I’ve had various drafts on the work of Roger Dean sitting in my to edit folder on my computer for years. He has been one of my favourite artists since my Dad first introduced me to his work as a kid. Not only is Dean a prolific fantasy style painter/illustrator, he is a champion of eco-architecture. This guy has imagination A+ when it comes to creating new worlds!
Here in an assortment of Dean works I really like, starting with his 1989 cover design for the Amiga game Shadow Of The Beast:
An illustrated logo for Virgin Records:
If you like any of these pieces, be sure to check out Dean’s 1975 book Views. It’s heavy, the size of an LP and a intriguing mix of design concepts and finished artwork. I treasure my copy and think it’s worth tracking one down for a look.
Finally, look at these Dean illustrations – his ‘Floating Islands’ and dragons:
If you’ve seen Avatar, these might look familiar. People the world over are speculating that James Cameron took more than a little inspiration from Roger Dean’s fantastic work. I for one enjoyed seeing them come to life!
I always read that in New York you can always find something fabulous, inspiring – and often free – to do, on any night of the week. It’s true! (Read TimeOut NY for suggestions or sign up for nonsensenyc.)
One of the events I made it to was a lecture by fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo. With his wife Isabel accompanying him, Ruben spoke about Art: From Fashion to Literature at FIT (as part of their museum program) one Thursday evening in October.
In particular the conversation explored his recent work for Penguin Classics – he created the covers for the recently reissued versions of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and The Scarlet Letter.
Toldeo’s Pride and Prejudice cover reflected the strong fashion siholheuttes of the time. He mentioned he thinks in shapes and form, while Isabel is more partial to colour.
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights took on a soft gothic look. Ruben mentioned he took great pleasure in drawing burning buildings as a child, and in fact Wuthering Heights encompasses one of those.
The Scarlett Letter - with a bright A for adulturey entangling our protagonist. Rueben said he was really inspired by her job as a seamstress:
I was too busy looking at the couple’s work – in awe – to make extensive notes, although I wish I had! The Ruben and Isabel have such a fascinating creative relationship – they have 20 years of collaboration behind them.One cute moment I do remember was when Elda Rotor (the editorial director for Penguin Classics who moderated the discussion) charmingly confessed she used to rip Ruben’s drawings from the back of early issues of Interview magazine and keep them.
2010 will see reissues of Jane Eyre, Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray published by Penguin, with the artwork also to be drawn by Toledo. I can’t wait to see them.
Narwhals, the unicorns of the sea! I like their cute little horned faces so much I got one on my arm. Crappy picture, but this little beast is an absolute work of art. Exquisite. I am so happy to have him on my left arm.
I wasn’t planning a tattoo, but you know, it was rainy and I didn’t want to go to yet another film (three in three days). Tattoos are generally indoor activities, right? So yeah, NARWHAL!
[Super big thanks to Mike Lucena from Flyrite Tattoo in Brooklyn. What a pro.]
At first I wanted these two Japanese jazzalbums based on the track listings, but after seeing the cover artwork, I’m coveting the entire package.
Simple use of block colour, bold lines and a cute play on the theme all adds up to some pretty striking illustrations. Definitely worthy of framing. Have you seen any great record covers lately?
Monday, August 17, 2009 – m4w – (greenpoint)
asked myself why the letter ‘n’ all night long, then you were gone before i got a chance to ask. also, i saved you a piece of cake. do you always sit in a circle of asian girls? and sit at the top of the stairs so everyone gets a crush on you when they get to the roof?
So many questions -will they be answered? Will the sweet scrabble gal get in touch after reading this missed New York connection? Will the buds of attraction blossom into love? No matter, Brooklyn illustrator Sophie Blackall has given life to the sentiment at least. She takes fascinating missed connections and immortalizes the words in a very clever drawing. Once she’s done, she posts her illustrations on her blog. The results are so precious and heart melting.
The NYTimes have published a great piece on Sophie, where she details how and why she started drawing these beautiful, fleeting moments. “These illustrations have recurring themes of love, loss, regret and hope. Even the most grim postings have this little kernel of unflagging hope which is just so lovely and optimistic. I think that is what appeals to other people, too,” she said.
Antoinette-Fleur is the French illustrator behind these vivid fashion pieces. Executed in a sketchy style with an electro palette, they are the embodiment of the word eye candy. After going through her entire portfolio, I actually want some of the pieces… especially the eye wear.
I first came across the dainty work of Nadia Flower through a collaboration she did with Zoe & Morgan (rad Kiwi jewelery designers, more on them soon). Flower is responsible for the illustrations in their Paris Fashion Week look book. As you can see, this project produced fantastic results; translating the jewelery into dreamy drawings, with a nod to past Zoe & Morgan motifs.
Enchanted, I delved further into her portfolio. You’ll find loads of winsome watercolours; all rather heavy on symbology and infused with interesting patterns. There’s also some ’style-icons’ (hello MK) thrown in for good measure!
Overall, it’s a very girlie and feathery “carousel of dreams” aesthetic, which I really enjoy. Definitely a growing portfolio to keep an eye on!
The Guardian has an fantastic new-ish section that provides instructions on how to make your own accessories and clothes, a la your favourite designers. This information makes it look simple – very valuable and inspiring!
I’ve just started using Last.FM and was super impressed to find this data visualisation tool. Turn your listening history into a pretty infographic! Lee Byron has also built one and discusses the process in depth.
Random Got Beautiful is a photo mash-up site, for all you lovers of vibrant, soulful colours.
Sandra at Smosch has recently visited London and she’s posted some really beautiful photos. They make my heart ache a little bit.
This interview with Graham Hill (who is behind Treehugger and the adorable We Are Happy To Serve You ceramics) is from November 2008, but is filled with timeless, inspiring advice.
Harold Pinter - potential nerd boyf?
Nerd Boyfriend matches the geeks with appropriate fashion picks. I want a dubiously cool boyfriend so I can steal his clothes!
My new favourite thing: a keyboard drum machine. Amazing. Hours of fun. It sounds like it could be George Michael being sampled…
Last but definitely not least, check out Mini.Miniature.Mouse aka Fumi Mini Nakamura’s excellent illustration portfolio. Spellbinding – in particular Den Sidst Åndedræt I Den Fugle or ‘the last breath of the bird’ in Danish:
Cedric Rivrain is a talented illustrator with an aesthetic crush on Kate Moss. You may have seen his work in Numéro, Tokion or another super-mag. I really appreciate his use of different paper stocks, working with the textures. Crayon candy!
When I’m on youtube, I never ever look at the featured videos. Usually they’re dumb faux-viral stuff but this little gem caught my eye! It’s Jerry Levitan’s ultimate Beatles story… he snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto at aged 14 and convinced John to do an interview about peace, recording it.
“Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message.”
The thoughtful ideas and care put into illustrating this is phenomenal! Take 5 minutes out of your day and watch this for peace or a heady dose of kinetic inspiration!
