My original art for sale at DVAC's Art to Buy!

Over the summer, I decided to join DVAC (Dayton Visual Arts Center) as an outlet for the mounting collection of personal work I've been doing. I joined just in time for the annual member's show. This year's theme was No Borders, so my Dream Pig image seemed a natural fit. After a successful show (it sold!) I decided to participate in this year's Art to Buy.

I've worked up three prints for this sale: Dream Pig, Something Wonderful, and Dreamed It. They are available in 5x7 and 8x10 sizes.

I've also redesigned my Nap for That product line and I've got a Holiday Card featuring Nap for That's new mascot, Ned the Sleepy Sheep. This card is available exclusively at DVAC's Art to Buy and is very limited in quantity, get yours while you can! A BIG thanks to Annie at The Envelope for her help in not only the process, but making my Nap for That Holiday cards a reality—you are awesome!

Art to Buy starts today 5-8 p.m. at the DVAC gallery and runs through December 29. Come on down and see all the fantastic artsy finds for your holiday gift giving!

Nap for That Rebranded!

Not long after Apple began it's "There's an app for that" advertising campaign, I was inspired to begin my Nap for That t-shirt line not only in jest, but also because I'm serious about napping. Just ask any of my friends, it's true. 

While the clean and simple typography was easy to work with, it still didn't convey the full amount of awesome that I believe Nap for That stands for, so earlier this year I began to rethink how I approached Nap for That. I wanted some sort of illustration/graphic that would connect with the audience more.

I began to reflect on sleep and naps (I may have even done some hard research in the napping department too... ;) After my research and some sketches, I figured a sheep would be the most appropriate new mascot for Nap for That. I wanted to keep that handmade feel to the finished illustration and after a few rounds, here is Ned the Sleepy Sheep! (Maybe I'm biased, but I just find him too cute.)

Now that Ned has been finalized,  I'm starting off small on relaunching the Nap for That brand, but have ideas for expanding the line up in early 2013. Keep your eyes peeled here for updates to the lineup as they happen!

Nap for that t-shirts, mugs, and posters would make an awesome gift for the napper in your life. You can buy 'em here at my Zazzle shop. Now through 10/31 Halloween Mystery Sale: save up to 20% on select items with code "OCTOBERFUN31" at checkout.

Local peeps you can purchase the limited edition Holiday Nap for That cards printed by The Envelope exclusively at DVAC's Art to Buy November 2-December 29. 

Nap on everyone!

The Sleeping Beauty

One of my favorite pieces, The Sleeping Beauty, was chosen to be exhibited at the Gothic exhibit at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Orange County, California from February 2 through March 24. This is the first time that my piece has been selected to be a part of a juried show and I was so very excited about the opportunity. 

The only issue was that the "print" existed soley as a digital illustration. I had originally created the piece in 2007 as an illustration and poem. I reworked it so that the poem and the image were integrated, adding a texture I shot in my driveway to tie everything together. I was happy that I finally was able to take the 2 parts and make them one complete image, which had been bothering me since I first created the image.

Unfortunately, the deadline for shipping was a week away and it needed to make it from Ohio to California in that time. I received the notice in the evening, too late to start work on finding local framing for it. So the next day, I tore out of work early to search my local stores for the frame that would best complement my artwork. 

I was in luck: Michael's had the perfect Victorian style frame that fit the theme of my piece and the exhibit and it was 50% off! I then purchased the cheapest poster frame I could find that fit the frame to protect the print. I hurried home and set my Epson r1800 to print on Epson's Radiant White archival inkjet paper while I assembled the pieces to make the frame.

Framing went pretty well (thankfully), and the next day, I headed to the UPS Store to have them pack and ship the piece. They couldn't guarantee a delivery time, but I took my chances since I couldn't afford to ship it overnight.

Luckily, The Sleeping Beauty arrived safely and on time and was shown in a high traffic area of Los Angeles. While I am bummed I couldn't make it out to the artists' reception, it was very cool to have my piece included in the exhibit with other great art!

I've now been inspired to complete the other two pieces in the series: Snow White and Cinderhella.

The text of the poem reads:

The Sleeping Beauty
Darkness fell upon the sleeping beauty.
Her pale face glowed by the moon's light.
Peaceful as she lay, her secret hidden.
Until the night a charming rider appeared,
Drawn to her side.
He pressed his lips to hers only to discover
She had taken away his last breath.

Moonlight Movies Poster

My buddies and I started grilling and watching movies outside on the deck a few years ago when we were on vacation in Virginia. We named the evening "Sunset Cinema" and really look forward to grilling season so we can see movies outside.

One of my buddies decided to build a cool movie theater in his basement and keeping with the theme named the theater "Moonlight Movies". He made a special request for his latest birthday gift: he'd like me to design a custom poster that would be the first thing visitors see upon entering the theater.

I couldn't say no to such a fun project. Luckily my friend had a good idea of what he was looking for, so while I did my research and some mind mapping, I really just listened to what he was looking for and used that to build some quick mockups in Photoshop.

Unfortunately, due to my hectic schedule near the holidays, I warned him that I wouldn't be able to complete the poster until after his birthday. He was fine with this, since he was still putting the finishing touches on his theater. I couldn't just not give him anything on his birthday, so I worked up a large "movie ticket" to build up the excitement of the poster to come:

After working up some quick thumnails and doing a very quick flat color application in Photoshop, I emailed my friend the proofs, 2 of the concepts presented shown below:

My friend liked the ideas but wanted to merge the "farmscape" and "theater curtain" versions. While I was skeptical of this move, I went with it and ended up with this:

Whoa, pretty garish, right?! But after a few tweaks, some textures, and some lighting effects, this was the final result:


Personally, I still prefer it without the curtain and seats, but I think it did turn out well and really works with my friend's new theater room.

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 3

This is part two of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. Read part one and part two on how I set up the sketchbook with new paper. The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales.


So I've got new pages for my sketchbook, I've got my concept storyboarded, and I had my characters defined...time to put it all together into the final illustrations!


I used my storyboards as my "bible" and pencilled each page as a spread (this spread is page 2 and 15):


After completing each sketch, I went back and inked each page with my trusty Pitt Artist Pens:

After letting the inked pages dry, I erased my pencil lines and prepared to color my pages with watercolors. I had kept a set of Dr. Ph. Martin's Watercolors from college and decided it was time to put them to use. 

Some pages turned out, "eh": 

While some pages really turned out beautifully:

You can view the complete set of pages on my Flickr page.

After all that, I still had to rebind the pages to the sketchbook cover. After a failed attempt at simply poking holes into the pages and sewing them together, I figured out that I could use pushpins to keep everything in register. So I got out my trusty old Artist's Tape and taped up the middle of the book and started over:

And here's how the center spread looks sewn to the cover with heavy duty thread:

After all that hard work, I'm still uncertain about how the project turned out. I've learned a lot along the way, but I feel that some pages just could have been done better. I would've loved to have redone the entire book, but time was short, so I had to move on. I guess the folks who check out The Sketchbook Project on its nationwide tour will be the true judges of how my book turned out...

Oh, and for those who've read this far, thank you. If you are interested, here is the full text of my poem that The Maiden & The Hawk is based on:

The Maiden and the Hawk

The Maiden stood at her balcony,

Weeping.

Hawk was soaring high

Over her castle

When he heard her sadness.

Hawk landed perfectly

On the small ledge

And asked of the Maiden,

“What troubles you so?”

The Maiden replied,

“My true love left me for another.”

And Hawk said,

“Mine too.”

The Maiden smiled

And her tears dried up.

Hawk then came to Maiden every night.

On his third visit,

He asked of her,

“The moon shines full.

Let us fly up to her embrace

And back again.”

“But Hawk, I cannot fly,”

Was her forlorn reply.

Hawk grinned knowingly.

“Tonight, my fair Maiden,

Dreams come true

And everything is possible.

Just close your eyes.”

The Maiden did so,

And off they went.

The wind in her hair.

The moon soft upon her face.

Hawk soared forever

Up there

Around the full moon.

And far too soon,

The Maiden and the Hawk

Returned to Earth.

The Maiden stood

Shimmering in the moonlight.

Hawk’s feathers

Glowed about him

In the most magnificent way.

The Maiden whispered,

“Thank you, Hawk,

For being you.”

She placed a gentle kiss

Upon his beak

And wished her wish.

As she did this,

Hawk stood up

And cast off

His feathered coat.

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 2

This is part two of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. Read part one on how I set up the sketchbook with new paper. The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales.


After receiving my sketchbook and while I was making the new pages, I was thinking about what I would actually fill those pages with. I've always loved myths and fairy tales, so I knew I would focus on that aspect. I can't recall exactly what prompted it, but I began to think that I could do a version of Jack & the Beanstalk. My initial concept was to keep it simple: make a gatefold poster that would open up out of the sketchbook and tell the whole story in 2 images (front page and back page):


After some consideration, it just wasn't working for me for this project. So I worked up some storyboards on how I could tell a more traditional story with my take on Jack and the Beanstalk.

I sorta freaked out because it was the busy holiday season, I had tons of stuff going on, and I felt like I had to start over and that I didn't have time for it. But I put the project aside for awhile and let ideas sorta marinate. Then I remembered a poem that I had written in the early 2000s about The Maiden and The Hawk. I've always loved that poem and thought it would make a great illustrated fairy tale book. This was my chance! So I worked up storyboards based on the poem. I tried to get the story to fill the allotted 24 pages, but I would be stretching it to make it fit that many pages, so I settled on 16 pages instead. I also decided that while I had limited dialog in the poem, I wanted no discernible words on this version, so I made up a symbol based language to convey the dialog without using letters.

Now that I had the storyboards complete, I did some research on maidens and hawks and did some character studies to prepare for the real thing:

Now I was ready to create my sketchbook pages!

Coming next week: putting it all together.

The Sketchbook Project: The Maiden & The Hawk Part 1

This is part one of a three-part series on my The Sketchbook Project entry. 

I decided to enter the Art House Co-Op's The Sketchbook Project this year based on the link provided by my design friends over at the HOW Design Forum. The great thing about knowing a lot of folks in the design industry is the vast knowledge and resources they can share. The bad part is that you may be like me and want to participate in too much stuff. While I was initially excited by the project, it quickly became clear that this project was bigger than I anticipated. And because I had been so busy during the fall, it was time to start work on it right around the holidays. Whoops!

The basic concept for the project is that when you sign up, you are provided a sketchbook to fill up with images based on a theme. I chose "Storybook" because I've always been a fan of myths and fairytales. The provided sketchbook pages were very thin and there were a lot of them: 80 something if I recall correctly...

I spent a bit of time trying to wrap my head around the project and it was evident that I needed to cut the number of pages so I could have a hope of completing the project on time. I also decided to do my book in watercolors and that would require better quality paper. 

My first (and easiest) task was to remove the old paper. A few snips with the scissors and the old pages were free from their binding.

My next task was to choose a new paper to add to the sketchbook. I chose Canson's 140gsm Watercolor paper. It has a great texture and was the right size for the project. 

Next up, I figured out the number of pages I wanted my book to be and then I setup and trimmed the sheets to size. I originally figured that I would need 24 total pages (12 sheets), but that number would change...

Next up, and my favorite part, I wanted to do deckled edges. And I had no idea how to make them. So I just figured I'd draw a line where I wanted the edge to be...and luckily the edges of my desk are sharp! 

Here's how the book looked with the new pages inserted...

After all this, I was ready to work on my actual sketches and pages! 

Coming next week: ideas, sketches, and freak-outs, oh my!

Sweet! nsquaredesign in print: Creative Workshop

I was pleased to learn that I was going to have one of my pieces featured in the new book, Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills by David Sherwin published by HOW Books. David put a call for willing designs to be sent one of his challenges. Each challenge had a time limit and you could pick a category. However, you didn't know your challenge until David sent it to you.

I worked on two challenges and both were fun and helped me think a bit differently than normal. David let me know that my challenge made it into the book, but I had to wait almost a year to see which one was chosen... :S

I'm very happy that my "Creature Feature" website concept was the one pick for the book since it was my favorite and I had a great time working on it.

Be sure to pick up a copy today to hear all about my process and see how the other designers handled their challenges!

How Not to Make Friends After A Conference

As mentioned in my previous posts, I had the privilege of attending the 2010 CFC and HOW Design Conferences in Denver in June of this year. Like any conference, you share stories with your colleagues. Eventually someone breaks out the business cards and you trade. And while I love a well-designed business card, I have a pile of them by the time the conference is over and other than enter a few of my top picks (more on this in a minute), I add them to my growing dust collectors collection of cards in my office.

So how do you keep in contact with your fellow attendees that you do want to connect with? Well, I first narrow down my cards based on 1) the notes I took on the back of the card or 2) how well I remember the person. I make those people a top priority to connect with and put the rest on the back burner.

For those few folks I do choose to connect with, I typically connect via an awkward e-mail or two, Facebook, or Twitter. So needless to say my follow up isn't the best. However, I learned of another way that people are connecting post-conference, and while it might be a good idea overall, the implementation needed work.

Apparently, by handing my card out to a few folks at this year's conference, I was also added to their e-newsletter without really knowing or thinking about it. Now for me, I do expect the large companies in the resource center to use and abuse my business card in exchange for cool schwag. However, for some reason, I never anticipated my fellow attendees signing me up for their newsletter just because I gave them my card. To me, this is spam because I never granted my permission to be on their e-mail list.

Needless to say I was a bit surprised when I started receiving new newsletters in my inbox that I didn't sign up for . Were these newsletters asking me to try viagra or some other product? No, they were nicely written pieces that deserve more attention. But I didn't ask for them. So I promptly unsubscribed from each and sent an e-mail to the person so they knew why I was unsubscribing. (I'm not always the most tactful person either, so I did my best to restrain myself, but I still need to work on it...) In every case, the person understood and made sure my name was removed.

But this all could have been avoided. All I want is to be asked to be signed up. So when you trade business, the exchange could go something like this: "Hi, it was nice to meet you. I would love to keep in touch with my e-newsletter, is it okay if I sign you up when I get back home?"

See how easy it was? I've been asked (and will most likely agree) to receive your newsletter because I've given you my card so I might think you're a good person that I can learn from and share cool design stuff with.

My other thought is to follow Mig Reyes' example and only hand out my card to folks who promise to send me something cool. That way I'm giving them permission up front to send me stuff.

Either way, please don't be offended if I don't ask for your card or give you one of mine. I've just grown to the point where I need to find quality connections, not quantity.

Creative Postcard Club: Pantone Blocks

A seemingly easy round this time: fill 15 half-inch square blocks with Pantone colors and arrange them however you wish.

15 blocks of color is a lot of color! Especially since I was determined to use a different color for each block.

I turned to my favorite theme: Art Deco. The very formal and gridded structure of the layout suited the Art Deco style perfectly. The most challenging part was to figure out how to make the color progressions flow smoothly. My first few attempts created a bit of visual chaos until I found the rhythm.

Enjoy!

Doodle Swap Round 3

I participated in the third round of The Doodle Swap Project. Again, the theme was open, and while that sounds great to have the freedom to do whatever I want, it is a bit intimidating. I thought about a couple of different directions before deciding to do an idea that had been bouncing around my head. I've been thinking of these silly two-word rhymes all summer and this was the perfect chance to illustrate a few.

I sketched out the images and inked them with my awesome Faber-Castell Pitt Pens (ah, I LOVE these pens!). This time I broke out my Dr. Martin's watercolors that had been gathering dust on my shelf. I had a blast! I had forgotten how much fun and how easy it was to work with these colors. Now I need to do more watercolors...

Below are a few of my Doodle Swap cards, or you can see the entire set on Flickr.

You can view all of the doodles for round three on The Doodle Swap Flickr page.

'

Schweet Schmap of Nashville!

I just learned that my photo of the exterior of Hatch Show Print in Nashville has been selected for the Schmap guide to Nashville! :D

About Schmap

Schmap is a leading publisher of digital travel guides for 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More than 90 million Schmap Guides have been downloaded since first release in March 2006: this phenomenally popular series can also be browsed online, with versions optimized for iPhone and Nokia users

HOWie Poster 2009 Edition

I participated in the second somewhat annual poster made by and for members of the HOW Design Forum. The theme this time around was "stamps". Other than that, we were free to do whatever we wanted. I thought about different subjects and since postcards are typically used to send correspondence from people who live in different states, and since HOWies live in many different states, I decided on celebrating my home state, Ohio.

That still left a lot of room for narrowing and I originally considered doing an art deco-esque postcard design. However, it just wasn't working out. I had happened to just have visited my local park where we have 3 very old trees (500 years plus), called the Three Sisters. I just love these trees, they are magnificent and very calming. So I decided to use one of my photos of one of the Three Sisters.

Hey That's Me! n2 Quoted in Caffeine for the Creative Team

Late last year, members of the HOW Design forum were asked to contribute their thoughts about how the forum acted as a team for the book, Caffeine for the Creative Team. A couple of my quotes and photos that were submitted were used in the chapter on the HOW Forum.

Congrats to my fellow HOWies who also made an appearance in the book!

Stimulate the Economy!

Well, my personal economy....shameless self promo: I just added 2 new shirts to my Zazzle store that poke fun at the economic situation. Stimulate the economy in style with these t-shirts! Both designs are available in men's and women's styles. If you like what ya see, you can buy 'em here.

Shameless Self Promo: Creative Post Card Entry Featured in Online Mag!

My entry in the Creative Postcard Club's Round 42: Found Letters was used to illustrate an article about the Creative Postcard Club in issue #4 of the online magazine, Rancor'd Type! You can download issue #4 of the PDF here.

The article starts on page 8 and my entry is on page 14. Be sure to check out all the other great entries!

And the winner is....

....Devon is the winner of my Lucky 13 giveaway. Congrats! And thanks to everyone who played the game!

Reminder: Last Chance to Enter Lucky 13 Giveaway!

All entries are due at Midnight EST today, Friday, March 13!

http://nsquaredesign.blogspot.com/2009/03/lucky-13-giveaway.html

Lucky 13 Giveaway!

Since I don't believe Friday the 13 is unlucky, I'm going to try to break the “spell” of the so-called unlucky Friday the 13th and make it a Lucky 13 day for one lucky person!

One week from today, on Friday March 13, I’m going to give away one hand-signed print of my “February Moon” illustration as featured in my recent art exhibit. Print size is 7 inches wide by 17.5 inches high, with a bit of white around it for me to sign.

What do you need to do to win? Answer me these questions three in the comments section on or before Midnight EST on Friday, March 13:
1) What was your luckiest Friday the 13th?
2) Do you think Friday the 13th is lucky, unlucky or neither?
3) What is your favorite Pantone Color?

The best answers, as judged solely by me, get the one and only prize. No purchase necessary. And no fair trying to bribe me with cookies. Unless they are chocolate chip. Sorry, I can only ship to US addresses.


More about this image: I needed one more image to complete my art exhibit for February with a them of "Love." So after some thought, I dreamed up a bare tree with hearts starting to bloom under the silver light of the moon as an analogy to spring and warmth that would be coming soon. I worked a bit differently this time since I wanted to try out my new Faber-Castell Artist Pens. I used the brush nib and did some quick sketches in my trusty sketchbook. I then scanned it into Photoshop and then added the background textures, moon, and lighting.

My First-Ever Art Exhibition

Thanks to my friend Rachel at Graceworks Bethany Retirement Village, I was able to secure my first-ever art exhibit in their beautiful new Village Center Art Gallery. The theme is "Expressions of Love" and most of my pieces are wedding gifts that I've given my friends over the years, with a couple of other pieces, and one created especially for this exhibit. 

I even got an artist's reception! And if I had remembered to take photos, it would have been even better! Oh well, it was a great evening and we had a nice turnout and great support from my friends and family.

The exhibit runs from now through the end of February, stop by if you can.

You can also view all the pieces on my Flickr page.