Luscious Linoleum

flippity flop 3, in grisaille, Q. Cassetti, 2011

So working on the technique of these things. The bolder the lines, I find it getting harder to make them interesting in color, but the grisaille works (at least for me). I could color this. These images are different than the memento mori images, using techniques from the Home Sweet Home body of work last year around this time. As always, color stumps me, so doing it is pushing the old girl along to see if the images evolve and snap more with the color than just plain black and white which is my “go to” and safe place. The original line drawing (bottom) is where I started, took it to color (I’ll post, but am not thrilled with it), back to reworking in greys (top). The image is drawn in my moleskine (A4), with sharpie pens, and new copic brush pen (nice).  Original sketch done in verithin photoblue pencil. Verysharp please. Then, I scan it in, retouch the half and then flop. Then I make another one, (negative) on another field…and cut and paste between the two. Pretty crafty…all we need is the virtual gluestick.

I am pondering….”Is it better to get an undergraduate degree in art/visual art from a liberal arts school if you know you want art? or is it better to go to a for real Art School?”. I have landed on the side of get the liberal arts education and draw like no one’s business. Learn to write. Learn some skills directly related to art, but also develop interests that are the sources for content, for inspiration, for further learning. Learn to learn. Get the spark. Focus happens for us all…why cramp your style by focusing down so quickly? Why get stuck in a groove too quickly. You might create a hybrid that can change you and or the world. You could find content in DNA and it can inform your art, your films, your stories.  You never know. Mark Zuckerberg did not go to school to create Facebook. He learned to learn….and with the climate today with what a job, what work is— who knows if you can learn how to be something when the terraine is shifting in such wonderful and interesting ways. What with Etsy and the money one can make at short pops during the year…making a living is not limited to a nine to five at a Fortune 100 with your “work/life/balance” defined, and your personality questioned insofar as wheither you are good or bad. There is so much out there in this wide world, focusing down is safe insofar as the “job”, but isnt your time on this plain so, so much more?

I need to get on the ball and look at summer programs for the babies. It would be great to find something for Mr. Boy that might be related to photography or something else. Kitty, art. Maybe Illustration Academy (did you know its not in Florida anymore?). Here is what they say:

“The Illustration Academy’s 2011 summer program will be held in one location, Kansas City, MO. The Illustration Academy is now operating as a Special Program within The Art Department’s (TAD) Illustration Major. The 2011 Illustration Academy will be held in the TAD studios (Pods) that have been developed to accommodate the immersion component of TAD.

The Illustration Academy will begin June 12th and run through July 8th. The same stellar professionals will make up The Illustration Academy Faculty. It is a major advantage to have the Academy in our own space once again. We are presently speaking with a major convention hotel about housing for the Academy students and instructors. “

I have sauce bubbling away while two testosterone filled juniors bellow and moan over this shoot em up game they are playing on the t.v. There was drum music for about an hour and now we have breaktime with chocolate milk and gunplay. Alex had the school play practice today. Skiing (in the rain?) tomorrow.

Rob and I came back from trolling the big box stores for bathroom light fixtures and sinks. We were amazed by the sheet flooring that is out today that mimic the real thing wonderfully amazingly. I have a hankering for a deep brown parquet…which is really, really convincing though the cork was pretty spectacular too. We are finishing up Kitty’s bathroom and the yellow bathroom (one of the original 3) is having all the acid yellow tile ripped off the walls (this is an amazing acid yellow as nothing “went with it”—-we tested colors galore to a big bad yuck) and the dropped ceiling trashed. It is quite spectacular. All the fixures stay (except the cheap vanity) and we are looking at linoleum as we really do not want to have to shim all the plumbing  to raise it for tile (as well as the thresholds and the contact with the tub). So, its a refit…and this luscious, believable, chocolate parquet would make it a stage set for glamour. We are thinking of moving one of the chandeliers (the house came with three yucky ones) into the space as we have the headroom…and it would be great. Only problem as I can see it, is that one chandelier is just not enough. Three? Five? At different heights? Now we are talking.

Mardi Gras illustrations fill my thin skull. I think I need to move towards doing a few.

Later.

Tease

Flippity Flop 2 with tone, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink on moleskine (A3), digital toneAnother tease from Spring. Blue skies, blue shadows, and bright light. The snow is still on the ground but the little flirt, Spring, is waving us on with the birds cheering time on and inspiring us that change is in front of us. I am anxious to buy some montmorcy cherry trees so make those little promises even more tempting. Lets see if the 4 hellebore I put in last spring (inspired by the few hellebore that Rebe left us) bloom and tempt.

Crazy today. Phone calls galore. Work galore. Track dish to pass at six promptly. Am worn out before we even get started. Not much time to chat….but figured I would post the newest with tone for your amusement…and say hi.

Hi!

Segue

Flippity Flop 2, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink on moleskineLooks like Spring is peeking out. The sun is shining and bouncing off the snow. Shady is passed out on the floor. Mei Mei is sitting on my windowsill surveying the scene outside. Mr. White continues to be quiet and in hiding. I hope he mellows out. He still keeps picking fights with Mr. Grumpy…and now that he only has one operative eye, its is a lost cause.I wish he would figure that out.

Got my printing back from BargainBasementPrinting.com. The brochures were a tad hot (colorwise) but not bad, and for $78. it is better than anything that Kinkos can do. Business cards were the same. However, quick turn around….and prices that are good. Plus, guess where my boxes shipped from? Rochester! So nearby and neighborly. Right? Minimum quantities are 500…but for a cheap mailing?

Need to get the ad for Illustration Directory done as well as the magazine cover I have on the horizon. Gotta finalize the Hangar stuff (they are running behind) along with a few other projects. Looks like a pretty open day….can get a mess done.

I had my hair changed yesterday. I have been evolving to grey. My wonderful Demetra decided I needed to do it boldly, so she created some bold platinum stripes in the grey…and its kind of Cruella Deville but white…cool. Demetra mentioned that the hipsters are coming into the salon to get their hair dyed grey! So…its not so bad segue-ing into that aging thing.

glimmer

Flippity Flop color, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink, digitalSo, a new technique is emerging. Not exactly new…but taking these detailled black and white line drawings beyond black and white. I add tone via Photoshop (see yesterday’s image) using postitive and negative aspects of the original line work along with tone added via brush and eraser. Then, the toned piece is the base for the coloring (see above). I am thrilled with the way this is looking. lots of detail, and it is working as a color piece too. So, now onward to working with it. I do not know why Memento Mori images popped back up, but they have and I am looking at Mexican Sugar Skulls again with happiness in my head and pen.

Speaking of pens, do you know about the refillable Copic SP Multiliner pens? There is a wide wide range of widths along with a brush that is permanent. Sweet. Jet Pens have them…. and of course, they have wild and wonderful Japanese office supplies.

I am a bit nuts as a bunch of rushes were plopped inbetween me and the preexisting work that will keep me in my chair until at least 8 tonight. I would like to be able to leave before 7 on a more regular basis. It gets a bit tedious, but books on tape keep me wanting to work to stay with the story (thank goodness!).

Gotta go.

Double Trouble, Q. Cassetti, 2011

Chocolate Chip Painting

Sirin 2 colored, Q. Cassetti, 2011, pen and ink, digitalI was purusing my Painter Wow book. Painter is a program I know a bit and feel that there would be a lot there, but it just seems so filled with bells and whistles that it becomes a struggle to do something tasteful. I think its great for me to add surface texture, create masks, and create swatches. As I was saying, the Painter Wow book was talking (and showing) these brushes made from a photo of chocolate chips….thats a WOW for me. Imagine, painting with chocolate chips…? What if Rembrandt or Picasso had these tools? Would their work be any better? any more original? or would it settle into the realm of mall art that much of this Painter stuff looks like. But, I need to remember, the tool is a tool, its the hand (and head) attached to the tools that are making the taste judgements.

Was fiddling with tinting these line drawings (as shown to the left). I took the line drawing and dropped in grey tones (like real painters) and then went in with color to get where we are now. I am not sure of it…but figured its work, and work in progress…

Am working on a portrait (saved it out yesterday) in a line drawing approach. I have saved it to vectors as it will go up in size, and i think we are close on that.

small plans, big ideas

Lots going on between the ears and not a ton planned today. There is catching up from the recent spate of solid weekends.There is laundry, groceries(basics), and a few design things, and a few illustration things. Alex is practicing for the HS play. Rob needs a haircut which gets rolled into a visit to Greenstar and the hardware store. Mr. White, neckcat, is progressing. I need to finish the layout for the cover of a magazine I am being featured in. There is going to be a big black crow head on the nice, matte laminated white cover. Big and bright. Poster on the magazine rack.

Am puzzling over a picture with figs thanks to Hartford Illustration (MFA) blog’s post on an illustration challenge from The Fig Board to illustrate a recipe( theirs or your own) with figs. Hmmmmm.

Totally a winter storm yesterday with solid snow from wakeup time until sleeping. Light powder, quietly..softly, constantly. I sat at the monitor and cranked through a mark for the Corning Museum of Glass, fixing a few big books for Cornell, putting fires out for the big client,and digging into a pile we need to finish for the first week of April. Shady lay on her side, snoring and running in her sleep. She will be running today in her waking— along with the snow spa and required cone (pine) hunt. No end to fun (at least for her)!

IF: Swarm

From the series, ‘In Pursuit of the Hive, Q. Cassetti, 2010

“What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.”

Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor, best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy, AD 121-180


 

Pencil it in! Girl Power at CMoG

March’s 2300˚ is all girl, all the time with the wonderful Grady Girls bringing irish music to us all. This is what the Rongo says about them:

“A Quartet of fiddles, flute, and bodhran played by a pair of sisters and their two cousins, the Grady Girls gracefully combine the pulsing melodies of slides and polkas (that they picked up in the southwest of Ireland), with more widely known dance tunes such as jigs and reels. Proudly carrying on the musical traditions of their forefathers and foremothers, the lovely young Gradys will sing, fiddle, and step-dance their way into your hearts, much as they entered ours from the first time we met them.”

The Grady Girls’ MySpace>>

Rumor has it that Ephemera, a vocal improv group may sing too!

Neck Cat

After Ganga Devi, Q. Cassetti, 2011, sharpies, pitt pen and moleskineBoys are doing a round trip to NYC today to get a family member to a medical specialist for an annual. Just called, and things are good. Thank goodness. They have blue skies and melting snow versus rain and sleet and snow. Shady is laid out in sunshine on the green floor. Mr. White, my new patient, is receptive to his treatment (eyedrops) and cookies that go with his good behavior. The vet tech said that they identify cats just their color and markings. Mr. White fits into a category as a “neck cat”. Neck cats climb up you, and will sit on your shoulders and around your neck like a fashion accessory. And believe it or not, Mr. White was doing that yesterday for comfort. Made wearing a thick wool jacket (like I am) a wonderful foil for the claws—creating a positive velcro environment for the big guy. Now, like a baby, he climbs up and sits on my shoulder after he gets his eyedrops looking for a little sympathy. He is a squinty pirate, and I guess I am the new pirate ship for his captaincy. I am not a big fan of cats, but Mr. White is alright. We have a week of eyedrops and then another trip to the vet for a confirmation.

I have been at the office since a quarter to 7 a.m. Getting a bunch of things done. Uploaded a brochure and two big sized business cards to Bargain Basement Printing with the cards being (500 pcs. for $14) and the brochure equally inexpensive. So, in a week or so, we will be able to kvell or cry about the quality/price. I hope I am going to be delighted. There isn’t much flexibility around this printer (thus the price), and the file requirements are touchy, but I made it work after a while, and am heartened.

A person I met at The Museum Institute at Sagamore contacted me to see if we could repurpose my valentine for a wedding “Save the date” card. I am flattered, and we have Joe Sepi at Pioneer rolling on the reconfigured redo. What a nice idea!

Next stop, cheap stickers!

Got a poster done for the HS play (on the edge time), got some memos done, paperwork filled out and done, and started some trial-ing the specs….and surfacing more stuff. That hurts. But, if we do not check the work, we will be working and justifying and trying to figure out the specs after the fact. It hurts to have to bounce the stuff back…but better now than later. We still have time to make it work.

Need to go.

 

Quick quick

Many Birds inspired by Ganga Devi, Q. Cassetti, 2011, sharpies, Pitt Pen and moleskineNeed to make this quick. Mr. White is going to be found, bundled up and taken to the doctor as he is very squinty and cranky. I had enough of watching him hurt and made an appointment for him to be poked and prodded.

Its a blue sky day. Brilliant sky, blue shadows and the promise of Spring in the offing.

Go need to get the lariat to round em up.

A presidential celebration!

India Inspired Sirin v.2, Q.Cassetti, 2011, moleskine and sharpiesBoys have the day off. I have charged Alex with filling bags with the clothes he will not wear so there will be room for the things he does wear. Rob is writing things for work and I am looking down the long line of projects that need to be done with emails that need to accompany them with questions, responses etc.

I was working yesterday on looking at possible covers for 3x3. There are some maybes…but there are some ideas of doing something new for it…(a squirrel with a nut?). Also jumped on some of the work for my big client…checking on some guidelines by actually haveing to apply them, finding some big gaps that we will need to put to order before we roll it out. I am worrying about these guidelines as we will be involved in implementing them, and finding some big nuggets that are missing is a bit concerning. Need to dig in.

I am listening to books on tape for the last few weeks and have been feeling very indulged—enjoying the tales and the coziness that a story can inspire…a cuddly hunkering down that is inspiring work and focus. Now, if only the books were more than lightweight trash, it would be terrific. But baby steps first. Ah.

Brilliant Shadows

India inspired Sirin, Q. Cassetti, 2011, sharpies on moleskineBrilliant Shadows, blue on the snow in the bright light. It is quiet and mild (unlike last night when the light snow continued apace). The weather rumors say that we are up for a big snow tonight through Tuesday, so we will see. We have plenty of coffee and milk, so we can hole in for a few days.

Just got off the phone with my little glimmer of light, Kitty. She is in fine form thrilled with everything, her social life, her studies and the new add to her whirl, contra dancing. She is charmed (and I am sure charming). We went through the people, places and things…and things have changed a bit to make her happier as there is more fun in her life. As I am her mom, I want the best for her and from her…and I hope she is keeping pointed in the right directions and stays on center for her work, her studies, her self discovery.

We had overnight guests which was fun. I made some quiche and we hung out and talked. Rob and group went to Ithaca for the Chili cook off—and have gracefully left me to write, layout my new cover for 3x3, and get more branding work done for our client (all due 4/6).

I am a bit panic’ed so….

Need to get rolling.

momento

Talking to the Messengers, Q. Cassetti, 2011, sharpies on moleskineIt is a wonder that this weekend is not scheduled— no big parties, no killer extra projects, no big sports, no early morning or late night pick ups or deliveries. No complaints about the former, but a wide expanse of time to drink coffee and think a bit broader about things, about ideas,about plans for Alex, about the summer. Time to really vegetate, and decompress, to float spiritually in a Florida pool… Is not on the horizon, but a respite is welcome to give perspective on things. It has been a bit like I have been living on greased rails with no beginning or end— just the expanse of track and the sheer steel of trying to stay on and continue at that speed.

Phew.

New picture from the automatic writing series where I can pretend to be Ganga Devi. Its line lines lines….and I am now thinking about how to add color to these things. I think that the added reversed areas and tone help to punch up the pictures and it is interesting to watch the progression from January>

I am working on a Sirin picture (remember Lubki? Half woman, half bird….but its got the indian spin too.

Am working on thinking around the cover for 3x3 that I have been asked to do. I am so flattered to have this opportunity—and the bar is very high. I am thinking bees…

Its been steadily snowing all day…just a light powder that persistently keeps on and on. I swept the porch at noon, and by 3 p.m, Rob did the same. Amazing what a steady pace of fallilng can do. All the ice (or much of it) melted and the winds blew and blew last night. Rob and I always have a post mortem after these big blows to see if the arborial care here has prevented big branches and trees coming down. Nothing but branches in obvious site, but as I meandered down Camp Street to go to the dairy, I noticed one of the old, hole riddled trees that the woodpeckers love hit the ground in the blow. Thankfully, it is in the clearing and not in the road.

vernal snowy day

Inspired by Ganga Devi, Q. Cassetti, 2011, sharpies and moleskine40 degrees and melting. Mild. Feels like Spring. The birds think its coming. Shady doesnt care as the top surface of the snow is icy and hard…her favorite for the wiggle dance she does in the snow spa jiggling and twitching, licking the snow and snapping up little crunchy cold bits. There will be ice chopping after lunch today to get the big chunks under the eaves broken up to melt (with a little salt to help).

Baked up a mess of granola last night. The sight of an empty granola cannister is enough to bring me to tears as this is the “go to” for the boys for late night, after school etc. No granola is another sign of my crummy mother and wifedom. We are back in business today, thank goodness. We whip through oatmeal like nobody’s business. I am always surprised by the sheer volume of this stuff and how it goes.

Things are setting down to ramp up at work…with new learning and quizzing about image bank services our client has, and how to tag, set up folders and the like. We are going to run at this…the kind of project management which is one step at a time. I can still breathe, but it feels like we could have some “moments” between now and the end of March.

Had a nice chat with two of the NYFood partners, Dan and Dean. They are so fabulous. I love this alternative, localvore, meet the farmer life….it really connects so much for me. I am always inspired by their concerns, interests, and work. To hear them talk about the farms, the earth, their families, their animals—it is a poem of love and of live. Each one has a different poem, but the tone and messages are always the same. It is a rich thing.

Great news. Did I mention that Charles Hively is putting me in his next 3x3 with an article, pictures, and of course illustrations. Ursula Roma wrote an amazing piece with Jason Koski doing the photography. I am filling in details with the photos…and am finalizing now. Charles asked if I would do the cover! So, wow. Am a bit stunned by that….now the question is what! I got a sneak peek of the Computer Arts article (UK magazine) on folk art and several illustrators who work in this mode. Tremendous!

Has anyone out there used TAXI? Looks good. However, the recent new folks I am working with came from a  search of the illustrator /designer, Alexander Girard.  Remember my phase last summer with Christmas angels, doves and the like? That was the work that the wonderful googlebot found, ranked and hooked me up with this good design firm in NYC.

The other is just a recommend. So, what help are all these random portfolio sites? How many do I need to have, to update etc? Behance has been great for waving the flag to say to the world, hey, I am here….but do I need more than the Directory of Illustration, Behance, my own sites, Society of Illustrators LA? Any ideas, insights?

Winter Bear

Winter Bear, Q. Cassetti, 2011, digital, vectorLittle messing around with simple shapes working with my new favorite tools  (shift W: which monkeys with line widths and shift M which can join shapes —additive and subractive). I love messing around in the land of vectors so I can make little ditties like the bear to the left. Key learning from this rush job is that believe it or not, if I draw my designs, scan them in and then have them as guidelines underneath the vector work, the images are better, happen faster and are more designed than just randomly drawing on the tablet without a plan. No duh. But hey, that’s why I had to go to graduate school was to have my mentor, Murray, surface these things because the basic stuff is something we forget. Sketch first, finish last. So my desktop is littered with thick trace with tons of line drawings waiting to turn into vector shapes.

Another thrill is that I am building a wonderful library (in the symbols library in Illustrator) of all these critters and shapes. I need to draw some racoons, squirrels, bears, deer…woodland animals as they have a place far beyond the zoo/tropical animals. I have also made some way cool brushes (thanks to the prodding of Jean Tuttle) of vegetation, leaves, holly….So the toolbox expands and I am building my own version of Design Elements.

Love the Ultimate Symbol and its CDs. Check em out. They are such a wonderful tool to help get the jobs done. Check em out. New to the collection is a rights free disk set of Seymour Chwast illustrations. Interesting that Chwast has gone into business with Ultimate Symbol (which I think is a remarkable and very design forward organization) to get a library of his illustration back into circulation. For me, this moves the needle significantly in the world of rights free illustration. What is your thinking?

I am beginning to get that frisson of excitement around just doing illustration and graphics. I feel a wave is coming.  A sunami. Yea! Its about time.

We had a great chat en famille last night with Kitty—a virtual valentine for all of us. She was in good spirits mixing it up with a new group of friends referred to as “Skull Cave”. These are interesting folks who are not as crazed as others with World of Warcraft and other consuming electronic games. There is a high zombie factor with students studying and then spending a lot of their spare time playing these games.She was in great shape, centered, happy….laughing. I miss her so much.

<3

Valentine, Q. Cassetti, 2009, digitalHappy Valentines Day to all my friends and followers.May there be treats, cards and hugs to all…and know that this day is just one that we should tell each other how much we value and love each other. Just one day out of 365—we should all try for the next 364. 

I am sitting here, listening to the wind whistle as the weather is warm and feels like a barometric shift is in the works. Its water and ice on the driveway so going down was “thrilling” but coming up the same was questionable as there is no traction. I just hope it dries out before it freezes (not leaving us with an inch and a half of ice).

I am worn out from the weekend. It has been a two week blur of work and not much quiet time. Work continues apace—not to my complaint, but it is more than usual, and the stress of the deadlines is not my favorite thing. Its got to switch out. We do not have a double header next weekend. Though the boys are booked through 9 p.m. tonight…So, I will need to get a good dinner for them late. Rob will be burning the afterwork time 4-5 days this week.

Just found a great new resource. Yes, I will need to print something to see the quality etc, but check out the prices: www.bargainbasementprinting.com. I mean, 500 postcards printed both /full color is $26. 500 trifold brochures, $78. It takes 5-7 business days to print…but hey. For that price, how bad can it be? For my friends in small businesses or for quick projects, how sweet is this?

Also, the Sticker Guy is back up and running, . Again, great prices and a huge promotional opportunity for those of us in small businesses that need to get our name and image out there.