The Sultry Pin Up Girls of Nic Ter Horst

You can also view this article on The Toronto Animation Arts Festival's blog.

Luscious Legs, anyone? Look no further than the bountiful blushing bombshells of Nic Ter Horst, one of the exhibitors at this year's Toronto Animation Arts Festival Market. Nic works as a clean-up animator at Guru Studio, and is an aficionado of pin up girls in her spare time. She revels in the female form, accentuating hips, lips, and thighs, creating richly sensual portraits of women who revel in the art of seduction. Her subjects from popular culture, including Black Widow, Jessica Rabbit, and Sailor Moon, are strong female characters who are heroes to be reckoned with, and also happen to be amply proportioned (watch out for Jessica Rabbit's booby trap). Other subjects, including burlesque performers and Suicide Girls, perform their seductive art as an act of empowerment, revelling in their own beauty and the teasing of their fans which they actively promote. Nic's ladies demonstrate pride and confidence in the way they consciously present their beauty to the world, and that confidence is a large part of the attraction. I asked Nic about where her fascination with pin up art comes from:

What is your history with pinup art? How long have you been illustrating pinups?

Classic pin ups have always been a huge inspiration for me. Bill Presing's work really got me into the art form I think, and classic beauties like Marilyn Monroe were always intriguing, even before I got into pin up art. I’ve been illustrating pin ups more seriously since I graduated school in the past two years or so, though I’ve always loved to draw the female form.

How do you choose the subjects for your pinups?

I like choosing characters and models who have a classic, confident look. 1920s-50s pin up, burlesque, and advertising have always been a great source of inspiration. Modern pin up and burlesque performers also have a lot of the same attraction, since they’re drawing inspiration from a lot of the same sources, though they often take it in a different direction.

Please describe your artistic process.

I’ll usually find a specific reference, a source of inspiration, or just land on an idea and go from there. I like to start an illustration on paper and work on anything from a thumbnail to a full sketch. After I do the initial sketch I take a photo and move onto digital inks and colour in photoshop.

Why is pin up art important to you?

I find pin up art, photography, and performances to be very empowering, and that’s what I try to show in my art. Women of all shapes and sizes do it, engaging in a series of very flattering angles and poses. The women in pin up are sexy, but not sexualized, desirable, but unobtainable. I also find pin up and burlesque to have a sense of humour around it, and everyone is always smiling.

Are there any models, characters, or burlesque performers that you particularly admire?

I’ve always loved Jessica Rabbit. Recently I’ve realized that she’s probably the character that stuck with me all through my childhood and artistic career pushing me in this direction. As far as real models go, Marilyn Monroe has always been a favourite. As for burlesque, I can’t think of a performer I’ve seen that I don’t admire. Amber Ray was amazing to see, Bianca Boom Boom, Roxi D’Lite… I can’t wait to see some Toronto shows and get some local girls on my radar. St. Stella (pictured above) was fantastic to draw, and I bet she’ll be even more fun in motion.

Anything you'd like to promote?

I have an Etsy store where you can buy my original work, prints, or order a commission.

Thanks Nic! You can follow Nic Ter Horst on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Cuphead and the Golden Age of Cartoons

Perhaps the most impressive looking game shown at this year's E3, Cuphead, by Studio MDHR, is a run and gun sidescroller drawn in the style of cartoons from the 30s. The art style immediately evokes the animation of Max Fleischer, a king of the golden age of cartoons. Among his creations are Bimbo (pictured to the right of Cuphead), his bombshell girlfriend Betty Boop, and Popeye (who was originally a comic strip character whom Fleischer bought the rights for and launched to international stardom, briefly even eclipsing the popularity of Mickey Mouse). The visual style of Cuphead is an animation fan's fantasy, and it's looking to be a genuinely fun co-op gaming experience. Studio MDHR's plans are ambitious to say the least:

"With Cuphead, we aim to evolve the genre by adding new features such as: super arts, infinite lives, a playable world map and hidden secrets. In addition to that, we will have refined controls, additional boss patterns on harder modes and balanced weapons to equip (that you don’t lose!). We plan to release 10-15 bosses per episode and end up with over 30 bosses. If all goes as planned, we will defeat the current “Guinness World Record for Most Boss Battles in a Run and Gun Game”[25 total])."

As far as I'm concerned, the game already holds a world record for the number of ways it enters my heart. Not only is the cartoony nature of the game fantastic, but the devs are drawing their gameplay influences from pinnacles in the run and gun genre including Gunstar Heroes, Contra III, and Mega Man X. The animation in this game is looking super smooth, and the main characters, Cuphead and Mugman, zip through the stage with the omnipresent grin of the black and white cartoon character, and emote handsomely as they take damage or shoot pellets with a snap of their fingers. The enemies showcased are similarly impressive, sporting smoothly animated attacks and sinister grins. Studio MDHR promises variety in the types of boss fights you encounter, from a cranky sea captain to a rampaging flower, and variety in the strategies required to beat them. So far the footage shown of the game has been limited, but perhaps that's for the best as if I saw more at this point I'd want a copy right now in my grubby little hands. The game's release has been pushed back to 2015, and I'll be waiting impatiently for its arrival.

You can visit Cuphead on his official website, or Studio MDHR on Facebook and Twitter.

Korra Book 3 Trailers

What do you do when Nickelodeon Mexico accidentally airs episodes of The Legend of Korra Book 3? Make a fan trailer of course! Youtube user Bigby Wolf has compiled footage of the show that is making us drool in anticipation.

SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3!

This looks like it's going to be a pretty heady season. A lot of the action seems to take place all over the world of Avatar rather than just in Republic City, which makes me nostalgic for the Adventures of Aang. In the hitherto unvisited Earth Kingdom, we see some new characters, including a boy who can enigmatically use air bending and a large man with a scar above his left eye who, based on his moves with a staff, might be able to air bend as well. Bolin meets an attractive lady who appears to be an Earthbender (come on Bolin, get some!). Lin Bei Fong seems to have some sort of flashbacks about attacking her sister with whom she had beef, resulting in her scar. There is a sparky sparky boom gal, and yes, we finally get an appearance from the Fire Lord himself, Zuko. We even get to see a red, fire breathing dragon streak across the sky. Of course, all this leaves us with more questions than answers, but damn, does it ever whet the appetite for more adventures in the world of Avatar!

EDIT: Nickelodeon has released the official trailer for Book 3.

This trailer is as enigmatic as the leaked footage trailer, but showcases some new footage that suggests that, perhaps as a result of the merging of the spirit and human realms, more people are able to bend elements they previously were unable to, or be able to bend who were previously non-benders, including Tenzin's brother Bumi. The action looks amazing. With the sparky sparky boom gal on the scene, these trailers beg the question: who are the main antagonists this season? So many mysteries - can't wait to explore them properly when Book 3: Changes arrives on television!

Why You Should Love Bee & Puppycat

Released by Frederator Studios on their Youtube channel Cartoon Hangover in 2013, Bee & Puppycat, the brainchild of Natasha Allegri, hit us like an umbrella shot to the nuts: sudden, surprising, and sweet (don't judge me). The two episodes released had fans begging for more, and after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, the show is going to be released as a series in the Fall of 2014. I couldn't be more excited to have more zany and emotionally-resonant episodes of the show enter my face holes, and since the internet loves lists, I decided to list the reasons why you should be excited too.

If you live under a rock and have not seen the original webisodes, check them out on Youtube.

1. Bee: All heart but no Grace, Bee is a down-on-her-luck twenty-something year old who can't hold down a job but still has the kindness to take in the stray Puppycat. She is an unwilling hero who, nevertheless, demonstrates great bravery when thrust into dangerous situations. Also, she has cute dresses.

2. Puppycat: Is he a cat? Maybe a dog? Nobody really knows, but what we do know is that he does temp work in fishbowl space and tells a story about a space outlaw which might be less fictional than he cares to admit. Though he often seems grumpy, he too has a heart of gold, and perhaps comes to Bee because he recognizes the good nature of her heart - or that she's plum broke.

3. Temp Work Adventures: You can bet that in the new season Bee and Puppycat will be going on all sorts of adventures in fishbowl space and beyond to score some sweet ca-ash. Perhaps next instead of consoling a sad fish they'll groom a persnickety sea lion? What's great about the temp work formula is the unlimited scope of the possible adventures Bee and Puppycat can find themselves in when the show starts up again in the Fall, though I expect we'll find out more about Puppycat's mysterious past and see some crazy adventures relating to it.

4. Monster Battles: The second episode of Bee & Puppycat gave us a preview of the Sailor Moon-esque action we can look forward to in future episodes. The monster that comes out of Wallace is demented and terrifying, proving that this show isn't all candy and poop jokes! Plus, Puppycat can turn into a freaking laser. I personally hope Bee continues to use her sword not as a sword.

5. The Zany Humour Of Natasha Allegri: Natasha is a talented lady who before the glorious success of her Kickstarter previously worked as a character designer on Adventure Time, and was responsible for designing the wildly popular gender-swapped versions of Finn and Jake, Fionna and Cake. In many ways, Bee seems to be a mirror of Natasha, or at least the way Natasha portrays herself on her Tumblr. She is lightly self-disparaging, while also revelling in her own eccentricities. Also, she has a cat named Pancake, so there's that. This show is her baby, and like a cute kitten video on the internet is both adorable and menacing in its power to move you. Kudos, Natasha!

6. The Voice Of Allyn Rachel: Bee's voice is somehow friendly, sardonic, lively, and depressed all at once, and it's thanks to this wonderful actress that I now truly believe in the power of lasagna to cure a broken heart. She brings life to one of the more vibrant female characters in cartoons, managing to somehow be both down to Earth and larger than life, and for that she definitely deserves recognition. Also, she screams funny.

7. Things Bee Yells: "I GOT YOU SOME ICE FOR YOUR CROTCH! I'M SHOVING THE CROTCH-ICE UNDER THE DOOR!" and "AAAH HAD A BAD DREAM! AND YOU WERE THERE! AND THE LASAGNA'S GONE!" and "Noooo... no no no no no no NO... I don't LIKE THIS OUTFIT!" and "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOOO!"

and of course...

8. You took too long: now your candy's gone... that's what happened. WU-POW!

Bee & Puppycat's new season is well into production, and you can watch a production update introducing the entire creative team and new voice actors (including internet celebrities Ashly Burch and Hannah Hart) on Youtube. Keep an eye out for new Bee & Puppycat episodes this Fall!

The Amazing Everything of Scott C.

Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C is the name of a collected edition of Scott Campbell's work. It is also a proper descriptor of said work. The guy is just plain awesome, even Jack Black says so in the intro to the book:

"I loves me some Scott C. His paintings are like precious little gems. So cleverly and skillfully executed. Touching and hilarious."

Well put, Jack. Scott C's work is undeniably charming and more than a little whimsical - the happy-go-lucky attitude of his work is infectious. I mean, just look at these guys on the right, they're adorable, right? Wrong! They're killing machines, just look at those unicorns blobs rip into those rainbows with unbridled abandon! It's Scott C's kind eye which paints these terrifying creatures in such a pleasant light, it is his gift - to see nothing but the best in people. Or perhaps he has a magic pen that does that. Regardless, Scott C is a gift to the world with his pop-culture iconography and cheerful scenarios that we should all meditate upon to become happier people, a goal which Scott says in his book that he has always been conscious of:

"I was not a tormented soul that must paint to stay sane. I had a Leave it to Beaver upbringing with a pleasant family. I just liked to make jokes and be happy... I like making people laugh and point and nudge one another."

Ghostbusters print made for the 30th anniversary of the franchise. Click to enlarge.

It's refreshing to have an artist who is not only talented and untormented but also deeply rooted in the nerd zeitgeist. He worked for years in the video game industry, developing the world and characters for Double Fine's Psychonauts and Brütal Legend before branching out and becoming a juggernaut of charming art in his own right. He paints primarily in watercolours, a process, he explains in his book, is as relaxing as the art itself:

"Why do I use watercolor? Because it enables me to have a muted and noncommittal palette with an airiness that relaxes me. My colors start out quite faint, but as I gain more confidence, the colors become more vibrant and contrasting. I start out by doodling on sheets of scratch paper and scanning them into the computer to compose in Photoshop. I have grown accustomed to the Undo button. I print the compositions out and trace them onto my watercolor paper like magic."

Adventure Time, come on grab your friends!

The airiness he speaks of permeates his entire body of work. The lines he paints are defined yet wavy, and his use of watercolour adds levity in the way his colours bleed and waver in density through his backgrounds and characters. It's a very distinctive style that blends the nuances of high art with the wackiness of cartoons. The overall theme of his work is generally one of cheer and general childlike imagination. When he's not painting a smiling Ghostbusters' Stay Puft or any of his movie/tv-land brethren, he's creating worlds in which have comically overcomplicated umbrellas, baby carriage cannons, cross-sections of amusement park-like homes for mummies and soldiers, actual amusement parks for skeletons and zombies, a floating bar for sea monsters, and of course, lumberjacks. His work has all the feel of a child dreaming up the coolest thing he can think of with the artistic sensibilities of a slightly larger child (which of course I mean in the most complimentary way possible). As adults we so often lose our sense of childhood play, and it is precisely that feeling of nostalgia which Scott C is able to tap, allowing us to remember what it felt like to lie on our stomachs in the kitchen sketching dinosaurs battling tanks.

With three published comic collections, two children's books, and a slew of commercial clients including Criterion, Laika, Macmillan, New Line Cinema, Nickelodeon, and Vice Magazine under his belt, it's a wonder Scott gets any personal painting done! Yet amazingly he still has time for his own projects. One subject Scott C loves to work with are characters from movies and television portrayed in true Scott C happy-style. One of his larger ongoing endeavours, Great Showdowns, is a series of amazing pop-culture paintings on the topic of conflict in movies and television showcased online, that have since been published in two separate volumes and is still going strong. In an interview with comicbookmovie.com, Scott C explained where the idea came from:

"The Great Showdowns began at the very first annual Crazy4Cult group exhibition at Gallery 1988 in 2008 or so. All the the artists created work inspired by cult films. I just started drawing my favorite films... Usually just people standing there with each other from films that I dug. I liked how they looked just standing there enjoying each other and I liked the idea of all these little moments of tension being seen as a group like a party... I created 10 of these showdowns for that show and super enjoyed it, so I made 10 more for the show the following year.. And eventually, I started the website as a way to motivate myself to make them on a more regular basis and have them easily accessible to people. And that's how it all went! An epic tale." ¹

Epic indeed. Scott C is able to take what we all love about pop-culture and truly make it his own. It's inspiring to see enemies transformed into best buds, and seeing a new showdown pop up on my feed always brings a smile to my face. While deceptively simple in its scope, this series is great because it reminds us that there is always a chance for peace and reconciliation even in the most destructive of conflicts. Who knew you could learn something AND have fun?

I really love the work of Scott C because he's not afraid to show off his inner cute and create art that reflects a happier side of life. If we were more like the characters in his paintings, the world would be a much radder place. He is a cool dude that everybody should check out because he is amazing and he'll make your life exponentially better just because you know OF him.

You can follow Scott C on his primary website Pyramid Car, his separate site for Great Showdowns, or on Twitter.

^{1. [Comicbookmovie.com: EXCLUSIVE: Interview With THE GREAT SHOWDOWNS Creator And Artist Scott Campbell]↩}

Adventure Time Review: Sad Face

"Sad Face" is one of those fun episodes where Adventure Time takes a departure from the normal adventures of Finn and Jake and tries something new and refreshing. Written by Graham Falk, this episode follows the adventures of Jake's tail as it goes on a once-a-month journey to work at an ant circus and takes on the identity of the clown Blue Nose. This episode is notable in that it does not include the voice talents of either Jeremy Shada or John DiMaggio, but it doesn't suffer for it. The premise is charming; I love that Jake has all these dreams of living different lifestyles, such as when he revealed how badly he wanted to be a mailman in "Princess Cookie," and now we find that even subconsciously he is acting out these alternate lifestyles. Even better is that his tail has a little hat that looks like his father's, and that it makes such a comical sound when he flips it onto his head, giving him an old-timey feel. It was nice seeing NEPTR as well after all this time as well. Blue Nose wraps up a bindle of nuts and berries and stretches out the door.

Things aren't going so well at the circus for Blue Nose. Of course, Jake being the creative genius that he is doesn't simply go for cheap laughs, but attempts to raise his act to the level of art. His routine, in which he's frustrated that he can't keep his oranges straight, and then dances with a puppet of a bee who then dies and floats to heaven, is an amazing send-up of classy French art with suitably depressing music that made me chortle. The audience doesn't approve however and boos him off the stage. Poor Jake, first PB won't let you be a milkman, now this?

It turns out Blue Nose's ulterior motive is to win the freedom of the circus' star attraction, a captive chipmunk named Gore-a-lina. She breaks free herself, however, and when she sticks a bunch of the audience ants in her mouth, Blue Nose performs a belly-dancing routine to hypnotize Gore-a-lina and put her to sleep. Blue Nose goes to meet with the ringmaster, who tells him to earn the same kind of coin as Gore-a-lina brings in and he'll let her go. Of course Jake, being the hero that he is (even when he's sleeping), is willing to compromise his artistic integrity to give the ants the kind of crass entertainment they're looking for, but not before he feeds the nuts and berries he brought with him to the captive chipmunk. Such a nice guy.

The circus goes much better for Blue Nose when he starts acting goofy (which also made me laugh, I miss slapstick sometimes), but the greedy ringmaster wants to keep both him and Gore-a-lina to rake in the cash. Blue Nose isn't having that, so he beats up the ringmaster and Gore-a-lina's handlers, and rushes out of the circus with her. Perhaps the best part of the episode is when, after they drag Blue Nose back by his lengthy torso (Jake's tail has really been going through the ringer this episode), they slap him around, turning his painted on frown into a smile. Ahh so he was sad because of Gore-a-lina, I get it. The sunlight breaks through the trees and that signals its time for Blue Nose to return home, and I have to respect the animators for this: they actually showed the reverse animation of Jake's tail going back through all the scenes it stretched through in the entire episode, smiling away. The payoff is seeing Gore-a-lina (not her real name) in the embrace of a squirrel bf. Jake's tail snaps back to Jake, who wakes up confused, finds paint on his tail, tastes it (of course), while Finn indifferently sips his tea.

At the very end NEPTR exclaims "neat!," which this episode is. Like the episodes "Thank You" and "BMO Noire" before it, this episode allowed the Adventure Time team to explore a completely outside-of-the-box scenario with different characters (yes, I now consider Blue Nose to be his own character) while still exploring the show's usual themes of heroism, kindness, and of course, adventure. I really enjoyed the sad and sappy demeanor of Blue Nose (so amazing to be able to pull off without any dialogue) and his depressing music, and even though I suspect this was a one-off for him I'd love to see the character return in future episodes. Send in the clowns! Well, except those creepy clown nurses *shudder*.

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