Hello to all our Fantastic Followers!

We can’t wait to share with you this weekly installment of our newsblog! In this week’s update, we’ll be talking about our new upcoming webcomic, showing you some great entertainment that you should check out, and discussing other fun stuff that we’d like to share with you. As always, we hope this newsblog brings some joy and fun into your week!

1) Hard at Work on Bringing This Terrible Twosome to Life! -

From the Webcomic Development Division

This week, Pixie started putting together a full illustration, based off one of my preliminary, early scripts, for our upcoming webcomic Terrible Twosome. In this first illustration, we are showing off Addy and Andy up to some usual summer hijinks as they try to figure out how to fly a kite (without much success). See, one of the things about Andy and Addy is that, when they try out different things, most of the time it doesn’t usually go according to plan. Throughout the life of the comic, you will see the fun-loving Addy, and the more trepidatious Andy, live their lives doing lots of things like this, growing up together through thick and thin, and becoming little philosophers (as we all do) in their own right. You really will get to see these kids grow up, we hope, for the next 10 years over the life of this comic. We know it’s ambitious, but we really wanted to present a comic that has its characters age in real time. Could you imagine if Jeremey from Zits actually aged out of high school? Or if Calvin aged into his teenage years in his comic alongside Hobbes? Or even if we got to see Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang across the decades through myriads of different life changes? That is one aspect of Terrible Twosome that we hope to be able to explore with all you lovely people. Hopefully, we will have your support over the next 10 years to make this dream a reality.

2) Hosoda Comes at It Again with Another Great Flick! –

From the Anime Movie Division of the Department of Animated Storytelling

Pixie and I recently saw again the film Summer Wars directed by Mamoru Hosada. This was one of his first couple films and it stands alongside Hosoda’s other works as another great pick for an upcoming movie night. It follows the story of a boy named Kenji who spends most of his time with an all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His virtual life is the only life he really has. That all changers when he meets with the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, who leads Kenji into a whole new virtual adventure. Like lots of Hosoda’s other works, this movie has great characters, a highly engaging plot, and incredible bits of animation laced all throughout it. All these elements easily showed us here at Bear & Pixie Art Studio that this movie deserves a very solid 8 out of 10. If you’re looking for a great anime movie to watch that is very comparable in quality to the works of Studio Ghibli, then Summer Wars is a movie you don’t want to miss! 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. One wrinkle though, on Amazon, it isn’t available in North America. However, if you can change your region with a VPN, you might be able to see this movie by putting yourself in another region. [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 Ben/Pet_Foolery on Instagram. Ben’s art is shown off frequently on his Instagram and his WEBTOON Pixie and Brutus. Ben not only has a knack for capturing so much fun and energy in each on his panels, but he also has an absolute mastery of writing engaging strips to boot! If you haven’t check out his comics, stop what you’re doing and go look at his stuff. His characters jump off the panels and work their way into your heart. His comics deserve a follow on Instagram and to be read all the way through on WEBTOON. So, what are you waiting for?! Show Ben some love and check out his stuff. [We are not sponsored by Ben/Pet_Foolery. We are only fans and genuinely wanted to give a shoutout.]

Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pet_foolery/

Artist’s WEBTOON: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/pixie-and-brutus/list?title_no=452175

4) AI Art. Is it a Gimmick? Or is it a Serious Contender in the World of Art? -

From the Interesting Quandaries Division

Just recently, I saw this fascinating article that was talking about how computer AI could make illustrations through its programming. Obviously, some of them, in my opinion really don’t work. However, there are others that aren’t halfway bad. Now, if it isn’t obvious enough here, I am a little biased for art that was created by actual people. I just think that there is a certain x-factor that is a part of those pieces that can’t be duplicated by machines. However, I am genuinely curious about what you guys think! In the article below, the Verge goes into detail about this kind of art and different pieces that are out there. So, please, take a peek at the article for yourself, listen to all the info it has about AI art, and let us know which kind of art you think is better (or will win out in the end), human-made or machine-made, and get back to us with your pick! [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.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23287173/ai-image-generation-art-midjourney-multiverse-interview-david-holz?ref=thefuturist

5) An Anime That is One of the Mightiest Out There! –

From the Anime Show Division of the Department of Animated Storytelling

We thought, for this week’s update, that we would do a throwback recommendation by giving you a killer awesome anime suggestion in the show One Punch Man. This show is phenomenal! It has incredible characters, compelling worldbuilding, and insane animation sequences. For the people at DC Comics, they need to take a page out of One Punch Man’s book and write Superman’s book like this anime (and its manga) did for its main character. The story follows a man named Saitama who only became a hero for fun. After three years of “special” training, he finds out that he can’t be beat and can take out any foe he meets with a single punch! Even after facing new threat after new threat, it turns out that every new fight is more underwhelming than the last. How can you make the story of a hero interesting when it seems like he’s too strong? Well, watch One Punch Man to see how that question can be answered in spades. Here at Bear & Pixie Art Studio, we give this show an official rating of an 8 out of 10. We think you should check this one for sure. For us, it is a must-watch show! If you feel so inclined, you can click the picture below to view it on Hulu! [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!)

Sharing Our Newsblog: https://www.bearandpixieart.com/blog (Second best way to support is by sharing our newsblogs with anyone you can. They are free and designed to be a source of fun and light to anyone’s week as they get to see our journey in real-time and share in the mutual enjoyment of interesting or creative things that are inspiring us now.)

(Third best is to follow us at any of our social media links that are listed below).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearandpixieartstudio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bearandpixieartstudio

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIdz6TxE8nMfnChPFtXohjA

Our Website: www.bearandpixieart.com

Warm hugs and happy wishes,

- Bear & Pixie