On Politics

 
 


Here are four illustrations I made recently based on op-eds about campaign finance, and the government of the few vs. the many in general.

Post-It Show 7!

Here's a sneak peek at my Post Its for Giant Robot 2's Annual Post-Its Show. Yes, there is plenty of glitter and gold paint.

It's a fun show that will be up for most of December, where you can buy work from artists way more awesome than me (seriously, take a look at the list here) for a mere 20 bones.

Here are the main details of the show:

DATE:
December 10 – December 29, 2011
Reception: Saturday, December 10, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m.

LOCATION:
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Hope to see you at the reception!

Thanksgiving by the beach

We spent Thanksgiving this year in San Diego with some of Ryan's family, and it involved things I love (like food and the beach) and some new experiences too (like a deep fried turkey, Mexican train dominoes, and collecting fresh hen eggs). Trying to remember all these moments better, so writing about it and sharing the photographs instead of letting it get lost in the depths of hard drives is a start.

Sunday Style Section: My Week With Marilyn

This weekend, I skipped muppets and vampires and caught My Week with Marilyn. I really, really enjoyed it - thought Michelle Williams was pretty great, despite my reservations at first. But of course, no one beats the real Monroe - especially in the style department. These glasses she wore in How To Marry A Millionaire are perfect.

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Thankful

To join in the chorus across the internet, Happy Thanksgiving.

There's so much I'm thankful for every day, but it's especially nice to have a day off to really appreciate every bit of this trip around the sun.

Hope you have a peaceful, potato-filled holiday.

Alphabet of the Amusement Park

An amazing project I got to illustrate this summer was this poster for The Hettema Group that was just released for the annual IAAPA conference. Since it was a big event for everyone in the amusement park industry, this illustration was an alphabet of themed entertainment history. I think my favorite is the ice cream - what's yours?

Major thanks to The Hettema Group for the project, and Isabel Hunter for great art direction.

Pot & The Federal Government

Illustration for an article about the federal government's involvement with statewide legalized marijuana.

Excuse Me, I'm Sorry, I'm Really Such A Lady

The always fun to watch Nicki Minaj. Her songs are super ear worm. Plus, I've discovered gold paint and can't help but want to use it with every illustration now.

P.S. This weekend I updated and renovated my portfolio website, so please take a look!

Sunday Style Section: Rain & Sequins

Still on the hunt for a perfect graduation dress. Thinking lots of sequins, hopefully will dig up something in a vintage shop. It's incredibly rainy today, which reminded me of all these beautiful sequined dresses. Perfect day for being cozy indoors and online-hunting.

Happy Sunday!

source: 1 & 2

JGL

Expanding my portrait skills to include stylish men, starting with one of my favorite current actors - Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Not going to mention that I pretty much cried through the whole hour and forty minutes of 50/50. On that note, Happy Friday! Go catch a new film with a big box of Milk Duds.

Look Here for Recipes*

*Note to self for weekday WTF do I eat for dinner nights.


Five favorite (and mostly healthy) food blogs:

101 Cookbooks
Adrienne Eats
Joy the Baker
My New Roots
Working Out & Eating In

Five Tips from the Art School Trenches

With my art school education coming to an end, I've picked up some valuable advice* from great teachers I've had. There's way more than five tips, but here are some just to get you started. And because I like short list-style posts with advice and useful links for creatives. It's like, one of my favorite things ever.



1. Type is easy. Super controversial, I know. Especially to designers. Look, I'm not saying great type is easy, but learn some basics of type to avoid newbie mistakes on your own work (portfolios, business cards, websites, etc). I've seen some great work brought down by bad typography, and I think sometimes it's because type can be treated as this impossible foreign language of design (& so completely disregarded, like Latin). When a teacher said "type is easy" to me, it was a revelation. Like shining the flashlight under the bed.

The Thinking With Type website is a great place to start. These books are also excellent primers: Thinking With Type, Stop Stealing Sheep, and The Elements of Typographic Style.

2. Crap people are crap for a reason. Just remember that when you run into some. And try to avoid working with any.

3. Good stuff will always be in. So don't be upset if your favorite artists or style are not cool to like, or too cliche because "everybody likes him/her" (someone has actually said this to me). Who cares? You like what you like because it's good. Make it yours. And if no one else likes it, even better. Then no one will have that market when you're working.

4. Make lists. The most reliable way of starting work and getting great ideas.

5. Put in 6-8 hours of Studio Time a day. This was advice given to us by Brian Rea, and if that isn't convincing enough, it's a work ethic he and Christoph Niemann both share. This article at the 99 percent also pretty much covers this idea (sent to me by my friend Owen). It's also the basis of the 10,000 hour rule, this great Radiolab short The Secrets of Success, and Quincy Jones' "asspower" theory. Basically, sitting your ass down and actually working for 6-8 hours can make you a ton better and get you lots of work. Try it. I will be.

*This mostly applies to illustrators, but maybe people in other fields could find this useful.

Please feel free to share the best advice you've ever received, about illustration, about design, about life, about basket weaving.

La Luz 25

This book was what consumed a good part of my summer - a 288 page tome celebrating the 25th anniversary of La Luz de Jesus Gallery (arguably the birthplace of the Pop Surrealism and Low Brow movements). It was an incredible experience, and I'm super thankful to Billy Shire, Matt Kennedy and Janice Gore for trusting me with the design of this volume.

La Luz de Jesus 25 serves as the catalog for a two part show including (almost) every artist that has shown in La Luz's 25 year history, and is a beautifully cloth-covered, foil-stamped, spot-varnished work of blood, sweat and tears.




You can still see part two of the show in the gallery for the rest of November. More info here.

Going Global

Have you checked out Anthology magazine? It's a beautiful lifestyle print magazine, and I was honored to be asked to contribute to the first anniversary issue. It's definitely my favorite magazine right now (and not just because I illustrated for it) - you can subscribe and get it in your mailbox, or find it at your local Anthropologie (no relation).


Look at that gold foil stamp-y goodness. Below is the Making the Magazine spread I illustrated.


Many thanks to creative director Meg Mateo Ilasco for the fun opportunity.

Sunday Style Section: Graduation Dress

As a break from all the work graduation seems to be, I've been online window shopping for a graduation dress. I'd really like this one that Alexa Chung is wearing. Give me a heads up if you find anything like it.

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Maps! (They Don't Love You Like I Love You)

Here's an illustration I finished based on Adrien Dacquel's sketch for Ten Paces and Draw's Maps Week. Check out the original sketch here, and the awesome finish Marisa Seguin did on my sketch here!

27

Sorry for the slowdown in posts lately, I'm in the home stretch of preparing for graduation but also getting really exciting emails and projects lining up. On the advice of a great teacher, I wake up every day thinking, "Today's gonna be a good day!" and everything else seems to have fallen into place since (and if it isn't, then you think: "Tomorrow! Tomorrow's gonna be a good day!").

This past Saturday, I had another thought: "27's gonna be a great year!" The few days leading up to my birthday included seeing the book project I'd work on all summer become a reality (and in the hands of artists I admire) and my work in an Anthropologie store. Pretty much dreams coming true daily. Working your ass off really does pay off.

P.S. Will be sharing those projects later this week!

You've Got a Lovely, Funny Face

I just finished this style board for a re-imagining of the opening credits for Funny Face. Took a more animated, vintage paper-doll approach that could also fit the film.

All Souls' Day

A wood block and soft ground etching print made last year, also about Dia de los Muertos. (P.S. More cultural celebrations of the dead illustrations here.)

Dia de los Muertos!

It's no secret I love the imagery and traditions of this Mexican holiday. When I did a series on cultural celebrations of the dead, I learned about all the different symbols in the holiday - including monarch butterflies being significant because they're believed to carry the spirits of the deceased across to the other side. Lovely image, isn't it? Being shuttled to the other side by your own butterfly?