log-in
Rob Dunlavey
Just thinking
Urban Sprawl
posted: February 1, 2010
Last week (or was it the week before?) I received a package from France. The contents, when fussed over, checked-in and curated lay scattered all over the studio floor like so many Christmas mornings led by children hopped up on too many sugar plums. Like all binges though this one had its attendant hangover. So this weekend when the sun came out I finally tidied up a bit and my mood (...le vin, la cuisine, l'art, mes nouveaux amis, mon cœur ... quoi d'autre ai-je laisser à Paris?) started to lift too. And lo! A city had sprung up!

I showed these sculptures in Paris in December (some photos here). The presentation was a little less jumbled! To keep transportation costs low, I designed everything so it could fit in a box or two. It was NICE to be reunited with my little creations.
Many thanks to the staff of the American Library in Paris and other friends for many thoughtful favors.

More of this sort of thing is posted on my flickr site.
2009 - 2010
posted: January 4, 2010
Get this dang 2009 outa here!
Hmmm…? Well I guess this is an improvement. Too early to tell!
winter discontent
posted: December 22, 2009
I took a walk this morning: my carriage.
I'm here almost every morning. It's just about 7:00 am.
I cross over the frigid river, shudder and think of the sadness of Inspector Javert on the Pont au Changes in Les Miserables.
the sunlight looks warm but isn't.
Normally on the winter solstice (yesterday actually) I'm smug knowing that even though winter has barely settled in, the days are getting longer. Take that! But this day I am pensive. Why? You say "So what?" I wonder that too. Of course there are personal reasons for some of it (but that's none of your business). And what does this have to do with art or illustration?

There's a decade coming to a close. It's a totally artificial concept but markers in this river of time give one pause:
  • Where were we in 2000? I just looked through some records: I made almost twice as much as I did in 2008. The decade's been a roller coaster ride with most of us growing and branching off into other markets and ventures as a burgeoning class of artists figure out how to slice the pie a little thinner so that more get something at least. Makes me wonder what the rate of home ownership is over time for the profession as a whole…
  • In 2000 I used Fed Ex. I rarely do that nowadays. Portfolios maybe.
  • Remember Alta Vista? Google was just two years out of the blocks and had just started serving primitive text ads along with its uncanny search results. Image searches didn't come on-line until July 2001.
  • Remember the Tech Bubble, 911, Donald Rumsfeld, Freedom Fries and low interest rates and the subsequent subprime collapse?
  • And it seems like so long ago that as a nation we held our breath from November 2008 to January 2009 just to hear Obama and Justice Stevens sort out the oath of office.
So where is illustration headed in this new decade? I'm probably the worst prognosticator. As editorial has shrunk and artists reps collapse and scratch their heads, my own personal need to make art has continued to explode. I need markets for it! I will thrive in the margins for a while perhaps. But something's gotta give. Some wonderful projects are beckoning and coming to life in my mind and in my hands right now. I can't wait to begin this new decade!
Let's cheer each other on and try to enjoy the ride. I fear there will be some very unwelcome bumps ahead though.

Studio Peek
posted: December 18, 2009
The beginnings of a picture book dummy: Meet Phineas Foghorn, an impulsive cat.
clutter central
No ping pong table. No large collectors edition posters. No extensive library full of awards and expensive design compendiums. No first editions. No fancy guitars or expensive workstations. No swimming pool. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Things are jerry-rigged. I'd love to move out and move back in and fill up a dumpster but that would take a very long time. Kind of a swamp really. But it's home. And despite everything sour going on in the world and in the economy, this studio been good to me this past year. So here's to 2010 and to creative workspaces everywhere and their denizens. You know who you are. Be it a palace or a suitcase, a magic silicon wand or a can of spray paint, studios start in the mind and only then move out into the real world. But they start in your noggin --so now I'd better get back to work!

it works for me…
vertical and horizontal stackage. Everything in its place and a place for everything.
Annuals make good paperweights. This recent model on top of a late model Epson scanner.
inspiration: "The Poet" by Leo Espinosa & "The Seven Deadly Sins" by Posada
For all you night owls: above my cantankerous monitor, the equally cantankerous Sonnet 27 by Shakespeare.
Note the carefully cultivated fine coating of dust.
Bonjour!
posted: December 8, 2009
the amoeba says "Bonjour!"
Diderot et pigeon sur la tête!
I'm back and processing, processing, processing impressions and results of a long trip to Paris to attend the children's book fair, meet with publishers and show my work. And a hundred other things in-between. Besides many new contacts and just a taste of the city, I also have come home with two book projects for Bayard Jeunesse and Hélium éditions. The plane ride home was filled with thumbnails and to-do lists. More later.

Exploring
posted: July 9, 2009
Red Riding Hood exploring (with a purpose) in the big forest!
(ink, charcoal, colored pencil)
Is exploration over-rated? Our muses and mothers tell us to stop and smell the roses, doodle and dabble. Explore. Express yourself. Poke and root around and see what beautiful things emerge. But in illustration and other creative endeavors, there is this pressure… go ahead, dabble, but get it right, take it to market and ride that pony till it's frothing and dead on its feet.

It occurred to me this morning that in the illustration world there is a preponderance of monkeys styling about. Why is this? I'm sure it's not just that so many artists these days make their livelihood aping others' styles and old trends. Maybe it's because monkeys are human enough but not so human to cause the poorer draftsmen among us a little pang. Maybe it's the comic potential that simians offer. God knows we always need to poke fun at ourselves, now more than ever. But back to dabbling and delving… and maybe slipping on a banana peel too.

My dabbling has lead me in the direction from editorial to children's book illustration with some decorative noodling thrown into the bargain. I'm still adding ingredients to the bowl and I wonder…! I wonder what will I finally take to market this Fall when I launch my new chariot. The pressure! How to explore and leave doors open so that the work is fresh and original yet somehow pays respect to the giants before and beside me? How to do it all and distill a style out of all my playful ramblings?

These concerns weigh on me today as I attempt to explain my absence of late from these pages. Drawger is a place where we wave our little triumphs because, face it, this is a tough business and even the most successful illustrator is only as good as her last job. There's always the downward pressure of the swarms of new talent and low fees for most. And the alphas on our little version of Survivor climbing higher wondering how it got so lonely up there. Success and failure are equally paradoxical. So I ask you, new and old alike, rich and poor, serf and lord: How's things? Growing webs or wings? Sharpening your dagger or hoeing your beans?
recent sketchbook entries: Red riding Hood, a witch, Thumbelina in her cradle doodle, angry Queen Sun, angry Old Winter, odds & ends.
Reflections
posted: January 19, 2009
Time to get your feet wet!
An average American contemplating the state of the Union: Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and the upcoming presidential inauguration.
While I'm thinking of it...
posted: December 20, 2008
Look, a card from the president of Zimbabwe and his family
Perhaps you can spare a little change to the Red Cross to aid Zimbabweans.
The Red Cross International Relief Fund
The Zimbabwe Situation: current independent news on the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Snow Day
posted: December 19, 2008
The view outside my windows a little while ago
A much anticipated winter storm has finally arrived here in Metrowest Boston. Fine-grained flakes are driving as commuters and school buses are driving out as hastily as they can. A year ago I got caught in a similar conjunction of storm-school closings-and job closings and a 40 minute drive from downtown turned into a 6 hour sleighride.
It's only appropriate that we pause for a moment to reflect on the birthday of Edward Redfield who was born on this day (Dec. 19th) in 1869. Redfield was an Impressionist painter who settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania after studing in Paris with the likes of Robert Henri and Wm. Merritt Chase. Long story short, Redfield's identity as an Impressionist type of painter and his sympathy for Ashcan School Social Realism led him to landscape painting of the Pennsylvania countryside in all manner of weather. He became quite famous for his winter landscapes. Here are a couple of examples:
"Late Afternoon (Delaware River)" Oil on canvas; 38 1/8 x 49 7/8” Woodmere Art Museum
"River Hills" Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY
unknown title
unknown title
The small fact I feel I need to bring to your attention is that many of Redfield's painting were done all prima, on site and in one session. So next time you glide by a half-frozen landscape painter perched on the side of a country road in front of a four by five foot blinding white canvas rectangle, paintbrushes and knives at the ready, offer to get him a  cup of coffee or something else that will keep his spirits up as he confronts, under trying circumstances, one of the supreme challenges and traditions of American art: painting what is directly in front of you the best and most honet way that you can.
Redfield was notoriously finicky about his work. He destroyed many canvases. It's said that not long after his wife died in 1948 he produced his final paintings and then stopped because he felt he was past his prime as the specialized painter he had become. He lived on for another 15-20 years and turned his attention to traditional Pennsylvania crafts: tole painting and rug hooking.
Stuff
posted: December 9, 2008
Arjuna, the shadow puppet warrior keeps bemused watch over my little corner while paints and ideas pile up in drifts on the floor.
Things are getting cluttered in this place. In my head too no doubt. But like an old sweater or a comfortable habit, the clutter keeps the boat sailing ever onward.
I have my priorities all mapped out and nothing is ever lost or overlooked.
The uninitiated may lose their sense of perspective in this dark corner. To the right is a window into the land of illustration. To the left, a glimpse of art. They're pretty similar.
Here's that painting. I think it's another "Annunciation" given that this is the season for that sort of thing. The only difference is that Joseph is looking on and knows that he will always be the odd man out.
While I'm on a Biblical theme, here's a painting from my sketchbook today. I call it "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt". Joseph is still playing catch-up.
stuff!
fun stuff!
Veterans Day
posted: November 11, 2008
Eventually, they come home and the war comes home too.
If you have the opportunity today, pay your respects to a veteran for their service and respect the sacrifices they have made.
War is an extraordinary and morally ambivalent activity. "Thou shalt not kill" yet we organize and justify killing on a massive scale time and again.Whether you view war as murder or self-defense, we are all partners in a large scale emotional dislocation that requires attention to the traumas soldiers accept and endure.
Two birds, one tree
posted: November 5, 2008
It's a new day.
Despite the ever-present philosophical differences that define our civic life, the indisputable truth of our mutual dependence is as clear as always. Surely we will bask in the joy of this moment but we merely pause to refocus our vigor to enlarge and enhance the ideals that give us hope.
Ask your kids who to vote for!
posted: November 4, 2008
Undecided
posted: October 10, 2008
I've never been an undecided voter. My first presidential election was back in 1974 (Muskie ran against Ford who gained office after Nixon's resignation in 1973). I wonder what an undecided voter looks like…
It must be exhausting jumping from ice floe to ice floe. Good luck Mr. Undecided Voter!
Political Physics
posted: September 19, 2008
It's interesting that as the GOP Elephant tries to lighten his load, the heavier he gets.
Are there any coincidences in brand design?
posted: July 23, 2008
You decide: separated at birth?
Crass coincidence or brilliant marketing?
BAWLS is a Guarana "Energy Drink" manufactured by Hobarama LLC in the USA. It is marketed to a select crowd: military personnel, paintball and BMX racing enthusiasts and video gamers. The distinctive bottle design was created by Flow Design from Detroit. The bottle features 122 raised bumps to make it easier to hold. Our laboratory staff confirms the useful and pleasing tactile properties of the design.
I found this particular empty bottle littered on the grass where I take my daily morning stroll. I was attracted to the color and the shape of the bottle. I thought my eleven year old daughter, who's more of a collector of these types of things than I, would like it. I did a double-take when I saw the brand name. I wondered if there was an appropriately named pink bottle for the ladies (the name of which I will leave to your imagination!). Barely stopping myself from completely careening down the gutter, I  studied the bottle further, turning it in my hand. It called to mind those vending machines in interstate highway men's rooms in various discrete locations that dispense sexual aids that "protect and enhance".
I'm happy that the life force is strong in our fighting men and women and I'm happy that BAWLS is there to encourage people to protect and enhance life with vigor. BAWLS is a caffeinated drink and a diuretic and may cause dehydration; please enjoy it responsibly.
lkjHZDFOIHUdf
posted: July 15, 2008
for Barry
Hey buddy, can you spare 50 Billion?
posted: July 9, 2008
The just issued 50 Billion note. Don't spend it all in one place! Some traders value 125 Billion Zimbabwe dollars at US $0.40.
A short profile of Gideon Gono, Zimbabwe's central-bank governor appeared in yesterday's  Wall Street Journal. I caught it via moneyweb and www.zimbabwesituation.com. Gono is just one of the crazies sucking the blood out of Zimbabwe where up is down and vice versa.

"Of all the world's central bankers, Zimbabwe's gets the biggest -- or at least the longest -- salary. Mr. Gono won't say how much he earns exactly as head of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe but does claim to have "more digits" on his pay slip that any of his peers. He earns trillions of Zimbabwe dollars. It now takes more than 16 billion of these to buy a single U.S. dollar. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke earns only six figures, $191,300."

The design of the bill has a certain expedient quality. Maybe the giraffes should be facing right (and running faster!)
Independence Day...
posted: July 2, 2008
Welcome to a land teeming with a myriad of life forms and other serious inhabitants.
This recent series of sketchbook pages suggested an oblique (at best) and moderately sarcastic rumination on America,  July 4th, and the futility of War and the bottomless capacity to Forget what's actually going on. Whatever. In my defense, the sketches always came first and the narrative came second --if it came at all.
But all is not well: war and its excesses ravage some while others are left to wonder.
Now that that's over, we get to relax and horse around some. Hotcha!
Despite the National Pastime and the National Anthem, the natives are still mad as Hell. Some people just don't get Independence Day!
Creativity is...
posted: June 24, 2008
ball point pen, latex paint
A thoughtful thought for the month of June from a new gallery of sketchbook effluvia:
"An artist could say that: Creativity is the hopeful flow of drawings [in which] formal visual elements are deployed in ways that beneficially stimulate new patterns of thinking"

So there you have it; it's all downhill from here!
Memorial Day
posted: May 26, 2008
Painting in Progress
posted: May 7, 2008
A current effort. I was given this easel in high school and I've carted it around all this time. It's cheap but it makes it easier to keep multiple things going.
I imagine that there are many ways to go about a dedicated and disciplined painting regimen. For several years I desired and imagined getting back into painting. I had a show in 2005 and I treated it like a commission: I painted for the show. Tick-tock!
I'm doing a similar thing now in preparation for a show next December. It's a low-profile affair but it has given me the impetus to get off my rear end and move some of my sketchbook-centric art-making into more public and saleable formats.

I started out with all these odd plywood panels and a bunch of cans of left-over house paint. No sketching; just dive in and see what develops. So far, I've been pleased with the process: I've done about 25 paintings and the original set of graphic ideas is starting to branch out and get very nourishing.
This really horizontal canvas suggested a wolf or something, so there she is. I'm using some cut outs to figure out what's going on underneath. Maybe that's trash or broken glass. Lots of questions to ponder.
There are a ton of influences coming out as I finish them: Morris Graves, Jerome Snyder, Paul Klee, Bill Traylor… I'm sure you'll detect others. They started out just being geometric. Now there are animals and, probably, figures later on starting to get into situations in my compositions.
three early geometric ones
I think I've just completed this one. The forms, as they suggest themselves and are generated generally dictate what will happen next. In this case, the geometric kryptonite stuff was in place first. Will it be a mountain? A cave? Near the ocean? Even though it's very static, can I suggest movement? Maybe these fragile little birds can impede its progress long enough for it to come to a stop. I guess this is about sticking up for the little guy who's here one day and gone the next.

Stay tuned!
Mugabe
posted: April 6, 2008
I've been obsessing over the fate of Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe this past week. For a little while I thought the transition would be relatively peaceful but that assessment seems overly optimistic now.
Mugabe is a small part of the overall problem but it's helpful to have someone with a memorable face to  graphically pillory.  Classic "tyrant" stuff. And those glasses! Is Libya's Gaddafi his fashion consultant?
I shouldn't  joke. Mugabe is a dangerous and deluded predator.
an idea for a film.
Why?
posted: March 25, 2008
"Unknown Soldier" 03-25-08a
4000 and counting...
The hopelessly fragmented man observed: "Even in the most extreme experiences, far from our homes, we invested our experiences with meaning and love, loyalty and patriotism. Even when they ceased to have meaning OR value."
So?
posted: March 21, 2008
Dick Cheney (ink, 3/21/08)
It was nice of the Vice President to remind us the other day that he's still around. To this joyous news one might be excused for saying "So?"
Kryptonite
posted: February 25, 2008
KRYPTONITE, as you probably know, is an imaginary substance that has a negative influence over Superman's  powers. You can read up about it over at Wikipedia if you want. Lots of people seem to really care about the stuff. I've always thought of it as green but apparently, fertile minds in the industries that have licenses with the Superman franchise have created many hues which probably have different effects on the hero from Metropolis. I've been to this town near Paducah, Kentucky across the Ohio River from Southern Illinois where I went to college. There is a museum (which I haven't visited) with a 35' painted bronze statue of Superman out front. It's looks stunning.

Kryptonite is also the name I've given to a series of abstract doodles of late. Here are some sketches and also a few vectorized adaptations.
02-08-08a (ink, colored pencil, watercolor)
02-09-08a (Somehow, my daughter who was sketching with me at the time, and I got to talking about optimal living environments for hamsters. We do not own a hamster.)
02-08-08a_new-weather (This is based on that sketch above)
Sometimes, the content or quality of speech can have a negative effect on anyone's well-being (not just Clark Kent!).
Valentine's Day
posted: February 14, 2008
Ellen likes cats
Julia loves owls (and J. K. Rowling)
The Valentine Mouse visits our house
Color Therapy
posted: February 13, 2008
I've been hanging out at Colourlovers.com this morning and these are the palettes I saved as favorites. There's obviously a pattern: there's a warm, slightly toasted haze infiltrating the swatches and they all include some dominant but not too strident red. I could just stare at palettes all day. There's an addictive quality to it that I'm sure is well studied: the endorphin rush of color perceived. Some people probably see color before they see content or form. I believe that the web really has instigated a new way to experience color that wasn't available before.
What's tricky about this Colourlovers color is that it only exists through the glowing medium of my computer monitor. It doesn't have the same mesmerizing power when printed out or used as reference for a painting I'm embarking on. But those glowing colored bars are like gumdrops, chocolate, brandy, coffee, the interplay of woven colored threads: pure color at loose in the world.
In contrast to my color favorites today, the world outside my window looks somewhat like this:
from a photo of my favorite bit of nearby forest. Photoshop motion blur added.
It's Monday
posted: January 7, 2008
My brain flits and jerks around in response to the images forming in front of me early in the day. Here are a few January doodles to start the new year.
Yes, I know there's a problem with my boat but we've come to an mutual understanding of the situation: I will continue to paddle if you promise not to sink. So far it's working.
Buddha is thinking about crossword puzzles.
Another Windshield Cowboy lost between the sky and the sand.
A Helpful Reminder
posted: November 22, 2007
The Thanksgiving Fox reminds one and all to have a peaceful and an especially thankful day.
Six years out
posted: September 11, 2007
09-13-01
In honor of those who actually lost something six years ago on this day, I urge you to forget Bin Laden temporarily and fix your sites on the monkeys in the White House with the gas can. They have ruined everything and it's getting worse.
Mmmmmm... !
posted: July 6, 2007
xerox, collage, tempera, ink, etc., etc.
I love my job!  Drawing-Collage-Paint: a well-oiled studio with projects and possibilities everywhere I look.

And the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay 15-4 last night.

How are you doing today?
Arp's Bicycle
posted: June 26, 2007
Hans Arp was known for incorporating quirky organic shapes into his artwork. The funky white-ish cloud shape was left over from my daughter's art experiments and I knew I could put it to use as a stencil.
Who here has an Epson printer? Just about everyone. I'm mostly satisfied with mine but it has a nasty habit of thinking its cartridges are out of ink when they aren't. Can you relate? Well, don't toss those half-spent cartridges away because they have lots of ink inside and ink means: Art Supplies!
The cyan blobs in this picture are what squirted out of the cartridge when I peeled off the forbidden stickers.  Very messy stuff that soaked through about five pages of the sketchbook and behaves strangely with the cheap paper. I wouldn't have it any other way though. Accidents like these are like moguls to a skier: go with the flow and get in a rhythm. Maybe you'll transcend what you thought were your limitations!
A Sleeping Nation Goes Off to War
posted: June 23, 2007
Epson ink, ballpoint, gouache 8 1/2 x 11"
After a variety of artistic meanderings, this image arrived out of the welter of marks that were seeking some kind of justification. It goes in step with a book I've just finished reading: "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" by Frank Rich. This book catalogs, analyzes and lambastes the media and the Bush administration for the profound mess they have created in Iraq and by extension, the equally profound mess here in the "homeland". I've been against the war and Bush (both of them) from the very beginning. But after reading this book, I feel as if I was asleep during the whole run-up and subsequent execution of the war. And I fear about what is happening AT THIS MOMENT as we prepare for our own bit of democratic regime change.

The coming election becomes a popularity contest at our own peril. We have to drill deeper than who is "electable" and all that. Follow the money and look hard at the underlying philosophy of the candidates. Bush brought us Enron, Cheney, Rove and Wolfowitz.  What will the Democrats bring along with them??

It's time for the people to wake up and lead the nation in a way that restores a battered but resilient American ideal that has been sadly abused of late.
Dark Thing
posted: March 16, 2007
ink, gouache, watercolor 71/2 x 6 1/2"
A slightly optimistic-looking yet dystopian cityscape from my sketchbook this morning and a dark rough mbira melody to go with it:
 
When I get it all together, I'll pour these ideas into animation of some sort. Please, cheer me on!
Letters from kids
posted: March 6, 2007
If I ever need a few positive strokes, I pull out a few of these kinds of letters. They make me feel ten feet tall!
Bob Staake's inspiring story about how Michael, an autistic student,  wrote him  a fan letter, got me thinking about letters I received from a class of first graders years ago after I'd done a demonstration. The letter above is from Mary Elaine who I know recently graduated from college and now works at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Does she still remember me?? Hmmm...
Good Day Sunshine!
posted: February 28, 2007
sketchbook Feb. 28, 2007 various inks, fabric paint, gouache.
Here is a happy face to brighten up your morning. Spring IS on it's way. The birds are starting to go nuts and there's a familiar scent in the air.
Time to wrap up those winter chores, peruse the seed catalogs and bask in the knowledge that is as old as time itself: fickle Spring is on its way!
Twilight in America?
posted: February 16, 2007
End of the line for the Red, White and Blue?
Every morning I work in my sketchbook. It takes about a month or two to complete one. Part personal journal, part daily to-do list, sometimes sketching for work; the sketchbook has become a huge addictive habit. I can't recommend it highly enough. Everything else may be crashing around me but if I've done something decent in the sketchbook, I can hold my head high as Peter records my passing in his big book.

Anyway, this image started with some angular doodling that became clouds. I then added a line at the bottom and accepted the fact that it had become a landscape. On the page before this, I had drawn a disgruntled dragon so I continued the theme with a parade of depressed and tired dinosaurs dragging themselves across the blighted landscape.

I then painted the sky a raspy pink and wan yellow and started shading the clouds. How depressing should this thing be anyway? Then an angry thought came to me that the dinosaurs were actually America plodding off into the sunset. A sunset brought about by decades of backward political thinking, confused foreign policy and defensive thinking in general. I know this may be a leap and profoundly un-obvious and misguided on my part, but just imagine for a moment if America was known for her brilliant environmental policies and practices, globally helpful foreign policy, ennobling journalism and art and entertainment that actually celebrated the joy of life rather than  the live flaying of  human beings.

Yes, this is a very interesting time to be alive and I'm sure my kids and yours will basically be fine.  I'm basically an optimist. I just hope that a new intelligent consensus emerges from the waning days of the this fraudulent presidency.

Remember how nice we were to each other in the days after 9-11? I hope it doesn't take another event like that to get to nice.
Thoughts on the Afterlife
posted: January 29, 2007
On the spiritual plane, two souls meet for the second time:
"Oh, I can see you're new here. I'm glad the wings fit you"
"Thanks"
"They look nice. Wait, don't I know you?"
"…Margaret?"
"Bob? It's been a long time."
"Over 40 years".

My father who was 96 years old passed away last night. It's a good thing: a long life, 8 children, many grandchildren, 2 wives, he saw a lot and was a pretty quiet guy. I just wanted to acknowledge it in one small way and this picture came out this morning.
Today…
posted: January 15, 2007
"The Road to Unity goes through Diversity"
I wanted to do some little thing to acknowledge the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday that we observe today.
Art Directors Club 86th Invitational poster art
posted: December 22, 2006
poster illustration by N. Kox
There has been some heated discussion in the chat boards regarding the most recent Call for Entries poster for the Art Directors Club 86th competition. This discussion raises important issues on the variety  of opinions illustrators have about training and professionalism and how illustrators relate to fine art. Perhaps more importantly, it raises larger questions about any art's (specifically Outsider Art) relation to the market and how design and illustration feed off of that market. My presumption here, to be perfectly clear, is that Design and Illustration, are by nature reactionary: they find their life in response to someone else's demands. [Link to larger image of the ADC/Kox poster]
detail: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" (Hell) by Heironymous Bosch
I hope that at some point, the Art Directors Club might explain their thinking is choosing this image for their poster. I presume that they appreciate the topical and apocalyptic subject matter and the unschooled art technique. Both of these traits are in vogue so it's not surprising that they attempt to shock. We've come to expect as much.

Blurring the boundaries… or are we?
As Robert Zimmerman helpfully pointed out, the ADC selected a painting by Norbert Kox for the poster. Kox is an American outsider Christian religious painter. His original paintings are sought after by collectors. He has his own schtick and he's the real thing. So, is the ADC appropriating his good-bad art to emphasize their good-bad trendy image? Maybe an image by Heironymous Bosch would work or is that too acceptable?

Outsider art is in
Outsider art (graffiti, kids, religious iconography, stencil, comic book, pin-ups, Japanese cute, etc.) are part of a currently appropriate set of icons and mark-making strategies that is prevalent today. The emotional power of this style is seductive. It's ability to be opaque and ironic is useful for editorial and is  increasingly used in corporate adaptations.
Bill, the chimp, settling in to paint a picture. source: The Eureka Reporter
It is scary for trained artists to see unschooled and passionate "visionaries" getting all the acclaim. Perhaps it's just the swing of the pendulum. As professional image makes (as opposed to visionaries) we should be used to this sort of shift in taste. It's nothing new and by our very nature, we are probably incorporating elements of "what is currently fashionable" into our work in some small (or big) way. Personally, I find the poster to be mostly unimpressive. Appropriation of outsider art just doesn't shock or inspire. It's just another strategy that confirms the derivative and conservative nature of much cultural activity today.

What will you do?
I suggest the following: Make art that is as honest as possible that accurately acknowledges the forces that lead to its creation. All are legitimate. Reflect often on how lucky you are to be able make pictures on a daily and, hopefully obsessive, basis. Let the rest of the poseurs do what they may.
"Just Walking By"
posted: October 30, 2006
Here's a little musical doodle I've been working on lately:

powered by ODEO Someday (hopefully soon) I'll get these soundtracks together with some characters and set a parallel, animated universe in motion (see below). Seems daunting but I tend to see my images in motion these days so something's gotta give! Hope you find it inspirational or at least interesting!
Halloween Heads
posted: October 24, 2006
Around this time last year, my daughter and I were making cut paper doodles. We made a bunch of faces. Just fold the paper in half and start snipping snowflake style. There's always a nifty "Ah-Ha" when folded flat.

There's a cool dingbat font made by Apostrophe that was part of my mental soundtrack as we played with the bilateral facial symmetry. The font is called "Maskalin".
• Apostrophe interview
• Maskalin download (Apostrophic Lab)
• Maskalin download (Penguinfonts)
This is a partial view of the Maskalin font by Apostrophe.
angry picture
posted: September 12, 2006
Pathetic isn't it?
An angry little picture:
As I see it, the G W Bush White House (and the corporatized) media have made a circus out of 9-11. We will not be able to think clearly (and grieve perhaps appropriately) until something is done about them.
By invading Iraq, we dishonored 9-11. I'm tired of black boxes; I want ballot boxes.
Goodbye Summer
posted: September 1, 2006
After several days of late nights trying to catch up on work, family duty called: Casco, Maine, as I lay in a field of grass above a beautiful lake in Maine, out of my fatigue I sketched this happy and rather haunted man.
Even in the midst of Nature's beauty this summer, I frequently found myself juggling assignments and re-negotiating deadlines. This state of affairs was anticipated (right!) and continues unabated. Life is blurred as September makes her renewing presence felt.

I try to make resolutions to paint more, be a better illustrator, be a better businessman, cultivate the good habits while discouraging the bad ones. There are a ton of home improvement projects that were started in the optimistic light and heat of August and now languish in the rapidly creeping shadows of September. Can winter be far now? Will I get all the leaf piles gathered before the snow hits?

But today: It's a day for focused work and unbidden and ponderous musings. Life is on the march who knows where? How was your summer?
Geometric People
posted: May 25, 2006
The geometric figuration thing for me kind of begins with this guy from last summer. I call him "The Iron Fireman". They are quick to do, one or two colors, explore positive-negative space, poster-like, could be stencilled…
For lack of a better term, Geometric People:
I'm trying to make sense of this theme of mine. Maybe a Drawger gallery and some constructive feedback from some of you folks will help propel the series along to a satisfying new place. Here's a link to the images.

There are a lot of influences to be sure (let me know who/what I've left out!):
Mike Bartalos, GREEK POTTERY, Meso-American pottery/gold/textiles, Terry Allen, John Hersey, M.C. Escher, J. Otto Siebold, definitely Kuba cloth, naïve figurative quilt design (Harriet Powers), Jean Dubuffet, typography, those stacking toy block figures that I had as a kid… the list is endless. Maybe throw in a dash of Leo Espinosa to this short list.

So what are the priorites here?
1. figures are fun! stick a circle on a shape with a bump on it and you have a face:  "Kilroy was here". 2. action. I like the movement of things. This comes from the Greek vases and Kuba Cloth. 3. silhouettes are cool: that's the letterform stuff coming through. 4. simple bold humorous and kind of clunky. Definitely clunky!
This guy has one small problem…!
Is this inspired or what!?
The silhouettes can be containers for anything I guess. This space for rent.

Last summer I started working in a Canson "sketchbook"  which has different colored signatures in it. I thought I would just do these kind of designs in it (there are a bunch in the gallery (Geometric People).  I put it down after a few weeks , the colored paper kept throwing me off. The images were primarily about shapes and space and color was/is secondary. Kind of stupid to make these distinctions but it really tripped me up for a while. And, yes, I do have better things to think about!
Just one last image: Here's an example of the ones on colored paper. You know, I should go Bartalos all the way and just do this series as cut paper. Then I'll shoot myself. My  marker will read "Here lies a Michael Bartalos wannabe".
May 4th
posted: May 4, 2006
I swiped this image from the master himself! I'm sure Lou Darvas is rolling in his grave.
Hey! It's Hal Mayforth Day!
Cool!
Hats off to you Hal!
The Juggling Act
posted: April 27, 2006
I've been way too busy lately with a wide variety of projects that have snarled up life. All the chickens came home to roost. It's good but it's nuts. Many of the tasks just don't relate to my self-described trajectory or even pay. And as I work on one, the other pots start to boil over.  Hey, who's steering this train wreck anyway?!
A sequence of sketches for the talented animators to chew on.
Job #1: art director for a small on-line educational currriculum developer in San Francisco. They want me to jazz up their clunky middle school math product. It's an awkward fit because the engineering and content development workflows are entrenched in old Microsoft dominated technologies. It's interesting seeing my sketches interpreted by other artists. Some of the Flash programming is cool to see (as I know nothing about how it's done!). The basic process involves getting a handful of lengthy Word documents that spoell out the content for a particular subject (which is basic and arcane at the same time). I sketch, doodle, cajole and entertain, cut and paste, and run it up the flagpole. Then the team  has their say and off it goes to production and we cross our fingers and hope that something magical occurs so it feels like we're making actual progress!
Job #2: Illustrator and graphic consultant for a new TV commercial. I've detailed tantalizing tidbits in some other posts here. Both these jobs are on the West coast so those guys get busy just as I'm starting to turn into a pumpkin. Gotta rise to the occasion anyway!
The project includes a 12 page booklet, art for the cd itself and a traycard. Solomon is a Zimbabwean expatriate who plays the mbira (or thumb piano). It's grand stuff. I play a little.
Job #3: a good friend asked me (a long time ago) if I would design a cd for him. It's almost done. It's fun and clean but everyone else is howling for THEIR jobs!
sketch for Florida Realtor Magazine. Tracey Calvet, the art director, is a good person to work for!
Job #4, 5, 6, 7, 8…
The assorted other stuff (mostly two-bit editorial-type jobs):
• 3 monthly spots for an old client (but now I'm doing drawings of people doing exercises --whatever. They're nice and a bit of a charity case)
• a full page illustration for another magazine. They pay well. DUE today!
• three illustrations for Job #1 (DUE today!)
• some spots and design work for a member of the family
• strange work for a lame client who I generally avoid.
This is called paying the bills!
A tyranny of sketchbooks
posted: March 27, 2006
"The Thinker" circa 1998
About ten years ago, my sketchbooks took over and became the focus of my creative life. It coincided with that other tyranny of creative life: very young children; but that's another story. Like alien spores germinating, I would find myself at 5:00 am (earlier nowadays), monk-like with a cup of coffee, slinking off to some quiet corner of the house. With a Bic pen I would write the date in a box in the upper left corner of the page…

• The stack of books is growing and…
• Paying work has exhibited troubling concerns of late…
• What will become of me?

Stay tuned.
This was done yesterday. Simple but pretty much fun.
I picked up this old and resistant sketchbook. It's a spiral-bound deck of Canson colored papers (probably intended for scrapbookers). Anyway, I've been really resisting working in it and I'm trying to figure out why. I'll know soon.

Sometimes self-imposed "problems" need to cook a while before they yield to the familiar impulses that propel lines across a sheet of paper. I have to "soften" the prisoner up before he'll talk.
Promises, Promises!
posted: March 24, 2006
I am clean shaven now!
I do hereby promise and faithfully swear to add content to this here blog as often as I possibly can.
Recent Articles
Topics
Archive

Sketchbook: Jan - Feb 2010 (13)

Sketchbook: July - Dec. 2009 (40)

Sketchbook: Feb - June 2009 (60)

Sketchbook: Oct. 2008 - Jan. 2009 (56)

Sketchbook: June-September 2008 (62)

Sketchbook: February - May 2008 (31)

Paintings (28)

Collage Sketches (32)

Sketchbook: Nov 2007-Jan 2008 (41)

Sketchbook: May-Oct. 2007 (32)

Sketchbook: March-April 2007 (22)

Sketchbook: Jan - Feb 2007 (15)

Sketchbooks: Nov - Dec 2006 (29)

Sketchbooks: June - Sept. 2006 (50)

Sketchbooks: Aug. 2005 - June 2006 (28)

random sketches: 01 (22)

Fictitious Faces & Erratic Events (17)

Kryptonite (30)

The Red Tie (29)

Homerun Heroes (28)

Envelope paintings (172)

Geometric People (29)

Little People (80)

My Little Monkey (37)

Bird Story (12)

Iceland sketches (16)

Computer Games (30)

Jerome Snyder (CREATION #12) (17)

Kuba Cloth (10)
LINKS
Links to Articles
Shop Robd @ ILLOGATOR
www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from Rob Dunlavey. Make your own badge here.