Spotted two especially lovely illustrations in yesterday's New York Times Sunday Review. One for an article about the environmental impact of air conditioning, by Victo Ngai:
And this one about how to be more productive by taking time off, by Vidhya Nagarajan:
Both of their portfolios are stunning.
Our family celebrated in Vermont a few days early. As well as some extended family, all six of us were all there-- for the first time since last year-- and we all brought our significant others-- a total first! It was a wonderful weekend, though over much too quickly. Lots of grilling, hikes in the woods, catching up on reading, walks to town for ice cream, and of course my dad and his friend's fireworks-- which seem to be bigger and crazier each year.
My brother Sam took the photo of the bonfire on our last night there. (Go check out his photos of those fireworks here. Be sure to click on the image to see them larger. They're awesome! )
Happy belated 4th of July! I hope everyone had a good time.
"Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."
--Nora Ephron
Best. Zoetrope. Ever.
[vimeo 42706538 w=475 h=251]
Credits:
by Alexandre DUBOSC © (France, 1' 40", 2012) Sound design & Music : yanfiorello.com
Be sure to check out the "Making OeuF" photos here.
Brain exploding.
I love looking at these behind-the-scenes photos.
Fun, right?
Ha.
Carrie Fisher and her stunt double.
And this one has been my screen saver for a while now.
More behind-the-scenes photos here.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/23397411 w=400&h=300]
...your measuring stick for how clearly you're thinking, is if you're able to be kind.
I listened to this yesterday and found the conversation so inspiring. (Audio is available for download as well. But I think it's edited down.)
"On Being" is one of my favorite podcasts. Do you listen?
I'm looking forward to reading Boorstein's books.
I realized today that Maurice Sendak is one of those people I had, somewhere along the line, subconsciously, decided would live forever. Like a crotchety, brilliant, Bilbo Baggins, surely he would outlive me.
I've been actively thinking about him a lot lately-- he was referenced several times at this conference I went to a couple weeks ago, our library is having a show of his work, his recent NPR interview, as well as his hilarious stint on the Corbert Report. I was impressed to hear that at 83 he was working on a new book, further solidifying his current role in my life as "long-lasting-career role model."
One of the first picture books I remember being obsessed with is Outside Over There. Honestly, as a kid, I really didn't appreciate Where the Wild Things Are, though I loved In the Night Kitchen. But I pored over Outside Over There.
(Incidentally, the books were a trilogy of sorts. According to Sendak:
They are all variations on the same theme: how children master various feelings - danger, boredom, fear, frustration, jealousy - and manage to come to grips with the realities of their lives.)
The story was fascinating and scary: A kidnapping and a baby made of ice! Would I be as brave as Ida, fighting goblins, to save my little sister? (Though I was pretty sure I would have heard the goblins climbing in, even if I was practicing my horn--so negating the need for such a journey. Pretty sure.) Would I ever be able to draw a woman so beautiful as the mother? (For much of my childhood this was one was of my main goals.) I wished for a long, yellow cloak.
The NY Times review states:
It is also obvious enough that its story is really about an older sister's ambivalent feelings toward a younger sibling, and about getting one's feelings under control ...
Ah perhaps my obsession, as a newly older sister, now makes sense.
Little Bear was another favorite. He was silly (--You're not really on the moon, Little Bear!) but relatable, and I had a friend named Emily too.
Years later while attending Pratt, Sendak was interviewed as part of a lecture series. I didn't know what to expect-- I hadn't heard him speak before. I was thrown at first, but then loved his lack of charm and artifice. His quick witt. At the time his "Wild Things" were plastered all over the city as part of an ad campaign for Verizon. I remember someone challenging him on that, and I sort of loved his honest response. There was a lot next to his house in Brooklyn that he wanted to buy. The deal enabled him to do so. With a mischevious look, he added that getting paid to compare a large communication company to hulking monsters, was a bonus.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U68bZbMM7q8]
To be dramatic in a way that would probably amuse him, I'll end with saying that the path I've chosen is due in no small part to Mr. Sendak and his books. "I'm in the milk. And the milk's in me."
I picked up my business cards from Moo.com yesterday evening! They're in East Providence, so it was a short trip over-- nice to save money and time on the shipping.
(Well, I should have saved time. Funny story: I was going to post this right when I got home, but I locked my keys in the car in their parking lot. Oh thank you, thank you AAA. I don't know why I don't have your number in my speed dial. And thank you to the nice people at Moo who let me hang out inside even though their office was closing. Anyways, this meant I spent the rest of the evening rushing around. Hilarious.)
I think they came out pretty cute. It was a last minute decision to go with Moo, so I didn't really take full advantage of the different images option. But I'm happy with the two I picked.
I especially love the back.
So thumbs up for Moo-- good quality, easy interface, and great customer service.-- Even if you don't lock your keys in the car, they're still really nice and helpful.
Now that we take G to the train every morning, Luna and I get to walk in the grounds at the State House across the street. We love it:
Here's a collection of entertaining links to brighten your doomed Friday the 13th:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIqj_ZgGN0]
Next week I'll post some of the new work I'm bringing to the conference...
Happy weekend everybody!
I'm still here! I've just got my head down, racing to the finish line, trying to finish up a few projects for the New England SCBWI Conference next weekend.
But here's a peek at what I'm working on.
My brother Sam has started a new site called Photo Everyone:
...a blog dedicated to creating a home for up-and-coming portrait and people photographers.
They're looking for submissions now! So gather up your cool photographs, and photographer friends and get over there!
By gathering the appropriate scenes and then placing them in one wide shot, filmmaker Jeff Desom created a video installation of the neighborhood events as they unroll in Hitchcock's film "Rear Window." I love this.
I dissected all of Hitchcock's Rear Window and stiched it back together in After Effects. I stabilized all the shots with camera movement in them. Since everything was filmed from pretty much the same angle I was able to match them into a single panoramic view of the entire backyard without any greater distortions. The order of events stays true to the movie's plot.
The whole thing takes twenty minutes to screen, but below is a time-lapse. Wouldn't you love to see it in person?
Pretty sweet, right?
Did you guys read the article "The Best Nanny Money Can Buy" in the NY Times Sunday Magazine last week? Being a former nanny of a zillion years, plus a huge fan of illustrator Jillian Tamaki, who illustrated the piece, I was intrigued to say the least.
Turns out these nannies were way outta my league:
A nanny can increase her marketability if she can help manage an art collection, draft correspondence, wash and fold 50 linens a day and help set up philanthropic events. Bonus points if she can do it all in Mandarin.
I suppose I could figure out how to do all of those things, but almost definitely not in Mandarin.
Isn't that illustration great? (Remember when I illustrated nannies for Time Out magazine?)
Happy weekend everybody!
PS. Oh yes, this is happening tomorrow. Do you ever participate? I'm usually not up for grand symbolic gestures that ultimately feel a bit empty (--and have large corporate sponsors.) But the thought of everything going dark is just so wonderful...
You may have noticed, but last week I quietly launched my new site. I still have some portfolio sections to add in and some other fixing up to do, but it's about done folks! I'm pretty excited to have a site that shows off all of my work. And just in time for a new postcard mailing!
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebtGRvP3ILg]
So this is pretty much one of the best videos ever. I'm gonna watch this next time I take a scary leap.-- right? (I actually have some scary ones coming up.) And how awesome is that kid?!
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/34824490 w=400&h=225]
"Puppet Parade" from Design I/O is an "interactive puppetry experience," and it looks awesome.
As I keep mentioning, I'm in the midst of re-branding my work self. (Yeah, referring to "branding" feels a bit grandiose, but I have new logo and a more cohesive "look" so it's an apt description.) For the last couple of days (weeks) I've been banging my head on my desk trying to get my site done. I hoped to unveil it today, but it's not there yet. So in the meantime, here's a preview of a few of the things I'm changing:
A. New logo! That one wasn't ever a "real" logo-- ie it was just the header that came with my Wordpress theme. I "customized" it with the triangle pattern, and tag line, but didn't choose the layout or font. Really excited to have a new logo that I can use all over the place. I designed it myself, so I might keep tweaking it, but I like where it's at for the moment.
B. I'm going to have a new menu (actually two!) that will allow me to divide up my work more cohesively. It's a bit confusing at the moment. I thought about getting rid of of one my illustration styles to simplify things, but the thing is I like creating in that style and happily, people like paying me to do so. It will be easier to find in the new layout.
C. I've gotten rid of that stupid white space. This was actually the biggest quibble Zero2illo had when they reviewed my site. Curse you "white space"! Another default setting of my old theme, that space is actually supposed to house a "header" which I hated and promptly got rid of. I could never figure out how to write it out completely though, so I've been stuck with the odd white space above my content. Not cool.
D. On my new front page I have a gallery that cycles through my most recent projects.
I. am. so. close.
Happy Birthday to a wonderful dance partner, expert backpacker, arch-way builder extraordinaire, and tireless real estate consultant. Love you, Dad.
...And a happy birthday to my Uncle Bill, as well. That's the three of us below. Check out the studs!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKHXyvsR-U]
Are you familiar with Sophie Blackall's illustrations? I knew her from her brilliant "Missed Connections" series, and separately as a children's illustrator, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize they were the same person, until today. Sigh. You'd think I would have put it together after spotting the video above, and seeing the cover of the most recent SCBWI Bulletin:
But nope.
It wasn't until I started writing this that I figured it out. But now I'm thrilled to discover her site and all of her work, including another series "Drawn From My Father's Adventures," which looks amazing.
What do you think? Did you already have an illustrator-crush on Sophie Blackall?
Today Theodor Seuss Geisel would be 108 years old!
Some things I didn't know about him:
Did you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book growing up?
It's hard to choose, but I think mine was Green Eggs and Ham. That Sam was just so annoying. "I do not like them, Sam-I-am!"