Sleuthing the Detective Genre

In 1841 Edgar Allan Poe created the detective genre. Nearly a century years later, in 1939, Detective Comics introduced The Bat-man in issue #27. Edgar’s my birthday twin. We both spent formative time on Sullivan’s Island and around the Charleston area of the South Carolina Lowcountry 163 years apart. We’re both fond of writing short stories. Edgar invented the genre of detective mysteries in 1841 with his first locked-room mystery “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

Just one year after Action Comics gave us Superman we were delivered a darker hero. In 1939 Detective Comics introduced the world to The Bat-man, later shortened to The Batman removing the hyphen. Down the line following a handful of mergers DC Comics was officially branded in 1977 as the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and an entire expanded universe of heroes and heroines.

Poe directly influenced the creation of not only Detective Comics, but also the creation of The Batman. In 2003 DC Comics published Batman: Nevermore (Volume 1). It was a limited series starring Batman and Edgar Allan Poe. Based in nineteenth-century Baltimore they team up to solve a series of murders from a serial killer on the loose.

I have a feeling that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy would appeal to Poe’s shadowy sensitivities. The Joker arrived in 1940, and it’s no stretch of the imagination that he was born from Poe’s ashes. Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the maniacal madman solidified itself in film history. While other Jokers followed, only Joaquin Phoenix was able to recapture audiences with his psychotic portrayal in his origin story The Joker. Now that we have a new Superman my bets for the next film will feature Batman or possibly an all-in, decked out Justice League versus The Legion of Doom.

2003’s Batman: Nevermore is centered around a serial killer’s murder spree in nineteenth-century Baltimore. Penned by writer Len Wein and drawn by Guy Davis. Wein’s storyline incorporates Poe’s stylistic undercurrents in a tale that never breaks character. Lenore makes an appearance as the love of this fictional portrayal of Poe throughout this series of murder mysteries. Poe’s motifs are on full display carrying the compelling narrative filled with intrigue and the usual suspects that Batman may not be a hero after all. He may be the killer in disguise.

Inking Comics for $5 a Page ✒️ Celebrating Joe Kubert

Joe Kubert was born in Jezierzany, Poland in 1926 and died in Morristown, New Jersey in 2012. He is a highly decorated Comic Book Artist, Art Teacher, and Founder of The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Madison, New Jersey. He and his wife, Muriel, founded the school in 1976. During that first year their school garnered a roster of 22 students.

In 1938, at age 12, Joe Kubert began inking comics for $5 a page. That same year Action Comics introduced us to Superman in its debut issue. Kubert spent decades illustrating comics for DC and many others. Sgt. Rock, Hawkman, Tarzan, and Superman were some of his most iconic characters. Small world as I also got started when I was 12 selling watercolors to family and friends for $100.

In 1988 while visiting my girlfriend’s Dad in New Jersey I got invited to visit Joe Kubert’s home. In shock I immediately jumped at the opportunity in case I was in fact dreaming. My girlfriend pinched me assuring this wasn’t a dream. Around every corner were framed covers of some of my favorite pantheon legends and mighty superheroes. What stood out the most during that visit was the simplicity of his basement studio. It was adorned with a drawing board and ink well. I imagined the decades of history he inked in that unassuming space. Artistic simplicity at its best. For more information visit The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art:

https://kubertschool.edu

Running Down a Dream

Empathy 💙 / Narcissism 🧡 / Ego Death 🤍

Why did I ever chase someone else’s dream? Sound familiar? It echoes across five decades of my life. Family and societal expectations projected onto me from a young age played their part. Buy low. Sell high. Amass wealth and prestige doing whatever it takes to win. Shoulders back, chest out, gut in.

Seriously?!

I believe we’re born empathic. For myself chasing the capitalism-infused American dream altered my frequency aligning it closely with narcissism. Three years ago I began to shed those traits that bent my soul.

Eventually, after 1,500+ journal entries, I fully experienced ego death. Mindfulness, DBT skills, and opposite action kept me headed in the right direction.

Now I’m nearly whole again, possibly for the first time since birth. Empathy requires far less energy than narcissism. Some think it’s the other way around. Possibly for them, but not for me.

Why?

Aligning oneself to a higher vibration requires far less energy specifically due to having direct access to a more highly concentrated energy field. ✨ Have a great week. Be the change…

We the People

“We the People” graffiti construction zone Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, winter 2005. 20 years and 7 months ago while visiting my client, CBS3, I snapped this photo during an afternoon walk in the midst of a neighborhood construction zone. The Bobcat, brick wall, highway divider, We the People graffiti, and piles of rubble speak volumes related directly to the current state of life in America. Other than the color grade the photo is untouched.

Have a great week. Stay hydrated. It’s hot out there.

Happy July 4th

Our Founding Fathers said it best. Let’s keep it unanimous. Happy July 4th. “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” The Second Continental Congress created The Committee of Five on June 11, 1776. They were tasked with writing the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson wrote the initial draft himself. The Committee of Five made revisions and additions. Their committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

What’s in Your Toolbox?

Our collective toolboxes share a history. Timeless tools outlasting millennia by artists, designers, and polymaths alike. The need for these tools is rather paramount more than ever in any point in history. Digital media is just that, it’s digital and not grounded in the real world. I see mirrored texture maps on models in blockbuster movies, and let’s not get into the crumbling nature of audio engineering running rampant as budgets shrink as does what’s considered acceptable. The bean counters run the show now right into the ground with no gestures of making amends.

The bar hasn’t just lowered, it’s nearly nonexistent. In some cases it’s become a limbo-inspired chokehold to the ground. The sameness of repetition in a computer needs far more deliberate strokes, tweaks, and further thinking in order to produce something truly memorable and grounded in reality. Film was magical, and it was also forgiveable. The world of 4K, even 12K clearly exposes the missing, generic details that were added like a cheap coat of paint on a rusty vintage racer. It may be able to still go fast, but it’s lost its spirit and passion for the race track and country road.

Endless imagination fueled by intuition. That’s where the magic happens. Our most intense ideas sometimes spark in the middle of the night. Electrical impulses igniting our gray matter in a myriad of chromatic aberrations and expanding and retracting attenuations. I haven’t bought a Design Marker, Prismacolor, or tube of Windsor Newton watercolor for 40 years. Technology comes and goes, but the analog tools that I grew up with are still active in my creative arsenal. I have two toolboxes filled to the brim, yet most of the time I choose a pen and a scrap of paper.

Sometimes on a hot summer day even our tools are kissed by the sun. I took a moment out from painting to capture the beauty of this moment. A glimpse of time taken to appreciate the caustics, refractions, and especially the intentional design from the thickness of the bottle to the illuminated, radiant label.

Our tools assist us in illuminating our creations just as monks illuminated medieval manuscripts. Their own beauty on full display each time they’re sun-kissed as my bottle of “Dr. Ph. Martin’s 30C Pumpkin” awaits its ascension in providing richness to my next sheet of Arches cold-pressed 300-pound goodness. The caustics, glints, and glimmers of the bottle itself deserve their own credit. Not only the shape and thickness of the bottle, but also the design of the label allowing sunlight to illuminate through the lettering I find just lovely.

Further inspection of the bottle reveals additional intentional details worth noting. Notice the three graphic icons on the side. “Technical Pen, Brush, and Airbrush.” It’s crystal clear in such a classic, vintage manner. One bottle, multiple uses, and those were just three suggested use cases. We know the possibilities are endless. An Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat of sorts. Even colors not found in the visible spectrum on full display. Magenta streams of consciousness unabashed and fully aware of their limitless abilities of creation.

I’ve been using this particular watercolor since I was just a teenager 40 years ago. It’s still just as potent in purpose and saturation further supporting my creative expressions both commercially and personally. Every tool aids me in telling stories sometimes reimagining old ones from a new perspective. Some, like this bottle of radiant watercolor, still showing up in full vibrancy never fading into mediocrity that occurs in the daily digital realm. A reality. A history. Artistic ambition never replaced by the flavor of the week digital incarnation.

While embracing our childlike curiosities through artistic expression we understand we have no need to bow down to any sense of public opinion. Divinely appointed, we artists know full well our passion in pursuing truth over popularized false substance. We wield weapons of mass instruction awakening the minds of the many who choose the natural world to one augmented and empty. We breathe soulful expressions of clarity into existence far removed from blind prompts sporting the lowest common denominator.

Don’t settle for what someone else lacking in vision considers good enough. We know in our gut and our heart center that the joy we bring to the world is what makes dreams possible. Natural expressions that not only reflect and redefine reality but generate endless variations of our dreams freshly kindled around a collective campfire. We share our stories through patterns, riddles, puzzles, and prose. Looking back I feel as though my passion for art and design chose me rather than the other way around.

“Ode,” published in 1874 in Music and Moonlight

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

— Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy

A Mirrored String of Activated Intuition

In 2022 a monumental tome was printed in the rolling hills of Italy. Leonardo. The Complete Paintings and Drawings weighing in, once bound, revealed a mirrored string in notable Leonardo da Vinci fashion. 299.2 ounces. That number also holds another string. 9+2 & 9+2 reveals eleven-eleven, 11:11. That numerical duality refers to activated intuition, a heightened view of reality. Leonardo wielded it painting the very fabric of the universe through every intentional stroke of genius. While da Vinci did not finish many of his paintings, his notebooks are beyond measure. He was not only a master inventor, he understood the invisible connections that tie everything together. “Learn to see. Realize everything connects to everything else,” he once mused.

If you’re an artist, designer, curious child or lifelong tinkerer you know full well the significance of what that means in a spiritually cosmic sense. If not, do yourself a favor and check out Kaitlyn Kaerhart. She is a master of numerology, and a resource for understanding how numbers hold weight in our lives if we are willing to learn to see them. I’ve been fascinated with numbers, puzzles, riddles, and word jumbles since I was very young. I come from a long line of polymaths on both sides of my family. Biology professors, master gardeners, farmers, inventors, fine artists, crochet quilters, Scrabble wizards, Spades champions, chess masters, and code breakers. I grew up surrounded by mind benders met with mental maladies, true forces to be reckoned with.

I recently added this nearly twenty pound Leonardo da Vinci tome to my library. Paying nearly half price at $111 for this gently used Taschen XXL book I’m thrilled to have his works presented in such large scale format. I’ve never been much of a reader due to difficulty in keeping focus on the words since childhood. But pictures and experiences I have better than 20/20 vision holding them deeply within my mind able to recall them in full fashion at any moment. I hold picture books like this one as one of my most treasured possessions giving me the opportunity to pore over every intimate detail.

Leonardo. The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Hardcover, 11.4x15.6in., 18.06 lb, 712pages. ISBN 978-3-8365-8597-2. Edition: English.

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”
— Leonardo da Vinci

Ice Cold / Rust Never Sleeps

We never know what wisdom lies along our path. I came across this nearly hidden gem during an afternoon hike in Arches National Park. The irony of the heavily corroded, burnt orange sign itself, “Ice Cold,” and the hastily scribbled “rust never sleeps” from a random passerby quietly speaks a narrative nearly lost to time and decay.

Flat Mode macSOS

Updated post discussing the necessity for native and third party theming in macOS Tahoe, aka 26. “Liquid Glass,” while appearing as an exciting new visual overhaul, is not for everyone nor every app. Similar to “Apple Intelligence” we need the option to turn it off. I’d even settle for a slider to disable the refraction effect. It’s rather distracting during normal use. The more “Liquid Glass” demos I watch, the more I see the need for a Flat mode that’s the visual opposite of “Liquid Glass.”

We’ve experienced this conundrum before regarding glossy vs matte displays. I’ve always preferred a matte screen finish as far back as my 17-inch MacBook Pro. Reflective displays wreak havoc on our eyes. This eye strain is not a personal opinion, it’s a fact. Yet we as consumers are drawn to shiny things. That is the only reason why displays are usually glossy. Now imagine Liquid Glass on a reflective display. Doubling down on distractions might work in a demo, but not daily use.

Back in 2014 I released my theme “Post Pro 1.2” via Interacto’s Flavours theming app that enabled a true “dark mode” 4 years before Apple finally showed up with their official, native Dark Mode in macOS Mojave. The latest version of Dark Mode in macOS makes me smile as it’s quite similar to “Post Pro 1.2.” The screen grab below is from Sonoma, but it has not changed that I know of in macOS Sequoia.

Even back as far as System 9 we were all obsessed with theming our Macs. “BBX Mercury” was one the hottest themes by legendary designer Max Rudberg. System 9 also had a decent built-in theme engine with custom highlights, desktop pictures, and even sounds. We also customized the icons through downloading collections from IconFactory. If we could skin it, we did in order to personalize our macOS user experience.

While working for NBA TV Design at Turner Broadcasting in 2013 I started playing around with Flavours by Interacto. It was the most feature-rich theming engine I’d ever seen. I could customize nearly everything in the operating system. My goal was to design a theme geared to post production professionals who preferred a darker GUI as many came from a Discreet Flint/Flame/Inferno world, like myself, and knew how helpful it was to work within a GUI that isn’t bright white like Adobe After Effects, Commotion Pro, and even the early commercial version of Digital Domain’s Nuke.

For a brief period I was on the Nuke beta team to provide feedback. Most of my suggestions revolved around the GUI which was bright white with floating palettes. Take a look at any compositing setup these days. Everyone has gone dark, preferably charcoal. While on the Adobe After Effects beta team for quite some time I remember when we got them to add the first version of darkening the GUI with direct slide ability for the user to adjust for personal taste. That first incarnation’s darkest tones weren’t even half as dark as the AE GUI is today.

It’s been eleven years since I first released my free Flavours “Post Pro 1.2 theme.” It was bundled along with hundreds of other user themes in their final release of Flavours 2.0. Unfortunately Flavours only went as far as Mac OS X Mavericks. Moving past Mavericks Apple tightened up the core system files causing theming to be impossible. So, we waited, and waited, and eventually in 2018 Apple released Mojave with a true Dark Mode. Better late than never, I guess.

Celebrating the OG Ex-Disney Animator Rebel Don Bluth 🗡️ 🔥 🐉

PSA: when I posted this I was unaware of the overnight attacks. I want to be clear that me talking about any sort of war was not tied to any predictive or political stance I may have. My heart is with everyone now, regardless of their beliefs, cultures, pantheons, and anything else some choose to wield to divide us. We cannot be divided by any means. We are all in this together whether we want to admit that or not. As I’ve said before, self-serving dictators divide and conquer, and beloved leaders unite and unify.

This video follows the historical battle between the House of Mouse and Don Bluth, an ex-Disney animator who struck out on his own in 1979 after working for Disney since 1955. What a way to celebrate his 42nd birthday! He decided to go with his gut instincts and pave a path all his own. Bluth’s animation style was visceral, and he did not embrace Disney’s known methods in cutting corners in order to cut production costs. Bluth later went on to offer the first profit-sharing venture to his 160 animators who brought The Secret of NIMH to life.

Bluth is known as a true OG animation rebel, and in that vein he brought his spirit to his films and video games alike. His company, Don Bluth Entertainment, formerly Don Bluth Productions, was well-known and received accolades for his studio’s contributions to animated films. During the 1980s they battled it out with Disney with their cherished films The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Thumbelina, Anastasia, and Titan A.E. Bluth’s video games Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace rocked my world.

One of my fondest memories was in 1983 once I had mastered Dragon’s Lair. For just 50 cents I’d embark on a 30-minute adventure surrounded by twenty onlookers cheering me on at every move. Once I became a Dad my daughter and I played Dragon’s Lair on my iPhone 5S. That was my most celebrated playing the game watching the excitement build in her eyes as we chased down the game’s baddies and eventually arrived in the dragon’s lair, grabbing the magic sword, slaying Singe, and rescuing Princess Daphne.

Bounce Back

We are never too old, too late, and the clock is not ticking. Consider bouncing back as your second coming unless, like me, you’re on your third or thirteenth. Happy Friday 🔴 Thank you Michelle for giving me this book after my manic episode in the summer of 2017.

Up Yours!

Hey OpenAI and all of the other mindless clones, “in the words of my generation: up yours!”

Who’s Your Alter Ego?

I’ve been called by many names throughout my life. The bus bullies called me “Hulk.” Not only did I look just like Lou Ferrigno from the Hulk TV show, I also scowled a lot. I didn’t know it, but I was nearsighted. I’d squint all the time to sharpen my focus, and I looked “always angry.” Later I was tagged “Bubba” and “Hawkeye” in Savannah during my years at SCAD. My high school and college girlfriend dubbed me “Pookie,” and yes she and her roommates would throw twelve keg parties in their back yard, and every weekend I’d travel to Charleston and when I opened the back gate I’d be welcomed by the party crowd screaming “hey Pookie!” along with a beer funnel with my name on it.

When I left The Weather Channel for the final time they gave me a Superman poster covered in metallic ink of appreciation and affection. It hangs in my studio today always reminding me where my career not only started, but also that we’d built a solid, fourteen-year collaboration years later filled with more team awards and fond memories. My two favorite memories during my time at TWC were sneaking into Industrial Light and Magic’s original Kerner location, and enjoying steak dinners at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch in Carmel overlooking a picturesque prairie complete with herds of sheep.

When my daughter was nine she started calling me “Batman.” That one stuck, and I’ve stepped into quite a crusading life always looking out for the little guys, and crushing the oppressors. Yes, I do have quite the collection of bat toys. In the summer of 2017 I designed my own Batman logo in about half an hour. As a graphic designer I always wanted to design one that was built out of hidden typography spelling out the letters B-A-T-M-A-N. Here it is below. See if you can figure it out. I included the answer key graphic below it.