42. NEIL deGRASSE TYSON: The most astounding fact

42. NEIL deGRASSE TYSON: The most astounding fact:


Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) is a astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, TV host and one of the current rockstars of the science world. He’s gained mainstream and pop-culture fame thanks to his books, TV show and frequent appearances on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. After I discovered the work of Carl Sagan, I was desperate to find a modern equivalent who could keep giving me a science fix and Tyson was the name I kept coming across. Like Sagan, Tyson has the ability to communicate the wonders of science to a mainstream audience with charisma and a sense of humour. It’s fitting then that Tyson will be hosting the upcoming sequel to Sagan’s iconic series Cosmos, which I can’t wait to see. Tyson also has a great podcast, StarTalk Radio, which I listen to frequently while I’m drawing.
- I kept putting off trying to adapt this quote because it was too intimidating. I knew that it would require me to draw stars and planets which I’m not very comfortable with, but I loved the quote so much that I just had to try it. I spent a lot longer than usual working on the cosmic scenes and I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. I guess I was also inspired by the film The Tree of Life which connects the story of a family with the history of the Universe. I still haven’t decided if I like that film or not.

- Thanks to Tanya for submitting this quote. Tyson said it in an interview with Time magazine and it’s been adapted into this sweet video montage.

- My hypothetical (living) science rockstars band: Neil Tyson (lead vocals), Richard Dawkins (guitar), Stephen Hawking (synthesiser), Michio Kaku (drums), Brian Cox (keyboard – which he actually played in real pop band). Am I missing anyone?
RELATED POSTS:

CARL SAGAN: Make the most of this life. EDGAR MITCHELL: A global consciousness.

via: http://zenpencils.com/comic/42-neil-degrasse-tyson-the-most-astounding-fact/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=42-neil-degrasse-tyson-the-most-astounding-fact

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Chloe Moretz Portrait

Chloe Moretz: American actress and model. At the age of seven, she began her acting career with performances in films and series such as The Amityville Horror, (500) Days of Summer, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Momma's House 2, Desperate Housewives, and Dirty Sexy Money, for which she received numerous Young Artist Awards nominations.
She received worldwide recognition for her breakthrough performance as Hit-Girl in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass. Her praise continued with her roles in the critically acclaimed films Let Me In and Hugo.

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The Beauty of a Second

The Beauty of a Second: -By JJ Palencar

A few months ago, the company Mont Blanc, makers of fine writing instruments and timepieces held a competition titled “The Beauty of a Second”. The challenge was to create a film lasting only one second. Mont Blanc created this competition to celebrate the 190th anniversary of the chronograph. The resultant one second clips (films) are truly inspiring. Strung together they make for a wistful experience.

As artists and illustrators our goal is to distill an image, to freeze it, to create a feeling and ultimately make our own one second image in paint. More often we tend to over study the image but if we retain the initial impression, the fragment that captured our attention, then we will have the raw essence and foundation to create a memorable work. Each of these clips could easily become an illustration or a painting. Are not our lives a series of images, fragments and sense impressions, strung together to form a life?


The competition is now closed. I could find four compilation groups on YouTube and I think there were two winners.


Below are the four compilations, the awards ceremony as well as a few other videos that I could find.


The music is by Marcus Lober, from the album “The Beauty of a Second “ soundtrack, created especially for the competition.


From Mont Blanc: 190 years ago, Nicolas Rieussec recorded time to an accuracy of a fifth second for the first time - the chronograph was born. To celebrate this unique invention, Montblanc created the one-of-a-kind "The Beauty of a Second" short-film contest presented by the famous film director Wim Wenders.

One Second Website

1st round compilation - From YouTube

2nd round compilation - From YouTube

3rd round compilation - From YouTube

4th round compilation - From YouTube

Winning Clips - From YouTube

via: http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/04/beauty-of-second.html

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Best Job

The hardest job in the world,

is the best job in the world.

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Extrinsic Motivators and Creativity

Extrinsic Motivators and Creativity: by Eric Fortune

I've been reading some interesting literature on the science of motivation in human behavior. The book is "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Dan Pink. In the book Dan presents what four decades of scientific research tell us about what it is that motivates humans.


For a quick intro into extrinsic and intrinsic motivators and how they affect us here's one of my Favorite RSA videos.

So how is this relevant for artists and other creatives? Below is an excerpt from the book "Drive".


"Something similar seems to occur for challenges that aren’t so much about cracking an existing problem but about iterating something new. Teresa Amabile, the Harvard

Business School professor and one of the world’s leading researchers on creativity, has frequently tested the effects of contingent rewards on the creative process. In one study, she and two colleagues recruited twenty-three professional artists from the United States who had produced both commissioned and noncommissioned artwork. They asked the artists to randomly select ten commissioned works and ten noncommissioned works. Then Amabile and her team gave the works to a panel of accomplished artists and curators, who knew nothing about the study, and asked the experts to rate the pieces on creativity and technical skill.


“Our results were quite startling,” the researchers wrote. “The commissioned works were rated as significantly less creative than the non-commissioned works, yet they were not rated as different in technical quality. Moreover, the artists reported feeling significantly more constrained when doing commissioned works than when doing non-commissioned works.” One artist whom they interviewed describes the Sawyer Effect in action:


Not always, but a lot of the time, when you are doing a piece for someone else it becomes more “work” than joy. When I work for myself there is the pure joy of creating and I can work through the night and not even know it. On a commissioned piece you have to check yourself—be careful to do what the client wants.


Another study of artists over a longer period shows that a concern for outside rewards might actually hinder eventual success. In the early 1960s, researchers surveyed sophomores and juniors at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago about their attitudes toward work and whether they were more intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Using these data as a benchmark, another researcher followed up with these students in the early 1980s to see how their careers were progressing. Among the starkest findings, especially for men: “The less evidence of extrinsic motivation during art school, the more success in professional art both several years after graduation and nearly twenty years later.” Painters and sculptors who were intrinsically motivated, those for whom the joy of discovery and the challenge of creation were their own rewards, were able to weather the tough times—and the lack of remuneration and recognition—that inevitably accompany artistic careers. And that led to yet another paradox in the Alice in Wonderland world of the third drive. “Those artists who pursued their painting and sculpture more for the pleasure of the activity itself than for extrinsic rewards have produced art that has been socially recognized as superior,” the study said. “It is those who are least motivated to pursue extrinsic rewards who eventually receive them.”


This result is not true across all tasks, of course. Amabile and others have found that extrinsic rewards can be effective for algorithmic tasks—those that depend on following an existing formula to its logical conclusion. But for more right-brain undertakings— those that demand flexible problem-solving, inventiveness, or conceptual understanding—contingent rewards can be dangerous. Rewarded subjects often have a harder time seeing the periphery and crafting original solutions. This, too, is one of the sturdiest findings in social science—especially as Amabile and others have refined it over the years.10 For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation—the drive do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing—is essential for high levels of creativity. But the “if-then” motivators that are the staple of most businesses often stifle, rather than stir, creative thinking. As the economy moves toward more right-brain, conceptual work—as more of us deal with our own versions of the candle problem—this might be the most alarming gap between what science knows and what business does.”


I find this type of research fascinating. If you're low on time for reading but are looking for more insight on the topic here's a more in depth Google Talk where Dan states


"Being an artist is really, really hard ok? Doing anything well is really, really hard. It's takes a really long time. And you're less likely to stick with it if you don't really love it. And so, because they really loved it, it was "what I do", they got a lot better at it. "

If you do have time and are looking for more there's one other book on my reading list dealing with the affects of extrinsic motivators and incentives called "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. For all the students out there grades are indeed a form of reward. So what does research say about the affect grades have on motivation? You might want to check out Alfie's book from your local library to understand more and maybe even share it with your teacher.

via:  http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/04/extrinsic-motivators-and-creativity.html

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Ryan Woodward - Bottom of the Ninth

Bottom of the Ninth:

Ryan Woodward lanza su primera novela gráfica para Ipad titulada Bottom of the Ninth.

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Robert Redford Portrait

Robert Redford: American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. In 2010 he was awarded French Knighthood in the Legion d'Honneur. At the height of his fame in the 1970s and 80's, he was often described as one of the world's most attractive men and remains one of the most popular movie stars. His popular films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Sting (1973), The Way We Were (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), All the President's Men (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993),The Last Castle and Spy Game (2001). As a filmmaker, his notable films include Ordinary People (1980), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).

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40. CALVIN COOLIDGE: Never give up

40. CALVIN COOLIDGE: Never give up:


Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) was the 30th President of the United States. A serious and no-nonsense man, Coolidge was unassuming but had a quiet determination that saw him prosper in the White House. Thanks to Matt for submitting this great quote. After drawing humans in realistic situations all the time, it was fun to dip my toe in the realm of fantasy with this comic. Sometimes a cartoonist just needs to draw a big-ass dragon!
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39. SHANTIDEVA: What, me worry?

39. SHANTIDEVA: What, me worry?:


Shantideva was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar who is most well-known for writing the famous buddhist text A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. I think this is a fantastic quote. Worry can consume a person and suffocate them into inaction. I know I’m guilty of it and it’s something I’m working on fixing. The amount of energy it takes out of you is exhausting and at the end of the day is really quite pointless. Thanks very much to Jill for submitting this quote.
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Hedy Lamarr Portrait

Hedy Lamarr: was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age". Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless communication from the pre-computer age to the present day.

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Living Water - Drawing

Living Water: Chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state (water vapor or steam). Water also exists in a liquid crystal state near hydrophilic surfaces.

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37. BRUCE LEE: Be water, my friend

37. BRUCE LEE: Be water, my friend:


This is Bruce Lee’s most famous quote and conveys his most important fighting philosophy: adaptability. He believed that a great fighter must be ready to adapt to whatever situation he faces, to flow like water around and through an opponent. If one way doesn’t work, a fighter should be prepared to adapt and find a way that does.
Lee decided that the best way he could showcase his skills was through a television or movie career, and was encouraged by his famous martial-arts students like Steve McQueen and James Coburn. Before he moved to America, he was a famous child actor in Hong Kong, so he was no stranger to being in front of the cameras. He auditioned for a Hollywood producer after being spotted giving a demonstration at a Karate tournament (watch the audition – his charisma already oozes off the screen). This eventually led to his role as Kato on the series The Green Hornet in 1966. The show only lasted one season and over the following years Lee got bit-parts in other shows but nothing substantial. His other major role during that time was on the TV series Longstreet, where Lee basically played himself, a martial-arts instructor. It was in this role that he says the famous water quote (Watch it here. He later recalled his lines in this more well-known interview.) Lee’s big break was meant to come in a starring role for a TV show he spent a long time developing called The Warrior. He would play a shaolin monk who would wander the land getting into adventures. But mainly because the Hollywood producers were racist assholes, they instead gave the role to David Carradine (a white guy playing a Chinese monk! WTF?) and the show eventually became Kung-Fu.
Rejected and almost broke, Lee returned to Hong Kong to get away for awhile. He was surprised that he was famous there thanks to his role as Kato, and was soon given a movie deal. Lee went on to make three insanely successful movies in Hong Kong: The Big Boss, Fists of Fury and Way of The Dragon. Each one broke the previous film’s local box-office record, and Lee became a hero thanks to his roles as strong, ass-kicking Chinese men who fought for his oppressed people. Hollywood eventually caught wind of this and decided to give him the leading role in a big-budget Hollywood movie. So Lee finally got to showcase his amazing skills and philosophy to a worldwide audience in Enter the Dragon. It was the culmination of 10 years of struggling to break into the business and a lifetime of martial-arts training. A culmination of blood, sweat, tears and never-ending hard work. And you know what happened next? HE DIED JUST BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED! Argh! It still makes me upset just typing it. Enter the Dragon would go onto to be massively successful and catapult Lee into instant mythic status. Imagine being a kid in 1973 who was used to watching cowboys duke it out on the big screen, and then being shown this opening scene in Enter The Dragon.
What sometimes gets overlooked is the impact Lee had on action cinema. His fight with Chuck Norris (best fight scene ever, and it showcases his ‘be like water’ philosophy) could be inserted into any movie today and it would still hold up. It was filmed 40 years ago! He choreographed all of his fight scenes and had a natural talent for knowing what audiences would like, which angles to shoot and when to add dramatic pauses in the middle of sequences. And not only did you know he was a real fighter, but he could act too! Sure, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen etc are great in fight scenes, but they’re not very good actors. There will never, ever be another Bruce Lee.
- This interview with Lee is the only extensive interview with him that exists on video.

- I tried to make this piece look like an old Chinese scroll painting with the quote being a fable spoken amongst two wise, old sages. If I had to explain that, it probably didn’t work.

- In case you missed it, I posted yesterday that from next week I will be updating twice a week instead of three. Read more here.

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Boy

Boy:

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36. BRUCE LEE: There are no limits

36. BRUCE LEE: There are no limits:


BRUCE LEE WEEK: PART 1
The story goes like this: In 1964, Bruce Lee had moved to Oakland from Seattle and opened his own martial-arts school named Jun Fan Gung-Fu (Bruce’s Chinese name is Jun Fan). Lee was an expert in Wing Chun, a style of Chinese kung-fu he learnt as a teenager in Hong Kong. He was teaching a modified version of this Wing Chun style to a variety of students – Chinese, Japanese, black, white – whoever wanted to learn was welcome. However, Oakland and nearby San Francisco had a very large and traditional Chinese community who weren’t too pleased that Lee was teaching non-Chinese students. At that time, kung-fu still had an mystical aura surrounding it, and the different schools were very protective of their fighting techniques. They passed down their secrets from generation to generation like a precious family heirloom and always kept it among their own people. So for Lee to be teaching non-Chinese students was a serious offence.
The old guard issued an ultimatum to Lee: stop teaching to non-Chinese or we’ll visit your school and beat the crap out of you. Lee refused. He had been the victim of racism his whole life (he grew up in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, got teased as a kid for having caucasian heritage and most likely got teased when he moved to America for having Chinese heritage), so he was going to teach whoever the hell he pleased. And that’s where this comic starts: A posse turns up to Lee’s school with their number one fighter, Wong Jack Man, to challenge Lee to a fight.
The duel was a life-changing event for Lee. Although he won, he didn’t beat Wong as quickly or efficiently as he liked. It was messy and over 3 minutes long, with Lee having to run around the school chasing his opponent and bruising his hands from punching the back of Wong’s head. After the fight Lee, out of breath and despondent, faced a harsh reality: he wasn’t in the best shape and Wing Chun was nowhere near a complete fighting system.
This isn’t easy to do for a lot of people, to look at yourself critically and admit that you still have a lot to learn, even if others have already labeled you a ‘master’. But Lee was willing to look as his performance objectively and make the necessary changes.
From then on, Lee took his training to a new level. He began serious aerobic and strength training and also studied different fighting styles. Now when I say ‘took it to a new level’, I mean he was freakin’ OBSESSED. He lived, breathed and probably dreamed about martial arts. Lee was fanatical about training, sometimes to a fault as he seriously injured his back during a workout. He refined his fighting style into a system he named Jeet Kune Do, which translates into The Way of the Intercepting Fist. Lee became something like a martial-arts celebrity in California, with experts in other styles (like Karate champ Chuck Norris) coming to train with him. Over the years he transformed himself from a pretty fit, Wing-Chun expert into an almost super-human, half-human, half-dragon, cyborg fighting machine, capable of incredible demonstrations of speed and strength. All it took was dedication, hard work and having the determination to never stay on a plateau.
- The woman in the comic is Linda Lee Cadwell, Bruce’s devoted wife. It was Linda who worked a steady job during this time to pay the bills that allowed Bruce to concentrate on his martial arts training. And the baby Bruce is shoulder pressing is his son, Brandon, who also died way too young.

- The yin-yang symbol in the final shot is the Jeet Kun Do logo Lee came up with.

- The official Bruce Lee website.

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