The Artist's way out
Saralene Tapley and Bryan Keith Gardner have returned with a new episode in the Queso the Cat Sagas. This time they have chosen to make a silent film utilizing stop motion animation.
Warning: This film is based on a true story and contains scenes of a violent nature. Stop-motion animation is an incredible art form with a long and sordid past. Computer animation is slowly causing it to go extent. Nowadays it is getting easier and easier to create these types of animation because of tools like the Ipad. Here is a simple example of what type of stop-motion animation you can do with almost no tools.
 Christmas is the most popular holiday in the history of civilization. It is notorious for sweeping other holidays to the side so that it can bath in their limelight. Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and now even Halloween are all holidays that Christmas has slowly bullied into a corner. Many would argue that this is nothing new for Christmas. Many hundreds of years ago early Christians stole the Winter Solstice from pagans claiming it was the birthday of their leader.  It was indeed, the pagans who would have the last laugh. Christmas is no longer the celebration of a religious leader's birthday. It is instead the season of worshiping the false idles of consumerism and capitalism. Every year major corporations force new products on to the market in the Christmas season knowing that they will make millions. It is easy to get depressed amongst the muck that Christmas brings, but everything negative has a positive side.
 How long have you been making the Christmas Cards? Since 2002. I had just found this box filled with black 3x5 illustration board samples and started doing color pencil drawings on them. Why did you first start making the cards? Basically the over-abundance of trite, cheesy, sappy, sentimental cards that are in the shops every year. I figured friends of mine would appreciate a card more if I could give them something that they might want to look at more than once and hopefully laugh at. Santa is in most of them- either being really creepy or in some unfortunate situation.  What inspires the humor in the cards? It's the kind of stuff that has made me laugh all my life. Growing up with a brother like mine, twisted musings were very common. Wanting to see them and not just talk about them was a big reason why I began drawing. Any final thoughts? Just to say thanks for taking an interest in my stuff. I'll keep making these as long as people keep asking for them. I'd love to someday do this professionally.  Saralene Tapley has returned with another story about Queso the cat. This time around she has chosen to dive into Queso's past. Unfortunately her handwriting is tiny so we added citation to ease the eye strain. Also Bryan Keith Gardner had the distinct honor of inking and coloring her masterful pencil drawings. Queso and the Blood Donor Bandit.
Saralene Tapley has created her first comic strip. A Day in the Naughty Life of Queso is a mini-comic about her cat and the adventures he has on a daily basis. We recently had the opurtunity to talk to her about this experience:
What was it like creating your first comic strip? It was very challenging. I don't usual draw from my imagination. At times I felt very helpless. How is drawing from your imagination different than using a reference. I had to try and create mental pictures. A photographic memory would have been helpful. I had no perspective, lighting or subject references. Drawing from the imagination is a skill I have not cultivated. Do you have plans to do more? Not yet. (laughter)  Traverse the long winding roads of Houston Texas in a southeastern sway long enough and you will end up in a small backwater of a town called Alvin. This town has was originally nothing more than a few ranches until the Santa Fe railroad came along and it expanded itself into a proper village of sleepy southerners. Not much would change in this town for years. Houston, Alvin's neighbor 30 miles to the north is a gluttonous beast. Houston has for many years been devouring every small town that has dared to cross its path. They have put a loop around Houston and when that did not help they built a beltway, yet Houston is busting out of these restrictions. It will not be happy until it stretches from Mexico to Louisiana. For the time being Alvin is still alive. We do not know how much time it has left before urban sprawl claims it as yet another victim but for now it is still a safe haven from the traffic noise and pollution of its overgrown neighbor.  If you where to spend the afternoon in Alvin, you would surely come across some interesting people. Timothy Paul Gardner being one of the most unique characters to call this oasis of heat and concrete home. Recently Timothy has been creating other worldly dioramas. I spoke with him about these bizarre recreations of home and war.  What was your inspiration to create these works? To tell u the truth I just thought it would be fun. I wanted to do more with them but when I stopped at the point I did I Liked how simple they where. How did you decide the materials that you would use? I love getting things that are already made and making them look how I think and feel that they should look. In my mind this is the way I envisioned battles with our army toys growing up. So it really just took me back to a awesome time in our life's that I shared with my brother.
 Has the landscape you live in and are surrounded by played a part in the scenes you create? I think my wife has helped me realize I can create and make awesome things so now I do. Before I met her I thought I was just full of destruction and hate. Now I know I can love, be at peace, create and be myself. So finding her is what made me come to truth with whom I am and now I can do anything.
| Bryan Keith GardnerBryan Keith Gardner is the founder and main contributor to Putrid Press. He has a BFA in Studio art and currently resides in Houston TX. ArchivesJanuary 2014 Categories |
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