Ya ever made a zine before?

I sure haven't, but Maria Forde has! Her advice portraits are where it's at. I'm thinking BOXhead would love himself a zine.

hiatus

Production of my IP project (and any other project, or fun, for that matter) has been paused as I finish up this semester. One last paper, a short essay, and an exam. Looking forward to next semester. More than you know. Many things have come up within the past couple days. New projects, new ways to think about old projects. This winter break will give me much time to process it all.

In the meantime, my website is almost finished. I made it from scratch, so check it out! Give me your questions, comments, criticisms, inquiries, secrets, etc.

I just came up with a new character: Child Bear. Literally, it just popped into my head with the help of Jenna, friend-artist phenomena. Drawings to come...of Child Bear, not Jenna. Sorry.

laugh now, cry later

Look, I'm keeping up on my reading. A friend showed me a book of "comix" by Johnny Ryan called XXX Scumbag Party. All the drawings are super simple with pretty vulgar, yet hilarious images. This one below is my blog-friendly find...for the children, of course.


I like the play between a welcoming drawing style with not-so-friendly visuals once you really look at them. It makes the viewer have a reaction to the work rather than a quick glance.

welcome to the fam'ly

the two newest additions to the collection

new beginnings

I walked into my cubicle, I mean studio, on Wednesday and just about went crazy. I felt very claustrophobic, so I decided to de-clutter the space. Only got halfway there. Don't mind that left side...


Also, Endi (half of my extraordinary IP professors...brownie points??) came into my studio and changed everything...in a great way. He said something along the lines of, "how they led such meaningless lives" in reference to people living in the start of suburbia (beginning in 1920s and exemplified in the 1960s middle America). Keeping this phrase in mind, I'm reshaping the organization of my BOXhead drawings. I have been drawing with no solid idea in mind, but this is now helping me to realize one, possibly along the lines of:

What are the things we do to be normal, to fit in?
How far are we willing to go to fit into a mold?

More thoughts added in time. I'm brainstorming here.

a series of series

I'm plotting some series within the overall BOXhead series to add some organization. Let's list them so far, shall we?

- - destruction
- - the fantastics
- - everyday series

I've recently discovered my tendency to come up with series, or sequences, of drawings. I guess I like the cohesiveness. Photographs to come.

Robert + Shana Parke Harrison

I've always been an advocate for the Penny Stamps series. Yesterday's lecture from artists Robert + Shana Parke Harrison was nothing short of inspirational. I urge you to visit their website.

This series, Architect's Brother, is especially nice.

acorns

Recent find: Acorn. I'm loving the detail.

personal favorite - -

day of the swine

Make that 4 DAYS of the swine. As someone who always gets sick, I thought I caught a lucky break and missed this one. Alas, the flu inevitably caught up with me...and boy did it! It couldn't have picked a worse time, either. All week I had been looking forward to the weekend to really get some work done. However, this deemed a bit difficult as I was bedridden, hit with cold sweats, migraines, doped up on NyQuil, and now that I'm finally able to make it out of bed, I'm disoriented beyond belief, running into walls here and there. Here's hoping tonight's sleep with make all even better before the routine of classes begins again.

Sunday night was the only time I was able to make useful. And by 'useful' I mean watching movies. They did, however, aid as some research for IP before I stroll over to the library this week. I put in some good time with the Marx Brothers and my first love, Buster Keaton.

Let's cross our fingers that this flu remains at bay from now on...

sketching rules

Starting to sketch a lot more. Great for planning those small details and body movements (which I love so much) before heading into the actual drawing.


I discovered the book An Illustrated Life when I locked myself in Borders on Monday. It really got me excited about drawing (and making in general) and my project again.

An Illustrated Life =
an artist + scans of their sketchbooks + the artist's words
rinse and repeat

Some sketches for today - -

seriously, man

I went to see 'A Serious Man' for some Monday evening fun and didn't realize it would relate to my project as much as it did. The main character, Larry (Michael Stuhlbarg), lives in 1960s suburban "normalville" with his wife, daughter, and son. Not to ruin the plot, but things don't carry on so dandy (making for a more interesting film). Larry's always getting interrupted and unwelcome problems arise out of nowhere. He's thrown into and out of situations. Life is very much happening to him...and life kinda sucks.

a couple stills of Larry - -


The film (side note: it's great, go see it) has definitely sparked new ideas for drawings...

awake from a coma

Newest (completed) addition to the set so far. I'm taking a step out of total realism. After all, people don't walk around with boxes on their heads everyday...though, maybe we should start?


When I draw BoxHead struggling with something, I always think of an upset toddler trying to reach for something it can't have. With new drawings today, I'm getting more into feeling frustrated about his confines rather than a youthful naïveté.

side(tracked) project #1

I often find myself drawing things that I, and possibly others, will think are funny. I'm keen on experiencing another person's reaction. This took hold over the weekend.

a small project to keep me away from my studies and, well...sane:



Low image quality due to bad lighting at the Michigan Theater (and my less than professional photographing abilities). What are ya gonna do? It's a building from 1928 that's not quite financially thriving (come see movies!).

look, then do

Before I DO anymore work I need to LOOK at some references, some inspiration.

In the mean time...Julia Rothman!! I came across her work through a friend (thank you, miss Emily Skaer). I'm liking her simplistic style (go figure...) and seemingly obsessive drawing style. She takes a subject and draws it into a pattern. I can only imagine what her sketchbook is like.


"You sound angry when you write on your blog." -Caitlin Dronen

meet BoxHead (working title)

He's an overly-tall, androgynous male with a giant cube for a head. When I draw him, I always see him as longing for something more. Not actively longing, rather mindfully so that he's a bit pitifully sad.


The drawings are basic. Clean lines and shapes to get the idea of the image across. This has run me into the problem of losing the small details that tell small parts about ourselves, like a specific logo on a shirt or dirt on pants.

TO COME (a segment to remind myself of what I need to do) ...

• experimentation with color
• larger drawings with a sense of space
• attention to detail
• non-BoxHead drawings to play with the medium

mmm...inspiration

One of my budding influences, though I do not know everything of his work, is Marcel Dzama. His root beer-watercolored drawings are simple, and simply odd. He takes the every day and tweaks it to make it strange, to make it off.

He caught my interest even more by expanding his work into other mediums, here being video. The challenge of expansion and transition through media is one aspect I am exploring in my studio.