Justin Ahrens
Sarah Ahrens
Kara Ayaram
Tim Damitz
Bob Davidson
Susan Herda
Kerri Liu
Katrina Strich
Intern
Guest Blogger
Author’s note: This is my first real-live blog post, on a real-live blog. Well actually, this was my first one, but I don’t think it really counts. So here we are, you the reader, and me the writer, and I’m supposed to entertain you. Or inform you. Or even better– make you *think*…
If you’re anything like me, you’re a bit of an artist. Maybe you’re an illustrator, or maybe you take pictures. Or maybe, when you show people your work, it goes something like this: “Did you draw this?” “No.” “Did you take this picture?” “No.” “Well, did you write the words?” “Ummm, no, but it was all my idea.” “So you printed the brochure, then?” “NO.” (an annoyed, incredulous stare) “Well, what DID you do?” Yes, that makes you the ambiguous Graphic Designer. Or maybe you’re not any of these, and you have one of those cushy “desk jobs”, which is fine. Have a few laughs; enjoy the pictures. But I’m talking to the artist-types out there.
So, what do we all have in common (not you with the desk job – the artist types)– besides living lives filled with fame, glory, money, and all the other blessings that come along with a career as an advertising or graphic design professional?
In one form or another, we all sketch* (*draw. paint. color. doodle). And again, if you’re anything like me, maybe you don’t sketch enough. Maybe you only sketch when you have to. Or worst of all, when you DO sketch, it’s never with color. That’s me. At least it was.
Then one day, I ran across this article about an illustrator who had done the cover of the New Yorker…. on his iPhone. I was intrigued. I have an iPhone. So I started digging deeper. The app is called BRUSHES, and it’s $5. That was all I needed to know. I called the man and asked (in my best goat voice): “whe-e-e-e-e-e-e-re do I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I si-i-i-i-i-i-i-gn u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-up?” LMAO. Okay, now I’m just being silly.
Anyway, I downloaded the app, and the rest is history. Full color, hi-res output (up to about 8″x10″ @ 300dpi), importable into Photoshop: the works. You can even export the image as a movie and watch how it developed. Although I still don’t draw enough…. Oh, well. It’s a start.
Love to you all,
the Dude™
Todd – how long does it take you typically to do illustrations? Have you seen this – an illustrator using it for The New Yorker cover: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2009/05/jorge-colombo-iphone-cover.html
Yes, Justin, I did see that article. What intrigued me most about the app was that it wasn’t just a 320×480 pixel canvas @ 72 dpi, but you could actually export an image with enough resolution for offset printing. Depending on the complexity of an image I can spend anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days. I try to keep these short and sweet because staring at a tiny screen a few inches from your face can be a bit maddening. Thanks for the invite to do a post for you guys; I enjoyed it!
Pretty sweeeet Dude™. Its great to see people innovate with a program that I would draw a few lines with and then quit. It just goes to show that software is just a tool….an important one, but just a tool never-the-less….the artistic creativity is the key.