on and off


Promising rain and ten minutes later, sunny skies. Am churning away on work. Got a nice deck together to show to the Cornellians tomorrow. Thrilled with the possible conversation we may/will have. Got a logotype for the Museum of Glass done...need to tweak the type (and then will post) today. Am making headway on the Hartford papers and plan to wrap one up tonight as R. is Manager on Duty tonight buying me a bit of time in the p.m.

We may have dinner and sleepover guests tomorrow pm. Hopefully the wonderbus will be fixed today. Not having wheels is def. cramping my style.

More later

what if?

Here's a thought, a thought from way back before these computer tools we have made things easier.
The time before fax machines, the time when photo repro blue, frisket, amberlith,cutting films all were status quo. They were getting one's chops the hard way. This was the time that there was much more craft in graphic design than there is now..What if I refined my sketches to the point that they were ready to go, but needing to be finally inked. And, as you know, taking them into illustrator freezes the spirit in them. So, what if I were to scan this illustration and change the coloration to photo blue (non-repro blue), blow the image up to 300% of final and output on the epson on enhanced matte paper. If this wouldn't do, we could try one of the watercolor papers primed for this. Then, to do the final, to work up all the line work and outline on the output ..keeping the big fields of black for the second scan (back into the computer) to add black for fill? Reduce it down and away you go. Keep it really high res for future use as one can always subtract pixels and make something smaller. It doesn't work the other way around.

This makes sense to me. I should give it a try.

quick note


Lovely evening with gold and pink water so warm and beautiful. The bowl of clouds surrounded us all as the dog swam out with us with all kids and friends and the grownups. Wonderbus is getting the full treatment with the brakes and a repair of the magic doors.

Working on layouts for a catalog on Japanese Poetry Prints for the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell. It truly is a puzzle with all sorts of copy types needing to be placed (text, poetry in japanese and english), attribution and of course the image. I thought I could push this more than I can with the parameters in place. Tweaking the type, weights/sizes, sans serif/serif. Gotta use "Pro" fonts as there is the right japanese punctuation marks integrated into the font). Today it will be thought out to present by Thursday.

Spent a bit of time this morning pondering the Kay Nielsen book I got at the Eric Carle Museum. What a teacher for all of us decorative guys. Nielsen, Beardsley, Harry Clarke, and more. Need to get my papers done so I can start going crazy drawing.

At task

Spent the morning in CPSE meetings at the school. Fascinating as usual. I hope I could be a bit helpful. Lots of kids needing more help, more guidance, more counseling, more therapy so they can learn the best way they can.

Dropped the Wonderbus off in Ithaca for repair. The brakes are just this side of failing and one of the sliding doors has some delicacy that needs to be fixed.

Got the Jim Carson business plan completed. Completed the first paper for the speakers which my friend Paul Z referred to as "mind salad". Indeed. However, I learned a ton from her references and trying to see these influences peek through her work. I learned what I want in my work and don't. The funny thing is that I was working on a horse for my Baker client for a holiday card and realized after I scanned the sketch in and rendered it in illustrator that all the spirit the drawing had--had fled and left me with a logo instead. So, I need to work out a process of working big and scanning strictly to add color or to compose an image.. to keep the liveliness in the work. I knew this with painting, but its true with drawing too. If I have a digital style, it has to stand on its own or learn to fuse it with hand drawn so that it looks sympathetic with the manual work. This is going to be half the battle is to find the style and then find the way to infuse it with life, color etc and take advantage of the computer to fuse, add pattern etc using the drawn image as the starting point much like the work of memento mori.

More later.

not pineapple tidbits



I love this kind of signage...or maybe better said, I love his kind of illustration. It says...this is what we sell. No kidding. Doesn't it look good? Even if you cannot read, these little darlings tell you all you need to know on a hot day.

Today, the news is in tidbits. A tidbit aside, Princess Kitty loves this word as it was the description of pineapple in the cafeteria at Fredonia. Somehow this has really appealed to her, so we are using tidbits as a word on a regular basis.

First, live from the web (and to be posted to Squint>>)
Barack Obama's historic candidacy has sparked an unprecedented artistic outpouring. Now, in partnership with Shepard Fairey and his Obey Giant collective, we're offering a new way for artists—anyone with a pen and paper qualifies—to share their talents and help elect Barack Obama at the same time.

It's called Manifest Hope, and it's a new Obama art contest for 2D and 3D art, from painting to photography to sculpture. The winners will be shown at the Manifest Hope Gallery online and in Denver during the Democratic convention alongside works from dozens of established and influential artists.

If you think you might want to enter, or want updates on the contest, please let us know here:

But you need to get started soon. The final submissions deadline is August 18th at 11:59 a.m. ET. That's not much time to conceive and create a piece of art, so get started today.

All submissions will be judged by a distinguished panel of judges—artists from Obey Giant, contemporary art curators, and multi-talented musicians. Finalists will be asked to auction off their pieces, and donate the proceeds to progressive organizations.

Denver will be buzzing during the convention, but this gallery is going to be one of the coolest places to visit there. Plus, the gallery's going to have an amazing party with live performances by Death Cab For Cutie, Moby, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

We're not going to send any more emails to the full MoveOn list before the submission deadline. So if there's any chance you might be interested, you have to sign up for contest updates now:


Rob is regaling us with tales of antics at the Great New York State Fair. New this year is something worth getting in the wonderbus and driving as quickly as you can to see the (yes folks, this doesn't get much better) Banana Derby:

If you’ve ever wanted to see monkeys race while riding on the backs of dogs, here’s your chance (and yes, you read that correctly). The Banana Derby features spider monkeys as jockeys, costumes and all, racing on dogs as if they were taking part in a real derby. These half-hour shows are a new event at the Fair.

This might be my thesis. But wait, they can match it. This is why GREAT is added to the description of the fair:
4-H Swine Dressing Contest (4 p. m., swine barn)
Contestants dress their pigs, and themselves, to coordinate with the Fair’s theme: Summer Fun Headquarters. There will also be poultry, rabbit, sheep, goat and dairy dressing contests throughout the course of the Fair.
I wonder if people dress to match their rabbits or sheep? Or Chickens? I would..hmmm...which one? Sheep def. We share the same dim look...eyes on the side of our heads...and a bad "meat head" perm might work.

There are event that the name work for like "The Ultimate Night of Destruction" which captures one of my favorite sports, demolition derby, and takes it to a whole new level, one with buses. I only secretly hope there might be some bright yellow schoolbuses added to the mix to set every mother's teeth on edge (speaking personally) which paired with the concept of New York State might encourage us to pay more taxes for transportation. There is a really interesting marketing twist here. Just need to mull over that.

We had a treat and saw the Black Knight last night. Great. So great, Kitty couldnt sleep. Lots of rain...but had a chance to bob in the water.

More later>>

How to fly on clouds


Monkey King redux. My Vin project is to be a movie poster for the Journey to the West, an opera/ and also tv show about this marvelous creature the Monkey King. This fellow is part of the Chinese Opera and is woven into the chinese and buddhist cultures that this is a rich vein along with my fascination and delight with monkeys in general.There are some pretty established aspects of this being--along with some great traditions one can tap into. When one googlates this topic--there are a ton of images from ancient manuscripts to t.v. market tested imags. Even today when perusing the pages of Juxtapoz, there up front and center was a character toy (a la Kid Robot) of the very same god.

I plan on getting the color comp approved and then rendering it 3 ways: 1) A la Ivan Chermayeff's Mobile Masterpiece Theater posters/graphics; 2) inspired by the Provensens and their referencing a decorative style from which the tale is spun, a la Chinese cut paper decoration; 3) last but not least, a wild ride using line and flat color a la Marie Antoinette...and seeing how it goes. It will give me a chance to talk with Doug and Murray about the thesis...and who knows, as I do love monkeys, we could just blow this one out.

Monkeys in addition to being independent creatures that mimic man were court decorations, symbols and/or gods in mainly Asian and African cultures. They are tricksters who come to some understanding of truth. This could be really fun and at least 18 images could happen. Plus, they are stylish...and if my boyfriend Walton Ford can go to town with monkeys, why shouldn't I?

From International Hero.co.uk:
Powers/Abilities: The Monkey King was born out of rock, and hence is extremely strong and durable - in fact he is totally invulnerable. He is immortal, having gorged himself on the life-giving peaches of the Jade Emperor's sacred garden. He is also extremely smart - he learned all the magic tricks in the world from a master Taoist, so that he is now able to transform himself into seventy-two different images such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy's belly to fight him inside or out. He can employ clouds as vehicles allowing him to travel 180,000 miles in a single somersault. He uses a Wishing Staff he got from the Dragon Kings of the Oceans as his favorite weapon - it can expand or shrink at its owner's command (he normally stores it in his earlobe). He can turns clumps of his hair into any object he desires. His fiery eyes can see through most illusions. Being made of stone, he is uncomfortable underwater.

History: "The Nature of Monkey was Irrepressible!!" Monkey was hatched from a magical egg on a mountain top, which had been weathered and fertilised by the elements over many centuries. Made of stone and virtually indestructible (although he still feels pain), he was crowned the Monkey King after he proved to be the only monkey on the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers to dare go through the Water Curtain and set up a kingdom on Earth. Upon realising that he was destined to die like everyone else, he made it his new goal to become immortal. He located a Taoist who taught him magic and alchemy (and how to fly on clouds).

Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters at the Getty


Merian's Crocodile from the Princeton Digital Library
I was clicking around and found this croc and art by this artist and was floored. Today I was nosing around to see if red or black ware was Greek or Roman at the Getty siteto find out that there is a show currently there of Maria Sibylla Merian (1641-1717) and her daughters Johanna Helena and Dorothea Maria. Check it out. Whoa.

now




It was a golden evening at our little Trumansburg Farmers Market with the Piggery selling no end to yummy stuff, bundles of sunflowers and fresh beans, baby clothes made of old printed teeshirts (totally cute), natural cosmetics and scents, a table of garlic (with signs identifying around seven different species). Kitty had a rich crepe. I bought bread and a tiny jar of pate for R. to have after his long trip to Boston. Boy Wonder called about his camp experiences and the sheer, hard work they were being pressed into doing with training for Cross Country. I hope some of this sticks as he could need a bit of a jazz to get him started.

Chet came by with all sorts of tales of terror from the world of Lawnmower-y--ignition troubles, oil troubles, $700 troubles. It was fascinating. Tim is busy on a lift scraping the old lead paint off the fascia. Lucy, his dog is leading Shady into trouble...so its a bit just to keep track of them and their antics.

It is the first day of August tomorrow. I guess that is when summer officially begins for us!

Gotta go. The boy awaits our arrival to haul him home.

cotton head


Isn't this sweetness itself? I think I need to go used books shopping and buy up a clutch of Provensen literature as I need to try to be them and see what happens. Not copying, but trying out there little hints and ideas. There might be something here. I love their layout style (Animal Fair has some nice approaches with grids, lettering etc) and then this stuff from the Bible book (along with the stuff from Mythology which rocks). I am all over their stuff.

In my sleep deprived stupor, I re-read my Jean Tuttle notes and found I had the wit to write down her influences, so I spent a bit of time googling the italian futurist Fortunato Depero, the fabulous Provensens, Beardsley and Leonard Baskin who was noted but not necessarily as an influence but in looking over her work, he fits there too. There is a lot for me to glean from looking at these influences as they resonate with me too--to different effect. I found a limited number of George Stavrinos, cited both by Jean and Nancy Stahl as inspirations for them and actually remembered his work which I have always associated with the world of Ziggy Pop and Disco Bunnies. His work is muscular, figurative work which given the world of airbrush that was happening at the time was singular. I dont know if I see it in either Jean's work or Nancy's for that matter.

We didn't wrap it up until 4 a.m. so putting my head down wasn't as simple as it appeared. I got 4 hours and got on the road (stopping at TJMaxx for paper napkins and paper goods for the present closet, and cute polka dot underwear for Kitty to sweeten the deal relative to the SAT coaching she has been resisting). I didn't wreck the car coming home actually staying on the road and driving the speed limit...and now, I can get dumb and design some things.

Onward to functional dumbness.

urg.


It's 2:24 a.m. Something screwed up in the paper feed and lost us a ton of time...so instead of bedtime at midnight, we are looking at 3:30 a.m. and I am not the most charitable right now. I have been going since 5:30 a.m. and then some. I am a bit freaked out that I will not sleep and need to drive home as a living zombie (jacked up on coffee). However, I have been pulling examples for the Jean Tuttle paper I am doing along with blabbing on about this and that with the text. I did enjoy learning about her influences as it points up cool stuff about her work...and becomes something for me to reflect on. I have 80% of the revisions to the Business Plan completed, so at least this is forward movement.

I really would like some time to decompress. Its been solid since I came back. I still am coiled up like a spring...and it doesn't feel that good.

Alice and Martin Provensen, The Golden Bible for Children: The New Testament., 1953

Genre Idea


So, Vin Di Fate assigned a genre image in a "delivery system" (ie Pulp, Slick, Movie Poster). I think I am going to do something with the Chinese mythological creature, The Monkey King, otherwise known as Sunwukong.

"Monkey King (or Sunwukong) was born from a stone. He wanted to be like the immortals and be free from death. He was extremely smart and capable, and learned all the magic tricks from a master Taoist. He could transform himself into seventy-two different images such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey, or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy's belly to fight him or her inside out. Using clouds as a vehicle, he can travel 180,000 miles a single somersault......."
Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University

See what I mean? Fab. He is also a character from the Bejing Opera with his own mask and iconography.

I show you these images from Harry Clarke as his work and techniques are something I have been looking at, juxtaposing with Beardsley, and Warhol, and trying to make sense from something that I am stunned by.

Am on my pressrun. We have seen at least 8 forms with two more today. Bit of a snag with a background tint and had to pull the form to correct. I hate doing that, but thats why they pay me the big bucks to go on press.

Back to normal by tomorrow p.m.

back

Brooding sky. Rain seems likely. Work oozing out of the computer. Tomorrow, need to drive to Rochester for a pressrun. Got all the information and files to CA for the Design Annual. That stuff really takes time even with the desire for electronic files which one would think would cut the time. Have surprise guests coming. Will need to get groceries for the casual dinner that I don't have the stuff to make. Need to get mozzerella and pasta we will get tomatoes at the farm stand, and we have green beans. It never is simple despite my hubby's desire for simplicity. I will need to pack and prep before even that.

a blurrrrrrrrr........


This is Hartford's class of 2008. We started the day talking about pulp fiction covers with Vin Di Fate with a quick review of the project due mid September and mid October. I was feeling shaky about it until I spent some time in the car with Randy Elliot who pushed me around to thinking about how to make it a fun project. It is either a movie poster for Marie Antoinette or the chinese movie about the Monkey King...(I am leaning toward the King). Thanks Randy!

We had our Ted and Betsy crit on Friday--basically all day with all sorts of interesting and very viable books being presented. It was remarkable to see the breadth and depth of the various comps--that it was a boost for each individual and the group in general. The crit went from about 9:30-3:00. We rushed back to throw our clothes into our suitcases and dress for the closing reception of the thesis work and the lovely dinner at the 1877 Club (where the fixe prix lunch is served--complete with white tablecloths and napkins). There were awards, speeches and happy talk. Ron Mazellen outdid himself with his remarks making points with delightful personal stories and reminding us to hold to the 3 "C"s which makes great illustration and life in general advice.

Three Cs:
> Do not Compare
> Do not Complain
> Do not Conclude--you never know.

There were tons of hugs and tears with Dean Power Boothe reminding us that this was not a traditional graduation and that this love fest was planned in the nude (NOT) for next year. I am googling for a nice red burka with the logotype embroidered on it...
Goodness! Its only a year away with a block buster scary class. Should be good...but on rails.

We gathered poolside at the dorm (Residence Inn, Avon) and ate and drank and talked until the wee hours. I had the pleasure of tales of Murray and Ted, Carol and Betsy and their fun times particularly at Coney Island with the geeks and freaks show. I love these people. They tell even better stories than the books they seem to constantly spin. I would love to join their tribe. Ted and Betsy are off to Iceland to see and photograph the puffins. I am so Jealous!

Rode home with Randy Elliot, a star inker and illustrator in the comic book world. Randy is a high energy, really bright guy with lots of ideas and insight. I was tired and was trying to talk and fell asleep mid sentence waking myself up and connecting what was going on in my brain with what was coming out of my mouth...not cool...and Randy was a jewel with my dysfunction. I finally woke up...and we had a great talk about him, his family, his work...and the energy he got from the week. It really made the time zip by. Plus, I had a chance to meet the real Tomboy! (the subject of his book and 1/2 of his super gal book). She is better than the poem--a real can do, smart and funny girl.

The home team picked me up from Randy's--and we had a quick dinner in Skaneatlas at Doug's Fish Fry...and we gabbed all the way home. I put my head down around 8 after a swim with both kids, a husband and a waterdog..and didnt move until 8 a.m. today. We got A. to Cornell for his 4 days of Cross Country training. He was thrilled to see us go! I hope it proves to be fun.

One more time in the beautiful lake with a chat with Princess Kitty...with a wet dog and a hot, shedding cat and now we are here.

Gotta go>> more later

antics in the classroom



There is a lot I love about illustrators as a group, a tribe, a collective think on things. However, if you have a bunch of illustrators and a pen or piece of chalk, it can be a hilarious time in no time. There have been these wonderful drawings on the white board in the Vin Di Fate suite, and as you can see, the antics are amazing given it's 8 a.m.

Day before the end of the first contact period


Rain coming down in buckets today. The sounds at the studio always makes one think that there are downpours on sunshiny days. So, at least the weather matched the sounds. We are all looking at the end of the week, and the melancholy is settling in, that our camp is almost done...and though we are fatigued and punchy, we have had a great time working hard, discovering aspects of our work we didn't know was there...making new friends, learning from each other and our wonderful teachers. We are going to all feel quite tired and deflated after such a hypercharged two weeks.

Vin Di Fate spoke on Surrealism,Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Supernatural Horror (ie. Dracula). He touched on the philosophy of Zeno of Elea and his questioning of what we see, how we see it and how to make sense of what we see, and logic. It was very mind mending and I am fearful I am too dim not to fully understand the fine points of what he was quickly getting out...but the quote from Chris Matthews that Vin quoted kind of summed up the top line of the discussion: " Are you going to believe me, or are you going to believe your lying eyes?" Expectation versus reality as it relates to the concept of Persistence of Vision.

We worked with Betsy and Ted Lewin today. They did their walk about, asking questions, pushing people gently to better their projects and from what I saw walking around, there is a lot of very good, very finished work. I must admit, as I got further into it today--the look and feel began to gel, and many of the spreads of my book need to be redesigned...punching up the scale, and really tweaking the design. I intitially started with a "pack the suitcase" approach...and now its looser, and more designy (at least in the spreads that I am happy with). So, I feel that I am ready to really work this thing...and that it's not all polished and shiny--it's at the starting line. I had a nice talk with Bill Thomson (a stellar children's book illustrator, fellow SU alumni, and professor at the University of Hartford) about style, about multipicity of style and his ideas and approaches to this. He was a very good crit and I really appreciate his interest (albeit I have Doug for my thesis)--I'll take whatever comes my way.

It was pretty much solid work with bookends with Vin. The dorm had free hamburgers and sodas in the breakfast room--so we did a little hanging and gabbing with our upperclassmen about their work, their classes, their understanding. We have a really amazing group of people. It is so remarkable to have more than 5 to hang out with...more PLUDs (people like us,dear). More people to learn from.

Whoa. Home Saturday. A to Cornell on Sun. Office time on Mon. Pressrun Tues> Wed. Gotta get K rolling on her AP work, on her tutoring for the PSATs and on her math. Work to do with her. Gotta get the Business rework of the business plan by August 15th. Sept 15th a color comp for the Genre Class, Oct 15th for final for genre class, Oct. 30 for the two papers. Ithaca Art Trail is October 11-12, 18-19. So, It will be busy. I need to really plan this out.

Tick tock. Time to put my head down.

Another day at the candy factory




Film Fun girl by Enoch Bolles. All other pinup girls, George Petty.
Great talks by Vin today. Pinup girls galore--hello Betty Grable, hellow Betty Page. Who is today's pinup? The Spears sisters? Paris? Scarlett? Do we even have these candy coated girls? Vin says something very funny when clicking through the work of Albert Vargas, George Petty, Enoch Bolles, Bob McGuinness, Gilette Elvgren, Peter Driben, Alan Anderson, Roy Best, Boris....these girls are " Cute as a button, Dumb as a post". Totally. When seeing these images with these words, makes it a laugh riot. Then, on the way home Paul Z. cleverly knits it to the coppertone girl with the little dog--as a form of this cheesecake, this pinup girl phenomenon. And when you take that further, there is something unsavory about the little girl with a naked bottom in the context of this work...and that we happily accept it as part of the advertising icons.

We had dinosaur painters, the nature guys (love the work of Ned Seidler), and action adventure work.. Lots of great images...some pretty garish colors that really work.

Betsy and Ted Lewin reviewed the design of book jackets and book merchandising. Then we had a day of work. Ted and Murray looked at my sketches and are encouraging me to continue the hand drawn approach socking in solid colors where needed. Hmmm. This is the scary zone...So, I need to roll as I have drawing to continue this evening. I plan on working until 10 and then heads down. Still not enough caffeine for me.

Several of the two year folks showed their work to Betsy and Ted while we gathered in the coffee room at the dorm. It was great to mix it up.

More later>>