Category Archives: From The Desk

Check out Jake’s process for designing these really cool leather coasters.

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Forbes compiled a list of 30 people to watch under the age of 30 in Art & Design.  Try not to feel sorry for yourself.

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I loved this installation by artist Yayoi Kusama: what happens you give kids thousands of stickers in a blank room?

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Holy crap, I just saw glimpses of my future Parisian studio!  Not really, but a girl can dream, right?  (This studio actually belongs to floral painter Claire Basler.)

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I LOVE FLOWERS.  And these arrangements by Ariel Dearie are delicious.

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Season 2 of Portlandia just started a few weeks ago on IFC.  Check out these interviews with Carrie Brownstein & art director Tyler Robinson.  Good stuff from Design*Sponge.

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These vintage illustrations for Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach stir up some memories from reading one of my fave books. (via Brain Pickings.)

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WHAAAA 60′s teens had some nice duds!  What was I wearing in high school?  Oh yeah.  JNCO’s.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And with that embarrassing admission, I bid you adieu.  Have a good weekend yall.

Brrrrrrrr.

 Welcome to a  slightly holiday edition of From the Desk!

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From OK Great, a tour of the wintery installation at the offices of Weiden + Kennedy.  I like the winged wolf.

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Have you ever played the drawing game “exquisite corpse”?  The basic premise is to finish a drawing where another person has left off.  See one artist’s take on the solo version.  (Also via OK Great.)

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If you haven’t listened to any of the interviews on Sam Weber’s show, Your Dreams My Nightmares, you should.  The latest interview is with his wife, illustrator & cartoonist Jillian Tamaki.

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Have you ever seen Edward Gorey’s animated intro to the PBS show “Mystery”?  Ahhh, I heart Edward.

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This would have been a really great Xmas gift to Jake if hadn’t sold out in one f*cking minute.

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Treevenge is a horror story told from the perspective of all those Christmas trees that are murderously cut down each year.  Totally amazing and and absolutely horrible at the same time!  Don’t watch it if you get easily offended.  No really.(Thanks Kristin!)

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Check out the cartoon results from this experiment: “It was recently theorized that all New Yorker cartoons could be captioned
with “Christ, what an asshole” without compromising their comedic value.”

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Louis C.K. is a badass.  A hilarious badass.  This interview with Louis C.K by Terry Gross is a must-listen.

Two weeks ago he released his latest stand-up special for $5, and even though he made it so you could burn copies of it and share it pretty easily on the internet, people bought it anyway.  That’s awesome.  He’s now made a million dollars.  Here’s what Louis C.K. has to say about it here.

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WHAT!  These run-down Victorian-style house sculptures by Mike Doyle are nuts!  Because they’re freaking LEGOS.  (via The Fox is Black.)

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Drunk History film shorts are usually pretty entertaining, but this holiday special really takes the cake (mostly because, yes, it includes Ryan Gosling.) (via the Hairpin.)

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Happy Festivus!

The Lemolo Photoshoot gang.

I’m diggin on these simple line illustrations by London-based Laura Callaghan.  Looks like I’m not the only one drawing on myself!

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Louise of Pandora lists all of the famed women of the silent film era into one place, scandals and all.  A great collection of photographs.

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Two long-ago decades of circus performers:  color photographs from the 1940s & 50s.  So good!

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Insufferable coffee snobs:  yup, this video is entertaining.  And in the same vein – this is why I hate Yelp.

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Steven Tyler, Larry King, David Bowie, and – BILL GATES?! – appear in this great list of celebrity mug shots.

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Take in the view from artist & writer Austin Kleon’s studio desk.

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An early human paint shop!!  Via NPR.

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Man, I love the Ninja Turtles, but this is kinda freaky.

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Cartoonist Laura Park has tons of fun comics over at her Flickr.

More at my Tumblr.

And speaking of comics, I need to take a break from drawing them (sigghhhhhh).  In February 2012, I’ll be showing at NE Portland’s Guardino Gallery, and I’ve got plenty of work to do.  I’ll be posting my progress RIGHT HERE!

Another take from the Lemolo Baggage photoshoot, this one on film and shot by Tim Roth, who was also in the shoot.  See more of his photos here.

As a hopeless romantic, I couldn’t help but fall for these videos of dashing, young, painfully cool couples telling the story of how they met – all while dressed in sharp clothing by french label The Kooples.

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Better than a Jansport – Backpacks get sophisticated.  Damn skippy.

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Artist Marcellus Hall shares his process for creating a 2-page layout for a children’s book.

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Must. Have. These collarettes!

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“Live life!  Live life!  Live life!”  This NPR interview with Terry Gross and celebrated children’s book creator Maurice Sendak is revealing and bittersweet.  Try not to cry.

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The more I read, the more I fall in love with Kate Beaton’s comics.  This article, also from NPR, reveals why.  And while you’re at it, you may as read more of her comics from Hark, A Vagrant! here.

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Speaking of comics, I’m going to placing my own on my new comix Tumblr.  Follow me.  Weeeeeee!

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This motorcycle journey is NUTS.

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And finally, for frivolous time-wasting, here’s a closer look at Mad Men: not only is it littered with booze, cigarettes, and women, but also – plenty of “What?”

Ohhhhh man I just took a look at all the photos that Tim took during our coastal trip and they are amaaaaazing!  I look forward to sharing more with you.  Until then, have a great weekend, and stay savvy.

New, freshly painted, ghetto lookin desktop.  I love it.

Coverjunkie is a great place to keep up on all the latest magazine covers.

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A picture book and a novel?  At over 600 pages, this idea for Wonderstruck sounds intriguing.

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I’m digging these insanely intricate, page-filling doodles by Lei Melendres, via OK Great.

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Everyone seems to be a fan of the clean look of plain white walls, but throw in a branch or two and I’m a total sucker.  But a branch-turned-hanging-lamp?  GUH. Via Design Sponge.

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Jake and I just watched 500 Days of Summer, and this scene was hands DOWN my favorite of the film.  Dance sequence + Hall & Oates + Han Solo + Joseph Gordon-Levitt, you just can’t lose.

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Is it any surprise that I totally loved this new desktop wallpaper by Kyle Poff?  Via The Fox is Black.  (The answer is, well, no.)

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The process of creating a theater poster, from start to finish, by James McMullan.  The man does a lot of legwork.

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Jake sent this taxidermy commercial to me.  It’s ridiculous.  But it’s still hilarious.  From the Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings series.

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Eye-opening and a rare glimpse of the inner workings of the design industry: Jessica Hische talks about the Dark Art of Pricing.  Every new creative professional needs to read this.

This weekend I’ll be working on more COMICS!  Check back next week for new panels from my JAMS series.

I love these mini-comics by NY artist Anne Emond.

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Fifty Licks strikes again by appearing in this Wild Flag music video!

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“Ten Years Since Black on Black” is a look back on the New Yorker covers issued to commemorate 9-11.

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A collection of well-designed book covers.

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This made me laugh – Urban Outfitters is selling a reproduction Nirvana shirt for $42.

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The A/W 11 Pamela Love jewelry collection is pretty sweet but I’m still diggin on this skully necklace.

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Jake recently got a new pair of eyeglasses that suit him so well it’s like they were made just for him.  He got his prescription filled by a frame company called Warby Parker, which allows you to try on five frames at a time by mail.  Plus, they’ve coined their frames with snappy names like “Huxley” or “Sinclaire” (Sin-CLAHR, I say).

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I’ve been coveting a pair since I was about 12, and now, at the age of 30, I’ve finally bought my first pair of Dr. Marten’s.  Of course, I couldn’t resist the vintage floral stylings of this pair.

I hope everyone had an awesome holiday weekend!  Mine was ridiculously long and was spent sharing beers with friends, cycling, reading American Gods, and drawing LOTS in the studio, and hanging out in the ghost-town that was Portland over the weekend.

Is anyone else excited for Fall?  Pumpkins, skeletons, and Halloween?  I know I am.