coyleart

design inspiration: Adrian

I'm seriously under the weather today, everybody I've seen this week has come down with a cold and now it's my turn. So it's not a bad time to curl up with a good book – and this one is full of gorgeous pictures. It's one of my favorites, Gowns by Adrian, The MGM Years 1928-1941 by Howard Gunter. And here's the link to it on Amazon, in case you must have it and can't leave your bedside and box of kleenex. The price seems to have gone way up - so you may want to shop around, it retailed for about $40.00 when I bought it last year.

Adrian's phenominal design work is credited in part with the success that MGM studios maintained throughout the depression years. He set trends that borrowed from many moments in history but were distinctly his own and a part of the great art and design movements happening at the time, from the Bauhaus, Cubism, Surrealism and 1930's modernism. He offered a fantasy of forms and glamour that moviegoers craved.

The book is comprehensive and even offers whole sections devoted to some of the greatest stars he costumed, from Greta Garbo to Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. You can delve deeper into the work of Adrian at Turner Classic Movies. Or read this review of the original show and book at The New York Times Enjoy!

illustrators getting published / PR clients

Last month I was quoted in an article by Maria Piscopo that appeared in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual. The topic was on “Getting Published” and I talked about a book I illustrated from cover to interiors. That book is The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous, by Carolyn O’Neil and Densie Webb, 2 nutritionists who have a flair for making nutrition fun and adventuresome.

My assignment came through the unusual channel of knowing the author first, and being introduced to the publisher through her. Typically though, I submit my samples to a publisher knowing that they usually like to do the pairing of authors and illustrators themselves. The website of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, offers some great information on the subject of getting published.

In the case of The Dish however, I had already worked with author Carolyn O’Neil. We met years earlier, but by the time Carolyn had signed on with Simon and Schuster/Atria to do her book, I was ready!

Although this isn’t the typical route to publication, I think it brings up a different avenue that illustrators can think of as we develop our careers. My initial contact with Carolyn O’Neil came through another client, the owner of an Atlanta PR firm, Melissa Libby. I first met Melissa while volunteering my artwork with a local charity. You never know where you might find the opportunity to do work that inspires you. And PR clients can be a fresh, untapped source of creative assignments for illustrators.

I discovered a couple of interesting things from working with PR clients: they may not be as accustomed to buying illustration as ad agencies, magazines, or design firms. If that’s the case you may be doing a little more educating up front on buying usage rights to artwork and copyright issues. But, they can offer an alternative perspective and fun, creative and interesting assignments (depending on their specialties). So if you are looking to develop and diversify your client list, try seeking out experts in PR and media relations. There’s always something to be learned from hanging out with people who are plugged-in and media savvy.

Here’s some more “getting started in illustration” advice at How Magazine from the ever-inspiring Keri Smith.

santa fe

spent almost a week enjoying this beautiful town with it's gorgeous blue skies

from the cathedral on the square

ristras and cow-skull, how southwestern can you get?

sun-saturated color

our visit coincided with Indian market

this town may set the record for artworks-per-capita

lots of lovely places to rest in the shade and catch a passing breeze

art imitates life and life imitates art at every turn

arrowmont school

I am about to take my summer vacation, but I’ll be back late next week with some photos to share. For now, I’ll leave you with some memories of a week-long art vacation I took back in the fall of 2005 to the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in the mountains of Tennessee.

the main studio and gallery building

I took a course in fiber arts, on printing and dying techniques. I can’t recommend this school enough - it offers the chance to be absorbed in the experience of learning and making things with the camaraderie I've missed since art school. Every night after dinner, I found myself turning right around, along with my fellow students, and heading back to the studio for an evening of printing.

the studio!

Author David Rakoff describes it far more eloquently in his article for The New York Times, where he writes about his experiences at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in North Carolina.

one of my first projects

My instructor for the week was Christine Zoller, if you’re interested, her next class is in mid-October and the details are here. You can see the studio and some of my work from the class in these photos. I would take this class (or any other) from Christine all over again if I had the time, there was so much to learn and I loved every minute of it.

Geri working on dyeing silk

The Arrowmont School is in Gatlinburg, TN, and for any non-southerners out there, the town of Gatlinburg is the last place you would expect to find any serious art-making going on. Airbrushed t-shirts, Thomas Kincade paintings and googly-eyed souvenir toothpick holders are abundant in the center of town. But when you enter the secluded campus of Arrowmont, you leave that all behind you. You can look at the mountains in all directions and breathe in the mountain air, but trust me, you will most often be at work in the studio, and there’s no place you’d rather be.

Me and my table-mate Mary Ann

This was one of my first experiences working with fabric, but many of my classmates were dedicated quilters looking to learn new techniques to add to their creations. Their love of textiles, stitching, color, dye, paint and silkscreen were inspiring.

Working with thickened dye

You can find out more about the history of the school here. It began in 1912 as a settlement school to teach the people of southern Appalachia traditional handicrafts, so they would have goods to sell and improve their own economic conditions. Today there are classes in painting, drawing, weaving, wood turning, metals, jewelry making and other media.

On the drive home to Atlanta I stopped to admire the beautiful Smoky Mtns. National Park. What an amazing week.

digital graphics rolodex

I try to keep up - really! But oh my oh my there's so much to learn when you are an illustrator or designer or anybody using digital graphics technology. The training never ends. Right now, I'm working on my (formerly paltry) Photoshop skills over at Lynda.com. For 25$ a month, you can learn Photoshop, Illustrator and many other software programs at your own pace.

Here are some other links I'm adding to my digital graphics rolodex to help keep up with all the new advances. Adobe Illustrator CS3 has thrown a few new curves into the routine lately, but they are some pretty exciting changes. Creative Techs, a computer support firm out of Seattle has 3 pdf booklets on their site for free download that give an overview of "What's New" in CS3. Also, check out the quicktips section of their site or subscribe to their newsletter.

The new crop tool in Adobe Illustrator CS3 is something new I'm sure to get a lot of use out of. Check out this great video on Adobe's site by Illustrator guru Mordy Golding.

Last year I discovered Mordy Golding's blog when I encountered a bug in Illustrator CS2 and his work-around tip saved me a lot of crashes. For me, his Real World Illustrator blog will forever be THE place to visit for info on Adobe Illustrator. It's time to get the CS3 edition of his book too, Real World Illustrator.

But for FREE tips there are many more online videos to explore at the Adobe Design Center's video workshops page. Live Color is another exciting feature I can't wait to play with, take a look here.

Finally, I found another link that might be helpful to add to your digital graphics rolodex. This article by James Dempsey for MacWorld lists a bunch of links that can help you beef up your font collection. He offers a wide array of links to sites that offer free fonts and sites that sell commercial fonts. Roll on!

new & overdue

I'm way overdue for a post, but things are jumpin' over here and I had to take a quick trip out of town. Before I did that, I put up YET another blog! This time it's strictly for music and will be the place to go to find out about my upcoming gigs as a singer. See my earlier post on Freddy Cole. I had to take a couple of days of my limited blogging time to get it going and then another couple to have it looked over by my editor-in-chief/husband. Now it's up – and when things happen with music, it will be the spot! Visit me at lauracoylemusic.com.

Anatol Kovarsky

I wish I knew more of the story of Anatol Kovarsky, but he is a classic New Yorker cover artist and cartoonist, who I came to know for his great work in the 50's and 60's. I first bought a copy of "Kovarsky's World," a book published by Knopf (1956) and discovered what a master he is of the gag cartoon in the same inky, sketchy-lined vein as Andre Francois. His NYer cover paintings, which you can find easily on cartoonbank.com are beautiful and jam-packed with detail, the kind of repetitve, graphic detail that make his pictures unique, and I could pore over them for hours. Once I was hooked on Kovarsky, I started searching ebay for more treasures of his work that I could add to my fledgling collection and I was lucky to find this silk scarf - one of my prized possesions.

It's covered in his drawings, the centerpiece being a view from a window into the living room of a family engrossed in a TV program and all the squares surrounding are little vignettes of what's showing on TV from Spanish dancers to wrestling and cops and robbers shows. Oddly imperfect and carefree, it's something I strive for, but not easy for a chronic re-worker and editor like me.

Oh how I love this scarf and Anatol Kovarsky! Every time I wear it people ask me if I drew it myself - how flattering. Wish I could find out more about him.