Stuart and I don't just love books.... we also love koi and koi ponds....
A neighbor near us spent about a year constructing and establishing a koi poi in his front yard.....there's a koi pond at the Japanese garden near the Torrance main library... and when we travel we love to visit koi ponds. They are such a relaxing, inspiring place to be....Here's one of our favorites...
It's known as "the Lagoon" on the beautiful grounds of the Dreamworks Animation studios...
Where we joined the artists attending and exhibiting at the 4th Annual Dream-Con, organized by the lovely and gracious Angela L and her team at Dreamworks Artistic Development.
Here's the outdoor patio area where the exhibitors were set-up....
Dream-Con is a private convention where Dreamworks Animation artists can display some of their personal artwork and projects. There is original art.... merchandise.. photography.. prints.. even puppets.. all on view! Our pal Donnachada Daly (his sketchbook "Crush" is still one of my all-time favorites) was there with his newest book: 3-D Doodle Pad. You can see more of his work on his very inspiring blog http://www.thedalyblog.com/ And check out his list of links. If you look at a few every day, it would be like taking a workshop or seminar. Once again... another accomplished artist who is drawing everyday & looking at all sorts of sources... see a pattern? :)
Nicolas Weis' table featured charming originals of dragons. He also had on his table a sample working sketchbook of his that was "free to browse." OMG it was something to see the calibre of work on every page. Breathtaking! A working sketchbook like this is typical of all the great artists. They get really great because they carry these sketchbooks around with them and fill page after page with spontaneous sketches.....but wow......Nicolas's drawings were really amazing! Here's link for his website (http://www.nicolasweis.com/). He works a lot in ink made from walnuts (already sounds magical, doesn't it?). The medium is unforgiving, but he is willing to take the risk. As a result, his art expresses a depth of beauty that comes from embracing a process that can't be controlled. Kismet happens when ink meets water. Instead of fighting it, Nicolas channels it as a creative partner. Just take a look at the crab image on his website :)
A film crew was at Dream con and stopped to talk w/ Nicolas. His work is also featured in the "Moonshine" book... and you can see him in the 5-minute Dreamworks documentary (see next post).
Dream-con's hours were from 3-6 PM... so as the working day wound down, the crowds grew. It was fun to hear the artists chatting about their personal work with their colleagues...
The large color photographs by Joshua Gunther at the table next to us got a lot of attention...He was explaining his photography technique behind the saturated colors in his pictures... and their unique, ready-to-hang format...
You can see more of his painterly images of Europe and Los Angeles on his website www.joshuaguntherphotography.com
Stuart enjoyed catching up with the many artists who stopped by our table. Mary and Matthew from Team SNB where also there... which allowed Stuart to get away from the table from time to time and visit the other exhibitors (and of course.. find some new books that will be on our website soon).
Our 3 tables at Dream-con allowed us to bring a wide variety of books Stuart hand-selected for this event.
Studios like Dreamworks are quite clever to provide "on-campus" benefits to their busy artists. At Dreamworks we also saw posters for upcoming lectures, demos and screenings on campus. The whole environment is creative, with amenities like a game room, the koi pond, and a dazzling and delicious cafeteria. Just imagine the sort of hours it takes to make movies.... especially animated movies. It's smart of the studios to have these sorts of services on-site. With the crunch of production schedules... the artists can't always take advantage of all the activities...which is why we were even more delighted to see so many attending Dream-Con... 
Marcos Mateu-Mestre stopped by ... and signed copies of our stock of his popular book "Framed Ink." We also had copies of the new book by Christian Schellewald...."Kolonie: The Forgotten Frontier." Christian's previous book is the popular LA<>SF sketchbook. Christian's co-author for the new book is Patrick Hanenberger. Here's pic of Christian signing his books:
A big "Maholo Nui Loa" (thanks very much) to Angela for taking such good care of us... and thanks to all the Dreamworks artists who exhibited and contributed to the inspiring afternoon...
"Our thirst for great art and all that inspires it... will never be quenched!" (if you don't get this quote now... you will after you see "Puss in Boots" :) Antonio Banderas as our hero with CATitude; Meee.. ow! I cannot resist :) Film opens Oct 28th. See more on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/pussinbootsintro Look for the fun clip about the 1st ever "Cat Premiere" with real cats (and one smooth movie star MeoWowing the crowd).
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