Last time I was speaking at Seattle’s Art Institute, one of the students asked me something like this: “What do you do to keep your design fresh?” Another asked “Do your personal hobbies/projects ever factor into your work?”
I’ve thought about both questions ever since, coming up with some little bits and pieces here and there, but it can be hard to come up with examples. Well today the Mail carrier brought me a great one – to answer both questions.
Last week I ordered a 1915 copy of Vitalogy – no, it’s not an old Pearl Jam album. Actually the Pearl Jam album, or at least the cover and booklet design, were inspired by this book. This is an actual medical book, first printed in 1905. There are 971 pages of amazing, ludicrously out of date medical advice including diagnoses & remedies, morality, herbal cure-alls, illustrations, charts, tables and more. It’s fascinating, every page.
So what does this old book have to do with my design career? This is just the kind of thing that inspires me. I’ve wanted this book for at least 8 years, after first spotting a copy in a used book store in Seattle. But it wasn’t cheap. And it’s hard to justify spending $100 on this kind of thing, so I forgot about it and moved on. But that’s the problem. That kind of thinking is just too easy. Getting over my inhibitions and following my indulgences… that’s how I keep my self inspired and that’s how I bring my hobbies into my work. I usually call it “removing road blocks.” If something (like a price tag) is standing between you and what you think you can be… remove that road block at all costs. It’s always worth it.
This applies to buying fonts and photos, buying and learning new software or hardware, paying for classes, purchasing inspirational junk like this old book and a hundred other things. I follow my indulgences. I buy promotional stickers and pins for my own art projects. I print T-shirts in my garage. I buy expensive new software and learn how to use it – all the time. And I get crusty, stinky old books that interest me.
This book is a creative gold mine, whether you’re into writing period correct copy from a hundred years ago, looking for some classic typography examples, boning up on your 19th century diseases or looking to scan some fantastic old paper textures. I intend to use some of the antiquated language and admonishments regarding proper living to write some creative copy for some faux advertisements for a personal project. But I know I’ll get much more than that. I’ve already had quite a few belly laughs, and that’s worth the price all by itself.
After years of flirtation with the idea, I finally called some friends in the industry, asked some questions and settled on a 3D modeling/animation software package: Maxon Cinema 4D. I’ve just begun experimenting with this and am hopelessly hooked. To sum it up, this is fucking rad.
Here’s a quick test of the basic 3D modeling, using a logo I designed about 10 years ago: NWFT, for Northwest Fat Twins, a brand for a friend doing some cool videos in the local ski industry. This is just the beginning…
Here’s one more. This is a logo comp from about a year ago. On the right is the 2D logo concept. But I always pictured this as a sculptural glass piece, like a lobby sign. Now I can bring that vision to life. Great!
Finally, a crystal. This was an experiment in making a few simple polygons, freehand. But I wound up getting interested in some of the internal, optical distortions that occur in natural crystals. I made a couple attempts to include some bubbles, cleavage planes and fissures. It was a quick attempt, but I like the results. A little detail can make all the difference.
I’m exploring some new techniques and styles using the new Corel Painter 12. I think I might try something like this for the cover art of Dog-Matic & The Beagle’s first book.
I’ve made a stack of these on recycled paper grocery bags, all in different colors. My favorite are the monochrome white ones. There are more process photos on Flickr, if you’re interested in how it’s done.
These will be mounted on box canvases, about 9 x7 inches.
I frequently snap pics of what’s new in my sketchbook and sometimes I mashup old frames from the comic with new dialogue. If you have any interest in that sort of nonsense, have a look.
Although it feels like it’s been years in the making, looking back, this has been a pretty quick process. Six months ago, this wasn’t even an idea. Five months ago there were a handful of scribbles in a Campari-stained sketchbook. Now there are two lovable dogs with a turnip patch and a lifetime of adventures ahead of them. And most importantly a website where you can check in on them. I’ll have a lot to say about the strip, the process, the artwork and the inspiration in the future. For now, just have a look yourself:
Special thanks to editor, collaborator, co-writer and Web Master General, Geoffrey Smith. And equal heaps of thanks to co-editor, supporter, inspiration-giver and wife, Nikki Cole.
Assuming it’s not some kind of April Fool’s Day practical joke, I’ll be showing some art on Friday, April 1st, at Fremont’s Portage Bay Goods. It’s a great little store, full of quirky goodness. They will be open for Fremont’s monthly Art Walk event, and I’m assuming there will be some kind of treats – I’ll look into this. I think I heard something about some wine.
I’ll be showing a mix of material, mostly focused on some favorite themes: Robots, animals-wearing-ties, creepy-old-guys and probably a bicycle or two. I guess it qualifies as a mixed media show. My favorite techniques include a home-brewed printing processes, usually combined with hand-painted bits, sometimes some ink or pencil, cut paper, stencil or spray paint. Amongst all that nonsense will be a few good old fashioned paintings, and I’m very likely going to do some screen printing experiments (on paper), which should be fun.
Update: Wine and snacks are confirmed. Also, special business hours on Art Walk nights: Open from 10am to 9pm. Cool.
Another update: I just spent the whole afternoon up to my elbows in ink and paper, making some screen printed greeting cards and mounted art for the show. There are some fun process photos on Flickr. Here’s a teaser, two of the finished cards:
When it rains, it pours. For years I’ve been looking at my Wacom digital drawing tablet, hating it. It made my hand hurt and I had never been able to make the necessary hand-eye connection that makes people able to draw naturally on one surface (the tablet), while looking at another (computer screen). Suddenly that has all changed. I learned some tips for setting up the tablet (most notably, screen ratio mapping – duh!), and just as important, I gave it another try. Suddenly I can draw on a computer just like I can on paper and THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. The ability to correct mistakes, change colors, draw in layers – it’s priceless. I still love ink, paint and paper – I really do – but this is going to change everything. I’ve also discovered the very-lifelike tools available in Corel Painter, and using that in combination with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop is getting me the results I want: a hand-made analog look, with all the edit-ability of layered, digital art, no scanning and no setting up and taking down an illustration station with inks, pens, brushes, water jars, etc. I know, that stuff has some real tactile appeal, but the bottom line is that it’s a pain in the ass, and that means that the work doesn’t happen. I’d rather it happen.
And this is just the beginning. Here (above) are a few doodles from the last week of playing around. But this is nothing – just testing the tools and setting up. I look forward to REALLY getting into it in the near future.
I’ve been working hard to perfect this little kit that I made, which allows you to build a small electric motor – and learn how they work in the process. Everything is finally ship shape. It’s easy to build and the assembly illustrations are finally all done. This is just to announce that they are for sale now on Etsy (or feel free to contact me directly).
Update: I went ahead and coined a brand name, registered a URL, designed a logo and built a web page on my lunch hour. The web site needs a lot of work, but at least it’s up there. Always be shipping! Speaking of which. I have about another billion orders to pack and ship. This is ridiculous. Thanks to everyone who has purchased a kit.
Done. Illustrated and animated by myself (and most of the copy writing too), within the fertile creative environs at Phinney Bischoff Deign House. Check out this post for some behind-the-scenes, sketches, etc.
I love this Atomic Age, kid’s stuff, and it happened to align with the client’s needs. Perfect.
Another great inspiration sent over from my buddy Eric, a great how-to on making truly repeating, full-coverage patterns (not just rows and columns with spaces in between), that he found on this blog. Great stuff. I gave it a try and the results are encouraging. I’m going to try some more. For starters, here are the results of experiment #1, made up fully out of my head, on the spot, as quickly as possible. It took about an hour to get from blank page to what you see above – hand drawn, then repeated digitally. As a side note, this appears to be another piece of evidence in support of executing as quickly as possible, without over-thinking and dragging processes out. Every time I do that: better results, and more efficient. But that’s another story for another time.
For now I’m dreaming of William Morris and Lotta Jansdotter – two of my favorites, worth mentioning for anyone inclined to read further.
Update: Here is my second attempt. I like it, but I drew it at 100% scale. Next time I attempt one of these, I’ll draw it very large, and shrink for better detail.
Hand drawn, for starters, then cut, flipped, colored, etc digitally.
This will repeat endlessly, seamlessly in all directions. Cool trick.
I just found this old illustration that I did a few years back. I’m posting it just to keep the blog fresh – and because it caught my eye as I was organizing some old files. I often underestimate this style. It’s pretty easy to execute, so I often under value the results. But every time I present an image such as this for a project, it’s very well received. I guess there is something comfortable and friendly about the child-like line work. I do enjoy drawing in this style.
I spend my days toiling in the creative candy mines of Phinney Bischoff Design House. This week I’ve been working on an animated ad which will appear in movie theaters. Here’s a quick snapshot of the process so far.
After a script is approved, it is sketched as a loose storyboard, to figure out the basic idea of how the words and graphics will relate to each other, timing, etc. This is a messy process, which involves many eraser crumbs.
A sketched storyboard is usually accompanied by one or two frames, fully rendered as examples. This is a detail of one such illustration. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to make this look like an authentic, vintage sci-fi poster, taking exception in certain details like color saturation etc, for effect.
After the storyboard and sample illustration are approved, the whole storyboard is fully illustrated so that the client can approve all visual elements and final image sequence. That will happen this week. The boards are ready.
After final storyboard approval will be animation. I’m looking forward to that. Should be lots of fun.
I’ve always wanted an excuse to animate a film leader – loving anything old, dusty and blurry. Finally, I have a client who wants one! I made this entirely from scratch, using Photoshop, Illustrator and some of my own photographs and scans, then animated the whole business in After Effects. It was a great exercise in animating. It probably looks simple, but I learned quite a bit in the process and uncovered a couple neat little tricks in After Effects.
