Mississauga independent film fest July 20th-24th 2011

More news at it comes, here is the website MIFF.CA

Interview with illustrator Vince Chui

 Keef- please do tell us who you are, what you do and what you are involved in?

Vince Chui- my name is Vince Chui, I'm a illustrator. I used to strictly work in games. First starting off as a texture artist and then to concept work. Now I do a little bit of everything from games, commercial work, books etc. It's kind of fun to see what kind of opportunities that are there.

Keef- You worked in the gaming industry, what games were you involved in?

Vince Chui -I had worked on Cel Damage (a launch title for the first xbox), Full Auto, and Full auto 2(which wasn't really a sequal but added content. But marketing felt strongly in saying it was a "2"). I also had worked on Yoville (a facebook game).


Keef- When did you discover you had this incredible artistic talent, and what inspired you to draw?


Vince Chui- Well I wouldn't say I discovered I had "incredible artistic talent". More like, I always had fun drawing and I couldn't stop. I grew up with a lot of people who drew, and it kept me motivated and learning. I wasn't the best, but that didn't stop me from drawing. Other influences that kept me inspired besides friends and family.. I have to say big chunk goes to cartoons and comics. My cousins introduced me to comics (Gibert and Andrew) a huge shelf full in thier basement. I think those were my earliest inspirations that I can think of. And with Cartoons I can't think of any kid that doesn't have that being a big part of their life.

Keef- Explain your facination with Star Dragon and Mecca-godzilla?

Vince Chui- Actually if we're strictly talking about Starvengers, Star Dragon is my third favorite. For those that don't know, Starvengers/Getta Robo G has 3 ships that can combine into three different robots, depending in the order they combine. I think compared to most fan's my favorites are in the reverse order. Star Posiedon being 1st, Star Arrow 2nd and Star Dragon 3rd.

As a kid Starvenger's is the whole reason I got robot crazy. There wasn't anything else I was exposed that did transforming robots or combining/gattai. This was pre transformers and pre Voltron (which I'm sure people will be more familiar with). I think the best part of the show was figuring out the heroes were going to match the villian robot. Would they attack with Star Poseidon, Arrow or Dragon... Suspence if they couldn't combine to form the robot. Producing Energy and the benefit of man kind. There's a lot of attributes I loved in that show. It's still pretty entertaining even for me to watch now.
Oh boy I can go on and on with Starvengers.

For Mecca-Godzilla, I can sum it up with "Reese's peanut butter cups". The best of both worlds, mecca Goddzilla represents a duality. Monster's and robots, Nature vs science.

Keef-Are you currently working on any new projects?

Vince Chui -I'm working on the second children's book, a sequal to Sir Seth Thistlewaithe. The rest of the time I'm helping with my friend on her project. My hands are pretty full until the end of the year right now.

Keef- Tell me about Sir Seth Thistlewaith, what is that all about?

Vince Chui -Two young Sir Seth and Sir Ollie of the Mighty Knights of Right & Honour. Their imagination takes them to the Kingdom of Thatwych where they have their first adventures. The kids are all decked out in cardboard, tinfoil and brooms.

Keef-Sometimes the popularity of A T.V. show or toy die out and they are shelved. Years later they are dusted off, they are repacked, remodeled and put out for a new generation to enjoy. What property would you love to have full creative control on?

Vince Chui Oh man there's too many I would love to work on.. Starvenger's/getter robo would be awesome. But really Go nagai is the only person to do it (but I think keeping it fun and pseudo retro style would be ideal). Actually if I had a hand to try something thats more obscure, that I never here anyone thinking of doing is Dinoriders. I never really watched the show, but I think the toys were great! (sigh didn't have any of the toys either).

Keef -What are some of your goals for 2011?

Vince Chui- Goals, I wold love to try a bit of the toy market if I could. I'd also like to be able to work on a children's book I've written and pitch that. I've had the story for sometime, and only recently found the style I would be happy to illustrate it in.

Thank you Vince, this was great your Art is absolutely amazing, I wish you nothing but successes!

Here are Vinces Links... enjoy!

http://kidchuckle.blogspot.com/
http://www.kidchuckle.com/
http://twitter.com/kidchuckle

ART WORK FROM VINCE SUNICO OF SPENT PENCIL COMICS

Yes he is available for commissions ... contact him HERE!!

FANTASTIC 4 - Spiderman/ghostrider/ Hulk/ Wolverine mash up!

FAN EXPO WEEK - My interview with Comic book artist Marvin Law!

Being good friends with the SPENT PENCILS crew has it advantages, like meeting other great artists. I kept seeing Marvins work at conventions and his table was always super busy. I never really had the chance to talk with him until I read that he was going to be at Silver Snail doing what he does best. I ventured into the city on a wee bit of a tight schedule but made sure I stopped by to say hello and admire his work.

I plan to do the same this weekend and so should you, Marvin’s work is some of the best and he is a pleasure to talk to…

Keef- When did you discover your artistic talent, and what made you pursue comics?

Marvin-I discovered my artistic talent at the young age of 6, when my cousins showed me, my first comic books. After that, all I ever wanted to do was draw and tell my very own stories for people to enjoy.

As for what made me pursue comics, it's the freedom to tell whatever stories you want to tell. Whether it's a personal story of love and loss, or a billion dollar epic action/sci-fi/fantasy extravaganza, and both just need a pencil, paper and my imagination.

Keef- what were some of the comics at that age that really caught you eye?

Marvin-I still have the first comic book, I ever bought, which was Justice League America#193, which had George Perez on art, so that explains my love of detail in my work, lol.

Thanks to my cousins, I was exposed to a lot of great comic books, I wouldn't have seen otherwise due to my age, like Dark Knight Returns, the Watchmen, the Chris Claremont & John Byrne's legendary run on the Uncanny X-Men, New Teen Titans, Crisis of the Infinite Earths, the Punisher mini-series, the Nam, Frank Miller's Daredevil run and many other great comic books from that era.

Keef-- What inspired you, and today what inspires you?

Marvin- What inspired me, and what continues to inspire me, is to see the interaction between a great story and great artwork, thus creating an awesome comic book experience. This is what inspires me and my work, to try and accomplish that each and every time.

Keef- What has been your greatest accomplishment in comic books, and what is a future goal that you have with in this industry?

Marvin- I personally feel that my greatest accomplishment, so far in comic books has been to earn the respect of fellow professionals and peers. It's always nice to hear ask, "why the heck aren't you on a book for one of the big two yet?"

As for what, my future goal in the comic book industry might sound arrogant, but I want fans to remember me, as one of the greatest artists of all time. And to do that, I've gotta push my skills and talents to the very edge and beyond, in order to achieve it in the future.

Keef- If you had a chance to breath life into a dead franchise in the form of a comic what would you choose.

Marvin -Hmmmm some franchises I'd love to breath life into, would include things like I would love to do a Darkseid book, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, a super villains team up with either the Joker or Dr. Doom, or Captain Canuck. At this point, I'd be happy to get any sort of book, lol.

Keef-Tell us about some of your projects your working on.

Marvin - Currently, I have a weekly webcomic called, SLAM, which you can check out at http://slamcomic.squarespace.com/ .

I'm also prepping a fantasy/action/comedy series called, Cloudwalkers with a great writer, Kristopher Feric, which is one of personal favourite projects that's been sitting on the backburner.

Keef- what are you looking forward to most at fan expo?

Marvin -To be honest, I'm excited to see the fans again, draw sketches for them, see how they react to my newest set of prints, and seeing old friends, I haven't seen all year long.

Keef- Cool man, any Thank-yous, shout outs and last words?

Marvin ...

Thank Yous:

I want to thank my cousins for first exposing me to comic books, my family for their unending support, the many other artists that lent their knowledge and support, and ultimately to the fans for their support, because without them, none of this would be possible.

Shout Outs:

I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddies at Spent Pencil Studios, to the crew at the Silver Snail, the boys at Multiverse 5, the boys at the Drink & Draw, the fans & readers of the SLAM Webcomic.

Last Words:

Whether I make it into the Big Two or not, it won't deter me from continuing my career in comic books. I've got tons of ideas for projects and lots of stories to tell, as it is. My goal in life is to entertain readers, in a variety of genres in comic books, because this is the media I love.

My interview with Alvaro “Puro” Cervantes "Ontario Lowriders"

The only time I saw lowriders bouncing up and down the streets was in hip hop videos and movies from L.A..

I was fascinated with what these cars were doing and I really admired their appearance. This was not just some passing fad, this is A culture and has a deep devoted following.

The interiors of the car, the art work, the customization makes these cars truly unique mobile pieces of art.

While doing A apprenticeship in a screen printing shop I met A artist named Vince Sunico. He spoke very highly of this guy named Alvaro and sent me his links. Besides his stunning art he also wanted to expose that... Ontario has a LOWRIDER CULTURE!

Let us begin!

Keef -I was told about you by a mutual friend Vince, he gave me links to your websites. I love your work, everything I have seen is incredible. Why don't you you tell us what your ART is all about?

Puro-My art is about my culture, what do I mean by that...It's about my love for rolling works of art primarily. I came to Toronto Canada back in the 70's. I was born in Guatemala in the 60's. I grew up in Regent Park and survived it. We were poor and could not afford lots of things like Puma sneakers, I ended up getting the copies... We also had to ride public transit for most of my life (hated it). Even at that young age I dreamt about having /owning some cool custom car. One memory I still have to this day was of my Father having a four door K-Car, he decided to paint all the panels of the car a different color. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I’m sure the people around us didn’t….That I believe was the seed that was planted in my mind about custom cars. My Father without really pushing stuff on us had created something DIFFERENT! He gave us the tools to be/think DIFFERENT and INDIVIDUALS. I believe part of being Hispanic/Latin whatever you want to call it is the creativity is always in our blood and that is why you will never see us without a job ja,ja,ja. By high school I still did not have a car and remembered this one Greek dude named Ted ( the only kid in high school with big bad ass sideburns) cruising to school in a 340 Demon. It was orange with the black stripe at the back and a sick engine to kick!!. BTW he did get all the chicks! I was like HOW THE FUCK DOES A KID IN HIGH SCHOOL AFFORD THIS?? Later I found out his father owed a Greek restaurant! So what is my art about? Lowriders,cars,Lowriders!

Keef- I read that you designed something, and they were limited editions and Jay leno got one, what is that all about?

Puro- I got a chance to work on a CARTOON sculpture prototype version of the 08 Challenger. I later found out one of the original casted copies was given to Jay Leno. It was painted to look like the one he went to pick up in Detroit. It was also numbered liked the one he got. The only thing is you don’t see my name anywhere on it. That’s what happens when you do work for other people. Did I mention I sculpt?

Keef -That is extremely impressive, I have seen some of your sculptures and the one that stands out the most is one of my favorite actors, the bad ass himself Danny Trejo! How did you get into sculpting, and why Danny Trejo?

Puro – I got the sculpting bug when I first saw my good friend Peter Emslie’s Brer Rabbit (Long time Disney artist and teacher at Sheridan Tech) I was chillin at his house and going through all his archives of Disney memorabilia and then he showed me a glass cabinet where he house a few secret sculpts he had done and been working on. He is a very humble guy so when I explain how cool his sculpts were he just shrugged it off and said, “ they are ok”.

Fast forward many years later probably over 100 sculpts later I wanted to do something different from all other Disney artists and also wanted to tie in the whole Latin heritage thing. So I chose Danny Trejo as my first victim. I figured he would be a great portrait to start with. He was ugly in a cool macho man way, he has very distinct features, scars, cuts etc and felt he would make an excellent sculpt. It’s the only portrait I have done to this date and still feel is my best work. It also challenged me like no other sculpt like I have ever done. I’m pretty proud of it actually. All done in Hard Toy wax and a waxer pen. I get emails all the time about the piece, asking me to sell it or make copies of it but I will not dupe it until a get an official thumbs up from the man himself.

As far as other sculpts, I’ve done many prototypes for Disney. All in the consumer product area. Anything from 3-d sculpted figures for bottles, Bubble wand toys, sculpts for electronic talking coin Banks, Toothbrush holders etc. I worked for Disney Consumers company for 10 years. Started out as a junior character artist, head character artist, Head sculptor and finished as an Art Director.

Keef- Who are your influences, and what really inspired you to do what you do so well?

Puro- I would have to say Danny D, from Lifestyle CC in L.A. the first. Mario De Alba of Mario’s Autoworks from L.A. I went to the Las Vegas Super Show two years ago to see these works of art in person and I was so humbled beyond words! I came back with so many ideas and knew what I have to do up here.

Keef- Tell us about your website, what it is all about.

Puru- My web site is all about LOWRIDERS. It’s about the Lowrider Culture and lifestyle. I use the word CULTURE & LIFESTYE quite a bit because I live it day in day out. I go to sleep thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow to further my skillz and to raise the quality of Toronto Lowriders. My site covers shows, BBQ’s and anything to do with the Lowrider lifestyle. I document things that we live through while building our dream cars on an everyday level. I also have a clothing/t-shirt line called LOWRIDER SUPREME. Its been out about 3 years now and sold all over the world. It’s been featured in a couple of Mags and is worn by some of the most famous Low riders out today. I also got to work with one of my Idols ( Danny D). He wanted me to sculpt a prototype of his mascot. I’ve done most of the Logos that you see on the Lowrider scene here in Toronto. People like CCF CUSTOM Fabrications logo, ALL THAT AUTOCUSTOMS logo, SWITCHES & THANGS hydraulics logo, and helped design the OTHERSIDE CLOTHING label Logo together with my good friend DREEGZ, JAE BUENO’S logo (from L.A. and Lowrider Magazines top photographer) re-designed GT AUTOWORKS logo (shop where I work) D-TWIST metalwork’s logo, SCRAPE BY THE LAKE tee, DODGE TRUCK ONTARIO CHAPTER logo and many others. So my influence on the Toronto Lowrider scene is big.

Keef- I had no idea Ontario even had a lowrider culture. I only saw this kind of thing in hip hop videos, movies, car shows from the states. I am extremely excited that it is here, but is it true that it is illigal to have those hydraulics in your car? I didn't want to sound off, but is the term "Hittin switches?"

Puro- Yes Toronto has a lowrider culture and its here to stay!! The pioneers in Toronto which I give all the credit to are people like CLYDE GIRDHARRY (the first 1963 Impala lowrider on the streets of Toronto, cruising up and down Yonge Street back in 94), JEFF HAGAN from St Catherines with his 63 Impala Green Monster which happens to be the same car CLYDE had. Other clubs in Toronto include, Affiliated CC, Luxuriuos CC, Ryders 4 Life CC, Strictly Wires CC, Rollerz Only CC, True Playaz CC which I’m a part of and the Oldest lowrider car club and as of this year Majestics CC, Toronto chapter. So lowrider clubs are growing in Toronto but with higher standards, Full chrome undercarriages, Kandy paint jobs, Patterned cars, full custom interiors and fully chromed engine compartments. We also got some nice hoppers!

No it is not illegal to have Hydraulics because there is no such law in existence. What is illegal is stunt driving which is the kind of ticket given to a person HITTIN’ SWITCHES on the street while driving. Sometimes the officer will even impound the car just to mess with you even more. The term hitting switches is just like it sounds. You manipulate a switch underneath your console that activates the MOTOR in your hydraulic pump which in turn pushes oil to a hydraulic ram via a hose. This LIFTS the car UP at will. Its pretty cool actually.

Keef- So I am planning on going to my 1^st lowrider event in September. So what is going on with this event?

Puro -September is our Annual BBQ. We call it the Fall Classic! It is when True Playaz CC puts on a Free BBQ for our friends and family to say thanks for putting up with all our craziness!! Its just a good vibe and all the local Lowrider clubs come out and support. We usually have a hop-off near the end of the day.

Keef- Ok, I am going to mention a few things, and you write the 1st thing that comes to your mind.

Keef-Lower rider bikes?

Puro-Underrated but in my opinion very cool pieces of work

Keef-My favorite thing in Ontario is?

Puro- Lowriders

Keef-My ultimate pimped out ride would be?

Puro -1959 Impala ragtop, kandy paint, patterns, full chrome undercarriage, beautiful interior and a chromed out engine bay. Two pump, 6 batteries show car and cruiser.

Keef-Art is the key to...

Puro-happiness

Keef -My work makes the people say...

Puro-Holy shit did you see that?????

Keef- Thanks for all your time, would you like to give some shout outs?!

Puro-First and foremost I want to thank Diosito for letting me do what I do. My wife Pamela, the kids Erika, Andrea and my protoge Alex a.k.a. Lil Puro. My True Playaz CC Familia for all their support and all the fun and jokes we share (Specially Clyde! and Tony G!)

Thank you Puro for your time, now a lot more people in this province know that we have a very serious Lowrider Culture going on. I for one is very excited about all of this, I will see you in September!

Here are some links to follow people!

LOWRIDER SUPREME

TPLOWRIDERS

I put together a little clip here with a bunch of photos of Puro's work

CHECK IT O

CUSTOM BOARDZ Art by Vince Sunico

Vince is my boy, he is a hell of a artist... interview coming before FANEXPO!!

Some links...

SPENT PENCILS

HIS BLOG SITE

O.A.K. (Ontario Artistic Kinship)

This page has been created for many reasons, but most importantly is to give the artistic and creative people of Ontario exposure and to connect with one another. Creativity is the seed and it grows and branches out...

Welcome to the 1st post...

This is the blog known as ONTARIO - YOURS TO UNCOVER. We have so much talent in this great province and it needs to be known. We need to spread the good word of our artistic talents who live amongst us!

I have come across a lot of talented people over the years, everyone from screen printers, to turntablist, to comic book artist to video producers. They have done a lot for me, so why not try and give back to them.

I also want to give exposure to all the talent we have, if it helps people get noticed, if it gets more people to show up at there venue, if it gets people to download a track off itunes... here you go!

I like to call this lil movement O.A.K. (Ontario Artistic Kinship)

This blog is for announcements, up coming concerts for local talents, interviews, cd releases, profiles, art work, art shows, ... you name it. I love posting videos, so if you have one, let me know!

Now for the who's who on the title wall...

1st off top left hand corner -DJ LAW, he is one of Torontos best HIP HOP DJ's

his myspace link RIGHT HERE

I went to public school with LAW, we have been listening to hip hop since the early 80s man, no jive!

He always has dope mix tapes for you to bump... watch for them!!

On the top to your right is SKULLMAN from Boxwars! Boxwars is the next big thing, no wait it IS A BIG THING! You wear armor made of cardboard and you go to war bashing the shit out of each other!

I have met Skullman, and have talked to him more then once...Skullman is great in person yet a total destructive force on the battlefield!

Check SKULLMANS BOX-WARS LINK RIGHT HERE

The middle on the left is my good friend William Primrose of Rattailfilms along with video producer Phil Sportel. Will is co-owner of this company along with my girlfriend Cindy Choy.

The company has a great studio, and equipment to shoot everything from music videos to commercials and at a price that is very hard to beat.

They specialize in working with independent musicians and film directors.

Phil is a very talented director, he has made videos for Colin Munroe and Johnny Polygon and many more. He has had his videos play on Much Music, and were featured on Kayne Wests and Perez Hiltons blogs.

Please check RATTAILFILMS RIGHT HERE!

On the far right of the middle row is Brother Dalit aka Unknown Mizery.

This guy is off the chain, I love what he is doing!!

Get familiar with him, real hip hop!!

Check his page RIGHT HERE!

The bottom middle is Misty Rock n' roll, she chews bubble gum and kicks ass...and right now she is all out of bubble gum!

She is a DJ on CKLN, her show "The demons lair" is on every Wed night/thurs morn starting at 2am and ending at 6. Listen at WWW.CKLN.FM

She also kicks ass as a DJ, I have to see her spin one night...any girl that plays SURF ROCK is kick ass!!

Her page is RIGHT HERE!

Last but not least is "Just Gita" who I have met more then once and she is "Just fantastic!"

This girl can sing, she has performed several times at Toronto functions and she blows people away with that voice.

Check her webpage RIGHT HERE!

All respect due, I have a bunch of other people who may feel like I left them out...but I can assure you, you will be on this blog. I also plan to change the picture showcasing everyone about every 6 months.

So... here we go...