BIRDS OF A FEATHER

After writing earlier about how an image needed to be made of dictators past and present, I just had to go and at least make something. I couldn't find any high res images online, but there was more than enough material to work with. Okay class, name the dictators from left to right.

SERENDIPITY

Sometimes you just know you're doing the right thing. As some of you may recall from an earlier post, I was working on a logo for a friend. I was initially hesitant to proceed with the work as my super-cautious nature warned me of possible complications down the road (it wasn't clear whether or not I was the only one working on the logo, nor whether or not I was going to get paid).

After consulting my friend, I was assured that I was the only one working on the logo. I decided to proceed with the second phase of the design, in which I was to implement changes based on input from my friend's friend (the actual client). One of the changes was to somehow insert computer logic board iconography into the existing logo design. This boiled down to one solution, which was to place the iconography in the background of the logo, at a light enough tint of the color so it wouldn't compete with the foreground.

The day I decided to begin working on the new design, I received a brochure in the mail from my alma mater, the University of Oregon. The subject of the brochure was a speech to be given by a professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The topic of the speech was named Cyberintimacies, and was about humankind's relationship with computers. The graphic used to illustrate this concept was that of two silhouettes of human heads, facing each other, with logic board iconography inside the heads of the silhouettes. It was exactly the kind of iconography I'd imagined for my logo project, and I placed the brochure on my desk and used it for reference while I hand-drew similar iconography in Adobe Illustrator.

The only drawback to creating this logo was that the client lives in Berkeley, and wanted the colors to match that of the Cal Bears, a team I dislike with a passion. But, since it was a paying gig, I even went the extra mile and researched online what the Pantone spot colors were for Cal, and gave the client two versions of the logo, one a four-color build, and one a two-color build using the Pantone colors.

RAMBLE ON

This painting represents a memory I have of Holland, specifically of a little village across the river Ij (pronounced "eye") in Amsterdam. It was very refreshing to take the ferry across the river, which was a fairly wide river, and ride my rental bike off into unknown territory. After the density and dirtiness of Amsterdam, this town (whose name I never got) was what I initially imagined Holland to be like. I didn't stray very far from the main road, which was narrow and lined with the archetypal red-tiled roofs of Holland. I came to a sharp turn in the road and off in the distance was this super old church, towering over the village. I did a quick sketch of the scene, which was the impetus for this painting. I also did a more detailed and finished painting of the street, which I might add to my website at some point.

There's just something magical about taking one's painting supplies to a foreign country and coming back home with paintings done en plein air. The time it takes to make even a quick painting is much longer than the time it takes to snap a digital photo, and I felt like I bonded with each and every place I painted far more than anyplace I photographed.

LABOR DAY '07

One of the things I wanted to do with this blog was to post a new drawing or painting on a daily basis. Having the pressure of a daily posting is good for me, as I want to get in the habit of creating a new drawing and/or painting every day. We'll see how it works out, but for now, here's a quick painting I did in the warehouse/industrial part of town yesterday evening.

My travel kit includes a Van Gogh Pocket Box watercolor set, a #8 Kolinsky sable-hair brush, a 9 x 12 inch Arches 140-lb. watercolor block, glass water containers, tissue paper, and a Staedtler 4B pencil.

The watercolor above, however, was done on cheap 72-lb. Fabriano paper, as both of my Arches blocks have unfinished paintings on them at the moment. To view more of my work, visit my website listed in my profile on the right.

JULIA'S BIRTHDAY

Above is a sketch I did of a friend sketching by a creek. The plan was to spend the day outdoors somewhere doing art, and it turned into a party. The occasion was yesterday, Julia's birthday, and about ten people ended up making the drive from Ashland through Jacksonville and on into the Applegate. Only four of us actually ended up doing any art, however, with the rest of the crowd being content to play in the water all day.