Before Sir Alec Guinness was Obi-Wan Kenobi, he adapted Joyce Cary's book The Horse's Mouth into the 1958 movie. In addition to writing the screenplay, Guinness starred as Gulley Jimson, an artist who is dedicated but snide, talented but demanding, endearing but dishonest. Jimson charms and delights, and nothing will get in the way of his vision. Even worse, he leaves havoc in his wake. Roymieco Carter, who's Associate Professor and Director of the Visual Arts Program at North Carolina A&T State University, discovered the movie when he was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, and it made a big impact. Carter explains why The Horse's Mouth impacted him at such an early age, and why asking for permission to be an artist or designer isn't necessary, if you want to be something, be it. - Associate Professor and Director of the Visual Arts Program at North Carolina A&T State University, Roymieco Carter teaches graphic design, digital media, visual literacy and theory, and social criticism. Carter has written articles on graphic design education, art education, gaming, human computer interaction, and graphics computer animation. Having studied and worked in fashion art, as well as design and advertising practices, he often draws from his graphic design background for inspiration. His work uses a mixture of digital and hand techniques including collage, calligraphy, drawing, xerography, stenciling and typography. Raised in the tobacco farmlands of Virginia, he draws inspiration from his rural upbringing, and integrates themes of violence, displacement, and oppression into his work, exploring how history is manipulated and rewritten. Holding a BFA in Art and Advertising from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in Graphic Design from Penn State University, Carter's work fuses documented history with cultural narratives and folklore, evoking deep emotional and personal insights. https://cartergallery.wordpress.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/roymieco-carter-65a38827/ https://www.ncat.edu/employee-bio.php?directoryID=909381433 https://www.ganttcenter.org/calendar/open-air-steven-cozart-and-roymieco-carter/ - The Horse's Mouth (1958) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051739/ https://www.tcm.com/video/223317/horses-mouth-the-1958-the-old-dreadnought - Further Reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Church_in_the_Wild https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/en/picassos-childhood - Thirtysomething (1987-1991) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirtysomething https://designobserver.com/i-was-a-mad-man/ https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2001/05/miles-drentell-r-i-p.html https://som.yale.edu/blog/memoriam-bill-drenttel - Other movies and shows discussed, alphabetical list Sinners (2025) Taxi Driver (1976)