Norman Rockwell's Scout Paintings

I suppose one artist who had a huge impact on my life was Norman Rockwell, but not so much from a creative standpoint.  I never really gravitated to painting, although I have tried my hand at it.  I will never be a master painter like Rockwell.  But in my teen years, my life was in utter turmoil; school was hell, bullies were hell... many times I really felt like my safety was at risk in phys. ed. class, so I would cut class and spend time with the art & music teacher to get out of wrestling lessons which were sheer terror.  I had been in Cub Scouts while in elementary school, but regretted leaving it.  I always felt like there was something left unfinished... I never earned my Bear badge.  By the time I got to Junior High School, I discovered that the kid behind me in homeroom was in Boy Scouts.  I asked him if I could check out his troop because I wanted to join up.  It was probably the best decision I could make as an eleven year old.  Scouting gave me stability and a chance to do something for my own betterment.  It gave me a life outside of school.

A constant companion to any good Scout is his handbook, and the book we used in the early 80's was richly illustrated with Norman Rockwell's paintings of Scouts of all ages.  It's been said that Rockwell painted an America that no longer exists.  Others say he painted an America that never existed at all.  But to me as a twelve year old, Rockwell painted a world that I believed existed somewhere, and that I wanted to become a part of.  The lead image at the top spoke to me as a kid.... it showed the guts and determination it took to stick to your oath and finish the path to Eagle.  His paintings left their mark on me in a way I can't otherwise describe.  I saw good Scouts in those images, and that's what I wanted to be.

There was something else I saw in his paintings, and that was a possible future for myself.  I knew I was getting something out of the program, and it was largely because of good men who devoted their time to us kids.  I know I felt a level of gratitude towards them, and I knew deep down that I wanted to be able to someday pay it forward, and make a difference in other peoples' lives.  Somewhere inside, I knew I wanted to become a Scoutmaster... like the ones that were in my life, and the ones I saw in these images.  There was one image that made a huge mark on me as I was maturing, and it was this one:

The people in this image may very well be the same person depicted over the years.  I loved my life in uniform.  I wanted to age in the same way as that kid in the campaign hat.  Little did I know, my life would take a sudden turn as I finally came to maturity.  As I rounded the corner after I made Eagle Scout, the proverbial writing was on the wall.  I was desperately in need of coming out of the closet, and there was no way I was going to be able to do that as a member of the Boy Scouts of America.  For a short time, I was an Assistant Scoutmaster, and for an even shorter time, Assistant Webelos Den Leader, but this lasted less than a year.  My time was cut short, and I drifted quietly away with a deeply broken heart.  It would be many, many years until I would sort my life out and come to terms with what amounted to a huge loss and drastic change of life plans.

In 2005, a new opportunity was presented to me.  I discovered an online presence known as the Rover Scout Association.  It was founded by a good man named Craig Brown who wanted to return the ways of Rover Scouting from the brink of extinction.  Rovering had long since been abandoned by the B.S.A., but it was now coming alive with the R.S.A.  I joined, and followed along with these adventures that eventually led to Craig, myself, and a handful of other people founding what's now known as the Baden-Powell Service Association (US).  The BPSA is a co-ed, non-discriminating, traditional Scouting program for people of all ages.  In the 2007-2008 timeframe, I led that fledgling organization as the Chief Commissioner.  I had my own Rover Scout Crew here in Connecticut, and for the first time in many, many years, I was back in uniformed service.  I remember many nights being the last Scout to hit the sack after every one of my crew was asleep.  It kinda reminded me of another of Rockwell's paintings that looks something like this....

I suppose this could all be filed under one of those Facebook memes of "what I think I look like/what I really look like"... it may even be a bit presumptuous or even conceited to try to see myself in work as iconic as Rockwell's.  But the truth is, at a young age, they made an immeasurable impression on my young mind... so strong that it took me 20 years to realize that they've been hiding out there, still inspiring me to be the best Scout that I can be.  I suppose in this case it may be true, that Life sometimes imitates Art.  I like to think of it as Art inspiring Life.  Long story short.... the BPSA is now 400+ members strong, with 50 groups across the country.  I am still involved with them, as a Lone Rover who occasionally helps out as a trainer with Brownsea Training Camps.  While I'm not exactly the Scoutmaster I dreamt of becoming, I am happy to see that there is finally a thriving Scouting option for people like me, and for kids who were like me, and I had a hand in building it. 

Anyhow, I hope this blog post comes across in the spirit it was intended. I am rarely this personal with my writing.... My feelings about my past and my life as a Scout are deeply personal to me.  Maybe they will do someone else some good out there.  If you liked this post, please drop me a line.

The Long Road Back

Well it's been a bumpy winter with lots of time away from the drawing table.... which was NOT how I planned to spend it.  Apparently some crappy ergonomics and job transition stress caused a bit of a malfunction in a collection of muscles in my shoulder and neck, which resulted in months of widespread pain and headaches that pretty much shut me down for a while.  I have yet to actually pull up to the table again, but I have been able to do a little bit of digital coloring, and spent some time putting a few pinboards together on Pinterest.  One of them applies directly to the spirit of this blog.... "Space Age", a collection of retro-futurism from the 50's and 60's.  It depicts a world that never really arrived, but was inspired by the space race of the time.

It's interesting how our view of the world and our future changed after we finally got to the moon.  We landed, collected some moon rocks, and for all intents and purposes, went home.  Well then we had the shuttle program which was great fun, but for whatever reason, our national mindset today is not geared towards space, the future, or any kind of off-world dreams.  I laughed the other day when I saw a bumper sticker of the American flag, with the caption, "The Only Flag On The Moon".  Oy.  Because  'Murica??  The truth is, IF those flags still exist, they would be sun bleached beyond any recognition.  Meanwhile, Cosmos has returned to the airwaves, only to become the target of freakshow "intelligent" designers who toss science out in favor of religious myths.... I hate to break it to people, but we didn't make it to the moon rejecting science.  It took thousands of smart people like aerospace engineers, astronomers, mathematicians, and so many more to get us to the moon.  It will take continued investment in science and engineering, and our BRAINS to get us back to the moon and beyond.  Then maybe we can get back on track to obtaining our long-overdue flying cars.

Please visit http://www.pinterest.com/dbielski/space-age/ and enjoy this collection of futuristic images that I find inspiring.

SpookyBear Weekend 2013 - Extended Bar Video

Now that SpookyBear Weekend has finally come and gone, I can finally post about some of the things that I had to keep under wraps for months leading up to the event.  We design an plan for months for every last detail of how the Paramount Nightclub will be transformed for the big party, and we keep it all top secret, so that the "big reveal" on Saturday night has the biggest impact.  This year's plan was to create the sense of stepping into a giant comic book.  The wall art, which I will describe in another post, accomplished this, but there had been a lingering desire to use the screen behind the big bar to bring the theme to life with light and motion.  The Event Coordinator, Chris Grasso, and I, plotted to what extent we would delve into the concept, listing out pages of shows and movies that needed some representation in our "Heroes & Villians" video.  At some point, the powers that be agreed that a 20ish minute video would be enough to give the crowd the sense that something new was on the screen every time they looked at it. 

After several weeks of research, and several near-sleepless nights, the video finally came together.  It included finished photography from PhotoBearNE, the original animation I produced as Hairyer Parts Comics, portions of the wall art set to motion, and lots of rapid-fire action shots of Superman, Batman, Avengers, and so much more.  If you were at the party and peered behind the bar, you probably didn't realize that the footage was all set to music so as to ensure a sense of timing.  I previewed the finished product a few hours before the party to the postcard models who made it to Provincetown.  They convinced me it needed to be seen online by the community at large.  Later in the evening, I wiggled my way to bar and noticed everyone waiting for their drinks were transfixed to the screen, which made my night. 

We wanted to create something that captured the spirit of the SpookyBear Weekend, that would be fun, sexy, and maybe even a little campy.  I think we succeeded in this.  So, here it is, the entire video.  Please enjoy.  And if you did, please share it, so that others can see it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxBzoZLF7WU

Giant Robots

Well after weeks and weeks of working on SpookyBear artwork, I am happy to say, I am 99% done and ready for a switch from Superheroes.  It was a noble effort to mash up anime with superfriends, manga with entry-level DC comics... I am not entirely sure if I am 100% happy with the results, but for wall art, it will work, and for that I am glad.  BUT I am ready to move on to other things.

Which leads me to tonight's post.  I finally got to see (or at least hear) all of the Albegas series while working on the above project, which led me to discover more Toei based super robot cartoons, including Voltes V and Starbirds / Daimos.  I am sooo looking foward to finding more of these (I hear Danguard Ace is coming out on DVD soon) soooo... here is a teaser to hold me over until then.  Somebody stitched together the intros to all 80's mecha series.  It looks like it's at least an hour of animation, many of which I have only heard of but never seen.  Voltron is in there, as Golion and Dairugger XV of course, and Robotech is in there too.  Lesser known imports, like Macron I / Gotriniton are in there as well.  It's basically where I am right now.  I am so ready to dust off some of my very early works and bring them forward to completion.  So on that note, have a look:

Combattler V 2012

I love it when I discover new anime, especially new takes on old classics.  My favorites of course are the super robot series, especially those from the Toei animation, the same creators of Dairugger XV, Albegas, and King of Beasts Golion.  But there is one that I wish I had seen as a kid... it's gotten a sleek reboot in the last year or so.... a predecessor to those tapped for the Voltron universe.... Combattler V.  From the still below, you can see it's got a similar 5-member team format to Golion, Gatchaman, and so many others... it's like another flavor of your favorite ice cream :-)

I won't waste much time writing about these clips since I don't know much more about the series other than what I'm saying here, except that I find these to be visually intriguing.  Makes me wish that the ones behind the new Voltron Force series would sit up and pay attention.  It also makes me wish I had gone to animation school in Japan, but that's another story altogether!  So sit back and enjoy these...

It's a Voltron Kind of Night!!

So I'm taking a break from animating the next (and last) footage of the Ursafriends, doing laundry and packing for camp.  I am usually in the habit of putting something on the big screen TV in the bedroom when I am packing, and tonight is no exception.  This time, I was very much in the mood for Voltron, since, the Ursafriends are meant to be an anime-bear version of the Superfriends... but for some reason, I reached for my Land Team boxed set of Vehicle Voltron instead of the Blue Lion boxed set.  I took a snapshot of the screen and uploaded it to Facebook... and of course, doesn't everyone just love the Lions better than good old Dairugger XV a.k.a. Vehicle Voltron.  So I had to throw in that Voltron was meant to be a trilogy (and someday, maybe someday I will finish writing & illustrating that comic) so meanwhile.... here are a couple homemade "artifacts" that show the Voltron that could have been.  Electro-Light Speed God Albegas would have been the third (actually second) installment of the Voltron Trilogy, and you can bet anything that the guy who played Keith (and Jeff) would have taken the lead on this one.... here is a homemade video from Youtube footage of Albegas, redubbed as Voltron II.  Below that is a make believe screenshot of all three robots, as if they were side by side in the Fleet Of Doom movie.  Anyhow... enjoy :-)

  

Sneak Peek of SpookyBear 2013

For the last two months, I have been living on a steady diet of Superfriends, Arrow, and comics in general.  I must totally confess that getting involved with SpookyBear in my first off year was completely selfish on my part.  What cartoonist in their right mind wouldn't jump at the chance to channel the Justice League (with Wolverine thrown in) to a bearish audience??  So the interim result is this video which I am sure a lot of my friends have seen already, but for those who might be following me only on Blogger, please enjoy watching this.  If all goes according to plan, there will be even more to see behind the big bar at the Crown & Anchor at the Saturday night costume party at SpookyBear Weekend itself.  I am very happy with the results of this, and am looking forward to making more animation!  Cheers!!

 

This video can also be seen on the following pages:  Hairyer Parts,  Bears & Hunters - Online Express Edition, and of course, the SpookyBear Weekend page.  As of the time I'm writing this, it was uploaded 5 days ago, and already has 399 views!!  The first showing was last Saturday at the Ursamen member's only pig roast... it was a real crowd pleaser!!