Surf’s Up Dept.

Our usual sm??rg?¬£sbord of cartoon, caricature and MAD related website, links, news articles and announcements… or whatever else strikes us as worthy or ridicule.

Little Orphan Party Dept.-

For those in the Atlanta area there will be an event to oppose the dreaded “Orphan Works Act” tonight at the Lynne Farris Gallery in Atlanta, GA starting at 7:30 pm. See details in quoted area below.

IN OTHER NEWS- Orphan Works advocates are supposedly planning their own party to promote the act. If you should attend this “Orphan Works Promotional Party”, be aware that you should at no time leave your drink or open beer on any table unwatched, as if anyone comes by and is unable to discover who’s beer or drink it is after a “reasonably diligent search”, they are free to take and consume it themselves.

On the plus side, if you don’t mind a little possible backwash contamination, you can likely get hammered for free at that event, date TBD.

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

In Atlanta this weekend!:
An Orphan Works Opposition Party
Saturday, July 12, 7:30 PM
Lynne Farris Gallery
50 Hurt Plaza Southeast
Atlanta, GA 30303

404 202-5654
Admission Free/Open to the Public

The event is open to the general public as well as visual artists, musicians, writers and independent filmmakers. Learn about the danger to copyright posed by the pending Orphan Works bill. Ask questions about the legislation and how it will affect you. Find out what you can do to help. Decorate a postcard and send it to your elected officials to let them know that you oppose this bill. Blank pre-stamped postcards will be available at the party, along with the addresses of your elected officials. A $1 or $2 donation at the door will be appreciated to help defray postage.

This party is being organized by art licensing community members Joanne Fink, Brenda Pinnick and Kathy Fincher, and hosted by Lynne Farris of the Lynne Farris Gallery. Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner of the Illustrator’s Partnership will participate via speaker-phone. For more information about the orphan works legislation and opposition effort, please visit our website: www.owoh.org

KKKomics Dept.?-

That tireless fighter for the rights of the people, Wal-Mart, recently pulled a Mexican comic book it had been carrying that featured a black character called Memin Pinguin after a single shopper decided she considered it racist.

Wal-Mart shopper Shawnedria McGinty picked up the comic at a Houston, Texas Wal-Mart and complained to Wal-Mart that the cartoon characters depicted within where racially insensitive and insulting.

“I was like, OK, is that a monkey or a boy?” McGinty said. “To me it was an insult.”

McGinty and local Houston community activists called for the removal of the comic from Wal-Mart shelves, which, of course, Wal-Mart promptly did. A store spokesperson said they had received no other complaints about Memin… but discontinued carrying the book anyway.

Never mind that, according to Hispanic customers and spokespeople, the character is loved and respected, and the stories contain messages of “honesty, justice and tolerance”. Goodness knows we don’t want impressionable young people reading that kind of drivel.

In all fairness, the character does go over the top in caricaturing black racial stereotyped features.

A Nose by any Other Name Dept.-

The National Caricaturist Network, an international organization of professional caricaturists, has announced it’s speaker lineup and other details for their 17th annual convention and competition to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 3rd-7th, 2008.

The speakers include main guest speaker Ismael Roldan, and NYC based caricature illustrator who’s work has been seen in the likes of Time, Money, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, among others.

Other speakers will conduct seminars and workshops throughout the week, and include the following:

• Jan Op de Beeck– “Draw Along with Jan”
• Stephen Silver– “Drawing from “LIFE””
• Tom Richmond (hey… that’s me!)- “Caricatures in Humorous Illustration”
• Court Jones– “Digital Painting Workshop”
• Jason Seiler– “Caricature 101”
• Joe Bluhm– “Advanced Caricature for the Live Artist”
• Meaghan Kent- “Legal Matters for the Artist”

That’s quite an all-star lineup, with no less than four previous “Caricaturist of the Year” winners doing seminar/workshops.

The event will be held at the Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh. You have to be an NCN member or associate member or a guest of a member to attend. See the NCN website for more details.

My seminar will discuss how caricature is used in today’s illustration market, how to market yourself and your work and other considerations of freelane illustration as it pertains to caricatures… which will take about 10 minutes so if you come please have a lot of questions ready!