Not All Love is Good Love

Heart Monster loves people. Heart Monster loves everyone. Heart Monster loves you. Heart Monster loves you a lot. Heart Monster has a strange way of showing this.

Heart Monster is a character that I invented this last Valentine's Day, in part recognition and part mocking of the day (I was single at the time). The concept of Heart Monster came from the characters Pon and Zi, who are generally accepted as an emo Romeo and Juliet- R&J were tragic and stupid, not emo. Like Pon and Zi, Heart Monster's gender is largely androgonous, but I think it was rather inevitable that Heart Monster become more like a guy in my mind. However, I'm not fully happy with this- the font doesn't seem to fit the theme, and Heart Monster seems like it should be colored differently.

Chickenscratch

 This font has actually been with me for awhile, and I've found several excuses to use it, although I've never done so on a computer. The basic point of it was that I wanted to create a literal "chickenscratch" font, regardless of what others might refer to as such. However, this font can be used for other situations as well, such as when a very simple or primitive style is needed, or when something is actually carved into something else.

My second version of this font is very similar, excepting that the C and G have been been made more complicated for aesthetic value. Another aesthetic change that was made is that the "scratches" now have pointed ends to enhance this illusion.

 

Artist Yay >_>

Today, I went to see a faculty show. Unfortunately, none of the pictures really connected to me. The one to come closest was a photograph done by Anthony Marchetti, of a single chair in an otherwise empty room. I myself have a fascination with broken things. There's just something about something that was once whole that fascinates me. In this photo, nothing was physically broken, but there was a dissonance in the room as a whole. It wasn't empty, nor was it home. It was simply a room with a chair in it- it seemed as though its very purpose was broken. So, yeah, that's how things work in my head.

If I were asked to help promote this piece, I'd probably do so very, very simply. Work to get the work in a gallery, preferably with similar work, and use a basic script such as Helvetica, or, preferably, something similar to Trebuchet, considering my belief that the Helvetica script is an overused easy pass in design. Also, because the title is rather nondescript, I would probably use the picture itself to market it.

Foshay Foshur

I shall put something clever and witty here later, I promise.

I'm A Businessman...

Well, I am, technically. Business owner really, but I decided to NOT have a card based on that and just go with a artistic aspect on this one. The 1WingedAngel thing was suggested by my girlfriend, based on Sephiroth from Final Fantasy's final form, which has almost become synonymous with any boss that 'evolves' in mid-battle, as well as the single wing that I have for my necklace. Besides the title, I have a simplified wing, my name, email address, and phone number set up in a way that I find visually satisfying.

"Artist" Appreciation

I'll be the first to admit- okay, maybe third- that I'm not very good at keeping up to date with current artists, especially considering my major. That's why my list looks… a little 'off'. Don't worry, I checked and double-checked this list, and it is exactly the way that I want it. It is incomplete, yes, and has some people on it that might be considered to be running jumps to the "artist" definition. However, I appreciate ideas more than style, accessibility more than 'creativity', and I firmly believe that art is found in everything that we see and do.

Azuzephre- I like the way that he takes complex and sometimes vague ideas and simplifies them with his characters.

SilverStitch- This person uses a very simplified style that draws players through a journey that they might not have taken otherwise.

Terry Pratchett- Simply a genius with blending his chosen medium- words- with ideas in a way that his audience can relate to.

Eiichiro Oda- Crosses borders with his characters and storyline that I find very impressive.

Patrick Rothfuss- If this man were to write at the same volume and depth and Terry, I could die happy, it's as simple as that.

Randal Keith Milholland- I appreciate the level of commitment that Randy puts in to create a quality drawn and written comic.

Leonardo Da Vinci- The man was undeniably brilliant- it's impossible not to learn something from him.

Tim Burton- His designs and plots simply fascinate me.

George Carlin- Got his message out through a medium largely ignored- comedy- and succeeded magnificently.

Eyezmaze- Has a style that I feel reflects my own fairly closely, but in a distinctively different environment.

As for my artist's statement, I think only one will really do: Azuzephre, since he's the only artist on my list that actually focuses almost entirely on visual art.

For starters, my name is Jeff, and I’m living between Los Angeles and London, in the process of transferring from Art Center College of Design to Maidstone University for the Creative Arts.

I first started drawing Pon and Zi in 2004. I was an angsty, antisocial junior in high school, and the violent themes of the first comics reflected my disconnect from people.

I began dating in December of that year, and as I became less bitter and more cuddly, so did the comics. Originally gray and nameless, Pon and Zi were named and given colors along with different personalities. Pon, colored yellow, is usually the optimistic instigator, and Zi, colored blue, retains some of the disconnect and apathy found in the first comics. Neither is assigned a gender because each of their personalities could be identified by either male or female readers, depending on the comic and dynamics of the relationship the reader is involved in.

Pon and Zi, blatantly very simple in design, were originally drawn as doodles on notes, never to be taken more seriously than a side project to the illustration portfolio I’d been building since before their inception, so currently, I’m going to school, working on my portfolio and seeing where it takes me.

The reason why I find this profound is that this guy is still in school, trying to graduate college, but his creations- doodles, basically, that he likely threw onto Deviantart on a whim- have affected the hearts and minds of most likely thousands of people. That is influence. That is power. That is absolutely among the most amazing things that I've ever encountered.

Updated Brilliance

This is my new, hopefully improved version of my original second Carven poster. I basically did this with four things- first and foremost, I erased some of the blur on the shoulders, taking away that bloody halo effect that was making her bra straps stand out too much. Second, I stripped some excess paint from the heart that I hadn't noticed before. Third, I messed with the bevel that I'd used on the heart and the title. And finally, I brought the title into the "Liquefy" filter and made it bleed a little. Honestly, probably the most difficult part of this was trying to think of ways to make it better. Heh.

Carven

These are two posters that I made for a (for now) nonexistent movie. Obviously, one thing that I did to make these visually striking was to put them in black and white, except for a few spots of color. On the first version, that spot is entirely bright red, and is composed of the likely unique "carven" heart that I'm using as a symbol for the entire story. Keeping it company is a brief, understandable quote that gives a bit of insight into the movie's plot. Below, I have the title, which the eye is drawn to by its font and sheer size, as well as a brief attribution to the author (hi) and a mass of nanotext at the very bottom. 

The second version is similar, except that the heart is smaller, darker, and appears (I hope) to be blood on my beautiful model's chest- a friend of mine took the picture as a favor to me. She becomes less visually striking and the blood moreso because I made her picture grayscaled, while the heart remains in color. In addition, with all of the activity on the top part of the poster, the bottom half became less important and less impressive. This is why I changed the color of the title to the same blood red as the heart, as well as made it bigger.

If Today Was Your Last Day

This quote came from the song "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback, and was the main reason for me having it on my playlist. For one thing, the concept is surprisingly wise for a rock group, but for another- I just absolutely loved the wordplay that's used. After I was finished being blown away by this quote, of course, I had time to be taken over by others, such as "What's worth the prize is always worth the fight" and "Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past? Donate every dime you have?" And, of course, the concept for the song itself is extremely interesting.

I like the quote for its simplicity, so I used a simplistic setup for this- centered the text and basically just went with two fonts. The first, I feel, gives a slight feeling of mystique, while the small caps give it a natural feel of authority without making it seem like 'yelling' text. The second I made much more casual because, really, the two parts are very simple. The first is a confident announcement, and the second is some casually-given words of wisdom.

Major Win and Epic Fail

I've been looking at a few movie posters, and have noticed that a few of them really know what they're doing. They encourage you to watch the movie, if only to find out what inspired such an awesome poster. Others? Well, they seem to actively push you away, which is not, I feel, what should be intended, One of the first example is the poster for Pirates of the Caribbean. (Magic appearance NOW:)

It has all of the major characters of the plot lined up at top, with noticeable but not forceful text telling us who they are (although, who really cares if Orlando Bloom is in a movie, right?). Right in the middle is the title of the movie, put into a simple design hat I agree with, and below is a very pirate-y scene. And despite having so much content on it, unlike many movie posters, I can't help feel that the color scheme holds it together very well.

This is an example of one of the latter versions. The try-too-hard type that misses its target entirely. Now, don't get me wrong- this is an awesome movie. I'd go as far as to say comedic genius. However, the poster does not reflect this. It has a bunch of cartoon characters and a castle inside a decent rendition of a grail. That's not funny. In addition, the text- pretty much ALL of the text- just looks desperate. The banner, the stamps, and even the title of the movie look overworked and they really only serve to make someone look for a different movie if they weren't already planning to see it.

Author Win

Patrick Rothfuss- Blog

If you have NOT read The Name of the Wind and have ANY inclination towards fantasy novels, I fully suggest you read it. This man is quite simply a genius with words and ideas- a fact that becomes quickly evident as you read through his blog posts. Personally, I suggest looking up the extracts that he's taken from the College Survival Guide, which was a series of columns that Pat did for his school newspaper before he became an officially published author. The stances he takes can get a little weird and he has strong self-opinions ranging from 'hopeless bastard' to 'sexy beast', but the way he feels about his work and his family never changes.

Outsider

The source of this came from a long time ago, when I was doing some introspection regarding the characters that I used when story roleplaying. I realized this- nearly all of my characters were outsiders in one way or another. There was my spirit who was emotionally detached from absolutely everything around her. An orphan with a monster inside of him that came out whenever he was touched. A hyper intelligent artist who quietly wrote out the importance of those around her even when she was part of a group. A failed human experiment with a size deficiency and a mean temper. And that's just the top of the iceberg.

I wrote outsiders, and was good at it. Why? For the obvious reason- I myself was an outsider. I was the kid that stayed inside all day because nobody wanted to hang out, or at least I didn't believe that they did. I was the guy that followed rather than led, and that found a quiet place whenever I wasn't sure what to do. When there was a party, I needed to go to the kitchen to be alone at least once.

In fact, my existence of "Outsider" became so glaring to me that I even took the title of "Professional Outsider" in forums. Truth be told, I still hold that title, and will likely continue to hold it. Because although I'm gradually becoming more social, I feel that I'm still an outsider. I see myself as different. Unique. Special, if you insist, although I wouldn't. 'Special' seems to suggest that I'm better than others because of my differences, which I fail to see. I'm simply my own individual, and I'm happy with that.

The picture in my header in particular has been used as my signature on forums for some time now, with some variations. Firstly, I used most of the picture with the signature. If you search "outsider" on Google, an uncropped version of this picture should appear. Second, the format is a little different. On the bottom of the original, I placed my title, while here I left it out. Third, the style has changed. In the original, the text shown here was all white while Professional Outsider was in black. In this one, I simply changed which word I made black.