Boxtrolls behind-the-scenes featurette

Laika, the stop-motion animation studio that brought us "Coraline" and "ParaNorman" created this enticing behind-the-scenes video about the making of their upcoming feature, called "Boxtrolls," which is due out next fall. (Direct link to video)

Provision in Obamacare Likely to Force Up Cost of Many Family Plans

In an ongoing trend, unrelated to Obamacare, companies have been passing on more and more healthcare costs to employees.

However, an ACA gotcha has impacted the way costs are passed on, with families taking a bigger hit than individuals at many companies.

Please consider Companies Prepare to Pass More Health Costs to Workers.

Many employers are betting that the Affordable Care Act's requirement that all Americans have health insurance starting in 2014 will bring more people into their plans who have previously opted out. That, along with other rising expenses, is prompting companies to raise workers' premium contributions, steer them toward high-deductible plans and charge them more to cover family members.

The changes as companies roll out their health plans for 2014 aren't solely the result of the ACA. Employers have been pushing more of the cost of providing health insurance on to their workers for years, and firms that aren't booking much sales growth due to the sluggish economy are under heavy pressure to keep expenses down.

A quirk of the Affordable Care Act could make it more appealing for companies to raise rates for family coverage than for individuals, said Vivian Ho, a Rice University health-care economist.

Starting in 2015, companies employing 50 or more people must offer affordable health-care coverage to anyone working 30 hours a week or more. But affordability is measured using the cost of individual coverage, capping the cost at 9.5% of income, Ms. Ho said. Raising family rates could help companies recoup costs without running afoul of that limit, she said.

Gannett Co., which owns more than 80 newspapers and 23 television stations, expects one factor in its increased health costs to be the addition of more employees to its insurance plans due to the ACA rules, according to a person familiar with the company's projections.

To address an overall increase in costs, Gannett has replaced the two plans for families it used to offer its workers with a single high-deductible plan that requires employees to pay the first $3,000 of medical costs each year, according to workers at the Indianapolis Star, one of the company's papers. For those with individual coverage, who make up a little over half of Gannett's insurance pool, the figure is $1,500.

The company also scrapped a sliding scale that let lower-income workers pay lower premiums. For some employees, the result was a 60% jump in monthly premiums for family coverage, to $575 from about $360.

Gannett said more than half of its employees will see premiums fall by 12%.

United Parcel Service Inc. made headlines in August when it said that it would bar spouses from its nonunion health plan if they could get coverage at their own jobs. The company said it expected to see an increase in its health-care costs in part from adding employees to its plan who currently opt out.

About 6% of employers ban coverage for spouses who can get it elsewhere, and another 6% impose an explicit surcharge for covering a spouse, according to Mercer. American Electric Power Co., for example, began imposing a $50 monthly surcharge this year to cover spouses with access to insurance at their own workplace. AEP said 92% of its employees usually sign up for coverage, so it doesn't expect a surge of new enrollment.

In another shift this year, companies have become increasingly aggressive about steering employees toward plans in which they pay more of the initial costs for their care in exchange for lower premiums.

Trucking and logistics company Ryder System Inc. has replaced one of its two insurance options with one such high-deductible plan. Ryder is encouraging employees to choose the new option in part by raising the cost of more traditional coverage.

Winners and Losers

Half of Gannett employees will see a 12% drop in premiums. But others will see a 60% rise. And for those who do see premiums decline, the drop will be solely because they are forced into high deductible plans.

Obamacare created a pool of winners and losers, with some of the losers far worse off than before. Many people were hardly affected at all, at least initially. In aggregate, ACA did nothing to lower overall costs, it just shifted costs around in an inefficient manner, making things worse than before. 

The most widely reported "success" has been the enrollment of tens of thousands of people into Medicaid. Because of cost sharing that kicks in later, many states are likely to regret that effort.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Monsted's painterly suggestion of foliage

If all you saw was this reproduction by Danish painter Peder Mørk Mønsted (1859-1941), you might think it was finished to some fussy level of photographic detail.

But a super close-up shows a joyous riot of thick paint handling.

Realism can be achieved by suggestion, and one of the joys of painting is the balance between the material properties of paint and the illusion of light, air, and depth.
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Peder Mørk Mønsted on Wikipedia
Previous posts that mention Monsted

Black Friday Roundup: Walmart has 10M Transactions in 4 Hrs; Exhausted Shoppers Head Home; Fights Break Out at Walmart; Real Fight is Online

In some locations, people pushed, shoved, and fought their way through the shopping aisles. In other locations, traffic was normal.

All in all, I suspect people once again bought more junk they do not need and cannot afford.

Here is a sampling of the news.

Walmart Processes 10 Million Transactions in 4 Hours

The New York Times reports Exhausted Shoppers Head Home, Replaced by the Next Wave.

While some malls across the country were busy during the traditional postholiday shopping on Friday, the crowds at others seemed sparse to some regular customers, who compared them to a regular weekend’s atmosphere. Perhaps it’s possible that the earlier Thanksgiving hours and the increase in online shopping — with so many e-tailers offering competitive deals — had lessened the desire to peruse racks of clothes inside some physical stores.

Still, customers sensed there were deals to be had on both days, and parking lots at some malls were jammed again on Friday. On both Friday and Thursday, some customers complained about their fellow shoppers. Holly Schneider, another shopper at the Leesburg outlets, said prices were far better than consumer behavior. “People are rude, just really rude,” Mrs. Schneider said. “There’s no personal space. It’s like you’re not even there. They’re bumping into you, knocking you down. They don’t see you. They see where they’re going.”

IPad Airs and several televisions sold out on Target.com by midmorning on Thursday. Walmart announced that the company had sold 1.4 million tablets on Thanksgiving Day. Walmart also said it had processed more than 10 million transactions at its registers from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, including lower-tech items like nearly two million dolls.

Over all, online sales were up nearly 10 percent over last year by Black Friday afternoon, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark.

Walmart Black Friday Fight

What would Black Friday be without a fight? 



Link if video does not play: Wal-Mart Black Friday Fight

Real Fight Was Online

The Wall Street Journal reports On Black Friday, the Real Fight Was Online.

Brick-and-mortar retailers mounted a furious defense on Black Friday to head off incursions into one of the industry's biggest shopping days by such online rivals as Amazon.com Inc.

The tactics were evident in stores and on websites as millions of holiday shoppers lined up to spend their dollars on highly touted deals.

Chains like Macy's Inc. opened on Thanksgiving for the first time, and giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target moved their deals earlier Thursday, shifts intended to retrieve valuable shopping time that had been ceded to e-commerce, where the doors never close.

Best Buy Co. kept some deals hidden until customers showed up at stores, and retailers put more deals on the Web to better compete with Amazon on its own playing field.

In the early predawn hours of Thanksgiving, Jason Goldberger huddled with his team on the 20th floor of a Target Corp. building in Minneapolis to make sure everything was ready at the chain's most important store: Target.com.

Mr. Goldberger, who runs Target's website and mobile business, arrived at 2 a.m., His staff split into two conference rooms. One held a technology team responsible for the workings of the site. The other had people comparing Target's deals with offers from Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

Such big retailers as Wal-Mart and Target continue to struggle to keep up with Amazon on the Web. Despite years of effort, online sales still typically account for only around 2% of sales for the two chains.

But both companies are investing heavily to catch up. Target expects to spend more on technology next year than it does building and upgrading new stores. This year, it made virtually all of its Black Friday deals available online.

Store chains used rolling discounts to keep shoppers lingering and competitors' guessing. On Friday at 8 a.m. Wal-Mart started "Manager's Specials," which included unannounced promotions set by individual store managers who received a set budget to spur sales.

Flagging bargains too early risks having competitors match or beat prices. Market Track LLC, which tracks pricing on the Web, said Best Buy had advertised a Samsung gas range for $699 in its Black Friday flier. On Wednesday, Sears dropped its price for the oven to $599. By Thursday, Best Buy and hhgregg Inc. had matched the lower price.

It's far too early to tell if stores actually did better than last year or not. The answer depends on what people bought: loss leader sales items, stuff in general, or high-markup items.

According to a couple of close friends, store traffic was lighter than usual in my area, at least later in the day. I did not venture out personally.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Texas Welfare Recipient Says "Working is Stupid"

Please consider the viewpoint of a 32-year old Austin Texas welfare recipient who says working is stupid because she gets nearly free housing, food stamps, a welfare check, and other handouts.



Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

France Minister of Industrial Renewal has New Target in his Sights

Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of Industrial Renewal of France, has a new target in his sights, the French public procurement group UGAP.

Here is some background information about UGAP. Montebourg's complaint follows.

The Union of Public Purchasing Groups (UGAP), the French public procurement centre operates under the supervision of the Ministries of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Education. UGAP's overall objective is to strengthen the social and environmental performance of public procurement, without increasing the cost of services offered.

Alice Piednoir, Sustainable Development Policy Officer & Purchasing Manager, says "We centralise applications and mutualise costs in order to propose offers that are financially successful. We ensure that the inclusion of social and environmental requirements in our bidding do not cause additional costs to the services offered."

Montebourg Targets UGAP Over "Made in France"

Montebourg is upset that UGAP does not supply enough products made in France, and he threatens to dissolve the group.

Via translation from Le Monde, Arnaud Montebourg Targets UGAP Over "Made in France"

Arnaud Montebourg has a new target in his sights: UGAP, the main central purchasing agency for state and local communities.

UGAP does not provide enough support for French companies in the eyes of the minister of productive recovery . In response, Montebourg threatens to apply for dissolution of the company.

"I consider that there is a serious problem with patriotic UGAP ," thundered the minister Tuesday, November 26 , before the presidents of the regions he received at Bercy. UGAP has a global order book except for France .

Montebourg is willing to overpay for everything as long as it's made in France.

Is it any wonder French government spending accounts for 56% of French GDP, highest in the EU (not that there is anything productive about that setup).

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Drölling's advice to a young artist

Michel-Martin Drölling, Portrait of the Artist aged 18, 1804

"What sort of painting can a young fellow do at your age? Generally something mediocre as far as ideas go.... Do sketches, train yourself in composition: whatever ideas you've got, put them on to paper in a single day at one stroke, and even though it's on a small scale, you can put into it anything you like in the way of harmony, elegance, costumes, poetry and so forth: those are the sort of paintings you should be doing at seventeen.... Above all, see to it that all your efforts and studies converge and help you to qualify for the [Prix de Rome] competition. That's your goal and, if you want to reach it, don't waste a day on feeble and useless studies."  —Michel-Martin Drölling (1789-1851)

Quote from The Academy and French Painting in the 19th Century by Albert Boime.

25% of Spanish Would Consider Leaving Spain for Economic Reasons; But Where Would They Go?

The employment and pay situation in Spain is so bad that 33% struggle to pay their bills. More importantly, 25% would consider leaving the country for better opportunities.

Via translation from La Vanguardia, please consider One in three Spaniards have no money after paying their bills.

One in three Spanish claims to have no money left after paying the bills, according to a report on consumer payments. The study further reveals that 25% would be think of emigrating because of their economic situation. The same percentage say do not have enough money for a decent life.

Those are the most conclusive findings in the study Consumer Payments 2013, made by the Credit Management firm Intrum Justitia which surveyed 10,000 consumers from 21 European countries with the aim of understanding their payment behavior.

In regard to Spain, the percentage of citizens who say they have no money after paying the bills is higher than the European average, which stands at 26 percent, although some countries like Greece, Estonia and Hungary reach 40 percent.

If they have to prioritize in order to pay bills, the Spaniards choose to pay for the latest mobile phone and internet purchases. And if they can get savings on their household budgets, 79% do so by reducing leisure and clothing  expenses.

Another revealing statistic is that 25% of Spaniards say they do not having a sufficient amount of money for a decent life.  Estonia leads this ranking with 52%, followed by Hungary with 47% and Greece with 44%.

Eight in ten think that the Government lacks good financial control, compared to an average of 60 percent for the EU.

Trapped in Spain

25% would leave for better opportunities, but where would they go? The same question applies to Greece, Portugal, and Estonia.

The answer is nowhere. There are too few jobs elsewhere,  and plenty of xenophobia in France and other countries that are struggling as well.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Cotton Balls Go Rotten; Bale of a Tale of State Planning

Two years ago China amassed half the global supply of Cotton with huge price supports in an effort to encourage more cotton production. China "succeeded".

Farmers produced, and the state paid more for cotton than farmers could get elsewhere. Worldwide supplies soared, but the cotton was withheld from the market.

China's Cotton Policy "Success" Story



Bale of a Tale of State Planning

Please consider China Cotton: Bale of a Tale

It is never easy to put a positive spin on buying high and then selling low. Then again, the cotton that China plans to start selling from its vast state reserves this week, at a price below what it paid for this year’s harvest, might be rather hard actually to spin, period. Cotton can go brittle if stored for a long time. The China National Cotton Reserve will be auctioning bales that came off farms in 2011.

Still, what a marvellous monument to state planning has been created, even if the buying programme might finally end overall next year. China started its stockpiling to encourage farmers to plant cotton when prices looked set to go south two years ago (price volatility threatened a crisis for the nation’s cotton industry). But it has ended holding about 10m tons, or more than half of global inventory. It is now considering direct subsidies to cotton farmers instead.

Australia took a decade to get rid of every last thread of its wool reserves after ending its own farmer support policy in 1991. In the process, the farming industry suffered plenty of damage. But free-market innovation won out over state control in the end. The Australians probably made the fine merino wool in your suit. Not to spin a tale, but perhaps a similar process can work for the Chinese.

State Central Planning

In autumn of 2011, a clothing importer told me the price of clothes was about to soar because of a huge shortage of cotton. Clothing prices rose a few percent, but nothing like what many expected.

But there never was a cotton shortage. Rather there was huge accumulation of cotton by China at ridiculous prices. So now, what to do with it?

If China holds on to the cotton long enough, the matter will take care of itself as the "cotton balls go rotten".

Money does not go rotten in the same way, but rotten results from Fed and central bank money manipulation policies are eventually headed this way. Centralized state planning of anything never works over the long haul.

Huge boom-bust bubbles in housing and the stock market are proof enough.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Best wishes this Thanksgiving

J.C. Leyendecker, "Childhood Thanksgiving," 1927

Among the many things I have to be thankful for are the faithful readers of this blog, and for the ideas, thoughts, and reactions that you share in the comments. Thanks for making GurneyJourney a part of your day.

More classic Thanksgiving covers from Saturday Evening Post

Time for Banks to Be Banks, Not Hedge Funds or Slush Funds; Free Money Math vs. 100% Gold Backed Dollar

In the wake of all the misguided pleas for negative interest rates in Europe (hoping to get banks to lend), comes news US banks warn Fed interest cut could force them to charge depositors. 

Leading US banks have warned that they could start charging companies and consumers for deposits if the US Federal Reserve cuts the interest it pays on bank reserves.

Depositors already have to cope with near-zero interest rates, but paying just to leave money in the bank would be highly unusual and unwelcome for companies and households.

The warning by bank executives highlights the dangers of one strategy the Fed could use to offset an eventual “tapering” of the $85bn a month in asset purchases that have fuelled global financial markets for the last year.

Minutes of the Fed’s October meeting published last week showed it was heading towards a taper in the coming months – perhaps as soon as December – but wants to find a different way to add stimulus at the same time. “Most” officials thought a cut in the interest on bank reserves was an option worth considering.

Executives at two of the top five US banks said a cut in the 0.25 per cent rate of interest on the $2.4tn in reserves they hold at the Fed would lead them to pass on the cost to depositors.

Banks say they may have to charge because taking in deposits is not free: they have to pay premiums of a few basis points to a US government insurance programme.

“Right now you can at least break even from a revenue perspective,” said one executive, adding that a rate cut by the Fed “would turn it into negative revenue – banks would be disincentivised to take deposits and potentially charge for them”.

Other bankers said that a move to negative rates would not only trim margins but could backfire for banks and the system as a whole, as it would incentivise treasury managers to find higher-yielding, riskier assets.

About half of the reserves come from non-US banks that do not have to pay the deposit insurance fee. Their favourite manoeuvre is to take deposits from money market funds and park them overnight at the Fed, earning millions of dollars risk-free. Cutting the interest on reserves would stop that.

Excess Reserves



Free Money Math

The Fed pays .25% interest on excess reserves.
A quarter of a percent on $2.4 trillion happens to be $6,000,000,000 (six billion) annually.

Time for Banks to Be Banks, Not Hedge Funds or Slush Funds

Printing money that just sits overnight at the Fed allowing banks to make risk-free profits on $2.4 trillion in excess reserves is of course ridiculous.

It is also ludicrous for banks to complain about the take-away of free money that it should not be getting in the first place.

The Fed has so distorted the economy that no true pricing mechanism exists on anything.

Should banks feel the need to charge depositors interest on deposits, then so be it. That's the way it should be in the first place.

100% Gold Backed Dollar

In a true free market economy, with a 100% gold-backed dollar (where one dollar represented a fixed amount of gold, as opposed to a fixed price of gold), banks would of course charge a fee for safekeeping and other services.

The closer we get to that model the better, regardless of complaints by banks or others.

Notice the emphasis on safekeeping.

A 100% gold backed dollar would not stop lending. It would stop fractional reserve lending, lending of money in demand accounts, and lending of money for greater terms than the bank has use of funds.

Banks could not lend money available on demand (checking accounts), but they could lend money in interest bearing accounts such as CDs, for the term of the CD.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Color Gamuts in Botanical Illustration

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Ph.D., D. Sc., Manager of The School of Botanical Art & Illustration in Denver, Colorado, recently gave her students an assignment to do a realistic botanical rendering as a way to understand color gamuts.

Mervi says: 

"We recently completed an advanced level workshop which followed James Gurney's book Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter focusing on a botanical subject matter. The students learned about gamut mapping and limited palettes and found it to be extremely helpful in botanical work." 

"The class was very successful and several of the students even suggested that it should be a class within the required curriculum."

 "In the upper image no blue color was used - the lower image shows the same subject matter but without any yellow and blue added."

 Randy Raak was the instructor and the students used colored pencil.

 Please see more images from this course in addition to some other classroom shots by clicking here.

War Between Spain and Germany Erupts Over Next Round of Watered Down Stress Tests; Germany Complains About the "Carry Trade"

On October 23, ECB president Mario Draghi announced new bank stress tests. At the time, I offered a "Draghize" Translation. Here is a small snip.

Translating Draghize

For those of you who do not speak Draghize I offer these translations.

Draghize: "Banks do need to fail to prove the credibility of the exercise".
Mish: We are carefully scrutinizing several non-critical banks, looking for a couple of scapegoats, hoping to fool the public regarding the credibility of the exercise.

Draghize: "If they do have to fail, they have to fail. There’s no question about that."
Mish: If any big banks are in trouble. They won't fail. There’s no question about that.

Draghize: "The test is credible because the ultimate purpose of it is to restore or strengthen private sector confidence in the soundness of the banks, in the quality of their balance sheets"
Mish: The test is credible because we say it is.

War Erupts Over How Much to Water Down Stress Tests

Via translation El Confidencial reports War between Spain and Germany Erupts Over the Hardness of Stress Tests

The new stress tests of European banks have caused the outbreak of a new confrontation between the governments of Spain and Germany. Until now, it was Spain who argued in favor of a tough exercise, similar to what Spain had to undergo when seeking bailout funds.

By contrast, Germany (supported by France and Italy) preferred more lax exercises that do not bring to light the shame of their banks balance sheets of billions in toxic assets, including Spanish mortgage securitizations.

But now the German authorities found one flank to counterattack: the huge public debt exposure of Spanish banks, which they believe should be penalized in these exercises, which can be catastrophic for our financial system when it just starts to lift head.

Sovereign Debt Not All Risk-Free

The German authorities consider that if the tests need to be hard, then they should be hard in every way, including sovereign debt. In addition, the German central bank seeks to distinguish between the sovereign debt of their country and peripherals. It is what they call "enforce the triple A".

The penalty is a recurring request from the Bundesbank. Its president, Jens Weidmann, has warned several times about the risk posed by this link between governments and entities, and has called for a regulatory change that public debt is not considered a risk-free asset.

"It makes no sense that risk-free treatment is given to BBB Spain titles. Sovereign debt cannot all be considered as zero risk equally. Only those with the highest rating can be considered risk free" is the argument from Germany.

Germany Complains About the "Carry Trade"

Weidmann's claim is deeper than a mere fight stress tests estate. In its latest monthly report, the Bundesbank takes offense at the stratospheric rise in the positions of the Spanish banking debt: an increase of 133 billion euros over two years, to around 300 billion euros today. This is explained by the famous carry trade with which banks borrow very cheap on the open bar ECB liquidity at 0.75%, then invest in public debt paying 4% interest.

Spanish officials claim it makes no sense to penalize these asset as if they were bad loans. But the answer to this argument is simple: a stress test is by definition a simulation of a worst case scenario that the current (or adverse stressed scenario) and that scenario should take a further fall in bond prices and an increase yields.

If the Bubdesbank imposes its criteria, the result can be disastrous for some of our institutions. Some industry sources are confident that the Spanish government reaches a deal with the German to "not to hurt each other."

Germany Convinced of Easy Stress Tests

Via translation, also consider Merkel stands up to Guindos Regarding Stress Tests

According to a source familiar with the situation, "Germany is convinced that the test will be very light because of so much opposition to make the stress tests a serious exercise."

In fact, postponing these tests from the last quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014 is another sign of the imposition of the German thesis. Neither France nor Italy wants very rigorous stress tests so as to not aerate the shame of their own banks.

French reluctance is justified by the enormous exposure with their banks in recent years. As for the Italians, "they are in a state of denial as that Spanish banks had before the disaster," explain the sources cited. "And the worst is that they usually get away with it, not least because Mario Draghi is Italian."

"Deal to Not Hurt Each Other"

In return for watering down stress tests on certain toxic assets that French banks, German banks, and Italian banks do not want, industry sources think a deal will be reached to also not include skyrocketing sovereign debt of Spanish banks.

Conclusion: expect another stress-free test.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Reader Reflections on Socialism Theory vs. Practice

In response to Record Number of French Corporate Bankruptcies; Socialist Theory vs. Practice; What Went Wrong? I received a number of noteworthy comments via email and as direct comment to my blog.

Reader Jay commented ...

The first thing all you capitalism bashers need to understand is that capitalism is not what we have in this country. We have crony capitalism/socialism/fascism at work right now. We have never had real capitalism.

Jay replied to the ridiculous comment by "ClimbingSand " The rich have socialism, the poor have dog eat dog Capitalism.

Acting Man Commented ...

Via email, Pater Tenebrarum at the Acting Man Blog hit the nail precisely on the head. Here is his comment:

I would point out that socialism works neither in practice nor in theory. It is already the theory that is wrong, as the concept must fail due to the calculation problem. Economic calculation is literally impossible under socialism, and so no rational socialistic economy is possible. If the whole world were to adopt socialism, we would soon live from hand to mouth, as the division of labor would completely collapse within a few short years.


Thanks Pater!

I take this opportunity to point out that his blog is still having "technical difficulties", related to his current host. Pater is looking for a new host site, and hopefully his blog will be back up, and running soon.

Pater has taught me a lot over the years. He is the person who introduced me to Austrian economics.

I highly recommend bookmarking his site. It will be back up soon.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Book Review: How to Draw, by Scott Robertson

Until now, I had to rack my brain to think of what instructional book to recommend for a student who wants to learn perspective.

No longer. Scott Robertson's new book, "How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination" lays out all the principles and practices of drawing objects in perspective from your imagination.

The emphasis is on how to draw things in perspective with traditional tools, but the principles apply to digital artists, too. The book begins with basic drawing materials and techniques, and then defines underlying concepts like cone of vision, viewing position, horizon line, and vanishing points, concepts that are often skipped over in other books. The book then goes on to explain exactly how to draw a form with compound curves—such as a car or an airplane—either from observation or imagination.

The book, by Robertson's own publishing company Design Studio Press, is large (9x11 inches), thick (208 pages), and printed on good paper. The book also has innovative video content of the book that can be sourced by a URL inside and on an Android app that is still waiting on iOS approval.

Scott is both a master teacher and a concept artist who has designed vehicles for many feature films. He has been working on this book for most of his professional career, and it benefits greatly from his experience as artist, teacher, and publisher.
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How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination
Other book recommendations in my "Survival Guide for Art Students"

Quick portrait sketches

Sitting around a breakfast table with other artists is a golden opportunity to practice quick portrait sketches. Here's Ken Laager, drawn with water soluble colored pencils and some watercolor.

In addition to Ken, I was joined by Chad Smith (far left), Garin Baker and Greg Shea (not visible), Richard Scarpa, and my wife Jeanette.

Marc Holmes, a leader in the Urban Sketchers movement from Montreal, also joined us on our trip last week to Massachusetts. I sketched him using black and red-brown watercolor pencils with a little watercolor in the background.

Here's my expedition kit for water media, with casein and gouache in the bags, two watercolor pan sets, a box of pencils, my homemade pochade rig in the upper left, and assorted tripods and camera gear, which I used in the Higgins Armory Museum video.

Video from the Armory Museum

(Direct link to YouTube video) I shot some video last week while I did that little painting of field combat armor, and here's the result.

In the video, you'll see a few glimpses of my friends painting. So that you can see their work a little more clearly, here are some better scans. Please check back later, because there are more images to come.

Sean Murray, study of Papal guard armor, pen and watercolor.

Greg Shea, pen and ink.

Jeanette Gurney, pencil, watercolor, and a little white gouache.

Garin Baker "The Higgins Armory"


Chad Smith, "Romanesque Ceremonial Armor"

And in case you missed it, here's the painting I did of the field combat armor using watercolor and casein, 5x8 inches.

Face-O-Mat: portable portrait device

Face-o-mat Travels the World - 2013 from Tobias Gutmann on Vimeo.

Tobias Gutmann built a portable booth for portrait painting that simulates the working of a machine, complete with coin slot, controls, and a fake printer as he slides out the finished product.

People love interacting with machines, even when they know it's all a game. Gutmann has brought the device all over the world, and has produced over 700 portraits with it.
Direct link to Vimeo. Via BoingBoing

High speed photos of dogs shaking

Dogs make the most amazing faces when they're shaking off water.

Animators will appreciate the extreme keyframe poses and the overlapping action of all the loose forms pulled around by centripetal forces.


(Video link) Slow motion footage shows that different animals shake at different frequencies to maximize the effectiveness of removing water.

See more high speed photos at Demilked.com. Thanks, Susan.

Higgins Armory

James and Jeanette Gurney painting at the Higgins Armory. Photo by Greg Shea

Yesterday Jeanette and I joined a group of artist friends to paint at the Higgins Armory in Worcester, Massachusetts, the only museum in America devoted entirely to armor.


I was attracted to this pairing of 16th century German field armor poised for combat. What struck me first was the chiaroscuro: light-on-dark on the left, and dark-on-light on the right.

I also liked the sense of action, and I thought I would develop that idea, imagining the scene taking place with real people outdoors.

I started the painting in watercolor, and finished in casein. It's 5x8 inches and took about five hours. I shot video of the process, so I'll edit that together for a future post.


Our group, from left to right included: Sean Murray, Ken Laager, Jeanette Gurney, Marc Holmes, James Gurney, Greg Shea, Richard Scarpa, Chad Smith, Garin Baker, Joe Salamida (in helmet), John Caggiano.

The Higgins Armory will be welcoming any artists who want to sketch from the collection this Saturday in non-oil media. Although Jeanette and I won't be there, other artists will be gathering. Don't miss seeing the collection before it closes forever at the end of the year. Edit: I have heard that the museum officials have changed their mind and will not be able to allow artists to come on Saturday after all. Sorry for the confusion.

Princess Kaguya Trailer

Filmmaker Isao Takahata helped to create this delightful trailer for the film "Princess Kaguya" about the transformation of a tiny princess into a regular human baby. The watercolor-come-to-life style is different for Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation company best known for Hayao Miyazaki's films "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away." (Link to video).

A commentary by Adam Bellotto in Film School Rejects compares the new trailer to the CGI animation of the big American studios. Thanks, Bryn

Redhead

Since I usually paint people who aren't holding still, it's a luxury to work from a posed model for a change. Instead of portraying the model exactly as she appeared in the art studio, I imagined her standing in a forest, turning to listen to a far-off sound.

The study is painted in watercolor with a bit of gouache, and it's very small: 5 x 8 inches.

Dinosaur illustration assignment at MICA

Daniel Iturralde painting a dinosaur in Patrick O'Brien's class at MICA

Patrick O'Brien, who teaches illustration at the Maryland Institute of Art (MICA), came up with an assignment for his digital and oil-painting students. The goal was to paint a dinosaur in a convincing environment using the process outlined in my books and videos.

The classes began by watching my DVD "How I Paint Dinosaurs" and reading my books Color and Light and Imaginative Realism.

Patrick brought in some of his own dinosaur maquettes, and the students sketched them from various angles as they developed compositional ideas in thumbnail form.

Once they decided on their compositions, they photographed the maquettes and gathered images of background environments.


Then they drew comprehensive layouts of their compositions based on their references, before going to finish. Both Patrick's oil-painting students and his digital students followed the same basic process.

Julianne Ostrander portrayed her Stegosaurus on a high ridge with a dramatic view down to a lake. She captured the reflected light of the sun bouncing off the near dorsal plates to the far plates.

Niki Sauter created this digital image of a dinosaur prowling through a moody atmospheric landscape. Kudos to all the students, and thanks to Patrick for working with my books and vids!

If you're an art teacher, and you want to use my books or videos in your class, please send me some photos and I'll try to feature them on the blog. Also if you order a classroom set of my books, I can do dino drawings in them and personalize them with the student's names.
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More about Patrick O'Brien
Previously: Painting demo at MICA

Product test: LED hat for night painting

If you like to paint outdoors at night or sketch in dark restaurants, it can be difficult to see what you're doing. Streetlights aren't reliable in color, so there are a variety of options for getting light on your work. One solution is the LED headlamp, which I demoed in New York City in a previous post. It works fine, but the light is rather strong and it can be distracting to people around you.

John and Ann over at the Artist Road website sent me a light-up hat that they've developed and asked me to review it. The hat comes with three LED bulbs tucked into the edge of the brim, so when it's turned off, it looks like any other hat. 

The hat is made of gray microfiber. You can wear it as a normal hat in the daytime, and just turn it on when you need it. The angle of the bill is perfectly aimed at the area where your hands are working.

The switch and bulb are hidden inside the visor and the battery is tucked in sweatband. The switch is operated by squeezing the bill with your right hand. There are three modes: Low (2 bulbs), High (all three bulbs), and Off. The light looks a little bluish, compared to other typical night sources, such as incandescent, so I might try tinting one or two of the bulbs with a little Indian yellow oil paint.

Battery life is rated at 25 hours, though I haven't run it that long yet. The coin-type batteries are removable and replaceable, and you can take them out to wash the hat. 

Once I gave it a try, I started using it everywhere. I tried out the hat in a dark restaurant, where it really helped to see the menu and the sketchbook, though my dining partners reminded me not to shine it in their faces. I also tested the hat in a nighttime sketch group, where it helped me to see what I was doing. I found it very useful in a dimly lit gallery to light up those hard-to-see paintings.  Jeanette has tried it for seeing her knitting and for reading a map on nighttime car trips. 

The Artist's Road LED hat is available at the Artist's Road store site for $25. Comparable LED hats are also Available on Amazon, but I don't think they're as well made. You can also get a Light unit with 5 LEDs that clips to the brim of your hat, in case you like to change hats.

Meissonier on painting from Nature

Ernest Messonier (1815-1891), painted many of his small oil compositions directly from live models in authentic costumes. His paintings commanded the highest prices of any artist in the nineteenth century.

Ernest Meissonier, Standing Man

He had this to say about painting directly from the observation of reality:

"I should have done more perhaps to cultivate my memory. But I infinitely prefer going straight to Nature, the fountainhead. If you want to prevent my consulting Nature, you must shut me up, without any model. If there was a looking-glass in the room I should pose before it, and paint from that. Nature is my favorite and indispensable slave. There is no room for conjecture in my painting, no doubt about the reality of my conception, no shuffling. There it is."

Rembrandt van Rijn, Carcass of Beef, 1657 

Meissonier was a great admirer of Rembrandt:

"Rembrandt, there was a perfect artist ! His Boeuf Écorché in the Louvre ought to be set up as a model to all painters. What unerring precision of touch throughout the frenzy of the handling! Each tone falls into its right place under the impetus. It is painted with fire. Freedom and truth, these are the two most admirable things on earth!"----
from Meissonier, His Life and Art by Octave Gréard
Previous posts mentioning Meissonier
Retrospective catalog (in French, all color repros): Ernest Meissonier: Retrospective : Musee des beaux-arts de Lyon, 25 mars-27 juin 1993 (French Edition)
Ross King's recent book comparing Meissonier and Manet: The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism

Gerome's Two Demands

Jean-Léon Gérôme in his studio

According to Edouard Cucuel, the great academic master Jean-Léon Gérôme demanded two things of his pupils before they started to paint: "That they lay on a red or yellow tone, and that they keep their brushes scrupulously clean. Woe to him who disobeys."

As the master made the rounds commenting on student work, the model had to hold the pose, no matter how difficult, for up to two straight hours until the criticism was over.

Gérôme was a severe taskmaster, but he was also known for his geniality and kindliness, which appeared after the criticism, when the students showed their sketches and studies made outside the École des Beaux-Arts.

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From "Bohemian Paris of To-Day" by Edouard Cucuel, page 52-3.

Read all previous posts about Gérôme

Big exhibition catalog from Amazon

Woodchuck Lodge

John Burroughs (1837-1921) was a writer and naturalist from 100 years ago whose essays and books helped to establish the environmental movement. He built a rustic house near Roxbury, New York where he spent the summers and entertained guests.

A historic photo taken in John Burroughs' day (top), compared to one taken last summer, shows that some of original wood on the porch has been replaced.


 Last August I did a painting on the porch because the rain kept coming and going. As I dove into the watercolor, I kept in mind one of the quotes of John Burroughs: "Leap and the net will appear."

John Burroughs' Woodchuck Lodge 
More quotes by John Burroughs
Previously on GurneyJourney: The Creative Habitats of John Burroughs

Sargent show in New York

John Singer Sargent, Young Girl Wearing a White Muslin Blouse, oil on canvas, 19.5x 15 inches.

There's an exhibition of over 40 rarely seen original oils and watercolors by John Singer Sargent at the Michael Altman gallery in New York City. The show continues through December 6.