Riccardo Atzeni

Muscas Magheddas

2011-12-09T08:27:00.001+01:00

Jeez, a big long-time-no-see!

This is the poster of my new upcoming cartoon, Muscas Magheddas.

Coming soon in delirious 2D!

Silhouette

2010-09-14T13:43:00.002+02:00

This is a pastel I did for the Art Showcase I had in May.

It's called "Silhouette". The original painting has completely different colors...Bad camera, I guess.

Enjoy!

Devil' Saddle

2010-09-02T09:12:00.005+02:00

West of Cagliari's beach, Poetto, there's a promontory, called Davil' Saddle, which has a peculiar shape.

There's a lore about it. The legend goes back into time, when Lucifer declared war against his Father and Brothers. With his army of traitor angels, he fought a terrible battle against God's angels, to conquer the Gulf near Cagliari.

Lucifer was inciting his devils, riding his dark steed in the sky, so arrogant and sure of the victory he did not see the Archangel Michael coming to fight him. With his shiny scale and sword, Michael smote the traitor army, then turned to Lucifer, and with a tremendous blow unseated the enemy.

In his fall, Lucifer hit violently a promontory near the sea.

The angel saved the Gulf, which is now known as "Golfo degli Angeli" (Angels Gulf). The promontory was slashed by Lucifer's fall, and today its name is a memory of that hit: "Sella del Diavolo", The Devil' Saddle.

Origins

2010-08-04T11:02:00.000+02:00

Sometimes I wonder.

Back in time, our ancestors walked the endless fields of great Africa.

Looking at the neverending sky, scared beyond measure by storm and lightning and fire.

Was it when Men began? Was it when God began?

I started with this watercolor sketch:

then heavily worked it with Photoshop.

The Last Tune

2010-08-02T14:25:00.006+02:00

Everybody remember how the Pied Piper saved Hamelin from the rat invasion, but somehow the second part of the tale is seldom reminded.

After he removal of the rats, the piper asked the townsmen for his reward, which was arranged before. However, the people of Hamelin refused to pay the piper, who promised revenge.

Some time later, when the people of the village were in church, the piper went back, and played a new tune, casting a spell on the children of the village. Boys and girls were hypnotized, and followed the pied piper out of the town, where they were lured into a cave and never seen again.

Quite a terrifying tale. I guess that the moral of the story is easily understandable: always pay the piper, especially when he's dressed like a stupe.

Graduate Basterd

2010-07-17T12:16:00.006+02:00

My buddy graduated in philosophy a couple of days ago.

But that is of little concern. The point is: he's a Basterd.

Some details:

By the way, long time no see.

Il Barbiere di Sondrio

2010-05-26T12:41:00.004+02:00

Il governo del "No ai tagli e no al mettere le mani in tasca agl'italiani" vara una manovra che si propone di tagliare e di mettere le mani in tasca agl'italiani.

Non che la cosa sia strana o poco prevedibile, vista la situazione drammatica dei nostri (e non solo nostri) conti, ma va apprezzata l'encomiabile capacità dell'attuale maggioranza di giocare con maestria la carta della comunicazione a orologeria: niente tagli in campagna elettorale, tanti tagli alla resa dei conti.

Tremonti ha affermato che "la crisi è un tornate della Storia". Certo che per essere una questione di "povertà percepita", la risposta è abbastanza drastica: non bastava cambiare la nostra percezione della povertà, e percepirla, che so, come ricchezza?

Naturalmente no, perché la situazione non è un problema di percezione, ma di concreta difficoltà; e fa sorridere la retromarcia innestata da molti esponenti del governo, passati da un "siamo ottimisti" dei mesi passati ad un "tagli necessari vista la situazione dei conti e dell'economia europea", come se i conti italiani ed europei fossero una novità inaspettata. Nemmeno il tracollo della Grecia lo è: il governo dei vicini di casa ha caldeggiato stili di vita ed economie ben oltre le possibilità effettive del paese, con i risultati che leggiamo ora nei giornali.

Anche noi per mesi abbiamo sentito parlare di situazione non grave, addirittura migliore di molti grandi paesi dell'Unione: ma questo dato fa a botte con la rigida manovra appena proposta.

Mentre cerchiamo di capire dove stia la verità, se nelle affermazioni passate, quelle presenti o da nessuna delle due parti, lasciamo che il barbiere di Sondrio affili le forbici, e stringiamo i denti.

No al bavaglio!

2010-05-21T14:18:00.009+02:00

Il DDL 1611 in materia di intercettazioni telefoniche continua il suo mai troppo ostacolato percorso attraverso gli organi istituzionali.

Il testo del DDL lo trovate qui: legge 1611.

A me non piace. E quello che viene enunciato, in modo molto vago, nell'art. 28 mi piace anche meno.

Il Senato in commissione ha dato il primo via libera. E poco conta che il giornalista non rischi più la galera: se l'editore può vedersi comminata una multa di oltre 460.000 euro, possiamo immaginare che fine farà un'inchiesta spinosa, o un articolo che pesta i piedi a Don Rodrigo.

E' un problema di tutti, perché l'unico antidoto alla deviazione del potere è un'opinione pubblica attenta e informata. E per questo c'è bisogno di un'informazione libera di scavare.

Siccome non tutto è garantito e scontato, meglio esprimere a gran voce il proprio dissenso.

Sono contro questa proposta di legge.

Ah, pure il topo è contro la mordacchia (ovvio: è un topo, mica un cane).

Bondi contro Draquila

2010-05-16T09:15:00.007+02:00

A seguire, Bertolaso contro la Mummia e Calderoli contro l'Uomo Nero. Il festival dell'orrore, come ha ironicamente sottolineato il regista Luchetti.

Sappiamo delle recenti esternazioni del Ministro Sandro Bondi, che ha declinato l'invito al Festival di Cannes per dissociarsi dall'ultima fatica cinematografica di Sabina Guzzanti, Draquila.

Il film, ha detto il Ministro, offende l'Italia. Le sue parole si uniscono a quelle del Ministro del Turismo Brambilla, che addirittura minaccia azioni legali; Guido Bertolaso, uno dei protagonisti (?) del film, crede che il nostro paese farà una brutta figura.

Prendendo atto del dispiacere della Francia (Jack Lang, ex Ministro della Cultura ha sottolineato come il Popolo delle Libertà abbia una strana concezione della Libertà), ci si chiede: qual è la novità?

Forse nessuna. I politici e i potenti da sempre temono l'Arte: la coccolano all'occorrenza, poiché sanno che l'Arte è il veicolo con cui accedere all'immortalità (vedi Napoleone), ma la temono quando questa dilaga e rischia di provocare nel popolo qualcosa di inquietante: la riflessione.

Non posso nascondere la mia inquietudine, e non solo per il caso specifico di cui parlo (non ho ancora visto il film della Guzzanti), ma per il tracciato che non posso fare a meno di delineare. C'è una connessione fra il caso Guzzanti, le recenti esternazioni del Premier su Saviano, la querelle fra la Fracci e Alemanno, esplosa platealmente a coronamento di un fischiatissimo intervento del sindaco di Roma al Teatro dell'Opera: è in atto uno scontro fra chi rappresenta artisticamente il nostro paese e chi lo governa.

Le opere d'Arte possono non piacere, le si può criticare, è inutile sottolinearlo. Ma qui il discorso è diverso. Chi critica il Governo viene screditato, viene additato come una calamità, cioè come un soggetto che danneggia il paese. I contorni della vicenda sono spesso sfumati, ma proprio per questo pericolosi.

C'è spazio in questo governo per la Cultura? Ricordo le parole di Berlusconi, che presentando la riforma della scuola superiore accanto al Ministro Gelmini, disse: “abbiamo fatto questa riforma pensando all'impresa”. Non avrebbero dovuto pensare all'istruzione?

Se queste sono le premesse, non c'è da meravigliarsi se il Ministro della Cultura si dissocia da un'opera culturale; ma non saremmo stati più contenti se Bondi si fosse recato a Cannes, avesse rappresentato il nostro paese e avesse anche, perché no, esposto pubblicamente le sue perplessità sul documentario della Guzzanti? E' lecito non condividere l'opinione di un artista, ma è sbagliato considerare l'artista pericoloso solo perché ha un'opinione. Di certo, poi, non abbocchiamo alla licenza retorica utilizzata dal poeta Bondi, che con l'espressione “Draquila offende l'Italia” vuol intendere “Draquila offende il governo Berlusconi”.

Concludo questa riflessione senza sbocchi sottolineando come di questi tempi lo scetticismo sia sempre più osteggiato. Ma non è, lo scetticismo, uno dei pilastri su cui si regge il pensiero moderno?

Artèmoda

2010-05-11T09:07:00.004+02:00

Artèmoda exhibition was a success!

I really enjoyed the night, with all the guests and compliments, and wine!

I'll post some pictures of the event anytime soon.

For now, there's another detail of a pastel piece I did for the show: It's called "Relax - Libera la mente" (Relax - Free your mind).

Mosse future

2010-05-04T11:49:00.006+02:00

Il Ministro dello Sviluppo Economico, Claudio Scajola, è stato travolto da uno scandalo legato alla compravendita di un immobile in zona Colosseo.

La faccenda è tutta da verificare, mentre una parte della stampa e dell'opinione pubblica s'interrogano sulle future mosse del Ministro.

Dimissioni o non dimissioni? Berlusconi, sempre allergico a questa mossa, suggerisce di resistere. Staremo a vedere.

O Evangelho segundo José Saramago

2010-04-15T15:45:00.012+02:00

Some weeks ago, I've read the last page of "O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo", by José Saramago.

Sometime is good to be naive and ignorant: I'm 28, and this is my first Saramago book. I knew his fame, but I never red one of his book. So, here come the pure, unexpected joy of being dragged into this narration, complex until the utmost simplicity, as hard as a stony path in Galilee.

And above all a man, his flesh, his blood, his fear, his doubt, his feeling of being a man and at the same time being what other people (and God) want him to be.

José Saramago is funny, harsh, is many things.

He's a great writer for sure.

L'Aquila

2010-04-07T18:36:00.006+02:00

Il 6 Aprile di un anno fa, poco dopo le 3:30, L'Aquila veniva devastata da un terremoto.

Runner

2010-04-07T09:16:00.002+02:00

Run for your life, or for anything you want.

Pastel on Arches paper. Detail.

Regionali 2010

2010-03-31T19:44:00.012+02:00

Poker di uomini e topi, in occasione delle recenti elezioni.

Se siete della Lega: congratulazioni.

Se siete del PDL: attenti a quelli qui sopra.

Se siete dell'IDV: congratulazioni.

Se siete del PD: l'ambulatorio è da quella parte.

Se siete del Movimento 5 Stelle: Bingo!

Se siete dell'UDC: leggete uno o più commenti qua sopra, a seconda dell'alleanza che avete scelto.

Bersani ha detto: "Non è una vittoria, ma non chiamiamola sconfitta". Qualsiasi cosa voglia dire.

Mi soffermerei su un commento di Berlusconi. Il premier, coerentemente con la recente evoluzione 'sentimentale' della sua campagna, ha dichiarato che "l'amore ha vinto sull'invidia e sull'odio, gli elettori ci hanno dato ragione".
Di recente questa parola, "amore", a cui generalmente si associano sensazioni positive, getta su di me una cupa inquietudine, ogni volta che la sento uscir fuori dal tubo catodico.

Prendendo atto del ritorno di illustri cadaveri (Quintiliano e il divino Aristofane, che Talia l'abbia in gloria), l'amore non può e non deve declinarsi in politica.

Un politico viene eletto per avviare riforme, per rimettere in sesto l'economia, a livello locale per sistemare una strada, organizzare gli ospedali. Un politico viene eletto per necessità, non per amore.
Amore e odio non sono categorie nuove in ambito politico: Hitler proclamava l'odio per gli ebrei, Fidel Castro è amato (con alti e bassi) dai cubani. Due esempi per mostrare le deviazioni della politica, nel momento in cui sconfinano nel sentimentalismo.

Se io amo un politico, riuscirò a scavalcare questo sentimento personale nel momento in cui il politico inizierà a sbagliare, ad agire pericolosamente? Avrò la capacità di "punirlo" democraticamente, con il mio voto contrario?

In cabina elettorale, all'amore preferisco una ragionata prudenza.

Pastels, again and again

2010-03-31T19:36:00.003+02:00

Another piece for the Art showcase.

Goya, anyone?

Going italian

2010-03-30T16:43:00.008+02:00

Il mio primo post in italiano, ora non ho più scuse in caso di errori.

Perché il cambio di lingua? Perché con questo post inauguro un progetto a cui sto lavorando.

I tempi in italia sono drammatici e urgenti, nessuno può sottrarsi ad una riflessione sulla nostra situazione politica, economica e sociale. Ognuno di noi ha il dovere di farlo, con i mezzi che ritiene opportuni e consoni alla propria persona.

Io disegno, e dirò la mia con delle vignette, che ho ribattezzato "Uomini e Topi". Il rimando a Steinbeck e Burns è debole, più forte quello a Disney e Spiegelman: il topo è ormai un segno linguistico complesso, sia per la sua lunga carriera nella Storia che in quella altrettanto ricca nella letteratura e nella cultura popolare, da Esopo ai bestiari medievali fino a Topolino e Maus.

Al topo, maestro nell'arte di arrangiarsi, vero surfista dei tempi in cui vive, spetta il compito di osservare e commentare le vicende del nostro paese. Non garantisco risate, solo riflessioni in armonia con il mio umore.

Vignette italiane e post italiani, per dire la mia sul paese nel quale vivo.

P.S.: riguardo il tema di questa prima vignetta, rivendico con soddisfazione di essere stato uno dei sostenitori di Raiperunanotte con il mio contributo di 2.50 €.

Work in progress - Art Exhibition

2010-03-29T10:48:00.003+02:00

Long time no see.

If nothing changes, on April 24 I'll be part of an Art Exhibition in Cagliari. More info coming soon!

Here some details of my pastel pieces. Still working on 'em.

Bye!

Pastel test #2

2010-02-22T11:41:00.006+01:00

This is a drawing I did just to work with pastels. It needs some major adjustments, and I'm still working on it. I basically opened a magazine and took a picture as reference.

It may happen I'll be part of an art showcase in my town in a couple of months, so I'm working on some color techniques and ideas. I'm pretty excited about it, let's see how it goes!

Art Gallery

2010-02-22T11:33:00.005+01:00

Hi there!

This is a watercolor sketch I did yesterday in the park of my town. The building you see is an Art Gallery. A nice art gallery, by the way: I visited it some time ago, you should go, if live nearby.

It all began with a warm, sunny day, but after a couple of minutes of drawing, both my girlfriend and I were ice cold.

Schoolism stuff

2010-02-06T09:35:00.005+01:00

So long Schoolism class of digital painting.

I've handle to the teacher my last one, waiting for the critique.

Here's some random stuff I did. Original ideas and drawings by Bobby Chiu.

Avatar yourself

2010-01-17T11:24:00.004+01:00

The revolution of Cinema, according to James Cameron, goes through blue guys living in the forest. I guess he never heard of Smurfs.

Man, I'm going creative on this movie.

Bus & square sketches

2010-01-12T23:28:00.010+01:00

Yesterday evening I took the bus to meet my girlfriend downtown. Finally I had the chance to do some life sketching.

The first image, and the old man from image two are people I sketched on the bus. I sketched the walking people when I sat down on a bench in Piazza del Carmine, a square of my town.

There I played a little game, called "Sketch a Lady or a Guy in One Minute Catching the Details that Really Define Her or Him". Yep, the name of the game needs some editing, but it was cool and helpful. When drawing, its always useful to ask yourself some question, before messin' around with your pencil: "what shape do I see?", "what is that makes my subject pop out?" and so on. Then you figure out what really defines your subject, and concentrate on those elements.

When I saw the lady you see in picture two, she was kinda posh in her walk, she had an hourglass-like shape, and a huge fur in her jacket hood. So i focused on those elements.

The guy on the left in image three was tall and happy-go-lucky, and so forth. If you want to draw quickly and more efficiently, you have to figure out what you need and need not to put in your work.

I managed to doodle until my butt went ice cold, then I had to stop.

Bear with me

2010-01-12T23:27:00.005+01:00

Couple of days ago I was working hard, for many hours. When I noticed that my computer was beginning to smoke I realized it was the moment for a little break, so I powered it down for a while.

Then I took a Xerox paper and started doodling. It came out a bear. I love drawing animals, I'm quite sure I have more beast sketches to post, somewhere.

When the bear sketch was done I took my pastels. Bad idea, Xerox paper cannot handle pastels. Sure enough it ended up a mess. I tried to fix it with Painter, but I should have left just the pencil sketch.

It's raining.

Who are you calling a Befana?

2010-01-06T10:37:00.003+01:00

The fact today it's Befana day is purely coincidental.

Yesterday I had a nice dinner with my friends. It was a night of celebration, big announcement and good food!

Our dear Michela got the job she was looking for, and with many exciting news to come, we presented her with the little painting you see, and a bouquet which had been dressed with pyjama by the owner of the flower boutique. God knows why...

Cheers!

First painting of 2010

2010-01-02T18:53:00.005+01:00

This Xmas I received some art supplies, quite an easy way to make me happy. A big sketchbook, a sketch kit (pencils, blenders, graphite), and a beautiful box packed with coloured charcoals.

I had to try them, so here is my first painting of 2010, which is also my first charcoal and pencil painting. Hope to improve with this technique, i really love the rich, textured colour given by charcoals!

By the way, the image shows The Basilica di Nostra Signora di Bonaria, a great church of my town consecrated to Saint Mary.

Car sketch - a smaller and quiet version of "bus sketch"

2009-12-08T12:43:00.003+01:00

Yesterday evening I was parked with my car, waiting to do some workout at the jim (which incidentally was suicidal).

By the way, at some point this really funny guy walk down the street: he was long, thin, with a peculiar hairdo.

I had my sketchbook (duh), so I took my chance with it.

Bye!

Something personal

2009-12-06T15:20:00.003+01:00

Hi there!

Couple of weeks ago, an idea popped up in my mind.

Actually it was a dream. From that dream, I started to think about a personal project, something I really believe in. It is taking shape in my head, and as long as I stay focused on that, it may turn out good.

Luckily, I'm not alone in this, somebody's helping me a lot, and today we went for a walk in town, taking pictures, watercolor sketches, and a nice coffee with croissant!

We're planning to do it every weekend, let's see what happens!

Bye!

Bus sketch

2009-12-02T20:48:00.003+01:00

Today I went to the eye doctor. I'm not going to get blind anytime soon.

I took the bus, 'cause I don't want to poison the world with my car (don't listen to the people sayin' I can't really drive).

Sure enough, I had my sketchbook, so I took the chance to do some real-life sketching of the people on the bus. The lines are a bit shaky, I had to draw when the bus was queued at the traffic light...

New sketches...happy now?

2009-12-02T13:19:00.006+01:00

Here are some sketches I'm posting quikcly, otherwise somebody is going to get mad at me...

The first one is a pencil and watercolor sketch I did for a ChiUstream contest, is called "Mermaid Morning Care", and it managed to get even a vote! Wow, I'm celebrating.

This is the original sketch. Now that I think about it, I should have leave it as it was, but being smarter than a fox, I managed to mess around with color and -way too much- saturation, ending up with this:

Second sketch is for today ChiUstream contest. Subject: a caricature of great artist Jason Seiler. Some of the guy participating posted pretty amazing stuff. But it's a really hard challenge, prize being an original caricature of the winner made by Seiler himself.

Huge prize! Intense stuff!

The first - no, I'm not quoting Barry White

2009-11-26T12:17:00.007+01:00

This is my very first illustration completely done in Photoshop.

It's a mess, yeah. I didn't quite know how to control composition, lights, shapes on a digital canvas, so to speak.

By the way, the picture was inspired by a lore of my land.

Once upon a time, sheperds and farmer of Sardinia were facing a terrible menace: the "Scultone", a dreadful huge lizard, which had the power to turn people into stone with a glance.

People were dying, flocks were disappearing, until one day lo! Saint Peter came, to save the day. Riding toward the menace, he defeated the evil creature with just a small mirror, used to watch the monster reflection without meeting its eyes.

Yep, it's the old story, "guy meets the petrifying creature", "guy uses the mirror", "guy kills the petrifying creature". I guess every culture has a story like that.

Sketchin' around

2009-11-25T14:05:00.009+01:00

One thing an illustrator, painter or whatever should do is go out and sketch from real life.

I never do that. I'm bad.

But there's always time to do better, so one day I went out, after work, walked to the park, like a good ol' man, you know, sat on a bench and started drawing.

I must say, it really helps, and I definitely need to practice. Most important, it helps you realize that is full of weird people out there!

Hatter-ChiUstream contest

2009-11-18T16:09:00.004+01:00

This is a quick sketch I did for last Chiustream (http://chiustream.blogspot.com/).

When I woke up in the morning I found the guys still chatting and drawing, discovered I had 'round ten minutes to upload a sketch about Alice's Mad Hatter, so I did a pencil sketch as fast as I could, scanned it and Corel Painted the hell out of it.

The ugly white glow was done 'cause I messed up the border of the drawing because of the hurry. Poor excuse.

The title of my piece: Hatter (duh).

U R what U eat

2009-11-16T21:24:00.002+01:00

You are what you eat. As simple as that.

Sleepin' Alice in Wanderland

2009-11-09T22:05:00.003+01:00

From one of my favourite books.

Brunetta

2009-11-08T22:45:00.001+01:00

Cute little Minister Brunetta.

Looks like a tiny kid. One you don't wanna deal with.

Say Hello to Lily!

2009-11-08T16:34:00.001+01:00

Actually the little girl is more dangerous than her new pet.

Swine flu!

2009-11-07T20:04:00.001+01:00

Swine flu has come! Beware!

Straight after that, which came after the "birds flu", there will be the frightful "bull disease", then the "rhino sickness", the "hippo illness" and finally the "baboon syndrome".

Should we call a doctor or a vet? Good question.

P.s.: the sketch is a quick pencil drawing I did some time ago to test Corel Painter X. I definitely fell in love with that software!

Wood Witch

2009-11-03T16:26:00.001+01:00

Some time ago I had this frightening dream. Today it's quite blurry, I'll try to get some sense out of it.

I am in this poor house, with many strangers, and children too. All of a sudden, somebody burst into the house. They are some kind of baby gang, 13 years old kids with guns. They start shooting around, and two children of the house got hit by the flying bullets. I call the police and tell what's happening, asking for help, but they say "We can't take care of it, it's not our field". I'm like "What the heck are you talking about, they're shooting the hell out of us!". Somebody starts running out of the house, to call for help. I suddenly find myself with them, driving an old car in the grey, sad contry around the house. The place seems empty, not a soul.

After a long trip we find ourselves at the threshold of a scary wood. Once inside, it gets darker and darker, the trees start casting misterious shadows around us, and one says: "Guys, beware of the Witch living in the wood. She kidnap you, dismember and eat you!". If you knew it, why did we come into the wood in the first place, then?!? No time for such questions, we keep walking.

At some point I hear somebody crying. It gets so dark, we have to follow the sound of the moans without even realize we're approaching a cliff: once we reached the edge, we see one of the wounded children from the house, wailing at the bottom of the cliff. Somebody suddenly says: "The Witch took the baby down there! It's a bait! Watch out!".

The moment I turn my back, there she is: cloacked in black, the arms and hair made of dead wood, and a white, lifeless mask as a face!

Scary, huh?

Well, that was my terrifying dream, which explains my quick sketch.

Bye!

...

Ok, after that moment, dunno why, I found myself in one Hell's Kitchen's episode, cooking near Gordon Ramsay! Bloody Hell, what a dream!

Surgery

2009-11-02T19:14:00.001+01:00

The two fellas you see in the picture are italian politicians from the Left Party. Or what's left of the Left Party.

I painted them after the so-called "Three-el", which is a "duel" between three competitors. Those competitors were, in order of age (and therefore of chance of winning, which in Italy are the same) Pier Luigi Bersani, Dario Franceschini and Ignazio Marino. They were running for the nominee of Secretary of the Democratic Party.

This Three-el took place a couple of weeks ago, and was done to give the voters an idea of this guy's ideas. Beeing a masochist, I watched it.

During the Three-el, Bersani didn't make many efforts, maybe because he was quite sure about the election results. Franceschini and Marino, on the other hand, had their time togheter.

Marino pointed is finger against Franceschini a couple of time, and the latter didn't wait a lot to reply in a grumpy way.

Therefore my painting. What I wanted to show is the idea of Ignazio Marino, which is a surgery for real, showing his usual courteous smile, while cuts open a quite puzzled/worried Franceschini, who maybe didn't ask for a surgery...

By the way, I voted for Marino. If you're wondering where my vote ended up, try looking into the garbage bin.

Some fan art 2: Darkly Drawing Dexter

2009-11-02T18:52:00.001+01:00

What I like about some US TV shows is that they have the guts to take on screen some stories and situations that often Cinema avoid. Dunno why, maybe there's more freedom, but I'm not so sure about it.

Just think about some great series, like Six Feet Under, Mad Men, Rome, Battlestar Galactica. They just have a lot of cheek, you must give 'em that.

Dexter is one of this kind. It shows, from the very intro, an apparently normal guy; inside of him, however, lurk a monster, the worse making of the modern society, and I'm not speaking of a politician...Something less worse, a serial killer! A serial killer's serial killer.

Here lies the dilemma: what Dexter does is bad, because he kills people, and in a quite violent, wicked way; but he kills criminals, other wicked people, cheap low life. The entire TV show plays with our morals and ethics, it slaps in our face our limits and our hypocrisy, because with our brain we condemn Dexter, but with our heart we hope he doesn't get caught and eventually killed.

It's tricky. And a lot of fun, of course.

Some fan art: Kurt Wagner!

2009-11-02T18:41:00.001+01:00

Always loved comic books. Marvel Superheroes, with all their issues, are by far my favorite, and Nightcrawler, among them, is one of the character I love to sketch the most.

Alas, it's been ages since I read some nice Marvel comic issue...

That's me

2009-11-02T18:35:00.001+01:00

Like the title says...

Done with Photoshop, from a really stupid picture I took with my webcam.

Welcome!

2009-11-02T10:28:00.001+01:00

Welcome everybody!

Looking for some serious painting, news, laughs? Hey, there's plenty of blogs out there! Buzz off!

No! I'm joking! I'm ready to deliver all of it, one step at a time!

First of all, I'm an illustrator and animator from Italy.

I love to paint funny people, creatures, stuff in general. In this blog I'll share my works in progress, ideas and more.

It happens I've just started a new exciting "digital painting" course, taught by non other than Bobby Chiu (here some websites: www.schoolism.com for the school, and

www.immaginism.com for some outstanding illustrations!). In this course, with nine lessons (and assignments too) I'll learn (at least, I hope so) how to master some painting techniques, to improve what I already know, to get a proper professional illustration done and in the end to kick some ass, artistically speaking, of course!

Lesson one was a real workout on contrast, light and dark tones or, to use the title of the lesson, "Visualizing Through Darkness".

The muscle dude you see is what I managed to do, starting from a pencil drawing Bobby Chiu did.

New paintings coming soon!

Bye!