Light & Shadow: The Art of Matt Faulkner

We're Big.

2011-12-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

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‎"Let Love be our Fuel, Fun our Method and Joy our Profit and Product!"

Felonious Quirke, CEO the Really Big Industrial Conglomerate

2011-10-27T10:38:00.001-07:00

I'm here. Are you there?

I made a friend named Lily last Thursday.

2011-03-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

Just so you know- that's not her real name. It's the only part of my little story that's made-up. Promise. The rest is true.
I was in an elementary school on Thursday. They'd hired me to talk with the students about my books. During my presentation of "A Taste of Colored Water" I saw lots of kids eyes bulge and mouths drop open when I assured them that people were treated terribly simply because they're skin was darker than mine. What I didn't see was little Lily's reaction to me showing my report card from 6th grade.

In 6th grade I got a C+ in Language (Language-that's reading, writing and grammar in early 1970's education speak). During my presentation I point out that C+ to the kids and also the fact that I only got a Satisfactory in Art that year. I also received some very unkind remarks about my weisenheimer behavior in class which I won't talk about here. Anyway, Lily's teacher came up to me after my presentation while I was signing books and told me that Lily became very excited to see that I had done poorly in school.

After my presentation Lily ran over to her teacher and very excitedly said "Did you see?! That guy wasn't so smart when he was a kid and now he's making books! Maybe I'll be ok too!". Lily is in the 4th grade. Her teacher let me know that she has learning disabilities. In short- she's ten years old and she can't read. And, according to her teacher, she's very prideful and stubborn. Has difficulty working with teacher's and other kids. Life is pretty difficult for her.

I offered to have a talk with Lily. Her teacher liked the idea. We headed to the cafeteria where the 4th graders were chowing down. Her teacher told me not to be bothered if Lily acts rudely when we meet. She's shy and puts up barriers. I said "No worries, I do the same thing." We approached a table with one little girl sitting by herself. Her back was to us. She was small for a 10 year old. She turned as her teacher called her name. Big, big brown eyes. Long hair. Frightened face. "No!" I heard her say.

Lily's teacher sat with her for a moment. Lily kept her back to me. Her teacher rose and told me that Lily didn't want to talk. I said "Cool. But could you tell her something for me?" Lily was still close enough to hear me. Her teacher said "You bet." "Please tell Lily that I was the last kid in first grade to memorize the alphabet. Kids made fun of me. I had lot's of trouble with spelling and making sentences. But my 3rd grade teacher helped me a lot. Teachers can be a lot of help. I wish her well and I hope she keeps on trying." Lily grabbed her lunch and ran away. Her teacher patted my arm and said "Don't worry. She does that now and then. The message got through."

God bless all the Lily's and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the great teachers.

Onward!

2011-02-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

Ok peeps. The finished sketches for Gaijin are complete.

On to the color.

So much painting. So little time.

Onward, painter dude Matt. Bravely onward!

Broadcasting From Pirate Signal Santa!

2010-11-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

Wat up my peeps. Let's stay frosty cause the street lights just came on and the Zombies are loose!

No More Wild Things?

2010-11-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Wild tigers could become extinct in 12 years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action to protect their habitats, according to the Associated Press. Hmmm, I wonder if there's something we can do about this?

2010-08-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

My former AAU grad student- Ye Won Lee- just received the Honor Award for her portfolio at the National SCBWI Conf. in L.A.! Her work is exceptional and deserves lot's of praise!

Yay Ye Won!

2010-03-15T23:48:00.001-07:00

Howdy.

I hope you kids are playing nice in there.

xox,

Uncle Matt

2010-02-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, I go outside for a run and see that some selfish ingrate has tossed a big bunch of perfectly good grapefruit onto the street and sidewalk! This pisses me off! I'm so angry. People are starving all over the world, dammit! Feeling really good about being angry! Then I realize that I'm in California and these are fruit from my neighbors tree. Oh. Never mind.

2010-01-03T19:40:00.001-08:00

One doesn't become enlightened by imagining figures of light but by making the darkness conscious. The latter is disagreeable and therefor unpopular.

Carl Jung

2009-12-17T23:33:00.000-08:00

Last class with my Fall 2009 AAU kid's book Overgrad students today! Very proud of them and their work! Yay AAU/San Francisco Overgrads!

A different kind of illegal Alien.

2009-12-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

Last session with my AAU/San Francisco undergrad Kid's Book group Fall 2009. Gonna miss 'em. Fine group of artists. Little worried that I've shared too much with them. New, excellent talent on the market is not what I need. Think I'll advise them to take up dentistry. Teehee.

Here's a character design which I just posted for sale on Etsy.

Hope you dig it.

Just booted a neocon "friend of a friend" from my FB page. Been politely listening to him for months and just couldn't stand his wacky "It's Us or Them" mumbo jumbo anymore. Gotta be careful who I friend on Facebook.

O, I've also heard that there's been sightings of Santa's Elves. Keep yer eyes peeled. They're everywhere!

2009-12-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Newsflash- It's Late December, 1941. FBI agents raid homes of U.S. citizens of Japanese/American descent in San Francisco Bay Area- removing radios, cameras, all material of Japanese nationalist content such as flags, photos of Mt. Fuji, postcards and wedding picture albums, and any item that could be used as a weapon-ceremonial swords, letter openers and little-league baseball bats. Could this ever happen again?

I'm going to keep posting just because.

2009-12-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Dearest Blog Comrades-

Someday, somebody is going to pay attention to this. I know it! So it is for you, future blog reader, that I continue to persevere!

Onward Blog Soldiers, marching as to War!

more xox,

Uncle Mattski

2009-12-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Howdy Comrades-

Very sad 'cause Kris just left this a.m. and now I'm waiting for her flight to land.

Working on new graphic novel- Japanese American Internment.

Lot's of pages to sketch out. The thumbnail stage always freaks me out.

Back to work.

xox,

Uncle Matt

A very, very cool poem by William Stafford.

2009-10-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

What Happens When You Get Lost

By William Stafford

Out in the mountains nobody gives you anything.

And you learn what the rules were after the game is over.

By then it is already night and it doesn’t make any difference

What anyone else is thinking or doing because now you have to

Turn into an Indian.

You remember stories and now you know that the tellers were

Part of all they told.

And everyone else was, and even you.

They’re all around you now, but if you’re afraid you will never find them.

And those questions that people always ask-

“What would you do if…”

They have their own answer right now- nothing.

Some things cannot be redeemed in a hurry no matter what the intentions are.

What could be done had to have been done a long time ago.

Because mistakes have consequences that do not just disappear.

If evil could be canceled easily it would not be very evil.

And so, the stars see you.

While you drift away they have their own courses and they watch you.

And listen, they already know your name.

2009-10-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Doing some sketches of good ol' Abe. Wow, he had some scary eye brows!

2009-10-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

Electronics are the future. No questions about it now. So glad I have a big library, though. Not overly happy when I've moved and had to carry all the boxes of books. But I'm still happy to be surrounded by my books. Below is a link to an image- a flexible screen. Bendable, foldable, touch sensitive. Soon to be capable of retaining the tactile quality of paper and cloth. The gap between the "book reading" experience and the "electronic book" reading experience is shrinking very, very quickly. Any question that this will make the printing of books less profitable? And sooner rather than later- obsolete? As a lover of trees, this makes me very happy! But as a lover of books- I am a little sad. And as a writer/illustrator- I'm kinda scared! Have no fear, all you illustrators and writers- regardless of the venue- the world NEEDS story makers (that would be us)! http://thehottestgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/display.jpg

2009-09-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

When the concerned parents came to the PTO meeting to complain about the new "illegal alien" child who'd invaded the 3rd grade- they found that "Eliot" didn't exactly look as they had imagined he would. Some were pleasantly surprised to find that Eliot spoke excellent English. Better, even, than most of the parents- with just a little bit of an "off-planet" twang. But most felt justified in their original sense of outrage! The "drool" thing was still an issue. They lodged an official complaint and left feeling satisfied that they'd done their civic duty. God Bless America. These colors don't run. Amen.

2009-09-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Teddy Roosevelt

2009-09-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. D., had an anatomy such that she could correct and grade our homework directly on her upper, front parts. Very impressive. And frightening- she cast a very big shadow. I remember one kid actually got a concussion from that shadow.

2009-09-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

"The Wise Men" 1997, watercolor and goauche on 140 lb. Arches cold press.

This piece is now hanging in the Mazza Gallery at the University of Findlay in Ohio. The piece is my way of celebrating the Elders- our wise old folks and ancestors- the ones who recognize the potent power of positive thinking, prayer and a kind word. Long Live the Elders!

2009-09-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Some times I get a little angry over something silly and then I realize I haven't eaten anything in a while.

2009-09-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

Got Peas? This is a sketch of a monster for the Danny Schnitzlein book "The Monster Who Ate My Peas!". We went in a different direction but I like this guy. My son Gabe thinks it's a self portrait. Thank you Gabe!

Buh Bye Books...

2009-09-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Former head librarian of Kingswood/Cranbrook and good friend Noni St. Amand just forwarded this Boston Globe link to me. Read on and quake with fear all ye book lovers-

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/a_library_without_the_books/?wtf

Good bye books. Kinda scary. Are we on the quick slide to "Idiocracy" or is this just a natural movement towards the digitization of all info?
I'm heading down to my local used book store and start buying cart loads. And all my National Geographcs (own every issue from 1942 till 2000) that I use for reference but have been tired of dragging around for the past 15 years and thought about putting out on the curb- their value just leaped up ten fold. I don't care how heavy they are. The article above just proves to me that my fears for the passing of printed material into the "quaint but out-moded" venue is not without a basis in fact. The knuckle head dean of that prep school may have saved some space and some money in the short term for the school's trustees but he has just bankrupted the schools value as a source of all forms of learning. They'll regret this in the near future. My NatGeos and all my books (and I have many) aren't just worth their weight in gold. They are gold.

2009-09-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

Pablo Picasso

Long Live the "Independent Dames"!

2009-09-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

"Independent Dames"! Ever Heard of Sybil Ludington? Sarah Fulton? Kate Barry? No? But we all know Paul Revere and Patrick Henry. These women did as much and more than any man to aid in the fight for American Independence.

Sybil Ludington? On the night of April 26, 1777, her family received word that British troops had begun burning Danbury, Connecticut. A messenger arrived at Col. H. Ludington's home, begging for relief. The Colonel sent his 16 year old daughter, Sybil, on a mission to "raise the militia"! She rode through the night- over 40 miles (more than twice Mr. Revere's ride)- and raised an army of 400!

Sarah Fulton? "Mother of the Boston Tea Party", she helped organize and disguise her husband, brother and the "Sons of Liberty" in their protest raid on British shipping in 1773. She took care of wounded soldiers brought down from the Battle of Breed's (Bunker) Hill and snuck messages to Gen. Washington through British lines during the siege of Boston.

Kate Barry? A spy and scout for American troops in South Carolina. Prior to the "Battle of the Cowpens", a major Colonial victory, Kate gathered and led a large number of militia rifleman to bolster the forces under American commander, Daniel Morgan.

Long Live the "Independent Dames"!

Blog Irritation

2009-09-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is frustrating. I just wanna put some images on this thing. Grrrr.....

I need help. Calgon! Take me away!

2009-09-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

2009-09-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

Howdy Folks,

This is my first ever post on my blog.

Got my knickers in a twist I'm so excited.

Right now I'm working on my new graphic novel rant - "The Box or How I Became a World Famous Illustrator!". A kid's book manuscript which is just now going out through my agent to editors! Woohoo!

I've attached a sketch from the story.

Also setting up my back room for my oil painting. Haven't had an oil painting studio since I left with my son, Gabe, from the Fourth Street Studio in Berkeley. About time. Oils can give me a headache but, good Gawd, I love pushing that stuff around on a canvas. Or a board. So nice!

O and I want to say "Thanks" to my Academy of Art University student, Nathan Gilmer, for taking the time to set this baby up for me! You da man, Nate.

You can see his work at his site-

http://n8s-sfs.blogspot.com/

The dude's got skills!

I'll be back soon!

Cheers,

Matt

2009-08-20T15:14:00.001-07:00