You Can't go to School Naked- Now released!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 12:27 am on July 14th
Welcome Everyone!
You Can’t go to School Naked is now released! After nearly two years of fine tuning this story, it is great to get the advance copies of my book on my doorstep, seeing it available on Amazon for purchase, and the relief of seeing the first two reviews of the book come back positive. I am now focusing my efforts on setting up readings and signings, and have a couple of signings and readings set up for this next month, and possibly a third signing this fall in New York and California.
Since the time I began working on this book, I have had many conversations with people who have shared with me stories of their children not wanting to wear clothes, and even a story or two where their elderly relatives have refused to wear clothing. I will share some of these stories here in the coming days and weeks, and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.
While going through and organizing my studio the other day, I took some time to go through all of my drawings related to my book, and I was reminded of how the very first image that came to my mind when I read my mother-in-law’s story was of a crossing guard/policeman holding a stop sign in front of a child at the crosswalk. It was this image that got me excited to work on this book, and I am proud to say that it was the illustration we all decided upon for the cover of the book.
I want to thank Ted and Betsy Lewin for their crucial support and help in the beginning stages of my work on this book!
Let's grow some illustration.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 11:28 pm on July 11th
While taking this past week to decompress after the Illustration conference, I was able to re-connect with Chris Payne, and he mentioned to me that the Illustration Growers ad campaign could be coming to a close.
I feel that this is a campaign that could continue on if we can get behind it and show some support. There is already a great series of ads created by a couple of our Drawgers, among others, and hopefully more!
The great thing about this campaign is that if you donate money to it, you can deduct your donation as a business expense.
Now I know that this isn’t the only thing that will stop art directors from using stock art, but it will help especially if great illustrators continue to contribute to it.
Come on; let’s keep it going!
Here below is some information from illustrationgrowers.org that explains this campaign better than I can-
The Illustration Growers of America has created an advertising campaign with the message to art directors, creative directors, designers and art buyers that commissioned illustration is superior to stock.
The world of illustration is changing. Historically, illustrators have operated as independent cottage industries, competing as individuals with each other, i.e., one portfolio verses another portfolio. Today, illustrators face a new corporate form of competition, the stock house. These corporate stock houses armed with thousands of images, both photographic and illustrated, have moved into our traditional markets intent on making their product the dominant source for visual content.
Stock houses understand the concept of competing for maximum market share. In order to compete, you have to promote to have your voice heard. To open a graphic arts trade publication demonstrates just how well the stock houses believe in promotion. The degree to which these stock houses are willing to promote their product is also a clear indication of just how much money they believe they can make in our markets.
Some have suggested legal or legislative efforts to these issues that would be extremely expensive, with no guarantee for success and no end in sight.
Illustrators do have a solution to soften the effects these corporate stock houses have on our industry. That solution is to compete. Stock houses may promote that they have the faster and cheaper product. The fact is, illustrators have the better product. Original, creative, problem-solving art skills are, heads and tails, a better product than stock. Professional illustrators create some of the most compelling images under the most difficult conditions and deadlines. Professional illustrators can tailor-make an image to fit a client’s specific need. Professional illustrators understand the collaborative relationship needed to create great communication art. The right illustration can set the tone or create an attitude for an ad before the reader absorbs the content of the ad. The right illustration can serve to brand a product or business.
Original commissioned illustration is superior to stock. This is our message. Our mission is to promote that message. This ad campaign gives independent illustrators their voice of competition by not allowing the ads the stock houses create to go unchallenged.
I support this petition, and I urge you to sign it.
Please forward the link and urge others to sign.
You can help increase the power of the petition by signing your real name and listing your artistic specialties.
If you are not a US citizen, we suggest that you note your country, and state if it is a member of the Berne Convention.
This petition is sponsored by A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill, a new grassroots group founded by multimedia journalist Steve Lehman on Facebook and Flickr. All people are welcome to participate; it is not exclusive to these websites.
About Steve Lehman-
In 1987, Lehman broke the story of Tibetan unrest, later profiled in his award winning book "The Tibetans Struggle to Survive." As a visual artist intimately acquainted with the power of free speech, the protection afforded by the right to privacy, and the critical need for independent voices, Lehman, like the rest of us, is deeply troubled by any national policy that affects artists' control over their works.
Please forward this message to every artist you know.
A few days back i got a phone call from Gary Kelley, and we spoke for a few minutes about Joe Solman's passing (Gary introduced me to Joe's work in '96 when i was his student....), then Gary asks me if i would do a cover for the North American Review.
I was honored to be asked, and what was best about this was when i asked Gary when he wanted to see sketches, he said to just send him the finish, and "do the piece that you have always wanted to do."
So i spent the next couple of days stressing out, and over-thinking the whole thing. As i was going over the different ideas in my studio, i kept looking over at the half finished painting on my easel that i started three months ago, but never had the chance to finish.
On another note- I know it is kinda late to be posting things that realte to fathers day, but Nancy Stahl (thanks Nancy!) alerted me to a tribute on the Jim Lehrer News Hour by Paul Solman to his dad.
It is a nice five minute segment and you can view it by CLICKING HERE.
ICON Sketchcrawl- July 2nd from Noon to 5 p.m.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 1:33 am on June 5th
When I first moved out to the San Francisco bay area, I was looking for opportunities to meet up with other artists, others that are simply interested in getting outside themselves to observe and draw. It was so refreshing to go to these and not feel as if everyone is peering over your shoulder or sizing you or your drawings up.
These experiences are why I suggested this event to others on the ICON board.
The great thing about this event is that it can include everyone, including those who aren’t even attending the conference, and it is free. I would love to see everyone there.
SketchCrawl is a worldwide event created by Pixar artist Enrico Casarosa. It involves people from different corners of the world in a day of sketching and journaling and then sharing the work in an online forum.
The ICON5 SketchCrawl will be a local variation on this idea. Attendees will spend the afternoon sketching in and around Central Park and the Museum of Natural History. Afterwards, we will all meet up at the Roosevelt Hotel bar to share our drawings and experiences with each other. Meet up with illustrator Peter Cusack and other group leaders in the Roosevelt Lobby at noon.
So, be there. Wednesday, July 2nd from 12 to 5 p.m.
Write Congress again- NOW!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 1:34 pm on May 19th
Call to Action
Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed their Orphan Works Act.
It is now headed for the full Senate.
If you’ve written before, now is the time to write again.
Urge your senator to oppose this bill.
Because it has been negotiated behind closed doors, introduced on short notice and fast-tracked for imminent passage without open hearings, ask that this bill not be passed until it can be exposed to an open, informed and transparent public debate.
We’ve drafted a special letter for this purpose. You can deep link to it here:
Look for the sample letter labeled "Contact House Judiciary Committee NOW" and send it.
If your Representative is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee, this will send him a message asking him to contact his colleagues on that Committee on your behalf, urging them to oppose the bill.
2. Ask for support from family and friends:
Please ask your friends and family (5 to 10 others) who support your creative work to also go to the site.
They can follow the instructions to easily send a message of opposition to this reckless bill.
Look for the sample letter labeled "For Supporters of Visual Artists - Wrong to Weaken Copyright Law" and send it.
3. Spread the word to the public: Photosharing on Web will now be at risk:
Please alert your friends who post photos to the web their personal property will be at risk.
Look for the sample letter labeled “For the Image-Making Public - Protect Personal Property”and send it.
For more information about the Orphan Works Act of 2008:
Take action now, don't let them orphan your work!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 12:44 pm on May 7th
Congress could be voting on this any minute now, so take the time (only a couple of minutes...) to write your congressperson and let them know that your work indeed has value.
Don't let them orphan your work.
Write now, it is easier than checking drawger, facebook, or myspace.
Joseph Solman 1909-2008
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 11:58 pm on April 18th
My last meeting with Joe. I was able to introduce Gary Kelley and Peter Cusack to Joe. Gary Kelley was the person who introduced me to Joe's work in 1996.
I first met Joseph Solman in April 2001, and have benefited from my visits with Joe in the subsequent years. I have learned so much from Joe, so much about art, so much about being true to your vision as an artist and person. He lived a full life, and is such an example to me of artistic integrity.
His wisdom is ingrained in my mind, and I think of him almost every time I draw from life.
In my last visit with Joe, he reminded me to “look for the unusual thing” in my subject matter. One other quote of his that has stuck with me is- “I find more design in nature than anything you can come up with in your mind.”
I will never forget that stories Joe shared with me in my visits with him. The stories of how Mark Rothko had changed his last name, how Ben Shahn recommended Joe to a mid-town Manhattan gallery sometime in the 1940s, that Madeline Albright had spent an afternoon in his East Village apartment looking over his work, and how Daniel Day Lewis approached him for painting lessons after having viewed his work in London. Joe was such a humble man, and he didn’t seem to let these sorts of things get to his head. He was all about painting, and he kept true to his vision to the end.
I hope that I can leave as great a legacy as Joe has. What a great man, and I am so grateful that I had the chance to meet such a great artist and person. I will miss him, but I will continue to learn from him.
Thank you Joe, for taking the time to meet me. Thank you for taking the time to teach me. I will always cherish the conversations we had.
Click here for my previous post on Joseph Solman. It explains how I met Joe…
A sketch of Joe from one of my last visits with him. 4/9/06
