Nancy @ drawger

Ode to Ordinariness

2008-09-29T22:28:06+00:00

Peter Cusack, in addition to being a painter of beautiful images himself, is an art director for a book publisher. He gave me such freedom on this assignment that I found myself going off in a different direction and having a lot of fun.

My idea was to make a gift rise out of an ordinary landscape.

[Wow...! I just went to Peter's site to get the link above and found I had missed his watercolors from a trip to Positano. Beautiful.]

Worried Obama for TNR

2008-09-23T05:52:07+00:00

The New Republic called for a cover that would be a spin-off of the Shepard Fairey posters displaying a drawing of Obama with words such as Progress, Change and Hope at the bottom.

What sounded like a breeze was more of a tightrope walk than I thought. It couldn't be too much like the drawings on the existing posters. They wanted him to look worried, but not too upset. And then there was the problem of having to work from photo reference in order to achieve a likeness, but not too close to any one photograph.

I sent this in with my fingers crossed and they went for it right away. It's online and now I have to pick it up at the newsstand... well, in the morning. This city might never sleep, but we humans have our limits.

New Show: Women's Work

2008-09-08T02:58:49+00:00

Two recent shows at the Society of Illustrators have disappointed me in their lack of participation by a proportionate number of women illustrators, the Anti-War show and the upcoming Politics 08.

Where is the strong, conceptual work being done by women illustrators? We all know that there are plenty of us in the business and that we do have personal viewpoints. Is it simply that women don't get these assignments and so don't have strong editorial pieces to show— which keeps the cycle going? Are women afraid to voice an opinion? Are our ideas shot down before they see the light?

The Women's Work show (here in the bowels of drawger) is meant to encourage women to demonstrate their ability to conceptualize, think critically and come up with images that carry a viewpoint on whatever subject enlists passionate feelings from them.

I'm proud to write that Zina Saunders is someone who did an image specifically for the show expressing an opinion that she says she wouldn't have painted otherwise. And it's a beaut..!

Other early submitters are Cathie Bleck and Diana Bryan. Thanks to all three for getting this off to a great start.

Tennis Heaven

2008-08-29T17:58:26+00:00

Last night my college roommate invited me to join her in the President's box (that's the USTA president, not the White House, but almost) at the US Open.

You wouldn't believe the size of this place. There is a huge dining room upstairs (lower right), fully staffed bar (going clockwise), view out the glass door and one person inside watching Serena on the flat-screen.

The second match was Rafael Nadal playing a qualifier. The score would make you believe Nadal steamrolled the poor guy, but he was a feisty player and had a 3-0 lead in the third set and a great attitude in the post-game interview. One of the best things about being there was not having to suffer through all the commentary on tv.

Now to me, a sports stadium should be all about hot dogs and Cracker Jacks and everyone being able to sit down close, but it sure was nice to see how the other half (actually that's more like top 5%) live. De Luxe...!!

Another not destined for any annual

2008-08-11T20:27:45+00:00

Well, at least I'm having a good time.

The AD originally wanted me to knit something to go across an entire spread in her magazine with the word "Fabric" woven into the weave. I was so excited to be using my "crafts as illustration" side that it took me a half a day to realize that the close up she wanted wouldn't allow enough room for the word to be knitted in and that even if I could do something, I wouldn't have the lens or ability to photograph it properly.

So, I sent her a sketch of a way for me to draw the weave large as she wanted and get the title on there. I would draw the fabric and add a satin label.

I started in Illustrator and messed around with it a bit more in Photoshop. My original plan had been to stitch out the lettering, but with time constraints, I decided to break out the clone tool rather than my embroidery machine. My favorite touch was the loose thread.

The art director was very pleased. Everyone was happy. A day or two passed. Then came the call..... the title of the article was "Fabric Fundamentals". Could I write that on the label, please? I asked her to let me see what I could come up with rather than squeeze all that on one line.

In the end, I decided to make it the care label. Or "made in...". One of those many add ons that scratch our necks. She liked the idea. I didn't have to ruin the lettering and a hush of peace covered the earth. The end.

Ch-ch-ch-changes...!

2008-08-01T15:35:22+00:00

Yesterday morning, at the stroke of the deadline bell (11am), I handed in my drawing of a bottle of wine for today's Weekend section of the WSJ. With the sketch enthusiastically approved a couple of days before, I thought I had a nice relaxing rest of the day lined up.

Now, I'm not a wine drinker, unless someone pours me a glass and sticks it in front of my face and proposes a toast that I can't resist. (I've been told it's bad luck to toast with San Pelagrino). I guess I should have recognized that the wines listed were all red wines. And would "first growth" be beaujolais? Maybe I should have researched this but I thought it was generic and went with the color I like best, the softly green cast of white wine.

A short while after hearing from the art director (Matt Weber, great guy..!) that he liked the drawing, I got another call that it had to be red wine, Gasp.

So, I made the color changes and sent it back in record time.

Then there was a pause. I didn't hear from him right away. He's very responsive and their deadline was getting really really close. Then the email that I dread. They had to make changes there because the bottle shape was also incorrect.

I called back and asked if I could do them myself. He was happy to have me try but only had a small window. Can you spell adrenalin? Can I? Is it with or without an "e"?

All's well that prints well. I got it back to him on time and I think it's in today's paper. Haven't had the chance to go to the newsstand yet.

They didn't use the image online, but did put the border I made for the accompanying chart. The job was fun. The rush was a good jolt and I learned my lesson to not assume anything about wine or subjects I don't know well.

I had a lot of fun drawing the bill which was used for the chart and part of the label. And figuring how to get it wrapped.

This isn't going to get into any annuals, but I still enjoyed creating it.

On the Roadshow

2008-06-28T23:44:00+00:00

ICON5 is almost here..! And I'm about ready for the Roadshow. Have my iPhoto books ready, big and small. The little ones are to give away along with magnets, lapel pins, postcards and a pile of Workbook tearsheets. My drawing table will be wiped clear by the time I'm through..!

The iPhoto books were easy to layout and printed really well. Quick turnaround and about as painless a process as can be.

The layouts aren't identical since I put more images into the larger book.

By the way, it's not too late to attend ICON5. They kept the price the same as the original web price so that procrastinators could decide to go last minute.

Profile Stock

2008-06-06T20:13:43+00:00

Paying my bills (finally) today, I ran across this card that came in the mail from Profile Stock. I kept it because I thought it was pretty neat that with their all type treatment, my stamp ended up being the only image on the card..!

Sneaky Nancy

Getting Ready for ICON Roadshow

2008-05-20T16:45:24+00:00

I've decided to do the Roadshow for ICON5 as well as attend the conference. I've never done a portfolio review before but with friends Jean Tuttle who has the experience to guide me, and Zina who is also new at this to learn alongside and lots of others with great work to inspire (Mary Lynn Blasutta just decided to go, too..!), I'm beginning to have some fun with it.

One of the books I'm going to put together will be of "out of my head" sketches. Rough things that I may polish a bit, add color and see if I have a viable illustration style that will allow me to work more quickly. The business has changed, I need to be able to do work that can fit the tighter deadlines. This may be a solution.

Some people spotted the drawings I've stuck in my sketchbook gallery. Here are a few more.

This One's for Peter

2008-05-07T03:43:02+00:00

Having the iPhone in my pocket has started me looking more at things I normally pass by quickly. And NYC is having a true spring season to add to the fun. Here is the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt at 72nd street in Riverside Park. It made me think of Peter's use of planes in his drawings. I know the statue won't be new to him, but Peter, this one's for you.

My Trip to Detroit

2008-04-13T17:19:35+00:00

My good friend and fellow drawger, Don K, invited me out to the school where he teaches (College for Creative Studies) for a talk, demo and good eats. Demos make me all panicky inside, but these went pretty well. It always gives me a charge if I can show something that I think is magical on the computer and I hear "wow"s and "oooh"s from the group rivaled only by the curtain opening on The Price is Right and a combination washer / dryer revealed as the next prize. I showed a few things in Illustrator, forgot to do my Photoshop portion of the demo and moved on to Painter. Most people know the first two programs pretty well by the time they get to college, so focusing on Painter seemed the right way to go. I should have bought Corel stock before I left.

There wasn't much time between all the events, but with the DIA right there, Don took me over to see the Diego Rivera murals. Absolutely gorgeous. I really regret not getting to see the Ashcan show, but I was one tired pup as it was.

Everyone at the school was incredibly nice and the students were excellent, full of enthusiasm. Getting to visit with Don and meet his kids and spend time with Kate, his wife was the best part of a great trip.

Play at the ICON5 US Open..!

2008-04-08T06:22:03+00:00

Here's a proposition. When ICON5 comes to town (weekend of July 4th), I'd like to get a bunch of illustrators and art directors / designers / art buyers /reps to play some tennis out at Flushing Meadows, the home of the US Open. ICON attendees would have priority among illustrators. We can team up with each other and play under the lights one balmy evening that weekend. Subway out, car service back. Split the court fees. What do you think? Spouses and significant others can sub (I hear Doug Fraser's wife is a nice player) and anyone can come along to hang out in the stands and cheer for favorite players. This will go up on the ICON5 website if enough people are interested, so speak up..!

Update: 4/23 The lack of a good response here didn't deter me, but I finally got to speak with someone at the NTC who knew what she was talking about and they are having a tournament that will go all day and night the entire weekend. So, I have cancelled any plans for tennis during ICON5.

Open That Bottle

2008-03-15T04:09:32+00:00

I had a fun, quick job for the WSJ this week. Ketrina Hoskin was the art director and she was terrific. The article was reporting on the results of this year's "Open That Bottle" night. People who participated wrote in to tell about the wines they had been saving and how they tasted and why they had held onto them.

They had asked for hands opening a bottle using a corkscrew, but when I got mine out to photograph, I liked the celebratory pose it made and added a question mark to show how doubtful many people were that the wine would be any good. The descriptions of the wines that didn't make it were the most fun, "smelled like air let out of a basketball".

The two drawings on the inside ran in b&w, a real disappointment. Still it was fun to draw.

I had pictured doing a very graphic treatment but the folks at the WSJ wanted some perspective to the glass and a more painterly technique.

Self-demotion?

2008-03-10T19:16:09+00:00

Over the weekend, I thought I should do something for self-promotion, maybe a set of blank greeting cards to send to future clients. These were ideas that I came up with long ago but never followed through with, so maybe they've been rattling around in my brain too long. I can't tell if they're too.... too.....

This one looked funny as a sketch, but once the time is taken to draw it out, it looks so serious. But maybe that lends to the tongue-in-cheekiness of it. I have no idea.

My creeping doubts started setting in late last night and now I need to do real work.

And the Winner Is....

2008-02-04T22:19:53+00:00

Alan Witschonke...!

If you haven't kept up with the first Drawger Open Scrabble Tournament, here is the filled in draw and resulting scrabble boards. Be prepared to learn some new words, but remember these were challenge games and some players were prone to bluffing (ahem! <- me... RAG...).

Here is the board for the finals. Carl decided to toss in his tiles after the gap in the score became too wide due to challenges and the resulting lost turns.

Check out some of those words..!

Congratulations to Alan..!!

Quelle surprise..!

2008-01-16T22:09:29+00:00

Ever run across an image of yours in an unexpected place? It's always a mixed reaction of "Hey, look, that's mine..!" and "Should I have gotten paid for that use?". This was in a French magazine, a special issue of Le Figaro that is entirely on Woody Allen. Nice reference photos and I'm always looking to practice my French (which is lousy, but it doesn't stop me). It was a real surprise to find they had used my image on the foreign posters. I'm not sure whether they had purchased the right to do that, but who cares? It was 1989 and I got a chuckle out of seeing it printed.

Per Zina's request, here's the poster a little bigger.

Drawger Open Draw

2008-01-15T01:52:57+00:00

Here is the draw for the First (and maybe only) Drawger Open Scrabble Tournament.

There was no magic formula in selecting the positions for the line up. I went by who responded first and when Zina decided not to play, put Alan in her spot.

The top person of each pair will start the game. Specify TWL as the dictionary, challenge as the game type.

The second name in each pair should send that person the email address they want to use along with a screen name.

Start this Friday (practice until then) and send me the final scores when you are done. There is no rush, just let your opponent know if you are going to take more than a day between plays.

We've got an early return. Richard Allen and Laura Levine have completed what looks to have been a very tight match. With the final scores 356 to 345, Richard moves along to the next round. Congratulations on a good game.

A little drama with the concession by Bob Staake from his game with Alan Witschonke.

RAG and I had begun with Scrabulous but were in the middle of our game when it stopped working. So, we started over using the Facebook portal. After all that turmoil, I came out the victor. Don't look too closely at the board, we have a few unchallenged words that I've looked up since, "phore" by RAG, "gif" by Nancy.

Good game..!

We had a substitute in the final first round match, Carl Wiens stepped up to the plate and then hit a homer with a last minute bingo in what had been a neck and neck game with a solid opponent. Congratulations to both players...!

Our first semi-finalist is Alan Witschonke. He kept me off-balance the entire game. It didn't help that in a go-for-broke moment, I attempted a bogus word which was correctly challenged. Congratulations to Alan on a well-played game..!

What a squeaker..!! By one single point, we have our other semi-finalist, Carl Wiens. Carl stepped in at the last minute and has been playing like a man with a deadline..!

Drawger Open

2008-01-13T16:01:49+00:00

A number of us here are Scrabble players. I've played online with Linzie (she whomped me) and have logged in a half dozen games with Alan W (he's something like 5-1, coming up on set point soon). This makes me want to see the two of them pitted against each other as well as other drawgers who play.

So, I am proposing a Drawger Scrabulous Open. If you aren't familiar with the site Scrabulous, take a look. Play a few games (it doesn't cost, donations are encouraged and you only need to give them an email address and make up a screen name), see if you like it and then send me your info for the "draw".

Playing by email means that you don't have to play right away, you can answer when you have the time, but we will set a limit (say, two days) for a reply to keep the games going. Screen shots of the final board should be sent to me.

I'll keep everyone up to date on the games and we'll crown the winner in the end. Want to play? You know you do..!

Carrying a Toon

2008-01-07T20:25:26+00:00

Here's a fun site for creating a simple cartoon and exporting animated gifs from your results. No need to sign up or download anything. Illustrator Rick Tulka sent me the link below:

aniboom.com

Bookmakers

2007-09-30T12:46:39+00:00

Today there was a submission to my drawger gallery show, Found Faces, from a woman named Alison Kurke. I needed to contact her about one of the images and found that she makes books and lives outside of Rome. (Man, I love the web.)

The site I located her on is a blog for another book maker, Dennis Yuen. Both of them have wonderful examples of their work online.

Suzanne Vega Portrait: WSJ

2007-08-06T02:15:08+00:00

Thanks to drawger daveB, I got to do a fun assignment for the Wall Street Journal last week, a portrait of Suzanne Vega. It also got me to listen to her new album with its songs about NYC and even one about my own street.

At daveB's request, here is the full figure, including a close-up of the hand.

The other hand was the one that I thought was a coup. It actually reads as a hand, not a stump (at least I hope it does).

If there had been more time, I would have taken more photos to have different reference to work from, that being so tricky. But it was hot in here and with my studio light I was sweating while posing and ready to stop.

Gotta learn Poser.. or maybe not. It's usually fun getting dressed up in costumes for jobs and bringing all my acting skills into service. (Not required here.)

Playing with Poser

2007-07-30T16:16:37+00:00

Has anyone else played around with Poser? In the past, the figures looked too weird for me to consider the program, but they have improved. Looking over the tutorial on lynda.com made me decide to spring for the program.

I'm still not convinced it will be of help. Mostly I wanted reference for shadows. We'll see if it is worth the learning curve.

The Return of Prof Stahl

2007-07-16T17:45:57+00:00

Did you miss me? I was in Hartford, CT for the past week, teaching in Murray and Carol Tinkelman's independent study MFA program, now at Hartfort Art School, University of Hartford. It used to be at Syracuse.

My co-teacher this time was Jean Tuttle. Fellow drawger, Scott Bakal was a student in our class along with Jack Harris, known for his website design.

Jack showed me this painting and sketching program that anyone who doesn't own Painter (and even if you do own it) should download. There is a free version and a full version for the huge sum of $20. It's really nice. Does some things better than Painter and has a much simpler interface.

Try it out..!!

And they're off...!!!

2007-06-17T23:10:18+00:00

Friday was a beautiful day, perfect for my trip to Belmont Park to see the races. I have questions about the need for treating animals this way, but wanted to see the horses and the racetrack that I grew up very close to, but had never visited. And I wanted to shoot some reference of horses.

The place was pretty much empty when we arrived. A few hard core gambler types and surprisingly some families. My favorite part was when the bugler would come out and do that fanfare to announce the start of the race.

On the train ride there, I picked some horses whose names I liked. My intention was to check out the color of their silks before making my final decision on which to place my huge $2 bets. The first race we bet on I picked Spanky Fishbein. I almost changed my mind when I saw Spanky's silks. Gold and black. And that weird square outline. If I hadn't like the name so much, I would have switched to my second choice, Unity. Spanky won and Unity placed.

The grounds were prettier than I expected. See? I kept missing the front ends of the horses. Everything went by very fast. In the end, I was ahead $6 and change from my three bets, but then there was the $11 train ride to get out there. It was worth it, even if I wasn't a big winner.

Power Knitting

2007-06-11T22:51:44+00:00

Here is a glimpse into the world of computerized knitting. There is a program for PCs only (apparently works on Intel Macs, haven't tried it yet) called Design-a-Knit. That's what I use to draw out what the stitch pattern will look like. And why I have a PC laptop.

The next step is to download it to the knitting machine's computer with the teeny tiny screen. This is a photo of an early attempt. A failed design using the illoz logo is on the screen.

Okay, I admit I'm an addicted geek when it comes to my knitting machines. It has been a year since I had them both set up and as I was trying to thread the thing, I shook with nervous anticipation. I love this machine.

When you've got 150 stitches or more going, it's a real workout pushing the shuttle back and forth for hundreds of rows. (Hanoch can send you a photo of my pumped up arm.)

A tension swatch. Measuring this will give me the right gauge. The shape is in the computer and it figures it all out for me. Future socks for our Zimm?

Summer in the City

2007-06-07T00:41:09+00:00

I'm having a fun pre-summer doing the things I like the best. That means riding my bike along the Hudson and playing tennis on the clay courts. One of the pros at the club I play at during the winter is the former #7 men's singles player, Tim Mayotte. He approached me one day looking for someone to do a website for him. As it happened, I wanted to learn GoLive, so I volunteered to do a very basic one. After I put in some work, he offered to give me a few lessons. It's been lots of fun, but I doubt he'd want to take credit for my form in this photo. Sad to say, Tim injured himself (not playing with me..!) and so my lessons are on hold for now.

For anyone who is interested, here's the local tv schedule (ET) for the semi-final and final rounds of Roland Garros (the French Open). I think WNBCDT is the HD station, but the feed isn't HD as far as I know. Hope it is this year. Sports in HD is the best..!

Visit with Elwood and Maggie

2007-05-28T13:07:43+00:00

Yesterday I tagged along with Zina as she went up to Rhinebeck to interview our too long absent drawger, Elwood Smith. She had enough on her mind, but I managed to cause her more worry by arriving at Penn Station just as the train was called. A little flurry of cell phoning and we found each other in time to get down to the tracks and settled in our business class seats.

I'd forgotten to bring my camera, but decided this would fit in with my new daily exercise of drawing from memory something that happened to me the day before. Forgive me, it's a new exercise and really not quite ready for the light of day.

Zina struck up a conversation with the train conductor over the red poppy in his hat, set there to remember veteran soldiers. He was a Viet Nam veteran and was so pleased that someone had asked. I thought Zina would do an interview on the spot. I could see her drawing him in his element. But there wasn't time. We were pulling into Rhinecliff.

Maggie and Elwood were waiting for us on the station platform, waving and smiling on a pretty late spring day.

Their house is beautiful and their animals endlessly entertaining. (You can tell from my sketch that I'm more interested in dogs than cats, but the cats were full of personality, too.) After a bite to eat, Zina and Elwood went off to Elwood's studio while Maggie and I walked into Rhinebeck. The farmer's market was winding down. Still, I found some hand made soap and Maggie some kind of vegetable pate and pasta. Before you knew it, cell phones were ringing again, Elwood found us walking toward their house and Zina and I were back on the train heading home.

It was a short but perfect little visit for a glimpse at the Wonderful World of Elwood. Thanks, Zina for letting me join you..!

Scrabble with Strangers

2007-04-12T17:47:49+00:00

Last night I went to my first Scrabble Meet-Up. You might remember I mentioned going to Boggle Meet-Ups in the past. Twenty or so strangers (mostly) get together in a restaurant and play the game for an hour or two. I had heard from those people that the Scrabble games were more competitive. When it comes to word games, I want a challenge, so I met with 49 others last night at Burger Heaven on the east side to play.

We self-rated and slid into the booths with our travel Scrabbles and dictionaries. Across from me were Tim, a mouth-breather with acne and a strange balding pattern and Lee, an older gentleman who promptly ordered pancakes and ice cream and when it arrived perplexed us all by shouting repeatedly that he hadn't ordered it. Kristin, a pretty strawberry blonde 20-something who played nothing over three tiles long was on my right.

Tim started off the game by using all his letters to make the word P O N I E R S. I looked questioningly at Lee who had rated himself as a "senior" level player and he didn't pause for a second before putting down his word. So, I decided to ask, "Just for my education, what are 'poniers'?". Tim scoffed and said that they were people who played the ponies... why, what else would they be called? "Bettors?" was my answer.

I've accurately sketched the letters that I had to work with on my first go. U U J I I I M. Could it be any worse? I made the word J U S, asking if this French word had made it into common use and was therefore allowed. Tim declared it unacceptable and I removed it. The game went on. Tim won. As we were setting up for the next round, I looked up PONIERS, not a word. Then JUS, a word.

Something tells me that was my first and last Scrabble Meet-Up, although I may go back to Burger Heaven. They had great steamed vegetables and baked potatoes. If it hadn't been for this, I'd have never known.

Split Personality

2007-04-10T16:40:49+00:00

There is nothing better than a client saying you are free to experiment with an assignment... until you find the deadline has perched on your shoulders and the weight is putting a crimp in everything you try.

Suddenly this morning, though, I got the one that was giving me the most trouble tamed. (Must have been that viewing of "Bucket of Blood" that inspired me.)

Three portraits to be used in a brochure for Gravity Free, an upcoming design conference in Chicago.

More Stamps Announced

2007-03-29T23:28:16+00:00

Two more of my drawings for the USPS have been announced and will be available in May. The first of these two assignments was begun in 2001, so you can see how good I am at keeping a secret.

If you want to read the postal service official announcements for these and other stamps click here.

College Buddies

2007-03-26T17:58:02+00:00

I've been away.... did you miss me? First to my big brother's to celebrate his birthday (a milestone one), then he drove me to LA where I got together with my college roommate for a lot of relaxation under the palm trees. When I got home, I dug out this telegram that she sent me way back when.

Rockwell on a $50 Bill

2007-02-26T22:58:49+00:00

Have you seen the new currency issued in the Berkshires? No joke. They are called "Berkshares" and there are several denominations. One of them features Norman Rockwell on the face of the bill. It's a $50, take that, George...!

Good for use as currency but only at select stores and businesses in that area.

Stuck On You

2007-02-14T21:36:09+00:00

It's late in the day, but Happy Valentine's..!

Two Shows in One Afternoon

2007-01-31T00:59:45+00:00

There are two small shows in NYC right now that I would recommend, if you haven't seen them. Martin Ramirez at the American Folk Art Museum.

And Saul Steinberg at the Pierpont Morgan Library (Madison btwn 36th and 37th). We had to rush through this, too much time over a wonderful lunch in the Library's excellent restaurant. The works are so fresh and fun, it's hard to believe the dates attributed to the work are real.

End Papers

2006-12-17T23:59:02+00:00

Not many new books have end papers. I wish more did. I've scanned a few that I found on my shelves and started a show for you to add some you may have.

Big Mouth Open

2006-11-03T00:26:46+00:00

I don't have to keep my big mouth shut anymore when it comes to these stamps which are set to be issued next year.

It started out as a lark... knitting postage stamps..! I thought my idea of combining work with hobby would be lots of fun, but by the time I finished doing all the changes, there were enough rejected swatches to make a cover for a king-sized bed.

Another pair set to come out next year are these wedding stamps. They take an image and a slight variation so that one can be used on the invitation and another on the response card. The one for the invitation is a 2oz. rate to account for the inserts. The return card gets a pink background 1oz rate stamp.

I hit the jackpot with these multiples, but not financially. The reward is getting mail with your own image on the stamp.

They Hated It... but all's well now.

2006-10-18T19:17:30+00:00

Done. Delivered. Approved.

Oh, oh... I see some things I forgot to do.

Nancy 1: It's approved, stop! It's almost 7pm on Friday, stop!
Nancy 2: But if I just fixed this one thing.. they're still there, it's 4pm in California.

I hate myself.

The cllient finally responded:

Hi Nancy,

We like the sketch form that you sent earlier better (attached for reference). Is there a way we can get the final closer to this version? We prefer the smaller dots, smaller smiley faces, the color, etc. The finish is quite different from this version. I'm sorry we just really liked the original sketch. What can we do?

Agggh...! I thought I was free and clear. Maybe it's simply that she looks prettier in this sketch. In the photo reference, she's a little odd looking, a little Morticia Adams.

Actually this will teach me to hold fast to my rule of not giving a color sketch. If the AD likes it, they get too attached. A rough pencil would have left things open.

Those terrifying hours (days)

2006-10-18T02:12:11+00:00

By the skin of my teeth, I just handed this in to a California client for today's deadline. These jobs where I just keep my nose to the display and don't look right or left of the cursor always leave me terrified that it really, really stinks and that I'm deluding myself that I am finished.

The story is about a researcher who studied the fact that if you smile, just lift the corners of your mouth with no reason, you will feel better, even if nothing else changes. I've tried it. It works. End of research.

They asked for my dot technique and supplied the reference for the portrait. I don't think I would have gone that direction with the photo I had to work from. It looked more like it should have been an ethereal watercolor to me. My fingers are crossed they will approve it.

Pixar Zoetrope

2006-10-04T18:11:01+00:00

After reading about Don's lunch at Pixar, I was reminded that I meant to post a photo and link of the zoetrope that was part of their exhibit at MoMA last January. It was amazing to see in person, but this quicktime movie will give you an idea how the movement looked. Be sure to watch the white band as the little guy jumps into a hole.

Go to finish..!

2006-10-03T22:06:35+00:00

Do you ever find yourself pouring out roughs in an attempt to solve the illustration problem only to find when they choose one, you have the problem of now having to draw something that isn't really you... but, you're the one who came up with the idea?!

I did that on my latest job. A cover story about a university embracing the next century of China's undoubted dominance with courses, Chinese campuses and research into the culture. The client was great. They liked the image that I thought was the best solution. Then I had to face drawing it.

Perspective was the problem. I hate dealing with vanishing points and this was 3-point...! I'd rather parallel park a semi on the left side of the street at Madison and 60th. So I sought help. Tried scanning my trusty Graphicraft perspective charts from the early '70s. Tried Painter's perspective grid. Tried making a grid myself in Illustrator. No help. Then I decided to learn Carrara, a 3-D program that I never really popped the lid on. Of course, I only had a day, but I managed to get something to work from and even mapped a photo of the facade onto it.

The sketch wasn't so difficult after getting my model made. Perspective was still a bit off, but much better than on my own.

The drawing started out in Illustrator and I was pretty pleased, felt that it could be used as a fall back if my experiments at producing a style that reflected the Chinese culture didn't pan out. This was starting to feel like Project Runway. I didn't really know what I was going to do, but it felt good to have to come up with something I'd never done before.

I ended up taking the file into Painter and mushing the color around with the watercolor tools. Then bringing it back to Photoshop and marrying it to the line which I roughed up a bit. It was actually the most fun assignment I've had in a long time. I just handed it in and the AD seemed very pleased.

drawger technorati

2006-10-03T21:34:32+00:00

Posts that contain Drawger per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Summer of '71

2006-09-24T13:15:16+00:00

Zina and I must be around the same age. This is a photo of me, drawing portraits at a street fair, that ran in a local newspaper that same summer. I wanted to be living the life of hanging out by the Bethesda fountain and romping around on a commune, but I was too worried about supporting myself. I still worry too much.

I think that's Flaherty's uncle, Chester, looking over my right shoulder.

Beefcake

2006-09-13T18:37:36+00:00

To celebrate the arrival of a few new female members, I think it's time to start posting some beefcake. A little Chippendale's on the drawger menu.

This was done for German Esquire back when they would pay for models and fly in a stylist and give a few weeks to do the job. The best part was seeing my doorman's face after a parade of male models had been up to my apartment with their portfolios.

Ancient (in digital terms) animation

2006-09-13T04:01:45+00:00

In order to move my black box down, I went digging for something that would make me smile. Kahlua was a friend's dog, but she pretty much lived with me for ten years. She was a great help around the studio and patiently collaborated on some of my play, such as this animation. It was done pre-Flash, pre-iMovie using Illustrator, then numbering the files into picts in Photoshop, toss in a little Painter and finally bake for fourteen or fifteen hours in Diva. As I said it's a very old recipe.

On this Day, 2001

2006-09-11T12:25:39+00:00

The Saga of Cat Piss, part II

2006-09-04T22:18:19+00:00

Let me see... where did I leave off? Everyone have their jammies on, teeth brushed and flossed, faces washed? Okay...

The color sensitive maiden was distressed over the uric acid tinge to her bedroom walls and thought and thought for days on end. Finally she decided to do the Easter egg dye trick, she would put all the remaining paint from the cans of rejected colors into one big vat and stir and stir until there came a color that she knew was the one she just had to use to re-paint her walls.

There was certainly enough paint in all those cans to cover the Cat Piss Sorbet, but when she arrived at the perfect color, she failed to think of volume, so in love was she with the new hue. She began to paint and as the ceiling was covered the mathematical side of the happy maid began to caculate square footage and quarts spent. It wasn't looking good. She didn't paint where the bookcase would go, where the dresser would go... could she skip painting behind the door? Finally, she ran out of the perfect color.

Dismayed, she sat and thought and thought for days on end. And played some online Boggle. Then, stir stick in hand, she went back to the paint store. A friendly helpful hardware man greeted her at the door. What was this, Kansas? Could he help? She showed him the stir stick and shrugged her dejected shoulders. He whisked it away, put it in his magic box and came back with a can of paint named "Nancy Ivory" that matched the perfect color perfectly.

FINI

Paint Chips

2006-08-25T16:02:25+00:00

Okay, it's called Monarch White. Why does it look like Cat Piss Sorbet when I put it on my walls? I know to expect a pale color to look darker on a larger surface, but really.

Back to the hardware store..!

It's going to be stripes. I had them before, just different colors. Right now, it looks like a nursery with all these off-whites. But I have faith. I'm going to the store for a quart of Rice. Can't get much more neutral than that..!!

There I was up on the ladder, my poor bruised body (see previous article), painting these curves with a brush, all for nought..! I'm hiring someone to do the living room.

Bikers... wear your helmets..!!

2006-08-11T00:49:26+00:00

I'm sure you serious bikers are excellent about wearing a helmet when you ride, but people like me who take a slow ride in the park aren't always as careful. I will be from now on.

Freak accidents do happen. I was riding the one city block from Riverside Park to my building. A friend was along side me until I pulled ahead and crossed to the other side of the street. I turned for a split second to see where she was and in that time managed to fit my tire exactly into a stray piece of hardware on the ground. It was slotted to fit perfectly and acted like a brake shoe bringing me to a dead stop.

Next thing I knew, the view was 100% macadam and my chin was bouncing off the pavement. I ended up with my legs behind, tangled in the bike. My friend and some kind strangers got me free of it as I watched the blood pooling under my face.

Not my favorite day. And guess who isn't painting her apartment as planned.

Speaking of Joe Piscopo

2006-08-09T22:28:00+00:00

Looking for a Broadway show to recommend to an out-of-town friend, I ran across this:

Joe Piscopo's Son

Under the direction of Off-Broadway veteran, David Fuller, Joe Piscopo's Son is set in a psychiatrist's office with Joey Piscopo in the hot seat. Over the course of this comedy packed, hour-long session, Joey performs a multitude of original characters and impressions, sings and talks about life, love and living as Joe Piscopo's son.

Tickets are only $15 ea. (What did you pay to see JP, Sr, Edel?)

Four rooms in one..!

2006-08-03T14:36:37+00:00

My floors have needed refinishing since before I moved in here. I finally (with the help of my friends) moved everything into my studio and kitchen and had them done. I planned on painting the other rooms before moving things back, but then the heat wave came, and I couldn't pry myself away from the airconditioner. Now I have assignments, so I'm afraid it's going to be like this for longer than I can bear. Here is one half of my studio.

With this heat, I can't even sit in my empty living room and contemplate the improvement. Anyone want to come paint?

My Beautiful Baby Piece

2006-08-01T13:09:26+00:00

Here's my entry for the Beautiful Baby show.

Huge Comic Book Lot on eBay

2006-07-10T13:00:43+00:00

A seller who normally offers knitting stuff on eBay has over eighteen cartons of comic books for sale. The price is kind of daunting, but I thought someone here might be a real comic book fan and have an interest. I've bought from her before and everything went fine.

Here's the eBay sale and here are some more photos.

Testing One, Two, Three

2006-06-21T19:07:08+00:00

I'm going to give Skype a try this evening. In the meantime, I thought I'd check out Odeo and see if I can place a sound file here using it and my new microphone. If you are a Skype user and you have a moment, email me and see if we can connect. Oh, oh.... I forgot, I'm supposed to be working..!!
powered by ODEO

My dad, Captain Stahl

2006-06-15T16:48:01+00:00

My father grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He said he was out in the fields and an airplane went overhead and he found his passion. He was so determined to fly that he and his brother somehow scraped together enough money to buy a small Piper Cub and they built a hangar out of stones from the farm to keep it in. When WWII came, he was doing maintenance on planes in Pearl Harbor, leaving days before it was struck.

He wasn't allowed to fly during the war, so he went to Texas and taught RAF enlistees to pilot planes. He had a ripcord in his bedside table and he'd tell us that it had saved his life when a student crashed the plane they were flying in. The propeller from his Piper Cub was in my closet and I used to love to touch its smooth plied wood.

Dad flew for TWA his entire career and I finally flew as a passenger in one of his planes when I was going to Art Center for the first time. It was also my first flight in a 747 and I was very worried that he wasn't going to get that big heavy thing up into the air. During the flight, he came on the public address and made the usual chatter about the flight time and altitude. A man in the row ahead of me started making fun of his "country" accent. At first I was ashamed of his "tree" instead of "three", but then, if I hadn't been seatbelted in, I was ready to bash this guy over his head and ask him if he'd like to have 400 passengers lives in his hands.

My dad died over 15 years ago. He was a racist and a sexist and I had all sorts of issues with him, but he was a strong, proud man and he was my dad.

Stahl Lite

2006-06-15T12:45:50+00:00

I've been trying to find a less time-intensive way to work for clients with short deadlines... and maintain my somewhat shaky sanity. This assignment was for the NYTimes and should be in today's or tomorrow's paper.

The art director chose my favorite solution to this article on Hyperthermia and its causes. I was happy with the sketch, but to tell the truth, not with the finish. To me it screams digital and I"m all about not allowing the computer to steer your style. Am I being too hard on myself?

Where's Randy?

2006-06-14T03:20:26+00:00

Where's my Daily Randy? I haven't seen any posts lately from Mr. Enos. Has anyone checked the barn?

Workbook Ad Done

2006-05-25T17:39:54+00:00

It isn't what I had intended, or necessarily wanted, but it's done and sometimes that's more important. I've never done a multiple-image page before.

Oh, well...

Musician / Architect / High School Friend, John Kuhn

2006-05-19T17:27:19+00:00

I don't have any music of my own to add here (believe me, you're happy) even though I am the composer of a few memorable songs sung for my dog only. But those of you in the Northampton, MA area might enjoy stopping by the Iron Horse next Thursday to hear a high school friend / local architect / musician / good guy play songs from his latest album. Proceeds of the CD go to a local hospital (told you he was a good guy.)

Here is a short cut from one of his recent songs.

This is the invitation to the gig. The last release party was open to the public and I assume this one is too. There was a great group there that included his family, people who had had their homes designed by him and many friends including those of us who knew him when this photo was taken.

Two things I learned today.

2006-05-16T17:50:27+00:00

One: My smoke alarm works.
Two: Grapes aren't a good substitute for rice as a side dish.

(Oh, and three: playing around with drawger is darned distracting!, but I already knew that.)

Springtime in NYC.... oops!

2006-04-18T14:06:15+00:00

It seems what I saw last weekend were the blossoms on their way out, not beginning to bloom. And with this rain, if you didn't see the cherry trees this year, I think you are out of luck. Sorry if I misled anyone.
-------------------
I confess that this photo is from last year, but the cherry trees are just now blooming in Riverside Park. They will be at their peak this weekend, so those of you who live around here should make a field trip. They are fantastic.

Not done, yet..!

2006-04-15T18:33:40+00:00

I thought a few ravens were needed. Hey, Zimm, is there any way for us to have a communal area where we could play with images, almost like a white board? <Zimm <Gothard <Espinosa <Enos

Confessions of a Boggle Addict

2006-04-05T00:28:17+00:00

My friends think I have no vices. I don't drink, smoke, eat meat, inject steriods or suck caffeine. But they don't know about my current addiction to Boggle. I go to Boggle Meet-Ups and play with strangers once a month. (If you don't know about meetup.com, you should check it out. Any subject you are interested in, there is a group for it. You can go to meetings in other cities, too. It's great and makes the city seem friendlier. It isn't so much for meeting people, but for sharing interests.) Anyway, the greater time waster is weboggle, online Boggle. I've played for as long as six hours at a sitting. It's worse than staring at the screen over a deadline. Now I need to find a meet-up for recovering Boggle addicts, only I'm not ready to give it up yet. It has improved my touch typing..!!

There are usually about 100 people playing at once online. (What's wrong with these people, don't they have anything better to do with their time..!!?) The best I ever did was to come in third. For some reason, it doesn't like Safari or the version of IE that I have, so I downloaded Firefox and it works using that browser.

Animation at Tribeca Film Festival

2006-03-29T22:32:25+00:00

For the past five years I've planned to go to the Tribeca Film Festival. The animation they have scheduled for this year may just get me out the door. Included in the program will be the following animated films: 1. "Puppet" Patrick Smith 2. "Backbrace" - Andy and Carolyn London 3. "Dentist" - Signe Baumane 4. "Bathtime in Clarekenwell" - Alex Budovsky 5. "Underbelly: Coffee" � Ugly Pictures 6. "She She She�s a Bombshell" � Ben Levin 7. "Sex Life of Robots" - Mike Sullivan 8. "Sita" - Nina Paley 9. "Roof Sex" � PES 10. "Soccer Time" - Edmond Hawkins 11. "Santa Goes South" � Peter Wallach 12. "Bar Fight" - Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick 13. "Guide Dog" - Bill Plympton 14. "Life in Transition" - John R. Dilworth The entire festival runs April 25-May 7 tribecafilmfestival.org.

My Attempt at Humor

2006-02-26T00:43:24+00:00

My clock radio woke me one morning with the usual parade of societal woes which somehow got me to thinking, "Who makes effigies?" I can't imagine the mob sitting down the night before a riot with a needle and thread... "Hey, Joe, pass me the pin cushion. Did you see the new Vogue pattern for the Uncle Sam effigy? Can't wait until that stripe material comes in from eBay, I was sure lucky to nab that twill." And I can't imagine it's someone's mom sitting at her Singer putting it together. "Son, do you think the head is sewn well enough to stay on when you drag it through the street from the back of your pick-up?" Maybe the rejects from Project Runway make them. I think I should leave humor to the experts. Well, I did get a nice sketch look going from 100% Illustrator.

Book: Elie Nadelman

2006-02-21T01:56:58+00:00

I had meant to get to the Whitney for this show of Elie Nadelman's work, but you know, it was all the way across the park from here. Anyway, I picked up the book at the Strand last month and have been gazing ever since. His drawings look so contemporary to illustration of our time. Just amazing. Here it is on Amazon.

K200, P200

2006-02-18T16:53:53+00:00

I've added some recent projects to my Knitting gallery. This is what brings me the most joy, but I have a feeling that if I ever try to make money at it, the fun will disappear. Take a look.

What's Next?

2006-02-13T21:22:42+00:00

Ready to embark on a second career. Professional knitters and merit badge embroiderers don't get paid as well, though. Dog walker here in NYC isn't a bad job, but with 18-inches or so of snow quickly turning to slush outside, I don't think so. Suggestions gratefully accepted.