inspirimint

Alice and the Psychedelic Trip

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:11:00 +0000

Curiouser and Curiouser at Gallery Nucleus currently exhibits various artwork inspired by "Alice in Wonderland." Here are ten pictures from the show of artists' interpretations of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel. The show runs until March 29, 2010, so if you live near the L.A. area, be sure to check it out!

Alice in the Rain by Lorelay Bove

Tea Party Rising by Annie Koelle

I especially like "Tea Party Rising," above. There are no characters depicted and yet the themes of "Wonderland" are all symbolically illustrated, which makes the subject easily recognizable. I also love how all of the elements in this picture meld together in a simple composition.

Advice from Caterpillar by Kei Acedera

The Hole in Alice's World by Mall

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" has inspired many artists to explore the fantasy genre within the realms of its settings and characters. It has also influenced pop culture and our use of metaphors. For example, did you know that "Down the Rabbit-Hole," the title of the book's first chapter, references hallucinogenic drug trips?

Alice and Mushrooms by Adolie Day

Eat Me/Drink Me by Vera Brosgol

I first learned about the Gallery Nucleus show from Vera's sketchblog. I really love the awkward cramped feeling of Alice's expansion in the small confined frame. She posted a great set of photos that explain the steps and tools she used to create the picture above. You can take a peek into her work process here.

Make A Remark by SEILER

Eat ME! by Alina Chau

La Petite Porte by Marguerite Sauvage

Did you know that the first film version of the novel came out back in 1903? That's 107 years ago! It was a silent film with a running time of just 12 minutes, which, at the time, was the longest film produced in England. Unfortunately, the film was poorly damaged and only 8 of the original 12 minutes survive. The BFI National Archive has restored the film's original tinted colors for the first time and you can now view it online.

Sketch Sunday 15

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:11:00 +0000

I love alliums. :)

In the picture above, I wanted to draw a caricature/chibi-like cartoon of a garlic girl. I was inspired by this sketch my friend Alex (aka o_8) posted a few months back (check out his DA gallery—really great character design work). I added a few more alliums behind her (which look more like onions than garlic) to suggest that garlic lovers love the company of other garlic lovers, and that one must never be the only eater of garlics. ;)

When I first began traditional drawing lessons, my instructor always emphasized copying what you see exactly as you see it. Later, I understood that this not only trains the drawing hand, but it also helps you learn about the object you are drawing.

I recently read this great article by Mark Kennedy (storyboard artist on Hercules and Tarzan) that emphasizes the importance for aspiring artists to carry a sketchbook around. His main point is this: you don't carry a sketchbook around to draw pretty pictures in it. You will end up with drawings you won't like.

Sketching your surroundings is a great way to learn because you are forced to slow down and analyze your subject extensively. The act of copying a shape or structure helps commit it to memory, and you learn about its spatial relationships, functions, and movements. Our lives move so fast these days that we rarely slow down to appreciate the little details. Spending a few hours sketching is a great way to do that.

A lot of people shy away from copying things—especially other people's drawings—because they believe that sketches from the imagination are more "valid." While this is true of most major finished pieces that are intended for galleries and such, nothing could be further from the truth if you are still in the learning phase.

If you are burgeoning in your art career (or hobby!) and have the resources for it, I highly recommend finding a mentor. Their insights can guide you away from mistakes and challenge your talents. Most artists are more than happy to share their bits of wisdom, so go search the 'net for blog posts and articles.

If I could offer one piece of advice on learning to draw, it would be: Learn by copying. Imitate pictures and styles that inspire you, and try to understand why you find them so attractive. If you are a beginner, start by copying shapes, then move on to shades, then colors. Once you have a firm grip on the basics, you can then try to explore with different styles of expression.

At the end of Mark Kennedy's blog post, he brings up silhouettes, which reminded me of this article about the importance of silhouettes in logo design. In short, great logo design, like great character design, excels when recognized simply as a shape without any details. Naturally, I was curious as to how my little garlic fared as an outline.

Does she still look like a garlic girl? Can you still recognize her? I'll let you decide...

(By the way, if you are interested in a great online digital drawing community, check out our sister site, 2draw.)

Natural Hearts

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:37:00 +0000

Parakeet love

Valentine's Day, like Christmas and every other major holiday, has become super commercialized by corporations like gift card and candy companies. To paraphrase Michael Pollan from The Botany of Desire, modern mass-production of sugar has diminished our complex desire for sweetness from a powerful divine experience to a cheap prosaic fix.

At the same time, holidays like these give us an opportunity to reflect back on and be grateful for what we have, and to step out of our mundane schedules and do something fun. Here is a collection of photos that depict "natural" hearts. I don't have sources for every photo, so if you know of any, please let me know! Thanks and enjoy! :)

Strawberry heart by Lisz

Lightning by Andre Nantel

An ox born with a heart on his head

Heart-kun, the puppy with a heart-shaped fur patch

Heart of a Fern by David Manzi

Swans by Laminariya

Heart Fern by Chisme Cait

Flamingo Love by Kjunstorm

Ferret Love

Heart cloud

Forehead Heart

Bleeding Heart flowers

Anthurium flower

Heart book lens

The Reverse Graffiti Project

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:23:00 +0000

Stencils by Moose in San Francisco's Broadway tunnel.

I have always been a fan of street art. The creativity artists display, adapting to different urban environments, never ceases to amaze me. However, in recent years, I have become much more conscious of the environmental impact people have on the earth, and my love for street art developed into this kind of love-hate relationship—love the art or hate the toxic chemicals?

Lucky for me, the street artist Moose pioneered the Reverse Graffiti Project, a new street art concept based on cleaning.

Details of the wall at the Broadway tunnel.

The idea is this—instead of using paint to deface existing structures, street artists wash away years of dirt and grime on a surface to create their installations. High pressure water hoses, sponges, stencils and biodegradable soap are used. The intent is primarily environmental: using drawings, artists show glimpses of what preexisting structures look like under their black sooty veils, and what the public could be experiencing instead. These clean spots starkly contrast the darker dirty walls and remind us how much the pollution from cars, factories, and people affect our neighborhoods.

Doug Pray documents the process by which Moose creates art in the San Francisco Broadway tunnel.

The project was powered by Green Works cleaners.

Alexandre Orion used only water and a cloth to etch skulls in a grime-encrusted tunnel to remind commuters how harmful the exhaust from their vehicles are.

Artist Alexandre Orion works on an underpass in São Paolo, Brazil.

When the police showed up, they could not charge Orion with any crime since he was not defacing any structure. As Inhabitat aptly puts it: When is cleaning the sidewalks a crime? When you’re doing it to create art. Obviously. So naturally, the fire crew hosed down the entire section of the tunnel where Orion drew. When he later simply picked up on the other side of the tunnel, the officials were so enraged they decided to not only clean the whole tunnel, but every other tunnel in São Paolo.

Reverse graffiti encompasses all types of graffiti that does not use harmful chemicals the way traditional graffiti does, and often embodies an eco-friendly message. Other examples include Edina Tokodi's green graffiti made by moss and Scott Wade's dirty car art.

Sketch Sunday 14

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:42:00 +0000

Inspiration comes in many forms. The etymology of the word comes from Latin for "to breathe" and many inspirational things can be said to "take your breath away." Inspiration arouses the mind and cultivates passions for interesting or beautiful things. It transforms us from dull vapid beings into spirited creative thinkers.

Drawing is one of my passions. In today's Sketch Sunday, I showcase three sketches I did around New Year's. The female body is my favorite subject, and with every drawing, I try to learn or do something new. Here, I set a different mood for each picture. By playing with various expressions of the eyes, lips, and posture, I create looks that can say cute or sultry, shy or demanding. While drawing, for me, is the primary component of my creative outlet, I also try to brush up on other aspects of art to be well-rounded.

Inspirimint is the garden where these new ideas can be cultivated, for both myself and everybody else. I like the idea of this virtual garden because, like gardening, creativity is also built on a lot of research and hard work, and needs to be nurtured before ideas form and blossom into a satisfying product.

Inspirimint is not a product. It's a work in process by which new ideas and projects excite people to pursue their interests, try something different, or learn about wonders from all aspects of life.

We are finally coming out of our winter hibernation. Happy 2010! :) What inspires you?

See you in 2010!

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Symmetry in a section of home-grown bell pepper.
Hello there, inspirimint followers!

Thank you for your diligent reading, and my apologies for the lack of updates in the past couple of months. Due to extraordinary circumstances, the inspirimint blog has been put on hiatus until 2010. I just wanted to leave this message for those of you who are anxiously checking back every now and then for that new blog post.

Cheers and see you in 2010! :)

Matthew Laskowski's Dynamic Scenes

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:49:00 +0000

In order to draw effective environments, an artist must have a solid understanding of the concept of space. When I view these beautiful urban illustrations created by Matt Laskowski, I feel like I am being pulled into a whole different space. The vibrant colors and dynamic perspectives tell a compelling story in each scene and give them personality.

When I first saw his drawings, I was blown away because background details and cityscapes are not something I have a lot of experience with. Matt does such a wonderful job distinguishing the lights from the shadows, and accenting details with bold colors and carefully placed characters.

Don't you think it's awesome that his last name also contains our favorite drawing program? I certainly think so. :)

Be sure to check out the rest of his amazing portfolio at Plastic Shards, where he also posts some really neat tutorials, and his DeviantArt gallery.

Watercolor Wednesday 13

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:49:00 +0000

This weekend I was away from the house and absolutely could not find a suitable container for holding water. It was looking dire (for watercolors, not anything else, thankfully) but then at the last moment a tiny old cooking pot was unearthed. The show WOULD GO ON!

Anyway—this week's painting is a tad more ambitious than the last couple of paintings, if only because it actually takes up an entire sheet of paper and I probably spent more time on the background than anything else.

As usual, I roughed out the drawing on the computer, traced it off and refined it on paper. I wasn't feeling too confident over what the color scheme and lighting would be, so I roughed that out in Photoshop as well.

Space, and depressed-looking animals. I swear to god this isn't an obsession.
And, as usual, I started painting with the tones and shading. After some time had passed it occurred to me that once again I had forgotten to do something vital: tape down the paper so it wouldn't warp.

Any tape will do as long as it isn't terribly sticky—you don't want the adhesive to damage the paper, for obvious reasons. The masking tape can also be useful for blocking out large areas of color that you don't want to run into the details of your picture.

The tissues, dear reader, are for tears. Or, ah, dabbing away unwanted paint. Whatever floats your boat!
The final product ended up coming out quite a bit different than I anticipated. I opted out of making the lower half of the background quite so dark, mostly because I liked the interplay of the reds and greens and didn't want to mute them.

Now with added lichen!
Of course, there are still a few things here and there that could stand to be touched up. Sometimes it's good to distance yourself from your work for a day, so that when you go back to it you have a clearer vision of what you need to do with it.

Sketch Sunday 13

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:44:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, Engadget posted a design contest. The winners would get their design laser-etched on the back of a Kindle. The contest closed on Friday, and I decided on Wednesday night to give it a shot...

Thursday morning rolled around and I went to work with a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I printed out an image of the kindle back and drew these layouts.

The first sketch.
The second sketch.
When I got home Thursday night, I traced the first sketch in order to scan the lineart. Since it was drawn on top of a very dark print-out, it would have been very difficult to manipulate.

Trace of first sketch.
The face of the trace superimposed on the tree from the second sketch.
By the end of the evening on Thursday, I had the image scanned onto my computer, and I had began inking it using Flash CS4. One of the rules for the submissions was that the final image must be in vector format. I had the choice between using Adobe Illustrator or Flash, and chose Flash because it's pretty hard to sketch in Illustrator and someone suggested that I try it out.

The image manipulated in Flash.
During the course of the day on Friday, I realized that the image was due at 11:59PM ET, not PST where I'm at. I got home at 6 and saw that I had a little over 2 hours to work on the image, not the full 5 I was banking on. Our resident programmer helped out by writing a small piece of code to generate the random texts in the tree. The image below is the final design and what it would look like on the back of a Kindle 2, should it be selected as one of the winning pieces!

Click to enlargenize!
The tree was inspired by the designs on the back of the original Kindle. I think the flow came out really well, but I wish I had those extra 3 hours to smooth out some details.

The winners of the contest will be chosen by voters, so please check back in the near future for a link to the voting page. I hope my design is selected! I would really love to see this picture laser-etched onto a Kindle.

Watercolor Wednesday 12

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks I've been slooooooowly working towards getting some more paintings done. One attempt was derailed by a trek out to my boyfriend's old hometown for a wedding (and subsequently having to babysit his parents' unruly puppy), and another was vanquished by sheer laziness.

Then, miraculously, I found myself bored enough to get some work done earlier this week! This particular painting is of some characters I've been doodling for a little while now: a rotund dopey-looking fairy, a perpetually alarmed goblin and... whatever the heck the vaguely owly thing is. I did a rough layout in photoshop and traced it onto paper using a light blue pencil, where I proceeded to fix up the drawing and add the details I had missed.

These are developmental sketches for the goblin guy and his creepy friend. The little girl with the squid hat is my interpretation of one of these cat doodles.

And here's the finished product. My goal for this painting was to get more contrast and vibrancy out of the colors, which is something I've been struggling with for a while. Subtle color gradations and shading are, surprisingly, the easiest thing to get with watercolors—all you need is a bit of tissue paper to take away unwanted pigment.

Here's another painting I finished shortly after the first one. I used the same method as before, sketching out a rough guide and then tracing it off onto the paper. This time I didn't fuss with the lineart as much before I started painting, and I think I like it a little more because of that.

Sketch Sunday 12

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Wine label design.

My dad bought and planted about one hundred wine grape vines on our property a couple of years ago, and we picked them last year for the first time. We didn't get a lot, but there was enough to make a few bottles of wine. I was the designated label designer.

On a previous Sketch Sunday, I posted my brainstorming sketches:

Brainstorming sketches.
After a few pages of doodling, I developed some ideas about how to proceed, but it wasn't until after the corking process that we decided upon the name of the wine. I opened up Illustrator and began making vector shapes on a 4" x 4.5" canvas.

I started by just putting the necessary text—the logo, name, year, etc. After moving the words around, I felt comfortable enough with the overall balance of the text to start embellishing the label by adding some background elements.

The first iteration on Adobe Illustrator.
The second iteration.
Since I am relatively new to Illustrator, I went for a simple, clean, and modern look, using basic shapes, colors, and blending techniques. I tried to get a good balance of light and dark, text and white space, and different colors, and used repeated motifs to tie the whole label together.

The final design!
When the design was finalized, I printed the labels out, trimmed them, and glued them on the bottles! Check out these beauties. :)

The final product!
The wine is very good for a first attempt. Since the vines are only 2-3 years old, the flavors are not as strong and the taste has "young vines" written all over it (according to one of my connoisseur colleagues). The color is a brilliant dark red with purple hints, and the wine tastes moderately sweet and acidic. In case you can't tell, the text at the bottom of the label reads: Brix 21.2 - TA 0.85 - pH 3.96 - Alc. 12.2%.

Here are some photos from the whole process:

Wine grape-picking, Aug 2008.

Cabernet grapes on the vine.
The tiny first year harvest with grape crusher & barrel in the back.
Wine bottling session, May 2009.
Transfer from carboy to bottle.
Can you see the nice dark red? It couldn't be captured well on photo.
The corking process... guess how the wine name came about! ;)
Our eclectic mix of only 22 bottles.
It was my dad's dream to have his own vineyard, and he made it possible with a lot of research and hard work. I want to congratulate him on a job well-done and thank him for the fun experience. Cheers, and to next year!

Curious and Cleverly Crafted Chronographs

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:12:00 +0000

13 Interesting Clocks, Watches, and Other Timekeeps

Understanding and measuring time is uniquely a human practice. Even though watches and clocks are ubiquitous in the modern day, quality design and craftsmanship are still widely appreciated.

Take, for example, the Mercator America:

Vacheron Constantin's Mercator America (only $47,500!)
This unique timepiece is designed by the world's oldest watch manufacturer, Vacheron Constantin. I was drawn to this interesting watch because of the highly unusual and unconventional hour and minute hands. The hour hand on the left and the minute hand on the right move along the arc to indicate the hour and minutes, and return to zero after reaching 12 hours and one hour, respectively. The hands are made to resemble the needles of a mariner's compass, paying tribute to visionary cartographer Gerardus Mercator. Although this watch is made with the utmost quality artistry and materials, I would rather buy a sports car.

Clocks help us keep time, which in the fast-paced world today, translates to keeping track of our daily appointments and events. The Dry Erase and White Board clocks are two that were designed with similar concepts, but the White Board clock cleverly utilizes the moving arm to erase events as they happen.

The Dry Erase Wall Clock (only $135 at the MoMa)
The White Board Clock
Some people prefer unconventional designs that don't involve numbers, or even look like clocks at all! The Word Clock and the About Time Clock both tell you the time using words. They are designed for those who think that they are too good for numbers, and wouldn't mind knowing that it's "about 3:00" instead of exactly 3:02.

The Word Clock ($229 at Generate Design)
Sander Mulder Studio's About Time Clock

Others prefer clocks that use neither numbers nor words, but rather equations and symbols from which numbers are derived. The Smart Clock reminds me of all the higher math I have never taken. Do the numbers on this clock make sense to you? If yes, then this might be the perfect gift for your home, office, or physics lab. If not, you can still buy one just to confuse all of your guests.

The Smart Clock (only $39 at Amazon)
Ah, now this is a clock I can use! The On-Time Clock is a brilliant method for getting those of us who are perpetually late (*ahem*) to head out a whole 3 minutes early!

The On-Time Clock by Fabrica and Diamantini&Domeniconi
And for those who enjoy meta-themed art, the Clock Clock is for you. The display for each number is formed by 6 clocks and each of their two arms.

The Clock Clock by Humans Since 1982
Watch it (hehe!) in action:

There are people who would rather own a piece of art that inconspicuously tells the time, than a blatant clock on their wall or watch on their wrist. The Faceless Watch cleverly conceals the numbers in the groves of the wristband and appears as a normal piece of jewelry when the back-light is off, the Book Clock camouflages in with the rest of your shelf or nightstand, and the Eye Clock indicates time by the position of the spots, which correspond to the positions of the hour and minute hands.

The Faceless Watch
The Present Time Book Clock
The Eye Clock by Mike Mak Design
For those who enjoy a bit of modern decor, the Perpetual Wall Calendar would be a great addition to any home. I love the bold color and simplistic design, but one wonders if it can handle leap years, maybe even leap days?

The Perpetual Wall Calendar
And lastly, we have the Ora ilLegale, which comes with a quirky modern feel and unusual shape. Can you guess the problem this clever design is compensating for? (scroll down...)

Ora ilLegale by Denis Guidone
Yep—Daylight Savings. Simply tip it over and you're set one hour forward or one hour back; there's no need to adjust the dial.

Looking back on these interesting designs reminds me of how humans are the only species that measures and partitions time the way we do. Some people prefer to know the hour down to the second, while others are comfortable enough with a rough approximation. Regardless of how we choose to do it, we all like to keep track of our time somehow.

Do you have a favorite method to keep track of time? What kind of watch/clock/calendar do you use or would like to have?

The Graphic Shock [Creative Advertisements]

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Putting the "graphic" back in graphic design.

One of the primary purposes of good design is to effectively get a message across. The world of commercial advertisement sets a vast stage for designers to showcase their talents, and today, with such an oversaturated market, artists are pushing the boundaries of creativity to grab your attention.

Here's a look at some ads that deliver what I'd like to call the "graphic punch." Shocking? Definitely. Effective? You tell me.

The Montana Meth Project is a large-scale prevention program aimed at reducing first-time meth use by presenting teens and young adults with highly graphic ads.

These print ads deliver the "shock factor" with quite a punch, and along with video and radio ads of a similar nature, the project has produced significant results since its inception in 2005: Meth use among teens in has declined by 45%, Meth-related crime has dropped 62%, and workers testing positive for Meth have declined by 72%.

"You remain anonymous, criminals don't." These Crime Stoppers ads deliver the clear message using the blur tool. Their realistic depiction of crime scenes (albeit with a bit of Photoshop manipulation) reminds us of the importance of witness-provided information in catching criminals.

The following ads by Czech group Freedom for Animals are a great contrast with the glamorous posters we typically see for cosmetics in magazines. They aptly remind you of the pain and suffering animals go through to bring you the products you use. As TYWKIWDBI writes, One doesn't have to be a supporter of the PETA fringe to be impressed by the immediacy of this ad.

Feed SA is a South African charity aimed at delivering food to poor, starving children. Their decal images posted at the bottoms of shopping carts show sad kids reaching up at you, reminding the shopper how easy it is to put food in their hands. These inexpensive decals resulted in increased donations and a significant boost in website traffic. (via)

Ads with gruesome and realistic photo manipulation shock us into paying attention to them. Although they may or may not realistically depict what they are advertising for, don't they still make you feel a bit differently toward their cause?

Watercolor Wednesday 11

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:27:00 +0000

For the last couple of weeks I've found myself unable to make myself sit down and finish any paintings, but luckily I have a small backlog of pictures in various degrees of completion.

The genesis of this painting is a little unclear to me: about a year ago my boyfriend and I had a small brainstorming session where we decided to sketch out ideas for a spaghetti western with campy monsters. Nothing really came of it, but to this day I still find myself drawing cowboy mummies ever so often.

Little Red Riding Hood, as a goat, heads towards the void where her grandmother's house should be, but isn't, because I got distracted either by food or something shiny. I added a bit of goauche to her cloak and some of the shadows since the watercolors were getting a bit muddy.

I'm not sure what to make of this one! I started painting the creepy ratty guy first, and then just kind of tacked on the bee.

When I find myself in an artistic rut I like to take some time to find some new source of inspiration. Most recently I've taken up reading collections of short stories by Ray Bradbury, whose work is always a wellspring of unusual ideas.

I also tried out using this neat little flash application that randomly generates topics from three wheels of words. The results range from intriguing to downright weird, and I'd suggest that anyone with a bad case of artist's block try it out!

Sketch Sunday 11

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:29:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I went to Maker Faire at the San Mateo Convention Center to help Ambidextrous Magazine promote their upcoming issue titled "Space." I was invited to put together a collage of the editors. Since the theme was "space," I decided to draw them as astronauts and aliens!

Editor's photo collage for Ambidextrous magazine issue 11: Space
I started out with crops of each person's head, floating over a black background. Then I sketched out pose ideas for each of them, rotating heads to fit the composition of the big picture. The stars, comets, moon, and planets in the background are all Photoshop brushes that I once downloaded, but can no longer recall from where. Eventually, colors and other details were added, to yield this final product!

The most difficult part of this picture was dealing with the silly artsy people who sent in their photos in black and white. Were they trying to be classy? Emo? Maybe, but who knows. It was too bad because I added color to them anyway. Can you tell which heads were colored by hand? Hopefully not, because that means I did a good job. ;)

Ambidextrous is Stanford University's journal of design. I know a few people that work on it, and volunteered to help out with this image. The magazine is run entirely by students and features some really great articles on design and the design process. Most of the articles are written by professionals in the field, and cover a wide range of subjects about design concepts.

If you are interested, check out their website for article previews!
The questions they pose to the greater design community relate to the broader design process, and not just a single aspect like industrial or graphic design. For example, issue 10 ("Getting it On") covers topics from condoms to the evolution of the zipper.

One thing I really like about the magazine is that each issue has a centerfold called Functional Dissection where they take apart some device and document the process. In issue 8 ("Secret"), the Ambidextrous team took apart a combination lock to show us what made it click. Other issues broke apart roombas, polaroid cameras, and even a nail gun.

If you are interested in reading more about Maker Faire, check out my friend Paula's recent blog post at Quite Curious! She provides a great account of it, and has some great photographs as well.

Textures

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Can you guess what these are?
Do you remember that picture game when you were little, where they show you a zoomed-in detail of a cropped photo, and you have to figure out what the object is?

Blue stripes, pepper flakes (pelicans at Monterey Bay)
Foliage in negative lighting
Green carpet wall (stacked broccoli at grocery store)
So this isn't exactly like the picture game I described above, but the idea is similar. I love photos made to look like textures, especially if I can get the entire frame to be nearly homogeneous. This broccoli wall at my local grocery store just stood out to me, so I whipped out my camera to get a snapshot of it, a split second before an employee told me that I'm not allowed to take photos inside the grocery store.

Pink foliage (magnolia flowers in bloom)
Ruby droplets (grapefruit)
Amethyst wild flowers
13 pounds of olives in the sink
A collection of ladybirds (seen at the Academy of Science)
The greatest inspiration is finding beauty and joy in the simple things that surround us every day. What do you like capturing in your photos or art?

Cinnamon sprinkled on pine nuts (banana bread mix, ready for baking)

Light & Nature

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:43:00 +0000

Rainbow- why is the sky much darker to the left of the rainbow?
Last week, nqd featured Keri Smith's work titled "How to be an Explorer of the World." After reading through the preview pages of her book, I thought to myself, I already do some of these things! I constantly admire the world around me, and sometimes try to document what I see with photographs.

I thought that inspirimint readers might be inspired by some of the pictures I have taken over the past few months, so here they are for your enjoyment! These photos make me feel more connected to nature.

I love the way light reflects off of eucalyptus leaves
Sun & clouds, shot from the highway.
Dusk at Golden Gate park.
Dried orchids.
Peach blossoms from the farm (mid-March).
The tender shoots and flowers of pea plants make a delicious stir-fry!
Have you ever noticed that the tips of golden poppy leaves flame?
Last year's grape vine twisted around the wire.
Purple flowers by the lake.
Light filtering through chlorophyll reminds me of stained-glass.
Droplets aggregating on the surface of a freshly-cut honeydew.
The rain forest biosphere at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco teems with life!
A giant Geneva wheel, a component of the 10,000 year clock's chime generator (displayed at Maker Faire).

Watercolor Wednesday 10

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:55:00 +0000

I am endlessly amused by critters with stout, rotund bodies on stilt-like legs. As I drew this picture it became a laundry list of things that, for whatever curious reason, I think are absolutely hilarious.

A list of them follows:
1. cyclops!
2. pathetic little wisps of hair
3. CHEST HAIR (funnier on scrawny little guys, but still funny otherwise)
4. fancy shoes
5. apprehension
6. tall pants with suspenders

This picture was also an exercise in figuring out which pens work on my crappy handmade paper. The answer: most of them, except for the ones I want to use. Thanks for that, paper!

Not-So-Brass Knuckles

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:23:00 +0000

Feeling thuggish today? I was highly amused after finding a whole slew of unrelated products designed after a lethal weapon. These items are interesting concepts, especially since brass knuckles were designed to fit comfortably in a fist. There are plenty of things out there that we need to hold comfortably for extended periods of time, and re-designing tools after a pre-existing, highly ergonomic weapon seems like the proper way to be inspired.

The Knuckle Brush
Bourgeois Brass Knuckles by Chromoly

The Umbuster by Srulirecht
Umbuster case

Soap Knuckles by Spye
Punch by J.C. Karich
Mug! at Thabto
Next time I want to bring out some of my inner thug, I'll be sure to keep these aptly designed items in mind!

Sketch Sunday 10

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:38:00 +0000

This weekend, to avoid the stress and hassle of finding parking (and actually parking) in San Francisco, I took a long relaxing ride on the train to meet some friends there. I was recently inspired by Shane Glines' cartoon pin-up girls, and sketched a few big-headed, long-legged girls on the way up. The train ride was very bumpy, but luckily there were many stops along the way. During the bumpy part of the ride, I would draw the rough underlying sketch with my red pencil, and then quickly overlay a few strokes of pencil lineart at the stations.

In addition to being a foxy lady, the girl in the sketch above must also have some serious muscles, because that pose looks pretty difficult to hold. It was really fun to draw curvy legs on these ladies, which is probably why I drew them a little longer and more slender than usual. One of the main reasons I like drawing girls over guys is because they have a lot more accentuated curves. This makes the poses much more dramatic and gives their shape much more depth.

So why are drawings that are grossly disproportionate compared to a normal human body still acceptable as cartoons? I was thinking about this and realized how many cartoon characters have giant heads, big eyes, or long slender appendages, and I began to wonder what kinds of proportions work, and which ones don't.

I was reminded of the sensory homunculus, which is used in psychology and neurology to depict which body parts require the most neurons to sense. In cartoons, however, it seems to me that the body parts are exaggerated based on how they are perceived. For example, since people pay a lot of attention to the details of another person's eyes, it does not seem unusual for cartoons to have larger-than-normal eyes. I think that the length of the arms is compared mostly to the length of the legs, and not to the size of the head or body, which is why Dee-Dee's and Jack Skellington's arms and legs are long and slender, independent of the size of their heads or bodies.

Anyhow, these observations are simply based on my own drawing experiences and not anything more scientific. If you have any more interesting insight or details, please share!

Watercolor Wednesday 9

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:48:00 +0000

After painting the carrot guy for the last watercolor wednesday, I decided he needed an overly confident friend! And, uh, a rudimentary background. Featureless voids make me uneasy!

For this entire week I've been getting ideas for paintings just as I drift off to sleep. It's the worst thing ever because they are burned into the back of my mind, even if they are terrible or half-baked. Angry cactus guy (above) is the result of one of those late night ideas, and I assume he's scowling because of how hastily he was painted! This is an approximation of the painting process:

1. Sketched out drawing. Was pretty okay with it.
2. Suddenly developed violent hatred for sketch, scrapped it altogether.
3. Whipped out watercolor paper, scrawled out a totally different composition.
4. Started painting, began to realize the darker shades of green were totally not working out the way I wanted them to.
5. Put painting out of my line of sight. Glanced at it once in a while, hating it from afar.
6. Finished painting by adding spines and little details here and there.

Once again, the moral of the story is BE PATIENT, STUPID. I will learn from my mistakes someday!

What typical process do you usually go through for a painting or drawing?

The Swine Flu Epidemic: An Artist and Scientist's View

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:32:00 +0000

I have been following the recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak with interest because I work at a company that makes flu vaccines. It's been covered in a few art communities because of creative things people have done in response to international news. This got me thinking about the relationship between people and news, and how people, as a whole, respond to current events.

xkcd

Searching keywords on twitter (as depicted in xkcd, above) is a great way to visualize how reactions to current events unfold in real-time. I have seen, both on- and off-line, that much of the response to this influenza outbreak is dependent on what people know about the virus, but understanding does not always yield the same outcome.

Since I have done a lot of research with the virus, I have a much better understanding of the current epidemic than a lot of people, and sometimes forget that most people still don't understand the nature of the disease. I've seen comments along the lines of "I don't eat pork, so I won't catch the flu," and today a co-worker told me how surprised she was when her brother commented on how he'll never catch the swine flu because he "doesn't sleep with pigs."

That's not how the flu works! Are you informed?

Swine Flew: Creative T-shirt design by Skyskraper

kbr vs. influenza

Influenza, like a number of respiratory viruses, depend on host-to-host interactions to spread. That is, it relies on people to pass it on to other people. There are different influenza viruses that infect different animals (birds, pigs, horses, dogs, ferrets), but for the most part a given variant will only infect one species of animal. Each year, the human flu strains mutate to bypass our immune system's resistance to last year's strain, and sometimes we get a virus that is transmissible between humans and pigs (or sometimes birds). In this recent case from Mexico, the virus contains pig-specific proteins, which are unlike anything we (as a population) have been infected with before, so we are poorly-protected against the new strain. So even if you had the flu shot this year, you won't be protected against the current H1N1 swine flu.

Now that you have a rough idea why the swine flu is dangerous, it's important to remember that the best way to contain influenza is to avoid crowds and people-to-people contact.

What scares me about diseases like this is how quickly it spreads and kills. A few months ago, I stumbled upon this website and read their entire collection of personal accounts of the 1918 and 1957 pandemics. After hearing about the new swine flu last week, the first thing that came to mind was how many of the stories there mentioned how a person would come down with the bug one afternoon and was dead by morning.

Will this strain be as devastating as the 1918 Spanish flu? From the data we have so far, it doesn't seem as virulent. Although the epidemic is currently not yet fully contained, the government is doing its part impede its spread, and cyberspace continues to provide information... or sometimes misinformation.

Here's an interesting video on how tragedies and natural disasters are used to manipulate the public into obedience. Their remedy? Stay informed!

Via Design You Trust

If you'd like to ask me a question about the flu virus, I'll do my best to answer in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Related links:

Follow updates with the CDC
Follow updates with the WHO
Follow updates using Google maps
The Pandemic Influenza Storybook

The Tesla Model S

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:31:00 +0000

My favorite thing about Tesla Motors? It's a progressive car company that goes against the pressures of selfish and manipulative big-oil corporations and produces only high-quality, long-lasting, and green(er) all-electric vehicles. They recently unveiled their second production car, the all-electric Model S. It's not the super sexy sports car that the Tesla Roadster is, but it's much more reasonably priced ($50k after a $7,500 tax break—half the price of the Roadster) and family-friendly.

So why electric? Battery-powered electric vehicles are a cleaner alternative to those that run on petrol-based fuel. Pollution from oil-powered motors has burdened this planet tremendously up until now, and will continue to cause problems for us, our children, and our biosphere for centuries to come, unless we do something about it. Advancing technologies and the development of greener technologies over the recent years show us that there are people and companies out there who still value our planet's future.

How is the performance? Any auto enthusiast will tell you that no matter how pretty a car looks on the outside, the engine needs to perform up to par. The Model S has a single-speed transmission that will go from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds.

Electric vehicles (EVs) like the Teslas don't even have traditional engines that need to constantly run to power the car. They take the energy from rechargeable batteries as needed to accelerate. The Model S has interchangeable battery packs for 160-mile, 230-mile, or 300-miles ranges in one charge (depending how much you want to spend).

EVs are more efficient and have much fewer parts that need to be maintained, repaired, or replaced than with traditional combustion engines. I don't know about you, but I hate taking time and money to get maintenance for my car. With an EV, all you need to do is take it in every 5,000 miles to get the tires rotated and the windshield fluid refilled. (According to Wikipedia, Toyota Prius vehicles have been known to go over 180,000 miles without ever needing a battery replacement.)

What's with all that space? Since electric cars have smaller engines, the area under the hood is just a cosmetic big vacant space. The Model S has its trunk in the front, so there is extra room in the back for more seating (for a total of 7 passengers). I was most impressed with this little factoid: the cabin can fit a mountain bike with its wheels still on, a surfboard, and a 50-inch TV—all at the same time. How spacious! I had no idea that taking out the engine of the car would free up so much space. The dashboard also comes with a 17-inch touchscreen monitor that connects to the Internet via wireless 3G. No buttons touchscreen? This is how modern technology should be implemented. (You can find a list of the rest of its features over at Autoblog.)

And I love how the entire roof is transparent! It's like the front and back windshields extended to connect with one another. I can imagine myself in a parking lot somewhere just to watch rain splatter on top of the car. Or maybe stargazing when it's cold.

The Model S side-by-side with the Tesla Roadster

Will I really save the planet by driving an EV? If not for the lower cost of operating the vehicle in the long run, having a lower environmental impact is the best reason for going electric. Of course, there's no thing as zero environmental impact, especially when it comes to mass-production automobiles. But even with the energy it takes to make the batteries, EVs are zero emission vehicles, are much more efficient in utilizing the energy, and are driving the market to develop better technology for the future.

If all-electric cars are better for the customer, better for the planet, and better for advancing technological research, then why aren't there more of them on the road?

I recently watched the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? (IMDb), which shocked and angered me to see how power-hungry big corporations are. They banished the electric car even though it was cheaper to produce, was more environmentally friendly, and highly desired by consumers. Why? The auto industry is tied to the oil industry, and electric cars do not benefit oil companies. Instead of putting out efficient clean-air cars, they decided to market Hummers and the like, driving gas prices up and the economy to the ground.

I believe that when people are aware of and understand the facts, they will, on average, make the choices that benefit everyone. Large corporations have been manipulating the market for decades by misleading the public by with skewed information. Now, with the expansion of the Internet and other news sources, it looks like information is slowly being brought back into the hands of the people.

In the third grade, I remember a music teacher who came in once a week and taught us a song about the electric car and how amazing it (the technology) was. Growing up, I often wondered why I had never seen an electric car out on the road, even though the technology had been developed and highly praised.

Seeing companies like Tesla break the mold and bring back the electric vehicle really warms my heart. The development of cars like the Model S shows that there still are people who care to invest in technologies and the environment.

As designers, we are all responsible for one important task: to improve the quality of life. I think cars like the Model S will be much better for posterity than gas-guzzlers, don't you?

The question is, should we be producing all these cars (electric or not) in the first place?

Related links:

Tesla Motors
The Tesla Model S at Autoblog.com
Model S gallery at Engadget

Watercolor Wednesday 8

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Lehman) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Hey there, readers! This week I've been fussing around with mixing watercolors with other mediums. This page was the result of trying to use gouache paint along with the standard watercolors. It was also the result of falling asleep on a bus and waking up with the thought "lumberjacks are HILARIOUS! I will draw them."

Here's a series of mini-paintings, all mysteriously facing the same direction. I think next time I use pen on a painting I'll use a sepia tone instead of black.

Lastly, an uncomfortable man-carrot. When I was a wee lass, I felt compelled to obsessively draw anthropomorphic food. I drew reams of comics about the denizens of a fridge. Thankfully I've moved onto, well, other obsessions, but I still think vegetables are adorable. If they had cheeks, I'd pinch them!

Reuben Margolin's Kinetic Sculptures

spyra@2draw.net (spyra) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Here is an interesting art project I found last week that I thought I'd share with you:

The human perception of beauty is deeply rooted in symmetry and geometric shapes. I think most people would agree that proportions and shapes are very important in the construction of a painting or in the layout of a photo. Take, for example, the proportions described in the Vitruvian Man or the golden ratios built into the Parthenon, and we can see how our appreciation for mathematical principles is at least centuries old.

Reuben Margolin's kinetic sculptures are made with math-dependent precision yet are incredibly fluid, organic, and beautiful. I am impressed at the amount of patience required and the time spent preparing each piece. This type of artwork also reminds me how a lot of art ties back to our appreciation of nature, where a lot of mathematical principles are prominent.

Related links:

Reuben Margolin's website
Found at TYWKIWDBI