Upon seeing a tiny <insert ANYTHING>, only those with the coldest of hearts can squash a visceral response of…”aww.” Accompanied with the occasional shoulder shrug, of course. It is possible, however, that my heart is too warm. If I see almost anything that I can fit in my pocket or coin pouch, I succumb to the magnetizing cuteness force. Kind of like emf, the topic in physics class (that I especially despised). To my moderate embarrassment, my weak little heart melts into a Capri Sun-puddle. In my college bedroom, I maintained a small collection of worldly tiny acquisitions on my windowsill. A green alien (evanston, summer 2006). A heavy pig flashlight (japan, fall 2007). A pink cat rested on a longevity peach bun (ithaca, spring 2006). I’ve taken excellent care of my tiny treasures. Except the alien. He disappeared during my last move. The following is a list of twenty-two lovely things that are tiny enough to fit in your pocket (or other small places). Even pockets of Cheap Monday jeans, which I’ve included in the wee graphic above. I’m hardly a jean snob, but there are several pairs (Cheap Monday, Levi, Forever 21) that I wear more than others (Rich and Skinny = BLEH).
ANYWAYS, since I am excessively chatty, this post is too overwhelming without a click through. Click for the rest of this post! (more…)
The Odeon by Ian Dingman, 6×9, $35 with shipping
This is post ONE of THREE featuring illustrator Ian Dingman. TODAY I will introduce him as an artist & show you why I like (love) his work.
TOMORROW I’ll feature an exclusive & fabulous interview with lots of pretty pictures (he will tell us wonderful things about the new Criterion Collection release of Bottle Rocket and reveal the secret to his success. Okay, maybe not the second part.).
THE NEXT DAY Ian will tell us his current obsessions. I am super-excited-thrilled about this series of posts so I really hope you enjoy them!
Ian Dingman illustrates for the likes of The New York Times, Real Simple magazine, WES ANDERSON, and people like us (you and me!), who just want an Ian Dingman print on our walls (who wouldn’t?!).
I admit I’m a little stuck on the whole cover-of-Bottle Rocket thing. We know that Wes Anderson has impeccable taste, so his choice of Ian Dingman for a cover artist for a special edition of the filmmaker’s first-ever feature film certainly has meaning. Ian’s style expresses a lot of the same themes as Anderson’s movies: sadness, humor, awkwardness. But all of it, even the awkward parts, are beautiful, cartoonish, detailed.
Just one wonderful thing about Ian’s work is that it’s super affordable. You can own his ORIGINAL ARTWORK for less than $100. Or, if you are kind of poor, you can lie in wait until Ian does another print for Tiny Showcase (previous prints there have been a mere $20). (He will be doing something for Tiny Showcase! He wouldn’t reveal what, but I hope it’s a Learning Print!)
“Getting Late, Early” for Tiny Showcase
If you can’t wait for Tiny Showcase, and you are sort of poor, you can buy the first print I featured on this page for only $30. ($35 with shipping. I know this because, in my total indecisiveness and parsimoniousness, I’ve clicked on the “buy” button several times.) If you are REALLY, REALLY poor you can steal someone’s New York Times. You are bound to find an Ian Dingman reproduction somewhere in there.
For now, you can admire some of my favorite Ian Dingman works here:
Left: Look at that grass! Just look at it!
Right: This drawing actually gives me the fuzzy feeling I would have if I drove by this building on the street and, noticing its purple-ness (in a fall sunset, perhaps), pulled over to just look for a minute. Then, of course, I’d try to take a picture and wouldn’t capture the feeling at all, but Ian has.
Deloitte Review “Healthcare Revisions”
Art Director: Matt Lennert
It’s so amusing to look at all of the details in the picture above. I love that when Ian’s work is funny, often the people in the work themselves are straight-faced, unaware of the ridiculousness that surrounds them. (Another Wes Anderson similarity!)
Right image: Miscellaneous Wardrobe From
The 2002 Film Secretary, No. 1,
2008, ink and watercolor on paper,9.5 x 9″, $180
Left: You know how I love cupcakes.
Right: Can we talk about how funny the title is? Yeah, I know.
Remember how I said the people in Ian’s work don’t always notice the humorous situations they are a part of? Well, sometimes inanimate objects in his work give you this same feeling. Like, it’s just a shoe. Standing there. In all seriousness. But it’s funny.
For Social Gatherings Only
2006, ink and watercolor on paper, 8.375 x 5.125″
Like the Doctor’s Office drawing, this image is full of details. Maybe it’s the fiction-writer in me, but I love a drawing with details (and great titles).
So, as you can imagine, I recommend a perusal of Ian Dingman’s web-page. You can purchase work or just look. Or, if you want, you can touch it. But you might smudge your computer screen.
TOMORROW: INTERVIEW WITH IAN! NEXT DAY: CURRENTLY OBESSED WITH IAN!
My adventure-loving friend who joined me (or, er, I joined her) in Flushing and at Renegade, recently informed me that now you, too, can get your portrait painted like a Chinese propaganda poster at Maopost.com. The artwork is hand painted in oil on canvas by professional Chinese freelance artists.
You can choose from a variety of layouts and complete a solo or group portrait (maybe the whole family?!). They cost $180 to $270 (plus $35 for shipping) and are 24×15 inches to 32×21 inches.
My mom was born in Denmark, and during her most recent trek back to the little country, I asked if she would bring me back a Danish ABC book.
She returned with Halfdan’s ABC book, a wonderfully illustrated — and from the meager amounts I can interpret — funny, ABC book written with slightly less… wholesome… humor than we feed our American kids.
In Book By Its Cover style (okay, well maybe not as cool), I present you with some of my favorite pages from the book.
Jump!
Some Bolsheviks from from Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty (book found via Pikaland). Maira also worked on the illustrated version of Strunk & White’s classic The Elements of Style.
Checkout the slideshow associated with a New York Times article about a New York University mural depicting six famous writers who lived in New York and the spaces in which they wrote (with special attention paid to their bookshelves).
The former English major in me is feeling really guilty about this post, but the art and irony lover in me is feeling quite good.
Last week in Print Magazine’s blog The Daily Heller Steve Heller posted about Leanne Shapton’s “book blocks.” These blocks might take up the same space as an actual book, but they certainly won’t take up all of that reading time. They are literally wooden blocks painted to look like popular or classic books. Something deep inside of me wants to use them to decorate my mantel.
I found the above and below images as I was reading an article about the declining birth rate in Europe and America in the New York Times (yes, I have a wide range of interests…).
They’re by Edward Del Rosario, a Brooklyn-based artist whose trademark seems to be scenes of distance and loneliness. Some of his paintings are a little scary and make me want to run for cover in something cuter, but I really do like these two from the NY Times.
Subtle Circle offers the kind of cool randomness I tend to enjoy, with updated collections of various kinds of arts from prints to t-shirts to — well, you can see for yourself with the list above.
Right now they’re offering four wilderness prints for $20 from the Wilderness Collection (see below).
And previously they’ve offered buttons, badges, and T-shirts (in The Cold Collection and The Beer and Skittles Collection) but they’re young, so more (I imagine) is to come.
Mostly, though, I enjoy their watercolor-inspired web-site, which is a refreshing change from all of the cold, hard type you see everywhere else (er, like here).
Just discovered the very artful blog of a freelance illustrator in Sweden. I love her moleskin notebook illustrations best. A few of my favorites below. (more…)
There is no actual hose in this picture!!! It’s 3D sidewalk art by Julian Beever. TONS more after the jump. (more…)
This set of photos featuring painted hand animals (yes, actual human hands painted to look like animals!) is the work of Italian artist Guido Daniele, who not only paints animals on hands but also outfits on people. He also illustrates & photographs other things.
About 10 more painted animal hand pictures after the jump! (more…)
(olive & oscar, 4″x8″ acrylic on wood)
Yes, I literally said “OMG, CUTE!” when I saw this painting over at Creative Thursday. And if you think this is adorable, just wait until you see her other paintings. She has a lot of them. She paints a painting every day. EVERY. DAY. She thought she was going to post her paintings every Thursday, but we at Stickers & Donuts know how blogging and posting can runaway with you… or you can runaway with it… or something…. Anyway, she’s got her own Esty store stocked full of cutie paintings for $35.
Andy Warhol merchandise! And what artist deserves to be mass produced more than masterful pop art commentator on consumerism? (I didn’t even include the prices on this stuff, most of it was too high for my taste, but it’s nice to window shop.)
“Art is what you can get away with.” -Andy Warhol
I know, the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) are the places to go in NYC, but if you want the kind of out-of-city experience you can only find in Manhattan, I recommend The Frick (5th & 70th). Why?
“The Frick Collection is housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), the Pittsburgh coke-and-steel industrialist…. Mr. Frick bequeathed the residence and the works of art he had collected over a period of forty years to the Board of Trustees…” (frick.org; pictures also from the web-site).
If you are student (or someone who considers herself to be a life-long student and still happens to have a seemingly valid Student ID card…), everyday is your lucky day because the entrance fee is a mere $5. If you aren’t a student the fee is $15, though Sundays are “pay as you wish” from 11am-1pm. (Fairly or unfairly, those under 10 aren’t allowed in the museum at all and those under 16 need adult supervision.)
My favorite painting there is
