Category: art

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Archive it

We recently got rid of a bunch of books. One of them was “The World of Donald Evans.” My parents gave it to me as a birthday gift, a long time ago. It’s a fascinating look at fictional stamps this artist created before he died at the age of 31.

I realized I had not looked at the book in almost as long as I’ve owned it. So I sold it on Amazon… but not before I took some representative photos of the content. So now I can remember that lovely gift, without my kids having to give it to a charity shop when I die. And having to take the time to do so. If they want to dig through my old hard drives, they can do so. But those will take up the space of just a few shoe boxes. Or by then, a small flash drive. Or a small bit of the cloud. (But I like owning my own data!!)

I’ve written about this before: here and here. But I feel strongly enough about it that I wanted to remind you of this concept.

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An early SUV

Digging through boxes last weekend, I came across this drawing from yours truly – circa a long time ago.

Yes, I did invent the idea of SUVs. (Sadly, the royalty payments are way behind.)

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Slightly wonky

“Wonky” is a great word. Askew or amiss might have a close meaning, for those of you not from the UK.

Anyhow, sometimes it’s better for a thing to be slightly imperfect for it to be more interesting. In the case of this little sign, if the clear background portion were perfectly aligned with the front portion, it would be boring.

Takeaway: Can you be intentional about adding some interest to projects you are working on? Adding a tiny bit of chaos could be a good thing.

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Go see some art

Art is a wonderful way to look at our world differently. I know if I had seen the actual head of this particular high school student, she would look different. But in difference is found beauty.

The weekend approacheth. Go out to see some art. It’s often free, if you look in the right places.

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Not illustration

I went off to college majoring in art. I was always the best artist in my small high school class. At the big university, I quickly learned that there were others who could draw rings around me.

But that’s not the focus of this story. Because I had talent in drawing, I minored in illustration. I had somehow forgotten that each year I did a drawing for the high school art contest, it was like having a baby (or at least what I imagine that might be like). I had forgotten that the only time I drew each year was to win the contest.

So after a year of having illustration “babies,” I switched my minor to package design. And I never looked back.

Takeaway: Are you doing something that’s not a good fit? What can you do to change things?

Illustration? I discovered along the way that taking photos was an easier way to illustrate my point than creating an illustration. And this photo does not illustrate any point, except that I had fun taking the photo.

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Graffiti is universal

I love graffiti.

The spontaneity and daring that goes into this artform always fascinates me. I found this mural on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The artist even has his own website. And the video is worth checking out. Apparently he has traveled all over the world doing his art.

It’s interesting to me that the basic style of graffiti is quite similar all over the world.

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Inspired by type

Some of you may remember that in a previous life, I was a graphic designer. (I still do some design – but that’s less than half of how I spend my working days.)

So a few weeks ago, I got another email newsletter – this one from MyFonts, featuring a typeface called Lady Rene. I saw their little slideshow and just wanted to create. That’s pretty rare.

Did I? Well – I’m producing this blog post. Actually creating something with Lady Rene would cost me $59. But I could emulate her.

Maybe later.

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Helping her fight

Rachel has the collector gene. I know it. Heather knows it.

These reading glasses broke recently. To avoid her keeping them for an unknown art project to come, I skipped the step that might come a few years down the line and quietly put them in my nearby waste basket.

Yes, you can call me mean, but since she doesn’t read this blog (yet), she won’t hear you. I’m just helping her fight our dreaded collector gene.

Update: check out the comments. Value added – and changed thinking – are reflected there.

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