michele rosenthal illustration + design

New Blog!

2013-01-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Quick note: my blog has moved to dialmformichele.tumblr.com. That's right, I'm on Tumblr now with all the other cool cats. My old posts will stay here, but new posts will go over there, if you'd like to take a look.

Yours,
Michele

Songs I Was Obsessed With In 2012

2012-12-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Another year, another self-serving attempt at music blogging. Since I have little idea of what came out in 2012, here's a list of the songs I was personally obsessed with last year. YouTube links are provided. Happy new year, all!

1. Bernard Cribbins — Right Said Fred
2. Yazoo —Only You
3. The Kinks — Have A Cuppa Tea
4. Kate Bush — Love And Anger
5. Elbow — I've Got Your Number
6. Fleetwoods — Come Softly To Me
7. James — Five-O
8. Air — Seven Stars
9. Ella Fitzgerald — I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
10. Blur — This Is A Low
11. Yazoo — Nobody's Diary
12. Prefab Sprout — The King Of Rock 'N' Roll
13. Duran Duran — Ordinary World
14. Annie Lennox — Why
15. Leonard Cohen — Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
16. Tom Tom Club — Genius Of Love
17. Sade — No Ordinary Love
18. Röyksopp — It's What I Want
19. Neil Young — A Man Needs A Maid
20. Leonard Cohen — So Long, Marianne

Fighting the System

2012-12-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here are the two most recent posts from my film blog, where it's all about going up against the powers that be. First, an illustration for Terry Gilliam's imaginative dystopia BRAZIL:

And also for the 1940 propaganda thriller, NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH:

Sir this is a mirror store

2012-11-29T14:13:00.001-08:00

If Twitter were a comic, it might look something like Twitter: The Comic, a super awesome blog started by my brother @VectorBelly. Here is my contribution, based off of the super awesome tweet by @bugbucket. And if you're on the Tumblr, you can reblog it from here.

Mountain Village

2012-11-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

Just a little something inspired by scarf weather.

By the way, there's a new print available in my Etsy shop.

Washington, Maryland, and Maine

2012-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's always exciting when I get to update the map on StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com.

Happy Halloween

2012-10-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I'm celebrating this holiday with Roman Polanski's classic horror film, ROSEMARY'S BABY. You can read the review here on my film blog.

And here's the illustration I posted last month, for the 1948 crime drama, THE NAKED CITY. Best wishes to all those who are still stuck in this part of Manhattan without power.

Children's Medical Center part one

2012-10-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

I was one of the fortunate New Yorkers yesterday who didn't suffer any damage or power outage from the hurricane. I was, however, stranded at home in the bad weather. And so it completely brightened my day when I received these photos of a project still in the works.

The Children's Medical Center of Dallas is celebrating their 100 year anniversary, and I've been working on a few illustrations that will be on display in the building. This is just a little piece of the massive landscape to come, but I'm so excited with how it's turning out so far!

I should also mention that working with West Office Exhibition Design on this project has been a treat.

Tree Town

2012-09-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Happy autumn! Okay, it's not fall quite yet, but I'm through with summer and I'm ready for the leaves to change. So here is an illustration I threw together over the weekend. It's sort of a sequel to my Robot City from earlier this year, and I think I'm going to expand these into a series. Expect to see more buildings in unexpected places.

San Francisco at Night

2012-09-14T11:37:00.001-07:00

Here's part two of the work I did for Saint Mary's College of California and their 150th anniversary. The college is holding a gala with the theme of Saint Mary's being the jewel of San Francisco Bay. So the illustration had to include a view of the campus, the San Fransisco skyline at night, and plenty of jewel tones.

And here it is in print. The reflections in the water were all die cut, so you see the full skyline in reverse when you open the invitation. I'm really happy with how the production turned out on this one.

Gaelebration

2012-09-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Saint Mary's College of California is celebrating their 150th anniversary, and I was commissioned to create a few images for the occasion. The panorama below represents the flurry of events that are going to be taking place on campus this year, from concerts and performances, to lectures and discussions, to carnival rides. Crowd scenes are always a good challenge to draw. And a crowd scene with twenty-foot-high letters is even better.

Tomorrow I'll share the other illustration I created for them, which involves far fewer people.

Hit Men, Doctors, and Nuns

2012-08-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here's another roundup of illustrations I've recently posted on my film blog, Criterion Affection. First, Jean-Pierre Melville’s ultra-cool crime drama LE SAMOURAÏ:

Then, it's Akira Kurosawa's sentimental tale of two doctors in a poor village, RED BEARD:

And finally, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's stunningly gorgeous BLACK NARCISSUS:

The New York Crimes

2012-07-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

My good friend, writer/zinester/audiophile Kristen Felicetti, recently wrote and produced an audio drama called The New York Crimes. It features two aimless brothers hired to be detectives and solve crimes in Brooklyn, and it's being released in four parts online. While I admit to being a biased source, let me just say that it is excellent. Clever, funny, mysterious, with well crafted DIY charm.

In addition to "acting" in it, (emphasis on those quotation marks,) I'll also be illustrating each episode as it comes out. Here are the drawings for parts one and two, which you can—and should—listen to here.

More Guideposts Magazine

2012-07-17T14:09:00.001-07:00

Here are more spot illustrations from Guideposts Magazine, for their section called Pass It On, which I'll be contributing to all year. The stories highlight various good deeds, from starting up conversations with strangers, to taking professional photos at a dog shelter, to hosting an earth-friendly kid's birthday. I hope my drawings are half as nice as the people they're about.

Leafy Logo

2012-07-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've been remiss with my blogging, and now I have a backlog of fun projects I need to share. First up, here's a logo I designed for the company Urban Access. They wanted a memorable, clever image that highlighted their environmental friendliness. It was a challenge to create something that didn't fall back on "green" cliches, but I'm pretty happy with the result.

Polar Bear Breakout

2012-06-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I designed a tee shirt for Made In The Now, a company that produces a new designer shirt every day based on a recent new story, and available to purchase for only 24 hours. I think I was pretty fortunate to get an article about a polar bear making a bid for freedom from the zoo. Who doesn't like a badass polar bear? This is what I came up with:

You can order one for the next...14 hours and counting here.

Small Furnishings

2012-06-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

There's a new illustration and short review on Criterion Affection for Lena Dunham's TINY FURNITURE. Incidentally, it's the fiftieth film that I've illustrated for the blog. Phew.

Ghost Wizard

2012-05-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had a little game going on Twitter: send me a word, and I'll work it into an illustration. Shortly after, I was given the lovely prompts circuitous, whiplash, causticity, ghosts, wizard, and schmutz. And here is the result. It's a run-in with ultra evil Ghost Wizard in the abandoned mansion!

I think causticity wins for the most challenging of the bunch. Either something caustic is eating away at the wallpaper, or that ghost has an awfully caustic attitude. You decide.

Thanks to @JeffareHappy, @JamieESrich, @bdskibinski, @VectorBelly, @chrislebanc79, and @misty_sharon for playing along!

Kinda, maybe NSFW?

2012-05-11T15:10:00.001-07:00

Another set of mixtape illustrations is up on Ten Paces and Draw, with the theme of Bad Reputation. I signed up for the wonderfully dirty "Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges, and drew something sort of vaguely suggestive in tribute. Innuendo abounds.

Study of My Dreams

2012-05-08T08:49:00.002-07:00

I've been feeling rather motivated to do a lot of illustration for myself lately, which is never a bad thing. Here is what the study of my dreams would look like, and what I would probably end up using it for.

You can't see it in this picture, but it also has one of those secret doors that's completely hidden behind books.

SocialFork

2012-05-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping my lips sealed until it launched, but now I can share the illustration I made for the new website SocialFork.net. If you're in the London area, it's a place where you can sign up for delicious meals and meet new people. The image I got to create for their homepage is a colorful landscape of restaurants and foodies. (It's sort of big, so I recommend clicking to see it properly.)

And here's the illustration for the How It Works section:

Cute Town

2012-04-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

There's love and cuteness all around. First up, a new review on my film blog Criterion Affection, for Lars von Trier's ANTICHRIST. I can't say I was crazy about the movie, and I wasn't going to do an illustration for it, but then I thought, hey, why not draw some adorable animals?

Next, my contribution to the astrology themed illustration swap at Ten Paces And Draw. If you haven't seen their spiffy new website yet, definitely check it out.

Mostly Harmless

2012-04-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

Theoretically, I guess this could be any old person floating through space in a bathrobe. But no, clearly it is an illustration of Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, one of my all time favorite fictional characters, traveling to the far reaches of the universe when all he really wants is a nice hot cup of tea. Arthur, where is your towel?!

Two Drawings for the Price of One

2012-04-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

I can't really think of a theme to this blog entry, other than "look at these two projects I updated!" The first is a new addition to my film blog Criterion Affection, for the landmark New Wave film THE 400 BLOWS.

And the second is for another story on my illustrated fiction blog, Picture And A Thousand Words. It's about the apocalypse, and also cats, and you can read it here.

Evil Shark, Evil Cat

2012-03-31T11:04:00.001-07:00

The theme for this catch-up post is animals. Evil animals. First up, an interpretation of Bobby Darin's Mac the Knife, for Ten Paces and Draw. (The blog will be officially launching their snazzy new website in a few days, so update your bookmarks.)

And here's the latest entry from my Criterion Affection blog, for the campy Japanese horror film HOUSE. It's not for the weak of heart!