Ralph Bakshi

When I was about 14 years old, me and my friends somehow got a hold of a movie called Street Fight on VHS. Later I realized this movie was originally titled Coonskin, and changed because of it's racial controversy.

"Coonskin is a 1975 film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists and the Mafia. The film, which combines live-action with animation, stars Philip Michael Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White and Scatman Crothers, all of whom appear in both live-action and animated sequences. Coonskin utilizes a number of references to various elements from African American culture, ranging from African folk tales to the work of cartoonist George Herriman, and satirizes racist and other stereotypes, as well as the blaxploitation genre, Song of the South, and The Godfather.
Originally produced under the titles Harlem Nights and Coonskin No More..., Coonskin encountered extreme controversy before its original theatrical release when the Congress of Racial Equality strongly criticized the content as being racist, although none of the group's members had seen the film. When the film was finally released, Bryanston gave it limited distribution and initially received negative reviews. Later re-released under the titles Bustin' Out and Street Fight, Coonskin has since been reappraised, with many considering it to be one of Bakshi's finest works." -Wikipedia-(The most reliable source in the world)


I remember loving this movie when I was 14, but not understanding the importance of it until later. I think it was so shocking and exciting to see cartoon ultra violence, and sex, and it was so bizarre and funky, but the visual style wasn't all that different than the cartoons that I watched with my dad when I was a child. Which kind of makes sense because he started out working at Terrytoons and was involved in a ton of cartoons, before he even started doing his own feature films. Eventually I watched some of his other movies including Wizards, Heavy Traffic, American Pop, Cool World, Hey Good Lookin, and the 1978 animated version of Lord of the Rings. He also directed Fritz the Cat, which was the first x rated cartoon ever. I actually didn't see Fritz the Cat until about a year ago and it was my least favorite of all of his films. Many of his films are still trapped in VHS hell(you can't get them on DVD), but if you can get an avi file of them, I would definitely recommend CoonSkin. If you can only aquire dvds, then check out Heavy Traffic. This is probably my second favorite Bakshi film. I have been able to get my hands on almost every one of his feature films, but his resume is a mile long and he's worked on all sorts of projects. I would definitely consider him one of my largest influences as an artist, and I don't think there will ever be anything like his work ever again. If you don't know. You should. I actually saw a Kanye West music video the other day. The song was called Heartless. First of all, I think of Kanye West as kind of a joke. He seems like an okay producer, and an awful rapper. I don't know if Hype Williams and Kanye were paying Homage to Bakshi, or if he was just trying to bite his style, but if you've ever seen Bakshi's American Pop then you might think that Ralph Bakshi himself directed the video.

If you don't know about Ralph Bakshi. I think you should.

Jack Chick

"Jack Thomas Chick (born April 13, 1924) is an American publisher, writer and comic book artist, and has been called the most published comic book author in the world. His company, Chick Publications, claims to have sold over 750 million comic-style tracts,known as Chick tracts, comic books, videos, books, and posters designed to promote Protestant evangelism from a fundamentalist point of view. Many of these are seen as controversial, as they target beliefs and cultures in what many perceive as a negative manner."

Last night I watched a documentary called: "God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick". You may have found or seen Jack Chick's Tracts before. You will usually find them laying around in public places like in a public bathroom, on a park bench, in a restaraunt, or in a retail store. Growing up in west michigan, it is no surprise that I realized that I have found many of these. I just didn't know until now what I was looking at. A lady handed me one once when I was working at a Burger King drive through after I handed her a bag of burgers, fries, and chicken tenders. While I was working there I also found quite a few of them in the bathroom, and left on the tables.

" A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the twenty-first century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are often either left for someone to find or handed out."
Chick's Tracts are small, and are in a comic book style form, and if you're still not sure if you've seen one, they look like this:

Chick's evangelical message is obvious, but also his tracts can be very controversial, targeting and condeming other religions like catholicism, islam, judaism, hinduism, buddhism, and mormonism as well as warning about the dangers of drugs, sex, homosexuality, rock and roll, witchcraft, and even halloween. These stories told in the tracts can often be told in a very simple, powerful, and scary manner. Some people and groups have deemed them as hate literature, and they have also been banned in many countries not including america.

I have to kind of admire Jack Chick a little bit. He isn't sugar-coating anything, and it's clear that he really believes in what he's doing. It takes a lot of guts to write and publish that stuff. I think the actual messages, and the content of the tracts to be kind of ridiculus and sometimes humorous, but the whole idea of it is kind of alluring. Leaving a little comic book at a bus stop knowing someone else will find it, or finding a little comic book in a public bathroom. It appears that christian book distributors, churches, and activists order these tracts for $0.15/tract and then hand them to people, or leave them in public places for people to find. I guess as far as religous pamphlets go, I would rather have someone put a chick tract in my hand then other religous pamphlets that i've been handed. At least the chick tract has some fucking cool illustrations to look at.

The Documentary is highly interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. You can also check out jackchick.com to find out more about it.

Floyd Jones

I finally finished my first solo album.
You can download it for
free by following this link.
CLICK HERE

DS Woman

This is my second attempt at using the Home brew
application Colors for the Nintendo DS.

Super Heroes

Ink on Paper

New York at Night

I took this picture through the hotel room
window on the 29th Floor in Manhattan.

Urbania

Ink on Paper 2008

Gangland

Ink on Paper

Pencil on Paper

Floyd Jones

Till It's Bleeding

11/17" Mixed Media on Paper

The Passenger

With Tie

12/12" Watercolor and Pencil on Paper

The Red Bandana

16/16" Mixed Media on Canvas

The Rose Bush

40/30" Mixed Media on Canvas

I See Death

16/16" Mixed Media on Canvas

Soldier Boy

16/20" Mixed Media on Canvas

Arms and Legs

"Arms and Legs"
16/20" Watercolor and Ink

Self Satisfied

I painted this a few months ago when I was listening to the album "Very Personally Yours" by Clear Days Always. Clear Days Always is my close friend Levi Bailey also of Spit for Athena. I met Levi a few years ago when we were in a band together called CCCCCCC. Levi and I are also currently recording an album called "The Wires Are Showing" under the band name: Sara Scare. This painting took all of 5 minutes, but it made me happy. Levi runs his own record label under the name Self Satisfied, hence the title of the painting.

11/14" Watercolor on Paper

Clear Days Always
Spit For Athena
Sara Scare
CCCCCCC
Self Satisfied

Self Portrait

I wanted to post one of my older works. I made this piece with oil pastels before I had ever picked up a paint brush. I really like this piece, but I have never been able to re-create this feeling again. I used to have this thing about drawing people with broken hands.
steventhomasart.com