Tony Mott

Of all the types of photography out there, music and concert photography interests me the most. I recently received the book Rock'n'Roll Photography is the New Trainspotting which is a retrospective of Tony Mott's photographic works. The reason why he's one of my favourite photographers is because he has managed to capture the essence of so many Australian bands, some before they hit the big time. Midnight Oil, The Divinyls, Paul Kelly, Nick Cave... the list goes on.

The photos in the book are amazing and there's a good mix of old and new and local and international bands. I wish there was a bit more info included about the photos though - sometimes Tony will say something like 'the band was difficult to work with' and I was dying to know why!

Thicker Than Blood

 

My Día de los Muertos inspired skull illustration

I love this illustration by Alice Meichi Li

A couple of months ago, my b&w 'Transition' skull illustration was featured in a little American zine by the name of Thicker Than Blood. It debuted at the MoCCA Fest in New York back in April, but being in the Southern Hemisphere I just had to wait patiently until the postie delivered my copy to me. The theme of 'thicker than blood' can refer to family, so my illustration is inspired by Día de los Muertos which is a holiday to remember deceased family members.

Working in black and white and drawing something by hand (not vectors) was a change for me, but it turned out quite good. Who knows, I might even consider doing another b&w illo in the future.

Blast from the past

An oldie but a goodie. Just stumbled across this on the internets, I remember seeing it on TV years ago. Bank ads are so smarmy and contrived now, but this one really had something meaningful to convey. Great song and great message.

Odö

LOVE the work of French graphic designer and illustrator, Odö. These are enlarged details of her works, to view the complete illustrations click here.

Mentoring Monday interview

I recently had the absolute honour of being interviewed for Lauren Calderon's lovely Active for Fashion blog. Her blog is chockablock with beautiful photos, inspiration, interviews and crafty tips. There's some really good questions in there, I definitely had to have a think before answering them! I'm getting better at this interview business, though. You can read it here.

American Artifact

I love gig posters. Hands down, they are one of my favourite things in the world. Recently I was casually browsing the internets when I discovered there was a documentary about gig posters called American Artifact that featured some of the most awesome artists in the world. I was like, "NO WAY!"

So I bought it (even though I was a tiny bit hesitant at the price of nearly $40 for a DVD). And I can say that it is the most inspiring thing that I've watched for a long, long time. It just reminds me of why I got so excited about gig posters in the first place. There's a real DIY feel throughout the film, as many of the posters artists quit their jobs and started doing what they loved, even though they were struggling financially.



I love how Frank Kozic says that his original goal when making posters was to get people to say "How can this exist? Who the f*ck made this?"

One of the poster artists featured is Emek, who just churns out amazing poster after amazing poster. The video below was from the bonus disc showing deleted scenes and it gives some insight into his process - he uses fineliners to draw insane amounts of detail. He definitely is the thinking man's poster artist.



If you are into gig posters, this is a seriously awesome doco.

Sweetly Creepy

I love the work of Polish illustrator Aleksandra Marchocka, she creates worlds inhabited by mysterious girls, skeletons and octopus tentacles. These illustrations were part of a calendar with a new take on some traditional fairy stories.

The Handmade Marketplace (part 2)

So this post continues on from part 1. There have been times when I am reading an interview with a designer in Rock Sound magazine, and I am amazed to find out they are the same age as me (or younger!), yet they already have an extensive portfolio of work for big bands and concerts. And other times, I find out that designers I really admire have gone to study design later in life and are only just finding their creative niche in their 30s.

So I found this piece of advice in The Handmade Marketplace from Liz Smith really inspiring...

Don't worry about where you are in the process of building your business. Everyone is at a different stage, but everyone is at some stage. Listen to people ahead of you, help those who are still catching up to you, and don't be intimidated by people who seem to have it all figured out. No one has it all figured out.