Developing Connections
Salutations Gregarious Galvanizers!
Here’s another weekly update for all you lovely people! In this newsblog, we’ll be talking about some upcoming plans for our future, showing you some great entertainment that you should check out, and discussing other fun stuff that we’d like to share with you. Either way, we hope this newsblog brings some joy and fun into your week!
1) Setting Up for Some New Opportunities -
From the Business Development Division
This week, we are gearing up for a Children’s Book conference that we are attending. I am hard at work re-writing aspects of The Perfect Christmas so that its script works better. The fun part of the last month has been learning more about children’s book scriptwriting and improving my writing over this time. It’s been a great experience to be able to put in the work and, when its finished, take a step back and see how much better it has become. Pretty soon, we will plan on showing you some Terrible Twosome stuff that we’ve been working on recently. However, for now, we’ll be taking a break to prepare for this conference. Both Pixie and I are hoping to develop some connections and potential business opportunities through attending this thing so, please wish us both the best of luck! We’re hoping that the work we’re doing now sets up some stuff for us in the future and puts us in a better position to do what we love most for the rest of our lives, making stories that we can all escape in and fall in love with for years to come.
2) A New Spin on the Beauty and the Beast Story! –
From the Department of Animated Storytelling
Pixie and I recently watched an animated movie that came out last year directed by Mamoru Hosoda called Belle. Hosoda is famous for his animated directorial work on Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and Mirai. If you haven’t seen any of those before, I plan on reviewing those here in future newsblogs. When it comes to Belle, this movie is chock full of amazing animation, deeply written characters, and some intense, albeit impactful, themes that make this movie truly one of the great ones. It finds a way to take the classic Beauty and the Beast storyline and do some new, interesting things with its characters that leave it feeling fresh and engaging. They do this by weaving in different character development ideas as well as setting the story within modern times to ground the story in a certain feeling of authenticity and believability that you don’t necessarily get from the original fairy-tale. For all these reasons, this movie is a must-watch for any cinephile and animated story lover out there. We here at Bear & Pixie Art Studio give Belle a well-deserved 8 out of 10. This film is a great one and is worth owning to watch as many times as desired. Trust me, this movie is worthy of multiple viewings. You can purchase this movie on-demand on your favorite movie-streaming service, or you can purchase a physical copy of it through Amazon by clicking the picture below. [WE ARE NOT SPONSORED BY ANY COMPANY. We are only giving you a genuine, un-sponsored recommendation.]
3) Artist Shout-Out -
From the Artist Relations Department
Our pick for this week’s Artist Shout-Out goes to the amazing illustrator that goes by the name of FrostBitStudios on Instagram. Her art has an amazing, painterly quality to it that uses lighting, composition, and color in some fantastic ways! Recently, her old account was hacked on Instagram and she had to start a new one as a result. The link to that new account is below. Please, during this hard time, help us show some love to FrostBitStudios for just being an incredible artist and helping her get through this tough time! Not only that, but you absolutely need to check out her art for yourself. [We are not sponsored by FrostBitStudios. We are only fans and genuinely wanted to give a shoutout.
Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frostbitstudios/
Artist’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/frostbite.studios
4) Scientists Think They Know When a Rogue Star Might Hit Our Solar System! -
From the Fascinating News Division
Just recently, I saw this fascinating article that was talking about how a group of Canadian scientists have been studying rogue stars. Their study has helped them figure out a lot of different aspects of planetary evolution as well as see when a rogue star might get close to getting our solar system. Interested to find out when that might be and what effect that may have? Go check out the article to find out for yourself! [We are NOT sponsored by any news organization. We are just wanting to share something cool with our incredible fans.]
Link to Article: https://www.inverse.com/science/rogue-star-solar-system?ref=thefuturist
5) A Comic of Megatastic Proportions –
From the Creative Story Department
Another American comic that I found at least interesting recently was a comic called Ultramega. This comic, written and illustrated mainly by James Harren with a little illustration work by Dave Stewart as well, centers around 3 characters who fight these monstrous kaiju that have started popping up after a cosmic plague has spread amongst the human population. In the book, the presence of these 3 heroes (since the heroes have bonded to a cosmic entity that powers them and makes them gigantic) activates the dormant plague within its host and turns them into a kaiju that they then must battle. The world of this comic, just by itself, is incredibly fascinating and makes you want to read more to see what happens next as well as what other scintillating aspects of the world pop up within the rest of the story. However, juxtaposed alongside that worldbuilding is a lot of grotesque or just plain weird stuff that I think takes the quality of the book down a few notches. Now, a little bit of a disclaimer here, I am not opposed to reading things that are very gory or grotesque at all. If the creators have taken the time to expertly balance and craft the story to evenly spread that stuff throughout with some other fantastic material, I am completely game for a great story with those elements spread throughout it.
Unfortunately, Ultramega is not one of those comics. Its gratuity is excessive and unnecessary in so many places that it takes me out of the story completely. I understand that a lot of other people might like this comic for that very reason and I couldn’t be happier for those who do like it. Nevertheless, it’s just not my cup of tea and, in many instances, I felt like those elements of the book were highly disruptive overall to the story it was trying to tell. There were many character development and story moments that either took a backseat or were underdeveloped as a result of these stranger elements which left me ultimately feeling dissatisfied overall with the comic itself. When the story had the opportunity to delve more into its characters, flesh out more of its world and plot, or explore another aspect of its excellent foundation, it was immediately undercut with a scene that had to play up more of those bizarre aspects. As a result, you have a comic that feels more disjointed and imbalanced that sacrifices on its quality all for the sake of being outrageous.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of other awesome elements to this thing! The comic is littered with compelling ideas about the world itself, the characters powers, the kaiju, and other elements throughout the book’s duration. Sadly, those aspects are overshadowed by having the focus on the wrong place as it prioritized its more creepy, gross elements over concentrating on the parts of the story that would flesh out more of its world in a more satisfying way. Overall, we at Bear & Pixie Art Studio give Ultramega a solid 6 out of 10. It is slightly above average. It scores as high as it did because of its amazing art and riveting worldbuilding. Regrettably, the comic would have been a solid 8 or 9 had it zeroed-in more on its characters and plot rather than on the grotesque and strange elements of its kaiju and world. If you would like to check out the comic for yourself, you can click the image below to buy it on Amazon. For us, we would recommend checking this one out a bookstore first before you buy. [We are NOT sponsored by any company. We are only giving a genuine opinion/recommendation.]
That's it for this one! Thank you for reading our newsblog. Our sponsor for this newsblog is…us! We don’t accept sponsors for our email list, and we never will. If you feel so inclined, it would mean a lot to us if you would like to support us in making our dreams and stories a reality. Ways to support us are all outlined below. Thank you so much for your time and love. Hope you have an amazing week!
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/bearandpixieart (Best way to support us is by supporting one of our kickstarters whenever we launch them. Please follow us here to get notifications whenever we have a new project!)
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(Third best is to follow us at any of our social media links that are listed below).
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIdz6TxE8nMfnChPFtXohjA
Our Website: www.bearandpixieart.com
Warm hugs and happy wishes,
- Bear & Pixie