Gathering Inspiration

Julia Randall: (You eyes aren't playing tricks)

No matter how much you rub them (your eyes), there's no denying it. Julia Randall is QUEEN at pencil illustration! Read it again, PENCIL ILLUSTRATION!!!

Bernard Maisner: I went in search of myself

Bernard Maisner, an internationally renowned master calligrapher and stationer, who's name is synonymous with luxury and the most high-profile society events and special occasions. Well, wouldn't you know it that tonight he lectured and presented this video for The Art of Craftsmanship at the Parsons School of Design.

Bernard, if you only knew... I'm searching myself in works like yours. Beautiful.

Seamless Media from Art of Craftsmanship on Vimeo.

Nathalie Lété

 

Nathalie Lété lives and works in Paris. She works in many ways, mixing different techniques and mediums, illustration, ceramics, textile and painting… She is inspired by her travels, but also by the mixing of vintage toys and old engravings of flowers and animals. Her work is colorful, naive and poetic, sometimes strange, to the point of tending towards art brut. Her world is nurtured by popular and folk art. She produces children’s and graphics books, knitted and stuffed toys, glass pictures, patterned dishes, but also postcards, ceramic sculptures, silkscreen printed t-shirts, rugs and jewels in limited edition… both for herself and for commissions. Can I be her when I grow up?

Timothy Goodman: a good man for sure!

Timothy Goodman

New York-based artist Timothy Goodman was recently asked to make an artis­tic con­tri­bu­tion to the incred­i­bly chic and design-savvy Ace Hotel. And what he came up with is a thought­ful, inter­ac­tive piece that encour­ages dis­cov­ery. I loved read­ing about his process. Says Timothy:

While brain­storm­ing in the weeks before, it was impor­tant to ask some larger ques­tions before I started my sketch: What’s its rel­e­vancy? What’s its impor­tance? Can it become engag­ing or par­tic­i­pa­tory? Having an idea for a mural that’s both rel­a­tive to the space it exists in and reflec­tive of the cul­ture around it is not an easy task to accom­plish. However, I felt it was some­thing I had to account for.

With those ques­tions in mind, I hand drew 99 pic­ture frames to cre­ate a dense wall of “dis­cov­ery” about NYC that could be passed to the com­mon tourist stay­ing in the room. Each frame con­tains a dif­fer­ent fact / love / tid­bit / thing of inter­est / or shout-out to a place I dig in the city. At roughly 120 square feet, the art was drawn impre­cisely to cap­ture the spon­tane­ity and grit of the city. I used paint mark­ers and opaque black paint to help this tech­nique excel. Consequently, it became a labor of love, an act of obses­sive­ness that was pleas­antly grueling.

         

while "in-flight"

What can I say but my "blogging" duties have been a bit off. Chalk it up to life, work, weeds, a child, husband, mole removal (yes, TMI) and a trip to NYC to see old friends and some planned gastronomical dining experiences. While in route on JetBlue, I decided to try my hand at going simple with design: a pad of vellum paper and one rapidograph pen. I've been admiring some illustrators and designers lately that has been eating away at me wanting to experiment. 2 hours later, (which on a 5 hour flight is a welcome), I came up for air. It's not anything to really boast about (being that it's sort of a knock off of another design I had seen) but more of a "intro" for me to get into the groove of trying my hand at something away from the computer. And you know what? I LOVED it! I am going to keep stretching my own wings to see where this will all take me, but truth be told, I am VERY excited. If all goes well, this new creative exploration (and first finished product) will literally live in a permanent place - in ink on me.

wet with jealousy: stina persson

A favorite illustrator of mine: stina persson...
i decided to check and see her latest works...

(and of course, I am left with awe and
secretly insane jealousy at the beauty of her work.)

some people make it look so incredibly easy...

     

In soft gray, she is magnified: Anouk Griffioen

Dutch artist, Anouk Griffioen (1979) notes preferably in
large format and with great expression.

In soft gray, she is Avant-Garde Woman on Paper.

Poses and attitudes of role models which at first seem to be
strong women, yield to more of the opposite in which the
predominant emotion is loneliness, pain, fear and frustration—
magnified in its scale. What remains is emptiness, shame and
inaction perhaps, where the women go into their background
and are only in their own world.

If there ever was an artist who could inspire me to
desire big blank walls, it would be Anouk. I am so coveting
some bare walls to dabble in pencil on paper over here.

 

 

           

Lucky me, to have Robert Swartley as my neighbor

For those of you who appreciate the old craft of engraving and printmaking, you will love Robert Swartley's work! He is a master engraver, a protégé of the late Josef Fugger while working at Griffin & Howe (1962-1964) with over 50 years of experience. Just google him and you'll see his name mentioned as one of our iconic American engravers. And, he's about as humble and sweet as you can get! A few years ago, he (with a little twinkle in his eye), admitted to be working on the engraving for the prince of the United Arab Emirates saber sword! It is the part of the handle called the hilt. I wish I could have seen it, but I am sure it was as spectacular as the sample photos below. Robert has and continues to do beautiful jaw-dropping engravings for wineries, on guns and banknote style engravings. To give you a sense of the delicate hand-work required for such a feat, the tip of his pick (used to engrave) is sharper and pointier than the tip of a needle! Painstakingly slow too!

I'm excited to say that we've teamed up to work on a wine label together for Del Dotto Vineyards. The label is being marketed as a haute premium cab under the name "Villa Del Lago" (must remember to get me a few bottle samples!) The engraving took 9 months (with a pencil rendering first, 2 months in that alone)! When we were nearing the end of the engraving, Robert brought over a sample, and literally said "don't look too closely, because you might see a little mistake." My reaction? I just looked at him and said "Huh? I wouldn't even know where to look!" I had to scan the engraving at 2500% to even see what he was talking about! (And he's in his 70s!)

To top it off, Robert just stopped by to let me know he will be in an upcoming book on American Engravers, coming out in the fall. (I'll post a link later for those interested). I'll be helping him get his artwork together! This is where I want to toss the world of technology out the window and say, "Can I be your apprentice? Please! I've got my little stash of letterpress goodies already...my loupes, book presses, and I love the smell of ink!"

Sometimes, I think I was born in the wrong century!

       

shawn feeney: more than your everyday forensic artist

Don't let the 8.39 minutes of viewing time thwart you from watching this amazing demo of Shawn taking two portraits and fusing them into one person. This is AMAZING and fun to watch! (And probably the best forensic art I've ever seen)

(via just stuff i find)

an ode to coffee

Christoph Niemann, famed illustrator has
an amazing series of illustrations about his love
of coffee, penned in the liquid love of coffee!
Brilliant! You must see them here!!!

(via swissmiss)