Sketchbook Project -Quandary

For my birthday this year, my younger  sister, Sarah, of the blog Sarah Draws Things (a blog everyone who reads this and likes great illustration ought to be following, by the way!), signed me up forThe Sketchpad Project . The way it works is this: You are given a small blank sketchbook to fill out and mail back to them by January. The sketchbook is then part of a traveling exhibition and becomes a part of Brooklyn Art Library's permanent collection. My sketchbook came in the mail last month along with a snazzy orange sketchpad sleeping bag, a strange pencil made out of recycled blue jeans and an information card complete with  a list of themes to chose from (see below)

• Travelogue
• Memoir
• Narrative
• Atlas
• Almanac
• Chronicle
• Sketchbook
• Chapbook
• Documentation 
• Photo Log
• Dwellings
• Strangers
• Participate
• Diagrams
• Warnings
• Lists
• Creatures
• Dinosaurs
• Upstairs
• Mystery
• I'll classify my book later (Which I am currently singed up under)

The sketchpad has sat on my bedroom table since. Not much has happened with it yet aside from the occasional admiring glances from the residents of a nearby reptarium (an anole and a green tree frog, since you're wondering). I don't know what to do with it. I have entirely too many ideas and can't seem to commit to one. I thought maybe if  I wrote them out here maybe that would help me decide, or I could possibly get some useful feedback. So- here's what I'm thinking:

Travelogue- I'd like to do something with this, but my budget and schedule won't let me run away to Africa right now. Of course I could always do it based on my past travels (India, Guatemala, Professional touring, etc) but they aren't as fresh and immediate as I'd like. My sister is using this category and doing a beautiful book on Venice. I could always do a travelogue of a fictional place as well

Narrative- It might be kind of fun to tell some sort of visual story with the book, I just don't have any focused ideas yet. I've also considered doing illustrations for all of those recently discovered Fairy Tales they just found in Germany, but frustratingly, they have yet to be released in English.

Sketchbook- This seems the easiest option, but I'd still like it to be a little more concentrated, focus on trees or birds or something.

Dwellings:  An exploration of where different things live. Might be fun.

Diagrams- An unusual choice. I could do something in the nature of an instruction manual on puppetry, small animal care, tracking, woodcarving, or any of those myriad of other unusual and utterly unemployable abilities I have.

Warnings-This might be fun. A book of all kinds of ridiculous warning labels and signs, or possibly the rulebook for navigating Fairie

Creatures- This is probably the one most in my wheelhouse. I could do a field guide about my own versions of dragons or griffons or other mythological beasts, or a book of recently discovered species. Something like that.

Dinosaurs- Pretty self explanatory. Dinosaurs are cool.

Mystery: No real ideas for this one. Seems like it could be fun, though.

Well, that's what I'm thinking. I'd love to hear your suggestions
-J

The Saga of Log: A tale told through weird prop-building

    Every so often I get a call or e-mail from my friend Steve Monosson. Steve among his many qualifications is an independent filmmaker with a wonderfully skewed view of the world. Whenever he contacts me out of the blue I just know he's going to ask me to make something strange and fun. Past projects include a four foot tall totem pole featuring a poodle and pistachios  and a lot of bark-themed accessories. I could explain it all, but It wouldn't make any more sense and would probably detract from the wonderful absurdity of it all. Instead, witness the epic tale of the galaxy's near brush with and improbable rescue from Almost Certain Intrusion!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give You Log vs The Space Intruders!

I made the puppet version of Log, the space station,(this was accomplished by hot gluing a lot of random stuff together and spray painting it silver) Outer Space, (in all it's tinfoil glory), and the flying saucer (which is, as you rightly guessed, a colander and pie pan glued together). I am absurdly proud of this film credit. It may be one of the favorite things I've ever done!

Log has appeared in several different incarnations over the years. Steve himself offers some insight into his chosen muse and creative process:

 "Someone asked me at a screening why I used a log and I replied that he "took directions easily", And you can quote me on that for all your props- there's no back talk, they're there when you need them, and no complaints about working overtime."

Log's Journey now continues. I hope I don't inadvertently write any spoilers. Sorry in advance, Steve!
Log, after his intergalactic triumph returns home to visit his estranged father in the "Old Oaks Home" (No, I did not write that one, though I very well might have!). I was asked to costume the two principle actors. I first went over to take their measurements. Steve snapped this shot of me doing so. Note the  fact that the actor has been pixelated to avoid revealing who plays one of the key roles. I won't spoil the surprise, but would just like to say that he was gracious and a total pro to work with.

 Log was to be attired in a military-style flight jacket. I made this out of an old pair of olive green slacks.

All these costumes were 100% Hand-sewn for the aesthetic reason that I don't own a sewing machine.

Note that the "Air Force" insignia is actually an acorn and two maple wings. I love throwing this sort of detail into my work. It's part of why I'm good at what I do, and why I'm particularly worrying to be around for nay length of time

Log's Regimental emblem would obviously be an Ivory-billed woodpecker

Log's Father (my suggestion that he be addressed as the Logfather was vetoed for some reason...) would be dressed in a tattered institutional bathrobe. I tried to convert an infant onesie for this purpose, but I couldn't conceal the adorable duckies and teddy bears well enough. I used a beach towel instead.

The reunion is apparently a very touching and emotional one. Log's father is brought to tears. I was asked to make a miniature syrup bucket and tap for that scene. The bucket is about 2 1/2 inches tall. It took me four or five attempts to get it right. I used aluminum flashing, galvanized wire and a small piece of dowel. The aged patina was done by several layers of paint and sandpaper.

The tap itself is mounted on an eye-hook so that it can be attached for the scene (Log's father is a method actor).

Steve sent me this image to let me know my work had arrived safe and sound

...And this one to let me know I had some more work to do!

The Double Tap

 Last  year I was commissioned to make a tap handle for Cooperstown's largest and best loved Belgian-style brewery for their annual event Belgium Comes To Cooperstown. This year In celebration their fifteenth anniversary, Brewery Ommegang asked me to carve two more for them. My instructions were that the handles should be Mayan in theme (due, doubtlessly to the impending apocalypse), incorporate the Roman numeral "XV" and possibly look aged. other than that, I was given complete autonomy and a more or less reasonable deadline. Here is what I came up with:

 For the first one I thought that I'd play with the idea of hieroglyphs.I designed a series of abstracted symbols for beer ingredients, the brewing process and Ommegang itself.

 The piece is crowned with the Ommegang "O" and a version of the Ommegang Lion. I was hoping it would look a bit more like glyphs of Jaguar

 The Ancient Mayan Glyph for Hops:

 Side View:

 A drop of water Glyph:

 Ommegang is a bottle conditioned ale, so I commemorated that with a pouring bottle and cork:

 The four Mayan faces around  the bottom panel symbolize the fact I needed something cool looking down there:

 Back Top- This one depicts the fermenting tanks of the brewery, A goblet (which is the only way to enjoy a fine Belgian ale!) and the Ommegang double diamond.:

 The Roman numeral for fifteen. I wanted to work it into the shaft of the handle rather than crowning with it so the whole piece wouldn't look so blocky

 It's hard to tell but this is brewer's yeast. I defy anyone to come up with a better made up Mayan glyph for yeast! i'ts much harder than it sounds:

 Barley, on the other hand was easy:

 And finally the glyph for sugar. Yeast eats the naturally occurring sugars, and thus fermentation. I am well aware that sugarcane isn't involved in the process it's next to impossible to represent that abstract a concept in wood relief.. I claim artistic license!:

Here's the whole thing again the finish is done by my smoke process and accented with gold paint:

 For the second tap I wanted to create one of those terrific blocky figurative carvings. I settled on Quetzalcoatl the feathered serpent because he's probably the most iconic of the Mayan symbols. Also, I think he looks cool. to age this piece, I first painted it with acrylics. I then sanded away most of the paint and smoked it up. If I had the time I might have also buried it for a month.Quetzalcoatl is always depicted as having five plumes or tails. I couldn't find out why.

Here is the "XV" on Quetzalcoatl's headdress. If I could have  done one thing differently, I would have repainted the numerals so they stood out more. I told the good  folk at Ommegang they were free to do so. I hope they have.

 A close up of Quetzalcoatl's face:

Well there you have it! Hope you enjoyed