Nowadays an artist isn’t anybody unless he’s an Outsider Artist.
Why not consider putting whatever it is you’re trying to do with your art onto the back burner and make a Big Splash in the Art World instead? You too can reap the fame and bloated bank accounts. You too can live and die in the same sort of dark smelly caravan that all the big insane artists die in.
But how to get started and where to find answers to your many questions. Is it ethical to hire others to pee on your canvases for you? Is it better PR to shoot your girlfriend or to be shot by your girlfriend? These questions and others can be answered by listening to the instructional “Art of the Insane”.
Art of the Insane (mp3s) – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
This parody of TV painting instruction shows was created by Firesign Theater, an American comedy group originally influenced by The Goon Show.
You can view some of Joven’s saner work here

IGI member Peter Donnelly and producer Paul Kelly have just launch their latest website for The Station.
The Dublin based company has built a very strong reputation in recent months supplying the advertising sector with high quality storyboards and preproduction artwork for TV and print. Their impressive client list includes many of the top agencies in the city. Samples of their work can be seen at www.thestation.ie

Françoise Mouly, New Yorker art director and wife of acclaimed cartoonist Art Spiegelman, has launched a new line of book format comics called Toon Books, aimed at readers ages four and up, designed to nurture basic reading skills and encourage a love of visual storytelling. Sounds like a great idea. Here’s an appreciation of Mouly’s art direction work and a recent interview.

Tomi Ungerer publishes his first children’s book ‘The Three Robbers‘ in 25 years this October. For the past three decades Mr. Ungerer, 76, has made his home here in Ireland in a coastal village on the Mizen Peninsula. In 1998 he published a memoir of living as a child in Nazi occupied France. Here’s a recent NYTimes article and slideshow on the illustrator’s work.

Why not head over to the new website of IGI member Brian Coldrick. It’s packed with gorgeous illustrations, full of humour and brimming with skillz!

Enjoy…www.briancoldrick.com

With the Olympics fast approaching and after the headache (not to mention his heart attacks) mentioned in this previous post about the artist who designed the Beijing Olympics Mascots, lets take some time to enjoy the posters from the previous Olympic Games.

Go to this website to view them all.

Illustrator, painter and IGI veteran Roger O’Reilly has re-launched his website. He has included a new extensive sketchbook section, categorised illustration, storyboards and a link to his blog site where he regularly posts up doodles and sketches from his travels .

Oh my god! Is this the best robot you have ever seen? The above knitted robot is part of a collection by Nicole Gastonguay.

You must go and view a whole lot more on her Flickr Stream.

GO NOW! (but come back to us!)

He suffered two heart attacks creating the creatures called the Fuwa – Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini so let’s give folk artist Han Meilin a break. Here’s a recent article on what he went through, and the wiki article on the symbolism he had to cram in. Meomi have designed the mascots for the upcoming 2010 winter games in Vancouver.

Transcend and CandyCollective team up together to present a day long event Saturday the 26th of July, in the lovely surrounds of the Waterfront Hall, Belfast and will include an exhibition of internationally renowned graphic artists , a live drawing event including the IGI’s Chris Judge and BRENB and a SweetTalk presentation. Details are as follows… (more…)