Thalberg by Roland Flamini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just a tremendous biography of a creative genius who knew his time was short and decided not to sit around and mope about it, but went out and lived life to it’s very fullest, thereby changing an industry. I really like the author’s focus on Thalberg’s greatest achievement, his work in film. There would seem to be nothing else to focus on, but the writer really delves deep into the inner workings of Thalberg’s work. A reader can telly get the feeling of someone, like Thalberg,that runs hard with a weak constitution.

I comboed this with reading ‘The Last Tycoon’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald based his main character Monroe Stahr on Thalberg and Fitzgerald’s dealing with him and the Mayer studio system. The two authors either were both accurate in their portrayals or both way off. Reading both at the same time really fleshed out the biography further. Though I recommend e Flamini’s book over Fitzgeralds.

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The Last Tycoon (An Unfinished Novel) together with The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fitzgerald’s fictitious tale pulled from the life of Irving Thalberg sure does flesh out Thalberg’s manner and ways around a studio. I read this at the same time reading Roland Flamini’s ‘Thalberg’ about Irving’s life. Reading Fitzgerald was like reading Flamini as both illustrated the legendary producer’s life. Fitzgerald follows Thalberg closest with the studio scenes in the book. Otherwise Thalberg’s manner is well drawn out, though the personal circumstances noted in ‘The Last Tycoon’ are purely fictional to Thalberg’s life.

I’m not nutty about the writing. There are certainly good lines and passages, but as a whole it is clearly in the development stage.

Well worth reading if you are a Thalberg fan.

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Here’s Swampy, Rob and Marcia Gaedcke, President of the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce with a page of art for the upcoming ‘Swampy’s Florida: Titusville’.

Been penciling and inking and penciling and inking and… I guess ya get the idea…

Got lots done on the upcoming ‘Swampy’s Florida: Titusville’. Lots more to do. And that’s besides this Swampy book!

American Assassin by Vince Flynn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not my favorite of the series. This is a better written book. It’s also overwritten, much like most contemporary novels of today. I believe, after reading the other ten books, this is my first complaint of Flynn doing this. This would have been so much better as three separate books with fewer flashbacks.

With so much stuffed in 500 pages, no one will leave this book not knowing who the central characters are. Flynn has a lot of room to flesh out the start of the clandestine activities of his hero Mich Rapp. He does that and more by connecting all the other characters that appear in the series.

The story, as usual, could very possibly be happening today, but this is set in the past. I wonder if other readers notice the absence of cell phones and iPads? This is what Flynn did best in this book: Set a story in the past and have it seem as if it could be happening today.

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Here is a step by step of a watercolor caricature I painted on Halloween.Above is the pencil and preparation for watercolor.

Here I’ve added the watercolor.

Finally, I brush in the line work.

Here’s a piece of artwork I’m drawing of the upcoming ‘Swampy’s Florida: Lake Wales’.

For those who know the story – Here’s a big Happy Birthday to Jacob who turns 18 today!

Created this watercolor caricature for a client who contacted me earlier in the day. He had to have it by noon on the 27th. So we met and I drew, inked and painted the artwork at a coffee shop. Here’s step by step of the development of the caricature. All are photographs at the scene.

‘Funny Folks Behind the Serious Business of Cartoons’ is the name of a fun panel of Florida cartoonists and author Tim Hollis this Saturday at the Orange County Regional History Center.

Tim Hollis starts off the event at 12:30 with a talk about the history of cartooning and tourism. He will also be introducing his new book, ‘Part of a Good Breakfast’ about cereal premiums for the Baby Boomer set. Tim will be available to sign books after his talk.

The cartoonist panel starts at 1pm with cartoonists Bruce Beattie, Allen Bellman, Mike Osbun, Jeff Parker, Mark Simon, and me. Each will talk about the cartoon work they do.  Then the floor will open to questions from the audience.

Afterward be sure to take a stroll trough the Peanuts exhibit of comic strips reflecting outdoor issues.

I organized the cartoonist panel and dove tailed it with our annual Florida Chapter meeting of the National Cartoonists Society, which I am also Florida Chapter Chairman of. I’m also involved with the History Center.

A Socrates Cafe is a group that gathers and talks issues for a couple hours. I attended one today and, as usual, sketched the ideas we discussed. Here are a couple pages from the sketchbook.