CARMINE MAGAZINE

Any artist on the face of the this planet will tell you that at one point or another, the brilliant mojo that is responsible for the care and feeding of their creative ego will suddenly, inexplicably, dry up. It might be temporary or it might be a month but whatever the case  may be you are left uninspired, unfeeling and would rather drown your unimaginative sorrows away with a good (aged) whiskey. As a writer the temptation to slit your wrists over writers block teeters closer then I am comfortable with at times, and I was recently forced to take a long hard look at conventional creative kick starts. I put my own spin on a few and found these newer acquisitions to be quite inspirational. So I am now here to share with you my own not-so-unconventional ways of staving off the inevitable “creativity lull”.

• Clear the head. This is important. Most artists will admit that when too much is crammed into the brain it tends to push out the creativity and breeds indecision. Show stress who is boss and take a walk . Be a Zen Goddess in the park with paper and pen/brushes. Get AWAY from the workspace.

• Run errands/Do housework. Those mundane chores can be a breather, and can also clear the head. I tend to get a lot of inspiration when I am shopping, or when I am doing the dishes. I also recommend keeping a notebook or a portable art pad with you at all times. I’ve had crazy inspiration in a melting parking lot before in 100 degree heat, but I still whipped out my notebook and jotted down a few ideas, and then scraped the tar off my feet.

• Eat crunchy things. Like crackers or vegetables. Crunchy is fun, and has been said to keep studying students alert. I often will have a handful of crackers to munch on when I am trying to finish a piece. Like now. I have a small stack of vegetables crackers and because of them, I have been able to finish this sentence.

• Play Music! Loud, obnoxious, steady and pulsating or soft and sweet…It’s something I absolutely can’t write without. My father swore that Led Zeppelin was the music to paint to. I tend to listen to what fits the mood. Right now? It’s the Pixies.

• I go to a happy place if I am truly stuck. This isn’t to say that I meditate (which is another option) but I will sit, eyes closed, and mentally go to this special place to try and recall every detail. For example: I recently I took a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and was at a vista near Kananaskis county (somewhat near Banff in Alberta). I was standing at first facing a reservoir, and then as I turned around the view of the valley opened up below me. The snow covered peaks towering around me, and the cool, clean glacial wind lifting my hair was intoxicating. I remembered standing there completely taken with the moment and instantly took a mental snapshot. Thus sealing it in my happy place zone. Recalling the details of that moment and trying to recollect the rocks, the ripples of the water and any sounds that were present always works. My dead creativity process battery is jump started, and I am able to finish what I started.

• Talk to yourself. Sure you might seem completely insane, but at least it keeps intrusive people away from you at the park! Talking a process through helps tremendously. If you would rather keep it in your head, that is up to you. I don’t.  Also If I am completely tapped and all else is failing, I will go to a public place and write about the people around me. More often then not they have been the very subject of the piece I couldn’t figure out. I’ve seen bored artists sketch people on napkins, and then go home and create the masterpiece of all that is man. I’ve had a musician friend jump at me at a bar, when I was mindlessly tapping out a cadence with my fingers on a pint glass, and then proceed to write a song based OFF that rhythm ( I gloated for weeks). Inspiration can be fickle but when it hits, it can burn.

For me personally, it’s the the little things that seem to work. You can’t get blood from stone (It’s a cliche I know, but I love the imagery it conjures) and when you push and push sometimes the end result is a rushed creation, or a bad mood. Most of us have learned to take a step back and give the mind a rest, but sometimes we are so perpetually stuck on fast forward, that its refreshing to take that step back and find ways to unearth the creativity stuck inside. Whether it’s sketching the emo kid next to you, writing about the angry couple at the bus stop, or finding your happy place…it’s all about art. To me? Art is in everything. There is no right, there is no wrong. There is only “create”.  So stop beating yourself up, stop thinking too hard and start creating.
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Very rarely do you stumble upon a website that seems to be purely made to indulge the senses and relax the spirit. A simple picture will not suffice so trust me, turn up your music and click!

Labuat

The integration of interactive graphic art and music with this flash piece is nearly flawless. The beauty of the song, flowing black cursor, and intermittent graphics reflecting the seemingly poignant lyrics is nothing short of breathtaking. The art evokes the emotion of the song, and you help tell the story as you sweep the cursor across the page using a mouse or touch pad. I found myself sighing happily, dreamily moving the mouse to the beat, and couldn’t help but look up the lyrics later after multiple viewings (for those interested). It’s actually a love song.

I myself would love to go into more depth about this site and about the creators  but I am unfortunately not fluent in Spanish. Google translator can only be so helpful, and I was barely able to piece together a general summary of the project. The song appears to be the single “Soy tu Aire” from Spain by the artist “Laubat” and this animation could very well be the new hailed modern version of a music video, with less super models and more creativity.

Herraiz Soto and Co also took their art one step further and brought it to the streets of Barcelona.  Armed with a projector, a Macbook and a Wii  they set up outside a building so that people on the street could literally “paint in the air” with brick as their backdrop. The result is here:

Labuat – Pintar una canción en el aire from Herraiz Soto on Vimeo.

I hope we are lucky enough to see more from these designers!

*Super Stealth Edit* The site is also a  recipient of an FWA (Favourite Website Award).
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Gavin Hignight is a film and television writer whose credits include Fox Kids’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and numerous short films and screenplays. He is also the author of the novel Sweater Party, and has contributed to magazines such as Geek, and L’uomo Vogue. Motor City is his first comic book series.
Jetilla Lewis is an illustrator and designer whose work has appeared in American Junior, and throughout independent comic festivals and at Comic Con International. She counts Koshun Takami, Matsuri Akino, and J. D. Huxtable among her inspirations. Motor City is her first graphic novel.

Carmine Magazine: For the readers who are not familiar with Motor City, can you please describe it?
Gavin Hignight: Motor City is a graphic novel somewhere between Japanese style Manga and American style comic books. It’s a mix of retro, horror, and a coming of age story. It follows Lexi, the youngest member of a 1950s era human street gang trying to defend their turf from all kinds of monsters.
Jettila Lewis: Motor City is a unique comic. It’s like classic horror with a bit of a modern twist.
You know those movies about the 50’s with the neighborhood of trouble makers and gangs? Picture that with ghouls and monsters! It’s pretty neat!

CM: Why did you decide to work on a comic book? Has it been as fun as you had hoped?
GH: After writing tons of scripts, trying to sell ideas in Hollywood, etc… I got frustrated. I just wanted to tell the kinds of stories that were floating around in my head. The medium didn’t matter. I was doing some work on the Fox Kids Ninja Turtles cartoon and I started thinking about its roots, about Eastman and Laird, about how awesome the original black and white TMNT comics were. And I thought to myself, I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna tell my story one way or another.
Although I read comics I had never really planned on being a comic guy. But writing it, and with artist Jettila Lewis, finally getting to see these worlds in my head realized in a quality manner, I really grew to like the medium. Now I will always do comics–Hopefully in addition to other mediums. It’s such a great way to write and experiment with ideas I never want to abandon it. The other thing about comics is that they have made me a much better writer of other material. Writing comics forces you to really analyze your dialog, because you don’t have that much room, so what your characters say really has to matter. No space for dribble.
JL: Comic books have always been a major interest of mine. Both reading and drawing them. I decided to take up working on Motor City because before, I’ve only made comics for my own enjoyment. I wanted to take the next step in making illustrating a career.
I’m not sure if the word “fun” would be an appropriate description of the experience, although I did very much enjoy working on it. I saw it more as a learning experience than something “fun” to do.
I had to do research, find reference photos and study things which I’ve never done with the little comics I would make for myself.

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Carmine Magazine: For readers that are unfamiliar with The Create a Comic Project, how would you describe it?
The Create a Comic Project: The Create a Comic Project is a youth program that combines art and creative writing to stimulate interest in self-expression among school children. As the name implies, I rely on sequential art – comics – as the primary medium. I’ve designed the project for kids aged 8-12, though I have worked with teens on occasion.

I walk students through the facets of comic creation – page layout, word bubbles, captions, etc. – and introduce basic storytelling techniques. Students create two kids of comics: filling in empty word bubbles on existing comics and original strips with blank panel layouts. The former serves as a guide to the latter; students see how various artists compose their work and gain exposure to the myriad of art styles. Over a hundred different artists have given me permission to use their work for the project, including David Willis (Shortpacked), Erin Ptah (And Shine Heaven Now), Faith Erin Hicks (Ice, Demonology 101), and Kazu Kibuishi (Copper).

Currently, I’m working with the Collegiate YMCA of Pittsburgh and their after-school program to deliver weekly sessions. I’ve held one-shot workshops at several locations, including the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Braddock Carnegie Library, and Human Service Center.

CM: How did this project begin and why was it started?
TCaCP: The Create a Comic Project started out in an overseas classroom. In summer 2005, I was in Taiwan teaching English. The activities in the curriculum focused on spelling and grammar – there weren’t any that explored the creative side of the language. Inspiration came from two sources: the popularity of manga among my students and Yukihime’s Penny Arcade Remix (http://goviolet.com/?page_id=633), which steered me to the idea of using webcomics.

The first comic I used was Okashina Okashi (http://www.strangecandy.net), a pastiche of many of the manga elements my students were fond of. The results were fairly spectacular: my students loved to compete in teams to see who could create the funniest – and most grammatically correct – comics. The place where I worked ended up publishing the activity so other teachers across the island could use it in their own classes.

A few months later, I returned stateside for graduate school in New Haven, CT. The public library needed volunteers and I missed teaching, so I retooled the project into a standalone creative writing and art program. That’s how the project’s been used ever since.

(J. Baird with one of his students during one one of the New Haven Library sessions.)
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LESS IS MORE
Or: The Art of Designing Your Own Business Card

(Good example #1)
A business or calling card is an extension of yourself. This is the one bit of you that people have to remember you by. First impressions are important but a lasting impression will get you the business or attention that you desire. It’s a big responsibility, but worry not. The following tips will make designing your business card easier.
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