kumoArt

Sidearm Design Posters

2009-05-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Some beautiful work by Washington based designer Karl Peterson of Sidearm Design. Kind of reminds me of the Pilot Report poster series I started a while back. I love his images! Hopefully he'll start selling some of them in his shop.

fwd: tag, and be tagged

2009-04-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Directions: 1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own. 2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

//what is your current obsession// contemporary electronic genius ulrich schnauss (music you hear in your dreams but don't remember).

//good coffee place// not really a coffee drinker.

//do you nap a lot// no.

//who was the last person you hugged// my mother.

//what was the last thing you bought// sun glasses, tank-top, and shorts for the summer.

//what is your favorite line from your favorite movie// "they can be a great people, kal-el, they wish to be. they only lack the light to show the way. for this reason above all, their capacity for good, i have sent them you... my only son." -jor-el from superman: the movie

//what are you listening to right now// Ulrich Schnauss - "On My Own" from the album A Strangely Isolated Place

//what is your favorite weather// 75°. sunny. bit of a breeze. a few cumulus clouds scattered around to block the sun every once and a while.

//what's on your bedside table// ikea lamp, sony dream machine alarm clock, felt drink coaster and a half eaten bag of unsalted almonds.

//say something to the person who tagged you// dear mitsue, please move to brooklyn right now. we'll form a punk/bossa nova band: me- drums, you- bass, sam- guitar. band name: the sayonara sisters (sam and i will of course be in drag)

//if you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it be// park slope brooklyn, ny.

//favorite vacation spot// japan but soon to be costa rica, i'm sure of it.

//name the things you cannot live without// music, movies, computers, friends and family.

//what would you like to have in your hands right now// golden retriever puppy.

//what is your favorite tea flavor// chamomile with a splash of whole milk.

//what did you want to become as a child// A fireman with no wife (according to my parents, this is what I said whenever i was asked the question).

//what style trend is the hardest one for you to adopt// funny, mine too is a leather jacket. bomber jacket to be exact. I ended up trying twice on ebay but failed to find the right fit. the search goes on...

//if you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour where would you go// my late grandparents' house on my mother's side of the family. acres of land to run around on. cows to feed. gigantic house with millions of memories. it's been so long it almost feels like a dream.

(photo taken from google maps)

//what is your favorite scent; perfume// banana bread in the oven.

i'm tagging caitlin at Food*Nerd, cousin kaki at personaldebris, jonah at coin-operated, sujey at powders of gold and annalily at render it lovingly.

FOOD!

2009-03-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

I just ate lunch about an hour ago. Saw these. Now I'm hungry again! These extraordinary oil paintings (yeah, I know. PAINTINGS!) are by Atlantan artist James Neil Hollingsworth. I love how there are no settings. It's just the food sitting there in dark spaces. All your focus is drawn to the realism of the cookie part of the oreo or the glimmering jelly in that PB&J. You can view the rest of his work here where he has a diverse array of subject matter (the food just happens to be my favorite).

New Drawings

2009-03-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple new drawings from lasts week long pose session at Spring Studio in Soho. Our model was so serious the whole time. Almost angry. But his face was so fun to sketch. Such character. The top two (one's a close-up) were the long pose (about 80 minutes with a couple breaks). The second I think was 15 minutes and the last was 5. I'm thinking about bringing in ink and brushes for the next session. I want to start creating pieces that are wall-worthy for my apartment.

Edit: Man, I gotta work on my hands.

Hey Studio

2009-03-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Some nice work by Barcelona-based design company Hey Studio. Would love it if they sold these as small prints.

On a side note, I finally started going back to Spring Studio and have some drawings i'd like to scan and share. I'll try and have them up later this week.

The Work of David Jon Kassan

2009-02-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a few months since I've attended a drawing session at Spring Studio. Motivation hasn't been so high lately when it comes to illustration I guess you can say. Above is exactly what I needed to see though. An artist who is so good my mind is racing with inspiration and creativity. I can seriously feel every texture this guy paints or draws. So beautiful. You can view the rest of his work here.

It turns out he's having a solo exhibition right here in NYC as stated in his blog. I will definitely try and make the opening on March 12th. Can't wait.

Over A Month - No Posts 2

2009-01-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've decided to create a label named "Over A Month - No Posts". This way if you'd like to locate the first posts after each of my long, lazy blog breaks, well then you're just one click away. I'm going to go ahead and put all the blame on the cold weather which has sort of taken the fun out of going out on photo adventures. But this blog wasn't created for the sole purpose of posting your photography, Kyle! What happened to the album reviews, ikebana lessons, and drawings!? GIVE US MORE TILT-SHIFTS!!! Whoa, jeez. Stop yelling at myself, self.

Above are some '08 pictures I've uploaded recently to Flickr that I had forgotten were on my camera. Hopefully you will hear from me again within the next thirty days. Ciao.

Helvetireader

2008-12-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

Do you use Google Reader? Tired of that bland "Google" look? Head on over to Helvetireader.com to download a sweet helvetica theme for your reader! Also, since you can see my subscriptions now, now's a good time to ask you - What are YOU subscribed to? Have any recommendations?

It's at&t. Not AT&T, idiot. Now swallow this semiopaque sphere of confusion!

2008-12-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

I thought I hated it, but it's grown on me. Well, the new type at least. Still not digging the awful globe and it's 3D treatment. I spotted the new logo on a store front in the city today (pictured above) and was reminded of the original logo:

The whole idea of that negative spacing on the original is to indicate that it is indeed a sphere. Simple yet effective. Now take that image and actually make it a 3D ball with gradients and transparencies and you get something that defeats the whole purpose of the original design.

Yuck. Just another bubbly, Apple-ish 3D logo. It looks like it belongs on my applications dock. The perspective is all wrong and shouldn't the white be the transparent part? I thought the blue was the solid area. But anyways, whatever. Just thought it was interesting that if you strip away all the 3D treatment it really is nice looking, especially on that large copper sign.

Squarepusher - Just a Souvenir album and Planet Gear video

2008-12-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

Since the release of his latest album Just a Souvenir, Tom Jenkinson (AKA Squarepusher) has gone ahead and created this music video for Planet Gear, the 8th track on the album.

From the description on squarepusher.net:

"The overall concept of this video revolves around images of imaginary astronomical phenomena. I selected a method which I anticipated would be appropriate to the construction of "scaleless" objects, such that one could imagine them occupying planetary sized volumes of space."

The new album is like nothing I've ever heard before. With carefully crafted layers of bubbling slap bass, complex (and erratic at times) jazz drumming, ultra-compressed distorted guitar riffs, vocoders and xylophones, glowing synth chimes and pads, time signature and bpm changes (that I still can't quite understand, which makes me like them even more), rock, prog-rock, punk, house, jungle, slow jams, reds, greens, colors, yellows, blues and purples, whites, GOOD LORD THE WHITES!!!

Okay I went a little over the top there, but you have to hear it to understand. There is no categorizing this album. Go give it a listen. That's an order not a suggestion.

Container Color Systems Poster Set

2008-12-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

By Antrepo Design Industry. $100 for all five prints. 18.9x26.8". Huge posters. Definitely wall space available. Logos. Colors. Oh my god, the colors. Rolling over the ADD TO CART button. Somebody please stop me. Soo...aammaaazzii....

Shop for these and other nice prints here.

LIFE Photo Archive Hosted by Google

2008-11-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

LIFE and Google have come together and created a HUGE photo archive (10 million scanned photos) spanning from the 1750's to today. Apparently 95% of these have never been seen before! Above are a few photos I liked from my keyword search "plane". You can start by clicking here or by adding "source:life" to any Google image search.

Happy searching!

EDIT: Seriously, what's up with that third photo? It looks like he's flying a missile or something. And the lit up cockpit, it's just such a wicked picture.

Japan Graphic Review Magazine

2008-11-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

In addition to my Grandfather's postcards, film negatives, slides and 8mm movies, I also found two large books each containing twelve magazines bind together titled Japan Graphic Review. The content in each magazine is somewhat interesting with black and white photos and Japanese text. But the covers I had to scan. Some pretty cool and vibrant images were used on these. You can view the whole batch here.

Netherland Art

2008-11-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

I came across this artist from Chicago. His name is David "Netherland" van Alphen. He says that these are created using acrylic, collage and resin on wood. I would LOVE to have some of these hanging on my walls. You can view more of his work here.

30 Reasons

2008-11-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

"30 Reasons is a 30-day email and internet campaign to encourage people to vote for Barack Obama. Our goal is simple: Use design to build a logical, multi-faceted argument for Obama and make it easy to share each reason with another person."

"We enlisted 30 graphic designers to create a poster that represents a reason to vote for Obama. Starting on the October 5th, we will post a new poster online every day and email it to our list. Recipients can easily share the email with other supporters and friends who are undecided."

I thought this was an interesting project. Above is my favorite (graphically) by artist Andrio Abero. You can view the rest of the poster designs here.

Kaiju Utopia

2008-10-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've been following the blog Omni-Monster!!! for a while and can't get enough these. Gotta have 'em all!

Over A Month - No Posts

2008-10-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I really let over a month go by with no posting? Let's just pretend I've been on a long vacation in Iceland with no internet access taking advantage of their fallen economy, when really I've been sitting at my desk all month with plenty of time to post. Capiche?

Well, above is a selection of random pictures I've taken throughout the past month. I've been doing a lot of scanning recently trying to continue transferring all of my Grandfather's negatives to digital. A lot of really interesting stuff. I'll be uploading everything soon!

Jan Von Holleben Photography

2008-09-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

Some of my favorite shots by German photographer Jan Von Holleben. These must have been so fun to setup. It's amazing how much of a sense of movement was accomplished with such static subjects. And the expressions on the kids faces completely sell it. Happy times.

New ISO50 Poster!

2008-08-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'll be buying yet another print by graphic designer Scott Hansen (aka ISO50). The type, the colors, the textures and the imagery, just so perfect. This is by far my favorite ISO50 print. You can view the back of the poster/flyer here.

Now to wait for it to go on sale in his online store...

Alex Trochut

2008-08-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Alex Trochut is a designer/illustrator based out of Barcelona. His work is simply unbelievable. It turns out his grandfather was a graphic designer in the 1940's named Joan Trochut. Alex is truly a perfectionist and pioneer in the design industry. Viewing his work has really lead me to stop and question how seriously I take my job.

You can view more of Alex's work here. Incredible talent.

My New Home

2008-08-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

I finally made my move out to Brooklyn a few weeks back and I really like it so far. I'm located in Kensington, fairly close to many of my friends and a few relatives. Got a chance to take some snapshots of the new place which I'm extremely happy with. Although the living room is pretty much how I want it (god I love those ISO50 prints!), the bedroom still needs some work. Trying to keep it light with a blue/grey theme. I'm enjoying the empty space in the bedroom for now though. I'm thinking about doing one giant painting for above my bed. I'll post that if I decide to go forward with it.

Mix of Vintage Ads

2008-07-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I haven't really been posting much recently. I actually just moved to Brooklyn and the move has been pretty hectic, but I'd say I'm pretty settled in now. I was going to post some photos of the new apartment but I'm not quite ready since I dont have much artwork up on the walls. I'll probably take pictures this weekend, though.

So anyways, I was searching for some interesting prints I could order to add to my poster collection and found this amazing website with a plethora of outstanding designs and illustrations from the early to mid 20th century. Above are some of my favorite picks. I especially love the BOHN ads. Such cool ideas they had back then. Best of all, you can buy prints!

I'm thinking about buying a few. I have to sit down and figure out which ones are my alltime favs first. Enjoy!

Weird Gifs

2008-07-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

I don't really know what the deal is with these but I like them. They look like stills from 8mm movies or something. Don't look at them for too long though, I already have a minor ache in mah head.

David Byrne - Playing the Building

2008-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this earlier, but I ended up checking out David Byrne's grand installation, Playing the Building, at The Battery Maritime Building.

"Creative Time presents Playing the building, a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument."

I went with my friend Jonah and we ended up seeing Byrne just hanging out in the corner of the room! The installation itself was pretty neat. It was a bit frustrating trying to play some sort of rhythmic arrangement since the actual sounds produced by striking the keys were delayed a second or two. And since there was a line to sit down and try the instrument, I felt rushed. Probably only played it for 45 seconds or so.

I suggest that you go see it though if you're in NYC. It's open until August 24th.

Pilot Report 003 Poster

2008-06-26T12:00:00.001-07:00

A third poster for the Pilot Report series. Photo was taken from above the Pacific Ocean while on my way to Japan back in 2004. So far I've only learned how to translate one thing from the pilot report located at the top of the poster. SK SKC means "clear skies". Interesting stuff, I might try and learn how to translate a whole PIREP so I can create my own for future designs.

Pilot Report 001 & 002 Posters

2008-06-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

Since I've been using Adobe Photoshop CS3 a lot at work, I've been able to learn a good amount of tricks and techniques. I've decided I'm starting a line of 12x18 inch posters with the continuing title, Pilot Report. I'm going to try and use my photography in each one and find some sub copy that somehow relates to it. As you can see, the first poster has a photo I took in Kyoto, Japan (original picture). I was lucky enough to catch the plane flying at a slight angle in the distance, and I was pleasantly surprised when I snapped the text at an exact 15° angle and they lined up together perfectly! What are the chances?

But in case any of you haven't noticed, a lot of my inspiration for this comes from Scott Hansen's work. He just completely nailed a style that I fell in love with. So I'm using similar ideas that he has previously done and applying them to these.

I've uploaded and ordered one print from Snapfish and will report on the quality of the print when I receive it.

Update: I added a second one with a photograph I took of one of Roxanne Swentzell's pieces at the Brooklyn Museum. Unfortunately I forgot to write down what the name of it is. But I'll tell you one thing, I think Bodega Sans is a much more fitting font for the title Pilot Report.

1977 Citroen 2CV & Dyane Brochure

2008-05-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so first off... I want one. Particularly the Dyane (green car). I don't know what else to say. I just want it. Bad. Imagine if they made hybrids with similar designs as these? They'd be selling like hot cakes!

Secondly, and this is a question for the Nereims (my mother's side of the family), are any of you reminded of anything by the top photo? If you can remember, there used to be two unusually small cars on Grandma and Grandpa's property that were left to rust in the tall, bug-infested grass. They looked very similar to these and the background could've seriously been taken from various angles on their farm. It just brings me back. So many adventures and memories there. I wonder if the new owners had the cars removed. Any of you know?

ISO50 - Obama Print

2008-05-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this. One of my design idols, Scott Hansen, was asked by the Obama Campaign to create a poster with the title/idea of "PROGRESS". There's a limited amount of 5,000 available (I think now 4,300 remain) so if you're a supporter of Obama and/or great design you can pick one up here. All proceeds go to the campaign. I have my order in!

Scott Hansen is one of the few designers I've come across that has gathered every great aspect of past and present design and seamlessly fused them all together creating his own unique style. He's a HUGE inspiration for me and I'm sure many others. Here are a few other prints I've purchased from his ISO50 Shop:

So good!!!

Takashi Murakami Exhibit

2008-05-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Takashi Murakami exhibit yesterday at The Brooklyn Museum with my sister, Kelly, and my cousin, Tomo. It was pretty incredible. His paintings are a bit repetitive at times but the good stuff is insanely intricate and well designed. Unfortunately They wouldn't allow photography within the exhibit so I don't have much to show. But I was able to snap a few in front of a large sculpture he made which was displayed when you first enter the museum. It was also a beautiful day out so I took a few snapshots of us before we went in.

WALL•E Promotional Postcards

2008-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Pixar never ceases to amaze me. The approach to promote this movie has been so unique and just seeing these postcards makes me realize how smart Pixar really is. It's considered vintage by most people, but these designs come across more modern to me. Much more sophisticated than the majority of ads being released these days. Maybe it's also because it hasn't been done in a long time, but a style so perfect like this shouldn't be forgotten. I can't wait to see this movie.

Send Your Name to the Moon!

2008-05-08T00:00:00.001-07:00

(NASA)

NASA is making it so you can submit your name to be digitally added to a microchip that will be placed within The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first mission in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, a plan to return to the moon and then to travel to Mars and beyond. LRO will launch in late 2008 with the objectives to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology."

I submitted mine. I really don't see what the benefits are of having a microchip containing your name orbit the moon. But who cares, it takes a second to do and I know I won't be taking any trips into space within my lifetime so it's cool to know my name will be up there forever.

Click the main link above to learn more about The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Metropolitan Museum

2008-05-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Sogetsu School of Ikebana chose some of their New York based members to create some beautiful arrangements to be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum! Two of those members were my Grandmother (Kazuko Moriwaki) and my Aunt (Shoko Iwata).

When we first walked in, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Aunt's arrangement (top) was the center piece in the room. It had a strong sweep to it that left me staring at it for a while. Below that was an arrangement done by my Grandmother, and two other members (Yuriko Hiramoto and Jacqueline Lorieo). This one was very interesting in that it had two arrangements almost physically interacting with each other to become one piece. Really beautiful and inspiring work from everyone who participated.

But it had also been a while since my last visit to this grand museum and I ended up having a lot of fun with my Leica camera. Below are some various shots I took throughout the enormous structure.

Vintage Cereal Boxes at Target

2008-04-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

They're selling these vintage cereal boxes now at Target. This photo of a Kix cereal box was taken from Flickr. I wish there was a Target nearby, I'd definitely pick them all up. Anyone near a Target wanna buy one for me? ;)

Make Martha Cringe!

2008-04-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Over at Food Nerd, blogger Caitlin LaRussa is holding an interesting contest called Make Martha Cringe! (Good food behaving badly). The idea is to create a delicious dish but photograph it with a dated look (of course post work in photoshop is allowed). I loved the idea and decided to submit my own dish with a bit of a "70's" feel to it:

"Shrimp and Fish in an Herb Sauce"

Here's a brief summary of the recipe:

Jumbo shrimp and monkfish mixed into a sauce made up of coconut milk, mustard oil, leeks, green chilies, garlic, ginger, cilantro, fennel seeds, ground coriander, and a sprinkle of salt. On the side is a bowl of rice pilaf with a dash of chopped cilantro on top.

Ikebana Lesson 7

2008-04-06T14:54:00.001-07:00

I forget what these flowers are called but they look and feel really strange. Almost artificial in a way I guess. But they are so fun to arrange with. This is probably the simplest arrangement I have done so far. Adding more in such a small container would've made it way too cluttered taking away from the focus on the "mystery" flowers. If anyone knows what they're called let me know in the comments section below. Thanks!

James White

2008-04-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

I can't stand this guy's work. It's brilliant! His name is James White and he's a graphic designer from Nova Scotia. In an interview on abduzeedo.com he says, "I was the kind of kid that got excited when I would see the NBC Special Presentation logo appear onscreen while watching television, because it inevitably led to Star Wars or Superman." This made me realise why I love these posters so much. They look like something straight out of Superman: The Movie! The crystal-like shapes resemble the structures on the planet Krypton and the Fortress of Solitude. There's a clarity to them that I can't get over. Love it.

Ikebana Lesson 6

2008-03-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Whoops, I forgot to post one of the last arrangements I worked on. I made this one on March 14th. I chose the "Pod-shaped" container since it was so different from what I've used before. It was also more of a challenge since the hole was so small so there wasn't much space for the flowers to spread freely. I liked it in the end though. It was a very colorful arrangement.

I also attended a workshop the other week which included a demonstration by Gary Heise and a delicious pizza lunch. I took photos of the event. I'll upload them soon.

Postcards

2008-03-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

Another visit to my Grandmother's house, another treasure found. This time a very impressive collection of postcards from all over the world, each one carefully labeled and inserted inside large photo albums. Most of them are typical images that you'd expect to be printed on something such as a postcard. But then there are others that really get my inspiration tingling. The colors in some of these are terrific. I'm definitely scanning some of them in higher resolution and printing them out as posters, particularly the top one.

Anyway, not too far from where these were I found a whole load of black and white film negatives and color slides that my Grandfather took. So I decided to buy a really nice scanner that can scan film and slides and will upload some of those on flickr soon.

Update: More postcards...

Kumo Art Website

2008-03-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

It's about damn time I had a legit, fully-functioning website. Click the image above to have a look-see. Make sure you have the latest version of flash player installed before viewing it though. Enjoy!

The Notwist

2008-03-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Notwist, a German-based indie band, are finally releasing a new album. If you've never heard their album Neon Golden (2002) I suggest you go buy it now or download it (for previewing purposes of course ;) ). It is a masterpiece. Truly one of the most beautiful albums ever created. The production is perfect and their ideas and lyrics leave me inspired musically and artistically. Below is one of my favorite songs from Neon Golden called "Off The Rails".

The new album, due out around May, is titled The Devil, You + Me. They recently revealed one of the songs which is titled "Good Lies".

To be honest, it's not up to par with their previous material, but I'm hoping the rest of the album's a bit more catchy and pop-ish.

3/18 Update on "Good Lies": I freaking love this song now! It has grown on me as did most of Neon Golden as far as I can remember. A good sign me thinks. The new album shall be great. I've transcribed the lyrics below. Not sure if they're correct but they are indeed interesting words.

"Good Lies" Lyrics:

We'll remember good lies when/ we carry them home/ with us/ to our bedside table & our coffee sets. We'll remember good lies when/ they live in a room/ with us/ use our kitchen table & our needle beds. We'll remember good lies when/we carried them home/ with us/ to our bedside table and our coffee sets. We'll remember good lies when/ they're always with us in our beds/ even when we shake our heads.

Let's just imitate the real/ until we find a better one.

Remember the good lies win.

Pioneer RT-71

2008-03-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

I just received this beauty in the mail today. It's a Pioneer RT-71 'reel to reel' player and recorder. I've always wanted to record live music on to one of these but have always thought they cost hundreds. But recently, after finding a large bag filled with old tape/reel recordings done by my Ojichan, I decided to research them and found one on eBay for about $103. Not bad considering other models run for hundreds, even thousands. Plus, Pioneer has always been a top-of-the-line company when it comes to audio equipment.

So when I opened it and plugged it all in I gave it a test run with one of my Grandfather's recordings. The sound is so clear on these things. I can't wait to hook up my Yamaha mixer to it and start recording some drums and guitar.

The Compassionate Friends

2008-02-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

I finally finished a website for The Compassionate Friends, a national nonprofit, self-help support organization that offers friendship and guidance to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings.

This website is specifically for the White Plains chapter which my parents have been attending for quite some time. I've joined them for a few meetings and I'm very happy to have met many of the wonderful parents who have, unfortunately, experienced what no mother or father should ever have to go through and that's losing a child. I was honored to create this website and I hope everyone enjoys it.

Design is...

2008-02-23T11:52:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love this poster. It's by Juanma Teixidó, a graphic/web designer from Paraguay. The colors, the font, the message - it's perfect in my opinion. I need to research a bit more and figure out what font that is. I want it. I need it.

Tiltshifting Effect

2008-02-20T00:04:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting effect I recently learned (click photos to view larger and more detailed versions):

It's called "tiltshifting", a very neat trick which somehow makes a normal photograph look like a 3D miniture, kind of like pieces to an elaborate train set. I'm new to it so some of these are better than others but it's really fun... so expect more!

Btw, a few of these pictures were taken by my father in Japan.

Ikebana Lesson 5

2008-02-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

Here's what I did at my last Ikebana lesson, only this time using two sakura branches and some lilies. It's becoming quite hard to photograph these arrangements as they are getting larger and more difficult to maneuver around. But then again it's also fun to take them apart and rearrange. Most of the time you end up with an even better arrangement that way!

Very nice poster...

2008-02-18T00:27:00.000-08:00

...by Jeremy Prasatik.

Duane Wardlow

2008-02-12T12:10:00.001-08:00

My Great Uncle Duane was quite the artist back in the day. Pictured below are some of his early illustrations.

Although his charcoal and pastel work was great to say the least, I find his gauche and watercolors to be the most inspiring. I'm not entirely sure, but I think he did work on ads in the 1950's and 60's. He passed away recently but I'm very happy to have some nice memories of him. I remember him visiting our family once while we still lived in Florida. Near the end of his visit he offered to do a charcoal portrait of me. How could I say no!? I'll scan that soon. Thanks to my cousin, Shayna, for helping me scan these by the way.

He's pictured sitting here closest to the camera on the left:

You can view much more of his artwork here.

Update: Here's the portrait he did of me.

Ikebana Lessons

2008-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

Last friday I had my 4th Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging) lesson and decided I'm going to start photographing all my arrangements. Here are a couple pictures:

My teacher just so happens to be my Grandmother. She's been teaching from her home for many years now and I, being a website/graphic designer, not only realized how much fun it would be, but also how these lessons could serve as weekly design exercises.

Yoshiyuki's Equipment

2008-02-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a selection of photos I took of some of my Ojichama's (Grandfather) photography, film and audio equiptment:

Leica M3 with filters and lenses

Graflex Super Speed Graphic

Birdie Type II Slide Projector

Bell & Howell Design 122 LR 8mm Projector

Keystone A7 16mm camera

Yoshiyuki's Equipment Continued

2008-02-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Canon 514XL Super 8 Camera

Elmo Sound Editor 912-S

Paximat-S Electric Slide Projector

Projecto-Editor 8mm Craig by Kalart

Polaroid Land Camera Automatic 100

My Ojichama died in 1984, so I don't really have any memories of him. But it's clear he had a real passion for documenting the lives of family members and friends. I also have quite a bit of his 8mm movies, many of which I'm transferring to DVD. I'll try and make some of those available to view on here soon. Here is a picture taken of him for a Japan Airlines ad:

You can view additional pictures of his equipment here.

3 Drawings...

2008-02-10T13:20:00.001-08:00

...from college years.

Look What's Happening

2008-02-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

More Japan 2004

2008-02-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

Kaitlyn

2008-02-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

I came across this old photo of my younger sister and thought I'd do a little work on it. Sure do miss her.

Japan 2004

2008-02-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

More to come...

Realistic/Pixel Gradient

2008-02-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

Thought this illustration by Rob Sheridan was pretty interesting.

NYC

2008-02-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

A few taken in NYC. There's a cluster of buildings around 55th st and 5th ave that are probably not as vibrant during the day but at night have this beautiful amber light coming through all the windows. Fortunately, when I took the bottom picture, there was a Wachovia Bank behind me so the blue glow on my mother was perfect.

Minnow Hoodie

2008-02-08T01:21:00.000-08:00

Looks like something out of a Miyazaki film.

Pelham Shore Park

2008-02-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

These are a few pictures I took a couple years back with a Sony DSC P150. I remember the air being so cold and crisp that day - perfect for clean and clear shots.

Japan 2007

2008-02-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a short movie I edited with footage and photos taken in Japan last year:

My sister, Kelly, and her classmates from college had already been there around 2001 and I in 2004 with my friends. We were dying to go back and explore more of what Japan had to offer. So we decided we'd do it together. It was a very satisfying trip which included short (but sweet) visits with relatives and plenty of amazing food and scenery.

This video contains footage of us in Kamakura and Kyoto. There's also a quick shot taken at night from the window of our hotel in Tokyo (the last shot in the movie). The music is by Susumu Yakota who I feel really captures the spirit of Japan in much of his music. Next time I'll be sure to take MUCH more footage. Enjoy.

You are reading this thanks to an iPod touch

2008-02-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

So this is my first post using an ipod touch and I'm typing full speed without correcting my typos and jt looks as though its auto correcting misprlled words but oh wait no It failed to fix a word oh well I can't wait to gets me one of these.btw I'm using my sisters at the moment and I'm super jealous I want one zoo bad now heres a nicw picture i found oops theres another typo k bye.

Sleepytime Manor Love.

2008-02-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures I took at the manor in Larchmont, NY. It's with my new Leica D-Lux 3 camera which produces some amazing 16:9 night shots. There was a bit of post work done in photoshop. You can view more here.