Earthworm Jim is BACK… and he’s got a book!
The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road
Before I get down to reviewing Titan Book’s The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road, I’ve watched Mad Max: Fury Road twice already. I was a little cynical at first, when I heard the news that creator/director George Miller was going to re-make Mad Max, when his 1979 Mad Max film starring Mel Gibson was already a masterpiece. So, as I sat in the multiplex dreading it would not be a Kevin Costner “Waterworld”, the movie came on-screen and within a few minutes I was blown away by not just the action and acting, but Miller’s incredible cinematography, the colors and the amazing world-building. Now to the meat of this article, taking a look at Titan Book’s The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road by Abbie Bernstein with a Foreward by the man himself, the master George Miller.
I’d Love to Draw! by Andrew Loomis
In my generation, my comic book idols weren’t just the superheroes on the printed pages, but the artists who drew them. And as an amateur wannabe artist, I tried drawing like Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri and Todd McFarlane. As you can see below, I’m not a very good artist.
If you want to learn how to draw, like everybody, you have to learn the basics. One of those legendary art teachers in American history is Andrew Loomis. He published several drawing books in 1930s-1940s that influenced many artists of today. Thanks to Titan Books who have been republishing many of Andrew Loomis’ drawing books like this one, “I’d Love to Draw!”
The Art of Watch Dogs
The video game media went bonkers when Ubisoft unveiled Watch Dogs at E3 2012. The much anticipated and delayed game is now finally out and does it live up to the hype? I don’t know yet, but will get on my hands on a copy for my Xbox 360 soon. Just a quick note, you can also look for our review of Watch Dogs by our Retrenders video game guru Ramon Angel soon. But for now, I’m reviewing the release of The Art of Watch Dogs published by Titan Books.
In Watch Dogs, the GTA-type game, you play hacker anti-hero Aiden Pearce. Now on the path of revenge he uses Chicago’s Central Operating System (ctOS) to hack into security cameras, lock doors, control traffic lights, locate targets of interest and grab information on his enemies. The city of Chicago is now your playground.
Fun with a Pencil by Andrew Loomis
Who doesn’t want to draw comics like Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and Jim Lee? Nobody starts off the gates drawing comics, cartoons and creating iconic characters without the basics. The A-B-C’s of drawing is what gets you from Point A to Point B. In our day of digital technology we can find art instruction on-line. I learned my cooking & cocktail recipes and Photoshop tutorials on YouTube. Sometimes, you need a little old school instruction and we’re going back to the early 20th century with commercial artist Andrew Loomis (1892-1959). Mr Loomis was well known for his various instructional art books and many of these books are not in print anymore. Fun with a Pencil was published back in 1939 and thanks to Titan Books, this instructional art book is in bookstore shelves.