How to use this Page

There is a polarization in management and policy thinking. On the one hand, there is an increasing focus, for organizations, on defining detailed rules, standardizing methods, evidencing and measuring outcomes. The intention is to make the hospital, school, or firm work as an efficient, optimized, well-oiled machine.

The post Simplicity in a complex world appeared first on OUPblog.

Hello all! I apologize for not posting last week's tidbit on Friday, but it was a busy deadline day so blogging had to be pushed back. Also, I am going to be switching up the posts (basically reversing them) as I feel some people just want to skip my chatter and get to the art.

So here we go.
A few posts back I mentioned the Haiti Poster Project. I took this opportunity to do an experimental piece. Its pretty far removed from my illustration work in terms of medium, but I think its closer to my sketchbook which is quite interesting:


In mid-January, Ode Magazine contacted me seeking an illustration for an article about valuing green spaces. The article was mostly about how we are not assigning value to open spaces; we clearcut and destroy beautiful scenery for strip malls and housing.

The sketches:The final artwork:

And what else is going on? Well, its warm outside. So needless to say I cut back my work hours over the weekend to enjoy the sun. But now its back to it. I am retooling the website, and will most likely be uploading it in April or May.

Enjoy the Day,
Chris

Hello again. I'm sorry that I don't have any art to share this week. Instead, I wanted to share some work-related stuff that I have going on. To quote Milton Glaser, "Art is Work." But I also think Art is Play. We all started because it was fun, right? Doodles and mark-making were fun. So to keep it as such, I am trying new and old things outside of my usual methods.

I just got a Wacom in hopes of experimenting with Photoshop. It was a gift from my lady friend, and its pretty fun. I went with a tiny one as my desk space is pretty cramped already, and I didn't want to spend too much money in case I didn't like working in this manner. I hope to post some results eventually.
The Bamboo is pretty cool as it can also basically replace your mouse. Not only can you use it with a pen, but you can also use your fingers as if it were a mousepad (think scrolling and clicking on you smartphone or itouch).

I have also been experimenting a bit with "analog" work. Aside from the sketchbook, I want to try some media on different papers. Here is a result of inks on a watercolor block; no preliminary drawing here, just putting pen to paper and seeing what happens:

I also keep forgetting that I finally got a toned-paper sketchbook! Its in my bag, but I immediately grab ol'trusty. Hopefully, I'll stumble upon it and get some playing done there as well.

Sorry again for the lack of commissioned work this week; I need to spread it out :) Check back next week for a new piece!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris

Since I knew I would have some relaxing time in my hotel room Sunday night, I brought some things to 'play' with. I have not developed good art-experimental-play habits in the past - always had small children in my lap or was chauffeuring them somewhere or was helping with homework or doing something silly like cleaning the house or picking the blueberries... It's just been the last couple of years that I could even think of doing something that was not commissioned and on a deadline. And even then it has mostly consisted of life drawing and sketching people in church.

When I was doing research for my Oz piece, I was introduced to the graphic novel Oz work being done by amazing comic artist Scottie Young. I bought one of his Oz sketchbooks, and enamored of his characterization and stylization, I copied some of his character sketches to get a feel for how to approach stylizing in this way. (You may have noticed, I don't stylize so much... Would love to, but my brain has not worked that way on its own.. Thus far at least...) Did much fun copying until bedtime.

The following day was the college tour, which entailed a couple of sit-down lectures. I opted to sketch through them, and decided to try my hand at a similar stylization of a character on my own. After a page of cuteness, I wanted to push for something a little more gothic (partly in honor of all the gothic architecture of UW campus). Still pretty cute, and vaguely Manga looking....

So, when we got home, I actually looked at a few photos - mostly for gesture- and to see if I could kind of meld the cuter stylization with something closer to how I normally work - but retain the looser, free-experimental feel of it... 'Twas very fun!

I hope to be able to 'play' more!

I'm very excited. I was emailed that my submissions--one art journal page from The Fairy Field Guide, and a page from my Emma Lou drawings--were accepted to be included in Rockport's next addition of 1000 journals. Wahoo! Ordinarily I would just smile and move on, but my Following my Passions class suggested I celebrate each of my victories, so break out the wine, folks! Let's face it, I love books and I especially love being published. So, last night after class, I treated myself to a huge canvas to paint. I am realizing that painting is for me, my outlet, my expression, hands-off kind of expression.

I posted two of my prints of the Emma Lou series at my etsy store: