MOGOGAK BLOG : Art & Design

Tea Sharing Project

2011-11-16T21:21:00.003-05:00

So I don't think I know quite enough about tea to qualify as a tea buff, but I do collect and taste it pretty obsessively, so I think I can safely call myself a tea enthusiast. When the topic turns to tea, I've got a hundred recommendations. And sometimes that's not even a hyperbole.

Since I manage to turn a lot of my online chats towards tea, I found myself wanting to share some of my favorites (Oh you would just love XYZ Tea! I wish I could share it with you!). And since there is such a thing as the mail, I decided I would.

I asked seven friends about their tea likes and dislikes, then used those hints to create a little sample pack of tea from my collection. Then I used screenprinted papers to fashion some pretty homemade envelopes, wrote down some tasting notes, and all of a sudden I had an art project.

And then I thought, let's make this interesting. If you're out there reading, and you like tea, go ahead and send me a message with your tea likes and dislikes (the more specific, the better!). On December 1st, I'll pick a commenter at random and send them a sample pack of tea I think they'd like, anywhere in the world. (Again, comment before 11/30/11 to be eligible!)

After the jump, my tea packages and descriptions of some of the teas I put in each. Take a peek and see if any of the recommendations sound good to you!

My notes for D, Palaiseau, France:

Likes Black tea, no green or white. Loses track of steeping (give her non-bitter, over-steep proof tea.) Likes fruity black teas. Likes smoked teas, teas that go good with milk. A current favorite: Mandarin/ Ginger.

This was by far the easiest fill. Fruity teas are my favorite, so I had a lot to share with her.

•Harney & Sons, Chocolate Mint Tea
Black tea with chocolate and peppermint. Tastes of mint, smells deliciously of chocolate. Almost impossible to over-steep – longer steeps get a little of the chocolate favor in there. One of my top ten favorite teas. Caffeinated.

•Harney & Sons, Indian Spice
Black tea with cardamom and cinnamon. A deliciously rich tea best served with cream or milk (and a little sugar if you like it sweet.) Super rich, flavorful and aromatic. My favorite substitute for coffee. Caffeinated.

•Mighty Leaf Tea, Ginger Twist
Lemongrass, mint, fruits, ginger and ginseng. A well-balanced herbal blend, palatable even to the ginger-hater (like me!) Good for an upset stomach, or anytime you need something gentle and caffeine-free.

•Mighty Leaf Tea, Orange Dulce
Black tea with bergamot, orange, vanilla, and jasmine. A super-rich and highly flavored tea, it's actually a bit too strong for my tastes, but I thought D might enjoy it. Don't over-steep this one. Caffeinated.

•Two Leaves and a Bud, Organic Assam
Black tea made of large leaves. It's an English breakfast tea, but higher quality than your cheaper grocery store brands. Very rich. Don't over-steep this one either. Caffeinated.

My notes for K, Michigan, United States:

No fruits, no flavoreds. Likes Oolongs and whites, and tea that goes good with milk. Fan of jasmine currently. Likes Greens.

K was the most difficult assignment, for the same reasons D was fabulously easy. My best Oolongs and whites are all flavored, and usually with fruits. Ah well, I've got unflavored tea, too!

•Harney & Sons, Formosa Oolong
A toasty Taiwanese Oolong. Steeped with leaves and stems. Nice and rich. Caffeinated.

•Harney & Sons, Indian Spice (repeated)
Black tea with cardamom and cinnamon. A deliciously rich tea best served with cream or milk (and a little sugar if you like it sweet.) Super rich, flavorful and aromatic. My favorite substitute for coffee. Caffeinated.

•(Company Unknown), Cardamom Tea
Darjeeling with cardamom. Very rich and a little fruity, this digestif is delicious with or without milk. A beautiful, classic Indian blend. Caffeinated.

•FUJIAN, Jasmine Tea
Green tea/jasmine blend. A standard, cheap, Chinese jasmine tea. I have never wanted for more than a cheap Jasmine, and this fits the bill. Just be careful to not over-steep, or it gets bitter fast. Lasts for multiple steeps. Caffeinated.

My notes for T, California, United States:

No herbal or fruit (unless it's strawberry.) Loves green teas, oolongs, blacks. No jasmines or flowery flavors. Currently loving: genmai cha.

Though I didn't get to share fruits again, I felt I had a lot of recommendations that would fit her palette.

•Harney & Sons, Green Tea with Thai Flavors (formerly Bangkok)
Green Tea with coconut, ginger, vanilla and lemongrass. A beautiful blend, light and sweet with lots of bright, balanced flavors. Invigorating, and great with dessert. Caffeinated.

•St. Dalfour, Green Tea with Strawberry and Rose
Green tea blended with strawberry and rose flavors. Sweet, bright green tea, very fruity, with a mellowing rose taste. A very fun tea. Caffeinated.

•Tazo Teas, Lotus
Decaffeinated green tea with lotus blossom. Gentle green with an understated flavor. Very gentle and mild.

•FUJIAN, Oolong Tea
Chinese Oolong. Another cheap Chinese tea, it's somewhat like what you get at some Chinese Food restaurants. And I've included it because sometimes that's exactly what you're in the mood for. Caffeinated.

My Notes for N, Idaho, United States

Likes strong flavors, hibiscus, mint. Currently: Vanilla/honey/chamomile.

Oh, what a dream. Turns out I love strong flavors, too. <3 Her whole package is of Harney & Sons teas, because they are so excellent at balancing flavored blends.

•Harney & Sons, Mint Verbena
Mint with lemon verbena. Bright, fresh, and delicious. Wonderfully blended, excellent warm or iced. One of my top ten favorite teas. Caffeine-free.

•Harney & Sons, Chocolate Mint Tea (repeated)
Black tea with chocolate and peppermint. Tastes of mint, smells deliciously of chocolate. Almost impossible to over-steep – longer steeps get a little of the chocolate favor in there. One of my top ten favorite teas. Caffeinated.

•Harney & Sons, Chinese Flower
Green tea with flowers and citrus. A masterful blend, this is my favorite tea of all time. Perfectly aromatic, deliciously blended, and even a feast for the eyes. Don't oversteep this masterpiece.

•Harney & Sons, White Vanilla Grapefruit
White tea with vanilla and grapefruit. This one is a little odd, just like N (this is said with love, I assure you.) The flavor is strong, might be too heady for some. A very interesting blend.

My notes for N & QB, Brisbane, Australia:

Low or no caffeine. Whites usually okay. Fruits/herbals good. Interested in holy basil.

N & QB are sisters who requested a low caffeine package, which was a nice challenge and a chance to show off my favorite fruity and decaffeinated teas.

•Organic India, Tulsi Sweet Rose
Holy Basil tea with Rose. Holy basil is a calming, caffeine-free herb. This has a very subdued flavor, and is incredibly gentle, flowery and sweet. Good to drink in the morning to prepare for a stressful day.

•Harney & Sons, Red Raspberry
Raspberry. This is a dried fruit "tea." It is bright, powerful, and tangy. It is fun to add to other drinks- drop some in a water bottle to flavor it (and turn it a bright, beautiful red!) or add it to lemonade to make it pink and fruity. On its own, it's a delicious treat.

•Harney & Sons, White Christmas
White Tea with almond, vanilla, cardamom and white chamomile blossoms. A nutty blend perfect for winter mornings. Very rich with a strong flavor. Another masterpiece that is not meant to be over-steeped.

•Harney & Sons, Mint Verbena (repeated)
Mint with lemon verbena. Bright, fresh, and delicious. Wonderfully blended, excellent warm or iced. One of my top ten favorite teas. Caffeine-free.

If you enjoyed all these lovely descriptions of tea, allow me to point you toward Steepster, a site for cataloging and reviewing teas of all kinds. I spend far too much time reviewing and making wishlists there! My steepster profile is here!

Good luck!

All is Revealed! Forty Years of Magical Girls!

2011-09-27T09:48:00.001-04:00

She's here!

I dropped the ball on the character-by-character reveals for a while there (who knew getting married was so much work?) but here it is, fully revealed on the internet for the first time!

I'll be selling 23 x 35 inch posters at Another Anime Con in Nashua, New Hampshire next month (October 14 through 16), along with the trading-card counterparts! Come see me!

More info on this poster is available here.

Tiger & Bunny Episode Posters: The Finale

2011-08-05T21:34:00.002-04:00

All the Tiger & Bunny Episode Posters are finished! New Posters are numbers 01, 02, 07, and 10!

(click to enlarge)

All 13, and purchase information, after the jump!

Interested in owning one? We're selling prints: beautiful, 80lb semi-glossy 11 x 14 inch prints, for $10 each (@ $8 if 3 or more) plus shipping.

Email me at korimichele@gmail.com if you're interested!

Posters were designed by Kori Michele and Peter Selmayr.

Tiger & Bunny is c/ SUNRISE

and you can watch it on hulu.com!

Tiger & Bunny Episode Posters: Part 3

2011-07-28T20:14:00.001-04:00

Click to enlarge!

Part One (Episodes 9, 12, & 13)
Part Two (Episodes 3, 4, & 6)

Watch Tiger & Bunny online at Hulu.com

Posters Tubmld Here

Tiger & Bunny Episode Posters: part 2

2011-07-13T10:16:00.002-04:00

Previous three posters and project description here!

Are you watching yet? Tiger & Bunny on Hulu.com

Tiger & Bunny Episode Posters: Part 1

2011-07-09T11:12:00.004-04:00

As Tiger & Bunny continues to consume my life, I wanted very much to contribute something original to the legacy. Peter and I had talked about doing episode posters in general. So here was the perfect opportunity.

It was tons of fun doing the drawings and, with Peter's help, laying out powerful but simple posters. He picked the type and designed the type layout, and came up with a lot of the layout solutions.

Here are the first three in a series of 13! Note, they are not in any particular order, because I'm doing the ones I want first! Ha. (Click thumbnails to enlarge each.)

I think it's going to end up being a lovely set! If there is interest, I would like to offer them as 11 x 14 prints. But let's see how the set comes out! This was so much fun!

Watch Tiger & Bunny on Hulu.com!

I also signed up to tumblr.com to engage in running a completely vapid, fangirlish blog of Tiger & Bunny sketches and image macros. That's here, if you can handle some fannish inanity.

2011 SketchBook Project Digitized

2011-07-04T10:08:00.001-04:00

The Art House Co-Op has been running a fantastic project for a few years, called The Sketchbook Project. You sign up, they send you a blank sketchbook, and you fill it up and mail it back. Then, all the sketchbooks go on tour in the form of a mobile library, showing in galleries across the nation.

This year, I participated, and opted to have the book scanned.

See my digitized sketchbook here!

The theme they gave me was "The View From Up Here," but the theme I chose, as I often do, was woman's heads. Take a look!

And if you're in the mood, sign up to participate. It an excellent exercise and very rewarding.

40 Years of Magical Girls Project

2011-06-28T11:00:00.009-04:00

This year, I endeavored on a project to celebrate a genre of cartoons close to my heart: Maho Shoujo, Japanese for "Magical Girl." Those with a cursory knowledge of Japanese Animation may recognize Sailor Moon as one of these- imported to the United States in the 1990's, she is the most culturally visible of the magical girls, and the most iconic. Sailor Moon continues to have commercial success all around the world- currently being re-released and marketed in Italy, with the comics retranslated and republished in the United States in the fall.

But Sailor Moon's legacy comes from a long history of characters that shaped the genre she epitomized, dating all the way back to the 1960's. In 2004, Futari Wa Pretty Cure! (We Are Pretty Cure!) debuted, ushering in a success almost as extensive as Sailor Moon's.

To pay tribute to the genre as it evolved from 1966 until 2004, I painted a poster including 29 characters, spanning those years and including the main characters from series that inspired the genre's evolution. As part of the 1000 Idols project, I've taken each character and made them into trading cards, and releasing them each week as part of the idols project.

01.Magical Witch Sally

02. Himitsu no Akko-chan

03. Maho Tsukai Chappy

04. Cutie Honey

05. Majokko Megu-chan

06. Hana no Ko LunLun

07. Lalabel

08. Minky Momo

09. Creamy Mami

10. Fairy Persia

11. Magical Emi

12. Pastel Yumi

13. Fancy LaLa

14. Sweet Mint

15. Hime-chan's Ribbon

16. Sailor Moon

17. Hikaru Shidou

18. Wedding Peach

19. Pretty Sammy

20. Revolutionary Girl Utena

21. Card Captor Sakura

22. Corrector Yui

23. White Pretear

24. Puni Puni Poemi

25. Mew Ichigo

26. Princess Tutu

27. Nanoha

28. Pretty Cure

For those of you with more than a cursory knowledge of the Maho Shoujo genre, you're probably asking, "What about Ribon no Kishi? Princess Sapphire clearly predates Magical Witch Sally!" To that, I have to say, this project is by no means comprehensive. I could name another ten characters that could easily be on this poster, but I had to draw the line somewhere. Sapphire didn't make the cut because I thought her credentials were a little off to be the first one in the series. Written by a man and not necesarily having magical powers, I do understand her place in the genre, but thought it best to start with Sally. Sapphire's Idol, however, is here, if you want to know more about her.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure. The painting is 20 x 30 inches on Arches paper, painted with Holbein Gouache. Poster and trading cards were designed by Peter.

Make Mine a Meme: Batman vs. Barnaby Brooks Jr.

2011-06-26T23:25:00.001-04:00

The new Japanese superhero cartoon Tiger & Bunny has swept me off my feet. Main characters Kotetsu and Barnaby are as complex as any, but when you get right down to it, Barnaby Brooks Jr. has quite a few similarities to another superhero we know.

Following are a few exercises I did in meme. These are widely internet-circulated, out-of-context, and humorously edited selections from Batman comics, redrawn to poke fun at our favorite Bunny.

The final one may not be safe for work. On account of dickbutt.

The "My Parents Are Dead" Meme

Inked by hand, and colored on the computer, with layer effects added with a halftone pattern.

The "Everyone Hates Their Parents/I Wouldn't Know" Meme

Inked on the computer (ugh!) and colored by hand with copic markers.

And... dickbutt.

Inked by hand, colored by hand. Edited in photoshop.

Watch Tiger & Bunny on hulu.com! Now!

Regarding Avatar: The Legend of Korra

2010-08-04T08:19:00.000-04:00

Okay, so if you're already a fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series, you probably already know that there's a mini-series sequel coming out in 2011.

Our protagonist looks pretty badass.

It follows Korra, the new Avatar from the Southern Waterbending tribe, 70 years after the A:TLA series takes place. Considering the fact that Avatars are reincarnations, Aang is dead (the creators explained that he led a shorter life on account of using up a lot of energy being in suspended animation for 100 years). Korra is a "hot-headed" female lead, looking to learn her last bending element, air, under the tutelage of Aang and Katara's son Tenzin. The series is more grounded in a single location than the previous series, taking place in a steampunk metropolis where crime runs rampant and there is a growing "anti-bending" movement for Korra to face.

(Sources for all that jibba-jabba:
1. Toonzone Article
2. Creator Interview )

I think this will probably be fun. There are a lot of ways a sequel to a good thing can be bad (I don't need to give examples, do I?) but this seems to skirt most of them- setting it in the future allows us to enjoy a fresh environment and new characters, but not setting it too far away lets us stay connected to the original universe, and characters, that we loved so much.

We might presume that Katara, Zuko, Toph, Sokka, Mai and Suki are all still alive and old, and that we may see them incidentally, or all of them and Aang in flashbacks. Korra could also potentially contact Aang in the spirit realm as Aang did with the previous avatar. So there's lots of potential to see our favorite characters again.

Letting those characters fall outside the focus of the series keeps us from falling into the "Harry Potter fanfiction-like epilogue" problem of having to spend time hashing out that Aang and Katara had two sons named Tenzin and Billy and Tenzin had a son who was named after his "unkie" Zuko and Billy had twin girls and Zuko and Mai had a son they named Iroh after Zuko's uncle who is now dead and Toph is a lesbian and blah blah blah blah...

Those juicy details can be mentioned incidentally and appropriately in flashbacks or events, weaving them into the story without bogging it down with telling instead of showing.

I had to give a little chuckle at the steampunk drop, because it's high time someone capitalized on the fad, and it can probably be woven into this series fairly unobtrusively. We saw lots of new, creative technologies being developed in A:TLA, and there's no reason steam technology can't be a believable focus.

I have a lot of faith in this sequel to not be awful, which comes as a relief after the disaster that Shyamalan's The Last Airbender live-action movie seems to have been (I didn't see it, and no reviews I've read make me want to.) The creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, proved how well they could handle their first series by non-offensively blending East Asian motifs and heritage into an anime-styled series with excellent characters and storytelling. There was no selling out, no disappointing ending, no bad writing, no shark jumping. That, paired with what I've seen and read of interviews with then, prove to me that they are responsible members of the society of creative artists and well as a pair who look to honor and value their creations.

So I give this project my faith as an artist and a fan. When a sequel comes out for anything that was good in the first place, I usually give it a scoff and mumble something about leaving good things alone. But this looks like it will be good, probably wont devalue the original, and add another chapter to a series that positively contributed the the history of American animation.

...plus I want to know that Zuko found his mommy. Pretty please?

The 1000 Idols Project: Launch and Statement

2010-06-21T08:02:00.011-04:00

My New Project, The 1000 Idols Project has been launched and is now well underway. Check it out at the link, or read the artist statement below, and then check out the link! New Idols five days a week! Be sure to follow the 1000 Idols blog to see every one as they are released.

Artist Statement: The 1000 Idols Project

The 1000 Idols project is my endeavor to create 1000 four by six inch watercolor paintings of idolized figures in order to examine the nature of the revered image. To idolize is to respect, praise or worship– one idolizes the Virgin Mary in one sense of the word, and Michael Jordan in another. We are obsessed with other people, real or imaginary, holy or secular, and so we collect images of them- musicians, gods, athletes, saints, family, even fictional characters. But why do we collect images of others, and what purpose does this reverence serve?

To complete such a large number of paintings of idols means that I must eventually surpass all classifications of what kinds of figures are being represented. I can not just paint Hindu gods, nor can I focus on a broader range of deities alone. I will have to include living people as well as dead, and most importantly, I will have to branch out beyond people I actually idolize myself. With all of those barriers broken, I will be left with a massive body of work not about people idolized, but about the idea of idolizing. The project will not be about idolizing particular figures or kinds of figures, but about showing devotion to figurative images.

Fully painted at a rate of about five idols per week, by 2011 well over 100 idols will already have been completed. The project will span 4-6 years because of its scope, but the resulting broadness of this undertaking will allow for the consideration of most the obscure idols as the nature of the venerated image becomes clearer.

Dear Fine Art Graduates: What I've Learned

2010-05-11T19:25:00.007-04:00

Dear Fine Art Graduates:
What I've learned after two years of being an Alumni

By Kori Michele

I graduated from the Maine College of Art in 2008, with a BFA in Painting, with honors, and an award for service to the college. Two years have passed, and just last weekend, another round of graduates have stepped into that mythical "real world" we call post-Bac life.

Being an artist is tough work, most importantly because the parameters are abstract. It took me two years to be happy in my studio again. I wanted to write a list of things I've learned, dedicated to you graduates, and your future alumni brethren, in the hopes of helping you through that difficult time ahead.

#1. You are not alone.

Let's face it, you might not get a job. I mean, you might, too, but you're fighting a long list of post-economy bomb college grads who have been clawing for precious income for years, and now add the ones who have graduated along side you all over the country. Studies show that this "depression" will affect your income for the rest of your life. Cheery, eh? The good news is, that unlike birds, you don't get shoved out of the nest when it comes time to fly. You've got support.

When I graduated, I agonized over not being able to get a job. I applied to everything- galleries, hotels, coffee shops, grocery stores. I freaked out. I was convinced I was going to starve.

But I didn't, and you won't either. While it's true that some people have unfortunate circumstances that rob then of a supportive family, most of us have at least a basic support network. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents, faculty, and most importantly, friends. These people care about you and will not let you starve. They will let you crash on their couch. They will send you that fifty bucks you need for groceries. They will listen to you woe about the job market. And on top of it all, they won't judge you.

Ask for help. This isn't going to last forever, and no one is going to look down on you. Promise.

#2. It could take a while.

Until about a month ago, I felt like I hadn't made any worthwhile work since I'd graduated. Two years ago. In college, there was a steady cycle for me- two months of agony, a couple weeks of fulfilling productivity. Repeat. This was heavily influenced by professors and due dates that kept me on task and thinking critically.

But when you get out? They're gone. I'm sure you've been coached on how difficult it is to keep working and thinking critically once you're out of school, and it's true. I made a lot of work in those two years, but nothing felt "important." Finally, I'm back making a project that feels real to me, and I understand how those two difficult years led up to it. You'll get there, too, especially if you follow #3 and #4. That's how I got my groove back...

#3. DON'T STOP MAKING

I know they've told you already about eighty times, but I'm telling you again.

Don't. Stop. Making. Things. Seriously- draw, sketch write, read, think. There are lots of methods out there to help keep you making regularly. Draw a dog every day. Write for half an hour in the morning. Enter a juried exhibition and make work for it.

It doesn't have to be "good" or "relevant." If there's something you want to do, but it doesn't feel like the art you want to do, or art at all, it doesn't mean it's not a valuable part of your process. Are you a painter that feels like writing a poem? A graphic designer who has the urge to build a model racecar?

Do it, and don't worry about what it has "to do" with your "art." Just do it.

Dance. Draw cheesy caricature. Wash dogs. Make things, and make experiences. Seriously, if you enjoy it, do it. Art is not about art. Art is about life. So go research the history of spoons. Especially if you can't get that pencil to move on the paper anyway. What have you go to lose?

#4. Sometimes, it's words. Try someone else's.

I learned that words can trip you up- both in your studio and your personal life- for long stretches of agonizing discomfort. This is why it is important to have at least two voices in your studio.

This can be the difference between talking about making "faces" vs. "portraits," "bodies" vs. "figures," or "stories" vs. "books." If you get stuck, try explaining it, or having it explained differently. Find different words, and like I said, find at least two voices.

I have a great partner who is also an artist, and great at speaking critically about my work. But sometimes, he uses the words that I can't use to understand the problem. So I also have a few other artist friends, who I can call on to talk about art differently, and describe it in ways that make sense to me.

And just remember that it can be a word outside of your studio- "career" vs. "job," or "relationship" vs. "commitment,"- that's throwing things off inside of it.

5. Don't default on your student loans.

Hopefully, your financial aid office at college spoke to this topic exhaustingly. Here are two things you better know.

A. You are still responsible for paying your loans even if the bill doesn't show up in the mail. YOU are responsible for updating the lender as to your current address. If you ignore it, you will default.

B. If you can't pay, there are options. Reduce or defer your payments with low income scaling or unemployment deferrment. Don't abuse them, because there are limits, but use them if you need to. Just call, they will make a plan with you. If you do not pay, you will default.

To default means to screw up your credit and chances of financial aid in grad school. Buying a house. A car. Take your loans seriously.

#6. Make a space for making.

In order to create, you must have a space dedicated to creating. Largely, you wont be able to afford a studio space when you graduate. You'll probably not even be able to afford that extra room you could use as a studio space. Then just make a desk. Make that desk ONLY for making art. No, you cannot use the kitchen table. You need a spot where you can leave your art and come back to it, and not worry about having to move it.

#7. READ.

For the Love of God, read.

Seriously, you guys, some ridiculous percentage of you will never pick up a book for pleasure again and I swear if you're one of them you are missing out big time.

Listen, it doesn't have to be the great American novel or Shakespeare, okay? It can be Harry Potter, or even a romance novel. Just be interested in words. Please. For humanity. Words will enrich your vocabulary, creative identity, and damnit if feels good.

#8. Be critical.

I spoke to having more than one voice in your studio earlier, and now I want to reinforce that- not only do you need voices, you need critical voices, and you need to take criticism to grow.

You can't do it alone. You can't. You're going to graduate, you're going to struggle to make work, and then you're going to struggle to make good work. And then, in order to make better work, you will need critical opinions. Friends, old teachers. People involved in art or writing, or even not. Maybe just someone who knows you well and not a thing about art. Feel like you haven't "made" anything lately? Not an excuse not to crit. Talk about your studio issues with a critique partner. They will help you by offering opinions outside of your head. Remember college? If you didn't complete that spread, you had to talk to the teacher about why you didn't. And that will likely help you realize how to get back to doing it again.

The main point is that you are at risk of doing the same thing over and over, and you will know when that is. Because it will feel awful. You are responsible for providing your own ass-kickers in the studio to keep your practice fulfilling.

#9. Work above your current skills and outside of your comfort area.

I'm a painter. I love making portraits. I form with color, not line, and I depend on the face to communicate. I've spent most of my artistic career, with varying degrees of success, painting faces.

But then you get a call from an old coworker. They want to let you know about an opportunity to do a 18x20 portrait. In pencil.

Or wait! You get a call from a friend and their firm needs some rush jobs. Can you help him out? They need some wildlife watercolors, stat.

Now, if you're me, the first thing you think is "I like portraits, but I don't know how to use pencil," and "I love watercolors, but I'm not interested in rendering wildlife."

DO IT ANYWAY. Sometimes you get the chance to do a (paid) project that is outside of your skill set. This is a gift. You know, sometimes rightly, that it will not be perfect. But it won't be bad. And the most important part is that by aiming "higher" than you think you can reach, you will still gain all the experience in between.

Drawing portraits and painting wildlife have greatly contributed to my true love, the painting of portraits. The quality of my work jumped dramatically after those experiences. Yours will too.

#10. When you can, give back.

You're going to get a lot of help from here on out. See #1. But you will also be responsible for paying it forward, when you are able. One day, someone will need your couch, your voice, or your money. Don't forget those times when you needed it, and give it back. We are a community, connected by are love of enriching the world with the arts. You are not alone.

When it gets toughest, remember:

You can do it.
It's not going to be forever.
You're not alone.

Making of: Telephone Poster

2010-03-18T11:00:00.021-04:00

I just completed a fanart poster based on Lady Gaga's newest Music video/short film "Telephone." I actually painted the whole thing twice after good critique on the first draft, so I thought I'd share the process.

I started with a strong lineart. Or so I thought. The idea was a double double Portrait- dramatic close ups of Lady Gaga and Beyonce in the background, and cartoon versions of them in their Americana costumes in front. I pushed heavy lineweight on the close ups and the title. This was one of the few decisions that would haunt my first draft: What design purpose was this line weight serving? Any, or did I just think it "looked cool?"

As I began to paint, nothing seemed immediately out of place. I started with a red-brown background that came out great. Then I went very gently on coloring the background figures. Crime Scene Gaga was looking really great, but Sgt. Peppers Beyonce was looking weak.

My first apparent problem was the bottom half of the painting. Where was I going with this? I had an abstract vision when I began of a blended blue/black, but I never planned for it in the lineart. What I ended up with was a messy blend and a crooked diagonal. I began having doubts at this point, knowing that I could have created a much stronger and more intentional diagonal here.

On top of that, because I used dark purple for the outline of the title, it risked being lost in the dark background color. So I implemented a hasty glow, but I thought of it too late, and it came out sloppy.

At this point, nearly complete, I called in my partner for critique. I was proud of parts, but not of others.

Here was the big problem, he said. The foreground figures are totally lost. It appears as though they should be the focus, but they're really, really not!

He was right- they were so lightly painted, and so similar in value to the surrounding forms, they didn't pop as they clearly ought to have. They were further drowned out by the line weight on the background figures.

Additionally I used differnt techniques on different elements- but with no rhyme or reason. Sgt. Peppers Beyonce was painted soft with blends, Crime Scene Gaga was hard flat color, and the phone was blended but not outlined. Ick.

Finally, the strong line weight was not reading as an intelligent design decision. It looked like, he said, someone who didn't lock their line weight in illustrator.

This got me grumpy, despite it being entirely true, and here is what I learned.

When we illustrate, its easy to get attached to cool elements, but if they're not serving the design, we have to be able to let them go. This was hard for me. It looked so good in the lineart phase, but when painted, it was just dead weight.

Peter suggested I start over. This was also difficult for me too, because when you do something over, there are going to be things you liked better in the first one. But I really wanted to do a good job on this. So I sucked it up and started over.

I re drew the line art. This time, I left the heavy line weight out. If it deserved to be reincluded, I could add it later. But I couldn't erase it if I put it in now. I drew out Beyonce's jacket, and I also outlined the phone. I was ready to tackle each problem one at a time.

This time, I started by really working the background figures into darker values, and consistant blends. My motive was to paint the foreground figures lightly and with flat color so that they would pop in contrast.

I drew out hard edges for where they faded into the black of the bottom background- with a strong, intentional diagonal in mind.

And damn, did Beyonce's jacket look good!

Another critique on the first draft was that the colors didn't seem to relate- the bright pink of Beyonce's lips, the deep red of Gaga's, and the red of the Americana costumes and the highly saturated red gloves- they looked like sloppy color choices.

My defensive reply was that the video flaunted a variety of colors, and that I was just matching them. But this time around, I considered how they functioned within the design. I found an opportunity in the title (because, hooray! I hasdn't outlined it ahead of time!) to use the original title colors, as they matched Beyonce's lipstick. I matched Gaga's gloves to the Americana. I didn't resolve all the colors, but I think I related enough of them to look a little more intentional.

Then, it was done:

Much stronger, this time. Not perfect, and for sure, there are elements I liked better in the first one. But this time I had resolved the balance and the intention of the design. I painted foreground Beyonce's hair grey brown instead of red brown so that she would stand out against background Beyonce. I added a light extra line around the foreground figures for a tiny bit more definition. And I LOVED the title this time. Man, though, was it ever hard to mix a fluorescent pink with decidedly not fluorescent gouache.

Haven't seen the video yet? See it here.

Be warned: video contains violence, sexual imagery, foul language and a lot of cut scenes.

Making Of: Disorganized Fun CD Cover

2010-01-27T12:13:00.016-05:00

Last year, I had the pleasure of working on art for the cover of Ronald Jenkees's new CD, Disorganized Fun.

This was Mogogak's first big project together, and it has an excellent process story.

Mr. Jenkees's sent asked me to look at a certain span of frames from my wate rcolor music video as a jumping off point for the cover. I hunted down the footage from those frames and prepared a digital and watercolor sketch based off of it, just to serve as a starting point.

He then asked that we incorporate a motif from footage he saw in my o ld animation demo reel, a scene where I was disintegrating via blowing flower petals. Then we flipped and resized it for a better front to back cover flow.

Satisfied with the direction, I did a new painting. This went over great, and then we concerned ourselves with the background.

The background was tricky, as I tried to describe two options- a fill color or an additional mass in negative space. I ended up painting the background color separately, in two layers, so we could adjust the colors cleanly, and layer them in creative ways.

We had nearly thirty mock ups floating around, in different hues, shades and opacities. We landed, by accident, on a fun grey and pink combination that would be our final color scheme.

I aimed to put something nice and fun inside, so I sketched up some "peeking out of the youtubes" ideas. Again, this was made in two layers- the yellow separate so that it could be adjusted to our liking.

The final painting was laid out as seen here. Peter worked his text magic, and a mon th later, the final product arrived! Production was done out of house by a company Mr.Jenkees chose.

If you haven't checked out Ronald Jenkees's music, now is the time. He has a fun, funky, electronic style that will always put you in a good mood. Foe an extra good time, check out his youtube videos, revealing a little of his process too!

Pretty Tools: Tools Designed with a Woman in Mind

2009-08-09T18:14:00.009-04:00

There is so much about the title that is a lie. But first, let's set up the story.

We were visiting a popular but cheesy New Hampshire tourist spot to gawk at the much-advertised gift shop. Intermittent with predictable tchotchke were some old relics of design we were interested in seeing- old stoves, post boxes. Despite having just seen this post on Sociological Images, I was not prepared for this post's namesake offender.

"Pretty Tools: Tools Designed with a Woman in Mind" are NONE of what they boast. They are not tools. They are not designed with a woman in mind. And they are not, by any real woman–or man's– definition, pretty.

To address the most glaring of sociological errors first, what do they have to do with women? Obviously, because they have flowers on them. Women like flowers, and if an object has flowers on them, they are for women. Like moths to a flame, females are inescapably drawn to flowers, pink, sparkles, and fairies.

The website advertising these tools says the following:

"...because they are lightweight and smaller in size so they easily fit into a woman's hand."

Right.

The "tools" on display included scissors, flashlights, pens, calculators, measuring tape, staplers, and staple removers. If for a just a moment, we were aghast at the idea that we were making masculine tools appropriate for delicate lady hands by making them smaller and plastering them with flowers, let us try to swallow the fact that they are office supplies instead.

I wish I were jaded to this type of stuff at this point. But I'm continually reminded of the ways in which gender roles and perceived femininity are fed to us daily and ever-so-quietly, packaged in a manner that is as insulting to gender as it is to the aesthetic eye.

You could say there's no holding accountable the bottom-of-the-barrell kitch marketing (if you couldn't tell the level of investment in this product by the packaging, you are reading the wrong blog) but this isn't a cause of gender enforcement- its a symptom.

Beautiful Things #1

2009-07-12T22:05:00.010-04:00

On my walk down my street to work, there is an apartment building with a house number wretchedly scrawled on it in black paint. I've been tempted to knock on the door and ask whose permission I need to come by and fix it so it looks nice.

It's an anecdote I use whenever I want to talk about nice-looking things making our world better. Shoddy clip art and poor fonts and ugly designs all contribute to the idea: why give a crap about the way things look?

Last weekend, I happily discovered the opposite of the phenomenon that sends me into a beauty-related tirade.

Peter and I took a walk down no particular road near Amenia, New York. As Peter snapped pictures of birds on telephone lines, I noticed this:

...that the poles have numbers and placards carefully nailed on.

It would be much easier, I thought, to have spray painted the identifying numbers onto each pole, but for some reason, someone thought it was important to nail not one, but two sets of numbers on to each pole along with the company acronym and bell logo.

It leads me to the same thought I have when I consider what art is and how it's used- there was a time when people thought it was important to paint flowers on wooden trunks and forge decorative hinges for cabinets- and fast forward to even a time where bank night-drop boxes were pressed with eagles and filigree, and buildings spotted with gargoyles, or stones with faces, birds, and stonemason's crests carved in.

Things looking good was once a value. These metal tags don't earn anyone money- they cost money, in fact. They are not a matter of marketing, and no one gets credit from a consumer for the choice to act in the name of pleasurable aesthetics.

What causes people to just care about things looking nice?

See all the photos we took of the poles: