I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been invited to be the cover artist for Blanket magazine’s June edition. I’ll be creating the cover illustration and will be interviewed about the creative process behind this creation.

Blanket, an online PDF Art + Design + Photography magazine, uncovers emerging artists from around the world. It has recently celebrated its 3rd year and is based out of Manchester, U.K.

The issue will be out June 1st. Stay tuned!

“Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.” – C. G. Jung

Haven’t posted anything in a while – I’ve been busy with a couple of jobs, getting submissions out there and trying to get more exposure of my illustration work.

Here’s a new feature from the exquisitely tasteful Kiwilicious and another from Bluemag out of Spain, posted back in late 2009 but I only came accross it recently.

I’ve also been busy exploring and developing new imagery which I will post soon.

“You never find yourself until you face the truth.” –Pearl Bailey

“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself.” – Alan Watts

I’ve been featured in this month’s edition of Digger Mag out of Italy. The theme being Energy, two of my geometrically inspired creations were chosen; Earth Matters and The Secret Sun.

Digger is an experimental project on the web designed by a team of fashion professionals together with artists, art directors, fashion designers and photographers, to explore creativity in sharing with different disciplines and languages.

I’m thrilled to be among friends Shannon Rankin and Justin Bryan Nelson, both amazingly talented artists.

Thanks Paolo and friends!

“A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast, the less he knows it.” – George MacDonald

I’m thrilled to announce the opening of an on-line print shop where limited-edition giclée prints, signed and numbered are available for purchase.

Thanks to everyone who have supported me in this new venture!

“A person does what he does because he sees the world as he sees it.”
–Alfred Korzybski

“That which is created by mind, is more real than matter.” – Charles Baudelaire

Getty has selected 9 images from my October work.
They will soon be available for licensing. Stay tuned!

Wishing you all very happy holidays.

“True form is magnificently illuminated with gleaming fire. True wisdom is total silence amid the ringing of the wind chimes.” –Hongzhi Zhengju

Because he believes in himself, he doesn’t try to convince others.
Because he is content with himself, he doesn’t need others’ approval.
Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him. –Lao Tzu

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
–Albert Einstein

“The image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy.” –Ezra Pound

Take for instance Fortune, an ideological French/Swiss news-gathering blog who outright stole one of my Getty-licensed images. Blatant copyright infringement and plainly unlawful.

How ironic that I had titled the image Tower of Babel – Human pursuits are sometimes a peculiar State of affairs. Indeed they are.

No request to use was emailed to me. No credit was given. No link back to my website. Nothing. Nada. Not only that but every time someone viewed the article, my bandwidth was being used to retrieve the photo. 20,000 people saw my image, but unfortunately no one knew (nor probably cared) who the creator was.

Artists in all disciplines are too often taken advantage of, virtually or otherwise.

Well, I decided to give them something to think about. I switched the photo they were linking to with this one:

The text reads: This image is licensed by Getty Images, if you want to purchase the rights please consult gettyimages.com: Creative (RM) #92377894. tanyajohnston.com

The image was on their blog no more than 10 minutes before they took it down and replaced with a public-domain image:

Don’t get me wrong, them choosing my image is a nice tip-of-the-hat, but that doesn’t put food on the table, you know?! It is also a fact that this is nothing compared to what we see happening in our world today…

I am hopeful that the people responsible will be more vigilant in the future.

Lesson Learned

I had been thinking about how I could protect myself from this kind of abuse, which is proliferate on the web. One of my options was to add a watermark to my images, but I wasn’t crazy about the idea of defacing my creations. Needless to say I’ve now taken that step.

I will now take some time and reevaluate where and how I put my intellectual property out there.

“I feel it now…there’s a power in me to grasp and give shape to my world. I know that nothing has ever been real without my beholding it.” –Rainer Maria Rilke

A thought-provoking feature by Kate Singleton from Art Hound, where she shares her perspective on independent, non-mainstream art. Kate Singleton is a Brooklyn-based entrepreneur and art enthusiast who “digs beneath the surface and bring exposure to awesome, affordable contemporary art.” –Super!

One small, but nonetheless interesting mention, over at Evolved Underground (in the right-hand column).

My sincere thanks to both!

“History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.” –William Morris

“Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destory health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality.” – Michael Ellner

Wireframe courtesy of Scloopy

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” – Gandhi