Shadowed Canvas – On My Easel

Shadowed Canvas – On My Easel

Every painting I finish, I film a brief 15-20 second video to forever keep.

It’s a habit I’ve followed over the course of many hundreds of finished canvas and wood panel paintings.

Typically I post them one-by-one on my Tiktok and Instagram accounts.

But tonight, I’ve assembled several dozen all in one film.

I hope you’ll watch and find both relaxation and wonderment.

To enjoy, please click HERE or on the picture below…


Let’s Talk Art – The Top Five Challenges Facing Modern Day Artists

What’s it like being a full-time artist in the real world?

Let’s talk it out.

In his latest Let’s Talk Art video, J Edward brings up the top 5 challenges facing artists today.

And…

…shows off his giant painting, ‘The Death of Yggdrasil.’

Click the giant painting below to watch the vid!


185 Paintings in Just 3 Minutes…

Hi art lovers.
So…
I made a video featuring 185 of my paintings…in just 3 minutes.
I picked at random 185 pieces from the last 10 years and featured them chronologically.
Just for fun.
Please enjoy.
Special thanks to Daft Punk for the background music.


The New Late Night TV… Youtube

I try to do the majority of my writing at night. I really, truly do. But sometimes the internet rabbit hole calls and off I descend into that level of madness.

I’ve mentioned on here that since the virus, some of my evening time feels like it needs to just be unwinding time. The kind of not worried about anything type of time. It’s that time of night to normally turn on the tv and watch reruns of The Office or Friends or Futurama or maybe a movie you’ve seen 100 times (Office Space, I’m looking at you). And while I certainly do that, for some reason, I’ve turned to Youtube videos to help me decompress.

Very Gary Comics

Gary is a comic book dealer. He posts videos about collections he’s found “in the wild” (as he calls them). He does unboxing videos where he shows us all the graded comics. Occasionally, he does posts where he sees if his wife can name comic book characters (she hits about 40%).

I’ve utterly fascinated by it.

I read comics. I’m not a collector in the sense of having my comics sealed up so that they can’t be reread. But there is something about the genuine joy he has for doing it that has me intrigued. Maybe it is because I don’t dwell on that side of the comic aisle, so everything is very new and fresh. Or maybe it’s just a new way of looking at the industry I’ve loved for so long. And while I may not be a collector in this sense, it has always been cool to find out one of the comics upstairs is worth $100 or $200 or whatever.

Had comic conventions actually been a thing this year, I have no doubt I would have bought my first graded book by this point.

Owen Likes Comics

This is like watching the History Channel for comic stories and creators. Owen takes a story-arc and in about fifteen or twenty minutes really breaks down some of the background behind it. Ever wonder about the time that Superman died… he’s got a video for that. Want to know about the Spider-Man Clone Saga… yep, got that covered.

Again, I think there is a passion there that he’s really bringing forth. Clearly he takes his time to cut these videos together, finding older interviews and clips to splice in. Sometimes, I know a bit of the story and he fills in that little extra. Other times, I’ve no idea what I’m about to get into.

Every time I’m interested.

Cracking the Cryptic

I keep meaning to tell my dad about this one.

I like playing Sudoku. It’s a nice way to do a quick(ish) puzzle game where I’m going to engage my brain and also see if I can figure this next one out.

These guys who solve these Sudoku… well this is next level. As my wife said,  “So regular Sudoku wasn’t enough?”

Apparently not.

What ends up happening is I watch a little bit, solve a little bit… get stuck, go back to them, they show me some technique and then I go try to solve the damn puzzle in about 3 times as long as they solved it.

I’m a nerd… whatever, it’s relaxing.

 

Tolarian Community College

It’s not what you think. I’m not learning Math or Science at this place. No…

It’s about Magic the Gathering.

The thing is, Magic is probably my favorite game of all time. I honestly wish I still was going to tournaments and playing… some of my best memories are with my friends, playing this game until 3 in the morning. I love the artwork. I love the strategy. I love finding the one play to win a game out of nowhere.

The Professor (the host) feels that love for the game. He talks about decks. He talks about formats. He talks about the new sets. He scolds Wizards of the Coast for bad decisions. And if you are a new player, he has tons of videos for you as well… to help get you into the game.

It is a true resource on the web.

***

There are some others that pop up on my feed here and there, but those are my current go to. What are yours?

***

John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?

Click here to join John’s mailing list.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow EmpireBeyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

Steampunk Fridays – Short Film – Eye of the Storm

Check out John McGuire’s The Gilded Age steampunk graphic novel on Kickstarter!

Technically this is a music video, but if after watching it you don’t feel like you want to see a whole movie made in this style… well, I don’t have words for you. It’s done well enough that I think it’s ok to call it a film.

“Eye of the Storm” – By Lovett, from the album Highway Collection, 2011 – Directed by Christopher Alender

The story centers around a sky captain making his way across the sky, making peace with what came before and steadying himself on what may come next. Accompanied by a large dog-sized dragon, he sees the green glow just past an oncoming storm and must make his decision on how to deal with it. Whether he should avoid it or push through to the other side.

This feels like the end of his journey. Whether that implies his death or simply his last grand adventure, I’m not entirely sure.

Using a technique that reminds me a bit of Sin City with that mixture of animation and stylized actors. His goggles remain on his face, the orbs acting as two beacons in the dark night. They are our proxy to his eyes, able to still convey emotion even without being able to see what lies beneath.

This film has no spoken dialogue, but the song itself acts as our emotional center. It builds slowly, quietly, a simple peace. And then, when the storm crashes into the ship, and he is fighting the currents, the volume raises… crashing into the listener. Once through the rain and the wind, he sees the green light in the distance and pushes his machine directly toward it.

On my second watch, I brought up the lyrics and listened to the song only, allowing my memory of the scenes to supply the visuals.

For all that it cost

In the end there was no price to pay

For all that was lost

That storm carried it away

The storm carries all the mistakes he made. It carries the past away. And then it carries him onto his next (final) destination.

Or, perhaps he rids himself of those things. And by unburdening, he allows himself to actually become truly free.

 

 

Check it out and you tell me. Is this the end or the beginning?

***

You can find more music from Lovett on his website, as well as a behind the scenes for this video.

***

John McGuire

John McGuire is the author of the supernatural thriller The Dark That Follows, the steampunk comic The Gilded Age, and the novellas Theft & Therapy and There’s Something About Mac through the Amazon Kindle Worlds program.

His second novel, Hollow Empire, is now complete. The first episode is now FREE!

He also has a short story in the Beyond the Gate anthology, which is free on most platforms!

And has two shorts in the Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows anthology! Check it out!

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com.

J Edward’s Big Fat Author Video

Hey everyone.

This week, instead of words, I give you video.

About four and half minutes of it.

It’s just me discussing A Door Never Dreamed Of, 101 Questions for the End of the World, and my new super (not anymore) secret project.

It’s also my first video taken in my new apartment…which was less weird than I thought it’d be.

Anyway…please click the link to enjoy my latest video on Youtube:

Oh…and here’s some of my stuff:

WebImageFront DDP 1 101 Questions for Humanity

J Edward Neill