Too Cool

By payallin

I was doing a search on the Maisonneuve magazine cover where they used my artwork (I still find calling anything done with Photoshop “artwork” weird but, hey, you have to call it something)  and came across a neat online article on Canada’s National Review web site. The article is titled “Cover Pages of the Ages”. Seems the person who wrote the article really liked the cover. Heres a cut and paste of what they wrote:

Singling out a feature on persecuted former Scientologist Gerry Armstrong, the current issue of Montreal-based magazine Maisonneuve has a grainy cover image of a young man resembling Armstrong, kneeling in prayer and illuminated from above by an unidentified flying object. It takes a page from Lois and is witty, clever and austere in its simplicity. I was waiting in the express lane and, dear reader, I bought it.

maisonneuve

Ok, the person on the cover is supposed to look like Tom Cruise but if it looks like Gerry Armstrong that works too.

Here’s the link to the article. It explains who the Lois person is that it “takes a page from”.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=483708

5 Responses to “Too Cool”

  1. Dwayne "the canoe guy" Says:

    ummmm, boy did they miss the mark on THAT cover.
    Take it from me, Photoshop is artwork. I have a tough time with it and I bow to your magnificence

  2. Gerry Armstrong Says:

    I wrote to the National Post to let them know the praying man on Maisonneuve’s cover was supposed to resemble Tom Cruise, and that Tom resembling me, while great for his career, was not something I had capitalized on, at least so far.

    I told the Post that, putting aside our resemblances, there are clear differences between Tom and me, and I uploaded a photo of me in prayer taken a few days ago in my office in Chilliwack, BC to make the point.
    http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/ga/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ga-2008-06-01.jpg

    Like you, from time to time I’ve also seized the odd photoshopportunity with Tom & Co. to whip out my artwork:
    http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/fun/tom-robot-man.html
    http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/fun/parody/the-playmates.html
    http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/fun/parody/vanity-fair-2006-10.html

    Gerry Armstrong
    #2-46298 Yale Road
    Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P6
    604-703-1373
    gerry@gerryarmstrong.org
    http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/

  3. Scientist Says:

    Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation :) Anyway … nice blog to visit.

    cheers, Scientist!!

  4. Maisonneuve cover art : Scientology v. Armstrong Says:

    [...] it. The artist Bryan McMillin (Payallin) also saw the Nat Post mention and commented on his blog. http://payallin.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/too-cool/ Nathalie Atkinson wrote in a May 1 article on magazine cover design, “Cover pages of the [...]

  5. anna minzhulina Says:

    hi Bryan,

    oh boy, did we create ripples with this cover ;) . Gerry, i do not know why Nathalie Atkinson thought the man in the image was you – it was never our intention (i guess it’s just happened because you are the main character of the story). when i contacted Bryan about the image there was a concern on my part that the man did not look 100% like Tom Cruise. the image was seriously modified (Bryan rocks! hehehe…i seriously bugged him with all the little this and that) to be the cover and our intention was to make him look 100% like Tom Cruise, because that was a huge part of my concept. in the end it was decided that the figure might or might not resemble Tom Cruise – does not matter, what’s important is a different/corky/wicked way of looking at religion and God.
    Nathalie’s getting it wrong or right is not a point – her article is great. it’s not about the Scientology piece – it’s about recognizing the great concept/artwork that was the cover, basically kudos to Bryan :) and Maisonneuve. so let us enjoy that – thanks.

    anna minzhulina (Art Director, Maisonneuve magazine)

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