Daily Sketch -- Green Lantern

Back to some rougher sketches. This would be from sometime around 1987-88. Can't nail it down any more than that. Green Lantern obviously.

Daily Sketch

I'm not sure what this is or when it is from. Obviously graphite, done sometime between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s. This is one of a few so I think I had a book of poses and just decided to sit down one day and see how I could do at copying them.

Daily Sketch -- Batman Comes Clean

I think I have drawn this scene a couple of times. I don't know why but it always sits there in my head, wanting to come out. I am guessing this is from the early 1990s. "The tide is high but I'm holding on..."

Daily Sketch -- Vows Redux

These are from last year. Another shot at the "Vows" screenplay, this one as a daily comic strip as opposed to a comic book. A little more finished than a sketch actually. This was done on my Surface tablet using Manga Studio.

Daily Sketch -- Vows

This is maybe 10 years old. A layout for a comic version of the screenplay "Vows" I wrote with Tom Fudge, this is the opening scene, someone waking up after having a vision.

Daily Sketch -- More Madness

This is another from 1978, for my "Madness" story for Mayhem #3. I'm just working out a few panels here. This is a continuation of the strip idea involving American Indian spirits that I had while sitting in the Kelva Communications booth at the San Diego Comic Con that year. For you youngsters out there, the thing in her hand is called a phone.

Lovely Lynda May

The gorgeous Lynda May, done August 10, 2014. A 25-minute pose done in black and white charcoal pencil on gray Strathmore paper.

The Case of Carla, the Undateable, From A to Z.

Almost everyone thought Carla was a lost cause; the most undateable girl on campus. Between her lack of social skills and her poor hygiene, she surely seemed hopeless. Carla never had a date and the way things were going, she never would have one, which was now Donna’s problem.

Donna had been given the task, as a pledge to the hottest sorority on campus, of getting Carla a date. Every guy she talked about to about taking Carla out, gave pretty much the same answer.

“Forget it.”

Given the universally negative responses, Donna even tried to bribe guys into taking Carla out. Holy cow, when guys in college don’t respond to money, you know the cause is pretty much lost. It got so bad that Donna even stooped to offering certain, shall we say, favors, to a guy willing to take Carla out. Just as with offers of monetary gain, her offer of pleasant favors fell on deaf ears.

Kindness didn’t work, nor did bribery. Left with little else to work with, Donna contemplated blackmail.

Mark was a guy she had dated in high school and she knew he had paid someone to take his SATs for him. Never did she think she would go so low as to blackmail an old boyfriend, but her time was running out.

Of course, it didn’t work. Perhaps it would have worked if Mark did not have the, ehem, video of the two of them in a rather compromising position.  Questions she did not want to have to answer would be asked it that video ever saw the light of day.

Reluctantly, Donna began to look at the possibility of not making it into a sorority. She would feel like a failure and she just didn’t want to face that possibility. The stink of desperation was upon her.

Using all her feminine wiles, she made one last attempt to get Carla a date. Very sexily she asked a number of boys to do her “the biggest of favors” and take poor little Carla out for a good time.

What she got in return was a series of one “no” after another, accompanied by some of the strangest facial contortions and ticks she had ever witnessed.  Xenophobic is what the boys became.

Yes, they really didn’t think she was an alien, but Donna knew that her chances of her getting any of them to go out with Carla were slim and none and that some thinking “outside the box” would be required if she hoped to become a sorority sister.

Zen teachings say that “what you resist, persists,” so Donna stopped resisting, changed her life and asked Carla out.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Daily Sketch -- Corrigan?

This was found on notebook paper, folded up inside one of my sketchbooks. No idea when this was drawn or exactly what it is. However, if I had to guess it would say it must have something to do with Secret Agent Corrigan and Al Williamson. Al's work on Corrigan always brought out the desire in me to do a spy strip and I always wished I had a clean style like Al's. This might be from photos or it might be swipes from Corrigan.

Daily Sketch -- Pelican

Drew this from a photo taken in Cabo San Lucas. Just another attempt at an ink-only drawing.

Vanilla Fudge "You Keep Me Hanging On" Live on Jimmy Fallon

I saw these guys last night and was just in awe. One of my favorite bands for 47 years. A real thrill. Nobody, I mean nobody, sounds like the Vanilla Fudge. This was their closing song last night. Just awesome.

Daily Sketch -- Captain Nazi

Captain Marvel Jr's arch enemy Captain Nazi, drawn around 1979 or so.

Daily Sketch -- Marooned

Another piece from 1979. Working on ideas for a story for our Mayhem comic that never went anywhere. Once again, I seemed to be working of back shots a lot at this time.

Daily Sketch -- Aquaman

Sing along with me! "Aquaman, the bold and daring, King of the Seven Seas!" I've tried to draw Aquaman a lot over the years, never too successfully. No idea what year this was, though something in the legs makes me think I was studying a Bridgeman book at the time.

Vanilla Fudge - Shotgun

Anticipating Hot Fudge Friday!

Daily Sketch -- Eh, Not Sure

Hmmm, Not sure what to say about this one. It looks like some sort of worm wearing a bowtie. Can't think of what this would have been for, so I would say I was just messing around.

Dirtbags

The party of the corporations, by the corporations and only for the corporations. Absolutely sickening.

Daily Sketch -- Orchids

This was done about 2007 when I went through a short period of ink sketches.

Birdman

Damn, this looks so good. Hope it doesn't disappoint.

Daily Sketch -- Sweet Hitchhiker

Guessing I drew this around 1979, though it could have been much later. I don't remember anything about this one. All I know is she is hitchhiking and it appears to be cold outside.

Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Fudge [Full Album]

Six days till we see the Fudge live. The anticipation is building.

Daily Sketch -- Batman Again

It looks like this may have been done in 1990, but I can't be sure. Just another doodling sketch of the Caped Crusader.

Daily Sketch -- Madness

It was the 1978 San Diego Comic Convention (as it was called in those days) and Baron Mrkva, Burt Griswold and I were sitting in our booth for our comic book, Mayhem, selling copies and original artwork and just getting our name out there...when the germ of an idea came to me. I think I might have wanted to do a Psycho-like shower scene but as I started to draw, this idea of American Indian spirits came into my head. As I kept laying out this page, the idea grew into a story I would do for Mayhem #3. Of course, there was no Mayhem #3 and the story was never finished, but a few penciled pages and layouts for the whole story were eventually done. But that entire story came out of my desire to draw a woman taking a shower.

Roger Comes to Dinner

Just a scene that may or may not make it into my novel

Roger reached the front door, but didn’t bother to knock; Kat’s favorite, power ballads, were booming out of the living room speakers and she would never have heard his knock over the music. Besides, there just seemed something wrong with having to knock to enter Kat’s house.

He didn’t walk in quietly, but Kat seemed to not have heard him. He found her in the kitchen, her head over a pot of something that smelled delicious and as he moved quietly up behind her, she bent over the pot and started to wiggle her butt suggestively.

“See anything you like?”

“I see everything I like. I didn’t think you knew I was here.”

Kat turned towards him, a big wooden spoon in her hand, “When Kat’s nether regions begin to tingle, she knows who has entered the room.” As she leaned forward and kissed him, a big splotch of red sauce dropped from the spoon, splattering Roger’s shirt.

“Kat! Watch what you’re doing!”

Kat smiled and raised her eyebrows, giving Roger a smoldering look. “Why don’t you take that shirt off and I’ll wash it for you.”

“Is your sloppiness at cooking all a ploy to get me undressed?”

Kat laughed. “I don’t know if I would call it a ploy…” She reached up and pulled Roger’s shirt over his head, her hand running between his pecs, “…but I do like the results.” Kat tossed the shirt onto the floor.

“Hey, that’s a new shirt. Why I ought to…”

“Ought to what? Punish me?” Kat’s smile grew even larger. “I think I need to be punished.” There was a fire in her eyes. “Don’t you?”

She spun around and turned off the stove. Without looking back she started walking towards the bedroom, removing clothes as she went. “I have been such a bad, bad girl.”

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Daily Sketch - Girl on a DC-10

Over the years I have found that one of the easiest things to draw is people on planes. They can't go anywhere and they have a very limited range of movement making them perfect subjects for quick sketches.

Daily Sketch -- Hold That Pose!

This was done sometime in the late 70s I would guess, but I don't remember the source. I have a feeling she was nude and I just added the clothes on her.

Bloodbath Rising Redux

I've now more or less completed this acrylic painting of Bloodbath, reimagining a scene from Mayhem #1. I've added a sword, scabbard and belt to the figure and tweaked it here and there.  Bloodbath was Lester Connors, the "payload" for the first human teleportation experiment. During the experiment an earthquake sends Lester not only through space but through dimensions to the planet Marba, where magic still exists and people still settle their arguments with the sharp end of a sword.

Daily Sketch -- Something is in the Woods

Another from 1979. A rough sketch that kept getting darker and darker as I worked on it.

Daily Sketch -- And Yet Another Batman

A big-foot Batman from 1979. I think I was enamored with the inking of Terry Austin at the time and was trying to duplicate that, with little success. I did a lot of sketches with big feet around this time.

Arthur Lee & Love - Seven & Seven Is

The late, great Arthur Lee live doing Seven and Seven Is. Just magic.

When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can
In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone
You can throw me if you wanna 'cause I'm a bone and I go
Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah!

If I don't start cryin' it's because that I have got no eyes
My father's in the fireplace and my dog lies hypnotized
Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way
Trapped inside a night but I'm a day and I go
Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah!

1-2-3-4!

Daily Sketch -- The Uptake

So I am guessing this was done in the 90s, but I really don't know. I always liked the camera angle on this one. Of course, being just an ink sketch, what you see is what I drew, no going back and changing anything.

Rescue Me! C'mon! C'mon!

I just read an article on 9 TV Intros that were too good to skip. I thought the article was shit because it didn't include this one, which I watched every single time it came on and never tired of. Maximize the screen and crank it up for the full Impact!

Daily Sketch -- The Atom

 

Continuing with doing back shots, this is my take on DC's The Atom. This was done in that same 1979 timeframe.

Shark!

This is some pretty impressive stuff, watching how a shark hunts its prey. Bump it up full screen to get the full effect.

Daily Sketch -- Capturing a Flying Thingamajig.

I was working on back shots for a long time, trying to develop a style that worked for me. No idea what this is supposed to be, but it is another from the 1979 time frame.

Daily Sketch -- Tracking

A Native American tracking someone I would say. Probably from 1979.

David Bowie: Five Years Trailer

I am a huge David Bowie fan and saw this on Showtime last week and loved it. The interviews with Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick and Carmine Rojas bring a lot of insight into some of Bowie's iconic songs. Damn, this was great.

Daily Sketch -- Another Batman

Another Batman from 1979. I was in a Batman rut for a while there.

Daily Sketch -- Waiting at Jury Duty

 

I remember I was sitting in the waiting room at the court to be called to a jury when I sketched this out of a National Geographic. 

Republican House panel: No administration wrongdoing in Benghazi attack

This should be a lesson to every conspiracy-theory-screaming republican out there that you cannot believe the unadulterated bullshit you are being fed daily by fox news. In the end you just look like the fools you apparently really are. Here are the highlights you should know:

• The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
• Intelligence agencies were "warned about an increased threat environment, but did not have specific tactical warning of an attack before it happened."
• "A mixed group of individuals, including those associated with al Qaeda, (Moammar) Khadafy loyalists and other Libyan militias, participated in the attack."
• "There was no 'stand-down order' given to American personnel attempting to offer assistance that evening, no illegal activity or illegal arms transfers occurring by U.S. personnel in Benghazi, and no American was left behind."
• The administration's process for developing "talking points" was "flawed, but the talking points reflected the conflicting intelligence assessments in the days immediately following the crisis."

So what will be the next insane bullshit lie the republicans will scream at us for months on end only to have it quietly disappear over time without so much as a whimper? The gullibility of republicans seemingly knows no bounds.

Daily Sketch -- Run! Run! Run!

This looks like another piece from the late 70s to me. I think after I screwed up his neck I lost interest in finishing it.

Daily Sketch -- A Woman

Not sure what the source of this one is. I think I might have drawn it from a magazine picture while sitting in my doctor's waiting room. I'm just not sure anymore.

Kaluta Knows!

In all the years I attended ComicCon, this is the only picture I ever had drawn for me. This the of course The Shadow drawn by the great Michael William Kaluta and a piece I shall cherish for the rest of my life.

Daily Sketch -- Wildblood?

I'm not really sure who this is, though it might be Wildblood. He was a political prisoner who was cryogenically suspended for a hundred years or so and woke up in a world where humanity was on the wane, due to a genetic virus that has sterilized like 99.999% of humanity. Done sometime in the late 1970s for a strip I was going to do called The Queen Bee Syndrome.

Abbey Road

 

We went to the Queen Mary for their 4th of July celebration. Different areas of the ship were designated as different "Eras of Independence." We settled in to the 60's era and never really left. The Beatles tribute band Abbey Road played three sets and we recorded some of it with our phones. The sound quality is not the best, but you get the idea.

Daily Sketch -- Something Old

Digging around in my garage this morning I found this, which is really old. I remember drawing this when I was in high school. This proves I had no idea how to draw trees back then.

This is the first in a number of sketches I have recently found and will be posting for the foreseeable future.

WTF Happened to Movie Posters?

I could not agree more with this YouTube video if I have produced it myself. We need a hell of a lot more Drew Struzan and a hell of a lot less Photoshop.

The Show Must Go On

Next month's Rock and Blues Fest featuring Johnny Winter is now the Rock and Blues Fest, a Tribute to Johnny Winter, which means, the Fudge shall be seen! Here is another of my favorites by the Vanilla Fudge.

Sara

The beautiful Sara, another of my favorite models. As usual, this is a 25-minute pose done in black and white charcoal on gray Strathmore paper.

Trying To Smile

I was trying to smile, but I’m sure it did not come off looking that way. Though my cheeks were uplifted, my teeth were clenched tight and the words were slowly spat out of my mouth, “Nice to meet you Charlie.” He has a weird look in his eyes, well, he ought to. My body language, the fists at my side, say I am about to take Charlie’s fucking head off.

Who the fuck was Charlie and what was he doing with his arm around my girlfriend? I think I would have exploded on this guy if not for the look on Lynn’s face. It was half pleading for understanding and half stark fear. Fear of me? Fear of what I might do to Charlie’s face? Fear I wouldn’t understand what was going on here? Hell, I didn’t understand what was going on here. Lynn was my girlfriend and yet she shows up at our church youth fellowship meeting with this dickwad Charlie draped all over her and her friend Judith in tow, looking as frightened as Lynn is. Judith’s fear is masked by a fake smile as well, but while Lynn is standing there meekly, Judith is in motion.

“Hey David, good to see you again. I have a question for you, it’s personal. Can we take a walk?” Without waiting for an answer Judith is pushing me away from the happy fucking couple and whispering under her breath, “I’ll explain. This isn’t what it seems. Do everyone a favor and stay calm.”

We move around the building, “What the fuck is going on Judith?”

She is speaking rapidly, like she thinks I may go off at any minute if I don’t hear it all. “She met him last summer on vacation, before she ever met you. They had a summer thing, but that was all. It is over, only he showed up today, came out of his way to see her. She doesn’t want to hurt his feelings...”

“What about my fucking feelings?” My hands are aching my fists are clinched so tight.

 “She hopes you will understand. He gets to be with her tonight, in public, you get to be with her from now on. She picks you, she just hopes you understand the terrible spot he put her in by just showing up on her doorstep. She picks you. He leaves tomorrow and she will end it once he leaves, just…just don’t embarrass her tonight. Don’t embarrass him.” Judith grabbed the back of my head and pulled us together so our foreheads touched and our eyes were locked. “She thinks you are a great enough guy to help her through this…I think you are too.”

I backed up, shook my head “no,” that I didn’t quite get it. “She doesn’t seriously think I am going to sit here and watch the two of them carry on tonight, does she?”

“No, she thinks that would be too hard on both of you. She is hoping you will leave.” Judith could see I was not convinced at all. “She is just trying to not hurt this guy. She loves you.” She poked me in the chest. “You. You won.”

“It doesn’t feel like I won,” but my fists were unclenching.

“She says she will make it up to you tomorrow night.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I give Judith one of those Bogart-like taps on the chin, “Shit.”

I close my eyes, and center myself for the longest walk of my life. I step around the building and walk toward the crowd of friends. I see that Lynn and Charlie are holding hands now. She looks white as a ghost. As I approach I say to no one in particular, “Something has come up, I gotta run.” As I move past the crowd I look Lynn in the eyes and she looks relieved, but that is all. I don’t look at fucking Charlie at all.

As I get into my car I can hear him asking, “What’s up with that guy?” I think twice about getting out of the car and showing him what is up with this guy. As I peal out I slam my fist into the roof of my car and wish it was Charlie’s pasty fucking face.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Johnny Winter R.I.P.

Sad news about Johnny Winter's passing. Not sure how this will affect the already purchased tickets to see him and Edgar and the Vanilla Fudge next month. Celebrating the joy that was Johnny with Mean Town Blues from Woodstock 1969.

Maude Redux

It is always a joy to draw the wonderful Maude. This is from my latest session with her. Black and white charcoal pencil on gray Strathmore paper.

Bloodbath Rising

This is another acrylic painting of Bloodbath, reimagining a scene from Mayhem #1. Bloodbath was Lester Connors, the "payload" for the first human teleportation experiment. During the experiment an earthquake sends Lester not only through space but through dimensions to the planet Marba, where magic still exists and people still settle their arguments with the sharp end of a sword.

Bloodbath

In the 1970s I did a couple issues of a comic book called Mayhem. My contribution besides a few full page illustrations was a strip called Bloodbath. Bloodbath was Lester Connors, the "payload" for the first human teleportation experiment. During the experiment an earthquake sends Lester not only through space but through dimensions to the planet Marba, where magic still exists and people still settle their arguments with the sharp end of a sword.

Lately I have been toying with acrylics and decided to do this representation of Bloodbath on both worlds. It is not 100% complete, but close enough.

Lovely Lisa

I have had the pleasure of drawing the lovely Lisa Davis off and on for almost 15 years now. This was the latest time, this past Sunday. She is one model I never tire of.

The Rockets' Red Glare

Pretty cool and what an advertisement for the Phantom 2 personal drone. I didn't know they existed but now I want one.

Jennifer Juniper

 

Jennifer, done last week. This is a 25-minute pose done with black and white charcoal pencils on a gray Strathmore paper.

It is Fudge Time!

So jazzed to say that I just bought tickets to see the Vanilla Fudge in August. They still sound amazing.

Loan Explorer Logo

Years ago, before they were taken over by the Feds, I worked for IndyMac Bank in their Construction Lending department. I worked on a piece of software called Loan Explorer, which managed big loans for construction companies. Blowing my own horn here, but Loan Explorer was the best Construction Loan processing system on the planet, and I was not the only one who thought that. When Fannie Mae was looking for a construction loan package, they went to all the banks to see what they were using. They ended up wanting to buy Loan Explorer; IndyMac didn't sell it to them. Anyway, as each new version of the product would arrive I would work on the code, the training docs, the help files, the manuals and yes, the logo. For my last version, Loan Explorer 5.0, I created this animated logo which was presented in a splash/logon page every time the program was loaded. I kind of like it.

The spinning numbers were created with Swift3D software from Electric Rain. That was then merged in CoffeeCup Firestarter to created the finished logo. For the final product I altered the colors and put it on a gray background, where it looked something like this:

The Carnival

I don’t know why I remember the carnival. I’d been to carnivals before, but this one had arisen from an empty lot in our neighborhood. That first day I went, the wild tangle of rides seemed like an unfathomable dirt maze to me. Everywhere I turned I saw something new. I felt disoriented and lost amid the spinning metal, flashing lights and the screams of young girls being pulled this way and that by the Scrambler, the Tilt-A-Whirl or the Whizzer.

 I remember wandering around in a daze in a cloud of dust kicked up by a hundred or more people. As I stumbled between the rides, the rich dusty aroma mixed with the sharp odors of the grease and diesel fuel that kept the rides running smoothly. The sweetness of cotton candy drifted through the air occasionally interrupted by the sour stench of vomit.

 There was a wall of large trucks that had transformed into the “Fun House” and the “House of Horrors,” with barkers outside enticing me to come in, “It’s only a quarter young man.” There was a shooting range with rows of mechanical ducks and bears and geese skittering across the booth at various speeds. Next to it was a booth with a pyramid of milk bottles, just asking to be knocked over with a softball, which I had been told to avoid, by someone I can’t now recall. There was a dunking booth with local girls in bathing suits waiting to be plunged into a tank of water by a precisely thrown baseball and a coin toss with highly oiled plates and poorly placed goblets.

 Wafting across the entire carnival was the delicious aroma of hamburgers on the grill. Not these thin, premade patties of today, but thick, handmade burgers, charred on the outside and pink on the inside, plump with fatty juice that oozed though your fingers and spattered the ground when you took a bite. My parents would take a turn at the food booth every day, which meant I would come back for all four days the carnival would be in town. It was in coming back the second day that I learned how easily one can get comfortable with the new and exciting.

 The carnival no longer seemed a maze of confusion; the layout was quite orderly and neat. I remember my second day there thinking that I had lost something, some sense of wonder that had been present the day before. The rides sparkled a bit less and, the music seemed a little drearier than before. I remember being startled at how fast the magic of the place had died for me.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Oh Suzie Darling!

 

A week or so ago I was lucky enough to have the beautiful Suzie pose for me. This was the first time I had the opportunity to draw her and appreciated it much. This was a 25-minute pose utilizing black and white charcoal pencils on gray Strathmore paper. Drawn June 1, 2014. 

Ode to Billie Joe Day Once Again

It is the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day...

Greed

Thursday

We walked into the small bedroom in silence. The wall behind the headboard was adorned with cowboy hats, all wrapped in protective plastic. In the corner a beautiful oak display case was filled with expensive toy cars in pristine condition. The man on the bed had smooth skin of an almost translucent quality. His tousled white hair looked fine and silky and rested on a small pillow on top of a larger pillow. His chin rested on a rolled up green washcloth under which his ancient hands, covered with age spots and signs of recent bleeding, lay crossed. Paula bent down and touched his hands then ran her finger along the bridge of his nose. She began to cry again and I put my arms around her. I could feel her tremble. The room was littered with medical equipment, all quiet, as if sitting in silent respect for the man they once hummed and beeped and toiled in service of.

I could hear the labored breathing of Paula’s mother as she shuffled into the room, her oxygen hose trailing behind her, and stood by the other side of the bed. “He lived a good life.” She bent down and kissed his forehead.

“Yes mom, he lived a full life.” I held Paula tighter. She had stopped trembling. After a bit she started to cry and leaned back into me. I squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.

A tall man in blue scrubs walked into the room, just there to “pay my respects.” He was followed in by two women in bright maroon print scrubs who had come for the same purpose.

Eventually we walked back into the living room and sat waiting for the people from the mortuary to come for the body. It was the first time I can recall being in that room without the TV on.

Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

...You Know I Love You!

When IBM was selling its own windowing operating system, I always thought this should be their theme song in their commercials. Listen and just replace "Oh it's true" with "OS2" and you will see what I mean. And I'm sure they could have gotten Flo and Eddie to record it for them.

Shedding a Tear

I have a question: is there a statute of limitations for feeling ripped off? How long after you have been had is it no longer right to feel incensed by it, given the number of years that have passed since you was played? I'm trying to figure this out, 'cause I am feeling pretty damn used even though the "using" happened decades ago and I only found out today.

What has me in a tizzy? That guy in the clip from the PDA above. I watched these things for years; old Iron Eyes Cody shedding a tear for the pollution of nature at the hands of the white man. Only, that isn't Iron Eyes Cody. That is Espera Oscar de Corti, of Italian descent.  The guy is white. White!

I shed a tear for the innocence of my youth.

Oscar Season - Best Actress

Today we saw Philomena which features Judi Dench's Oscar nominated Best Actress performance. Dench's was the last Best Actress nominee for us to see, so I now feel I can give an opinion on this category.

I loved American Hustle and though Amy Adams was just wonderful, she is overshadowed by others even in that movie. A share really; in a different year this might have been enough to win. When you see these clips you realize how amazing she was:



I am a big Gravity fan, and thought Sandra Bullock's performance is the glue that binds that startling story together; the amount of time she is the only thing on the screen must have been frightening to consider. But, I needed a little bit more from her than I got. I'm not sure what that would have been, but just a little something more. Hard to find a clip that showcases Bullock's range in this film, but just know that the emotion you are getting in most of these scenes is transmitted through her eyes and her voice; nothing else is even real.



Judi Dench was spectacular as the real life Philomena and in a normal year, she might win for this amazing performance that is funny and poignant and vulnerable and all so real.



But through it all one performance kept pulling me back. Kate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine jut blew me away. As the widow of a Bernie Madoff type character who has lost everything, she is nothing short of spectacular:



So for me that was it, a slam dunk for Blanchett. And then I saw August: Osage County and Meryl Streep just killed it. Every time I think I have seen everything that Streep can give us, she gives us something new, something more. This is not the best scene in the film by far, but you can surely see here that she is on top of her game.



So my choice for Best Actress is the incomparable Meryl Streep.

Oscar Season - Supporting Actress

Oscar season is upon us and like every year, I like to be a well opinionated person. When I give an opinion of who or what should win, I like it to be based on knowledge of all nominees, not just one or two. So, this time of the year we see a lot of movies.

Last night it was 12 Years A Slave, up for nine Academy Awards:

Actor in a Leading Role
Actor in a Supporting Role
Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Picture
Costume Design
Directing
Film Editing
Production Design
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Yeah, it was pretty damn good. A little hard to watch, the inhumanity of slavery is just too much for my sensibilities, but a very good film. With this film, we have now seen all of the "Actress in a Supporting Role" nominees, so I can now venture an opinion on this award.  To me it is a close race between Julia Roberts for August: Osage County and Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle. I would be happy with either winning, though I think I would vote for Jennifer Lawrence by a hair.

Both have extremely powerful scenes, worthy of an Oscar. When Julia Roberts says to her mother, "I'm fucking in charge!" she had me completely, but when Jennifer Lawrence admits, "I don't like change, It's really hard for me," in my opinion, she won the award. See what I mean:

A Long, Long Time Ago

Fifty-five years to be exact, that was the day the music died for a whole generation of rock and roll fans, the first generation of rock and roll fans.

I don't remember the year, but it was the early 60s and I was playing a stack of my brother's 45s as I was wont to do in those days. A lot of doo-wop, a taste of Del Vikings, a little Stagger Lee ("Oh the night was clear, and the moon was yellow...") and something I had never played before. It was a song called "Oh Boy" and I found it infectious.

When my brother came home later that day I asked him who the Crickets were and he looked at me and said, "Oh...that's Buddy Holly."

And I said, "I like these others Jack, but this is just the best. Do you have any of his recent records? I want to listen to them." And that's when he told me.

And I was shocked, because in my world only really old people died and this guy didn't sound old. And it changed me a bit. Buddy Holly taught me that anyone could die. But over the years he taught me that anyone could live on beyond their body's demise, 'cause the Beatles played Buddy Holly and the Rolling Stones played Buddy Holly and over the years lots of people played Buddy Holly. And even those who did not record Buddy's songs, were influenced by his music.

Thank you Buddy, I wish I could have known you.

If it Wasn't for Junk EMail...

...I wouldn't have no email at all. To paraphrase Mr. Ray Charles.

 

I am not sure who the spammers think I am, but every single day I get two emails for each of these products/services:

• Exotic Car Rental
• Luxury Yacht Rental
• Private Jet Rental

People, I make a good living, but not that good of a living.

The Bright Sunny Day

He lies there shivering on the soft grass covering the hard ground on this bright sunny day. If he could concentrate on the world around him, he might find some humor in that incongruity, but the outside world does not exist for him. All that exists is his pain…and his need.

On this pleasant day of early afternoon sun, of mild temperature and soft breeze, his is a world of gnawing ache and uncontrolled trembling. He holds himself tightly trying to comfort himself like an old friend, as the sweat pours down his face, drips from his oily hair, pools in the hollow of his neck. His clothes are so drenched with his bodily secretions that they stick to him in odd ways, like insects trapped and dying on brown curls of flypaper.

His head throbs, pounding like a jack hammer, so much so that his only relief, his only solace is the pauses between throbs, when the pounding doesn’t feel like it will crush his brain and splatter it against the inside of his skull. The rest of his body is a mass of contradictions: it seems all he is aches in unison, a glorious orgy of pain and suffering, but he can feel the goose pimples dotting his arms and feels the cold numbness grabbing at his fingers, toes and cock.

The thought comes to him: if he lives through this day, will he ever have sex again, or is something fundamental to his manliness being broken? For the first time in hours he laughs, for the answer is a startling, “Who cares?” Sexual gratification is not his addiction, not today anyway.

That’s not what he wants. Damn him, that’s not what he needs, not why he aches in this self-made hell.

When he had started, they all told him this day would come. Somehow, he thought it would be easier. He lies there shivering on the soft grass covering the hard ground on this bright sunny day.


Copyright 2014 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Panel Love

For a few years I did a blog called DC Comics 40 Years Ago, which displayed what comics you could buy from DC 40 years ago. As much as I would love to get back to doing that blog on a regular basis, it is just not in the cards right now. I am spending most of my free time in pursuits artistic. Almost every Sunday you can find me at William Stout's studio, where I join a collection of some of the nicest people you could ever want to meet, in the joys of drawing the naked female form. Back at my own studio I have been painting regularly for a bit now, in either pastels, acrylics or watercolors. I've also been toying with the idea of doing an online comic, though nothing has jelled in that department as of yet. You can find some of my artwork on my website, @ Source.

But I like to write. I have recently started updating this blog once again, am working on a novel and a couple other ideas. But I love comic books and I did so enjoy doing the DC 40 Years Ago blog; it was just the ever-present deadlines that took the fun away. So, I have started a new blog, one with no deadlines. In it I will revisit some of my favorite comic books, not just from DC, but from any publisher. Most of it will be new, but some of it will consist of repurposed and reedited entries from DC 40 Years Ago . It is called Panel Love and is just in its infancy. If you  have even a passing interest in comics, I think you will like Panel Love. It is just me, my opinions and some of the greatest comic books of all time.

It's Over!

I feel really old and out of it when I see a photo of a couple on the Internet with the headline "It's Over!" and I have no idea who either person is

Then There's Maude

Sometimes the gods look down upon you with something less than loathing and give you a gift. Sunday they gave me Maude and an amazing 25-minute pose of her remarkable backside. Backsides like Maude's are the reason we heap tributes to the gods. Girault pastels on a La Carte Pastel Card. Painted January 5, 2014.

Bowie

 

My son informed me last night that our family dog, Bowie, had to be put to sleep earlier this week and so my heart is filled with sadness for the loss of just a sweet little soul.

Bowie was a rescue dog and when we got him he was funny looking, having been completely shaved at the pound. I called him a "coiled python" because his big neck was solid muscle. At the pound they had called him Elvis, because he sang (howled) all the time. We knew he was a crooner, but my wife didn't want to keep the Elvis name, so we looked for others. I wanted to call him Torme, but my wife would not have it. Finally we settled on Bowie.

He was one of those happy dogs that loved people and his tail would wag so hard when you walked into a room that the whole back half of his body would move with it. Though he loved people, he was not so free with other dogs. It took a while for him to get used to Sophie when she joined our family. When we would take them both to the dog park, Sophie would run around and play with the other dogs and Bowie would scoot up next to us and cower.

He was just a sweet little dog and I loved him and I miss him. Rest in peace Bowie; you gave us so much love during your time with us that you deserve it my little friend.

This is a Man's World

So very jazzed that we will be seeing Trampled Under Foot in October on the Blues Cruise. This will be our first time taking the Blues Cruise and we can't wait.

FCINO!

For some odd reason here it is the day before Christmas and I am obsessing on my latest pet peeve: FCINO, or Famous Characters In Name Only. FCINO is the latest fad sweeping through Hollywood, mostly in TV but also in the movies. In fact, one FCINO is in both. Let's start there.

Robert Downey Jr. is a wonderful actor of incredible talent and more charm than any two men deserve to possess, but he is part of a FCINO franchise that just drives me up the wall. This would be his series of supposedly Sherlock Holmes movies. Sherlock Holmes never was and never will be an action star and yet, there he is as one in Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I am not saying these aren't fun films to watch, just that these are not Sherlock Holmes films.

Neither is Elementary a TV show about Sherlock Holmes. Now I am not saying this is not an entertaining show or that Jonny Lee Miler is not excellent as the protagonist, I'm just saying that that protagonist, despite his name, is not Sherlock Holmes. And it has nothing to do with the show being set in modern times, Sherlock on PBS is a wonderful show set in modern times and Benedict Cumberbatch plays a character not only named Sherlock Holmes but who, in fact, is Sherlock Holmes. And do not get me started on Lucy Liu not being Watson.

But the phenomenon of FCINO is not limited to bright-minded detectives. There is a TV show called Sleepy Hollow which features a character named Ichabod Crane, who is not, in any way, Ichabod Crane. Now the producers of this show were not the first to bastardize the Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Tim Burton beat them to it by over a decade, but at least the story in that Sleepy Hollow retained some semblance of Washington Irving's plot-points and characters. TV's Sleepy Hollow is about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Entertaining? Perhaps, but Ichabod Crane in name only. 

This past summer one of the biggest box office bombs was a FCINO entitled The Lone Ranger. It probably did not help that the main character in the movie was Tonto, not the buy pretending to be The Lone Ranger.

The latest FCINO occurrence is on NBC and it is entitled Dracula. Not saying this is a bad show, but Jonathan Rhys Meyers is playing a famous character in name only. I loved Meyers in The Tudors, but that is not enough to keep me watching a title character that is not, well, the title character we all know.

Get Naked!

One of those ads they make knowing they will never get them on TV. "Come again!"

Better Things

I participated in a KickStarter campaign for the film Better Things: The Life and Choices of Jeffrey Catherine Jones and received the DVD, a book of artwork and some postcards in the mail yesterday. Last night we watched the film and I loved it. My only gripe is that they have a tendency to pan over Jeff's paintings rather than linger, so you get a taste of them, but with many, not the impact of them. If you loved Jeff's work or are a fan of fantasy or comic artwork, you will appreciate this film.

Besides dealing with Jeff's artistic history, it also delves deeply into his years as a cross-dresser and his eventual trans-gendering from Jeffrey to Catherine. Jeffrey Catherine Jones is no longer with us, but the amazing artwork that was produced in his lifetime will be with us forever.

The film really inspired me to paint again with a web medium, so much so that I gessoed a canvas this morning and am working out ideas for my first acrylic in 10 years or so. We will see how that turns out in later posts.

New Newton Painting

As you may know, I am the owner of the The Art of Don Newton website dedicated to the memory of the great comic book artist Don Newton. Don died in 1984 and in his early career painted quite a bit. As he took on the full-time job of comic book penciler, his production of paintings dropped off the almost zero. This painting was done in 1983 and may be one of the last he ever did. It was originally supposed to be the cover for the Overstreet Price Guide for 1983, but it was never used for that purpose. This year though Bob Overstreet published The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics #1 DC Heroes Edition, and used this as the cover. He subsequently put the painting up for auction and it is now one of the gems of my personal Newton art collection.