Welcome to your English 100 Honors class blog! This is where you will share ideas, ask questions, do reading reflections, and download files from me. Looking forward to a great semester with you!
On October 17th, 2009, Jacob Baskin and I drove to Al Hambra at 6 oclock p.m. to see renouned artist James Jean do a signing for his new book at an art/comic gallery called Nucleus. The admission was free, but I bought his book so that I can get it signed, and it cost roughly $30. James Jean is not only a famous artist, but he is an award winning comic artist. He was a cover artist for DC Comics and he won the coveted Eisner Award for “Best Cover Artist.”
The event was held to honor James’ new book, called “Process Recess 3.” It is a collection of Jeans’ sketeches that he has done over the past few months. On display were James other comic-style works as well. This is one of James more well known covers from a comic book series he illustrated for called “Fables,” which was on display at the book signing.
The signing was a very intimate setting, no more than maybe 40 people at the time when we had gotten there, but it allowed for the viewers to ask Mr. Jean questions when they went up to sign their books. When Jacob and I had gone up there, we decided to ask him what his opinion on comic books as respectable literature, and he said he believed they are just as good, and if not they are better than most written pieces of literature because it allows for the reader to put an image on the text he is reading. I thought this information would be valuable because it came from someone who has a lot of experience and knowledge in the comic world. I told James that we were in an honors english class that is studying comic books and he said that it is really awesome to see english classes taking comics and graphic novels seriously.
Going to an event like this one really showed me the other side to comics, and how there are a large group of people that believe comics belong in the same category as any other type of book. I saw mounds of graphic novels, anime, and many other different genres of comics and when I picked them up I saw that they had great stories that rivaled books I had read in high school. This experience made me understand that there is a movement of people that really are pushing comics to be seen as a respectable piece of not only art, but literature.
Alex and I went to a James Jean comics book signing for extra credit. James Jean is an artist who is most well-known for his unique artistry. However, he also does comic books where he incorporates his art into the illustrations of the comic. The new book in which he was signing was not a comic book, but they had many of his comic books on display. Alex was willing to pay the steep price of 30 dollars for the sketch book titled “Process Recess 3.” By looking at the book, I was able to see how he could be a good comic book artist. His drawings were quite realistic. However, when looking at some of his comic books on display, some of his drawings were even more abstracted, leaving room for closure. The literary content in his works was rather simple, focusing more on the artistic aspect of comics, such as his comic series "Fables."
The art displayed at the Nucleus was very similar to James Jean's. It was around Halloween time so a lot of it was very creepy, but very interesting. James Jean is definitely more of an artist than comic book enthusiast, yet he still incorporates comic techniques in his work. I believe he writes the comic portions of his work to help regular people appreciate his art because his art is so strange and mysterious.
This convention really opened my eyes to the growing world of comics. Comics are becoming increasingly popular in pop culture. I imagine there will be more famous artists like Jean in the near future.
On October 17th, 2009, Jacob Baskin and I drove to Al Hambra at 6 oclock p.m. to see renouned artist James Jean do a signing for his new book at an art/comic gallery called Nucleus. The admission was free, but I bought his book so that I can get it signed, and it cost roughly $30. James Jean is not only a famous artist, but he is an award winning comic artist. He was a cover artist for DC Comics and he won the coveted Eisner Award for “Best Cover Artist.”
ReplyDeleteThe event was held to honor James’ new book, called “Process Recess 3.” It is a collection of Jeans’ sketeches that he has done over the past few months. On display were James other comic-style works as well. This is one of James more well known covers from a comic book series he illustrated for called “Fables,” which was on display at the book signing.
The signing was a very intimate setting, no more than maybe 40 people at the time when we had gotten there, but it allowed for the viewers to ask Mr. Jean questions when they went up to sign their books. When Jacob and I had gone up there, we decided to ask him what his opinion on comic books as respectable literature, and he said he believed they are just as good, and if not they are better than most written pieces of literature because it allows for the reader to put an image on the text he is reading. I thought this information would be valuable because it came from someone who has a lot of experience and knowledge in the comic world. I told James that we were in an honors english class that is studying comic books and he said that it is really awesome to see english classes taking comics and graphic novels seriously.
Going to an event like this one really showed me the other side to comics, and how there are a large group of people that believe comics belong in the same category as any other type of book. I saw mounds of graphic novels, anime, and many other different genres of comics and when I picked them up I saw that they had great stories that rivaled books I had read in high school. This experience made me understand that there is a movement of people that really are pushing comics to be seen as a respectable piece of not only art, but literature.
Alex and I went to a James Jean comics book signing for extra credit. James Jean is an artist who is most well-known for his unique artistry. However, he also does comic books where he incorporates his art into the illustrations of the comic. The new book in which he was signing was not a comic book, but they had many of his comic books on display. Alex was willing to pay the steep price of 30 dollars for the sketch book titled “Process Recess 3.” By looking at the book, I was able to see how he could be a good comic book artist. His drawings were quite realistic. However, when looking at some of his comic books on display, some of his drawings were even more abstracted, leaving room for closure. The literary content in his works was rather simple, focusing more on the artistic aspect of comics, such as his comic series "Fables."
ReplyDeleteThe art displayed at the Nucleus was very similar to James Jean's. It was around Halloween time so a lot of it was very creepy, but very interesting. James Jean is definitely more of an artist than comic book enthusiast, yet he still incorporates comic techniques in his work. I believe he writes the comic portions of his work to help regular people appreciate his art because his art is so strange and mysterious.
This convention really opened my eyes to the growing world of comics. Comics are becoming increasingly popular in pop culture. I imagine there will be more famous artists like Jean in the near future.