A Spot of Tea

So. One of the projects I'm working on this summer is a book about chinese tea with Nick and Lali. This is the first draft of a cover:


S'il te plait, click on it to see a larger image. It is a watercolor painting and I put the text on it in Photoshop. I wanted to block out the text with masking fluid and then erase it away so it was all white afterward, but that didn't allow me much room for error or messing around with the type, so this was a much better choice I think. Also I kind of enjoy the hard graphic edges of the type in contrast to the organic nature of the painting. The type is, of course, now subject to minute changes that the normal person will probably not notice, but will be a big deal to graphics people. Specifically typographers. I've never taken a typography class, so I'll probably run this by some people I know who have.

Also, today I bought this amazing stereo that has bluetooth, has a dock for an iPod, has a dock for a usb, can play regular and mp3 cds, can play FM and AM radio and has an alarm clock. I was super excited because it was everything I ever wanted in a pretty cheap package, and I thought I would be able to connect my computer to it wirelessly (the bluetooth) only to discover upon trying to connect my computer to it that there are different kinds of bluetooth, and the stereo was a2dp or something, which mac osx 4.11 does not support for some idiotic reason. So I was thinking I would have to return it, because most of the reason I got it was so that I could play music and watch movies wirelessly on loud, quality speakers when I discovered that apparently you can buy a usb device that adapts your computer to a2dp bluetooth. Or something. I'm not even really sure why there are different kinds of bluetooth. Anyway, I don't really know what I'm doing, so I'm going to call Best Buy tomorrow and have them tell me what to buy so I know for sure that it will work with a mac. Ridiculousness. It seems every time I buy a new technological product, I have to invest in something else to make whatever I just bought work the way I want it to. C'est la vie.

New Harry Potter Book Covers

Maybe? I hope so. I don't know about everyone else, but I've always felt the illustrations/covers of Harry Potter (the American Edition, don't know about the others) were just all right. Not really my style, I suppose. Examples:







They certainly look like children's books, which I suppose to an extent they are, at least the first couple. But really they have become a lot more than that, and each one grew in maturity and I wouldn't really recommend the last book to an eight year old. These new designs (which, as far as I can tell, were done for fun and are not going to be published) are classic, mature, and really just well done aesthetically.









I am iffy on the fifth one (Order of the Phoenix) because the image of the world in someone's hands is a cliche and this hasn't really added any twists to that. However, the seventh one (Deathly Hallows) is especially brilliant because it subtly introduces the concept the the idea that the seventh book hinged on, which was that everything at that point was polluted and controlled by the evil doers (Voldemort). I also enjoy the sixth one (Half-Blood Prince) because can totally see that scene in the book. Overall, I would say these would be a nice change of pace to the children's illustrations that seem to be de facto for Harry Potter covers. You can see them in their home environment here.

Hmm

It has been a while, I see. I guess I went through a bit of a . . . creative death for a few months. This last semester at UIUC has not been good. Frankly, I'm ready to close this chapter of my life and move on . . . by going back to my hometown to study for a semester at NIU! Hahahaha! Oh wow. Can anyone tell how awesome I am?

Anyway, I did get into RISD, but I am going to defer for a year. And because they don't let transfer students defer, I mean I am going to reapply next year with a really amazing portfolio. They gave my a $15,000 scholarship, which pretty sizable and makes the whole thing doable, but I'm hoping that if I step up my game next year I'll get even more. Also I really feel like I'm not in a place right now where I can handle the stress of taking a lot of hardcore studio classes, having to worry about living in a new place far away from anyone I know, and getting a good part time job. I need a year off. I've been in school for 17 years for goodness sake!

So this summer I'm living at home, but so are Maddi and Vanessa. It'll but just like high school, only now we can all drink! Whoo! My goals to get back in the creative groove consist of the following:

• Start sketching. I had to do three drawings for my RISD application, and while I was doing them I realized that I hadn't actually really drawn since the end of my sophomore year of college, or something like two years earlier. Doing rough sketch outs of what goes where for the first part of a painting is not drawing. It is part of the painting process, which is completely different. So I will do at least one fully developed sketch a day of whatever I feel like sketching. I want to become really adept and fast at drawing. This skill set has always slowed me down because I'm perfectly capable of it, it just takes me a little longer than it should. Annoying.
• Make at least two master painting copies to work on my technical skills. These will probably be Turners, a John Singer Sargent, and maybe an Odd Nerdrum.
• Rework The Sheep Child so I've actually finished a freaking project.
  
• Work and finish this new book project that I've been discussing with Nick and Lali. They want to write a text about Chinese Tea. I like tea, and also have an idea for a cover, so I hope to do all the graphic stuff for the book and then we can publish on Lulu.
  
• Work on illustrating my mom's short story. Hopefully if I can do all of these things I will have not one but three completed books to put in my portfolio for my RISD application next year. Whoo!

Here are some of the paintings I am hoping to copy:

JMW Turner--The Burning of the Houses of Parliament

John Singer Sarget--Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

I am tired.