What's to be said about Jamie Hewlett? Well, okay, there's a lot to say, but the real question is where to start. He was born on the 3 April 1968 in Sussex, England. While he was in college, he started the fanzine Atomtan with a few friends.
Reading this is somewhere on my to-do list, but I think College Applications come first
This brought him to the attention of the magazine Deadline, which contained various articles and comics by English artists. He began writing the comic Tank Girl in 1988, a story about an anarchic teenage girl who drives a tank and her mutated Kangaroo boyfriend who travel across a post-apocalyptic Australia.
One of Hewlett's earlier designs
The comic was a huge hit, and catapulted both Deadline and Hewlett into popularity. By 1992, he had become a major contributor to the comic industry, and was working with DC Comics. In 1995, Tank Girl was made into a film. A terrible film, one which Hewlett had no part in. Deadline then stopped publication in 1996, so Hewlett was forced to find a new job, and had a variety of different ventures including drawing album art, doing advertisements for TV and print, and opening a second hand clothing store, though none of them were successful.
He then moved into a flat with Damon Albarn, the lead singer and keyboardist of the rock band Blur. Hewlett had been involved in the British music industry since college, so the two hatched the idea of Gorillaz: the world's first virtual band.
Probably one of my favorite albums ever
While Albarn made the music, Hewlett drew the character designs and worked on animating the videos. The cast of characters consists of Murdoc Niccals, the band's lecherous bassist and self-proclaimed leader, Stuart "2D" Pot, a slightly daft singer voiced by Albarn with 8-ball fracture in both of his eyes, Noodle, the young Japanese lead guitarist who showed up on their doorstep in a box, and Russel, the goodnatured drummer who is frequently possessed by spirits.
Clint Eastwood
The band was a huge hit in both the UK and the states. They released 5 albums between 2000 and 2011, contributed with many different artists, went on 3 tours. Their most popular singles were Punk, Clint Eastwood and Feel Good Inc. There were also a series of short films and two online games. A movie was also planned, but never happened. Unfortunately in 2012 Albarn said that the project would probably be discontinued.
Feel Good Inc
(note: slightly explicit or something, I don't know, I don't make the ratings)
I discovered Hewlett's art through Gorillaz, back in 2011 if I remember correctly. His character designs and sheer wackiness inspire my own work. Most of his stuff is strange and disturbing and is designed to make the viewer uncomfortable, but not to make you dislike it, only to intrigue you. His eye for quirky details and snarky writing is something I wish to emulate in my work. I also love his streamlined designs that keep things interesting, while still being simple.
This is spectacularly creepy, and I must say that I adore it stylistically, because the grunginess makes it very eerie. It's one of my favorite short films of all times, so I figured that I would post it in time for Halloween! Note: it is slightly bloody and disturbing, but hey, it's a short horror film, so what do you expect.
10/20/13
Can't seem to find a source for this, but it's amazing!
While I've been exceptionally busy with my portfolio, I do have 15 pieces completed so far, and a few more in the works.
Mountains (needs a different title?)
Keyboard Garden
Balancing Act
Eve's Dilemma
Political Cartoon (need better title)
Bad Reception (could use a better photo)
Toxi-Cola
Holderness T-shirt design
(take pictures of people wearing shirt if it gets picked)
Need photos of: Carnegie Melon self portrait (have progress photos), oil still life, acrylic still life, charcoal still life, sketches (sketchbooks, gesture drawings, doodles, etc (note to self: make sure to photograph things I've given to Ellie))
Have pictures of (just not on hand): Damn Yankees! poster, Models poster, Eggplant Hands
In progress: White charcoal still life, Day of the Dead design
Things to do: Illustrator illustration, Maya work, comic (?)
Current total count (when in progress pieces are finished):
Drawing from observation: 5
Not from observation: 12
Total: 17 (not counting sketches)
I think I need better titles for some of my work, above all else. Beyond that, photographing my work from the summer and other times will take priority.
After much thought about things that inspire me, I discovered that there are many different aspects about culture and the world that I find interesting. I'm always drawn to stories, and anything with a story behind or about it is always eye-catching for me.
One of the first things that I discovered at some point while learning about American history was the 1920's--specifically the culture and fashion within the 1920's. I first discovered the 20's through detective novels and have always loved the culture of that era.
I will openly admit that I love the 1920's as much as I hate them, as they were the witness to the birth of pop-culture, something that I have never personally approved of. Still, I do love the clothes and art.
On an entirely different note, back in middle school I discovered the world of webcomics, many of which I have followed for a few years now. Some of these include Gunnerkrigg Court,String Theory, and Kiwi Blitz. The last one, written by recent SCAD graduate Mary Cagle, uploaded a fanart a few years ago which I discovered when looking through her work. And I will admit, I was curious.
What I discovered was a webcomic called Homestuck, written by Andrew Hussie. It starts out a bit slow, with a group of four internet friends trying to play a video game and accidentally destroying the world, with all sorts of nerd culture references mixed in. It was a bit of a tough read, but over all pretty funny and enjoyable. But somewhere in the middle of Act Four that I began noticing that it wasn't quite as simple as I thought, specifically with this flash animation, [S] WV?: Rise up.
Homestuck is credited as being the longest webcomic in existence, with a wordcount clocking in at over that of War and Peace, which is pretty impressive since it's only been running since April 13, 2009. It has over 8000 pages, which can consist simply of one image, or a flash animation, or a series of images followed by thousands of words of dialogue, or an interactive game. With 267 characters, 24 music albums, many art and music contributors, a video game to be released in 2014, and over 3 million fans, Homestuck will probably always be one of my favorite comic-things.
Anime Expo 2012 (I'm somewhere in the far back in my Rose cosplay)
It's sort of hard to explain how Homestuck changed me, but I think above all else it broadened my worldview. I've met some really amazing people through the community and completely changed my artistic and creative perspective as a result. There are so many wonderful things about it, beyond the basic comedy and temporal shenanigans, that I could hardly ever begin to cover. Every single character, even the villains, is relatable and complex. I could ramble and write an entire research paper about a few pages alone, so I'll stop and switch to the next thing.
Somewhere in my internet escapades I discovered Steampunk, likely with the webcomic Girl Genius, but when I first heard of Steam Powered Giraffe, I was a bit skeptical. They wear a bunch of weird costume makeup and pretend to be robots? That's kind of weird. I bet they sing weird music too. But after so many people were talking about them, I got curious and watched one of their music videos.
I fell in love with the band exactly at 1:33
While I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, it certainly was not beautiful harmonies and pantomime and whatever music genre they make. It really isn't quite as simple as just being a plain old band with costumes--Steam Powered Giraffe has an entire world behind it, and each of the players has a complex and fascinating character. Sometimes they wax poetic about falling in love and the struggles of being inhuman, but sometimes they wear funny hats and sing about cowboys and demons in suspenders.
Rabbit's makeup needs a closeup
The members of SPG are some of the most inspiring people I have ever heard of. Each member had their childhood dreams bashed to pieces when they became adults, but somehow salvaged their futures in a way they never thought they would. The band started as a Pantomime troupe from Bunny and David Bennet's (who play Rabbit and The Spine respectively) college miming class, with two other members who have since left (one of them is The John, with the suspenders and the curly hair in Honeybee) and the addition of their newest member, Hatchworth, played by Sam Luke. They began as street performers and eventually got a steady gig at a local zoo, but after their above video, Honeybee, went viral, have become an internet sensation.
Bunny and David out of costume
They are coming out with a new album, MK III, this fall, which I'm hoping will contain the above song, Fire Fire. All photo credit goes to Geekshot Photography
Bonus video of The Spine's cover of Diamonds by Rihanna
Last, and certainly not least, is the summer camp I have attended for the past three years. It is called The Wayfinder Experience and is what can only be described as a Live Action Roleplaying camp. It's basically the nerdiest thing I do in my entire life, and that's saying something, considering that I run an anime club.
The Druathi Delegates (aka evil jerks)
Captain Harland Porter of the Queen Anne
*chanting* Verdant Circle Verdant Circle Verdant Circle
Crow had wonderful makeup
These are some of the wonderful friends I was with just a few weeks ago
Oh hey it's me as Annet Slozhana, valedictorian and recent graduate of the Incantessima with a thesis in Etherical Sciences (I died a near the end of the first game though)
Wayfinder is one of the strangest and most wonderful things to fall into my life, or well, I fell into it. From a creative standpoint, LARPing is so much more immersive than any other artform or story. You are able to shape and control each scenario and the fate of the world, simply by swinging a foam sword around. Not only does it inspire me creatively, it's one of the most welcoming and wonderful communities I have ever been able to be a part of. At Wayfinder I am able to witness the most amazing interpersonal experiences I have in my life, simply because everyone is so open with each other.
We keep getting yelled at for sitting on the porch railing. We do not care.
Good ol' production
Jack and Rue being cute
I'm near the middle in the green shirt
A few of my best bros in the dining hall
I think the result of the community being so open is that when we are in character and playing games we aren't afraid of being hurt physically or emotionally, even if we can "die". It's the juxtaposition of competition and love that really makes the over all experience so wonderful. I'm actually hoping that next year I'll be able to be a Staff in Training, either in Sets and Props, Costume, or Story.
Most photos are from the facebook page, probably taken by Kyle (who played my dad during the second game. Thanks for letting your fourteen year old daughter rule your country, that was just an amazing idea??) though some are my own.
3/26/13
Spring Break Sketchbook Project
The theme of my ten pages will be colors and concepts that I see incorporated into my usual sketches. I will be using pencil, ink and watercolors. Since I will be skiing, going to the Grand Canyon, and Vegas, I will be seeing a lot of colors and will be inspired by what I see.
In this project, I hope to use the keyboard and wires to resemble a garden.
First, I will pop out all of the keys and clean the board (it is really dusty!). I may dismantle the board further, but I am not certain whether or not I will need to yet. Then, I will make the keys into flowers, using wires and wire mesh to cover the petals. Here is an example petal I made in class:
I will then attach the stems of the flowers to the place where the original key was on the QWERTY keyboard.
This project has a lot to do with the juxtaposition of technology and nature, which I've noticed from other proposals is a bit of an overarching theme. My project specifically has to do with the interpretation of nature by humans, and how, while we can try to replicate it, we'll never get quite to the initial flower garden, and will just end up with an imitation that never looks quite right.
