Sunday, October 12, 2008

Wanna see some great art? Oh, and save the forest too...

Photobucket

http://www.totoroforestproject.org/ (click the Gallery link)

Ran across this on a blog I found through Melvyn Erville's Infallible Specific blog last night. Each page includes a link to the artist's homepage, you can discover new favorites and see loads more art. Here are some items taken from the official website describing the book and its purpose:

"Anime is one of the most influential forms of contemporary art today. Among Japanese masters of animation, Hayao Miyazaki is undoubtedly the most popular and respected. The storytelling, visual approach and philosophical depth of his films have made a massive impact in the world of filmmaking Today.

Many prominent animation and illustration artists in the world proudly recognize Miyazaki's strong influence and inspiration on their own work.This project gives the opportunity to the artists involved to voice their appreciation for master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and the inspiration he has given them through the years."


"Hayao Miyazaki has been actively supporting the preservation effort of Sayama Forest for more than ten years. This 8750 acre park in the outskirts of Tokyo is also known as Totoro Forest. It's in these woods in fact that the concept for the film "My Neighbor Totoro" was born.

In the past few decades, the forest has been subject to urban development. Only continued support to the Totoro Trust Fund can help preserve this much needed island of green in the midst of Tokyo's urban sprawl. We intend to donate the entire proceeds of the project to this worthy cause.

This event can also be a symbolic gesture, sending a strong message to the world in terms of environmental and social awareness. Imagine artists from all over the world coming together to donate artwork to help conserve a forest they have never seen."



Unfortunately, the book itself is already sold out. Hey, good for the project, but bad for those of us who might want a copy. But there is talk of a second printing on its way, so keep your fingers crossed and keep checking the TFP blog

The book itself may not be available just now, but we can still look at lots of inspirational artwork on the website (and hey, it's very Monster Month friendly stuff too!)

18 comments:

Mike said...

amazing art gallery...thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Love the style!, really whispery and sharp.

Also, Mike, I have a new blog for my new film (The Sword,the Stone, a King', this is the new link...

http://theswordinthestone-production.blogspot.com/

So you'll need to change the link in your side-bar

Emily said...

Hey Mike, thanks for the link! I'm a big Miyazaki fan so seeing the positive influence of his work is great.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the plug Mike! This is a great cause and there will soon be a wide distribution book we can all get at amazon or at the book store...Last I herd after the auction at Pixar and the first book sellout the've made over 200thou for the forest...the power of art!!!

Darkmatters said...

Kind of ironic really.... the more books they sell, the more trees must die so they can print more books. A conNONEdrum for sure!

Emily said...

Eeeps - lets hope it's recycled paper at least!

Emily said...

Okay, that was going to drive me nuts so I checked - it's "High quality recycled paper with soy-based inks"
Hopefully any following runs would be the same.

Darkmatters said...

Good work Agent M!

Darkmatters said...

Ok, this is weird...

Emmy phonetically is pronounced M. E.

... Same as Melvyn Erville's initials. Also the name I call myself (as the song says).

But WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN??!?!?!!??

Darkmatters said...

Perhaps it's a clue to myself, sent by one of my more sympathetic personalities.... really all the people posting in my comments are ME. Or is it the entire internet? wow, that can't be it... I don't have enough time. Unless.... maybe they all function simultaneously, and THAT'S WHY I REQUIRE SO MUCH CONCENTRATION!!!!

.. And bandwidth!

;)

Darkmatters said...

Shut up! I"m trying to THINK here!

Brian said...

Hey Darkstrider. If you are in San Francisco you can see half of the artwork from the Auction at the Cartoon Art Museum RIGHT NOW. I can tell you that the art is way better in person then in print. The show will run into the new year with the second half of the artwork showing up in December (that's when the reception will be).

Darkmatters said...

Thanks Brian! A bit out of the way for me here in the midwest, but I have a disproportionate amount of friends right there in your neck of the woods. I'll let them know.

Anonymous said...

thanks for bailin me out on that one em...oh and mike we are just voices in your head and fyi it's getting crouwded in here!

Darkmatters said...

LOL... must be time for my meds!

Edwound Wisent said...

(^ speakin uh whitchits: perhaps this brian feller's
(^ got me owned name !
(^ hence the usage of
"(^" and prosser.

(^ plus I keep getting Michael LeTendre and Melvyn Erville mixed up.

(^ what's UP with th@?!

Edwound Wisent said...

(^ one last over the top underhanded nose scratcher:

(^ I'm becoming more and more paranoid over this line:

"Your comment has been saved."

(6 what ?! is it satanic or something?
(^ I mean I understand
(^ the power of wyrd words ,
(^ but ` COMEON `!!!

==back to autobotmode===
> It may take a moment
> for your comment to appear
> on the site.
> Follow-up comments will be sent...

(^ yeash.

Anonymous said...

hey mike, i was glad to see you mention this book! a bunch of my friends had pieces in the show, and i just got a copy of the book for my birthday. so many amazing artists contributed to the project! i absolutely recommend grabbing the book if they do a second printing.