Artist Spotlight: Remembering Michael Turner, Comic Book Creator (24 Iconic Art Images!)

What’s up everyone! Ralph “The Perennial Aesthete” is here. With Avengers: Endgame being all set to shatter our senses, toy with our emotions and guaranteed to run rampant at the movie box office this weekend. There couldn’t be better time to be a comic book enthusiast or a superhero movie fan. In relation to that, I want to take a moment to pay homage and wish the late great Michael Layne Turner a very happy belated birthday. His birthday was this past Sunday, April 21, 2019.

Happy New Year 2018: Renewal of Faith, Purpose and Resolve

Happy New Year everyone!  2017 was equally an incredible and trying year for me.  Not just for the high moments, but more so for the low; the challenges, confusion, struggle, loss, fear, doubt and a slew of other emotions and obstacles that seemingly never ended.

20 Cool Photos From the First Annual Five Points Festival 2017 in NYC

This past weekend on New York City’s Lower East Side was the inaugural Five Points Festival, a brand new fan convention curated by Clutter magazine and presented by Midtown Comics.  The festival is a collision of toys, comics, street art, and counterculture, replete with food trucks and craft beer.  This was pretty much a geek’s version of Valhalla.sThe Five Points Festival was held at Pier 36, on the lower east side of Manhattan.  Comic book creatives such as Amy Reeder, Dan Slott, Jamal Igle, Greg Capullo, and Scott Snyder made an appearance.  Several toy and art guests were on hand as well, including Amanda Louise Spayd, Tokidoki’s Simone Legno, and Tara McPherson, founder of The Cotton Candy Machine art boutique in Brooklyn, NYC.

RIP Bernie Wrightson, Celebrated Comic Book Artist and Horror Illustrator 1948 – 2017

The comic book world suffered a huge lost this past weekend.  Acclaimed comic book artist and horror illustrator, Bernard Albert “Bernie” Wrightson, sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson—has died following a long battle with brain cancer.  Recognized as one of his generation’s greatest art masters of horror illustration and comics, Bernie was known for his iconic Frankenstein illustrations and co-creating DC Comics’ movie-starring creature, Swamp Thing.  He also worked on popular comic book titles such as Spider-Man, Batman, Doctor Strange and The Punisher.

Creative Inspiration: Behind the Brand With Designer/ Illustrator Ralph A. Gilmore

Up until a few nights ago, I never realized how hard it is to make a simple promo video on YouTube.  It also doesn’t help that I’m a perfectionist;  if I set my mind to do something, I try as hard as possible to accomplish the goal at hand.  As a graphic designer, illustrator, artist, writer, blogger and entrepreneur, my hope is that I can inspire as many people as possible through my artistic and creative abilities.

New York City’s Oculus: The New World Trade Center Transportation Hub is an Architectural Marvel

Yep, you’re looking at 4 billion dollars right here my friends. I finally took some time to get a closer glimpse of the new WTC Transportation Hub – Oculus and it truly is breathtaking to see.

The hub, which includes a commuter rail station, retail shops and connection to several subway lines, was designed by Spanish-born architect Santiago Calatrava.  The structure will serve as connection between New Jersey’s PATH trains and New York City’s subways. The soaring transportation hub was designed to evoke a bird in flight. If you have a creative mind and understand how powerful the expression of art can be, you can sense that Calatrava’s work was infused with the impression of movement and seemingly, a defiance of physical law. That’s just the nerd in me talking… stuff like this just blows my mind.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Dress Up Your Chest With These Awesome T-shirts

Hey t-shirt lovers!  In honor of today’s Independence Day, I have graphic t-shirts on sale for $10 for men and $6 for women in my online shop.  In addition, I am also offering my customers FREE SHIPPING on all domestic orders… how cool is that???  check out the online store and see which t-shirt you might want to rock for the rest of the summer.  Please note that the sale will end next Tuesday, July 12, 2016.  You can visit my site at: orangemoonwerks.com.

To all of my customers, your support has been greatly appreciated.  Have a happy 4th of July!  May you all have a safe and happy holiday!!

To my readers, I invite you to join me on Facebook and to follow me on Instagram and Twitter.  You can also reach me via email at:  rgilmore@orangemoonwerks.com. If you find any joy and value in what I do, would you consider providing support to help keep my blog going? Learn how by following the link here: Support = Love

 

Untapped Creativity: Don’t Take Your Best Ideas To The Grave With You!

Photo Credit:  Alan Thornton | Getty Images

Perhaps this photo is a tad morbid due to it’s visual nature, which is paired with my intention to assert the notion that our greatest ideas goes to our graves with us.  In past years, I’ve been guilty of being an “idea hoarder;” what I mean by that is from time to time, I’ve conjured up numerous creative ideas–in which I failed to act upon due to a combination of procrastination, work schedules, relationships, fear of criticism and quite often for some of us, life tends to knocks us off our feet–at least momentarily.  One day I just decided that I wasn’t going to keep my ideas on the shelf anymore and that I would do everything in power to share my creativity with the world.

The following is one of my favorite quotes made by motivational speaker and author, Les Brown.  I constantly keep this quote in the back of mind to help keep me motivated, especially when my goals are not reached as quickly as expected:

Welcome to my new blog: The Perennial Aesthete

Hey good people! Your friendly neighborhood Ralph A. Gilmore is here. You might need to sit down and read up on all the awesome news I’d like to share with you in my very first post on my new blog, The Perennial Aesthete.  I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to finally have this baby up and running!