant on screen, because Arthur Fleck is not the unreliable narrator of the film; Arthur is delusional, which feeds his skewed view of the world and his place in it. An unreliable narrator in prose can be the 3rd-person narrator, not a character in the book, but the person telling the entire story. In cinema, the equivalent of that particular flavor of unreliable narrator can be the writers and/or the director, in the case of Fauxker, Phillips is a co-writer and the director, as well as one of the producers. And Todd “no this is my original work, not influence by anyone, what’s that? Scorsese saw the ads and, along with legions of professional film critics, people with degrees in film history, movie buffs, Scorsese fans, & people who at least remember Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and a few others of Scorsese’s work, thinks this is more plagiarism than influence or homage and he has a few things to say about it” Phillips is nothing if not an unreliable, and probably unscrupulous, narrator. Fortunately, Warner Bros convinced Scorsese not to sue, made him an executive produce (as if he’d lower himself to produce a genre he tends to dismiss), and probably cut him in on backend profits, which even if the movie did just ok would be a tidy sum since it cost frak all to make, thus knocking Scorsese off of his ivory pedestal of disdain for comic genre movies and proving profit is king.None of this is to say Phillips doesn’t have talent and ability. After all, he’s in the biz and people pay him to make movies, while I and legions of others like me spend our time answering the same Quora question on the subject written in slightly different ways, if it comes across our in-box when we’re in the mood to hold-forth on the subject, as it would seem I am today. And we earn our money as teachers, project managers, researchers, accountants, actuaries, doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs, not making movies or writing comic books. So, go Todd, I guess. But watching Fauxker (and yes, I coined that and plan to keep using it until others pick it up so when I die my headstone can say “Never Lived up to Other’s Opinion of her Potential, but by God, she aptly coined the term ‘Fauxker’ so at least there is that. Now she’s God’s problem”) it becomes very clear that Phillips draws very little from the canon of Joker in all it’s 4-color, retconned-to-hell-and-back glory, or from the actors in live action and animation who gave their interpretations of the Clown Prince of Crime, other than to steal as much of Heath Ledger’s look as possible while being able to almost sound convincing when he says his Joker look is his own. The success of this cinematic mess rests completely on the starved shoulders of Joaquin Phoenix.**Further, there is a difference between a villain and anti-villain and an anti-hero. In the latter 2 you find moments of true humanity if not regularly than often enough that it’s not shocking, even if it surprising. While most “anti-” types were not intended to have heroic sides. These have either grown out of something in a storyline or in the established backstory that over time has called into question the morality of the bad guys actions or they are newer characters without much of a history who catch popular attention and the company wants to make money off of it.*** Many of these were created in the 80s, some early 90s, but when the CCA was still being followed, and villains could not be shown as cool, glamorous, victorious (long-term), or someone kids would want to be like. So to give these characters depth, their own titles ($$$), and so forth, they were given redemption arcs, their more disgusting decision retconned as never happening or not being as they seemed, and their moral code became a lighter shade of gray, and when readership dropped off, they could go bad for a while before becoming more neutral or even good. Usually, these “newer” characters operated with some sort of code of honor that could be stretched, more fully revealed, whatever, to be in line with their actions. Many of Barry Allen’s early Rogues’ Gallery are good candidates for moving from villain to something else, because under Captain Cold, who was real piece of crap in most ways, the Rogues weren’t killers, and didn’t harm people in the commission of their crime if it could be avoided. Over the decades, some Rogues went rogue, but Captain Cold wasn’t having it. The murder of the Bart Allen Flash was a big deal.The Joker is not hero in any way, shape, or form. Sometimes he’ll work with the “angels” but generally when his own ass is on the line, too (can’t cause chaos if the world gets blown apart). He’s evil. Yes, he is insane, having exhibited a number of mental illnesses over time (he’s NOT super-sane, that isn’t a thing, and the way Grant Morrison described what he termed Joker’s super-sanity was fairly close to a very high functioning psychopath, with a high IQ and oddly strong EQ because it helps him fake emotions and understand how to frak with them), but end of day, he is also evil. Being evil and being mentally ill are not mutually exclusive. Not all mentally ill people are evil, not all psychopaths or sociopaths are evil serial killers. Joker is an evil person who enjoys (he doesn’t seem to suffer) several flavors of mental illness and that he has the ability to indulge his whims. He isn’t crazy. He is insane but doesn’t meet the criteria for “criminally insane.” Joker knows right from wrong; he just doesn’t care.Making a movie based on such a character, and presenting him as relatable, and possibly in some twisted way right and admirable is AMAZINGLY irresponsible, never mind inaccurate. Leaving out the Joker element, and stripping the patina of Gotham out, and we get movies like this all the time. By people like Scorsese and Tarantino. With Fauxker Todd Phillips did not tread new cinematic territory, the basic story is far from an original one, and it was not a “comic book” movie. There was opportunity for originality in creating a story about a mentally ill person who was at least familiar enough with Batman & company that he would first have used reading/viewing as an escape and when he finally had a psychotic break, recast his life and himself as being in a comic book world.**** How much more interesting could that have been? What a different spin to place on the Scorsese oeuvre. How much could be explored through that lens.But, no, screw that. We (Warner Bros.) want butts in seats and comic books do that these days. But boy are they expensive, in general, so there are no moderately successful comic movies, you get a blockbuster or a flop. But this? Making an utterly un-super powered movie about super-people, cutting a well-known name free of all of its greasy kid-stuff roots so complete pop culture shut-ins who know jack about any and all things comic book can still understand the whole movie. Oh, can we cash in on some #metoo backlash? AWESOME SAUCE. Do it. Such a waste of what could have been an interesting look at how pop culture permeates culture on such a basic level that it’s just a matter of time before something like this happens. Heck, we already have costumed people running around trying to be real life superheroes, inspiring nuisance villains to take to the street to be their arch-nemeses. The Fauxker movie was utterly avoidable; some crazy person having a violent break and deciding they ARE the Joker or Riddler or whomever and going on a violent spree is starting to look inevitable. Basically, it’s happening but the people haven’t added to cosplay element yet.Movies like Fauxker become a how-to for a certain type a person, the one who wants maximum attention with maximum violence. Already there are questions on Quora asking if people feel disenfranchised like Fleck is it ok to adopt those methods. There are articles on it. A real life Fauxker has moved from a “it could happen” to “it could happen, the question is when?”* There are those who theorize we’ll never have a definitive on backstory of the man who will become Joker beyond the confrontation of him in his red bullet hat & Batman the catwalk above the chem bath because Joker himself doesn’t know, either because it was legit lost in the brain damage from the chemicals, and believe you me, if it did what it did to the outside of his body, his internal circumstances were also messed up, or because years of suppressing who he was has essentially blocked his conscious mind from knowing what memory is true and what memory is something he created to suit whichever version of himself he is living these days—it’s not that he prefers a multiple choice past, it’s that he doesn’t know himself but “if I have to have one, he prefers it be multiple choice” (emphasis mine).** Without Joaquin Phoenix, who is a very gifted actor is a bit much to deal with on a regular basis, this movie would have been utterly unwatchable. Phoenix has admitted he drew inspiration from the study of real-life chaos and/or serial-mass killers, as well as read up on a variety of mental disorders to add to the pseudobulbar affect that was already in the script to explain the laughing. Real. Criminals. And. Insane. Killers. NOT the life & times of the Joker from his Golden Age origin to DC’s Rebirth; NOT all the cartoon versions of the character; NOT every live action version. Phoenix studied real situations. He did amazing work in a meh, derivative, BS movie. Imagine what he could have done in a more interesting take on the theme?*** Magneto comes to mind—he was created as the villain against humanity because mutants were superior, to a “villain” because he saw humanity as an existential threat to mutants and didn’t see the role he played in shaping that opinion. And then they doubled down on his past, once a throw away used as a superficial excuse, and really dug into how a Holocaust survivor with the power to prevent it would act when he saw that a different aspect of “his people” could be/were under threat. That moment he injures Kitty, Magneto has an his epiphany and sees he has become the type of monster he sought to oppose, that he was harming the people he swore to protect—sure the OG X-Men were teens as well, but it was early days in the character’s development. Poison Ivy’s transformation from criminal vamp using her abilities with plants just to be a criminal into and eco-warrior with an “ends-justify-the-means” approach was a natural outgrowth of real ecological concerns. Catwoman morphing from cat burglar who liked the thrill of the challenge and sparkle of jewelry, to the protector of the abused and powerless young street kids when not stealing, to essentially a part of the Bat-family who still occasionally give into the thrill of theft, but generally gets her thrills by embracing her goals to protect the helpless and falling in love with the Bat and his cause). And, well, Harley Quinn’s basic design ensured there was a chance of redemption, and when her popularity took off, and she became her own character independent of the Joker, which as a trained psychiatrist, even as the height of Harley’s folie à deux with the Joker, Dr. Quinzel was tap-tap-tapping away in Harley’s broken psyche, leaking through the occasional flashes of sanity.**** With radio serials, newspaper strips, 60ish years of animated adventures, Batman TV shows and movies, and the probability that most people have at least read one comic book in their life, I’d say we can take it as read that Fleck would have enough Batman info to know Gotham, Arkham, Joker, Bruce Wayne—Thomas Wayne is a slightly deeper cut, but Thomas and Martha Wayne are named often in the movies and cartoons, if we assume he wasn’t a serious reader of comic books, but escapism is not unusual for young kids with unhappy home lives, be it in TV, books, comics, whatever.

About Art - What Do We Really Mean45 min readDesign, Art, Opinion Column, LegacyShare on Twitter or LinkedInSmashing NewsletterUpgrade your inbox and get our editors’ picks 2× a month. Earlier issues.Your emailFrom Sketch To CodeExplore Their Image LibraryEarn Your Master’s Degree OnlineMark Rothko, an American artist who described himself as an \“abstract painter\“, once said that he was not the kind of person interested in the relationship of form, color or_similars. He didn’t define himself as an abstractionist, but rather as a person interested only in expressing basic human emotions such as doom, tragedy, ecstasy and so on. This was one person’s vision of art, but what do we mean by art today? Why is defining the concept so difficult?Mark Rothko, an American artist who described himself as an “abstract painter”, once said about art that he was not the kind of person interested in the relationship of form, color or similars. He didn’t define himself as an abstractionist, but rather as a person interested only in expressing basic human emotions such as doom, tragedy, ecstasy and so on. This was one person’s vision of art, but what do we mean by art today? Why is defining the concept so difficult?This article is an exploration of the meaning of art and an attempt to understand the relationship between art and artists, with some useful insights via interviews with both traditional and digital artists.Further Reading on SmashingMag:Pop Art Is Alive: Classics and Modern ArtworksMilton Glaser on Art & DesignEight Inspiring Stories Of ASCII ArtModern Art Movements To Inspire Your Logo DesignIcons Of Digital Design1. About Art - What Is It?This question pops up often, and with many answers. Many argue that art cannot be defined. We could go about this in several ways. Art is often considered the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations and ways of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. At least, that’s what Wikipedia claims.Getting workflow just right ain’t an easy task. So are proper estimates. Or alignment among different departments. That’s why we’ve set up “this-is-how-I-work”-sessions — with smart cookies sharing what works well for them. A part of the Smashing Membership, of course.Explore Smashing Membership ↬Art is generally understood as any activity or product done by people with a communicative or aesthetic purpose—something that expresses an idea, an emotion or, more generally, a world view.It is a component of culture, reflecting economic and social substrates in its design. It transmits ideas and values inherent in every culture across space and time. Its role changes through time, acquiring more of an aesthetic component here and a socio-educational function there.Scott MarrEverything we’ve said so far has elements of truth but is mainly opinion. According to Wikipedia, “Art historians and philosophers of art have long had classificatory disputes about art regarding whether a particular cultural form or piece of work should be classified as art.”The definition of art is open, subjective, debatable. There is no agreement among historians and artists, which is why we’re left with so many definitions of art. The concept itself has changed over centuries.The very notion of art continues today to stir controversy, being so open to multiple interpretations. It can be taken simply to mean any human activity, or any set of rules needed to develop an activity. This would generalize the concept beyond what is normally understood as the fine arts, now broadened to encompass academic areas. The word has many other colloquial uses, too.In this article, we mean art as a form of human expression of a creative nature.2. The Evolution Of The Concept Of ArtWhile the definition of art has changed over the years, the field of art history has developed to allow us to categorize changes in art over time and to better understand how art shapes and is shaped by the creative impulses of artists.Having a solid grasp of art history, then, is important. I spoke with Alexander Daniloff and Jonathan Ball about the concept of art through history and about whether tracing a line through traditional and contemporary art is possible.Alexander Daniloff is a Russian artist who lives and works in Italy. His focus is painting, although he has worked in several media. Lately, he has worked on children’s illustrations. He has participated in various events and illustration competitions and has illustrated three books. He has held numerous individual and group exhibitions in Italy, Russia, Holland, Spain, Finland and the US.Jonathan Ball is the creative behind Poked Studio, an innovative company committed to developing creative visual solutions. That’s not all: among its services, Poked Studio offers illustration; Web, graphic and blog design; 3-D rendering and visualization; motion graphics; children’s book illustration; Flash websites; and games.Out with the old, in with the bold. It's not stock, it's Shutterstock. Explore Now!Question: Can we trace a line from traditional to contemporary art?Alexander Daniloff: I don’t think we can say anything without falling into controversy, even me. I have a traditional view and prefer artwork that speaks for the artist or period. I can’t explain what contemporary art is, or at least what it’s meant to be. Yes, you can trace a line from traditional to contemporary art, but not a straight one. Perhaps it is a parabola that goes up and then down, or a spiral. We don’t know. All we can say is that the art market has developed, which affects the art itself. With what we call contemporary art, words and explanations are always worth more.Visual arts have been transformed by articles and critical essays; meanwhile, the works themselves have become mute. In the theater, the curators and critics have taken up the front row. This is my view on the difference between contemporary and traditional art.I personally prefer art measured in human dimensions: art that whispers and doesn’t shout, art that covers me and makes me fly and does not crush. But I must confess, some of these modern things attract me; for example, mural painting (graffiti) and abstract things.Trips to real and mythological ages and changes in theatrical costumes and decor are a part of Alexander Daniloff's style. The style gives his paintings a special grace, showing both the festive and dramatic sides of life on stage. The style is also infused with a sweet irony that shakes up the painting. Precision, flexibility in design and subtle color harmony free up the artist's movement between different artistic conventions, playing with light and shadow, line and color.Jonathan Ball: Yes, most definitely [we can draw a line from traditional to contemporary art]. Many of the same techniques are used, just in slightly different ways and with different tools. The same principles apply, however you create art.I see a line particularly running through the stylized form of Japanese art such as Hokusai and contemporary stylized graphic illustration.Question: Compared to the evolution of traditional art, how would you describe the development of digital (or new media) art?Jonathan Ball: Digital art has obviously developed much more quickly than the thousands of years of hand-crafted techniques. A whole generation has been brought up on “Photoshop” and other tools, whereas earlier generations used pen and pencil.Still, I believe that digital art is still in its infancy. Despite what seems an enormous amount of progress in computer hardware, general computing and even the computing available to most design studios is just not fast enough to easily reproduce art on the scale and level of detail possible with traditional media. Go to any national gallery, and you will see works on an enormous scale. Try reproducing a 10-foot canvas with the resolution of a hand-painted work of art in a 3-D program, and you’ll find it can’t cope. In fact, most programs will struggle to render a detailed picture at, say, 300 DPI at just A4 size.While a painting may appear to be just splotches and blobs, when you go up to it close, the patterns are beautiful by themselves, full of color, intensity, saturation and texture. Go close to digital art or a TV screen and you’ll see a mess of distortion and artifacts.Once screen resolution is on par with printed media, and once computer technology allows us to easily create large, highly detailed work at speed, then digital will have caught up to traditional media.Most digital art of the early-21st century is designed to be viewed on low-resolution devices. Much of this art will be obsolete when higher-resolution screens and devices are developed over the next century. And much that has been stored only on hard drives will be lost forever as drives fail and websites close or are redeveloped.I find it a shame that so much great work is reproduced at such a limited resolution and scale and not stored in a way that keeps it safe for future generations.Jonathan BallQuestion: Tell us about art and your favourite art movement.Jonathan Ball: Difficult, because I like so many styles. But I find that if I’m in an art gallery, I love contemporary painting because it holds so many surprises and is less predicable than previous eras.I love quirky contemporary illustration, particularly low-brow art forms and gothic-mythology mixtures.3. Aesthetics In Digital ArtMoving into the mid-20th century, the conceptual transformations that arose from new approaches to art led to a crisis of aesthetics, as was manifested in new art media.Alberto CerriteñoWhile borrowing many of the conventions of traditional media, digital art can draw upon aesthetics from many other fields. But various criticisms have been made against it: for example, given the variety of tools at their disposal, how much effort do digital artists really have to put into their work?I asked Jan Willem Wennekes, also known as Zeptonn, for his opinion on this. He is a freelancer who specializes in illustrative design and art direction, with a focus on eco-friendly and environmental projects.Jan Willem Wennekes: The question seems a bit ambiguous. On the one hand, there seems to be a question about the effort required to create digital art. That is, some people may think that using digital media to create art is easier than using traditional media. On the other hand, there seems to be a question of whether digital art is an art form in itself (or maybe at all?).With respect to the first question, I think that working with digital media (mostly the computer, mouse, Wacom, scanner, software, etc.) does not have to differ from creating art in other media. The computer and all the tools generated by the software are still what they are: tools! You have to master those tools just as you have to master any other tools. For example, if you do not understand how light works, you won’t be able to create artwork with correct lighting, and so on. If you don’t know how the pen tool works in Illustrator, then you won’t be able to create good artwork, just like a traditional artist who doesn’t know how to use a pencil. You still have to master color theory and all the other things that are essential to creating a good or stunning piece of art. In that sense, it doesn’t matter whether it is a painting or a print. Simply put, you have to master all the tools and theory, just as you had to master them before. And the better you master them, the better your artwork can be.Jan Willem WennekesJan Willem Wennekes: Now, one can wonder whether digital art is a distinct art form. This is a difficult question and not easy to answer. I think the difference here is that “digital art” is more of a group term than just one art form. There are many types of digital art: some look a lot like paintings, some look like photographs, some look like drawings, while others appear quite new and unique (e.g. computer generated artwork). So in a sense, digital art consists of both overlapping and new kinds of art.Photography was once viewed as a competitor to portrait painting, but in the end it became its own art form, with many directions and fields of interest. In effect, painting benefitted from the rise of photography, and each added to the other and renewed interest in art in general. Nowadays, we don’t view photography as a competitor to painting; we see them as different media, with different benefits and drawbacks. I think the same holds for newer digital art forms.Zeptonn's work can be described as positive, eco-friendly, simple, wacky, colorful, fantastical and illustrative. It is distinguished by its hand-drawn elements, sweet patterns and curvy line work. And you might find a creature popping up here and there. For more, visit his website or follow him on Twitter.4. Art As We Know It TodayThe 20th century was a turning point in our conception of art, which is mainly why contemporary artists frequently reach for new concepts, break with tradition and reject classic notions of beauty. All these factors have given birth to abstract art. The artist no longer tries to reflect reality, but rather tries to give expression to their inner world and feelings.The old definitions of art have become obsolete. Today, art is an evolving and global concept, open to new interpretation, too fluid to be pinned down.Dan MayI interviewed Nate Williams and Travis Lampe to explore new elements of contemporary art and to answer the question, what new elements and principles are evident in today’s art.Nate Williams, also known as Alexander Blue, is an artist, illustrator and designer from the US. He has extensive experience in various facets of the illustration industry, and he has a wide variety of clients. His illustrations are aimed at both adults and children. He has also worked in the advertising world and in publishing, music, fashion, textiles, home decor, merchandising, posters, press and social expression.Travis Lampe is an illustrator who currently lives and works in Chicago. He worked as an art director in advertising. After a two-year stint in Warsaw, he returned to Chicago and tried his hand in the art and illustration scene. He enjoys making art and toys, and he has shown in fine galleries throughout the US and in Europe.Question: How much influence does new media have on your work? What is your relationship to digital art? Do you consider yourself a traditional artist?Jonathan Ball: It has a lot of influence. I think because of my knowledge of programming, it influences my work. I think in terms of modular parts and variables.Nate Williams: "My definition of art is play, be curious, discover, express."Travis Lampe: I’m a traditional artist—I work in acrylic—but I wouldn’t be able to operate without computers. When I design toys, for example, I use computers to scan and create vector art from my original paintings. I don’t create digital art in and of itself, though. Purely digital work can be beautiful, but for me there is value in having a tangible and unique product, as opposed to a set of data.No doubt, though, I’ve been influenced in my traditional art by being exposed to ideas that I’ve discovered on the Internet. It’s a great place to find old-timey cartoons, for example.Question: Travis, if the purpose of art was once to create beauty and to imitate nature, today the concept has evolved dynamically and is constantly changing. In your opinion, how has the Internet and new ways of communicating influenced the development of visual arts, its conceptual premises and its physical execution?Travis Lampe: The Internet most influences the development of art simply by exposing more people to more art. Unfortunately, a lot of it is really, really crappy, as you would expect. Anyone with a ballpoint pen and digital camera can post their art for the world to see. And that’s okay. I think the cream just naturally rises to the top. Ideas are still what’s important, far more so than technical skill, and the Internet hasn’t changed that at all. I’ve seen a lot of ballpoint pen art that I really like.As far as physical execution goes, it’s evolved the way it always has: as soon as a new medium arrives, there’s a scramble to use it in new and creative ways. I don’t know that the Internet has affected the physical execution of art so much as computers themselves have. It’s just made it easier to disseminate.Travis LampeMore communication is great for PR and in that way is a great help to artists. And more communication should equal more ideas bouncing around, which ideally should result in better conceptual thinking. But most of the “communication” is fluff. And I think there’s a threshold beyond which the constant connectedness ceases to be helpful. Artists need some disconnected time for the creative ideas to coalesce. Successful artists are the ones who are disciplined and able to balance all of this, I guess.Question: Would you say that art and the new, social Web have a connection? Are social media a viable way to improve artistic communities?Jonathan Ball: Of course. Art has a connection to anything in our environment that influences its creators. As far as social media goes, I think being able to communicate better is always an improvement.Travis Lampe: Social media is great for sharing results; it’s allowed me to connect with and see the work of other artists who I admire on a constant basis. And it makes working long hours in a basement a bit less of a lonely enterprise when you can show the world what you’ve done the moment you’ve finished. On the other hand, social media are a constant distraction. When I want to get work done, I disconnect. So I love it and hate it equally.5. New Media Revolution And Its Relationship To ArtistsVisual arts comprise many forms of art—painting, drawing, sculpture, music, literature and performance art being the most widely recognized. However, with the technological revolution, others forms have emerged.Leandro LimaSo, what exactly is the relationship between these new forms of expression and contemporary artists? Max Kostenko and Pino Lamanna kindly answered my questions, giving us insight into the topic.Max Kostenko is a Russian illustrator. He specializes in 3-D digital illustration and character design. He works as a freelancer for many Russian studios and agencies worldwide, such as Kotetkat and Lemonade.Pino Lamanna, also known as SchakalWal, is an illustrator and graphic designer from Germany who specializes in corporate design, character design and typography.Question: Please introduce yourself and your work. How did you get started in the field?Max Kostenko: My name is Max Kostenko. I’m 23 years old, and I am an artist and illustrator from Moscow. I have been doing illustrations for about one year. Before, I worked for three years as a Web designer in various Moscow Web studios.Pino Lamanna: Hi. My name is Pino Lamanna. I am a 27-year-old half-Italian, half-German digital artist living and working in the city of Wuppertal, in Germany.I currently work as a freelance designer, specializing in unique branding, handmade typography and character design. Most of my work is highly influenced by graffiti and street art, old-school cartoons and the music I listen to. My aim is to create stylish, unique and useful designs with an urban twist.I took my first steps as a designer as a little kid, drawing comic strips with my own superheroes. Later, in my teenage years, I became interested in the graffiti and street art movement.The first thing that attracted me to digital art was photo manipulation. Through that, I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop and several digital art communities. Later, I switched my focus to illustration, branding and typography, which I think suits me best.Question: Tell us a bit about your artwork. What software do you use? How hard was it for you to learn?Max Kostenko: In my work, I use only Photoshop. I started studying it when I wanted to start working as a Web designer. But as years passed, I understood what I really wanted to work on, because I found the job of designer boring, and so I started drawing some silly little men; that is, I tried to understand many of the principles by drawing them. In Photoshop, I do not use many tools to make my work look artistic—I just choose my normal round brush and start drawing.Max KostenkoPino Lamanna: Even though for the kind of work I specialize in, working in Illustrator or other vector tools would be common, I create most of my work in Photoshop. That might sound strange, but I can’t help it. There isn’t much of a difference at all, because Photoshop has vector editing capabilities, too.Once I am happy with my design, I copy and paste to Illustrator to create the final output.I cannot say that mastering Photoshop was difficult, because working in it has always been fun. The very first steps were kind of hard, though. I remember being overwhelmed by the gazillion options. It was learning by doing. I did a lot of tutorials, which I found online, to become comfortable with different techniques and methods.Learning Illustrator wasn’t hard, either, because I was already used to the Adobe interface and I knew a lot of stuff about vector editing from Photoshop. And of course, there are tutorials for Illustrator everywhere.Question: What is the main inspiration for your pieces? And how has the digital art community influenced your work?Max Kostenko: My inspiration comes in different ways: sometimes after watching a film, sometimes from something I see in the street or on public transport. I always look for the work of known artists: it stimulates me to grow and improve my skills. I became acquainted with digital art through the Society of Digital Artists, and the first thought that came to mind was, “I could never draw like that.” But then I gradually drew things like leaves. Still, I’ve only began to walk the path of the artist and still have much to learn.Pino Lamanna: Inspiration can come from anything, whether a cloud in the sky, an old movie or a box of sushi. My style has always been influenced by urban culture, music, movies, cartoons, etc. As a matter of fact, the digital art community has influenced my work a lot. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve gotten to know many interesting people and designers from all over the world, and in the end those communities have helped define me as an artist.Question: How would you describe your creative process? What are some of its most important aspects?Max Kostenko: The most important thing is a basic idea, I guess—a plan. If you have one, you can start drawing. Sometimes I get in my head a general sense of the result, and so I begin with the big shapes, placing them in a composition. When I’ve got the result, I start to color it, the most difficult thing for me. At the end, I complete the final details.Pino Lamanna: I always have pen and paper by my side, even in my bedroom. You never know when ideas will pop in your mind, and you better save before you forget.Brainstorming and sketching are crucial for me. If ideas pop up while working on my computer, I’ll usually put aside all the stuff I am doing and try to directly realize that idea in a design.Pino LamannaWhen working for clients, research is very important. Without a detailed brief, finding a design to match the client’s needs and expectations can be tricky. Therefore, I always ask clients to fill out my design questionnaire.Another important aspect of my creative process is patience. Often, I find a good flow and can’t stop working on a particular design until I am happy (and exhausted). However, before publishing, I always force myself to wait till the next day. I’ll often find things that need to be changed, tweaked or tuned up, when I am looking at my work with a little distance.Question: Have you ever gotten into traditional art? If so, tell us something about that experience.Max Kostenko: The thing is, I wasn’t trained in an art school. But since childhood, I have liked drawing and thinking of stories. I’ve always drawn with a simple pencil. After school, I tried to enter the Automotive Design College but was rejected… even having passed the drawing exams marvellously well.Pino Lamanna: As mentioned, I was into comic drawing as a kid, and I trained hard to create the world’s most powerful superheroes and villains. I can remember only a single character from these days: Super-Frog. (I know that’s lame, so don’t be mean!)Later, I got some experience with graffiti and street art. Never made it to the All City Kings, though.So, I don’t have much experience with traditional art, because my main focus for the last couple of years has been on digital.Question: How would you define your relationship to traditional art? Who is your favourite artist?Max Kostenko: I often visit the Tretyakov Gallery, and I can’t believe people could draw like that on a canvas centuries ago. I am surprised every time by the talent of classical artists.I like Russian landscape artists. Vasily Polenov and Ivan Shishkin are top in skills for me.6. Communication And Self-Promotion In The New WebThe artist’s life is not as simple as it may seem. Standing out from the crowd is not easy, which is why self-promotion is essential.I queried Bob Flynn, Alex Dukal, Jayme McGowan, Chris Piascik and Irma Gruenholz for their thoughts on the art of self-promotion; on how to spread ideas, concepts and a deeper vision of their work; and on the impact of this kind of marketing.Bob Flynn is a cartoonist who is interested in illustration, comics and animation. He currently resides in Boston, where he works as an animator and game designer for the children’s media company Fablevision. His work has appeared in publications such as Nickelodeon Magazine and Improper Bostonian.Alex Dukal is an illustrator who was born and raised in Patagonia, Argentina. From a very young age, Alex has published comics and illustrations in the legendary Fierro magazine.Back in his home town, he dedicated some years to painting and teaching illustration and comics. After working for some time mostly in Web design, Alex decided to get back into illustration. At the moment, he’s working mostly on children’s books and creating illustrations for design agencies.Jayme McGowan is a freelance artist and 3-D illustrator based in Sacramento, California. She works with cut paper.Question: Do you have a portfolio website? And which social networks are you currently on?Bob Flynn: I have a website, but I’m very lazy about updating it. And I find I get less traffic there compared to, say, my blog, which is infinitely easier to add to. A portfolio website is more of a structured presentation, which is great for art directors and people looking to make a professional assessment of your work. It’s often static, and it offers little to no opportunity for two-way communication. You get little to no interaction with the art community except for a friendly email or two a month. A blog is dynamic and opens that dialogue. I now think of my website as a hub to help direct people where they need to go.In addition to having a blog (my primary point of communication), I’m currently on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and, most recently, Google Buzz. Is being on all of them worth it? Probably. I’ve found that you really can’t be in too many places—though there is certainly a sanity threshold. A different audience traffics each social space (with some overlap), so the way to reach the most people is to be everywhere.Twitter is currently the best place to track people in the industry and to communicate with your peers—but not everyone is there. Facebook is where most everyone else is, although juggling friends, family and business is admittedly cumbersome. You have to weed through the clutter (I’m less a fan of its increasingly unwieldy interface), but you can certainly get traction over there. Flickr is the most straightforward: upload artwork, leave and receive comments. Buzz is new to the game and still hasn’t developed an identity of its own. But it’s another place you should probably be.I can track most job leads and connections back to a tweet here or a comment there. Not to mention great friendships. Simply by spending time in these spaces, saying “Hi” and participating in a positive way, you really can’t go wrong.Driven by an obsession with off-beat cartoons that are grounded in optimism and tinged with the grotesque, Bob Flynn keeps busy spinning nonsensical creatures into comics, illustrations and animation.Alex Dukal: Yes, I have had a portfolio online since 1998, and I currently use Facebook a lot, Twitter not so much. I really like Flickr. I used Orkut when it first came out. I tried Google Buzz and did not like it. Every now and then I take a look at Google Wave to see if it’ll ever turn into something interesting. I have a Netvibes account that I hardly use. I have an account on Dribble. As you can see, I like to test new tools.Jayme McGowan: Yes, I have a website for my portfolio, and pages on Facebook, Flickr and Etsy, and I recently caved and am now on Twitter as well.Question: Do you write articles for your own blog or for other blogs and publications? Would you consider either an effective way to get your name out there?Bob Flynn: I regularly post artwork to my blog, and I have written a few Flash drawing tutorials. Simply having an online presence is a good start, but think of the impact you could have by sharing information, ideas and helpful tips. People enjoy reading about process, so document your methodology as you work, and it will make for more interesting posts.I wouldn’t be in this just to get my name out, though. If you’re all for show and self-promotion, you risk turning people away. Participation is key: I enjoy reading about what everyone else has to say. There’s more value in that, really.Alex Dukal: I started writing little news on my website using Grey Matter, an old tool for blogging. Then I switched to Textpattern, and finally I separated my portfolio and blog (now in Blogger) as a matter of convenience. In the blog from time to time, I’ll write an article or tutorial. Judging from the feedback I get, I’d consider it an effective method of promotion.Jayme McGowan: I have a blog where I post images of my work in progress and updates on current projects I’m involved in. I use it to give readers some insight into my process. I think it definitely gets people more involved in my work. Most of the visitors to my main portfolio website were directed there either from my own blog or from someone who did a post about my work on their blog. I think if you keep your blog up to date and post regularly, it will be an invaluable tool for getting your name out there.Question: What are the challenges of creating a self-promotion strategy? Have you implemented a self-promotion strategy for yourself? Has it worked? If one is starting from scratch, how long does it take for a strategy to start working in their favor?Bob Flynn: To be honest, I can’t say I’ve ever architected a real strategy. You’re talking to a guy who’s never even sent out a promo card. My approach has been to put myself out there and see what happens. Sort of the like old adage, “Just be yourself”—that’s how you stand out from the rest of the pack. I try to update my blog at least once a week to keep people coming back. Keeping up with your website’s stats is a good way to see what’s sticking (i.e. where your traffic’s coming from and what your most popular posts are).Alex Dukal: Yes, of course, as a freelance artist, self-promotion is absolutely necessary. I think the first challenge is having something to say, something to show, a reliable portfolio to back up that promotion.Personally, I placed my bet on a portfolio that shows my best work, something that showcases the illustrations rather than the website interface and that makes it accesible and simple. And then there’s the blog, which allows me to maintain other kinds of contact with people: social networks, forums, contacts database, etc. It’s a big garden; one must water and take care of it every day.I think a strategy of this kind should be thought of in different phases. And you can’t expect a miracle before six months (though miracles do happen).Alex DukalJayme McGowan: My self-promotion strategy is fairly simple and involves social networks, as I mentioned earlier. When I got started creating a presence online, I came up with a plan by looking at the networks that successful artists who I admired were involved in, and I tried to do something similar. I was fortunate enough to generate interest in my work early on just by posting photos on Flickr and becoming an active member of the Etsy community. Many people who commission work from me say they found me on one of those two websites.Now I use Facebook and Twitter (and my blog, of course) to keep people posted on what I’m up to. But to succeed in promoting yourself on any of these networks, you have to be truly interested in making friends and business contacts. You can’t just scream, “Hey, look at me!” all the time without giving anything back. I guess I have a subtler approach to self-promotion: let people know what you’re up to from time to time, and trust that they’ll follow you if they like what they see.Question: Do you regularly submit your work to online galleries? Is that useful for gaining credibility and getting feedback on your work?Bob Flynn: I created an account on a great website run by Nate Williams called Illustration Mundo a few years back, but I’ve never put my work in an online gallery (or paid for anything of the sort). I guess I view my blog as having that purpose. Flickr is a kind of gallery, though.Pino Lamanna, also known as SchakalWal, is an illustrator and graphic designer from Germany who specializes in corporate design, character design and typography.Question: Please introduce yourself and your work. How did you get started in the field?Max Kostenko: My name is Max Kostenko. I’m 23 years old, and I am an artist and illustrator from Moscow. I have been doing illustrations for about one year. Before, I worked for three years as a Web designer in various Moscow Web studios.Pino Lamanna: Hi. My name is Pino Lamanna. I am a 27-year-old half-Italian, half-German digital artist living and working in the city of Wuppertal, in Germany.I currently work as a freelance designer, specializing in unique branding, handmade typography and character design. Most of my work is highly influenced by graffiti and street art, old-school cartoons and the music I listen to. My aim is to create stylish, unique and useful designs with an urban twist.I took my first steps as a designer as a little kid, drawing comic strips with my own superheroes. Later, in my teenage years, I became interested in the graffiti and street art movement.The first thing that attracted me to digital art was photo manipulation. Through that, I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop and several digital art communities. Later, I switched my focus to illustration, branding and typography, which I think suits me best.Question: Tell us a bit about your artwork. What software do you use? How hard was it for you to learn?Max Kostenko: In my work, I use only Photoshop. I started studying it when I wanted to start working as a Web designer. But as years passed, I understood what I really wanted to work on, because I found the job of designer boring, and so I started drawing some silly little men; that is, I tried to understand many of the principles by drawing them. In Photoshop, I do not use many tools to make my work look artistic—I just choose my normal round brush and start drawing.Max KostenkoPino Lamanna: Even though for the kind of work I specialize in, working in Illustrator or other vector tools would be common, I create most of my work in Photoshop. That might sound strange, but I can’t help it. There isn’t much of a difference at all, because Photoshop has vector editing capabilities, too.Once I am happy with my design, I copy and paste to Illustrator to create the final output.I cannot say that mastering Photoshop was difficult, because working in it has always been fun. The very first steps were kind of hard, though. I remember being overwhelmed by the gazillion options. It was learning by doing. I did a lot of tutorials, which I found online, to become comfortable with different techniques and methods.Learning Illustrator wasn’t hard, either, because I was already used to the Adobe interface and I knew a lot of stuff about vector editing from Photoshop. And of course, there are tutorials for Illustrator everywhere.Question: What is the main inspiration for your pieces? And how has the digital art community influenced your work?Max Kostenko: My inspiration comes in different ways: sometimes after watching a film, sometimes from something I see in the street or on public transport. I always look for the work of known artists: it stimulates me to grow and improve my skills. I became acquainted with digital art through the Society of Digital Artists, and the first thought that came to mind was, “I could never draw like that.” But then I gradually drew things like leaves. Still, I’ve only began to walk the path of the artist and still have much to learn.Pino Lamanna: Inspiration can come from anything, whether a cloud in the sky, an old movie or a box of sushi. My style has always been influenced by urban culture, music, movies, cartoons, etc. As a matter of fact, the digital art community has influenced my work a lot. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve gotten to know many interesting people and designers from all over the world, and in the end those communities have helped define me as an artist.Question: How would you describe your creative process? What are some of its most important aspects?Max Kostenko: The most important thing is a basic idea, I guess—a plan. If you have one, you can start drawing. Sometimes I get in my head a general sense of the result, and so I begin with the big shapes, placing them in a composition. When I’ve got the result, I start to color it, the most difficult thing for me. At the end, I complete the final details.Pino Lamanna: I always have pen and paper by my side, even in my bedroom. You never know when ideas will pop in your mind, and you better save before you forget.Brainstorming and sketching are crucial for me. If ideas pop up while working on my computer, I’ll usually put aside all the stuff I am doing and try to directly realize that idea in a design.Pino LamannaWhen working for clients, research is very important. Without a detailed brief, finding a design to match the client’s needs and expectations can be tricky. Therefore, I always ask clients to fill out my design questionnaire.Another important aspect of my creative process is patience. Often, I find a good flow and can’t stop working on a particular design until I am happy (and exhausted). However, before publishing, I always force myself to wait till the next day. I’ll often find things that need to be changed, tweaked or tuned up, when I am looking at my work with a little distance.Question: Have you ever gotten into traditional art? If so, tell us something about that experience.Max Kostenko: The thing is, I wasn’t trained in an art school. But since childhood, I have liked drawing and thinking of stories. I’ve always drawn with a simple pencil. After school, I tried to enter the Automotive Design College but was rejected… even having passed the drawing exams marvellously well.Pino Lamanna: As mentioned, I was into comic drawing as a kid, and I trained hard to create the world’s most powerful superheroes and villains. I can remember only a single character from these days: Super-Frog. (I know that’s lame, so don’t be mean!)Later, I got some experience with graffiti and street art. Never made it to the All City Kings, though.So, I don’t have much experience with traditional art, because my main focus for the last couple of years has been on digital.Question: How would you define your relationship to traditional art? Who is your favourite artist?Max Kostenko: I often visit the Tretyakov Gallery, and I can’t believe people could draw like that on a canvas centuries ago. I am surprised every time by the talent of classical artists.I like Russian landscape artists. Vasily Polenov and Ivan Shishkin are top in skills for me.6. Communication And Self-Promotion In The New WebThe artist’s life is not as simple as it may seem. Standing out from the crowd is not easy, which is why self-promotion is essential.I queried Bob Flynn, Alex Dukal, Jayme McGowan, Chris Piascik and Irma Gruenholz for their thoughts on the art of self-promotion; on how to spread ideas, concepts and a deeper vision of their work; and on the impact of this kind of marketing.Bob Flynn is a cartoonist who is interested in illustration, comics and animation. He currently resides in Boston, where he works as an animator and game designer for the children’s media company Fablevision. His work has appeared in publications such as Nickelodeon Magazine and Improper Bostonian.Alex Dukal is an illustrator who was born and raised in Patagonia, Argentina. From a very young age, Alex has published comics and illustrations in the legendary Fierro magazine.Back in his home town, he dedicated some years to painting and teaching illustration and comics. After working for some time mostly in Web design, Alex decided to get back into illustration. At the moment, he’s working mostly on children’s books and creating illustrations for design agencies.Jayme McGowan is a freelance artist and 3-D illustrator based in Sacramento, California. She works with cut paper.Question: Do you have a portfolio website? And which social networks are you currently on?Bob Flynn: I have a website, but I’m very lazy about updating it. And I find I get less traffic there compared to, say, my blog, which is infinitely easier to add to. A portfolio website is more of a structured presentation, which is great for art directors and people looking to make a professional assessment of your work. It’s often static, and it offers little to no opportunity for two-way communication. You get little to no interaction with the art community except for a friendly email or two a month. A blog is dynamic and opens that dialogue. I now think of my website as a hub to help direct people where they need to go.In addition to having a blog (my primary point of communication), I’m currently on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and, most recently, Google Buzz. Is being on all of them worth it? Probably. I’ve found that you really can’t be in too many places—though there is certainly a sanity threshold. A different audience traffics each social space (with some overlap), so the way to reach the most people is to be everywhere.Twitter is currently the best place to track people in the industry and to communicate with your peers—but not everyone is there. Facebook is where most everyone else is, although juggling friends, family and business is admittedly cumbersome. You have to weed through the clutter (I’m less a fan of its increasingly unwieldy interface), but you can certainly get traction over there. Flickr is the most straightforward: upload artwork, leave and receive comments. Buzz is new to the game and still hasn’t developed an identity of its own. But it’s another place you should probably be.I can track most job leads and connections back to a tweet here or a comment there. Not to mention great friendships. Simply by spending time in these spaces, saying “Hi” and participating in a positive way, you really can’t go wrong.Driven by an obsession with off-beat cartoons that are grounded in optimism and tinged with the grotesque, Bob Flynn keeps busy spinning nonsensical creatures into comics, illustrations and animation.Alex Dukal: Yes, I have had a portfolio online since 1998, and I currently use Facebook a lot, Twitter not so much. I really like Flickr. I used Orkut when it first came out. I tried Google Buzz and did not like it. Every now and then I take a look at Google Wave to see if it’ll ever turn into something interesting. I have a Netvibes account that I hardly use. I have an account on Dribble. As you can see, I like to test new tools.Jayme McGowan: Yes, I have a website for my portfolio, and pages on Facebook, Flickr and Etsy, and I recently caved and am now on Twitter as well.Question: Do you write articles for your own blog or for other blogs and publications? Would you consider either an effective way to get your name out there?Bob Flynn: I regularly post artwork to my blog, and I have written a few Flash drawing tutorials. Simply having an online presence is a good start, but think of the impact you could have by sharing information, ideas and helpful tips. People enjoy reading about process, so document your methodology as you work, and it will make for more interesting posts.I wouldn’t be in this just to get my name out, though. If you’re all for show and self-promotion, you risk turning people away. Participation is key: I enjoy reading about what everyone else has to say. There’s more value in that, really.Alex Dukal: I started writing little news on my website using Grey Matter, an old tool for blogging. Then I switched to Textpattern, and finally I separated my portfolio and blog (now in Blogger) as a matter of convenience. In the blog from time to time, I’ll write an article or tutorial. Judging from the feedback I get, I’d consider it an effective method of promotion.Jayme McGowan: I have a blog where I post images of my work in progress and updates on current projects I’m involved in. I use it to give readers some insight into my process. I think it definitely gets people more involved in my work. Most of the visitors to my main portfolio website were directed there either from my own blog or from someone who did a post about my work on their blog. I think if you keep your blog up to date and post regularly, it will be an invaluable tool for getting your name out there.Question: What are the challenges of creating a self-promotion strategy? Have you implemented a self-promotion strategy for yourself? Has it worked? If one is starting from scratch, how long does it take for a strategy to start working in their favor?Bob Flynn: To be honest, I can’t say I’ve ever architected a real strategy. You’re talking to a guy who’s never even sent out a promo card. My approach has been to put myself out there and see what happens. Sort of the like old adage, “Just be yourself”—that’s how you stand out from the rest of the pack. I try to update my blog at least once a week to keep people coming back. Keeping up with your website’s stats is a good way to see what’s sticking (i.e. where your traffic’s coming from and what your most popular posts are).Alex Dukal: Yes, of course, as a freelance artist, self-promotion is absolutely necessary. I think the first challenge is having something to say, something to show, a reliable portfolio to back up that promotion.Personally, I placed my bet on a portfolio that shows my best work, something that showcases the illustrations rather than the website interface and that makes it accesible and simple. And then there’s the blog, which allows me to maintain other kinds of contact with people: social networks, forums, contacts database, etc. It’s a big garden; one must water and take care of it every day.I think a strategy of this kind should be thought of in different phases. And you can’t expect a miracle before six months (though miracles do happen).Alex DukalJayme McGowan: My self-promotion strategy is fairly simple and involves social networks, as I mentioned earlier. When I got started creating a presence online, I came up with a plan by looking at the networks that successful artists who I admired were involved in, and I tried to do something similar. I was fortunate enough to generate interest in my work early on just by posting photos on Flickr and becoming an active member of the Etsy community. Many people who commission work from me say they found me on one of those two websites.Now I use Facebook and Twitter (and my blog, of course) to keep people posted on what I’m up to. But to succeed in promoting yourself on any of these networks, you have to be truly interested in making friends and business contacts. You can’t just scream, “Hey, look at me!” all the time without giving anything back. I guess I have a subtler approach to self-promotion: let people know what you’re up to from time to time, and trust that they’ll follow you if they like what they see.Question: Do you regularly submit your work to online galleries? Is that useful for gaining credibility and getting feedback on your work?Bob Flynn: I created an account on a great website run by Nate Williams called Illustration Mundo a few years back, but I’ve never put my work in an online gallery (or paid for anything of the sort). I guess I view my blog as having that purpose. Flickr is a kind of gallery, though.Alex Dukal: Not at all to both questions. Ten years ago, if someone invited you to show some of your work in an online gallery, it was cute, flattering. Today, I think we have to be careful, because the selection criteria is often not that great, and one must pay attention to those details as well. If you display your work in the wrong place, it could have a negative result. In principle, credibility should come from the work itself.Jayme McGowan: I have a profile on Illustration Mundo, which is a great website that functions mainly as a directory of illustrators, not a gallery per se. Honestly, I don’t participate in any online galleries. I’m sure that’s a great way to get feedback from your peers, but I don’t know that it will give you added credibility as a professional. I can maintain only so many Web pages myself, so I try to limit them to the ones I get the most benefit from, those where I believe art directors and buyers might find me.Jayme McGowanChris Piascik is a freelance designer and illustrator who is active in the design community. With six years of professional experience at award-winning firms in New England, he has had work published in numerous books and publications, including the Logo Lounge series, Typography Essentials and Lettering: Beyond Computer Graphics. He currently posts drawings on his website daily.Irma Gruenholz is a Spanish illustrator who specializes in clay and other materials, allowing her to work in volume. Her work is used in books, magazines, advertisements and online marketing.Question: Are you an active participant in every social community you have joined? How much time do you set aside to interact in social media? Do you commit to posting new work and personal updates regularly?Chris Piascik: I stay active in quite a few social communities. I admit that I have joined some that I couldn’t keep up with though! I don’t really schedule time for social networking, although that’s probably a good idea. Instead, I scatter it throughout the day, whether it’s browsing Twitter on my iPhone while exporting a big file on my computer or procrastinating the start of a new project. It’s all about multi-tasking! I think the biggest thing that has helped me with social networking is my daily drawings. I post a new drawing Monday to Friday on Flickr, and from there I post it to my personal website, and those updates flow to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.Chris PiascikIrma Gruenholz: Yes, I have a blog, and I participate in some social communities, such as Flickr and Behance. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time for a very active presence. I would like to devote more time because it is a good way to keep up with and see the work of other artists.Question: At the moment, which community is the most valuable for finding job opportunities?Chris Piascik: I think most of the networks out there have value. I do think Flickr works really well, though. My Flickr page seems to get the most traffic out of all my websites. Flickr is so vast that a lot of people use it for image research. I think my daily updates help my work not get lost.Irma Gruenholz: Based on personal experience, Behance is a good platform for showing your work to art directors and art buyers. I’ve gotten some work through it.Question: How important is crafting the messages you send out and keeping your website looking professional?Chris Piascik: I don’t censor myself that often. I think keeping things honest is a good thing. My work has some personality; much of it has a loose quality—pairing that with a cold or professional Web presence would seem odd. Expanding your social networks requires you to be yourself… just as long as “yourself” is interesting!Irma Gruenholz: Internet presence is very important for the artist. It is the best way to exhibit your work to the rest of the world. So, keep your website updated, and make it easy to communicate with people who want to follow your work.Irma GruenholzQuestion: How do you make time for social networks? Are you committed only to websites from which you can get some professional benefit?Chris Piascik: I have completely given up sleep. I really just sprinkle it throughout my day. It’s a nice way to start my day while drinking my coffee or eating some lunch. I wouldn’t say that I limit myself only to websites that I benefit from, though my opinion is that all networks help. Visibility is visibility. I use social networking to stay in touch with friends as well, so it’s not strictly business for me.Irma Gruenholz: I have little time to devote to social networks, so I prefer to focus on communities related to my profession.Featured ArtistsTo grasp the meaning of art and how it has evolved over time, I interviewed Alexander Daniloff and Jonathan Ball. To explore the aesthetics of digital art, I spoke with Jan Willem Wennekes, who touched on some important points related to the differences between digital artists and other artists and the nature of digital art itself.I also feature Nate Williams and Travis Lampe, in an effort to learn more about their work and their relationship to technology, including digital art tools and social media, and to explore the way the Internet influences the development of art.To better understand the relationship between contemporary artists and new methods and tools for creating art, I’ve interviewed Max Kostenko and Pino Lamanna. I focused on their creative process and professional experience, from their entry into the field right up to their current sources of inspiration.Finally, I interviewed Bob Flynn, Alex Dukal, Jayme McGowan, Chris Piascik and Irma Gruenholz, asking their opinion of the challenges that artists face when promoting themselves and their work in the new Web, trying to capture their experience with social media and online art communities.Each of these artists has a particular style and is an active member of the artistic community. As such, they could be a source of inspiration to many. I hope their insights are helpful.What about you? What does art mean to you?