The Sketchpage

Sign the petition against the Orphan Works bill.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 2:53 pm on June 18th

A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill

Sign the petition by clicking here.

I support this petition, and I urge you to sign it.

Please forward the link and urge others to sign.

You can help increase the power of the petition by signing your real name and listing your artistic specialties.

If you are not a US citizen, we suggest that you note your country, and state if it is a member of the Berne Convention.

This petition is sponsored by A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill, a new grassroots group founded by multimedia journalist Steve Lehman on Facebook and Flickr. All people are welcome to participate; it is not exclusive to these websites.

About Steve Lehman-

In 1987, Lehman broke the story of Tibetan unrest, later profiled in his award winning book "The Tibetans Struggle to Survive." As a visual artist intimately acquainted with the power of free speech, the protection afforded by the right to privacy, and the critical need for independent voices, Lehman, like the rest of us, is deeply troubled by any national policy that affects artists' control over their works.

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

For additional information about Orphan Works developments, go to the IPA Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists by clicking here.

See more: Tutorials

Comments (1)

Something new.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 10:45 pm on June 16th

Acrylic on wood panel.

A few days back i got a phone call from Gary Kelley, and we spoke for a few minutes about Joe Solman's passing (Gary introduced me to Joe's work in '96 when i was his student....), then Gary asks me if i would do a cover for the North American Review.

I was honored to be asked, and what was best about this was when i asked Gary when he wanted to see sketches, he said to just send him the finish, and "do the piece that you have always wanted to do."

So i spent the next couple of days stressing out, and over-thinking the whole thing. As i was going over the different ideas in my studio, i kept looking over at the half finished painting on my easel that i started three months ago, but never had the chance to finish.

On another note- I know it is kinda late to be posting things that realte to fathers day, but Nancy Stahl (thanks Nancy!) alerted me to a tribute on the Jim Lehrer News Hour by Paul Solman to his dad.

It is a nice five minute segment and you can view it by CLICKING HERE.

See more: My process

Comments (12)

ICON Sketchcrawl- July 2nd from Noon to 5 p.m.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 1:33 am on June 5th

When I first moved out to the San Francisco bay area, I was looking for opportunities to meet up with other artists, others that are simply interested in getting outside themselves to observe and draw. It was so refreshing to go to these and not feel as if everyone is peering over your shoulder or sizing you or your drawings up.

These experiences are why I suggested this event to others on the ICON board.

The great thing about this event is that it can include everyone, including those who aren’t even attending the conference, and it is free. I would love to see everyone there.

SketchCrawl is a worldwide event created by Pixar artist Enrico Casarosa. It involves people from different corners of the world in a day of sketching and journaling and then sharing the work in an online forum.

The ICON5 SketchCrawl will be a local variation on this idea. Attendees will spend the afternoon sketching in and around Central Park and the Museum of Natural History. Afterwards, we will all meet up at the Roosevelt Hotel bar to share our drawings and experiences with each other. Meet up with illustrator Peter Cusack and other group leaders in the Roosevelt Lobby at noon.

So, be there. Wednesday, July 2nd from 12 to 5 p.m.

See more: On The Town

Comments (8)

Write Congress again- NOW!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 1:34 pm on May 19th

Call to Action

Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed their Orphan Works Act.

It is now headed for the full Senate.

If you’ve written before, now is the time to write again.

Urge your senator to oppose this bill.

Because it has been negotiated behind closed doors, introduced on short notice and fast-tracked for imminent passage without open hearings, ask that this bill not be passed until it can be exposed to an open, informed and transparent public debate.

We’ve drafted a special letter for this purpose.
You can deep link to it here:

Contact your Senator in opposition to S.2913 NOW

The House Judiciary Committee is considering H.R. 5889, the companion bill now. Please write them again:

Contact your Congressman in opposition to H.R. 5889 NOW

2 minutes is all it takes to write your senator and representatives and fight for your copyrights.

Over 68,000 e-mail messages have been sent so far.

Don't Let Congress Orphan Your Work

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

See more: Tutorials

Comments (6)

Orphan Works Update. Take action!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 10:50 am on May 9th

I received the following message yesterday.

Let's continue to take action! Regardless of where we stand on other issues, this is the issue that will affect all of us.

Since yesterday, over 31, 000 letters have gone out from our Orphan Works advocacy site.

Q: What can we do next?

1. Write the House Judiciary Committee. We’ve set up a special alert to contact members of this important committee.

Go to our Take Action/Alert site:

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Look for the sample letter labeled "Contact House Judiciary Committee NOW" and send it.

If your Representative is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee, this will send him a message asking him to contact his colleagues on that Committee on your behalf, urging them to oppose the bill.

2. Ask for support from family and friends:

Please ask your friends and family (5 to 10 others) who support your creative work to also go to the site.

They can follow the instructions to easily send a message of opposition to this reckless bill.

Look for the sample letter labeled "For Supporters of Visual Artists - Wrong to Weaken
Copyright Law" and send it.

3. Spread the word to the public: Photosharing on Web will now be at risk:

Please alert your friends who post photos to the web their personal property will be at risk.

Look for the sample letter labeled “For the Image-Making Public - Protect Personal
Property”and send it.

For more information about the Orphan Works Act of 2008:

IPA Statement to House Subcommittee March 20, 2008:
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00261

IPA Senate Mark-up Comments April 30, 2008: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/ow_docs

Geneva/ May 7, 2008 Orphan Works Bill Catches Global Attention/ Intellectual Property Watch:
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1028

MP3 Interview: http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html

YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Yc

See more: The Society, Tutorials

Comments (9)

Take action now, don't let them orphan your work!
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 12:44 pm on May 7th

Congress could be voting on this any minute now, so take the time (only a couple of minutes...) to write your congressperson and let them know that your work indeed has value.

Don't let them orphan your work.

Write now, it is easier than checking drawger, facebook, or myspace.

Click here to write your congress-person!

Act now!!!

We will only have ourselves to blame if we do nothing.

See more: Tutorials

Comments (4)

Theft, Orphan Works Bill style.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 9:03 pm on April 26th

We must act together to defeat this bill. Some out there are determined to take away our copyrights.

We cannot depend on anyone but ourselves to defeat this bill.

We cannot wait for someone else to take action for us.

We must not shrug this off as complicated lawyer speak, or feel it will take away from our time painting.

It is the most important issue of our lifetime concerning copyright law.

If you value your copyrights, you will do something.

If we do nothing we will have ourselves to blame.

Please take a few minutes to watch and listen to the following YouTube link by clicking HERE.

See more: Tutorials

Comments (4)

Joseph Solman 1909-2008
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 11:58 pm on April 18th

My last meeting with Joe. I was able to introduce Gary Kelley and Peter Cusack to Joe. Gary Kelley was the person who introduced me to Joe's work in 1996.

Earlier today I was speaking with my agent on the phone, and she mentioned to me that she had read in the N.Y. Times that Joseph Solman had passed away on Wednesday.

I first met Joseph Solman in April 2001, and have benefited from my visits with Joe in the subsequent years. I have learned so much from Joe, so much about art, so much about being true to your vision as an artist and person. He lived a full life, and is such an example to me of artistic integrity.

His wisdom is ingrained in my mind, and I think of him almost every time I draw from life.

In my last visit with Joe, he reminded me to “look for the unusual thing” in my subject matter. One other quote of his that has stuck with me is- “I find more design in nature than anything you can come up with in your mind.”

I will never forget that stories Joe shared with me in my visits with him. The stories of how Mark Rothko had changed his last name, how Ben Shahn recommended Joe to a mid-town Manhattan gallery sometime in the 1940s, that Madeline Albright had spent an afternoon in his East Village apartment looking over his work, and how Daniel Day Lewis approached him for painting lessons after having viewed his work in London. Joe was such a humble man, and he didn’t seem to let these sorts of things get to his head. He was all about painting, and he kept true to his vision to the end.

I hope that I can leave as great a legacy as Joe has. What a great man, and I am so grateful that I had the chance to meet such a great artist and person. I will miss him, but I will continue to learn from him.

Thank you Joe, for taking the time to meet me. Thank you for taking the time to teach me. I will always cherish the conversations we had.

Click here for my previous post on Joseph Solman. It explains how I met Joe…

A sketch of Joe from one of my last visits with him. 4/9/06

See more: Inspiration

Comments (7)

TOTO....
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 10:36 pm on April 12th

thanks N...for the pic...

Last time I visited family in Indiana, I came across a toilet that had TOTO typed across the back of it. It reminded me of that band from the early eighties, you know, the band that sang such smooth hits like “Africa” and “I’ll be over you”.

It got me to thinking……did the band TOTO go into the business of toilet manufacturing?

"...there's nothing that a hundred men on mars could ever do..."

See more: Just because..., Just for Fun

Comments (7)

a new piece for the Wall Street Journal.
Posted by Donald Kilpatrick at 2:33 pm on March 24th

This is how it ran, without the background, and in black and white.

I had the pleasure of working with Dave Bamundo again this past week, and as usual Dave was a pleasure to work with.

This was done for this past Friday's book review in the weekend section of the paper.

The illustration was based off of the line "...the parable ends with the sound of a thousand parakeets..."

Dave ran this without the textured background.

See more: Designers I like., My process

Comments (5)