SEASON'S GREETINGS

Season's Greetings, from our house to yours!

Bron Smith

THE PRINCE OF KHUTAR: New Twitter Page Header Art

The morning sun burst over the eastern horizon in the faraway kingdom of Butana. The sun’s rays spread their warm glow over the verdant peaks that surrounded Nalang Castle.  Young Prince Ravi clung tightly to the reins of his faithful Ptero bird, Madur. He loved the morning flights over the lofty peaks with his beloved Ptero. They glided swiftly over the flocks of sheep, small round huts, and high mountain meadows. A grand adventure awaited beyond the distant peaks.

This painting was first layed out in pencil, then inked with a number one Micron Pigma pen. It was colored with a Wacom Cintiq in Photoshop.

I didn't exaggerate the pterodactyl's features like the character designers did in Disney-Pixar's Good Dinosaur. I drew him without exaggeration from archaeological records. All it took was the eyes and a faint smile to anthropomorphize him and make it appear that he and his master, young Ravi, were the best of friends.

To see the header art on my Twitter page: www.twitter.com/Bron_Smith_Art

To see my brand new art for my Health Capsules Twitter page: www.twitter.com/BronSmith1

Sleepy Hollow End Paper Illustration

This is my illustration for the end paper of the new spooky book series, Harry Moon, based on the Harry Potter books. The stories are set in the village of Sleepy Hollow. The 16-book juvenile fiction series is produced by noted film producer David Kirkpatrick (Forrest Gump, Star Wars, Top Gun) former head of Paramount Pictures, Disney Pictures. This end paper art will run through the entire series, which will span four years, with a new title coming out every three months. This project should keep me busy for quite some time, since I will also be producing artwork for the interior of the book as well.

From my sketchbook: Kublai Khan, from the Netflix Mini-Series, Marco Polo

Did you see the Netflix mini-series, Marco Polo?  I enjoy sketching characters from costume dramas with elaborate, ornate costumes. Kublai Khan, played by Benedict Wong, was such a character. His costume was among the most complex and detailed that I have seen in any film. Unfortunately, 72 dots per inch doesn't translate well onto the screen. Much of the detail is lost. But Wong's character was fun to sketch.

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles?  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I wish you a most joyous Christmas, and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!

Not Your Average Millionaire: The Hit and Miss Career of James Altucher

The career of media mogul James Altucher could be likened to a 20-year roller coaster ride, or a sprint through a minefield.  Few have experienced a career as erratic, and with as many highs and lows as that of Altucher. Despite his many setbacks, he has been a pace setter in the fields of finance, corporate ownership, management, writing, blogging and podcasting.

After studies at Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University, Altucher did a three year stint at HBO, working in their IT department as an online producer. His first broadcast experience found him roaming the streets of New York at night as an HBO reporter, interviewing New Yorkers.

Altucher claims to have failed at 17 of the 20 companies that he has either founded or co-founded during his mostly chaotic career.  As he said on his podcast just today, “You gotta keep movin’”. And move he does. He founded Reset, a web design company, in 1996, then sold it five years later for around $10 million.  Within two years he had lost it all in failed business ventures.

Fast forward ten years. In 2006 he founded StockPickr, then turned around and sold the company for $10 million.

In the early years of Altucher’s career, TV stock market pitchman Jim Cramer hired him to write articles about stocks. That led him into increased involvement in the financial markets. From 2002 to 2005 he traded hedge funds. He then founded Formula Capital, an asset management firm, where he currently acts as managing director. He is also an angel investor in the fields of technology, biotech and energy.

Somehow Altucher has found time to write eleven books and countless magazine, newspaper, and blog articles. He began writing for the Wall Street Journal in 2009 and continues to the present day. In addition, he is a columnist for Financial Times, TheStreet.com, and The Huffington Post, as well as a frequent guest on CNBC and many other television programs.

Not one to slow down and take a breath, Altucher launched a blog, Altucher Confidential, in 2010. It racked up over five million page views within the first year. Next came his podcast, The James Altucher Show, launched in January of 2014. In his first months online with his podcast he has compiled an impressive lineup of high-profile guests, including Mark Cuban, Dr. Wayne Dyer.

His newest book, as of summer, 2014, is The Power of No.

James Altucher’s books: The Power of No (Hay House), Choose Yourself (LionCrest), I Was Blind But Now I See (CreateSpace), FAQ Me (CreateSpace), Altucher Confidential: Ideas For a World Out of Balance (Round Table), How to Be the Luckiest Person Alive (CreateSpace), SuperCash (Wiley and Sons), 40 Alternatives to College (CreateSpace), The Forever Portfolio (Penguin), Trade Like a Hedge Fund (Wiley), Trade Like Warren Buffet (Wiley and Sons). 

Creating a Paradise Travel Map - Finished Art

This is the final installment in my Tristan da Cunha Paradise Travel Map series.

It may not be immediately evident by looking at it, but I spent a lot of late night and early morning hours working on this map...three months and 65 hours, to be exact. I started on it on March 23rd and finished on June 23rd. I must be a glutton for punishment to work on these travel maps in my off-hours since it's how I spend most of my on duty time, working on cartoon map projects. (www.funmapsusa.net)

All of the text and header lettering were done by hand. Having taught myself to hand-letter in eighth grade has served me very well over the years. I drew the map on paper with Micron pens, then scanned it into Photoshop and colored in with a Wacom Cintiq. Prior to beginning the artwork, I spent many hours researching the island so that I could intelligently portray it graphically.

If you haven't been following my articles, some time ago I discovered a far-flung, remote, populated island in the South Atlantic. It was Tristan da Cunha. I found it to be such a fascinating locale that I was inspired to create a map of the island to add to my Paradise Travel Map collection.

One of the first things that I want to do with the map is to send it as an attachment to the editor of the Tristan da Cunha newsletter, plus some other prominent Tristan islanders. That should come as a huge surprise to them since Tristan is rarely if ever mapped at all because of it's remoteness. I have yet to see a single map of the sole settlement on the island, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. My Edinburgh of the Seven Seas inset map may be the only such map in existence.  

I might point out that the map was created in CMYK so the colors are very gaudy onscreen. I wish there was some way that this problem could be corrected.

If you have any ideas for a Paradise Travel Map, I welcome your suggestions.