Bluecanvas.com is an international, multi-genre, online community of artists and art lovers. Bluecanvas magazine is a quarterly publication that features artists from its online community. We hope everyone will be able to find inspiration that reaches across genres, and hope that Bluecanvas can provide the right tools for our users to inspire everyone, artists and non-artists alike.

– Bluecanvas Staff

There are a lot of magazines and online communities that we come across at Simian Ink, but there are only a few on our subscription list. Bluecanvas is one of them. The Bluecanvas community is a really a wonderful place to get inspired and don’t worry, there are a lot of artists to familiarize yourself with.

Sometimes when we need to be inspired or motivated, all we have to do is visit the Bluecanvas website or pickup the Bluecanvas magazine. Problem solved!

Many thanks to the Bluecanvas staff for putting together such a wonderful magazine.

If you’ve read Arty’s latest blog you would know why we’re so excited about this article.

Last year, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles opened it’s new 14,000 square foot Dinosaur Hall. It’s a must see for any fan of dinosaurs and natural history. Our monkeys are so in love with the new Dino Hall that they’ve taken permanent stay at the museum. Be on the lookout, they’ll steal your food.

Description from Natural History Museum website:

The all-new, 14,000-square-foot Dinosaur Hall is twice the size of the Museum’s old dinosaur galleries. It will rival the world’s leading dinosaur halls for the number of individual fossils displayed, the size and spectacular character of the major mounts, including the world’s only Tyrannosaurus rex growth series, and the way that paleontology comes alive! In these spacious, light-filled galleries, visitors will encounter science not as static information but as a vibrant, ongoing investigation into mysteries — some resolved and some still being explored.

What: Dino Hall
Where: Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, CA
When: 2011 – Indefinitely
Link: www.nhm.org

In 1912, over 3,000 cherry trees were bestowed upon Washington, D.C., by Tokyo in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan. The trees were planted along the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park, where they continue to be admired every spring during cherry–blossom season. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of this diplomatic gift, the Norton Simon Museum presents Lessons of the Cherry Blossom: Japanese Woodblock Prints. The exhibition features 16 prints from the Museum’s permanent collection, several of which have not been on view before, including three rare sets of uncut double prints by Utagawa Hiroshige and works by Totoya Hokkei and Chōbunsai Eishi. Two prints from Katsushika Hokusai’s Rare Views of Famous Bridges series, which have been in storage for over 30 years, are also being exhibited.

What: Lessons of the Cherry Blossom: Japanese Woodblock Prints
Where: Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA
When: April 20, 2012 – September 03, 2012
Link: www.nortonsimon.org

Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Noto Province, Waterfall Bay, from the Famous Views of the (Sixty-odd) Provinces series, 1856

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.

It’s fair to say that those famous Disney lyrics sum up the life of a pirate pretty darn well. However, if you’re a pirate fanatic then you might want to read a book titled Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly.

This rollicking account of the golden age of piracy is packed with vivid history and high seas adventure. David Cordingly, an acclaimed expert on pirates, reveals the spellbinding truth behind the legends of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Sir Francis Drake, the fierce female brigands Mary Read and Anne Bonny, and others who rode and robbed upon the world’s most dangerous waters. Here, in thrilling detail, are the weapons they used, the ships they sailed, and the ways they fought – and were defeated. Under the Black Flag also charts the paths of fictional pirates such as Captain Hook and Long John Silver. The definitive resource on the subject, this book is as captivating as it is supremely entertaining.

If the summary above doesn’t make you want to read this wonderful book, then the description of Blackbeard will. Below is an excerpt from the book:

Captain Teach assumed the cognomen of Black-beard, from that large quantity of hair, which like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face, and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time.
He wore a sling over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols, hanging in holsters like bandoliers; and stuck lighted matches under his hat, which appearing on each side of his face, his eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a figure, that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury, from Hell, to look more frightful.

It’s safe to say that this is one of Simian Ink’s favorite books. A book so awesome that our monkeys often sword fight to see who gets to read it. Arghhh, loser jumps off the plank into Davy Jones Locker.

Now if we could only get Blackbeard to sign our copy!

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Barnes & Noble

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All hope abandon, ye who enter here.

It doesn’t get creepier than that. Well, what do you expect from a book about hell, and not just any hell, but medieval “dark ages” hell. This is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is the journey of Dante through the nine stages of hell located within Earth.

Now that we’ve given you a brief explanation of what the book is about, we can tell you why we love it so much. Apart from the haunting poems, this book is full of beautiful etchings by master artist Gustave Doré. His concepts of the underworld are bone-chilling and incredible. His knowledge of light and shadow, and anatomy are inspiring. Images of otherworldly creatures and landscapes fill the pages of this book and make each page a piece of artwork. The size of this book (11″ x 15 1/2″) really makes the wood etchings come to life. Doré’s attention to detail is beautiful and brilliant, to say the least.

Scary Thought Alert: Wonder what his deadline was?

Our edition has seen better days since it was published in 1866, but it’s a beautiful book and we’re very lucky to have it in our collection.

Thank you for you brilliance Gustave Doré, you make these monkeys very proud to be artists.

Biography: Gustave Doré

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While we were attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, we had the privilege of having Tom Knechtel as our instructor. Tom was as awesome as a instructor as he is a friend. He is a selfless and caring individual as well as an amazing artist.

And we are super excited to inform everyone that this amazing artist is having a solo exhibition at the Marc Selwyn Fine Art Gallery. The opening reception is on Saturday, December 10th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm. The exhibition will run until January 28, 2012.

The Simian Ink apes will definitely be there and we hope that you can make it too. It’s sure to be an inspirational and creative experience for everyone.

Btw, when Saturday rolls around and you don’t have any plans, you’re just sitting around being lazy, and you still don’t make it to the show, well, then you’re just an ass – that’s right, we said it.

What: Tom Knechtel Art Exhibition
Where: Marc Selwyn Fine Art Gallery, Los Angeles
When: December 10, 2011 – January 28, 2012
Link: www.marcselwynfineart.com

The Walled City – oil on linen

We here at Simian Ink use a lot of different tools. From computers to cameras to pens and pencils, and basically anything we can get our hands on. But one of our favorite tools is the pilot pen that you might have seen in our film Chaos Theory. It’s really the star of the show. We love these pens and take them everywhere with us. Just so you know, we’re not sponsored by Pilot, we just love these pens a lot.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that we love detail. This pen was created with detail in mind. It allows us to control our lines the way we want and it’s just so crisp and clean. Use it for your drawings, sketchbook, writing, and whatever you can think of. We even used it to etch on wood, worked awesome.

Just know that some of them don’t work properly, so test it on a piece of paper before purchasing one.

Try it out and let us know what you think.

Sold at:
Amazon
Swain’s Art Store

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For everyone who doesn’t know yet, there is a great show of post-World War II Los Angeles art at the Getty Center.
The show is titled Pacific Standard Time and is going on until May 6, 2012. For lovers of modernism, this is a show you can’t miss.
This is the type of work that everyone should see and is guaranteed to inspire you. Go see it and enjoy your time.

What: Pacific Standard Time Art Exhibition
Where: J. Paul Getty Museum, Exhibitions Pavilion
When: October 1, 2011 – May 6, 2012
Link: www.getty.edu