More work

The end of the semester is nearing and I'm sitting on piles of work that needs to be photographed, scanned, or still completed. Should be hectic. Anyways, here are some newer sketchbook pages.

Lots of work on the way

I have been working on a lot of stuff lately, all of it should be posted soon. Anyways, I got a new sketchbook yesterday and filled the first page.

MP Flyer

My band is playing our first show in over a year and a half, and to "celebrate," I made a flyer, which I haven't done in quite awhile. The show is going to be very low key, in fact, I don't know if I should have even made a flyer because I'm expecting everything to go wrong technically. Anyways, the show is on Halloween, and I scrapped all original ideas of doing a Halloween themed flyer because I figured I'd use this more for a portfolio piece than as an actual promotional piece. Also, I plan on getting to work on some silkscreens soon, just need to get back in the groove.

Anyways, my first flyer in forever, here ya go...
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I'll be working on Woodcuts over the next few weeks which I plan to push a few aesthetic concepts as well as many regurgitated ones from my Drawing course last year. Should be interesting, they will be very playful, and less focused on concrete imagery and narratives and more on pattern play/overlap, color and layout. We'll see how that goes.

Some more sketches

St. Vincent Editorial

For an upcoming project, I'm doing an Illustration of the lovely Annie Clark of St. Vincent. Death & Taxes Magazine recently did a feature article with the sub-headline "Annie Clark Takes Center Stage," which focused primarily on Annie Clark's history as a supplementary musician in other bands before finally having the opportunity to step out into her own. Therefore, I depicted her pulling duct tape off her mouth. Yes.

Now, I rendered the originals in 2 parts on Arches paper, something like 24x36", so it took a composite scan of 3 parts to actually get a full, completed image. I used graphite for the line-work and decided to color the illustration digitally after a horrid attempt to "paint" traditionally on a form of Mylar. Anyways, here's what I've got so far, there will likely be minor changes to come, and I still have to incorporate text and place the Illustration in context, within the 2-page spread.

Sketchbook (Updated)

Here are some scans of the sketchbook images I poorly photographed last time.

Sketchbook

Here are some Photobooth captures of my "sketchbook."

Some work

I'm back at school for the Fall Semester, finally. I've been working on multiple projects, including a number of new sketchbooks. My scanner broke over the summer so I couldn't post any of my sketchbook work, but maybe I will get around to it soon enough.

Anyways, here is an online tour poster for The Promise Hero and Barely Blind of TDR Records. This is only an iteration, so we'll see if it gets approved.

Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

It is no secret that celebrity news, while intriguing, annoys the hell out of me. People imprison themselves in their own shortcomings and mediocrity through the lives of Bradgelina and whoever decided it was a good idea to let "Entertainment Tonight" exist in the first place. There is one celebrity story I cannot ignore, however, and that is the death of Michael Jackson. Michael himself was a victim of constant media and tabloid fallacies, he of course, was a very strange man with issues far beyond what many of us could even imagine. However, his contributions to my life, and to the World are undeniable. I have heard a few people scoff at me even mentioning his importance, but when I think about it, Michael has given more to the human race than many of my argument-ors or their genepool will ever, combined.

One of my earliest memories, ever, consists of me watching Michael Jackson on MTV. I was obsessed. His impact on me creatively is just as, if not more important than that of Spielberg, Jack Kirby, or any other countless number of artists or musicians. He was one of my first introductions to new media, to a field which I am still pursuing and am deeply impassioned in today. I play music largely because of his early influence. I want to make films, mostly because of "Thriller" and John Lydon's behind-the-scenes documentary (which I watched every year for, not even kidding, 15 years of my life); it is second to Discovery Channel's 'Movie Magic' in terms of engaging me in the production process for a film, and I will never forget it. Michael's "Leave Me Alone" may be one of my favorite music videos ever, and is of course, one of my first introductions to collage, and certainly animated collage.

There is no doubt that this man has changed my life, and seeing that he is now gone, I look back and think of how he took nothing and made something for everyone to enjoy, as all great artists do. He is Legendary, and everyone who counters with a "ohh, he was a pedophile" is completely missing the point of his existence here on this planet. I could go into depth about how I believe his incriminations were complete bullshit, certainly due to those around him who took advantage of his vulnerabilities and played off of his strangeness in order to suit their own financial inhibitions, but I will just remind them to STFU. Phil Spector, a friggin' maniac murderer made MAJOR contributions to the world of music, and nobody can deny it. The thing is, you can walk down any street and people will KNOW Michael Jackson, firsthand, as opposed to Phil Spector, who they may not know, but may through an artist they do know.

"Thriller" is probably in your home. I wouldn't doubt that the Bible is second in sales behind "Thriller's," but I don't want to be too controversial. I would just like to remember Michael as one of the greatest influences on my creative lifestyle, and I hope he is remembered for all that he has given us, which does not include stories for the tabloid media, or TMZ (who I hope implodes, along with Perez Hilton, that attention-mongering, useless, baby). On that note, I leave you with 1987's "Leave Me Alone" video, a groundbreaking 80's collage video in which Michael confronts the media who can't shut up and let him make music without them feeling the need to dig into his personal life. Sad that this was a precursor to everything that followed. Rest in peace, Michael.

CMA's East Wing

The Cleveland Museum of Art opened its new East Wing, and let me just say what's already been said: HOLY S**T. I honestly did not know the Museum even had any Contemporary Art, where have they been hiding it? I only visited once in 2004 before the renovations, but now that it's open again, they're rocking some Sol Lewitt, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Cai Guo-Qiang, and so on. Honestly, I had a smile on my face the entire time. I've probably seen the same Picasso paintings 15 times over the year, so this was a pleasant and VERY welcomed surprise.

And, as I was looking at Claude Monet's "Water Lillies," James Franco and his tour-guide (and friend) walked up next to me to admire it. I obviously pretended not to notice his presence (he wasn't the only good actor in that gallery) and noticed everyone else staring at the nearby Degas and Cubist paintings much longer than usual. He spent maybe 5 minutes in the gallery and went back to do his Q&A for his art-house film showing.

Anyways, the museum opens again to the public next week and I suggest we all go, A LOT. We are very privileged to even have such a museum in Cleveland, and we should not take this for granted.

Oh, and also, Dan Deacon Friday night = WOW. For such an obscure venue and mixed crowd (40% of the concert goers payed over $100 to get in, the rest of us a mere $15), including: talking to the God of thunder not to rain on us (it was outside) because "we are not afraid of you!, spit on us" and a countdown to the first song which also happened to synch to fireworks. It drizzled and we got a tarp to hold over his table and it was so much fun, I managed to stay dry but yes, that show will go down as one of my most memorable ever.

These images can be found at another blog...http://jimjanek.blogspot.com/

My head is in the second picture with the fireworks!

More AMAZING pictures from the galleries and Summer Solstice Party can be found at...http://www.flickr.com/photos/clevelandart/sets/72157620257799382/show/

Summer so far

I haven't been doing too much artwork lately, well, aside from doodling in my Sketchbook and various side jobs (such as constructing a giant Transformer-themed M&M for Walgreens). Most of my time has been spent writing and recording music with my band, taking care of my house while my roommates are away, and driving out to the West side for work. Lots of late nights. Lots.

Hilarious Stock Photo Story

Here is the story of a girl who was in New York City and approached by Getty Images to do a photoshoot in the park, which took only a few minutes. Little did she know how many people would actually use the image. This is really funny, check out the link...

http://thisrecording.com/today/2009/5/23/in-which-shes-every-woman.html

New place

It's been awhile since I've posted, school was frantic in the last month or so, and on top of that I was getting to ready to move. Anyways, I'm all moved in now, I'm living in Cleveland right off Lee Rd., right near Coventry. Anyways, it looks like I'll be trying to work on artwork and music as much as possible until my work schedule kicks into effect.

I did this random set of drawings last week at work and a little bit yesterday when I had a minute...

"Alternative" music

My observation is not a new one, but as a person who plays and listens to music, it must be documented that there are very few ways people hear about new music anymore. It must also be noted that none of the following apply to me, likely because I read Music-oriented magazines and websites, and even have a small group of friends who are as nutty and critical of music themselves. Obviously, that's quite a pretentious thing to say, I'm quite aware. Anyways, here it is, where the majority of America's music-buying audience finds their music. No, it's not XM Radio, and no, I have no statistics to back any of this up. These are purely observations, so don't take anything too seriously!

WHERE "AVERAGE" MUSIC LISTENERS FIND "NEW" MUSIC
1. iTunes commercials- It's not a secret that Apple has broken lots of new artists, primarily Feist, who did not just appear overnight.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/10/01/nano.propels.feist/

2. Guitar Hero/Rock Band- The downfall of music, in my opinion, celebrates the music we already hear on Classic Rock stations everyday, whether we avoid them or not. Sometimes they throw in a "new" Nirvana song and constantly rip you off by making the music you already listen to "interactive," but not as interactive as dancing or as actually learning to play the song. Obviously, the game is geared towards non-musicians, but seriously, I hate this thing. The game is so cheap and easy to produce, aside from purchasing music rights, that Activision is laughing all the way to the bank because you're willing to buy a Metallica version of their game.


Another opinion: http://new.nz.music.yahoo.com/blogs/mojo/7313/guitar-hero-must-die/?page=22



3. Now! That's What I Call Music - This album sells more copies than even it's largest featured chart-topper these days, but seriously, this is just a compilation of music the dying record-industry still has control over, and hilariously, convinces people to buy the singles they already hear 20 times a day on terrestrial Top-40 radio.

4. The O.C./Chuck/Grey's Anatomy - The woman who chooses the music for these shows will break your band into the mainstream, and my Mother will ask me if I know who "Snow Patrol" is.

5. Hand-me-down music - Siblings get music handed down to them without personally exploring or discovering it on their own, getting an unfiltered, pre-determined collection of music no different than a "NOW" compilation (only probably more diverse). "You like the Beatles and I like the Stones, but those were just records that our parents owned" - Art Brut



6. The band is opening for Paramore - Seriously, this will break a lot of really generic bands.



7. "Indie" films - Films that appear to represent the counter-culture, but actually just get better distribution because Fox Searchlight knows how to take a movie, market it as "this year's Juno" and cram the Moldy Peaches or Sufjan down your throat until you feel like you're suddenly eclectic.


8. Morning Television shows - The "TRL" for housewives, "Good Morning America" has tricked mothers into listening to Lily Allen do a duet with Debbie Harry while reuniting the New Kids on the Block for an endearing, heartfelt, 8 am performance. Sometimes, Local Cleveland's Fox-8 Morning show will feature "hits" like Kanye's "Love Lockdown" over their traffic cam.



9. Lil Wayne guest appears on one of their tracks - Who the hell is Kevin, whatever his name is? Who? It doesn't matter, he got a famous rapper to spend an hour out of his day to rap over and then appear in his video. The point is, this broke whoever this guy is.

10. Making a crappy reality show about your band - Brett Michaels, Cartel (sorry guys, you jumped ship after your first EP), and the Pussycat Dolls. Go away.



There are many I'm surely missing. I posted a link to this blog and 3 people seemed to be up in arms about it, you cannot tell me that the above listed are not garnering record sales for bands that would normally never be heard. What's crazy about the whole thing is not necessarily how you can go from rags to riches (Death Cab for Cutie), but that your music will likely garner the attention of fans who will come to your shows only wanting to hear the new album or your 2 iTunes singles.

Some stuff

I'm working on a Stem Cell Research Installation along with my CD class for Case Western/Cleveland Clinic/ University Hospitals partnership, The National Center for Regenerative Medicine. Anyways, we have a few more weeks to work on the project, but iterations are still in the early stages, and my proposal to use plexi (and now foamcore, due to budget reasons) is likely to follow through. More iterations, and hopefully photos of the final installation in the Wolstein Bldg. at Case Western will follow. The class has yet to decide on a "look" for this, so I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring. Here's an iteration.

For Illustration, I was assigned an editorial design project, where I was given an article (a Bruce Springsteen article circa 2 years ago). After early iterations which actually featured portraits of Bruce, I focused on the theme of the interview as well as his album. "Radio Nowhere," the single off of the album described the panic when all communication would be down, the sense of loneliness and lack of direction that would follow. I decided to use radio waves, which also serve as a metaphor for sound waves (in the song he describes it) as well as for the obvious heartbeat. My ideas changed quite a bit, but this was what I came up with, something simple, in a format similar to that of Esquire Magazine.


In addition, I created an Identity for 'Energy Coatings International," a Cleveland-based Powder Coating company. Their coating keeps out heat and works primarily in roofings and coatings for anything that needs to be protected from the heat. After many, many iterations, trial and error, the final logo incorporated a green swoosh, which represented the environment through color, and ozone through the sem-circle 'swoosh.' the "ozone" is a metaphor for both the Earth, which reflect's the sun's heat and also the coatings the ECI makes. Recently, they have made groundbreaking progress with their product and have sold to large clients in help because of the new branding.


Here is a work in progress, this is the proposed cover for TDR Records' Texas-based band, Barely Blind. Entitled "My Life With A Giant," this also went through many iterations and digital coloring was the obvious choice for something of this magnitude and with the time I had, as well as the budget. I'm also doing a 6-panel interior, the disc, the design...basically the entire thing. The band had a strong sense of direction for what they wanted, so I had some creative freedom within their given parameters. The rest of the booklet is also done by hand and colored digitally, so it'll be interesting to see how it comes out.





In other news, I've been meaning to avoid the computer as much as possible for the next few assignments. When deadlines are short it's very helpful, but I don't want to abandon the look I often favor of digital. I guess each project will just dictate the direction.

About time

It's about time General MIlls appeases me. Maybe they read my first blog? No, but anyways, check these out, buy them, and tell General MIlls you love them and will buy more of their cereal.

We are spoiled

Just came across this site

It's pretty much a ffffound or digg, only it has all kinds of great handpicked images/videos from all over.

http://dropular.net/

Wow

The new Death Cab video is INCREDIBLE. I was awestruck, the character design is simple and childish, but this animation is just blowing my mind. So, very, very, very well done. And the themes in the video are so strongly communicated through the animation, whoever did this will probably be around for awhile. Hot damn.

Grapevine Fires

Obama's Congress Address

If anybody caught the Obama address last night, it was terrific. It is such a relief to have somebody in charge who understands the importance of innovation and creative thinking, especially energy independence and the need for a new mass transit system in this country.

If any of you have read Thomas Friedman's "Hot, Flat and Crowded," Friedman makes the case that America needs to lead the energy revolution, and Obama is fully on board. If you haven't watched the address last night, please take a moment (or an hour) to look at what's ahead in the near future for not only we creative thinkers, but for the world.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sketchbook Scan

Here are some scans from my sketchbook last semester, I just crammed them onto one image.

New Illustration

For my 'Layouts & Rendering' Class, we had to design a children's storybook cover, which featured us as a kid that also featured something we were into as kids. This was a no-brainer, it was either something with UFO's, the Loch Ness Monster, Dinosaurs or space. My Loch Ness monster idea progressed to my "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' idea, which led me to just draw cartoony ginat squids. The 'Nautilus' was replaced with a generic sub and since my pose had 'legs that were too long for a 13 year old,' i had my 13 year old brother pose. I'm not completely content with this, I'm not used to rendering anything to hell, but I figured I'd just go with it since I already put the time in. Anyways, here it is, for now. "Jimmy & the Uncharted Sea."


And a closer view.



Also, for some reason, this version is extremely saturated and doesn't show the texture I wasted so much time on, but oh well. I approached this project with a few parameters: not too much detail, don't digital paint, use lots of vector shading, etc., and I stayed within them pretty well. The original drawing was on 24x30" paper, and the Photoshop file is 1.9 GB because I'm a layer whore. Anyways, this is going into our CIA Illustration show in a few days, so it'll be printed massive, hopefully not to the extent where I will notice all of the flaws.

It really reminded me of Flintstones era Hanna Barbara, the amount of texture incorporated into the backgrounds was just great.