Sunday, January 15, 2012

Window(s) - Test Cutting


A couple of months ago I came across Davey Wavey's blog, www.breaktheillusion.com and enjoyed his honest in-your-face exhuberence.  He has a unique take on the world and a fantastic body.

But while his body is hard-earned and attention worthy, I didn't want to gloss over what I think his real gifts are... a sharp sense of humor and an irreverent yet relevant vision. What better way to do that than to showcase his eyes? 

At 16"x20" I think this is a pretty good proof of concept for a larger version.  This cutting is based on a self portait taken by Davey. In exchange for his permission to use the photo he asked for this proof, which he auctioned off to a fan for the benefit of  The Trevor Project.  How cool is that? Davey talked about it here and then a few days later posted this video:


My gratitude goes to the winning bidder for his extremely generous donation.  Thank you, sir.

The off-axis shot is below.




Change Order Destroyer

After I had developed a few marketing give-aways that were a little peculiar, notably the toilet paper and business card holder, I wanted to see what else I could come up with.

Three concepts sprang immediately to mind.  The first was that whatever we created had to be something that people would hodl on to.  Too many give-aways develop into things that people give to their children - they approximate toys in some way (a major drawback inherent to the Lego business card holder).  The second was that the item had to be something that people would want to not only keep, but keep out on their desks so that the company name would be in their faces every day.  And the third was that the company tag line would be modified or swapped out entirely depending on what we were putting it on.

The "change order destroyer" was the first item I developed to comply with these concepts.  It made most project owner's smile when they saw it.  One proudly proclaimed "Finally! I've been looking for one of these!"  The original idea was that it be a Mars-Staedtler eraser, possibly the best eraser on the market today, but the idea proved difficult to execute, so we went with off the shelf erasers (which yes, diminishes its hold-on-to aspect).  But in terms of getting attention, telling you something outside your experience, and getting attention, I think the piece is successful.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Blue Halo

This is just a straight up painting on canvas, measuring 36"x48" and using six shades of blue latex paint.  It was done in the same technique as the dining wall.
The painting was designed to integrate with the greater wall behind it.  It looks clever and plays nicely with the eyes, but it results in an unusually busy pattern that I hoped the diagonals would help alleviate. I'm not sure it does this successfully.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Aknowylliw

Let's make 2012 a sweet year.

The subject of this cutting is outside my normal interest, but I did this for a friend of a friend, who happens to be, the biggest fan of this character on Earth.

I'm continually surprised by how interesting a subject's eyes can be portrayed with decidedly un-eye-shaped elements.  This piece highlights that more than most.  Also unlike the others, this piece had to be nearly complete (five out of six layers) before the subject was recognizable.

Below is the same image, off-axis.