Those poor, poor puppies....

I came across the most appalling thing the other day and it had to do with dogs.

I had never really paid much attention to dog grooming before until I saw a picture of a multicolored dog, or in better words a painted dog. To my surprise there are actually competitions where people shave and color their dogs until they look like something that doesn't resemble a canine at all.

Even though it's really sad that some dogs have to go through the horrible transition from dog to beast, the photographs are very entertaining! In an odd way you could say that dying your dog to look like a rainbow is an art form. Personally I would never live out my colorful wishes through my dog's coat but whatever. I supose the best way to show this is through pictures as always.








Those poor, poor dogs

From the Basement to the Big Times

While looking around for information for my Research Paper, I came across the story of a guy that I do believe is quite amazing. The name of this gentleman is Mark Capicotto, and he is the founder of Glamour Kills Clothing.

Fresh out of high school Mark Capicotto founded Glamour Kills in 2005. Mark set up shop in his parents' basement and made five original t-shirts. Mark slowly began building the brand, he would sell his shirts at local shows and created his company's web site glamourkills.com. The company began to grow fast and spread into the music world and then pop culture in general. Glamour Kills has made its way into countless clothing stores including Zumiez nationwide, in addition to being available online and overseas.

The words of Mark really seem to sum up the company..."Glamour Kills is a bright, youthful brand. When I started the company, a lot of the clothing that was worn in the music community--which we directly market ourselves to--was very dark or all black. That's not us. I wanted to introduce something that was bright, colorful and fun, but not overbearing. No one wants to wear a highlighter on their shirt [Laughs]. We've found the middle ground."


I think that Mark is a serious inspiration, he's doing something that I would kill to be doing right now! Not to mention his clothes are cute to boot! Here see for yourself.





Mark Capicotto





Mark's Clothes

The Man! Derek Deal!!!

Ladies and Males it's that time again...


So I figured since I did that post on Horesbites it'd be neat to do a post on Derek Deal, who is also a graphic artist, because I have his interview with AMP Magazine on hand. To be honest, I have it sitting on the arm of my recliner right now! Score!

I love Derek Deal. That being said, maybe I should back that up with a reason or two. Derek does a lot of grunge art that is very detailed. In almost all of Derek's work texture is the characteristic that practically jumps off the pages! Even though this sounds kind of gross, in a poster for A Whilhelm Scream that Derek did a brain, eyes, and part of a brain stem is featured. It may sound gross, boring, or just plain weird, but none of those words are ones that could accurately be applied to the piece. In the post Derek uses so much detail and texture contrast that the eye balls do look "squishy" and the brain stem looks thick like a tree branch. It's incredible, the work that some people can do.

Derek has done various pieces of cover art for bands that I could only dream of doing and I have no clue how the man gets the ideas for his creations. It would be a dream come true to be able to meet with Derek and maybe even have him give me a pointer or two with my own work!

I supose the thing that gives me the most confidence is from the beginning of AMP's interview with Derek...

AMP: How did you get into doing illustration and design? Did you go to school for it or did you have some sort of connection?

Derek: Well, I've been drawing ever since I can remember. I was really into animation growing up, which I can probably attribut living so close to Disney World growing up. That place is like crack for creative minds. I thought that's what I wanted to do, draw stupid characters all day. i went to school got really restless, decided I wanted to focus more on deisng and got my degree in motion graphics. Long story short, I've pretty much come full circle and draw stupid characters all day...

Turns out I'm more like Derek than I thought. I may not have lived close to Disney World but holy cow, I sure did watch enough Disney movies to be able to look at the cover of a Disney VHS case and almost flawlessly freehand Ariel, The Beast, The Geanie, Aladin, Cruella DeVil and many more. Who knows, maybe there's hope for me yet.






Teach me your Jedi mind tricks Derek...

HORSEBITES

Once again I have managed to find someone who has a life/job that I would absolutely LOVE to have. It seems like ever day I find one more reason to go into Graphic Design!

This time around it's a man who goes by the design name "Horsebites", I read about him in AMP Magazine and fell in love with some of his work. Perhaps it's my twisted view of a romanticized life as a graphic artist, but holy cow, I find an interview with an artist in a magazine and you couldn't get me away from it with a tow truck. I must have read that interview in AMP at least three times and drank in the information like a person with a severe case of dehydration!

I'm pretty sure I have Horsebites to thank for inspiring me for my Research Essay in English too! After reading that interview I knew, deep down in my artistic little gut, that my paper is going to be on how graphic design weaves its way in and out of the music industry. This is going to be EPIC! I'm pretty sure I'm going to do some kind of evolution from sketch to computerized design for a media piece to go with my essay. I feel so much better now that I have a small clue as to what I'm going to be doing. Thank you almighty Horsebites and the ethereal beings of artistic essence!






I love you dude!

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Since I've been writing about the cool things in art, and the things that I like, I think it's time to do a blog on one aspect that I don't like so much.

WEARABLE ART...dun, dun, duuunnnn.

I have seen some not so great pieces of art, but wearable art usually tops the charts on the ugly scale for me. I really wonder what was going through peoples' heads when they created, let alone put on some of the pieces I've seen.

I suppose expression is expression. Just because I think it's ugly doesn't mean someone else wouldn't buy it for $100,000. Although what would you do with a hideous costume that could possibly fall apart if you tried to put it on? Now THAT is a dust collector just waiting to be bought. Am I right or am I right? Hopefully I don't turn into the world's biggest hypocrite and become a wearable art designer some day. Lord help us all.

It looks like I have nothing but trash talk to say about this certain genre. Maybe it would be best to let you guys see some pieces and judge for yourself. I'd like to see these things in someone's closet on an episode of What Not To Wear.

STELLA!!!!

Art appears in life, I have found it, it's called a Harlequin Great Dane! It seems that my love for art, contrast, and canine has all come together to make my dream dog. Yes I said dream dog. I hate cats, they're miserable creatures who only show you love when they want to be scratched. Dogs are almost always happy to see you and they love you no matter what. Like one of my teachers said, "If a cat had a five fingers, every time you'd walk in the door it would flip you off."

The deal with the Harlequin Great Dane, if you've never seen one, is that it is a Great Dane that basically looks like it has the coat of a Dalmatian. My favorite Harlequins are the ones with the pointy ears, but I would love a regular eared one just as much. These dogs are beautiful and graceful and down right cute! If I could pain a Harl I would, but I'm pretty sure there's no way I would be able to get the coat right. That's another thing! Their coats are so sleek and unique. The spots on the dogs aren't actually round spots, they look like torn edges of construction paper and are irregular. I'm not just writing this blog to talk about a dog I'm pretty obsessed with, I really do thing they are as beautiful as great pieces of artwork. The way I look at it, I just take the beauty of classic art and try to find beauty that matches or rivals it in the real world. In this case, it just so happens that I found a dog. So be it!

Someday I will have a dog that looks like this and her name will be Stella. She will be the best dog ever!

How to feed a starving Artist...

I've been contemplating how I would get along if I were on a tight budget as a professional artist. I'm not saying that if you become an artist you have to be constantly hungry and poor, I just think it's more fun to look at it that way. Starving does add some dramatic appeal to the whole scenario if you ask me. So I'm making a list of the things I would try to live off of if I were in some shanty little apartment with my dog, computer, numerous sketchbooks, and Lord knows what else.

Drinks
Red Bull...but not the sugar free, that's just pointless.
Starbucks products...if I could afford them, I just need coffee.
Vitamin Water...it's bland yet ridiculously tasty.
Kool-Aid...that's just a given coming from LJ.
Juice...I go through a bottle a week of juice, especially orange.
Powerade Packets...those babies make water taste like heaven.

Food
Ramen Noodles...only chicken or pork flavored, shrimp is sick.
Pasta-Roni...it's what I make when my parents are gone, it's easy.
Rice-a-Roni...God's gift to rice eaters everywhere.
Mac&Cheese...no explanation needed.
Tortillas...I can make my own homemade for cheap!
Hot Dogs...I refuse to learn what is actually in them though.
Tostino's Pizzas...AMAZINGNESS frozen and packaged into a box.
Spinach...so much better to make salads with than iceberg lettuce.


And that is a big chunk of what I would be eating. It's really not that bad, but I would have to exercise regularly, maybe even two times a day if I don't want to be seeing those Tostino's Pizzas when I look in the mirror. It's so nice to be a teenager and be able to eat practically anything I want and have the matabolism to burn it off. I better enjoy it while I can!

I'm off to find the ice cream! Ta ta!