small world - rock album project

"small world" is a rock album project by Andy Lund - the music written in hotel rooms, and recorded in studios around the world, with 18 different musicians. The project features 32 page illustrated liner notes, and a music video by Graham Smith.

Illustration:

David Gordon : Art director, illustrator and designer for movies: Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., A Bug’s Life, Cars-Robots, and Spongebob Squarepants. Animated commercials for Cheerios and Nike. He has written and illustrated many children’s books: Hansel and Diesel, The Three Little Rigs, The Ugly Truckling, and Smitten, Out of Picture I, and Out of Picture II, and, N.Y. Times best-selling series, Trucktown. www.illustrationranch.com

Andrea Cobb is a talented American illustrator living in North Carolina, who smudges the line between fine art and illustration. Get lost in her dazzlingly colorful vector built worlds, seen on the cover of Steve Vai’s “The Story of Light” album, in magazines, and on well designed products everywhere . Clients include: Chronicle Books, Toyota, Utne Reader, and Whole Foods. www.andreacobb.com

Daniel Baxter is an illustrator residing in Red Hook, New York. His goal is to create clever & witty solutions for every project. He provides creative content for a wide range of publications, books, ad campaigns, and more. Clients include the New York Times, Random House, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Chronicle Books, & Microsoft to name a few. www.danbaxter.blogspot.com

Dean MacAdam - Artist and father, living in San Diego, California creating branding and character designs for Purina, Hasbro and Burger King. Most recently, he created an interactive educational app experience that gained critical acclaim worldwide, winning the prestigious 2012 Apple Design award. www.deanmacadam.com

Graham Smith is an illustrator and designer creating imagery for brands, publications, advertising agencies and musicians. His expressive figure drawing appear in his book “Marks Vol. 1”, published by Xupuy. Clients: Blue Moon, Boston Globe, Hollis Brand Culture, Rolling Stone, Sony, Worth. “Collaborating with all these great artists and musicians is the best part about designing for the “small world” project.“    www.grahamsmithillustration.com

Jose Emroca Flores is an artist, illustrator and designer with a style that has crossed the genres of films, games, books, animations, galleries and advertising. Represented by Shannon Associates, Flores’s artwork can be seen in: EA, Vivendi Universal, Activision/Blizzard, Nike, DC shoes, FHM, Maxim, Spectrum, Computer Arts, Nintendo Power, and The Society of Illustrators. www.emroca.com

Photography / Video:

Graham Smith

Design:

Graham Smith

Music / Lyrics:

Words and Music by Andy Lund Copyright © 2014

“Flower Girl” written by Andy Lund & Michael Lille © 2014

Produced and Recorded by Anthony Gravino & Andy Lund

Recorded at The Drake, Chicago, Illinois. USA

& Goodwood Studios (West)

Mixed by Anthony Gravino at The Drake, Chicago IL.

Mastered by Jonathan Pines at Private Studios, Urbana, IL.

Andy Lund “We are all connected. There are strong powers that push and pull us down particular pathways. They initially draw us together and allow us to be re-connected. They are different for everyone. Maybe it’s faith, family, power, vision, or certain beliefs...for me it’s always been music. 

Music has been, and continues to be the biggest connector. I am very lucky to have met so many beautiful people, and experienced so much while on the musical pathway. Thanks to everyone who contributed both directly and indirectly to the sounds and images on this project. As time goes on and paths are further explored, it becomes more obvious. Indeed; it is a small world.”

A.J.L .

www.andylundmusic.com

That Red Head from the Weekend

That Read Head from the Weekend - drawing by Graham Smith

Summer Greeting from Earth

Summer Greetings from Earth from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

It was such a gorgeous day, that I had to go outside and play with my camera between illustration assignments.

Shooting video with my low end, Canon DSLR is my new hobby, and I wanted to learn how to better use it. So, I walked up and down the street in front of my studio, trying to get things in focus, along with a decent exposure. My goals are usually that simple when I go out to shoot.

I needed a peg to hang all this wide open, hand held, flowers and trees footage on; that's when I thought all this might be from the POV of a spaceman, with all the curious close ups, shallow depth of field, and the tranquil pace. With that minor concept in place, here is 4:41 seconds of pure veg-out.  :)

Canon 650d (t4i). 50mm f1.8.

Drawing Petra Nĕmcová

Drawing Petra Nĕmcová from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

I illustrated the stunning Czech entrepreneur and model, Petra Nĕmcová for Worth magazine's 20 Questions interview. I setup my camera to film the drawing process, cranked up the studio sound system with some old time Ska, and sharpened up a blue pencil. It's time to draw a supermodel!

Take a peek inside the studio, while I get down to some drawing and filming.

The sketch phase is where all the real drawing is done, where the mistakes are made, then improved. The facial structure is figured out in this step, the dark areas are planned, and how the lines follow the planes of the subject's face are decided. The blue pencil gets a real workout in the sketch phase.

Ink: Inking is a performance, the pencil sketch is the rehearsal.

I like to follow the sketch closely to maintain the likeness, but a degree of spontaneity is required for the line to have life. There is a balance to be negotiated. So, with a strong underdrawing in place, I can free skate over the sketch, reinterpreting it in ink. That way, I don't have to figure out what things looks like, only how to finesse what's already in the sketch.

Interpretation is the key, not slavishly tracing. Inking is a balance between craft, and pure drawing.

Petra Nĕmcová was injured in Thailand during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and has since founded BE THE LIGHT, New York by Petra Nemcova a home decór lifestyle brand. 

Drawing: Petra's portrait was illustrated on Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper, using a Hunt's 513ef quill pen and india ink, and sketched on 80lb Strathmore drawing paper, using a General's Color-Tex Lt Blue pencil. 

Video: shot on iPhone 4S, and Canon 650D, with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I put it together in iMovie. Timelapse with Stop Motion Recorder. Music: Cut Manno by Prince Buster.

Get Lucky!

Get Lucky from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

I filmed my friend, artist Eddie Holly, drawing a Daft Punk tribute in his sketchbook at Sketchbook Sessions last week, and walking around the suburbs wearing the Daft Punk helmet. Good times.

This is him, and his artwork in the video.

(1 minute video)

Let's Draw! Video

Graham Smith - Sizzle Reel from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Let's Draw! A video portfolio of illustration, life drawings, and sketchbook experiments by illustrator Graham Smith.

How to combine illustration and photography for a unique title sequence

BritneyDraftA from Chris Park on Vimeo.

Making this 3 second animated title sequence took a lot of steps, but was the funnest thing ever to collaborate on!

First, Tim Mantoani and I did a 2 set up photo and video shoot with America's hottest hammer thrower, Miss Britney Henry. One set up for a glamor studio shoot, indoors; and another action shoot, outside at the Olympic Training Center, where Britney throws her hammer.

Second, the photos were edited, and 24 action stills were selected.

Third, the stills were outsourced to India, to remove the backgrounds, and drop them out to white.

And fourth, one set was printed at a 1 hour photo processor.

I showed up at Tim's photo studio around lunch time. The plan was to draw something on the photos while filming the process, and then to make something with the footage we shot. I didn't really know much beyond that. We were going to wing it.

Tim set up a giant piece of foam core as a table, and I sat on an apple crate with my random selection of art supplies brought from my studio. I suggested Tim move his giant expensive looking softbox back a bit, because I felt the need to fling some ink coming on. He switched the light to a 500 watt halogen, diffused by a sheet of plastic, and he was ready to film. I still hadn't thought of an idea.

The Canon 5D fired a shot every second, and sounded like a clock ticking. I grabbed a brayer, some tracing paper, ink and acrylic paint and started to go for it. 6 hours, and thousands of frames later, I finished painting on the 24 photos for the title sequence, and film maker Chris Park's work had just begun.

Thousands of jpeg stills were imported into Adobe Motion, and saved out to a movie file, where Chris edited the assets into the dreamy interview, hammer throwing showcase above, using Final Cut Pro.

To get the arial shot of the hammer flying through the air, film maker Chris Park taped a Go-Pro camera to Britney's 8 pound steel hammer. She threw the whole rig 200 feet downrange three times - and the camera survived.

Here are some behind the scenes shots of the production. Peek at BHP photographer Teresa Heath's Behind the scenes photos, too.

Hand painted frame #18 of 24 of Britney Henry by Tim Mantoani and Graham Smith

Britney "the Hammer" Henry by Tim Mantoani

Britney "the Hammer" Henry on white, by Tim Mantoani

Chris Park tapes a Go-Pro camera to the hammer

Photographer Tim Mantoani at work inside the weight room at the Olympic Training Center

Getting the shot

Chimping for Britney

The assistant - Austin Sosa

Britney Henry from athlete to model in a day.

Britney Henry working the photoshoot

 At the hammer ring

The hand lettered credits were chucked in the bin still wet. We got a schedule to keep people!

24 hand painted photos drying in the photo bay.

Ok,  here is the set up - go ahead and make something!

Credits:

Athlete                                       - Britney "The Hammer" Henry

Photography primary                 - Tim Mantoani

Photography documentary 1      - Teresa Heath

Photography documentary 2      - Graham Smith

Video / editing                           - Chris Park

Illustration                                  - Graham Smith

Make Up                                    - Momi Gonzales

Grip                                            - Austin Sosa

Location                                     - The Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista , CA

Music                                          - Cracks - Freestylers feat. Belle Humble

Kurt Cobain - cover illustration

Kurt Cobain: Graham Smith

Even though I was overbooked with assignments, when the call to illustrate Nirvana's Kurt Cobain for a 90's revival issue of the Phoenix New Times came in, I said yes, and worried about where to find the time, later! Read the article, by Chris Parker.

Art Director Peter Storch was full of great ideas that got me all pumped up to draw the portrait. But, as we developed the sketches, it seemed that some of the concepts were not really true to the ideals Kurt Cobain stood for as an artist. He died at 27 years old, feeling very misunderstood, and we wanted to be sensitive to that.

Detail - Kurt Cobain - Graham Smith

One of the ideas that didn't make it out of the rough stage, was an image of Kurt wearing buttons of popular bands from the 90's. Kurt would have hated to be a billboard, so we chucked the idea.

All my 90's era plaid shirts have all been recycled by craft projects or given away; but the Art Director kept one of his favorites, and sent me a scan.

I repainted his favorite old plaid shirt by hand, because the photo looked funny with the drawing. (I was a textile designer back in the day, so I knew just what to do.)

Once the portrait was finished, I crumpled, folded, and distressed a piece of paper to use as the masthead. Peter fine tuned it, and another collaboration was complete.

Young Kurt Cobain and his Fender - sketch: Graham Smith

Kurt Cobain, ink in process: Graham Smith

A big drop of ink fell right on his nose when I was darkening his eye sockets. The drop followed the ink lines conturing his face, and ended up looking like a black tear. I left the ink tear alone, instead of editing it out with Photoshop. Sometimes, mistakes are the best part.

- G

La Gaita Movie Poster

My cousin Janine Fung, a fantastically talented film maker, premieres her newest documentary, La Gaita, on Sept 22nd and 27th at the Little Carib Theatre, and MOVIETOWN in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

La Gaita is a documentary film about 2 brothers and their band, who sole mission is to bring hope and comfort to the downtrodden, poor and lonely, by singing them traditional music, in the old time ways.


I illustrated this poster for the movie by combining imagery from the national flag of Trinidad, a red field with a white and black diagonal stripe, and the cuattro, the traditional 4 string guitar that characterizes Parang, a type of Trinidadian folk music. To emphasize to La Gaita's underlying themes, one can see a Christian cross, and rays of lights, emerging from the black ink.


La Gaita, roughly translated from the patois, means, " The bad is not to fix."





- G

Aesop Rock drops Skelethon

Aesop Rock : Graham Smith

Big time Art Director, Andrew Nilsen of the SF Weekly, called with a sweet little portrait assignment to illustrate Aesop Rock for the debut of his newest album, Skelethon. If you dig serious lyrical wordplay and stinky beats, you're gonna put this album on repeat for sure.

I watched a bunch of his videos and interviews, and while listening to the hard hitting track, Zero Dark Thirty, I penciled up a few sketchy ideas for the SF Weekly to choose from. The illustration was finished in an off-register, rough and dirty, 3 color screen print style. 

Read the article online and nod your head to his video for Zero Dark Thirty!

detail- Aesop Rock: Graham Smith

G.

Forgetting You

forgetting you - drawings from sketchbook 32

The girl you can't forget - no matter how hard you try. A sentimental longing for the past, a beautiful girl, a perfect night... and remembering things the way an artist does.

forgetting you - sketchbook 32 - Graham Smith

forgetting you - detail

forgetting you starts in Sketchbook 32 - with a blue acrylic wash over graph paper. The idea to draw something nostalgic built from that color. This color blue seemed both happy and sad, like remembering a girl from long ago, maybe, the one that got away?

Her figure was drawn in ink, with a fountain pen. Her skin, acrylic paint, thinned way down to milky white. The background, her dress, india ink black. Pink colored pencil. Her cheeks and knees were pink colored pencil. I'll never forget.

This drawing was filmed on my desk with the iPhone 4s, and time-lapsed using Stop Motion Recorder app. The titles, music, and all that, were created with iMovie.

Place a camera next to you while you draw and see what happens!

G.

Another sketchy weekend

Friday at Cosmos Cafe

Friday night in La Mesa, California outstanding guitar performances by Michael Lille and Andy Lund from Taylor guitars, rocked Cosmos Coffee Cafe. I sat down in the back with a chicken salad sandwich and black cherry soda (not pictured) and my sketchbook - and drew the room while acoustic harmonies soaked into the room.

Saturday at Tibet House

My friend, Rima Fujita is an artist and activist. We went to the Tibet House the next day, to learn how she was inspired in a dream to help Tibet. And to buy her book, "Save the Himalayas" which she gracious signed for a house full of her admirer's.

The Dali Lama wrote the forward to "Save the Himalayas" and gave Rima a special recognition at the peace summit in Japan. Through her organization, Books For Children, Rima has donated over 12,000 copies of her books to schools for Tibeten children in exile. All the proceeds from her books go towards supporting education in Tibet. Helping Tibet is Rima's life's work and she will not accept a penny for it.

G.

Drawsome! Art Show Opening Nite Photos

Drawsome! Art Show by Sketchbook Sessions: San Diego

Anitza Rodriguez

Anitza Rodriquez of the Chula Vista Community Art Center asked me to produce an art show in support of the arts, at the South Chula Vista Library.

She explained, "The kids down here don't have anything. The art programs have been cut from the schools. These kids will grow up never knowing anything about art."

The Sketchbook Sessions: San Diego artists and I immediately agreed to create the Drawsome! Art Show to help support the arts in this underserved community.

The goal was to show the kids that real live artists, living in their neighborhood, create cool things we all enjoy, like books, movies, clothing... and iPad apps! The goal was to inspire the kids to be artists!

The CVCAC volunteers.

We planned so many activities for opening night we were lucky the Chula Vista Community Art Center high school volunteers made sure everything ran smoothly opening night. Thanks to Chelsea Reyes, Alanna Hinds and Janelle Hinds for attaching hanging wires to the artwork and helping to hang the art show!

There was something for everyone at this community oriented event: caricatures, face painting, henna tattoos, an art area for kids to draw and paint, digital painting demonstrations, rock bands, food trucks, a balloon artist, coffee and cake, all in addition to the art show! All these services were provided freely, by volunteers who support their community and the arts.

Javir Batiz opened the night with psychedelic guitar licks from back in his Santana days. Joy Watley, the library's branch manager, didn't blink an eye when he cranked his amp to 11. Aw yeah!

 

Caricature Artist Jared Lipscomb

Young-blood, artist Jared Lipscomb volunteered to draw free caricatures for the kids on opening night.

Jared wasn't allowed to get his caricature drawn when he was a boy. Not in the family budget. With that in mind, he sat there all night long, drawing everyone he could. Jared wanted every kid who wanted a drawing, to get one. So, they lined up!

 

Opening night, the library was packed with more than 600 people!

In the digital conference room, where it was a bit quieter, concept artist and teacher Dzu Nguyen offered a free Photoshop painting demonstration for the more serious attendees. A roomful of people came specifically to learn from the young master.

Dzu Nguyen - Concept Artist and teacher

Paul Davies co-founder of Sketchbook Sessions: San Diego, mugs in front of his creations.

Motion Capture artist Frank Strocco admires Dave Wilkins wall of El Zombo pages.

Creative Entertainment by Judah Buxton - balloons

The balloon artist, Judah Buxton worked those balloons all night! The kids loved their balloon swords and balloon superhero masks. His tiny blue and red "Spiderman" was spectacular!

Eddie Holly, co-founder of Sketchbook Sessions: San Diego.

Eddie knows how to please the crowd, so he busted out his Justin Bieber!

Artist Brice Banfield got recognized for his support of the arts.

Illustrator Dean MacAdam was in charge of hanging all 65 pieces of art in the Drawsome! show along with Cazi Tena.

Dean MacAdam generously donated his illustration "Reading Hill" to the library's children's section. Dean is an illustration technology leader dedicated to education, his #1 selling iPad book, Bobo Explores Light has gotten rave reviews, educating kids in an engaging way.

Anitza Rodriguez and Cecilia Eguia Serrano - El Solde Tijuana, Ejecutivo de Ventas Espectaculos Cultura 

Cecilia Eguia Serrano stopped by to interview Eddie Holly and I about the Drawsome! Art Show. Cecilia speaks Spanish and Eddie and I do not. Luckily, Anitza translated everything we said!

Artist Martha Ambrose, opening night of Drawsome!

That night, Tori Roze, an up and coming local musician, was the toast of the evening.

Through a generous grant from the Chula Vista City Council, I was able to print a giant drawing of Tori Roze and donate it to the the Chula Vista Library. Tori and I both signed the canvas print that night.  (Printed and assembled by Cathy Kniess at Chrome Digital)

In celebration, Tori Roze and the Hot Mess played an inspirational set on opening night. (Yeah, we had two rock bands that night!)   Thanks Tori!   Listen to the album.

Paul Davies and I checking out the Tori Roze print hanging in the Chula Vista Library.

The Hot Mess guitarist's supports the musical arts with some gorgeous guitar playing.

Hellz yeah, Tori Roze plays the trumpet, kid.

Gourmet food trucks!

Folks gotta eat! The food trucks were super delicious, and charitable too! They supported the arts by donating some proceeds to the local high school band. I ate the last carne asada burrito, it was for a good cause, yo.

Dave Wilkin's youngest fan waits for the artist to autograph her El Zombo book - a book about the world's greatest luchador, back from the dead...

Betty Woznis the Library Director and Senator Juan Vargas' representative stopped by to see the show and to recognize the artists for supporting the arts in Chula Vista. Thanks for letting us have rock bands in your library!

Jin Yung Kim, Dave Wilkins, and Graham Smith, with our recognition certificates from the California State Senate. Thanks for supporting the arts Chula Vista!

Artist Cazi Tena hung the 65 piece show in a long night of curating and nail hammering with illustrator Dean MacAdam and the CVCAC volunteers

Dawn Vitale, Director of Marketing at Eventful did the marketing for the show - all Pro-Bono.

Dave Wilkins donated a bunch of his El Zombo books to the library. Then, he sat in the back room and signed autographs for his fans. 

Dave Wilkins illustrates books, is a professional luchador, creates artwork for Sony, and most recently, comic book covers for DC's the Green Lantern!

Artist Aaron Kasten gets officially recognized for his support of the arts.

Artist Kimie Kim is congratulated by Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez (wearing shorts and flip flops). Hey, it's California, man.

Admiring the art of Cazi Tena.

Joy Watley - Chula Vista South Branch Manager.

Anitza Rodriguez Chula Vista Community Art Center leader and City Council Representative.

Artist Jin Kim getting props.

Graham Smith with Sketchbook Session: San Diego founders:  Eddie Holly and Paul Davies, with artist Aaron Kasten.

Towards the end of the night, a tweenaged girl asked me if Sue Dawe, the unicorn lady, was really at the show. I pointed her to the artists lounge. A while later, I saw her running and yelling, "Sue Dawe drew me a unicorn!" The little kid waved it in the air and skipped away.

The San Diego Sketchbook Session Artists are a mix of professional artists currently working to create video games, concept art for movies, tee shirts, books, magazines and comics, all dedicated to supporting the arts in San Diego. They meet once a week at a cafe in San Diego to draw in their sketchbooks.

Drawsome! Art Show - Sketchbook Session: San Diego Artists
Paul Davies  Eddy Holly Cazi Tena  Graham Smith  Martha Ambrose  Dzu Nguyen Peter Han  Jared Lipscomb  Jin Kim  Dave Wilkins  Sue Dawe  Brice Banfield  Kimie Kim  Dean MacAdam  Aaron Kasten,  Ian Holaday

_______________________________________________

Credits:

Art Donors: 
Dave Wilkins
Dean MacAdam
Graham Smith

Coffee: Starbucks on Palomar St. in Chula Vista

CVCAG Volunteers
Anitza Rodriguez
Alanna Hinds
Chelsea Reyes
Janelle Hinds
Lexi
Guy Fisher
Amanda
Elisa
Entertainment Volunteers:

Creative Entertainment by Judah Buxton - Balloon Artist  
Elidia Cabrero - Face Painter
Jared Lispcomb - caricatures
Natasha Papousek - Crescent Moon Design


Food Trucks
Crazy Wheel Coffee 
Delicioso Food Truck
Two for the Road 

Library
Betty Woznis - Library Director
Joy Whatley - Chula Vista Library, South Branch Manger

Marketing: Eventful
 
Music:
Javier Batiz
Tori Roze and the Hot Mess

Photos: Ian Holaday Arts.