I'm all out of Moleskines to post up. Also, I'm way too busy packing up my stuff to move to my new place this weekend, so new art from me will be pretty scarce for the next few weeks.
I do want to mention my new addiction on the InterTubes; StumbleUpon.
StumbleUpon lets you "channel-surf the Internet". You install a toolbar with the Stumble button and load up websites according to your specified interests. If you like a page you give it a thumbs up and you have an option of writing a review of said website. If you don't like a site you give it a thumbs down and SU will load up something else. There is also the act of "discovering" new websites - giving a thumbs up to a website not in SU's database and being the first to review it. This is something along the lines of discovering new bands and SU users build up their rank by discovering new sites. Along with this there's a social networking aspect to the site where you can befriend SU users and Stumble their favorites and be informed of new discoveries. You can join groups and talk in forums about favorite topics.
Because "Stumbling" is a response to visual stimuli, the majority of SU users are drawn to visual content such as photographs and artwork. There are members whose Stumbles have themes much like an art or photography blog would. I'm addicted to certain user's profiles and use their Stumbles to get the creative juices flowing. Here's a quick sketch inspired by a photograph found through StumbleUpon:
SU is also great for exposure. A few months ago a member of the StubleUpon community linked to one of my Moleskine posts and sent over 200 visitors my way. Same thing happened on my "Nude of the Day" blog. Since then I've been exploring StumbleUpon and it's potential to increase my blog's audience. Although my presence is still in it's infancy, I hope to become a regular when time permits. If you're a SU user feel free to check out my profile and add me as your friend.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
StumbleUpon: Slacking for Inspiration/Self-Promotion
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Moleskine 2007: A Year in Review
I've been thinking about this post for a while now. I started up this particular Moleskine in late 2006 as a larger version of my pocket Moleskines. After some subway and museum sketching it turned more into an idea/sketch book. I started working out sketches for current and future illustrations and gallery paintings. In one case, the sketches turned into finished work. The majority of the work here was created in 2007 and the book is largely filled up. After looking over it in early 2008 I decided to take a page from Baron Storey and a few local friends and work back into and on top of the pages. This will be an experiment to see what kind of ideas may come from embellishing, adding onto, and in some cases, destroying what's already on the page.
Composition sketches of John White Alexander paintings from the MET's "Americans in Paris" Show (Dec. 2006)
Sketches for an illustration of the Egyptian Goddess of War, Sekhmet.
detail:
A sketch for a project with Matt Black's theater company, Marrow.
Sketches for potential illustrations.
detail:
More sketches for the Marrow project.
A very unflattering portrait of friend and fellow illustrator, Rusty Zimmerman (sorry buddy).
Trees in Central Park, NYC.
Character design for a future illustration.
detail:
Sketches from the Coney Island SideShow.
Sketches for a cover illustration and spot for Knowledge Arcana online magazine (never published).
...and the under-painting for the spot illustration.
detail:
Sketches form the Society of Illustrators Jazz & Sketch (3 on 3 Thursdays).
San Diego Zoo Sketches (See Moleskine 4.0 post).
More sketches for the Marrow project.
More versions of the sketch from last post.
detail:
Word association exercise used to come up with an idea for my painting of "Underneath It All".
...and a taste of things to come: Sketches from the Society of Illustrators Jazz & Sketch.
Related Posts: Moleskine, Moleskine continued, Moleskine 2.0, Moleskine 3.0, Moleskine 4.0, Watercolor Moleskine: Part 1, Watercolor Moleskine: Part 2
