I specifically remember seeing the New Yorker cover to the left by David Hockney last Fall and saying to my girlfriend, "What the hell is that doing on the cover of the New Yorker!" I then read that it was done on an iPhone and sent directly to the A.D. from the phone...to which I responded, "Who gives a crap? It looks like shit."
Well, last night's meeting of the St. Louis Artists' Guild Illustrators Section gave me a whole new perspective on the medium. Michael Anderson, architectural illustrator and Plein Air landscape painter, gave a presentation on his iPad about such "mobile drawings." Anderson presented two programs/applications that he uses: Brushes and Sketchbook Pro. (His iPhone, iPad, and Tablet creations are seen below)
I came to respect this medium, first, because of its Impressionist qualities. Yes, the illustration for the New Yorker cover isn't the coolest illustration I've ever seen, nor is it a style that is particularly striking to me. But it gets across an idea. It is a picture of a spoon in a bowl on a table with a chair pulled in. That's that...you have a picture of something that was created by a person drawing on a digital device. While this may not seem too ground breaking, consider the alternative: A picture of a spoon in a bowl on a table that was drawn loosely with a pencil. That's not too special either...it's been done. But I beg a mainstream viewer to point to the last time they saw/heard of someone drawing the cover of a major publication on a freakin' smartphone. To me, the method makes the picture become something special.
Continue reading "MARCH 2011 St. Louis Illustrators Meeting
A New Mobile Art Form" »
My mom, the elementary school librarian, brought me a few new books to take a peek at yesterday...
The first was Judith Viorst's Lulu and the Brontosaurus, illustrated by Lane Smith. I didn't read the whole thing--a lot of words this one--but, I paid close attention to the pictures. It was good to see Smith going back to more of a hand drawn approach (just black and white drawings) instead of his usual computer perfected illustrations.
The second book was The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: A Birdies Journal, by Sallie Wolf, designed by Micah Bornstein. This one has really great pictures. A mixture of sketchy drawings with watercolor along with a bit of "collaging" or handcrafted cutting pasting. The story is told through a bird's journal entries (if you couldn't tell by the title.) Very clever and a great read.
The third book was Jerry Garcia's Amazing Grace. This book features the Amazing Grace lyrics by John Newton along with a CD with the song performed by Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice...the band of Garcia's bluegrass days. The pictures are Garcia's paintings and sketches, which really make the book something special, not just for kids.
Besides the wonderful drawings, the best part of the book is the introduction written by, widow, Deborah Koons Garcia. Fantastic stuff!
So go run to your library or local independently owned bookstore and grab these gems!
I was getting a lot of hits on this blog for a post from last year about my high school painting based on J.D. Salinger's famous novel The Catcher in the Rye. (READ THAT POST HERE) So, I decided to revisit the "loss of innocence" theme and update the work.
Above is the result, which I'm pretty happy with! Check out the full size version on Flickr...you get a lot more of the finer details in the larger version.
I kept a lot exactly the same (well, mirrored), because I felt that my painting in high school did a great job of illustrating the themes and motifs in Catcher. But there are also a lot of differences. Besides just the style, I took out the "cloaks" I had the kids wearing in the original painting. The other major thing is that I have no one actually falling off the cliff in the new illustration. I felt that it was more fitting to Holden Caulfield's mental picture of "if a body catch a body coming through the rye;" that he keep every one from falling rather than just watching them plummet.
Another key thing I did was add my interpretation of Holden Caulfield. No one knows exactly what the character looked like except for the late Mr. Salinger. But I wanted to offer my view of Caulfield, red hunting hat and all.
I might do another post later on explaining all the symbollism, but for now please let me know what you think below...this thing means a lot to me and I would love to hear your take!
Above are two images. The first is a famous photograph by Annie Leibovitz of Pete Townshend. The photo appeared in Rolling Stone Issue #320, June 26, 1980. This amazing "bloody fingers" photo was further made infamous through it's "cameo" on Damone's bedroom wall in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The second image is an illustration I did today of the same photograph. All I did was redraw the photo using line variation and then added color and halftones in Adobe Illustrator. Big deal, huh. Well the reason I did this was to illustrate the difference between photography and illustration. I didn't change or add too much simply to exemplify the topic I'm discussing here.
So what does the photograph do? It portrays iconic Pete Townshend with a bloody hand...essentially getting across the idea that he played guitar so hard that it made his finger tips bleed. The photo perfectly captures Townshend's expression of tiredness as well as satisfaction. I consider the photo to be a masterpiece of photography and feel that I could look at it for hours.
Continue reading "The Difference Between a Photograph
and an Illustration" »
Just got this email about the upcoming Illustrator's Section meeting and figured I'd just post it exactly as I read it since Bob Shay has SUCH a way with words...
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
Last night's meeting of the St. Louis Artists' Guild Illustrators Section featured another amazing presentation by one of those hidden geniuses. A person whose work is seen all over the country...but no one really knows he did it.
Wally Hauck of Zymo Studios, is a sculpture artist who does pretty much whatever when it comes to 3 dimensional models, displays, prop pieces, etc. My favorites were his tap handles (see image above for a sample). As an avid bar patron, I am an avid admirer of tap handles...but I never really thought about the fact that someone has to make the tap handle from scratch. Well that, among many many others fascinating feats, is what Hauck does. When it comes to the taps, he makes the prototype and then once they are approved, they are mass produced elsewhere.
Same goes for some of his props. Sometimes he will produce a large quantity of the model himself, but other times he will make just one, and then 5 years down the road, be in a bar and see something that he made.
He works with materials such as epoxy, aluminum, steel, wood, and other random materials that he finds in shops/stores and then masterfully paints them with automotive lacquer to appear like different materials such as leather, bronze, marble, fruit, vegetable, liquid, and even animal.
I can't say much more...his work speaks for itself...check it out at ZymoStudio.com
I first discovered Robert Andrew Parker through a picture book about Jackson Pollock that he illustrated called Action Jackson and have loved his work ever since. So I was very excited when I was told about a great Wash U exhibit opening soon...
The Modern Graphic History Library of Washington University in St. Louis is rapidly completing the cataloging of Robert Andrew Parker's commercial work (he gave us all of his commercial work, reserving his fine art work for distribution to his family). We've scheduled a local Communication Design alumni reception for Thursday, October 28th at the MGHL to celebrate the collections' accessibility to the public.
Bob has agreed to attend and make brief remarks. The originals he has given are astonishing. This celebration of one of the Illustration Industry's most successful artists will be one you do not want to miss! It is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
In this FANTASTIC blog post, Lane Smith talks about why he wrote "It's a Book," how he came up with the illustrations, and his lifelong influences as an author/illustrator/humorist.
I truly found this fascinating so I just wanted as many people as possible to see it...
Also, check out the book, "It's a Book," at your local library OR GET IT HERE!
Last night's speaker was a bit different than we have had in the past. More than anything, his attitude towards his craft set him apart from any other illustrator I've met. Most illustrators simply look to get clients, crank out some illo's, get paid, and move on to the next project. Well Tim Lane differs from that progression in that he despises art directors almost as much as he does "spot art"...or rather, work that has no personal connection.
Tim has done work for such publications as Rolling Stone Magazine, the New York Times Op-Ed, and the Wall Street Journal. However, he pretty much quit illustration because he didn't like the "vendors" of art in the industry. He prefers to do his own thing and not have to answer to art directors who want several re-works of an idea. He even stated that he works against his own career...constantly re-inventing what he does. Another reason he quit illustration is that he does not wish to take away work from up-and-coming illustrators. He feels that he did his part and now it is time to let others go forward.
I don't really know what else to say about Tim Lane. He was a hard character to read. Part of his attitude towards illustration can be viewed as cocky...part can be construed as disconnected. I couldn't decide if he was just putting on a front, or truly had the spirit of Jack Kerouac and Bob Dylan as he stated. Does he really not remember much of the work he has done in the past...or was he just saying that? Is he really "unprofessional" as he claims? Does he really just not care? I don't know the answers to these questions. All I know is that his work was/is great and his career has been admirable.
Tim Lane currently teaches drawing at Washington University and does underground comics on the side as well as some illustrations for Riverfront Times.
You can find out all about them at his blog: www.jackienoname.wordpress.com
Also check out his website: www.jackienoname.com
