I'm not Travis Charest, nor will I ever be, and sometimes that is just a depressing fact to admit. I have a good amount of patience while drawing, and can hold a line decently well, but the facts is duh facts.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
I'm not Travis Charest
I'm not Travis Charest, nor will I ever be, and sometimes that is just a depressing fact to admit. I have a good amount of patience while drawing, and can hold a line decently well, but the facts is duh facts.
more drawings
Trying to experiment a bit with character design - drawing the same character from multiple angles. Seems like it should be easy, but since I've never tried it before, it is actually somewhat challenging, as these early, sloppy attempts show. The first one looks like two completely different characters, but I think the second one would be viable.
Drawing the news
Here are two more drawings, from a picture that was below the fold on the frond page of the Sunday Times this past weekend. The first I did yesterday and it is beyond rough, the second one is from today. Can you spot the difference? The third is the source image, which I couldn't find anywhere on the Times website.
Baseball sketches
A couple of drawings to loosen myself up, shake the rust off, etc. Definitely have to re-learn certain aspects of drawing when I go so long without doing it on a regular basis. I think I might need to draw people on the subway more, or go sit in parks or the Manhattan Mall on my lunch breaks and draw people in those spaces to get my chops back. Muscle memory is a powerful thing, but even more powerful is the ability to shut off the conscious observational part of the brain and allow the muscles to take over because they've been trained and drilled so much. The difference maybe similar to a one-on-none fast-break dunk where improvisation comes into play, and a jumper coming off a screen?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
hyper-localization
That's the next step, iteration. The next transformation of our mediated lives. A metaphor would be watching your iphone zero in on your location in google maps.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
art & commerce & looking
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The most trenchant comment on the dazzling and enervating spectacle that is Art Basel Miami Beach is written in bold black and white letters on the floor of the Mary Boone Gallery booth. A wall-to-wall text piece by Barbara Kruger, it spells out two quotations. One, from Goethe, observes, “We are the slaves of objects around us.” The other, from a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, reads, “He entered shop after shop, priced nothing, spoke no word, and looked at all objects with a wild and distracted stare.”
From an article about the art fair. Seems to sum up my experience with the Armory show every time I've gone.
http://tinyurl.com/6aq6eh
I have a long, boring and muddled relationship with these ideas. Maybe those who are able to more adeptly navigate the art world exhibit a sort of cognitive dissonance; whereby they are able to separate the emotional and theoretical involvement with their own work from the act of selling it and themselves as part of the style and mode that may currently be in fashion in that world.
Or maybe I'm just lazy and bitter, and not really all that good at selling myself and my work. Either/or.
From an article about the art fair. Seems to sum up my experience with the Armory show every time I've gone.
http://tinyurl.com/6aq6eh
I have a long, boring and muddled relationship with these ideas. Maybe those who are able to more adeptly navigate the art world exhibit a sort of cognitive dissonance; whereby they are able to separate the emotional and theoretical involvement with their own work from the act of selling it and themselves as part of the style and mode that may currently be in fashion in that world.
Or maybe I'm just lazy and bitter, and not really all that good at selling myself and my work. Either/or.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
album art: Indelible Beancurd
Cover art
Interior art
check them on their site and on amazon.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
monogram 1: Oh My God
I have always loved interlocking monograms; usually I notice them as sport's logos, but they are all over the place. They are an optical illusion, an Escher-like puzzle for the eyes to sort out.The more complex the design, the more letters involved, the longer it will take to figure it out, but our eyes and brain seem to have an amazing ability to sort these things out, similar to reading a sentence wth sme of th lttrs mssng without skipping a beat. I think that I am also drawn to these things because they take type and make it into an image, maybe through decorative means, but still. I think I can track this back to looking at the Star of David iconography at the synagogue I went to growing up, and trying to follow the lines around and over and under and through, trying to make sense of it, in my head. I spent many hours drawing and re-drawing these, tracing them until I could draw them on my own.
So I decided to try making some of my own. The question was, what would I make them for, what would the letters I chose represent? I immediately thought I would use instant messaging acronyms, since the juxtaposition of the slow labor-intensive process of drawing these with the hurryupnow nature of their etymology seemed at odds. This strikes me as a similar intent to the slow-blogging movement, though not as crusty or bitter. My intent is to do it as an homage, a glorification of our newfound method of simplified communication. All that being said, here is my first effort. This is a scan of a pencil drawing, colored digitally. I will see what they look like re-drawn in vectors, but I like the idea that they have an element of the non-digital in them as well.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
My Wife Looks Beautiful When She Sleeps
Inspired by my good friend Gideon, I am going to try to draw more and post more.
http://gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal
My wife, Jenni, is a beautiful woman, and I think she looks so peaceful and pretty when she's asleep.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Muck Fish.
What time is it? Game time! Whoo!http://www.thatsunsportsmanlike.com/BeatAMeatChicken.html
Them Weber boys sure is crayzee.
Lazy Post (thank you design observer)
Design Observer had an all-image post the other day, and since I've been too lazy to post anything, I thought I would just borrow their content. Thanks, DO!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
15 years already?!?!
Designed this nifty little invite for my 15th high school reunion. I won't be going, but it does boggle the mind a bit that it has already been 15 years since I left the hallowed halls of NHS. Feeling good about where my life is, and how it has all turned out, but man-oh-man do those times seem hazier (smokier?) and more confused with each passing year. Seems like a lot of my classmates have ended up in the NYC area, maybe those of us who are down here can do something fun.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Today is a big day.
Here's a little something from the past to inspire for the future...
January 8, 2008.
I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.
A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.
But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in this election – there is something happening in America.
There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit – who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.
You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve – no destiny we cannot fulfill.
Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.
Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.
We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.
We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.
And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.
But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.
That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.
And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.
January 8, 2008.
I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.
A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.
But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in this election – there is something happening in America.
There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit – who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.
You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve – no destiny we cannot fulfill.
Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.
Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it. We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.
We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.
And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.
But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.
That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.
And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.
Monday, November 3, 2008
DAGWOOD!!!
This is a shot borrowed from Kenny & Zuke's website. This is an awesome deli that is on the ground floor underneath the Ace Hotel, where I stayed in Portland, OR last month. Awesome, awesome, awesome.
On your mark, get set, GO!
A little mustard for the pastrami? You betcha.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Has it been almost a month already?
I haven't posted anything in a few weeks - from Anniversary to Birthday, close week, various parties and then a week in Oregon, I have been slacking. So here's my flickr pages of Portland pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noogs/sets/72157608022430502/
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Not Fugu
Anniversary dinner last night at Esca. I ate a couple of these little cuties and boy were they tasty!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I didn't watch Palin drone
I was out being patriotic watching Tropic Thunder last night, so I missed the veep hopeful's speech. I have, however, been brainstorming with my Pops on different ways to play with Palin's surname:
Palindrome
me: Redder mom
pop: but will a boob understand it, nourished as they are on all that right wing pap
me: Right wing pap? A civic gig.
(unsent: Redder mom sees civic gig.) I should write headlines for the Daily News.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
me and my pops
Met my old man for lunch today and he brought this picture along. Kind of cool to see that old house on River Drive in Hadley, MA, even if its just one wall. Moved all the rest of my stuff down to Brooklyn, finally, last week. It had been gathering dust and mold in an unused room at my brother's apartment for the last few years since Pop sold his house to retire to the quiet and serenity of the upper West side. Feels good to have all of my stuff in one place for the first time since 1993.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Doodle Dragon
Started as a doodle while on the phone, kept working at it and here's where it ended up. Doodledragon is born. I think I'll try to color it at some point as well.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Yun Nan Flavor Snack Shop Inc.
Jen and I went to Brooklyn's Chinatown in Sunset Park on Sunday to eat and exlpore a bit. I made a little drawing in my moleskin while we were waiting for our hot and sour dumpling soup, and our noodles with short rib soup. Tasty! Also had some incredible banh mi at Ba Xuyen. Simplicity yields some tasty morsels here: Behind the simple counter/case there was a giant wok and a giant vat of broth for readying everything on the menu. A regular domestic fridge full of goodies in the back and a little ledge for your broth and elbows and tiny folding stools complete the decor.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
FRED
This is Fred. Fred is a Pisces, he likes lobster dinners, sunset walks on the beach, kayaking, and BRAINS!!!! BRAIIIINNNNNNNSSSSSS!!!!!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
logotype for me
Trying to come up with something simple; a monogram, a logotype, a little jzeusze for the corner of a resume, etc. Will tweak tweak tweak and upload more iterations.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Strange things brewing at the End
We were witness to some incredible cloud formations in Montauk on Sunday 27 July. It looked like someone was on the other side of the clouds with an eggbeater, churning the clouds into this thick blue soup. The pointy, meringue-like tips seemed to be coming straight down to touch us. Thunder was rolling constantly for about a half hour, with some minor flashes accompanying them. We felt a few drops of rain and went inside, at which point a deluge of biblical proportions fell. This was responsible for our lovely 5-hour train ride home to Brooklyn (normally a little over 3). No color correction or retouching on these photos, the color was really this eerie steel blue. It was awesome.
I suppose there is something to the magnetic qualities of trailer parks and nasty storms. Montauk Shores gets a mention in an article in the current issue of Vanity Fair, as well: "Where the elite meet" or somesuch description, as well as being referred to as the "Ditch Trailer Park" since it sits at the end of Ditch Plains road. Quite the hot property my in-laws are nice enough to share with me.
*Not pictured: The sea robin I caught surfcasting on Saturday afternoon! My first surfcast catch.
I suppose there is something to the magnetic qualities of trailer parks and nasty storms. Montauk Shores gets a mention in an article in the current issue of Vanity Fair, as well: "Where the elite meet" or somesuch description, as well as being referred to as the "Ditch Trailer Park" since it sits at the end of Ditch Plains road. Quite the hot property my in-laws are nice enough to share with me.
*Not pictured: The sea robin I caught surfcasting on Saturday afternoon! My first surfcast catch.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Neo Noir
Along the lines of Hard-Boiled and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem is a fun, dystopic look at the future of tough guys, dames, and the sad sack gumshoes who can't help but fall for the latter and into the fists of the former. This is the first book I've read by Lethem, but the guy can turn a phrase.
"So I showered and shaved and got my gums bleeding with a toothbrush, then stumled into the kitchen to cauterize the wounds with some scalding coffee."
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