ArchivesDecember, 2011

blog: blôg

{Verb} Add new material to or regularly update a blog
{Noun} A Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.

That is it. I have had enough. I need to start with more regular posts.

I hear again and again how someone my age is out in the design or fine art world and making national recognition due to the content and idea for their blog. Meaning, illustrious people like Andrew Gibbs with his daily package design blog called The DieLine, Jessica Hische with her Daily DropCap or the oh-so popular Daily Monster illustration blog by Stefan G. Bucher. All of these young designers picked an idea they were drawn to and made it into a blog empire. They have grown throughout the course of making their blogs. You can see if literally over time, and I want so badly to learn from them and follow in their footsteps.

Stefan used his passion for illustration as a way to generate content for his blog and have fun. He starts by spilling liquid ink on to his drawing surface. Then he manipulates the ink by blowing on it through a straw. He forms these awesome abstract shapes that he then uses to build his drawing of a monster.
You can see more of his process in videos on his YouTube page at YouTube.com/user/StefanGBucher

So I am going to do the same and start blogging more often and pick a focus for a daily or weekly post. (For better or for worse). Picking the idea is going to be the hard part but physically posting should not be that hard with a camera, spell check and the wordpress app on my phone right? (Hopefully). I plan to pick a subject I like and run with it.

Here are the ideas I have had so far :

• Expanding my feet photography series: that you can see here, to a daily photograph
• Doing a weekly redesign project: Showing a before and after of a design refresh
• Daily Student highlight – Highlight student’s work each day I find online or in person
• Daily art history / modern comparison – Try to compare a classic with a modern piece
• Weekly Painting Vector Make Over – I live on InDesign and Photoshop most days. I do not get to play in Illustrator as much as I would like. I would love to use this opportunity to convert my paintings into vectored illustrative prints. It would not give you a live-traced look, but a new spin on my older paintings.

I like all of these concepts and I wonder if there is even a need to narrow it down.
Either way look forward for more content and more fun to be happening at denanord.com/blog.

This past month I showed my work twice around Milwaukee. The first being at a month long for the an art gallery inside of Brookfield Central high school. It was a great space and I got to show my three four by five foot paintings together for the first time. I also included two pieces from the triptych “Reef” and a couple of small ones. I think everyone started for me in high school, so I thought it was a great experience. I was able to be in the show after someone saw my work at the Made in Milwaukee festival this past August. Jason as always was my muscle for the operation.

Take a look at how it turned out:

I also showed my work at Turner Hall the night before Thanksgiving for their Made In Milwaukee Rain Date show. I was there with a handful or artist who also showed their work at the Made in Milwaukee festival. I really appreciated the thought from Made in Milwaukee and give them much thanks for the extra show. It was held at Turner Hall Ballroom and included live music, live painting and vendor and artist booths. It was fun to listen to some good tunes while hanging out with some regulars. Traffic was not too steady, which makes me get into the giving mood. DJ for Radio Milwaukee, Jordan Lee, really took a liking to my replica of Starry Night. I knew earlier in the day they were nice enough to give me a shout out for that show so I thought I could not let him walk away empty handed. I ended up just giving him the painting.