Pheaturing Winter Artwork

Hello, welcome back to the Phile for a Monday. I wanna start with some good news. The Phile has now over 100,000 hits. So, thank you to everyone who takes a few minutes out of their day to glance this thing over. Thank you so much. Anyway, today's Phile is brought to you by...

The world is watching. So, Donald Trump’s sons shot and killed endangered animals on a safari. They got an elephant, a crocodile, and that thing on their dad’s head.  Last week a tourist in Puerto Rico took a picture of Rick Santorum shirtless on the beach. I don’t want to say he looked chubby, but his new Secret Service code name is "Newt Gingrich.” That’s right, Rick Santorum was seen lying on the beach without his shirt on. He would have worn sunscreen, but he’s not really into protection. Disney... the greatest company to work for in the world, will lose $200 million on its new movie, John Carter, about a Civil War soldier on Mars. Disney could tell they were going to lose lots of money when they realized they made a movie about a Civil War soldier on Mars. The Hunger Games meanwhile is expected to make $130 million at the box office this week. Experts say the movie has that one quality you look for in a film... it’s not about a Civil War soldier on Mars.  This weekend President Obama visited the border that separates North and South Korea. Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich visited the border that separates the KFC from the Taco Bell.  Tim Tebow is on the New York Jets, but apparently some Jets players are not happy about it. They're called wide receivers.  There are rumors that Kim Kardashian wants to adopt a child. You can tell orphans are nervous... even Oliver Twist is like, "You know what, I’m good on soup. Sorry for complaining.”  President Obama is calling on Iran to give its citizens better access to the Internet. Right now they only have one social networking site: "Cover-Your-Face Book.”  There are reports that John Edwards visited a brothel here in New York while running for president and paid with campaign funds. Do you realize what this could do to his reputation? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing to that man's reputation.  A woman in Romania broke a world record by having a wedding dress with a train that stretched almost two miles. It was weird for the maid of honor. She was like you probably look beautiful!  A man in Oregon said his snow globes started a fire after he left them in the sun for too long. Fortunately, his wife wasn't injured because she left him when he started collecting snow globes.  So, I am looking forward to The Avengers movie in a few months. I was puzzled by the new poster for it though. 

I didn't know they changed the name of the movie.  So, speaking of movies, the new ad for The Hunger Games also surprised me.

And now, for the final... or phinal...

I do not get that one one bit. Who is that guy? Anyway, the Mayans predicted in December of this year the world will end. Those Mayans were pretty smart, so I tend to believe it. Anyway, I thought I would invite a character back to the Phile to give some more Mayan advice. So, please welcome back to the Phile...

Me: Hello, Marvin, so, what inspirating words do you have today for us?

Marvin: Nya b’a’n tu’n tjax key cyib’aj k’ok’, ku’n b’e’x cyjel× pise t× o’pe te jun majx.

Me: Marvin, that's great, but once again I don't speak Mayanese, or whatever you call it. And I am sure the readers don't understand that either. Can you translate in English?

Marvin: It is not good to sit on pumpkins, because your rump will freeze up for good.

Me: Thanks, Marvin, it's not pumpkin season but we'll remember that in October. Marvin the Modern Day Mayan everybody! Thank you, Marvin.

Okay, well, there's a new Batman movie coming out this Summer and I cannot wait. Anyway, our good friend Jim Mello is such a large comic book fan I wondered what he thinks of the movie after seeing the few trailers for it. So, let's find out. Please welcome back to the Phile, Jim Mello in a pheature we call...

My problems with the Nolan films have nothing to do with my standing as a Batman fan. I'm usually pretty good as taking a film adaptation as its own microcosm universe, and focusing on its merits. If I dislike them, it is usually having to do more with story, acting, direction, etc. However, I do not like Christan Bale as Batman. I do not like Bale as Bruce Wayne. I like Christan Bale in other things, but not here. I think Bale is so bad as Batman that he rips me from the movie, and helps me reinforce my opinion that the Nolan films are less Batman films, and more really really good action movies. Batman is not a realistic character, and trying to make him, and the universe he inhabits, look "realistic" makes it that much more silly. Gotham was built around Batman, for Batman, and with that aesthetic in mind.  Watching the Dark Knight Rises teaser, I was awed by a wonderfully awesome action sequence that was really inspired. I was then knocked from Cloud 9 when I realized that, if I had no idea this was from the third Dark Knight movie, that this teaser scene I saw was from a Batman film.  When I watch these movies, I want to say "That's Batman." "That's the Joker." "That's Gotham City."
  Instead, I find myself wondering, in this realistic universe, how could a man make that illogical jump to become Batman? There are parameters set by a film the second it opens, detailing the reality in which it will lay between, and this film jumps from the fantastic to the realistic. "Wait, no. This is REALISTIC Batman."  What the fuck do you mean, "realistic" Batman? That makes NO SENSE. Not even for a multi-billionaire with childhood issues and a lot of time on his hands. There is no precedent set by tone or atmosphere in the film to warrant such a dramatic change. What it does warrant is the scene we're given in the first film, where a young Bruce Wayne shoots the murderer of his parents in the courthouse. If we follow the films "realistic" tone, Bruce Wayne would have went to jail, learned about the nature of forgiveness by meeting some other criminals, and was redeemed by his childhood friend played by the Katie Holmes character. Or, he goes into jail and starts killing people until he himself is murdered as a cautionary tale.  If the tone was different, if the world was different, I would believe that Bruce Wayne up and left to find the worlds greatest minds in martial arts and criminology to learn how to fight injustice in his hometown. But these movies don't give that to me: they give me grunty, awkward billionaire and his fun trips to Hong Kong with a really awesome Heath Ledger playing the bad guy.  Look, this didn't start out as a rant. I try to avoid this subject, because it seems like I'm just another comic fan pissing on the movies for their lack of uniformity to the comics. That ain't the case at all. I want good comic films, and I enjoy their alternate realities. Just not this one.

Thanks, Jim. You can read more articles like this on Jim's Facebook site Comics Make You Stronger. 

Okay, today's guest is a very talented artist and the 14th artist to be pheatured in the Peverett Phile Art Gallery. Please welcome to the Phile... Winter Artwork.

Me: Hello, Winter, welcome to the Phile. How are you?

Winter: I’m excellent! It’s been a great year so far… hopefully we all don’t die in 2012.

Me: Where are you from, Winter? 

Winter: A very small, very peaceful, very beautiful but very boring island in the West Indies. Barbados.

Me: I don't know exactly where Barbados is. It's by Jamaica, right?

Winter: Contrary to popular believe Barbados is not a suburb of Jamaica... LOL. If you look at the semi circular chain of islands you’ll notice one that’s a little off to the side… that’s us.

Me: I have to ask you where did the name Winter Artwork came from. And how did you come up with the logo of the guy with the patch over the eye?

Winter: There’s not much to the story. Winter was a nick name and I just slapped on the artwork. The logo is a mixture of my fascinations… skulls, bolts and circles.

Me: How long have you been drawing, Winter?

Winter: Pretty much all my life. I really can’t remember a time when I wasn’t illustrating.

Me: Do you remember what was the first thing you learned to draw?

Winter: Not sure but it was probably some Cthulu-like demon creature thingy. I drew a lot of monsters as a kid… mostly in church.

Me: Did you study art or did it come natural?

Winter: Never formally studied art. All my skill comes from instinct and trial and error.

Me: Your artwork has a lot of styles, so I have no clue who your influences would be. Who do you admire artistically?

Winter: Too many influences to list but I’m deeply inspired by logos, comic artists and several of my fellow TeeFury/Threadless designers.

Me: You do a lot of work that looks like actual beer labels and such. Have you ever designed an actual beer label?

Winter: Haven’t had the pleasure yet. Hey, Beer companies... call me! *wink*

Me: I love micro brewery's and checking out their labels. Is there a favorite one you have? Mine is Amber Waves from Capitol City in Washington DC. 

Winter: Stumptown Tart’s label from Portland looks pretty cool.

Me: Oh, we're talking about labels... I thought actual beer. LOL. I noticed you are a big fan of sci-fi as a lot of your artwork is "Doctor Who" (one of my favorite TV shows) and "Firefly". Are you a big sci-fi fan?

Winter: I’m a HUGE sci-fi nut. I was raised on "Star Trek:The Next Generation".

Me: Is sci-fi big in Barbados?

Winter: About as big as it is anywhere else… you’ve got your sci-fi nerds and then you have the “normal” folks who make fun of the sci-fi nerds. LOL.

Me: Speaking of "Doctor Who", I love the drawing of the Doctor and the watch done Mickey Mouse style. How did you come up with that design?

Winter: Like most of my ideas It just came to me on a bolt of inspiration. It’s such a natural combination when you think about it… two iconic characters bound by time.

Me: I first discovered your artwork when I saw your "Ride the Falcon" shirt on Teefury. 

Me: How did you come up with that idea? 

Winter: It’s really an old concept. As a kid I always pictured Han and Chewie riding a giant space falcon through the stars.

Me: How did you get into t-shirt designing, Winter?

Winter: It’s really just fell into it. I was surfing the net one day about 4 years back and I came across a website called Uneetee which was hosting a tee design contest… I entered and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Me: Is there one shirt you designed that is your favorite?

Winter: It hard to choose but “Pandora Blueskins” and “Smash!” are two of my favorites.

Me: I have pictures of them here. Hang on.

Me: I mentioned the Star Wars themed shirt and there seems to be a lot of it you designed. I am guessing Star Wars is your favorite movie?

Winter: That and Lord of The Rings.

Me: I work on the Star Tours ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios and your Star Wars designs are a big hit with us who work there. Ever been on the ride?

Winter: No I haven’t but I’m officially adding that to my “to do” list. I’d love to come by some day and see you guys! You and the crew should take a pic for my Facebook wall.

Me: I am not a big fan of zombie films, but I love Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, and everyone tells me I should see "The Walking Dead" TV show. Are you a big fan of that show? If I haven't seen it, what can you tell me about it?

Winter: Yeah I’m a HUGE fan of the show and the comic series! It’s your typical zombie apocalypse scenario but "Walking Dead" is really about the interactions between survivors and the hard choices they have to make in order to survive. It’s the kind of series that pulls no punches and I can wait to see what’s on the horizon!

Me: I have to ask what tools do you use.

Winter: Pencil, pigment liner, paper, Photoshop and Corel Draw X5

Me: Do you sketch out your artwork and designs by hand first

Winter: Yes I do!

Me: Okay, I have to ask, if you were to design the Peverett Phile logo how would it look?

Winter: I’d give it a retro noir look with some crazy elements mixed in like a flaming t-rex... LOL.

Me: I bet you're always drawing, right?

Winter: Like a shark needs to swim. I actually get depressed when I don’t sketch something for the day.

Me: Winter, thanks so much for being here on the Phile, sir. You have designed tee's for a few websites. Why don't you tell the Phile readers where they can check out your stuff and buy your designs?

Winter: You can check out my Red Bubble page at redbubble.com/people/winterartwork/collections/97588-t-shirts. My SplitReason Store: splitreason.com/winterartwork. My Society 6 page: society6.com/WinterArtwork. You can also find my work on Threadless, Jinx and FanGamer.net!

Me: Thanks so much for being part of The Peverett Phile Art Gallery, and please come back anytime. Is there anything you wanna say to the readers before you go?

Winter: Thanks for having me! I’d just like to thank the readers for their time and shout out all my excellent fans and supporters! PS: add me on Facebook... facebook.com/pages/WinterArtwork-Illustrations/150149308346470
or Twitter twitter.com/#!/WinterArtwork.

Me: Thanks, Winter. Take care.

Well, that about does it for another entry. Thanks to my guests Jim Mello and of course Winter. Okay, real quick. The Phile will be back on Wednesday with Ze from the band JointMethod. Sunday it's singer Jean Caffeine and Monday it's Alumni Fogdan. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. By the way, here's a drawing Logan. Not off to First Watch.