D is for Death

Cecy Meade

In a Halloween mood, I tried to google up my favorite macabre illustrator name and came up with twentysixtinytombstones. A blog, filled with Edward Gorey's tribute, particularly to his work The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1963). The book itself is filled with alphabet and its accordingly name of objects in pictures, but instead of apples and zebras, we will find children's names starting with each alphabet and their deathly fate.

Jerrod Maruyama

At twenty sixtiny tombstones, illustrator Patricio Oliver invited his artist /illustrator friends to re-enact any alphabet from the book, it doesn't even matter if one alphabet done numerous times or the artist change the kid's name and how he meet his ill fate. Sounds fun? Go visit or maybe submit your own!

Luli Bunny

Miyuki's Magic

Do you think Miyuki Sakai is just another illustrator with blessed hand? Look closely, for sure, she's not using ink nor paint. Her weapons are thread, needles, and (seriously, she mentions this on her web :)) band aids. Ouch.


Swoon, my favorite, pair of white clogs. Her clients range from Time to Nylon. Do visit to check out more mind blowing sewing experience. found via, newly-found-indie-magz Stella.

This Girl can Draw!!

It's time for another illustrator interview!! I'm so excited, that Noemi Manalang lives in Jakarta, Indonesia! Well, hello, neighbor!! Noemi was born in the Philippines 19 years ago (I envy her youth!) but she has spent her whole life in Indonesia. Having a painting lesson as a child, she didn't automatically pursue a painting career nor joining an academically painting schools, she's self trained and much much experimenting on her own afterward. She has been in several exhibitions, and in her leisure, still very much enjoy viewing other art exhibitions. She took fashion design in my course, but yes, she still constantly draws (Thank Heaven for that!).


I just love how her flowy, soft, and subtle watercolor first caught my eyes, as a girly kind a girl, I always have a soft spot for soft watercolor illustrations. I must say that I really connected to her illustrations mainly because I'm a girl, and her poetic, dreamy illustrations seem like my own thoughts. Well, if you're in love with her illustrations too, you can always check out her shop, niminami on Etsy. Now's in time to get to know her personally!


What's your most favorite thing to draw?
Leaves are my favourite. And eversince I took a course in fashion design, painting watercolour girls has become one of my favourites too. Sometimes I also like doodling some text art. It depends on my mood.

What/who inspires you the most?
I'm inspired by the things around me. Mainly about nature & people. Sometimes, when I look out the window, I could just stare at a beautiful tree and admire it from a distance. (ah, we do get a lot of beautiful trees here) Then maybe I start drawing it. Little and simple things inspire me and give me ideas.

What's the sweetest thing a person has said about your work(s)?
It was when a friend of mine wrote a comment about my artworks that she wishes to have my hands. Well, not literally cut it of course. Hehe meaning the ability to draw, if you know what I mean. But every compliment is the sweetest thing.

On the contrary, what's the biggest, heart crushing, gut melting criticism you have ever taken?
I have yet to face some criticism. Hopefully, if ever, it would be constructive. Something that will push me to improve.

Is there any things (objects/techniques/material,etc) you wish to master more right now?
Recently, I've just moved from oils to watercolours. Its very light and flowy compared to the heavy oil paints so I have yet to learn more of it. I think it suits my personality more.

This is a little out of the topic, but how do you like living in Jakarta, not to mention the recent suicide bombing?
Oh, the suicide bombing. Such an unfortunate thing that happened and to the poor victims. It's scary, but it doesn't mean I don't want to live here again. I grew up here and there are good people here. Some deserve to be punished for what they've done against humanity.

Finally, what's your biggest beast in making art? (by "beast" I mean obstacles, hindrances, or anything else that put you of making good art, like laziness, perhaps? well, that's my beast :))
Ah, yess, like laziness.. Its procrastinating. I usually put things off till to later because I always think there's still lots of time. Time is money. Hehe its something I have to change.



Thank you for your time, Noemi!!

Sorry, no printables for today, I gotta rest, can't I? Well, I'm not leaving you without anything to feast your eyes upon. Say hi to Anuk and enjoy his marvelous arrays of art and short movies. This one is a still from here.


Have a great weekend!

Girls girls girls...

...are so pretty. Although I'm a girl (not the little pretty one, though, I won't address myself to that kinda girl anymore, nor I'd like to be called a lady, but you know what I mean, I am the one born with both X chromosomes), I love seeing, drawing, painting, anything about them. Let's face it, girls are so much fun to look at (than fat hairy men and skinny geek boys, although sometimes they are quite fun to look at). Even in their 'low brow' state...and no, I'm not fancying girls in "that" way.

Here are my favorite artists that portrayed girls in a low brow celebration..

Nicoletta Ceccoli

Benjamin Lacombe

Audrey Kawasaki

There are girls painting girls! So I'm not crazy. And oh I've always been a fan of the master of them all, Mark Ryden. But of course, you must have guessed that.

Blog, Illustrated!

I started my own blog just a few months ago, still a crawling baby of the blogosphere, but I have read many great blogs before I decided (and have the courage) to start my own. Here is the celebration of Blog world that I just discovered: Igor + Andre's Blogger Portrait Series. Can you recognized any of them? They are mostly fashion blogger, so if you're in tune, they're all be familiar. Danny Roberts, the man behind these drool worthy illustration, is a Californian based artist. He's simply doing a portrait of whoever inspire him as a way of giving back, how cool is that? Simple, yet very flattering and effective idea to capture your muse.

Here are my favorites of the series, not based on the object of illustrations, but on the execution of illustrating itself, I love the colors, compositions, and the whole feeling and energy these masterpieces have.



To enjoy more, visit here.

Dozo Yoroshiku, Yuuco!

..That means "Nice to know you, Yuuco" or something like that, easily stated, it's the nice you'll say when you first meeting someone. I'd rather say "Thrilled to see your work, Yuuco!" but I can't say that in Japanese.


Yuuco is a Takamatsu (that's in Japan, folks!) based artist. I was thrilled the first time I saw her illustrations, transferred into prints and postcards which can be bought at her shop. Her lines are delicate and soft, naive and detailed. Her subjects are simple but never boring, she always put a touch of whimsical homour if you put your attention closely.

She's also super nice and chatty, letting me do a simple interview for her! She is learning English and I think she's doing great, much better than I first learn my lessons! Here's our little chitchat..

When was the first time you realized you can earn a living from drawing?
May be it's around when I graduated from university. I started selling my works around then.

(finish the sentence, please) If I didn't draw like I do now, I'd probably ...
It's difficult to imagine but I'd study foreign languages and travel all over the world. I'm interested in foreign cultures.

What is the thing(s) you continuously drew as a child?
I drew many many things though I loved to draw animals, especially horses and frogs.

What is the thing(s) you continuously draw now?
It's animals, insects and hands lately.

What is your biggest inspiration(s)?
I'm always inspired by nature. And other artists' great works do inspire me, of course.

If you were a superhero, what superpower you'd have? (she had the hardest time answering this one, but she came to a satisfying conclusion :), it's hard to not to be greedy I guess )
If I was a Superman..., I want to fly in the sky like Kiki, in 'Kiki's delivery service'. :) It may sound like a kid's dream though I really want to do that! :))

What is your current obssession(s)?
I'm obsessed with foreign language now. I'm learning English and started French recently. It's so much fun for me! I'm also addicted with chalcography and photography. I love cute toy cameras and I'm now a collector rather then a photographer though. I want to shoot many more if I can get enough time.


Can't get enough of her? Visit her blog often, don't bother to switch the translator on, Yuuco provides us a very great translation on everty post.

Yaay!

I can't seem to let that word stays in my throat as I finally received Diana's (from our.city.lights, great blog, you should check, by the way) Yoshitomo Nara's postcard. What a bliss! I ask the kind Diana to send me her least favorite one, but she gave me her fave instead, isn't she lovely? I have been a fan of Nara sensei's art how I don't know how long, but I haven't got a thing, not even a desktop wallpaper, let alone the artworks and books. If you look at the artworks you'll fell like you fall in love again, trust me.

Just take a look at this postcard, for instance, it's entitled "Mitsuko". How heartbreaking her gaze is? Aawww...

An opposite of a Dentist Office..

Janethillstudio's The Little Cake Shop

Ginko's birthday card.

Bakers Dozen's Blanca Gomez's card.

..guarantee to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Free Art

Too good to be true? Nope. Indie Fixx has just launched this cool project that based on the, what else, crumpling economy, for artists to share their works, online, absolutely free. It's called Feed Your Soul: the free art project. All you need is a good frame, decent paper, and a printer, voila, you get an artwork to hang, if possible maybe 2 or 3 artworks per day.

Why am I so excited about this? Well as an unstably paid, independent artist, struggling to earn a penny, I know how difficult it is to get your works noticed and appreciated, let alone getting your works pay for your lunch. So I really really appreciated someone like Indie Fixx who channels artists and viewers in a low cost, easy way, unlike those big names galleries flooded with snob critics and curators. Let's say, it's a chance to be known, and I, as a part of the big artists society, thank Indie for the chance.


That's my artist's point a view. As an art enthusiast with limited budget, I also like to hang good art on my wall, and what's not to love about this project.

So go on, if you're an artist and you want to contribute, read all the how-to here. Can wait to download your own piece of art, visit here. What are you waiting for?

Fifi Lapin for LeSportSac

I've been a huge fan of LeSportSac bags and Fifi Lapin, the high fashion wearing bunny phenomenon. Put them together and voila, you get the best collaboration ever. This is going to my wishlist right now!

Who is Fifi Lapin? I was going to introduce her here, but hey hop on to her blog to read about the first ever interview with the most fashionable bunny on earth! Well, it is said that not every rabbit can be like Fifi, whooa, isn't she an icon or what?

Featured Artist : Moonyk

I'd like to introduce a very talented girl, Moonyk! .. umm .. No, she's not talented, forgive me, but she's multi-talented! Yes, you heard that right! She can basically done many things and are practically good at them, illustrating children books, doing comic strip, making manga, even manipulating photographs! Believe me, this 26 year old Vietnam based artist has it all!

I apologize that I am beginning to sound like a third grade infomercial actress, but there are no ways better than this to introduce her, I think, well, I'm not Shakespeare so this is the best I can do. Anyway, I'm serious about how talented she is. Take a look at her stuffs here. If her works are literature, they are going to be poems. I think of her works as poetic and you can almost feel the rhyme, when you see them. Very strong, when needed, and delicate at the same time, all in a very tasteful color combination.

The wonderfully kind artist also allowed me to interview! How exciting! So here's a quick chat we had!

1. I realized I am an artist/illustrator when I got my first paid doing illustrations. :)
2. I am mostly inspired by weird things, strange thoughts, bizarre people.
3. I wish I were better at drawing machines, weapons and perspective.
4. I am most satisfied with "The lonesome weasel" because...telling the story of the lonesome weasel is the simplest way to tell mine.
5. I am a little bit embarrassed that I made few of my works, but I'm not gonna tell you which one :) because I think they're a little too flashy, showy or over-sentimental. (No, I won't! Hahaha, that's ok! I know how you feel.)
6. If I weren't making art, I'd probably be unwaged.
7. Tell us something trivial about you!
hmm, I'm sillily doting on my dog. Sometimes I can be very nerdy, and I tend to forgot stuffs like keys, hats, glasses...all the times.

Thank you Moonyk, for the lovely interview and the inspiration! Keep us inspired by your art!

Zakka Designer : Shinzi Katoh

What is "zakka"? You hear the word everywhere, especially when you buy a DIY Japan books in sewing adn crafting. Why do they call it Zakka style? Zakka design? What is zakka?

Wikipedia describe "zakka" as a fashion and design phenomenon that has spread from Japan throughout Asia. The term refers to everything and anything that improves your home, life and outlook. It is often based on household items from the West that are regarded as kitsch in their countries of origin. Kitsch, eh? You know what kitsch mean, right?

I like the version of Shinzi Katoh's description in his website, though; "It's the things that make people happy and exist like a comfortable air. That is why we always keep in our heart when we create new design." Oh, how lovely! Don't you think? Now you know what zakka means, who is Sinzi Katoh?


Shinzi Katoh is an artist, designer, and illustrator. He had 3 children books published in Japanese and 3 more to come. As a zakka designer, it's obvious that his mediums of artsitry are not far from everday life. His tote bags, stationary, and kitchen utensils are among the popular ones. He has now products for sale, to name at least one, at the MoMA shop in San Fransisco. Of course you can find his products in Zakka shop everywhere. He also has done oil paintings which are currently exhibited in New York City.

Now, here's to you art elite! When you think only gruesome, self torturing, undeniably pervert paintings and performances can make it to the art galleries and museums, what do you say about a "zakka" designer like Shinzi Katoh? Art and design should make you smile, even in the form of everyday life items. Heck, they work best in everyday life items, not untouchable expensive paintings!

Three Cheers for Lotta Bruhn

I fell in love with Lotta! Her illustrations and design remind me of Dick Bruna's.
Just visit her on her blog and feast your senses. Make sure you grab her printable sticker too.
It's free download.

Sugary Sweet Eye Candy

I am proud to share the works of a friend, an artist from Indonesia, my hometown. I have adored pinkversusblack since we were in the same college, and now she has developed her style into something unbelievably more kawaii! And she doesn't seem like stopping

I just want stick my teeth into them. Here, vector, vector.. come to mama...