Kim’s Advice
I’ve been following Dutch illustrator Kim Welling’s work for a couple years now. I love her unique style and her fun products she sells on etsy. I especially love the advice she gives to other sellers and artists on her blog. Want to know about invoicing or how to start an etsy shop? Just ask Kim!
Maira Kalman Does it All
I just listened to this great archived interview with Debbie Millman from Design Observer and illustrator/writer/artist Maira Kalman.
I love Maira Kalman. I wrote about her a while back when I saw that she illustrated Michael Pollan’s latest book Food Rules. I love her because she’s a total eccentric and I love her because she does everything and is not at all flustered by the randomness of her work. If she feels like writing a play, she does, if she wants to write a children’s book she does, there are no boundaries when it comes executing her wild ideas.
Sometimes I beat myself up over the fact that I’m interested in too many creative endeavors. I literally go from working as a graphic designer during the day to running over to my studio to paint at night, then coming home and updating my photo shop. Sometimes I feel this interest in everything can be too unfocused, or ultimately leave me not accomplishing much of anything. This is all probably true but at the end of the day does it really matter? People make things because it makes them happy and so what if that means diving from one thing to another (Clearly, I’m arguing with myself here).
Now onto Maira Kalman’s approach on randomness:
Debbie Millman: What inspires you to do one thing or another?
Maira Kalman: Boredom and impatience, I don’t want to do the one thing all the time. And I’m multi-curious and really not knowing how to do something and wanting to do it is a nice combination because then you just try new things. I guess if you’re open to whatever serendipity of inspiration is around, sometimes you just find yourself sewing and sometimes find yourself playing an imaginary viola.
Debbie Millman: Do you ever feel afraid about starting something new?
Maira Kalman: I lied. I’m always afraid. You know what happens? In a moment of fantastic enthusiasm I say oh I’m going to do this thing. Only after I’ve said it and initiated it do I realize what I’m doing and how terrified I am and think I really don’t know what I’m doing! What’s going to happen? But I guess what’s the worst that can happen? You can fail or it can be bad which has happened, but somehow the world doesn’t come to an end. So I’m ultimately very brave and terrified.
If you are a random, don’t you worry. So is Maira Kalman and she’s great!
Behave Yourself: Tokyo Metro
JAPAN! Why you so funny? I love these poster illustrations by Bunpei Yorifuji. You can find these images all over the Tokyo Metro to gently remind commuters to behave themselves while on the train. My favorite is the first poster. I don’t know how many times I watched bored business men practice their golf swing with their umbrella. I thought it was pretty entertaining. I miss Japan.
Animated Seoul
Way back in my military brat days, I lived in South Korea. I loved living there and this beautiful animation by Dave Prosser brings back a lot of memories of the country. Breathtaking mountains, addicted computer geeks at PC shops, and street stalls full of grannies making the best food I’ve ever tasted in my life. Ah Korea.
Swim Swim Swim
How does one acclimate back to hot summers after experiencing three years of fall- winter-back to- fall again? SWIMMING! I’ve gone back to my Okinawan swim team roots and have been swimming up a storm in the last two weeks. I get my exercise, vitamin D, and heat relief all in one dip. I tell you, its a miracle drug y’all! No but seriously, it’s super nice to be outdoors again. These illustrations by Gigi Rose Gray perfectly depict the way I feel in the water. Beautiful.
P.S. If you’re visiting Austin and want to cool off, check out this nice post by Feliz on all the natural swimming holes in the city.
A Good Quote
Do you ever underline a good line from a book? I do it often but then I never go back to it and immediately forget about it. So I’m really fond of this new illustration series by Evan Robertson. Get your own prints at his etsy shop.
Please Send Queso!
Hey Texas! Get my memo yet? I want queso. Now.
P.S. Love this poster and other typographic design works by the talented Simon Walker.
New York Stories
Good to know there are other people out there that dive for their laptop before living things during emergencies. Love these illustrated “New York Stories” by Kaye Blegvad.
The Work You Do While You Procrastinate
“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” -Jessica Hische, Letterer Extraordinaire
Links
