Pink Sky

It's early. The pink tinged sky hangs over the silver lake...too cold to swim, but a confection to admire and think about.

Today is Wednesday. Middle of the week...but miles to go before the next Wednesday. More on the work front. Whaled on some newsletter mastheads that need to be produced three ways and elegant enough to carry the entire pub as it will be cut and paste layout by a marketing person...and not a designer. Will need to write some specs around copy, color and type size/weight, application. At least if we write and submit the controls, all they will need to do is distribute and hope all follow them. This sort of rogue publication "design" is a bit frightening, but it seems no one cares about something actually functioning and communicating, it is more tactical-- just getting it out regardless of content, message, and how that is portrayed. Man, am I sounding like an old fogey.

On the fun front, I have a picture to do for Ornamentapalooza, a November event at the Museum of Glass centered around..yes, holiday ornaments. Linear illustration, using their two color approach: black and chrome yellow (the 2300 degrees signature colors)which I have used for years. There is another card to do having to do with the inaugural cruise with Celebrity but the focus is unclear. I am not sure they want a Cassandra knock off...but hey. We'll see.

I am waiting for the tsunami book. I am also waiting to see if I have priced myself out of a job...but it's got to be soon as their deadline is the first week of September for a 300 pp. pub.And then a week or two of revisions and done. I quake in fear...either way. It's too much, too fast, schedule free( they dont believe in schedules or thumbnailing the entire pub.). How can we keep our arms around what we have and what we don't?

Here's something nice: blogs!

Some of my new best friends and classmates at the University of Hartford are now bloggers. Paul Z. who I admire tremendously from his work to this salient observations and understanding. He bursts with animation and laughs as does his work which always has a wonderful twist that makes one bellow aloud in it's expression. He is a big personality with big work to match. His Dogbabies project captures this spirit and promises to really be something quite significant. I love his painting and the wit he brings to that. It should be a fun year to see what happens with Paul and his work. I cannot wait! Paul is doing a lovely blog>> /">zillustration studio news. Paul gives us an entry every day and has surprised me with his MFA Student Profiles...where he highlights students from the Hartford program. First he did Chad Grohman and then me!I was thinking of doing a similar thing, but you know, his are so nice I think Paul has got the baton on this one.

Speaking of Chad Grohman, Chad started a blog remarking:
"I was inspired by my classmates in the Harford MFA program to start this blog. Ill be posting mostly images rather than writing. Some photos, but mostly images that I wouldn't put on my portfolio site that are off-style. I should say, not illustrator created, because its the same style mostly. Photoshop images, paintings, collateral, etc. Much of this will be about my time at Hartford and around the country."
And, he is...>> Check out the totally sweet picture of Obama (I think for the Obama Call for Entries). Man.

Linda Tajirian is a fellow graphic designer who has joined the Hartford program. Linda is also a graduate of the Hartford Art School, so she knows her way around professionally and when we all need help in Avon/Farmington/ West Hartford. Linda is fearless and created some really imaginative and quite interesting drawings around the topic of knitting during our July encampment at HAS. She too, was moved by this time we all had together and started her blog: Life's Journey Part 5 " The MFA She is giving us a sneak peak into her reference for the Vin Di Fate project. Should be a good one!

Jime Grabowski writes in her Nightlanding blog about her experiences, her work and thinking around the MFA experience. Her MFA Encounters page links to people and places she admires, has been taught by or has visited. Great list.

I am not sure if that is it...but it's all I could unearth for the moment.Take a look at all these interesting illustrators are showing and telling us. I am learning a lot. Plus, its a nice amusement during coffee breaks, if you have them.

More later.

Monkeying around


Need to get stuff out to 3x3. Corrections for the Museum's calendar. Newsletter layouts for a marketing group. Still working with the monkeys. Was looking at some reference and had a little epiphany...the pix are getting more interesting. I figure if I give myself until Labor Day, I will be on to something for Vin. I know that this is not real world for jobs...but, this graduate stuff is not real world anyway and I should wallow in it. Wallow away!

R is out for a conference. More painting here. More moving of old materials. Big dump run. A. at friends. K. having PSAT training and then history book stuff. Need to get in front of the school year before the end of the summer. Will need to find a geometry tutor. Lots beginning to mount up prior to September 1.

Was swimming in the book The Animal Farm. Cute as pie with some strong references: Grandma Moses most particularly. That Alice and Martin...writers and illustrators! The little bit on Hibernation makes you want to lie down and sleep along with the bear.

More later.


Cold again today. Rain. More rain. Quite an electrical storm over on Seneca Lake last night providing entertainment during our nice dinner at the Stonecat Cafe. It was amusing as we ran into friends who are full of fun and had the cutest, blonde corgi waiting for them in the car. Corgis are quite compelling. Shady Grove could have a new friend who is a corgi? or a pug? Better corgi I think. They have big dog spirit in a smaller package without the social stigma that pugs have. Although pugs are compelling too? No reason to rush.

Had a little drawing vacation yesterday afternoon. The wind was blowing and it was promising rain in the low 70s. But we were chided and hastened by R to swim before we cannot do so any more. It was darned cold--sending my core temperament into the freeze mode, but did that water trick of stunning us into sleep. Am rolling on the monkeys. I figure if I whale on them for around two weeks, I will begin to get a little decorative mojo going. I will post some sketches as I go. I've got some linear ones, and some blocky ones inspired by Animal Farm, by Alice and Martin Provensen.

Itchy

Cold again today. Rained hard last night. Thunder, the whole shebang. We did have a nice swim in between the bouts of heavy clouds and breezes. The swim aligned everything including our brains...so onward!

Did a bit of driving yesterday shuttling the teen girl squad downtown, and then getting back. R was hoe-ing out the garage and making straight the lines...making piles disappear, defining good wood from bad wood...and the like. Bought the fab donut peaches from the fruit stand up the street along with corn, more tomatoes and cukes. Started a big tabouli for us and the working team (I feed lunch to everyone who works for me wheither it is designers or workers--sometimes its two, sometimes its ten)--and we are tipping more towards ten. So big salads are consumed in 1-2 days and my homemade stuff is better and significantly cheaper than the grocery store's deli case.

Stopped by the new used bookstore, Green Horse Used Books, on my walk home from getting my hair cut. Great store with all sorts of books I want to read, good art selection, and kids picturebooks too. I was nosing through them and found another Evaline Ness book on Italian tales. Fab. I plan on scanning them in and starting a flickr site of these children's books images to share with others and as offsite storage for me. Back to Ness, these are very designed images and spreads. Heavy black woodcut style linework with hot pink, orange and gold as accents. She uses geometric shapes under the linework to take it to another place. You'll see.

Need more time to get into my pictures. I am afraid that my stuff all looks like logotypes, so being surrounded by the Provensens for today..is good coaching to get off it..and combine it with line. If they do look like logos, that maybe isnt bad...it just means that I am not pushing it. It is all a pleasure--it is just that with this pleasure goes itchniness that often results in trying new things, and possibly evolving. Your bones hurt when you grow...why can't you be itchy when you grow and evolve with your brains and hands?

Present Memories


Cool/cold here. Low 70s with the wind blowing. Heavy,"Big River" clouds always threatening rain. It has rained everyday so the tomatoes are not ready. The grapes will be juicy but not filled with flavor so wine will be plentiful but not wildly noteworthy. We have a bread pudding in for a late breakfast. Haircuts at 11:30. A. is on the phone arranging time and golf games with his buddies. R is cutting the hedges as its a bit shaggy. He is quite a sculptor with the electric cutter. We have birthday presents to create, guests to feed, and straightening to happen. Maybe it will warm up enough swim. I really want August to be August.

Papers are done. Lots of interesting discoveries as I wrote them. I am intrigued by the passage illustrators go through to become decorative illustrators. Many of them come directly to it, but others through more commercial means such as fashion illustration, graphic design, photography, and advertising. They get the illustration bug, and tack it on to what they are doing...evolving to becoming real live illustrators. The aspect of style is key--perhaps that being the link--where style and stylishness factors heavily into the message. Fashion does that. Logos and type do that. Painting like NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle or Norman Rockwell are essentially classic expressions of an idea. However, paintings by Austin Briggs, Joe DeMar or the ever unbelievable Al Parker do communicate a style, a period, an emotion that swings in the context it was created. And, they swing today too. So, maybe that isn't just with decorative illustration alone. But the immediacy of decorative illustration in somehow takes it further. Hmm.

One more thing. I think it is important to say a little something In Memorium for the Syracuse ISDP Illlustration Program. If it hasn't finished this week, it will finish next....and it was something that meant something to me and many more. I cannot let this slip away.

The Syracuse ISDP program was singular in it's twenty eight years of developing and training many of the leaders in the illustration education world along with many practicing illustrators whose careers were enriched and deepened by the experience. It is thanks to the amazing personal effort, talent, muscle and reach that Murray and Carol Tinkelman brought to this program inspiring students, teachers and alumni to achieve and think beyond what they thought was possible. It was the magic that the Tinkelmans brought, building collegiality, professionalism and hope that changed lives, built careers, created lifelong friendships and memories amongst the hundreds that went through this program.

The ISDP MA in Illustration was a low impact program for Syracuse University. It was a cash cow that had a low burden on the University who did not promote it, respect it nor understand the impression this program had on the world of illustration and design or the impact and reputation it brought to it's undergraduate program. The University was unaware of how this ISDP program and it's graduates burnished the image of the school, it's graduates and the excellence provided by it's program. So, while the muscle, belief and will of Murray and Carol drove this rich program, the program flourished and grew.

However, as the world changed and a MA did not suffice for teaching--only a MFA would do. And this is where it got sticky. Syracuse would not go there as it would conflict with their existing MFA program in illustration. MA was fine. The F was not possible. This along with much much more (which Murray will need to detail for us)caused the program to falter. The classes did not fill up, the excellent teaching teams dwindled to teams of one. The Tinkelmans left to create a newer, fresher and more relevant program with the University of Hartford, providing a MFA in the same timeframe, just a bit more work and the same project driven thesis. The Tinkelmans have bridged over to establish this new amazing program at Hartford while we mourn the last class of four students closing out this former powerhouse of a program.

But the seedling at the University of Hartford grows strong in the brilliant sun of new students, excited faculty, beautiful facilities, and an administration that values and supports this new program. The flowering is in the two years of alumni...artists who have grown personally, professionally and passionately thanks to the efforts of their fellow students, faculty and mentors, Carol and Murray Tinkelman. And with the amazing support and care of the University of Hartford, this program, essentially a new phoenix, will rise and inspire more generations of illustrators, designers and teachers for years to come.

ongoing


Bought six feet of italian subs for boys and boys and boys working on moving wood, organizing all the antiquities in the barn. So all of that, a bucket of potato salad, a huge bag of cookies (by the pound Voortmans), grapes and "the big ones" cans of Red Bull and "the purple drink". Fueled em up. Lots of laughs. The work got done.

Got the book in front of the Johnson people. They were pleased with the layouts and how they fit. We talked schedules, paper, printing, high res/ lo res images. It is going to be wild between now and mid September. Greased Wheels. Need to get the papers for Hartford done...and the sketch for Vin so I can run these all at one time. Yikes!

The poor powerbook is gasping for space. Am backing this baby up to the terrabit hard drive...and hoping to dump a bunch of files and stuff to give this little computer a bit of air.

Gotta go. Going to make dinner...featuring this lovely rice from Mark Bittman's Quick Recipes. I add artichoke hearts and double the recipe. It's really good...and with fresh tomatoes on the side and something on the grill and a great bread thing from Ithaca Bakery. We will be ready to roll.

Cheers. Tomorrow is Friday!

a bright moment


Just got the used, sensibly covered version of Alice and Martin Provensen's The Golden Book of Myths and Legends. I had found some images on the web on the Alice and Martin Provensen blog and got very itchy wanting the whole thing to see the images in context. I have not been disappointed. What spurred me on was their blocky strong design, the unclassical colors like brown and pink (how very Bergdorf Goodman of them)and chartreuse and light blue, and their love of classic red and black figured vases. They use line and shape--sometimes fusing them, sometimes having the line and shape overlap-creating an interesting dynamic with the design. Their people are simple with lots of energy with hand and arm shapes (no outlines whatsoever)often reversing out of the clothes or where it overlaps. Some of their figures remind me of aspects of Picasso's Guernica in their overlap, relationship to other figures, the shape it fills. Very bold and raging with energy.

Murray was right on about these two. Whoa.
More in the mail from Alibris!

More plate spinning today. Had a good chat in the early a.m. with R about the next museum show and the possible approaches the graphics could have to sync up with the architecture of the project. I think I have enough to render some ideas and get that rolling way before we need to roll. I am really hoping to move things along in the next month so that the inclement tsunami of work will not wipe me out. Will post the final illustration of the studio glass artist that will get married with type today.

We are finally redoing theluckystone.com. Not ready for prime time...but we are skyhooking off the look and feel of qcassetti.com as it is so simple and easy to get about. Yes, I will walk away from the "look at these clients, look at the depth and scope of the work we do for them" story as I think people look at things they are interested in and or are familiar with. The big ponderous "preach" might be just that, big, ponderous and maybe, boring? While we were at it, I have put some new images up on the illustration page, mooshed the Memento Mori sections into one button and started a new button as a bow to the future called Decorative Illustration. By next year this time there might be a few things to put under that heading!

3x3 is putting out a directory (syncing with their Pro Show) and I am going to take a few pages to see if it yields anything. Charles Hively recommends an animal or two, and a figurative piece (I guess a Burka?). This will need to be resolved today as the deadline is soon and this is something easy to forget.

Meeting with the Johnson today. Will talk to my new curator friend whose expertise is on Asian art to see what she knows about my new pal, the Monkey King.

More later, have to wake up K and hang up the sheets that are done.

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).