VIGNALI STUDIO

I did a demo on Sunday, and my friends Mark McDonnell and Nicolas Villarreal were kind enough to take some pictures. This shows my initial lay-in when I'm doing a figure drawing. I begin with long flowing lines, and build my shapes up in terms of design and not anatomy.

(I should also note that these drawings were done out of my head, and no model was present for this demonstration.)

I begin to build my shapes by focusing on the rhythm of the pose.

At this point I probably stopped to blather on about something, fortunately long enough for Nicolas to take a picture without my arm being in the way. These drawings don't take more than about five minutes (maybe seven minutes including my talking), so Nicolas had to be quick.

I continue building the shapes, but this time using my understanding of anatomy.



I have to say I was very impressed by the number of people that were interested in my approach to figure drawing. My approach makes sense to me, and it seemed to resonate with the people listening. I was heartened to see such eager minds taking an interest in something seemingly so perfunctory -- but a necessary part of design.

Here's a screen shot from the overhead video camera. It was squashed in perspective, so I had to unsquash it to present it to you here -- hence there is still a little bit of distortion. Now, this isn't the same drawing I was working on in the photos above, but I managed to give three demos during my presentation, and this was one of the other demos.

I'm going to be at the CTN Expo.
On Saturday I'm going to be doing a discussion in a forum called the "Line Kings." And, on Sunday I'm going to be doing a demo. I hope to see you all there.

My good friend Craig Harris has just started an online gallery that also makes periodic (brick and mortar) appearances throughout the Southland -- hence the name Nomad Gallery. He has invited me to participate as one of the featured artists in his gallery, so if you are interested in purchasing some of my artwork or just want to find out when the next show is going to happen (December 5th), please go to the Nomad Gallery.

I am selling a print of this faerie image, so please visit my friend Craig Harris at the Nomad Gallery.

Craig also has a tremendous roster of artists that reads like a who's-who in the animation industry's LA area.

It's been a while, but MAC pestered me and eventually shamed me into posting something -- thanks bud!

I have to admit, I'm so old school I like drawing with the centuries old pen nib and ink. I trained this way years ago, and at one time in my various past lives as a freelance artist I used to do ink drawings for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate -- with my drawings appearing in over 52 newspapers throughout the country. But, that was back when Prince first crashed into the music scene, and Nintendo had just come out with their first games. So, as you can tell that was a long time ago.

But, let's face it, who wants old school illustrations -- right? So, I decided to push this drawing into the technological world of the 20th century and add a little color using my Wacom Tablet and Photoshop 7.0.

I was going through a folder filled with odd sketches and came across this one. I can't remember why I drew this, but it looks like a Planet of the Apes inspired sketch -- or just a samurai ape.

This sketch was drawn on bond with graphite, and obviously from imagination.

I have just posted at Sketchclub. If you would like to see the rest of this image, go to Sketchclub.

Noelle has also posted her version of this mark too. Come and have a look.

I drew this one out at lunch today. You'd never guess this guy was watching the soccer game in an Argentine restaurant. (I'm going to guess his team was losing.)

I have just posted at Sketchclub. If you would like to see the rest of this image, go to Sketchclub

Animation Legend Andy Gaskill is now blogging. Please go and welcome him to the world of bloggers.

Best known for being the writer and art director for Disney's Lion King, here's a list of only some of his film credits I say "only" because he doesn't even have the Fox and the Hound listed in his IMDB credits.

I rarely post my sketchbook drawings during our Sketchclub lunches, rather we typically post our memory drawings at sketchclub.blogspot instead. So, here is a page from my sketchbook during one of these Sketchclub outings.

A whole bunch of us had gone to the local skatepark and drew some of the kids there. Ya gotta draw fast to get these weightless action poses! They're more like gesture drawings.

I just thought I would let you know that I have just posted at Sketchclub.( I know, it's been a while.) If you would like to see the rest of this image, go to Sketchclub!

Next week we're going to draw at a local skatepark.

I was a huge fan of the 1970s television show. So you can imagine two years ago when I found the DVD for all three seasons being offered online, I bought it. My kids and I will often sit and enjoy the show: I reliving my memories; they creating memories.

We would often play LotL with my children and their toys, but it wasn't the same. And, since there are no Land of the Lost games or toys based on the 1970s television show being offered in the stores anymore, I decided to make a game. We found some LotL crystals being offered on eBay, bought them and have made them part of the game. We also use different colored buttons for our characters.

Wanna play? You'll have to be familiar with the show in order to understand who the characters are.

The object of the game is to pick up all four crystals and make it to the end without getting stuck in the circular vortex, or captured by sleestaks. The catch is, no one gets left behind -- we have to move through the game like a family. Having all four crystals allows you to reenter our world.

The dice allows only one of four choices. Move one space ahead, move two spaces ahead, move three spaces ahead, and try again. Three try-agains in a row moves you four spaces forward.

The pylons allow you to move backwards in the game, but not forward. Unless you have the Enik card and happen to land on the red pylon. At which point you can go anywhere in the game. Enik also allows you to escape the sleestaks. Otherwise, you're stuck.

The Pakuni card allows you to take a short cut into the cavern, and gets you unstuck from the vortex -- theoretically by going for help and getting the mirror.

Each time you play the either the Enik, Pakuni, toothpick or torch card, you have to put them back. Unless of course you re-land on that space again that allows you to pick up the card.

The vortex: is like a turnabout. You go round and round unless you can land on the square that allows you to leave the vortex. There is another square that traps you with the vortexes lazer. To escape, you'll need to get the mirror. The mirror reflects the vortexes deadly lazer and allows you to escape, and if a family member is stuck you must retrieve the mirror, and then use one of the pylons to go backwards into the game and attempt to land on their space to rescue them. Once you have the mirror, you keep it.

Sometimes everyone gets stuck in LotL, but usually you can find your way out.

I had the kids draw up the cards. You'll need red, blue, yellow and green crystals, an Enik and Pakuni card, and you'll also need a toothpick, mirror and torch card. You might want to draw up some cards for the crystals too.

The gameboard is watercolor and ink.

(And, yes, I was very disappointed with the new LotL movie. When I saw that Will Ferrel was staring in it, I knew I couldn't take my children to it -- too raunchy and crude for my standards.)

Here is yet another postcard from Argentina...that actually made the journey. This card went out to my friend Richie Chavez.

I had just gotten off the airplane after a 17 hour flight, took a bus ride into BA, walked through the park, and jotted this one down before heading off to my hotel.

I gambled and I lost. I think out of the six hand drawn postcards I mailed from Argentina, only three arrived to their destinations. Even the hand drawn postcard I mailed my daughters never made it.

They're lost into the ether of that great void between memory and imagination...or in some postman's collection.

I only had the sense to take this picture of one. I drew this while in a restaurant in Buenos Aries. I believe it was intended for Paul Wee.

Alas, what can I say, I'm an art adrenaline junky.

Here's another design I did way back when I was doing character design and development work for Disney's Brother Bear.

This sketch was originally drawn on heavyweight vellum with wax pencil.

Here's one I did about ten years ago. The original was drawn on regular 8.5 X 11 bond paper with graphite. Nothing fancy.

I wish I had a better jpg, but this is all I got.

Ric Estrada has passed away. He declined rapidly over the past week as a result of advanced prostate cancer, to which he no longer responded to treatment. This had been an ongoing battle for Ric. Nearly all his children were by his bedside as he crossed over yonder to where the tree of life is in eternal bloom.

I met Ric while living in St. George Utah, and have been living in the riches of having met him. He was truly alive, in every sense of the word, from the sparkle in his eyes to that warm smile he embraced everyone with.

Family Memorial Donation Suggestion
Ric loved every person he ever met and all people. He believed in the possibilities for all of his friends, those he had met and those he hadn't met yet, desiring to help all to improve their circumstances. For any who wishes to do so please donate to the humanitarian fund at http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/.  100% of the funds go to meet needs worldwide. Be sure to indicate that you are making a donation to the humanitarian fund so that your contribution will be used solely for humanitarian needs. You may also indicate that this a memorial donation for Ric Estrada.

As mentioned before, I like to play the postcard game. This is where I send hand drawn postcards to my artist friends, with the hope they will reciprocate in kind. It's a way to collect art and share art with friends in a fun and playful way. I figured I'm usually doodling anyway when I travel, why not do it on a 4X6 card and mail it.

I guess I'm an art nerd, I have to admit I get exited to see how these little pieces of art travel, to their destinations -- sometimes with smudges and creases. And, sometimes, they just don't make it! (I guess the mail man is playing the postcard game too.)

So, naturally, while I was in Buenos Aries, Argentina, I managed to drop off a few cards to some friends. This card went to my good friend, and talented artist, Noelle Triaureau!

I'll try and post some of the other cards when I get copies.

These images were created for Brother Bear.

I had been charged with the task of creating some concept sketches for the animals in this world, as well as some of the humans. In this case here I've drawn one of the younger human members of a hunting party.


This was interesting because when I drew this image the Disney Studio remarked that they were interested in the graphic nature of the skin cape, as well as the uniqueness of the bone goggles. I was looking forward to seeing something like that in the final film -- but it was not to be.


Part of my job here was to do as much research as possible about the stone age implements, tools and tailored hide clothing. So, in that regard, the clothing, stitching, and crafting of tools was very accurate. But, the Inuit make really elaborate outfits, but I had to actually draw them in a more primitive manner so as to fit the feel the studio was looking for.

When I was doing research the bulkiness of the clothing was one of the things that stood out to me, as well as the way in which the leather skins tended to fold -- being that the fur was kept on the inside of the clothing.


All but the top drawing were drawn with Prisma Pencil on newsprint. It looks to me as though that one may have been drawn on vellum.

Obviously, all of these are drawn without models -- this is where figure drawing and sketching in public really pays off.

Oh, I've been a lousy blogger. I just haven't been going around to see what everyone's been up to, nor have I been posting new images.

I did get an account on Facebook. Not so sure I'm going to keep it, the jury is still out.

Charcoal pencil in an 8x10 sketchbook.

Isn't it fun to discover artwork that you did, but can't remember doing?

Obviously a speed painting of a pirate, but aside from that the history is lost to the ages.

You'll need to see this sketch with the ol' red and blue 3D glasses, not the fancy amber and violet ones.

I had tried this before, but it didn't work. This time I figured it out -- with the help of some of you in the blog-o-sphere. Thanks for the tips.

I thought this drawing looked like one of those black velvet paintings, so I went ahead and inverted the image using Photoshop. If you want to see what the drawing looked like, you'll have to revert the process on your end.

I felt it was something you could find in Jim Kelly's apartment, with Isaac Hayes singing in the background.

I just thought I would let you know, I have just posted at Sketchclub. If you would like to see the rest of this image, go to Sketchclub!

Come take a look and compare the sketches.

Bobert D. Ballard found the Titanic, Howard Carter discovered King Tut's treasures, and I have found the treasure trove of places to sketch!

There's a coffee shop not far from my home that happens to be right in-between a suburb, a college and a trailer park -- not far from the beach. Oh, the faces, the costumes...the tattoos!

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is not only coincidental, it's also accidental.

Since we're on the theme of hand drawn post cards, here's another one I did just recently.

A friend of mine here at work, Omar Smith, recently went to Mexico. So, I managed to talk him into sending me a card from there. And, in return, I sent him this one.

It's ink and marker.

Here's a hand drawn postcard I drew out for a friend. I drew it with ink and marker.

Years ago I used to play this game with my art friends where I would mail them a hand drawn/painted postcard, and they would return in kind. I figured it was a way I could trade art with my art friends, do something productive with my doodles, and have some fun in the process.

Alas, it worked great in theory, but as time went by I realized I was the only one playing. Some would just get busy with life, and the cards would stop coming. A lot of other artists were so self critical, they felt intimidated that their work wouldn't be as nice as what I mailed them, and this would cause them to procrastinate and never send a card. That was the biggest shame, because that was never my intent. I never wanted this game to cause anxiety -- but heck we're nutty artists, I guess we all have hang-ups.

I didn't mind that some cards would get damaged, that was part of the fun. I considered it the patina of having traversed some great expanse. These banged up cards really felt like they had travelled. And, some cards would never get to their destination! Lost in the mail! Or, part of a postman's collection somewhere.

Some cards arrived from far away places, while others were simply from where ever these artists lived. I managed to send a few out while I was on vacation, but most were sent from where ever I was living.

The fun part was mailing cards with different sizes. I got a wooden postcard from one friend. It was hilarious. The simple fact is, if you put enough postage on a rock, you can mail that too!

The postcard game was fun while it lasted. This particular thank-you card was an opportunity to hand draw out a post card like the ol' days, and send it along. This time, no game -- just a thank-you.

And happy holidays!

I snuck out solo for Sketchclub and tried to take advantage of the "real" weather in order to draw some wonderful wardrobes.

Seeing this woman braving the drizzle and 55 degree weather was comical. It looked like she was ready for some subzero Lake Michigan winds to blow in any minute. The only give away were the tiny dress shoes. Heh-heh, very Los Angeles! Since we don't get snow here, this was the closest thing.

Have a wonderful holiday my friends. I'll see you all in the coming year.

"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." Luke 2:14

Yep, that's my daughter and I at last year's event.

Hello everyone. It's that time of the year, and my church has built Bethlehem in our church parking lot, and yours truly and one of his intrepid daughters will be participating once again as shepherds as we give praise to our Lord and Savior.

So, come experience the Christmas story in an interactive town. 
It is a hands-on experience for you to walk through the city of Bethlehem during the time of Christ's Birth. 
This town has a cast of over 150, live animals, music, dancing, wares, trades to try, a petting farm, and a visit from the angels.

I would like to invite your entire family and friends to come and tour Bethlehem.
Admission is FREEE, in fact- they give you a handful of shekels to spend in town. 
Reservations are not needed and groups are welcome. 
Please dress warmly since this is an outdoor event.

3 Nights in MB and 2 in Bellflower (5 nights total):
Manhattan Beach - Dec. 5-7 (6-9pm)
1243 Artesia Blvd., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Bellflower - Dec. 13 & 14 (6-8:00pm)
17456 Downey Ave., Bellflower, CA 90706

Its Amazing, You don't want to miss it!!!

For more info visit: www.journeytobethlehem.org

Hello friends. I've got a couple new images on Sketchclub, so if you would like to see the rest of this image, go to Sketchclub!

Also, a very talented young recruit named Glenn Harmon has joined Sketchclub! He has paid his membership fee and his dues in advance, gone through the rigorous/brutal initiation ritual, and will return to Sketchclub once the swelling goes down.

We also have a new sketch by Paul Shardlow posted there.

First I'd like to apologize for the intrusive watermark/copyright. As you can see, I'm concerned that our artworks may be detached from our copyright, and become "orphaned." So, I'm adding my signature in a manner that can be removed by the "dedicated," but not by someone trying to quickly do it.

Moving on, this is a watercolor I did a while back. I was drawing these drawings in my sketchbook using charcoal, and then hastily adding some watercolor. For the most part, this was probably a five minute sketch, so I would draw out a gesture drawing as quick as I could, and use the remainder of the time to add the color.

Several years ago we purchased this pumpkin scarecrow decoration for our home. It was a huge hit with my youngest daughter, she dubbed him "Pumpkin Boy."

Sadly, we lost "Pumpkin Boy" when the sewage in the home we were renting backed up and flooded our home. (Apparently a tree root had managed to get inside the pipe, and when a toilet was left running, it eventually backed up and flooded our bedroom.) Poor "Pumpkin Boy" was hiding in the closet, and absorbed all the water like a sponge. We had to toss out a lot of things, shoes, clothing and anything else that was contaminated. It was a mess -- I even lost a sketchbook I kept under my bed that I would use to draw my dreams, or other moments of inspiration.

The next year, "Pumpkin Boy" didn't return, and my daughter was distraught that "Pumpkin Boy" had forgotten her. She made the declaration, "He was probably busy, but I know he'll come back next year." What was I to do? I tried in vain to look for this decoration, but alas it was not to be.

Fellow blogger and friend Shuku had offered to help me make one, and she sent me some patterns to make the pumpkin shape. I bought a different scarecrow decoration of about the approximate size and removed the head -- then, stitch by stitch I hand sewed Pumpkin Boy's head -- trying my best to match the original, thus bringing him back from the abyss.

The day before Halloween last year, my daughter discovered "Pumpkin Boy" hiding in the bushes at night.

This year, "Pumpkin Boy" returned once more during our full moon, so I thought I would post a picture of the original "Pumpkin Boy", and the new "Pumpkin Boy." This picture was taken last year, right after she discovered "Pumpkin Boy" hiding in the bushes and we brought him inside.

Thanks to all of you that wrote letters and contacted your congress persons. I believe it made the difference.

Shame on Senators Leahy and Hatch for trying to sneak this by. Write them a letter and let them know how you feel.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/orphan-works-co.html

I thought perhaps our politicians might just be busy with the collapse of our banking and mortgage system – but I was wrong. When ever you hear them talking about how busy they’re working, it’s a sham because they always find the time to take advantage of situations like this to give themselves cover -- and we lose either more of our hard earned money or more of our rights.

While everyone is busy watching them reach into our pockets to pay for their mismanagement of our banks, they’re busy trying to pick our pockets with their other hand! (For those of you that didn’t believe this would happen, go back to sleep.)

Here’s a letter from the Illustrator’s Partnership of America. Read it, and make the appropriate calls and write the appropriate letters. Remember; be respectful.

Marcelo Vignali

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ILLUSTRATORS ' PARTNERSHIP OF AMERICA
Orphan Works: The Devil's Own Day
Never Too Busy to Pass Special
Interest Legislation
9.28.08

As lawmakers struggled Friday to clean up the mess on Wall Street, sponsors of the Orphan Works Act passed more special interest legislation. Their bill would force copyright holders to subsidize giant copyright databases run by giant internet firms.
Like the companies now needing billion dollar bailouts, these copyright registries - which would theoretically contain the entire copyright wealth of the US - would presumably be "too big to fail." Yet it's our wealth, not theirs, the scheme would risk.
Small business owners didn't ask for this legislation. We don't want it and we don't need it. Our opposition numbers have been growing daily. So Friday, the bill's sponsors reached for the hotline.
What is Hotlining?
Critics of hotlining say "that lawmakers are essentially signing off on legislation neither they nor their staff have ever read."
"In order for a bill to be hotlined, the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader must agree to pass it by unanimous consent, without a roll-call vote. The two leaders then inform Members of this agreement using special hotlines installed in each office and give Members a specified amount of time to object - in some cases as little as 15 minutes. If no objection is registered, the bill is passed."
- Roll Call, Sept 17, 2007
In other words, a Senate bill can pass by "unanimous consent" even if some Senators don't know about it.
The Devil's Own Day
Senators Leahy and Hatch hotlined the Orphan Works Act twice last summer. Each time came at the end of a day, at the end of a week, near the end of a legislative session. Each time lawmakers were distracted by other issues and other plans. Each time artists rallied quickly and each time a Senator put a hold on the bill.

Friday the Senators found a new opportunity.

With lawmakers struggling to package a 700 billion dollar bailout to avert a worldwide economic meltdown, with the rest of the country focused on Presidential debates, with Washington in chaos and Congressional phone lines jammed, they hotlined an amended bill. On short notice, even the legislative aides we could reach by phone said they didn't have time to read it. And so, while we were rushing to get out a second email blast to artists, the bill passed by "unanimous consent" - in other words, by default.

What better way to pass a bill that was drafted in secret than to pass it while nobody's looking?

Since Friday, artists have been conducting bitter post mortems on their blogs. That's understandable, but it's not time yet.

The Senate passed their bill Friday, but the House hasn't. There's still time to write, phone and fax your congressional representatives. Tell them not to let the House Judiciary Committee fold their bill and adopt the Senate's.
- Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators' Partnership

TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS TONIGHT
Tell the House Judiciary Committee not to adopt the Senate version.
We've supplied a special letter for this purpose: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321
Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.
________________________________________________________________________________________
For ongoing developments visit the Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog:
http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

Over 70 creator organizations are united in opposing this bill in its current form. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses. Read the list: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00273
The Capwiz site is open to professional creators and any member of the image-making public. Sample letters have been provided. International artists will find a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.
If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place "Add Name" in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

Here's another one from my sketchbook.

The medium is ink, and magic marker.

Years ago, when the Surf's Up crew went to do some research at a surfing contest near San Diego, I brought along my sketchbook. I did several sketches, one of which was this one.

The medium is ball point pen, a brush pen, and a white pen.

I'm back, sorry for the delay in posting.

This has been a sad summer. My father-in-law lost his battle with cancer a couple weeks back. Most of this summer had been dedicated to him, as my wife made frequent visits with him (as well as the whole family). We knew his cancer was terminal, and so we tried to soak up as much as we could before it was his time to be with our Lord.

He was a loving family man, a Christian, and a playful grandfather. He will be greatly missed.

In 2003, when I had first arrived at Sony Pictures Animation, I was given the assignment of doing some visual development work for Astro Boy. It's hard to believe it's been five years.

Being fans of the original series, it was a dream project for Richie Chavez and I. We created some designs together, and I put together a poster for an inter-corporate mid range planning report. I used one of Richie's small robot designs, and I tried to create a look for Astro Boy himself that was new and different.

Richie and I had also written a treatment for the story that was never seen because the fragile deal with the Tezuka family and Sony corporate unraveled during this same time. The deal with Sony fell apart; for us it was too-little-too-late, and we missed out on a tremendous project.

The project has since moved onto Imagi Animation Studios. Good luck guys! I can't wait to see the film next year.

Greetings everyone!

Sorry I've taken so long in posting anything. I got swamped with life stuff. Unfortunately my posting may continue to be a little sporadic for a little while, but I'll try and keep posting when I get a chance.

OK, here we're going back ten years ago when I was doing some work for Disney as a freelancer. The project was Atlantis, and I did several pencil drawings for them as I tried to explore what this world looked like.

There is a great book on the project called Atlantis, The Lost Empire, The Illustrated Script.

--M

This drawing was done during a testing phase for the Open Season Project.

We were in the process of creating a prototype version of our film in CG, in order to test out the style of the film. We did a crane shot of the camera moving over the landscape, trucking through the trees, and then camera moves over a hill, and finally we reveal this shot. So, the entire drawing was done in various levels like a 2D film, with trees in front on an overlay, meadow and hillside with bushes and rocks, and then the finale with the waterfall and and old saw mill.

We put it all together using Maya like a multiplane camera with my drawings placed on cards. We completed this exercise, but we never completed a CG version of this shot as we had originally planned.

The drawings were done with graphite on animation paper.

I've gotten a few comments that seem to suggest this isn't happening, or that it isn't even being talked about at the federal level. I provided links in my previous post to make it easier to follow this story. Please, just follow the links my friends.

Go to GovTrack.us and you'll see the Bill S.2913 has been introduced to the Senate on April 24, 2008.

As the Full Report link in the previous post will show, this has been presented to the both the house and senate. This is the first step in the legislative process, which means it is being deliberated, investigated and revised before it enters into the general debate.

If artists don't get motivated about this, or believe this is a hoax or an internet rumor, then be prepared to lose the copyright protection you currently have. Make your voices heard so as to add balance to those who want to create the Orphan Works Act. Now is the time you should be giving your testimonies. Politicians have no idea what it is to be an artist, educate them. Or else we may lose the copyright protection to spread our pixie dust across the bloggosphere.

If this law passes, this may be one of the only ways to protect our artwork when we post online. Essentially, I would be rendering my artwork useless with a watermark to would-be users seeking to use my artwork without just compensation. But this watermark protection isn't a guarantee, because anything printed or reproduced without your copyright will now be subject to theft! (That's not to say your copyright wouldn't be purposefully stripped for the purpose of theft.)

Right now, anyone can download my artwork, but no one can legally profit off my artwork without just compensation to me. This is all about to change with this new bill being proposed. S.2913 and H.R. 5889.

Seeing a great big watermark is not a great way to blog or to show samples of our artwork on our websites, but this may be one of the only real protections left to us should this become law.

The Orphan Works act works like this. Is someone finds your artwork on the web, or printed elsewhere, without proper copyright and registration (or with the copyright stripped off), they can register it -- after a “reasonable and diligent search.”

What is a “reasonable and diligent search?” Our artwork would be posted somewhere within the dozens of privately owned registration houses, and it would up to us to find our artwork and claim it.

There will be dozens and dozens of privately owned registries, and billions of images throughout 100 years to sort through. Rendering the process of claiming our own images as nearly impossible. If, on the off chance, you find that you have been ripped off, your infringement claim is only limited to, “reasonable compensation.” (As per their actual literature on page 115 in the Orphan Works Full Report.) What is reasonable compensation? Well, it would NOT be the current compensation of $150,000. worth of protection the current law affords us. Fair compensation means there will be NO penalties for copyright infringement. But, if you catch them, they'll pay you what a court deems is a reasonable usage fee.

Now, if you want to protect your images from being ripped off, you would need to register your images with all these privately owned registries. How much will cost? Who knows? How many images to do you draw per year? I just registered one script idea with SAG, and it cost me $20.00.

As a commercial artist the Orphan Works Act puts the burden of copyright protection and enforcement on the artists, while at the same time giving a pass to the users. We have to register with all the registry houses, and they only have to register with one. This is a bad bill that seeks to undermine the government's long-standing legal protection for artists.

Who are these registration data bases that are going to profit from this? Microsoft, Google, Corbis ... to mention a few.

Whenever I see both Democrats and Republicans come together, get ready to grab your wallet! Such is the case with the Orphan Works Act Senate Bill S.2913 and House Bill H.R. 5889. Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA),Howard Coble (R-NC), John Conyers (D-MI), Lamar Smith (R-TX), (Chairman and Ranking Members of House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and Full Judiciary Committee Chairman and Ranking Member respectively) and Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Please get active and protect your copyrights, or be prepared to lose them!

Read the act, testimony or full report
Go to the Illustrator's Partnership Resource Page !
See the Brad Holland video about this act
Government contacts and sample letter!