Hot off the press

I just finished a piece titled "Contact" -- a new art magazine out of Australia was seeking submissions for their first edition -- this is a different version than the straight vector version that I actually submitted, as that was just two colors.

I wanted to play with a full-color, textured version. The one-word theme was "contact" and my visuals were inspired by non-tangible contact, i.e. the concept of mental/spiritual contact -- rather than physical touch or contacting someone over the phone.

Also, I did a Speakerdog! Fellow Spunky Clothing Hall of Famer Ben the Illustrator invited artists to decorate their own Speakerdog. (Mine is "Return of Speakerdog" the second one down -- inspired by Japanese cuteness.)

Most of all, I'm just doing the Hustle right now and meeting with potential clients on contract jobs. And of course, portfolio work and getting the word out. I will also be starting another Illustrator tutorial for Photoshop User fairly soon.

Diversion on a work in progress

Because sometimes life just makes you feel that way.

Do you love color?

...because I sure do.

I'm working on a color palette for a client in a fashion-related job and just wanted to mention a website that for me is like being in a candy store: www.pantone.com.

For illustrators with a background in one of the design fields, this is certainly nothing new, but maybe others from different backgrounds might also find it useful and interesting anyway, whether the colors you pick in your illustrations are subconscious and intuitive, or conscious and calculated.

I always find reading about color trends and forecasts (yes, there is such a thing) to be really interesting. These forecasts of colors to watch are very carefully selected by the Pantone color institute -- it is like a science, and people's gravitation towards certain colors apparently have a strong socioeconomic force behind it. Times of war, unrest, ecological awareness -- whether it's patriotic colors or earthtones -- whatever is on people's minds is reflected in color. And yet even though artists don't always make the most deliberate decisions with their colors in their work, you see the general populace subconsciously gravitating towards the designated color trends anyway.

If you can ever attend a Pantone color seminar with Leatrice Eiseman, I highly recommend it.