Celebs can be cool or they can suck!

Ok some celebs are freaked out by fame some have "no time" for fans and others are just great. I was up in Glen Ellen for work the past couple of days and many unusual things happened. First...it was a fun shoot. Second, there was plenty of wine (I usually don't touch the stuff, but hey I don't want to offend anyone!).

Then I met and actor that I think is great...Allan Rickman..."Mr. Harry Potter!" -As Professor Snape

I don't get star struck and I don't seek out photos usually...but for this actor I made an exception.

Some celebs have no time for fans. He was very polite and seemed to be on a break so we "Coco" my producer and I asked if we could take a picture. He said yes.He is taller than I had expected and very easy going and pleasant. He usually plays a snotty brit, but as him self...he seemed pretty cool. I thanked him after the photo and shook his hand and said" please enjoy your time in the wine country" he replied, "I will thank you". He looks you in the eye, is genuine and very polite. He is a fantastic face to have in a picture and the picture they are doing is about the Napa Valley wines competing with the french wines. I can't wait to see it. I have met many famous people while doing the work I do, not usually in this way. He was on some one elses set this time. Maybe one day I will have the pleasure of working with Allan. Till then I have to let it be known...he may play a "bad guy" here and there but I suspect he is actually a good guy. That is a good actor isn't it?

I have to mention, the guy over his right shoulder (camera left) is Dallas, our DP for "Green with Envy" and we were working with Jonathan Levit a real magician and actor (X-Files) etc. Jonathan is the real deal. Super talented and fun to be around. With any luck he should be as famous as Mr. Rickman and he is definatly not a jerk! In fact if you every meet Mr. Levit at the Magic Castle in Hollywood tell him you read my blog and know that he is the "real deal" and the best guy in show biz to work with. If you are lucky he might take a picture with you too.

JESUS WANTS NATIONAL HEALTHCARE!

Some one said to me that they didn't want to see the pictures SiCKO because as he put it "Micheal Moore is a Socialist!"

What? He is a self admitted Catholic. And being raised with some moral fiber that centers around the teachings in its most basic form of Jesus you may have to ask your self what did Jesus believe? Well if actions say something about his faith then you might want to examine this: Jesus healed the sick, at no cost to them, every chance some one asked for help, even in circumstances where they didn't want to have his message. Some with faith some without. Hmmmmm that sounds pretty nice of him. If you believe in the guy you might want to emulate him in every way you could. You may not be able to make a blind man see...So Michael Moore has his work cut out for him. "Those who have ears let them hear, those with eyes let them see" Mr. Moore, The healthcouldcareless system and capitalism is broken, so is modern day Christianity. God bless you for trying it anyway Mike! People haven't changed since Jesus time. Still selfish, bigoted and illogical to the ten hundreth degree. But in a world of "white Washed tombs" at least some Film makers are taking the chance because they have morals and a conscience. Didn't Jesus try to get that going too?

Cartoons by TJ Walkup

CREATE YOUR OWN HERO!

Let your imagination go nuts! Your hero can have unlimited powers or be a very "average" guy who just wants to fight evil! What ever you do think about what makes and interesting hero. Has your hero lived for a long time? If he has he could be super smart because he has had time to gather knowledge. Does your hero have a weakness? perhaps something others can relate to. That makes for a more complex hero but it also makes your hero some one others can relate to. Then write your in your bad guy. Why is your super villain a threat?

Do some research. You see if you have a mad scientist as a bad guy and you don't know anything about science, you better get on the ball and do some reading. What ever you do make both the illustration and the personality traits complex and interesting. Give your hero flaws...flaws that any one who reads about your hero could relate to.

Want to hear something dangerous? Make a bad guy that people can relate to. That also makes for a more complex story. Get attached to the bad guy before you know he is bad. Vulnerability makes for fine nemesis. OOOOOh this is gonna be fun! I am going to have to get to the drawing board tonight. Heck I drew this yesterday because developing a new Hero has been on my mind.

Book Cover Art by TJ Walkup

This is a book cover that I illustrated when I was 20, with over 27 illustrations. At that time I was working for a Kinkos Copies and selling my art to local publications for ads and for graphics. Graphics was easy back then. One of my buddies was a genetic engineer named Ernie Hubbard of the "Pure Harvest Method". He grew rice. I wish I'd kept in touch with him. He was an adult and I was a "Young Genius" according to tests done on be by doctors at the college. I have always loved scientists and artists. They actually think alike in many ways and show eachother new ways to think. In those talks we chatted about Women, God, Love, Friends and Family. He challenged my concepts of who I thought I was. Just as the IQ tests did, I thought I was just retarded. The tests results according to the Doctor said that I could do anythng I wanted to. Dr. Katz said that I could be a doctor if I wanted to. She said that I was a true genius. In fact my Mother bought me a bunch of pencils that said "Genius at Work" on them and I was teased endlessly. So I didn't tell many people about the IQ tests. Plus who is to say, I could just be "clever". I have to admit to one thing, I do see the world through different logic than most and my passions sometimes look more like obsessions. From the outside I am humble looking and unremarkable. The fact that I have been drawing since 3 and in college they either let me do independant study in art and teachers would let me aid others tells you nothing about what it really means though. Dr. Katz when trying to interpret what my scores meant asked many questions of me and told me many things about why I was chosen for testing. Genius...what an odd concept. "this can't be true" I thought to myself. After all I was akward and had a low self esteem. I was depressed and felt like I would always amount to nothing. I can't do math to save my life, that is with out a good calculator. But almost everything from music/art/even some business concepts seem to come to me as easily as the logic of following a path for which I have no real map. (my logic is free form) We are really the ones who set our destiny in motion. A vision in my minds eye is the beginning of anything I have achieved. If that and the ability to control my own dreams makes me a genius, than so be it. What ever it means...I am still finding that out. Find the Genius in you...look inside and break through your own self esteem issues. If art or music or poetry or even math help you do that, then do that! Oh and while you are doing it, do it with love.

Today I am working on another book illustration for publication. I am the same person, with some maturity and wieght added. I still feel insecure sometimes. I have been published in books, products, music, papers, and video. I never really feel as though I haven't acomplished anything. I even Directed a video at Universal Studios once. Nothing I do really feels like enough. Nothing really matters but having people with whom I have loving relationships. My fiance once said to me " you are really well acomplished"...The only thing that matters is really how much Love you are able to bring to this world. The world needs more of it than you might think. So the next time some one accuses you of being a Genius, if you aren't putting Love into this world, remember this; " you aint that smart!"

Cartoon Classes open for the summer! TJ Walkup

Any one every dream of making their own cartoon? Or at least having the skills to make one? Ok ever hoped you could show off your amazing brain by creating visual art with meaning? Well cartooning may or may not be for you. They don't always have to mean anything. Coolest thing about self expression is that it is just expression. Cartooning is a great way to get back at bullies and fight evil while keeping your day job. Imagine you go in to work your meaningless job day after day. Then you come home and get your pen to paper and fight villans in the evening hours. You are now a director/writer and creative master of your own comix! You see in the real world we can't fight all these villans, but in comix you can.

Invent Gods, Make the World a Safer place, Stop Evil! be a Cartoonist! ...if you feel like it you cold just monkey around with it.

You could take a personal class from me or a small group class. Call now!

415-643-0664

MAD MAGAZINE TJ Walkup

I sent a letter to MAD Magazine. We'll see if they actually write back. The guys at MAD are the absolute best gag and satire writers and cartoonists in the world.

Maybe one day I will get into MAD. I HOPE I HOPE!

Time to Toon! Cartoons are for everyone!

I have a couple of students that are grown up! They are at a point in their life where they want to explore being creative on paper again. This one lady works at an internet start up and she writes stories. She wants to get better at drawing and maybe illustrate her own books. If it puts me out of business, thats ok. As long as she is really enjoying her life as an artist. Heck who needs money anyway?....uh...I do! Well no worries I may have a couple of years to save bread while she is learning.

Then I have two new students who are just before Jr. high. Great time to get turned on to art and really dig into characters and learn to draw dramatic physical heros. This one fella was really getting into spider man. He picked a tough one to draw right off the bat. The art was so tough that I would think twice about it. And the other young man didn't want anything to do with my lessons, he said he was "bored". Whoops! Some one had an attention span challenge. That was totally ok, he needed to be challenged and wanteed to draw something else. I figure it is better that we find what he likes to draw that way he can build his concentration. Once he found some Pokiemon stuff that he digged it was on! he was sitting t the table doing some great work with a complex backround.