Here
is a selection of messages since we
launched
the site. Please continue to give your comments and feedback by email.
Many
thanks.
21/10/08
Dear Borin Van Loon,
I am writing to ask about using your illustration of Graham Greene to illustrate Graham
Greene's author page on LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com).
LibraryThing is a website that allows people to catalogue their
personal libraries, discover new books and connect with others who
share their tastes. It is an open, collaborative project, driven by
readers like me.
Every author with a book catalogued on LibraryThing has an author page.
Many of these include photographs or other images of the author.
Here's Graham Greene's author page:
http://www.librarything.com/author/greenegraham
Your illustration of Graham Greene that I would like to upload to that
page. Would you be willing to give me permission to do so? I will, of
course, include any credit or copyright notice that you require.
I can also post links to your homepage, blog, interviews and articles,
if you'd like.
Thank you for your time!
Sincerely, Jonathan Glassow Ps: I've looked at several other illustrations of
Graham Greene on oter web pages, but your illustration reaaly captures
Greene's facial features.
2/7/07
By the way, I have to say I loved your Surrealist illustrations of
the hands coming out of the orifices of those faces. It must
have have taken ages to get those looking so slick and
cool. Did you intentionally base the look of the smaller
hands on babies hands and the larger hands on adults hands? That's
how I perceived it, and that level of attention to
detail made them incredibly realistic to my eye!
Cormac Scanlan
(http://cormac.scanlan.googlepages.com/)
25/6/07 Saturday 23rd June, 2007 at 6:00pm we attended a Private
View [of the Key Arts exhibition] at the St Mary-At-The-Quay Gallery on
Ipswich Docks. All the works were of the Triptych variety--three
panels, etc. Sculptural and audio-visual, man, as well as canvasses.
Some were listed as Not For Sale, but this didn't trouble many of the
gallery goers.
There were three energetic charcoal drawings of the demolition process
of the Cranfield's flour milling concern which had been close by St
Mary at the Quay for many years if not a century or two. The swinging
ball and tumbling piles were interesting to me as I went for and got a
job with them as a lorry driver's mate in 1969. I lasted a day. I could
not measure up for another 12 hours of humping flour sacks because I
couldn't get out of bed.
Borin Van Loon's line and wash three-parter 'Mail
Order Mutations' had a nightmare precision infused with grisly
humour. The sort of art you would have to expect from the drawing board
of the man who created Bart Dickon.
Louisa Gaylard provided a serene and fitting musical backing with her
Aria guitar and mellifluous tonsils.
We left feeling we had learned something about art and could be a
little more confident next time in saying that one is shite, this one
has something, that one is handiwork beyond the human.
From Keith Dersley's non-blog
(http://www.raggededge.btinternet.co.uk/nonblog.htm)
13/10/06 Michael Szczepanski I came across your painting of the panther, it's beautiful! I was curious if I
could the image of the panther for a website I'll be constructing
shortly. It has a panther theme so it's very suiting. If not, I
understand. I thought I'd be polite and ask. Thank you for your time.
Good luck with your talent in painting... I plan on running a small
website called "Panther Sweat", I'm aiming for a website that will show
some of my own work throughout my portfolio through photography and
video... I'm just a 21 year old sophmore in a community college,
just so you know I'm not a guy in a suit looking to score off your
awesome painting. Let me know, no rush. If we can work something out,
that'd be great. If not, I'll still admire your painting and respect
your wishes. You may use any comment from me you'd like, you deserve
praise for a painting with such bold character!
Wednesday 17/5/06 James White
Hi Borin, you
have some lovely work! I am interested in the Beefheart
print and wanted to know how it has been printed, screen print,
laser print etc. Many thanks.
[They're laser-printed on thick, pearl finish paper]
Thursday 19/1/06
David Locke, Texas, USA, www.virtualbigbend.com
I am very interested in your synergy painting.
Is there any chance I
could get a print/copy of that? It is magnificent!
Wednesday
11/1/06
Carrie, Kansas, USA
Hi I recently saw a picture of the rock group KISS for sale on Ebay. It
was very interesting. It looked as though Paul was smoking and Gene was
stabbing himself. It also looked as though Ace was choking Peter. Have
you done any other Kiss pictures. Thank you. [We'll have to get a jpeg
of this painting
on the site.]
Thursday 29/9/05
Debra Sue Loon; born in South Dakota, 6/6/62; live in "The Heart of
Oklahoma"!
Not many Loon's around these parts. I did a search on people
and came up with your site; I love it. It's much more my style
than the other Loon I found; a pop-rap singer? Anyway, I love your
work! It's going in my favorites file...
Tuesday 19/7/05 Trev Dark Art paintings
I have just checked out your artwork on website , nice work i
particularly liked the Pontilliste
painting device i think this
could be really handy.
As an accessory maybe do one, that pours you a Jack Daniels. Cheers...
Friday13/05/05
Adam Van Loon, Boston, MA
I just discovered your site. I like the illustrations. Oddly enough, my
brother's name is Robin Van Loon; you guys are anagramatically linked.
Ever been to the
VL museum in Amsterdam?
Anyway, nice to meet you.
Friday 20/08/04
Michael Brook, UK
Surfing the electronic waves as a chap does before a mid morning malibu
with Guinness chaser when I happened upon the Chap website and the comic lithographs created by your
good self. I tip my hat to you in admiration, sir. [Latter half of this message
reconstructed from memory due to editing mishap...]
Thursday 05/08/2004 Lionel E. Goulet, Canada
I have enjoyed your illustrations in the Beginners'
series of books.
Keep
up the good work. LIONEL(;-D).
Wednesday 21/07/04 Ken Lowe, Melbourne Australia
Just wandering through after having read Buddha
for Beginners by Jane
Hope
and happily illustrated by yourself. I am keen to discuss getting
something
done by you for a proposal I am submitting and have written separately
to
you on this. Good work - cheers, Ken
Tuesday1/06/2004 Hazel Steenman (Van Loon)
Dear Borin: We may be relatives! I am in Canada, my mother is Justina
Joanna
Van Loon, from Heemstede, Netherlands. I have an Aunt Dominica in
Almelo
and and Aunt Francis in Palm Beach, Australia. Please write back in
either
case of being a relative or not, It will be good to see your message.
Thanks! [One
of a smattering of Van
Loons who get in touch; I usually direct them to John Van Loon on the Links list.]
Sunday 22/02/04
Jesper Larsen, Denmark
I am building a danish (non profit) website on optical illusions. The
site
will contain illusions and other interesting things to look at. Is it
possible
for me to use one of your illustrations on this site? Your name will of
course be mentioned on the site and there will also be a link to your
own
website. The illustration in question is the one where some ink-dots
transform
into a loon (6 small images). I think it's very good. Art and drawing!
-
could anything be more important? (The
image is here
the answer was in the affirmative. We look forward to seeing the site
and
adding a link to our page.)
Sunday 11/1/04 Sally Kibble
What a good web site! I agree totally about not letting the b****rs
grind
you down and am thinking that I will just do it myself. It is just a
bit
daunting getting started - trying to find a printer who can help etc.
Still
it's the new year's resolution.
Wednesday 17/12/03 Carol Gesbeck
Comment : there are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men
who
moil for gold.... actually its just nice to see someone taking an
interest
in things like this. capital. (This
was actually placed on our
sister
site's Guestbook, but we liked it and it led onto Carol's fuller
exposition
...)
Do you think its possible to invent a kind of surrealist mathematics?
One
where you get to use symbols and mathematical equations to make
cartoons
about life and the universe and the politics of human interaction? A
sort
of reinvention of the uses of equations. It would make for some strange
cartooning, dont you think?
But you'd have to invent the whole language of it before you thought
about
what kind of stories you would tell, wouldn't you? It's something I'm
working
on.
I was just wondering what your thoughts would be on this subject -
having
illustrated things of a scientific nature, and being a lover of the
obscure
and big questions and all that. What do you think? (Needless
to
say,
a fuller dicussion ensued ...)
Tuesday 2/12/03
Gerry Toomey
Hi Borin, I see on your website you were asking about the "dog kennel"
in the foreground of the dome photo. It's actually a little wooden
model
I built to guide me during construction of the main dome. But Jack the
Cat
now uses it as sleeping quarters on hot summer days. Yes, it gets
really
hot in Quebec in summer -- and really cold in winter. A range of about
+30
to -30 degrees C. Cheers, Gerry Toomey, Chelsea, Canada. (Gerry
refers
to his photos on the
domes page.)
Monday 27/10/03
jmh
I am interested in reading more of the 'introducing' series but it's
hard
to find them all in one place and one time. Lots of titles to chose
from.
Thanks! (See our Links
page for the
Icon
Books link.)
Friday 24/10/2003
Pete
nice site
Thursday19/10/03
Drew Walker
Loved the cartoons
of Shad, our stray
(Emmott) remarkably similar...
Sunday 14/09/2003 Glenn
just looked up your name on google after reading Introducing Buddha.
I
loved
the illustrations - really brought the book to life. Thanks!
Saturday23/08/2003
Steve Overbury
Borin, you are a genius but I knew that 11 years ago when you provided
some
Roy of the Rogers strips for my magazine, the now sadly defunct On
Satellite
(I think we paid you for them). You also did some lovely astrological
signs
for us that somebody liked so much they stole from me. I'd like to get
a
signed print of a comic or something. Do you have something lying
around?
Regards, Steve. (Steve's
message reminds us to include some 'Roy of
the
Rogers' strips in the Loon
Comix Archive shortly.)
Thursday17/07/2003
17.04 Chris Van Loon
Hi, I happened upon your page because I have the same last name as you,
which - at least in the states - is pretty rare. I love your artwork,
especially
the loon
page!
20/06/2003 18:56
Robert Ladyman, Scotland
Nice to come across some sites that gently commemorate Barsham and
Bungay
fairs. I thought I felt old recently, but seeing photos from so long
ago,
makes me feel like I could do it all again. Thanks. [Robert
refers
to
comments on the 'Cycling
Through Suffolk'
page.]
Wednesday 04/06/2003, 05:11
hi. i am a 6th form student currently diong art A-level and i have to
do
a case study on a working artist. i was wondering if you wouldn't mind
answering
a few questions. please email me back and let me know if you have the
time.
many thanks kirsty scanlon [Needless
to say the answer is 'yes'.]
Wednesday19/02/2003
Holmes
Comments: A lack of genetic build-up allowed me to appreciate the site
...
I now tremble, nervously, as I know there are more out there, as
confused
as me. I want HELP, not more conspirators ...
Thursday 13/02/2003
paul lundeen
Comments: Just ran across your website and love the content! Will check
back frequently. Thanks :P
Friday 7/2/2003 Gerry Toomey, Quebec, Canada
Message: Dear Mr. Van Loon, Just a quick note so say how much I enjoyed
your little book, Geodesic Domes. If it's intended for children, then I
guess I'm a big kid. Anways, the book has inspired me to build three
small
geodesic domes here in Quebec, Canada. Best wishes, GT. [Gerry ver
kindly
sent photos of the domes and a longer message: see the Geodesic
Domes page.]
Tuesday24/1/2003
'hellokitty'
(no other details)
Comments: Hello I'm just a random biology student who came across a
book
you'd illustrated for (Genetics For
Beginners). The book is
absloutely
brilliant,
especially the cartoons, it definitely made Genetics more fun to read
about!
Thanx for liberating us students from the mononous text books. And
being
an 'arty' person my self, I wish I can draw like you!!!!!! [:)] (Borin's
reply: no email left , so here goes - a comment like this somehow makes
it all worthwhile. Thanks.)
Thursday3/10/2002 Antony Cooper (Funky Science),
Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Comments: Hi Borin, Great site. I'll send you the Hi-Res specs for
David's
drawings by e-mail direct.
Wednesday 17/4/02 skett sketterson, Location: far
away
Comments: top darts my man... not seen work like this since the early
days..
stick in youll do well.
Paul Murphy, Location:
(unknown), UK Is Boris (sic) Van Loon related
to the Professor Hendrik Van Loon
who
wrote A HISTORY OF MANKIND? (Borin's
reply: No, but he's something
of
a mentor.)
Monday 18/2/02 Jeanie Tarver, Location:
(unknown), USA
I was wanting information to find out if this Borin was in the family
of
Borin mfg of Chicago as I have a print of a woman sitting with bandaged
head holding a broken harp with a shooting star over her head and was
wanting
to find out the artist. Please let me know info if this is same person
or
family. (Borin's reply:
Extraordinary. I have not got a clue about
the
picture, but I'm dying to see it. If you can send a scan of it to this
email,
I'll do a bit of digging... It turned out to be the Victorian painting
'Hope'
by Frederick Watts.)
Saturday 16/2/02 Marion Sudds, Location: Suffolk,
UK
This site was so interesting! You really hide your light under a
bushell!!
Amazing work, Sonali and I really liked your hair in the self portrait!
I have told everyone about your website!!! so we have all had a look at
the wonderful work you have been doing!!
Friday 25/1/02 Rebecca Kyle Location:
Anchorage, AK, USA
The Chap and his fascination with semiotics brought me over. Bravo
friend,
you've got panache.
Sunday 12/23/2001
Al Young, West Sussex, UK
Brilliant site, keep up the good work. Your art is excellent.
Wednesday 10/03/2001
Sam Gibson, Belfast, Northern Ireland
I was wondering if it is possible to purchase a copy of the Captain
beefheart
painting?
If so how and how much? (This enquiry led us to start
making the print available to
collectors
in a signed limited edition, see the Beefheart
painting page.)
Saturday 07/28/2001
Antoine Vélu, Palaiseau, France
Hi, I am the translator of the French version of "Introducing
genetics"
in French ("La Génétique sans
Aspirine") (I'm not responsible for that title!) I just wanted to thank
you and Steve Jones for this very good book I really enjoyed to
translate.
It's the kind of book that makes me love my job. It's far better than
"Introducing
Chaos" that I translated this year... far better. Will you illustrate
other books in this collection in the future? And do you now if Steve
Jones
will write other ones?
Friday 07/06/2001
David Grinspoon, Denver, Colorado URL: www.sunra.colorado.edu/david
Scientist and Author
I greatly admire your work. I am a published author working on my
second
popular science book. You can
check out the first, Venus Revealed,
at
the
URL given above.
Question: Are you for hire as an illustrator? I don't know if I can
afford
you, but your style would be perfect for my new book on the natural
philosophy
of alien life, to be published by HarperCollins. Perhaps I could
commision
a piece or two? Alternatively, or perhaps in addition, is it possible
to
get permission to reprint any of your brilliant illustrations from DNA
for Beginners? (We
may attempt to include 'DNA for Beginners'
on
this site soon, despite it's having been caught up in lengthy
litigation.)
Sunday 06/24/2001
Elise Tapper (nee van Loon)
Just being nosy about van Loons (Oddly
enough, we get a few
enquiries
from browsers searching for 'Loon' and 'Van Loon'.)
Wednesday 05/02/2001
Michael Might
This is a longshot here, but my Grandmother has a couple of Van Loon
paintings,and
I am trying to trace their origin, I know they were done overseas, most
likely in Germany, in the early to mid 1900's; they are portraits of
clowns,
if you have any knowing of them, I would appreciate a response. They
are
signed Van Loon.
Tuesday 05/01/2001
mok h k, singapore
i like your illustraions,they are so lifely,so dynamic,and got so many
suprise!!!!
Thursday 02/08/2001 Grant Pringle, Scotland
HAPPY NEW YEAR, SIR. Nice to see you're still alive and coming up with
the
goods. I, too, am alive. SUN ZOOM SPARK
died
a slow, gruesome death and, phoenix-like, DAWN OF THE REPLICANTS
emerged.
Some reckoned we rocked... Hope you're well.
12/18/2000
Michelle McGee, Durham, NC - USA
Just finished Introducing Buddha.
Wonderful work.
I'm working on bioenergy, reality and the daily emergence of life, all
with
a Neptunian scientist bent. How does one approach you about
collaboration
if one is on another continent and maybe even on another page but
wanting
to entice you over for a bit of a intellectual design frollic? Of
course,
my publisher is also on Neptune ... Nonetheless, I am curious about
your
work and its process and I can tell you more about mine, or not. My
little
son is sleeping but my husband just started crying so I best be going.
Quite an inspired mind captured in these pages ... glad he's managed to
keep his intact, you know, with all the disembodied heads around and
all.
Keep up the great work Borin (The
latter comment a tribute, no
doubt,
to 'A
Severed Head')
Wednesday 11/01/2000
Ian Martin, Cornwall, UK
Looking to find out whatever happened to the books issued under the
Writers
and Readers label.... I have two of them and wondered if there are more
still available...
Sunday 10/22/2000
Graham Weir. From - Ultimately: The Big Bang
Well I'm in your page -- now to look it over -- and it looks promising!
See ya!
Monday 09/11/2000
Franz Sidney, Norwich and Italy
Hi Borin, I hope you are doing well! I went to the Birmingham NEC
lastweek
and I met a friend of yours, named Anne Wild. She illustrates beautiful
romantic country style little things. She said she knows you and to say
hi! And she gave me her catalogue (great stuff)
Gosh, aren't you famous!
Thursday 07/06/2000
Christopher E, Springfield, MA
Great page .. lots of odd stuff. I loved the "Severed
Head" comic, very bizzare. Hope
to see more stuff from here soon
:)
Tuesday 05/02/2000
A Smiffy, Ipswich UK
Just dropped by again Borin, via the Creative Freelance website, and
looked
through all the Introducing
stuff:
one word "stunning" and great layout, great stuff, don't you ever
sleep..? Amuse and provoke... in equal measures.
Thursday 02/17/2000
Ken Redsell, Trimley, Suffolk, UK
Hi Borin. Good site, another winner! Look forward to March 30th
Freelance
meeting. Now trying to find Freelance site.
Friday 07/09/1999
Jonathan Evitt, London
Had a look as promised. Very impressed with illustrations etc.
Friday 06/04/1999
Simon, Icon Books, Cambridge, UK
I liked the illustration for Introducing
Media
Studies. As you may or may not
know, we've linked your site from
ours.
Sunday 05/16/1999
Mark Wilkinson, Suffolk (just!), UK
Hi BVL, surfed on in and it all comes up great now. I still love the Beefheart
pic, it makes me want to go all fast and bulbous.
Wednesday 05/12/1999
Mike Motteram, Suffolk, UK
Looks fine but some images didnt download and wallpaper was a tad
overpowering.
Keep on keeping on.
created by yourself - good egg all round. Enjoyed the Tate
Modern shows
and other aspects. Will doff my hat to you.
Borin Van Loon quotations on bicycles
appear in
The
Quotable Cyclist edited by Bill
Strickland. Breakaway Books
360 pages, $20, hardcover, ISBN: 1-55821-563-8
e-mail orders@breakawaybooks.com
A George Herriman link!
* http://www.creative-freelance.org.uk/reviews/comix.html - Reviews:
Comix
by Borin Van Loon. Well, some other stuff than ignatzmouse , but only
good
stuff !
(http://www.ignatzmouse.net/us/mouse-links.html - An Ignatz Mouse
fansite)
Comments