SLACKER

Well, I've been busy with a project of my own the past 6 months or so and I'm ready to share.  Turns out I ended up playing drums in a rock band.  Three old farts and one hotshot guitarist.  Of course at my age I don't take it too seriously.  In fact, everything about it has been completely contrary to the norm.  Oddly, not caring and doing everything the opposite of "the right way" has made things fall into place perfectly!  Fortunately for me, I get to utilize all my skills on this project.  I give you the band called, SLACKER.

I'm drumming on the video immersed in smoke but I'm also running the light show from the drum riser.  I spent 2 weeks setting the lights up and another week programming them, which I cued remotely.

Now, if you really want to see something strange, you've gotta check out the band website, which... um... strangely looks like this one.  The band and the site are run by the band's personal troll... a fat, grumpy, red troll with gas, named Guano.
Guano even has a Facebook page.  How can you not love that grisly face? The band rehearses in his cave and Guano deals with all of the band's affairs.  You can meet the troll at www.slackerband.com
A CD is out and is available on iTunes, CD Baby and all the other usual music download sites.

Who gives a Flying Flink?

She claimed it was a unique opportunity to globally promote the work of artists by submitting graphic icons to be used as status updates by Flinkers.

Flink12 is a tiny social networking site that launched in December to try to shave off a piece of Facebook by exploiting the fears of FB’s privacy issues.  Unfortunately, they’re making mistakes right out of the gate.  I received an email last month from Brenda McEwan who wanted me, and readers of my blog, to know about Flink’s “Global Icon Art Competition”. 

As a graphic designer who was a part of the brainstorming sessions from which the No Spec site was born, which warns designers of the pitfalls of crowd sourcing and art “competitions”, I immediately saw red flags.

I responded to Brenda McEwan’s email by pointing her to the NoSpec site and several other sites which explain why it is better to review professional artist portfolios and choose one who displays a style that fits the need.  I explained that to ask people to spend their time creating original artwork and submit it for free with the chance that they may be lucky enough to be chosen, is demeaning to our profession.  You don’t hold a competition to have plumbers install pipes in your house and then pay only one of them that you choose out of them all.  The result is wasted time by everyone else, the profession is belittled and... a more important point, you probably won’t get the quality art you seek, because most people who join in on crowd sourced art competitions are not professionals.  Some people, to their credit, have learned this the hard way.

Brenda says that, if chosen, Flink will commission you on a “work-for-hire contract” (another red flag).  She has contacted many design bloggers with her offer, obviously meant to spread the Flinking name around.  I warned her that there may be negative press in Flink’s future and told her to pass my response on to CEO Anne Crowley and CTO Darren Inksetter.  Recently, I came across Matt Bors blog who also had an exchange with Brenda.  So my warning was ignored and my prediction correct.

So why would I join, submit to, or recommend a new “social network platform” when it’s obviously run by people who just don’t seem to have any respect for me or my profession?  Weeks later, they continue to run their spec work competition and snub the graphic design professionals they sought to participate and spread the word about their “send us free art” scam.  And they don’t care if they get amateur work and they don’t care if people spend hours doing work for nothing. 
Well, I don’t give a flink about them either. I’ll stick with Facebook.

Rant over!

Old and Worn is Sometimes Chic

Some things laying around my studio that have developed a nice aged patina.

The Hawaii weather, especially right here next to the ocean, can be ruthless to objects left out in the elements, as the paint job on my Xterra proves.  But sometimes things will seem to look better over time.
Wish I could say the same for humans...  These jugs already had a cracked finish when they were new.  Now they've got a cracked, peeled and chipped finish.

It's odd to see a old time-worn cherub.

I probably should have put this old children's book from 1895 in plastic years ago.

My personal brooding gargoyle figurine was given by a good friend many years ago and he's been perched next to my desk ever since.

A couple old cartoons I did years ago turned up on Facebook. These were of the band "August" that I was doing lighting for back in the early 80's. As a road crew member, I had drawn 5 cartoons in 5 years starting in 1979 to be used to market the band.

August rocked the Boston area and the tumbling Marshall cabinets behind them were to illustrate the band's power.

The members changed a bit over the years. Guitarist Dave Amato shown in these first two cartoons moved on after the 1980 cartoon above and now plays for REO Speedwagon. The band was carrying on as a trio in the 1981 cartoon below. I gave drummer Louie Santoro a couple of "morning star" clubs to pound his drums with.

The late great bassist Jamie Pease is in all 5 cartoons as well as front-man guitarist Jimmy D'angelo.

Jimmy D is a living legend in the Boston area and in the 1982 cartoon they had picked up guitarist Scott Hanley.

The 1983 cartoon shows Jeff Houck on guitar and Dave Balcom on drums. Jimmy and Dave are still together in a band.

That same year, I had my first published cartoon in an international magazine. It was a cartoon for Elliot Easton of The Cars who had been writing a column for Guitar World magazine. It showed Elliot playing chess with his guitar. These early published pieces led me to realize how much fun it would be to make a living doing art and cartoons.

The energy of these musician friends was so inspirational to me and I love them for that. There were wild times, lots of laughing and, yes, hefty doses of debauchery, but there was also creativity, risk-taking and the thrill that came from the anticipation of potentially reaching success, wealth and fame.

Here's a watercolor drawing of Jimmy D'angelo from around 1980 that I may have gone a little over the top with. But to his credit Jimmy has a great sense of humor and still has it framed on his wall. Jimmy D is still the quintessential rocker.

I think I even found the photos of Jimmy that I used as reference. Keep on rockin', JD!

Cartooning Cactus Pete

Cactus Pete was an old prospector who spent years pannin' fer gold in the desert without much luck, but the other prospectors sure did get a hankerin' fer his grub cookin'.  And so ol' Pete's fortune began to change when he started rustling up them thar juicy steaks for the local cowpokes and prospectors.



Next thang ya know, Pete was wrangling chickens fer fryin' an' a-stewin' and servin' up the bestest ding dang whiskey and the coldest beer in da whole gobdern state o' Texas, DJAAAGNABBIT!!!

Well, that was the back story I dreamt up and presented to the owner of the restaurant after he hired me to create a cartoon character and menus for "Cactus Pete's Steakhouse & Saloon".

I drew the ol' coot on the cover of the menu holding up a sizzling T-bone over an open campfire.  A friendly Saguaro cactus puts a needly arm on his shoulder and a nearby steer's skull gives an approving smile.

Can't ya just hear that coyote howlin' in the distance?

I lettered the entire menu by hand and peppered the inside with various tiny vignettes of Cactus Pete doing things like panning for gold and riding a bull.  Then printed it on old parchment paper.

Yes, I love to do 'toons.  Character creation is REALLY fun and I've come up with lots of 'em like ol' Cactus Pete.  Just need to dig 'em up from whatever drawer they're hiding in.  So stop by again real soon and I'll git aroun' to postin' em.

Y'all come back now... ya hear?

When Minimalism goes Wrong

A few months ago in Japan, I bought some T-shirts in a little souvenir shop called Fujidoll in the Narita airport terminal and walked out with them in this bag with a great graphic of a geisha on it.  Here it is months later and I can't even throw it out because I think it's so cool.  I love graphic art like this.  Lines are broken down to whisks of the artist's hand.  The strokes become mere suggestions of a body pose and swirls for clothing portray a mood.  This style works really well for fashion illustration.  It's also the same mindset a designer takes on when creating a logo... to refine and simplify a design while maintaining a style, emotion or meaning.

Which brings the line art of Ty Wilson to mind.  I was immediately impressed the first time I saw one of Wilson's posters.

He has a great knack for using only a few broad strokes of ink and spots of color to represent a scene.  It's what is left out that is most intriguing.  Who needs to draw lips to show a romantic kiss?

The thick and thin of the ink lines are important because of the way they can draw attention TO something or away from something.  They lead your eye to follow the line somewhere.

While I was browsing a few Ty Wilson samples online, I noticed something really strange about one of his pieces...  Titled "Impromptu", it depicts an art deco couple at a table sipping champagne.  She's already had a few and I guess she's knocked over her glass to tickle the chin of her handsome date. 

Apparently, he doesn't notice her glaring physical deformity, a left arm that has a right hand on it.  I have no explanation for this... and I'm left to wonder about it.  Either Ty screwed up or he did this on purpose...

If publishers are selling this print, surely somebody must have pointed it out? 
Now I'm thinking of doing something like this on my own... maybe a painting of a guy with two left feet... just to see if anyone notices!

There's a royal palace in Hawaii, a grand residence that was built for the Hawaiian royals, King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi'olani.

On a recent trip to Honolulu, I had a chance to venture off with my camera, snapping at anything that happened to catch my eye. Wandering onto the grounds of Iolani Palace, I passed through the wrought iron gates which had this royal seal mounted upon it. The seal depicts the coat of arms of the kingdom of Hawaii.  
"Ua mau ke ea o ka'aina i ka pono" translated to English is, "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness".

A long walkway leads up to the palace with an inviting grassy lawn and huge monkey pod trees. The building was very appealing in character so I approached for a closer look.

The Florentine architecture is unusual in that it has an Hawaiian twist which makes it truly unique. The openness of the lanais on two floors reflects the tropical weather as compared to 19th century buildings in Europe of the same style.

The rectangular palace is the same when viewed from the front or the back.

Built in 1882, it looks the same now as it did then as you can see from this old photo.

Fluted Corinthian columns line the facade adorned with capitals carved into curled acanthus leaves.

 

 Fine detail in the molding above the capitals.

 As well as the stairs and arches at the entrance and the iron railings above.

 Below, you can see the beautiful corbels, cornices and dentil molding on the top of the central tower.

Looking toward one of the corner towers I suddenly remembered that Steve McGarrett was supposed to have his Five-O headquarters in that upper corner room.

More beautiful design and character in the slate tiles on the turret roof.

These absolutely stunning etched glass windows are perfect examples of Greco-Victorian design, and yet, they're located here in Hawaii rather than somewhere in Europe.

Inside, the grand staircase is like a waterfall running down to a reflecting pool in a forest of koa wood.

Outside on the grounds next to the palace is where the coronation of the king and queen took place back in 1883. A lavish luau was held here to celebrate the event.

A photo taken at the time shows the decorations and another shows the actual event.

Bodies in Motion

Phone photos of a dance group performing doesn't yield any details. I didn't expect it would. But I did become intrigued by the images. The blurred movement causes limbs to seem to bend in odd ways. They become like stick figures, apparitions skating on jet streams.