Thursday, June 5, 2008

Steve Mumford


Steve Mumford is an old friend who has made a real name for himself as a War Artist. He has traveled several times to Iraq, and recently recently posted a new installment of work that he did while in Mosul. There's a great directness to this work. I feel like I know more about what it looks and feels like there from his watercolors than from photographs.  It's a real irony that in a world where seemingly everything is photographed, there remains a surprising immediacy to a watercolor sketch. Maybe it's precisely because of the mediated quality of the work. We look at it, and are made conscious of the presence of the artist-- the jumpy line, the splash of color, the quick notation. We think about the time involved in capturing the scene. In these watercolors, we imagine ourselves there. We feel the heat of the day, wonder what it would be like, and think about the scene outside the borders of the drawing.
A link to Steve's work is in the 'Links' column on the right. 

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Medieval Modern


Mudpuddle Books just published 'The World's Best Board Games', which is a spiral-bound 'book' of magnetic game boards, with the 'six oldest and most widely enjoyed leisure games on Earth'. It's great for kids to take in the car. It's got chess, checkers, backgammon... I did the board for a game called Nine Man Morris, which I'd never heard of, but which is an ancient game, that 'reached it's peak of popularity in Renaissance Europe' (who knew?). 
They say the books will be available at Borders and WaldenBooks. 

Wall Street Journal Asia


I had an illustration appear in Friday's Wall Street Journal Asia.  It was for a story about a pub crawl in Sydney. And, no, I didn't get to go to Sydney. I remained strictly Up Over. Glad for the opportunity, though, and happy with the way it turned out. It also appeared in the online version of the Wall Street Journal.  Now, if I only knew anyone who read the Wall Street Journal...
 

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