Why I support tariffs as an artist.

Digital Art by Beau Tardy produced on Quantel Paintbox - 1992

Starting at about age 10 is when I realized how much I liked TV Cartoons and Comic Books and so right then and there I decided I wanted to learn how to draw. For the next 14 years I traced and copied my favorite characters, studied how animation was done, got mentored by cartoonists and eventually ended up in art school. As I grew older I came to understand that there was a wider world of visual arts out there that went back centuries. From Roman and Greek sculptures to Rembrandt and Picasso, our culture had a rich tradition of incredible works of art. I became fascinated with learning how to do figure drawing from live models and classical master oil painting techniques. Even Walt Disney himself insisted that his artists study the classics and for that purpose created one of the most reputable art colleges in the world known today as Cal Arts. 

While at Parsons’ School of Design in the early 80s, I became acutely aware of something that was happening with technology that would impact the arts. Computer Graphics were just starting to appear on TV and the movies and I knew right away that this was the future. This prompted me to want to learn computer graphics and how to shoot and edit video. In 1985 the path forward wasn’t very clearly defined for an art student who drew comics but also liked computers and video. However, I knew that TV Graphics could be a lot better if only trained artists could get a hand on those extremely expensive computers. At the time a TV Graphics computer cost upwards of $150k and would rent out for $1000/ hour and so nobody was eager to let some grubby art kid mess around on their cutting edge systems. But with perseverance I was finally able to convince a video post-production company to give me a shot and that launched my professional career. 

Following that, for the next 25 years I worked as a Broadcast and Motion Designer for TV Networks in the US and around the world. Most famously I worked at MTV doing graphics for Yo! MTV Raps, MTV News and The Real World. I also worked for Nickelodeon, VH1, NBC Sports, The Food Network, Cartoon Network, Fox Networks, etc. Internationally I worked for Global Japan, MTV International and Australian TV. You get the picture (pun intended)!

MTV Logo design by Beau Tardy on Quantel Paintbox - 1992

But in the early 2000s, something happened that shifted everything. Up until then, my profession was a very specialized field with expensive equipment and big budgets. Almost overnight it seemed, the production budgets collapsed. This was due to two factors. The first was the availability of cheaper computers such as Macs, but the second factor was much more insidious. Work was being shipped overseas. Hollywood and TV Networks had figured out that they could buy a bunch of cheap computers and install them in bunny warrens overseas in third world countries like India, South America and China. They could then hire locals for pennies on the dollar and ‘train’ them to do VFX and graphics work. This is why today when you watch a movie all the VFX credits feature a bunch of Indian and Chinese names. There was no way that highly trained professionals like myself could compete with those budgets. As a result, the entire VFX and graphics industry has now moved exclusively overseas. 

Predictably, I had to re-orient my career and readjust my lifestyle. I could no longer work in the field I had spent almost 30 years of my life perfecting. Increasingly, movies and TV shows developed a strange ‘bland’ esthetic, where it seemed the locations, the actors and even the stories didn’t feel authentic. That’s because they would shoot and produce everything overseas, replacing American cities with ‘generic’ shots taken in South Africa or Argentina. If you ever asked yourself why movies don’t seem as compelling as they used to, perhaps that has something to do with it. What’s worse is that the industry blatantly decided to indulge in paying slave wages, whereby an Indian VFX artist today only makes about $9000 PER YEAR! That equates to $750 A MONTH, or $187 a week, which is $37 a day!!!!!!!!!!! (source: https://blog.internshala.com/vfx-artist-salary-in-india/ )

The quality of the work suffers of course. But the bean counters don’t care, they are looking at the bottom line. This is absolutely terrible for artists. How can an American artist compete when he/ she needs to make 10x what a Vietnamese artist makes? Have you ever noticed those paintings at Hobby Lobby or Pottery Barn that sell for $50 or $100? They are made in sweat shops overseas. Why would anybody buy one of those when there are hundreds of wonderful young artists right here who could make a painting with so much more heart and love? Why are we letting overseas underpaid labor dictate to us what our cultural standards are? This system is broken and that is why I fully support tariffs on imports. My only hope is that these tariffs will apply to digital media and art work as well. This is the only way to quell this disaster for our culture and the arts. The other solution is for everyone to start buying art from artists you know and not generic crap from overseas.

BeLove.Art ©Beau Tardy 2025

Ghost In The Shell - Movie Review

Wow, how cool was that? I had no idea this movie would actually be this good! I was totally expecting a sub-par remake of the all time anime classic. After all who could possibly make anything half as brilliant as Mamoru Oshiis' animated masterpiece? Nobody of course. This redux has a lot going for it all the same. 

But first, the weak spots. The biggest fail of all time is the fact that Scarlett Johansson decided not to play this in the buff like the original anime robot. Instead she is fitted with a latex body suit which is a huge let down even if it allows the movie to be rated PG13. Why can't us adults get to see a movie with a naked robot? Just why?

The anime robot was naked. But you knew that!

Also why on Earth did director Rupert Sanders decide to start the movie with a 5 minute flashback sequence that is slow and bothersome instead of 'plunging' right in the way the anime does with Major's dive from the building roof?

This has the effect of blunting the noir dread that is supposed to infuse this cyberpunk epic. To that point, everything is a little bit too clean and well lit.

A little too clean.

Last but not least this movie is lacking a proper kick ass soundtrack. I mean Tron Legacy has Daft Punk, man! The original anime has a beautiful eerie theme song by Kenji Kawai but this film relegates it to the end credits... bad move. They should've gotten Deadmau5 to score this film!

Scarlett kicks ass!

Now on to the good bits! Scarlett Johansson looks freaking perfect as Major. She plays it well in a stiff human-machine hybrid way. (I still think she should have been naked - I mean just think of the publicity! Built-in ad campaign! Chickens, the lot of them... )

The evil Geisha robot is dope. I want that thing as a body guard! 
Batou played by Pilou Asbaek is awesome rad too. 

In the original anime his look was inspired by the Italian comic book character RanXerox who was another cyberpunk icon of the 80s.  

RanXerox classic 80s cyberpunk icon by Italian artist Liberatore.

Cyberpunk is a product of the 80s and Ghost In The Shell took a lot of cues from Blade Runner and Akira. The 80s were not a clean decade and the future looked grimy and dark. Millenials are too used to the sleek rounded corners and shiny surfaces of their asepticized iphones. Anyone remember using a pay phone on 42nd street in 1985? Any way I digress.

I saved the best part for last which are the awesome sfx and glitch tricks. I mean folks, augmented reality is coming and we better get used to navigating the third layer of VR holographic ads. Not to mention naked robots! 

 

I feel this version of Ghost In The Shell has staying power and will develop a bona fide cult following. Definite addition to my cyberpunk collection!

****

Ink is thicker than blood.

For an American audience, Charlie Hebdo is like a crossover between Mad Magazine and underground comix from the 60s, full of satire and sex. It’s as if Robert Crumb and Jon Stewart had just been gunned down during a board meeting at Comedy Central.

I lived in France and read Charlie Hebdo throughout my teens. So I am using the hashtags #JeSuisCharlie #IAmCharlieHebdo to show my support for fellow cartoonists and express my utter sadness at their brutal murders.

However this hashtag, while well intentioned, is misleading. For if everyone is ‘Charlie Hebdo’ then everyone is a victim, which is exactly what the terrorists want. But if ‘being Charlie’ means having the guts to stand up to censorship in ALL its forms, including having the right to poke islamic fanaticism in the eye, then I’m all for it. Unfortunately, I feel the opposite is beginning to happen.

London imam Anjem Choudary correctly said in defense of the Paris shootings: “If freedom of expression can be sacrificed for criminalising incitement & hatred, Why not for insulting the Prophet of Allah? #ParisShooting — Anjem Choudary (@anjemchoudary)”

His ironclad logic is unassailable in this world of political correctness and ‘tolerance’. When you outlaw ONE WORD, you potentially outlaw them all. When freedom of expression, WHATEVER IT MAY BE gets threatened, freedom of thought gets censored too.

People are already being jailed for saying something stupid on Facebook or posting videos. Professionals are being fired for their political or religious views. ‘Hate speech’ is a criminal offense. But who gets to determine what qualifies as hate speech? Does Anjem Choudary get to make that call? And if not, why not?

If it is NOT OK to use certain words, whichever they may be, whatever the context, then censorship has already begun. Cartoonists, writers, artists, thinkers will begin to self-censure in the name of tolerance to disguise their fear. This is already happening.

Certain thoughts and opinions become taboo and mental repression sets in, whether it be coerced or self-inflicted. History is littered with entire civilizations being brainwashed this way, ie: Nazism or Communism. This is not something new.

What is new is that our generation, from the mid 20th century until now, has never had to face a true war on the Western homeland. We have enjoyed over 65 years of peace, with no major disruption to our modern way of life.

It felt natural for me as a kid and a teenager to dream of becoming a professional cartoonist. In fact, I have based my whole life on believing that being an artist was a valid, useful and worthwhile profession. I went to art school, got jobs doing illustrations, TV graphics, magazine layouts, paintings, video installations, music concerts and my childhood dream: cartoons. Even though I have had to navigate economic ups and downs, I always believed being an artist was a good thing.

Now art has been weaponized. Artists are at the forefront of a cultural war.

Every artist is going to ask themselves if their art will offend. Some will seek out controversy as a shortcut to publicity but most others cower away and end up erasing their ‘provocative’ drawings. The net effect, I fear in the long run will be that fewer and fewer people will stand up for those who are genuine champions of free speech, like Charlie Hebdo.

So while it’s great to say #IAmCharlieHebdo, especially when everyone else is doing it, who will in the end be bold enough to risk everything to say something that is politically incorrect, or offensive to some, or ‘hate speech’?

I am an artist and I can’t answer that question.

Beau Tardy

TMNT **1/2

The Turtles were originally made into TV cartoons to sell toys, which is a very effective strategy often used by the Pop Culture Illuminati to bore into kids brains. G.I. Joe and Transformers are other glaring examples of this. Though the TMNT franchise started out as a bona fide indie comic book success story - basically created on a kitchen table by Eastman and Laird back in the '80s - it only reached Pop Culture icon status as part of a well-orchestrated toy merchandising campaign. As a result, TMNT is another summer toy movie that can't decide if it's animated or live action.

The 3d looks 2d. Tedious digital rack focus and fake lens flares are tacked on in a desperate attempt to impart style to Lula Carvalhos’ hackneyed cinematography. The arch villain Shredder comes off as something out of Power Rangers. Basically someone in a suit stomping around a miniature set, like the old Ultraman. The Turtles' characterization doesn't help to give them personality either and they can only be told apart by the color of their bandanas.

Megan Fox as the only standout provides tame sex appeal. This is paradoxically a good role for her and jives well with her Transformers past. Her crossing of the desert must be over as Michael Bay and the Hollywood bigwigs have re-evaluated her box office draw despite the 5 or so last bombs she did (Jonah Hex anyone?) It's too bad Minae Noji as Kari doesn't quite come off as the hot villainess. Poor costume design hid rather than highlighted her assets. The rest of the cast is forgettable. (Is Whoopie Goldberg secretly one of the turtles?)

Sophomoric humor, great for 9 year olds or mentally equivalent adults.

The opening titles are the best part of this 101-minute toy commercial.

Review by Mike Hammer

Director: Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath Of The Titans, Battle Los Angeles)

Written by: Josh Appelbaum & Andre Nemec (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Alias TV show)

TMNT originally created by: Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman

Caption contest for this photo: use the comment area below...

Guardians Of The Galaxy ****1/2

Blockbuster marries cult.

Star Wars meets Blade Runner meets The Watchmen. Like riding the Shinkansen high on LSD, this movie is a psychedelic trip the likes of which Ridley Scott and George Lucas could only dream of making back in the dark ages.

A sexy green girl and a sexy blue girl (Zoe Saldana & Karen Gillan), a wiseass raccoon (Brad Cooper), a tree with limited vocabulary (Vin Diesel) and some apocalyptic villains will make you want to strap into the Milano and shoot off some plasma blasters.

Guardians of the Galaxy just put James Gunn's number on the red phone speed dial and made Chris Pratt every teenage girl's screensaver.

Cool factor: after watching this movie you will be scouring Ebay for a Sony TPS-L2 Walkman. While you're at it, go ahead and download "I'm Not In Love" by 10cc and "Cherry Bomb" by Joan Jett and The Runaways. Yes young ones, we know, we where there...

Only downer - soundtrack could have been tons better. The late 70s and early 80s had much better music to select from and any true Walkman sporting hypester would have been listening to the Dead Kennedys or Run DMC, but I digress.

Dead weight: John C Reilly and Glenn Close just feel like ballast brought on board to steady the ship when in fact they should have been jettisoned.

Did I mention mind bending special effects, the toroid shaped Dark Aster mothership, Benicio Del Toro, faceless necro-soldiers, an Infinity Stone ('an item of immeasurable power that destroys all but the most powerful beings who wield it' says Wiki), fighting girls, Cosmo the Soviet space dog and Benicio Del Toro?

AND IT'S ALL IN 3D! In the future it will be cool to have seen this movie in the past.


Review by Feeney Last


Director & screenwriter: James Gunn
Camera: Ben Davis
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan Brad Cooper and Benicio Del Toro.
Effects: Framestore, Moving Picture Company; Luma Pictures; Method Studios; Lola VFX; Cantina Creative; Sony Pictures Imageworks; CoSA VFX; Secret Lab; Rise Visual Effects Studios; Technicolor VFX; Industrial Light & Magic.