Fox Hunt and The Yellow Submarine

It’s taken sometime to process the graphic impact of Heinz Edelmann’s The Yellow Submarine.  George Dunning is credited for directing this Beatles feature film but the design was singularly birthed by Heinz Edelmann.  Unfortunately both men have passed away, but even so, I believe history has left a trail that might account for how this style developed.

The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a fusion of contemporary rock & roll and Victorian influences, including the British survival of two World Wars and the teachings of Aleister Crowley.  Producer George Martin further sweetened the mixture with classical orchestrations.  This touch of old and new sensibilities was simultaneously happening in the graphic arts of the time too.

Artists like Milton Glaser reached back into the past, recycling vestiges of Art Nouveau and the later Art Deco to create a contemporary style for the 60’s commonly called Pop Art.  Heinz Edelmann also used this template to the design the world of Pepperland for  The Yellow Submarine and caricatured the current designs with the fashionable bell-bottoms and boots of the day blown up to ridiculous proportions.  This style was pirated by lesser talents like Peter Max through out the Psychedelic era.

Now, in the world of animation Walt Disney had impacted the field to the point that everyone was becoming a clone of Walt’s graphic style which tried to emulate nature more and more.  Two filmmakers, Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin, choose to experiment with the radically different aesthetic backlash Art Deco and the Modern Art movement was to the traditional classical representation.

 

Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin made the Art Deco film Fox Hunt and being a British film that gained some notoriety, it’s not unreasonable to think that a young Heinz Edelmann or George Dunning might have seen it as impressionable youths.  Graphically The Yellow Submarine owes a debt to Art Deco but there are a few scenes which might point to a direct influence.  Fox Hunt has equestrian riders coming down Art Nouveau staircases very similar to the ones Ringo drives his red car down in The Yellow Submarine.  It could all be coincidental I suppose, but…  

  

Riders descending staircases in Fox Hunt

Ringo's car descending  staircases in The Yellow Submarine

I did an earlier article on Gross and Hoppin speculating that their film La Joie de Vivre may have influenced the 1940 Disney classic Fantasia.  You can find it here: https://joelbrinkerhoff.blogspot.com/2011/10/la-joie-de-vivre-influencing-fantasia.html

The Beatles and Aleister Crowely

This Blog is mostly dedicated to animation but occasionally something gets my attention that prompts me to write about it.  This is one of those times and the subject is once again The Beatles. 

I’ve come to believe that the Beatles were more mirrors than innovators, and because of their popularity, they were able to influence a generation with new ideas.  I think they became a conduit for us that reflected their own spiritual quest and made fashion and esoteric subjects like transcendental mediation assessable to everyone.  The Beatles also brought a very British Victorian history with them and tried to reconcile it to a new modern way of thinking. 

The Beatles admiration of occultist Aleister Crowley is such an example of this British integration.  In England, Crowely was infamously known as ‘the wickedest man on earth’ and called himself ‘the Beast’ after the biblical Antichrist. 

After the controlling influence of manager Brian Epstein was taken away by his passing, the Beatles admittedly felt free to pursue more personal subject matter in their work.  The turning point where Aleister Crowley became visible as an influence was the cover of “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.”  Crowley is plainly shown in the upper left hand corner, but there is some speculation that he may appear twice on the album as the partially obscured red-faced figure wearing a fez.   The idea of ‘twins’ would be further built into the Beatle mythology with the whole Paul is Dead rumor, which also began with the Pepper cover.      

Crowely wrote a book he claims to have been dictated to him by the spirit Aiwass.   According to Crowley, the first appearance of Aiwass was during the Three Days of the writing of Liber al vel Legis. His first and only identification as such is in Chapter I: "Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat"  This spirit would later write the book the Beatles would embrace called “The Book of The Law,” which preached the concept of "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."

Crowely admonished practitioners of the law to listen to recordings backwards and to practice speaking backwards. An example he gives is “Let him practice speaking backwards: thus for ‘I am He’ let him say ‘Eh ma I’.”  Sounds like ‘I am he, as you are he, as you are me, etc, from “I am the Walrus,” doesn’t it?

How about the image from “The Magical Mystery Tour” showing a sign on Paul’s desk that reads: ‘I Was’?  Now admittedly it reads: ‘I you Was’, but if you just read the bold letters it sounds like Crowely’s spirit guide Aiwass, doesn’t it?

Sir Paul has often stated he believes in magic and he clarifies it’s magic with a ‘K’ spelled ‘magick’.  This is how Crowely spelled it.  Now the Beatles weren’t the only ones to follow Crowely.  Black Sabbath, Lead Zepplin, The Rolling Stones, and many others were adherents, along with the father of solid rocket fuel, Jack Parsons, and the creator of the cult Scientology, L.R. Hubbard, interesting, no?

Beach Boys and Brinkerhoffs

 Well, life is full of surprises and I ran across one quite unexpectedly.  While telling a friend about "Pet Sounds", a revolutionary record by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys which inspired the Beatles to do  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I saw this video clip on YouTube.  What leaped out at me was the black & white image of the recording session showing an upside down logo on a piano.  It looked familiar to me, and flipping the image confirmed that it was in fact a Brinkerhoff piano Brian was playing.

I've mentioned in an earlier post called "Self Indulgence" about the impact the Brinkerhoff clan has made from barbed wire, to pianos.  And now we can claim inspiration for the classic "Wouldn't it be Nice" if we stretch the fabric of logic far enough.

I wonder if I'm entitled to any royalties?

   

Heinz Edelmann, a Brief Review

I hope you all had a splendid start to your new year. With sometime till things kick in for me, I thought I would write about one of my favorite artists: Heinz Edelmann. There are many good reviews of his life and history so mine will be more about his range as an artist and the impact of his work shaping an era.

So much of the 60's was about 'change', and I think much of it led to very positive changes that are now being challenged again. I'd better stop there before going into a full blown rant on politics, but it was within this environment of experimentation and change that Edelmann influenced a generation or two with his work.

Any cursory viewing of his paintings and illustrations immediately show a diverse understanding of drawing and color, and a multiplicity of styles. Edelmann was a chameleon, always changing media and design. His commercial works show a playful and radical departure from the normal conventions in composition and layout which suited the radical changing times these publications were trying to address. This spilled over to his book illustrations which look just as fresh and exciting today, if only a little nostalgic.

It's not surprising that Heinz would be contacted by other prominent artists wanting to make an impact: The Beatles. Heinz singlehandedly created the look of Pepperland and all its residence, including monsters and mop-tops for "Yellow Submarine". It was such an arduous task that it almost killed him and he hated to talk about the experience in later years. A little taste of his discontent can be seen in the picture showing Ringo's head served on a platter, and the people of Pepperland tearing the flesh, and drinking the brains of the Blue Meanies! 

Because he was influenced by innovators and was an innovator, Heinz work became lost in the psychedelic haze of the times. Other people with louder voices started putting their stamp on the 'groovy' look and even his work on "Yellow Submarine" was for many years thought to have been done by imitator, Peter Max.

Heinz went on to teach a new generation of artists to think in radical terms.  His wide ranging abilities show a draftsman of great imagination.  Heinz Edelmann was no one trick pony, and I'm glad he left a body of work that attests to that fact.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Brinkerhoff Animation from Joel Brinkerhoff on Vimeo.

The Artist's Work Space

Fellow blogger, and animation artist, Eddie Fitzgerald has recently posted on his inspirational “Uncle Eddie’s Theory Corner”, an article about artists work spaces, (link provided here: http://uncleeddiestheorycorner.blogspot.com/), which I liked very much and responded to.  He offered an invitation for me to show my space if I cared to, so here it goes.

As I mentioned my wife hates clutter because her mother was a messy artist, and she had to clean the house around her moms work area, which also spilled over into their living space.  Well, my mother was a messy artist as well, and we lived in what she called 'creative clutter', which I loved! 

Wanting to keep a happy wife and an inspirational environment,  we have managed a pretty good compromise.  I can’t show you our entire house, which is an eclectic mix of styles and cultures, but I can show my work spaces and touch on a little of how I work and what inspires me.

My office is pretty digitally oriented for computer animation and this over-view picture kind of shows the contained chaos.  I have my messy bookshelf, walls of pictures, musical instruments and my sculptures and toys.  Some of the details are an unfinished portrait of my daughter begun by my late mother, which hangs above my desk, and a picture of my brother in period clothing that mom did, on another wall.  I also have paintings my mother-in-law did, and our mothers’ works are hung through out our house.

Downstairs I have a man cave with all my toys put in a wet bar, and movie posters on the walls.  This leads to my other work desk reserved for messy things like sculpture, or painting.  We have a cement floor in this part as it is also the laundry room, so I can drops brushes or cast plaster molds if I want. 

There it is.  I’m very thankful for what I have.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!  

Daughter by my mother

Brother in period costume by my mother

Wind chime (hung inside)

Another wall hanging

Shelve in office, (note the Vinton box for floppy disks!)

Rug hung on wall

Wall hanging

Book case with sculptures I've done

Wet bar with collectable toys (sorry about the glare)

Basement desk for messy work, (portrait of grand-kids on easel started for Christmas, don't tell!)

Digital Scuplting Beatles

I've started exploring digital sculpting and feel like I'm late to the table where it's concerned.  There are so many splendidly talented artists using the latest technologies and having wonderfully photo-real looking results that I'm completely intimidated by the whole thing.

To put things in perspective I've seen the evolution of computer graphics and the rapid increase in what one can do today as opposed to way back then.  I recall the method of sculpting a mesh was either with 'nurbs' or 'polygons' and I never fully mastered either one.  Now there are programs with names like Mudbox and ZBrush that can give you the most remarkable digital sculptures.

There is a whole new set of tools to learn and hoops to jump through.  I'm approaching this like a hobbyist and not ever thinking of doing this professionally.     

Here are some meager first attempts of mine.  That's supposed to be John Lennon in the later years and Paul in the early years.  Neither one is finished yet but I'm learning things along the way.

UPDATE:  Here's another whack at Sir Paul.

Another Clue for You All?

After forty some years the belief that Sir Paul McCartney is dead and was replaced with a look-alike caught fire on the internet and is only now starting to cool again.

I am not a subscriber to the “PID”, (Paul is dead), or replaced idea and feel the whole thing can be attributed to McCartney getting a lot of corrective surgeries.  In Macca’s career he teamed up with prominent writers and musicians like Costello, Wonder and Michael Jackson.  We all witnessed the transformation of Jackson into an unrecognizable white woman so it’s not surprising that Macca “fixed” his ears which stuck out, removed the bump on his nose, had chin implants to make his head less round and his teeth worked on after chipping them in an accident.  Over time the cosmetic results have been noticeable.

I do want to mention a thing for the believers that no one has mentioned. In 1999 the McFarlane toy company issued a series of Beatles figures based on “The Yellow Submarine”.  While some have pointed to two Paul’s during the “All Together Now” sequence in the movie, this line of toys may contain another clue for you all. 

Before the release of these Beatles figurines a toy fair picture of the proto-types was shown on the Internet.  The first series figures were the Beatles and a second series, the Sgt. Pepper band.  Each figure contained an additional character from the movie.  The proto-types showed Old Fred and Lord Mayor too but when the toys were in stores the Lord Mayors character was gone and another Paul was paired with Old Fred.  So if you were to collect all the figures in the two series you have a total of three Paul’s, one as Paul McCartney, one as a Pepper character, and one superfluous Paul.  Could that be Faul?  Faul is the name supposedly given by John to the Paul look-alike meaning fake Paul or faux  Paul.

Christmas Time is Here Again!

Fab Four

I can't believe I haven't posted my completed nod to the greatest band in the world. I had offered posters and Tee-shirts and all kind of products with this image on my Zazzle store but they made me take it off. It's kind of funny because there are all kind of Disney imagery on there and I doubt the sellers are given permission to use them.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

(Caricature of The Beatles by Joel Brinkerhoff)

Dark Horse

Still learning digital paint. I'm finding caricature to be pretty tough. I think it's become bad portraiture. I don't know.

(Caricature of George Harrison by Joel Brinkerhoff)

All You Need is Photoshop

Okay, I've played with Corel Painter and I'm having the same trouble blending as I do with ArtRage. It just seems to swirl the colors around in a very uncontrollable manner. I know many people doing great things with both programs so it must be me. I will need to pick their brains for the proper technique. For Now I will stick with Photoshop.

Digital painting of John Lennon by Joel Brinkerhoff (Click image to enlarge_

Paul & Faul

Yes the myth of Paul McCartney continues. I have a hard time believing any images today because of digital manipulation but check this one out. It supposedly shows Paul and his double variously referred to as Billy Shears, William Campbell, and Faul as in fake Paul together in one picture.

Imagine Exploiting John Lennon

This is just horrible. The timber of the voice is right but the cadence and diction are nothing like John. It saddens me to think John is being used against his will. People,(Yoko), are now literally putting words in his mouth, something he fought so hard against. I wonder what he would have to say if he were alive today.

PID Again...

http://iamaphoney.blogspot.com/

You may not appreciate the blog link above but I hate to admit it's a guilty pleasure of mine. It's almost two years now that a character named Iamaphoney began posting clues about Paul McCartney really being dead on YouTube. This blog has tried to interpret all the vids and the vast amount of seemingly unrelated material that has come out of it. More characters and subplots have emerged and some very sinister implications are put forth. With such universal subjects as the Beatles you could almost relate anything to them and people are. The Rotten Apple Series of videos on YouTube is quite silly at moments and quite scary as you move along through the mind game labyrinth. The blog above has followed each revelation and the comments section opens up a whole new cast with theories and information that further feeds the flames and muddies the waters. I'm sure there is nothing to it all but just maybe NOTHING IS REAL!

Objectivism

I'm seeing a resurgence of a philosophical phenomenon known as 'Objectivisim'. This is a term Ayn Rand used to label her view-point taught in her two books "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged",(written in 1957 it is strangely enough being made into a movie to be released in 2009) . It's also the same thinking Aleister Crowley taught and that Rock and Roll helped promote through out the 60's. Basically it's everyone for themselves. A Darwinian mentality that tells us we aren't accountable to others and if you can't make it, too bad.

I don't know what it all means and perhaps I'm only paranoid but we are already too selfish. Yet I hate to say it but many people feel the world owes them a living and I don't know how it's going to go down when others suddenly start to see them as a drain and labeled 'looters' of society. I'm a little scared!


Aleister Crowley on the Beatles Sgt. Pepper album

Dr. Pepper

Awhile back I tired to teach myself how to use a sound software program so I could do my own soundtracks for animation. The program allows multi tracking and lots of filters to modify sounds. I couldn't resist taking some of my crappy original songs and goofing on them. I lost everything in a computer crash before I could do a final mix but the rough tracks were saved and compiled into two pages of MySpace here: http://www.myspace.com/ludwigvonbrinkerhoff and here: http://www.myspace.com/ludwigvonb

You may not think too much of them, (I don't), but it's just too easy to stick stuff on the web anymore.

Chuck Jones Documentary

I haven’t watched all eight parts yet but this looks like a good documentary on Chuck Jones posted on YouTube. The whole thing can be found here with a little digging: http://uk.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=KindOfMonty&p=r

I love Jones as a director but I’ve often wondered if he would have been as successful without Michael Maltese as his writer? I look at all the best loved and academy winning cartoons Jones did and they all were written by Maltese. I think it’s kind of like The Beatles. They were all talents individually but together they made history. Too bad you never hear much mention of Michael.

Dr. Pepper

I let some friends listen to my album of original music which I recorded on my off hours. I’m not much of a musician and play by ear but the response has been flattering and I’ve been compared with The Gorillas, Wean and even The Beatles. I did intentionally try for a Beatle sound sometimes and even did a mock cover which no one has seen till now. Just having fun, folks.

Click on image to enlarge.

What The ...?

Generally the topic is animation but anyone who knows me well knows I love the Beatles. So what does McCartney do in his off times, you might ask? Appear on cooking shows apparently. Here he is making mashed potatoes. Bizarre!