ART: MONSTERS!!!!

When we think of monsters today, we perhaps think of digitally rendered behemoths in the latest Hollywood summer movie. Or perhaps of real-life monsters lurking in the oceans - and we know there are real monsters down there.

Yet there's been a tradition of depicting monsters in art, long before movies were invented. For example, an early 'trope' involved lurid depictions of hell - Christian or otherwise - with all the nasty creatures therein that ensured the inmates had an equally unpleasant time of it.

Another rich source of monsters is art produced during the two world wars. Artists found themselves aghast at rampant militarism and the monster human nature itself seemed to have become. Many artists used monsters to depict their own personal demons, whether stirred up by world events or more personal tribulations.

Whatever your feelings on the subject of monsters, there's a fascinating website that collates monster art from many different sources into a fascinating list. Please note: some of the images are extreme, so caution is advised.

http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/

For a peak at some great Japanese monster art from the 19th century, check out this out!
Samurai fighting giant salamander

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THIS POD LIFE: WEST COAST LIVING

Never been to California, but like most everyone in the developed world, I have a collection of ideas about the place and its culture through the various movies, TV series and video games I've consumed over the years. I suspect that if I do ever visit a California beach, I'll probably feel there's too many damn people. This may come from living in New Zealand where it's still possible to walk a beach and have miles of coastline to yourself.

Anyway, in recognition of this idea of California, I set myself a design challenge to come up with something that at least invoked my idea of the place. 

All said and done, I think it came out quite well.

Click the link below to see a larger view of the t-shirt and check it out on other products (coffee mug, tanktop, even shower curtain - all great gifts for the coming season!)

Redbubble Tee

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HISTORY: COFFEE MUGS

It's the year 1475 and the great city of Constantinople has been under Ottoman control for over twenty years. The dome of the Church of the Holy Wisdom - the Hagia Sofia - is now a place for muslim worship.

But that is not your concern today - instead you stroll through the narrow streets in search of a newly opened establishment - the Kiva Han - possibly the world's first coffee shop. You smell the aroma of the strong Turkish coffee before you even set eyes upon the place. You step inside, find a table and soon the black and unfiltered liquid arrives, contained in a wooden mug - a coffee mug.

Of course wood is not an entirely suitable agent in which to keep coffee and those early wooden mugs must have been a sight to behold - their interiors likely stained as black as the liquid gold they contained. Eventually porcelain, invented in China around 600 A.D. (hence “china” or “fine china”), and other ceramics became the preferred material for mugs.

However what we take as the classic coffee mug of today is not as old as you may think. The 'traditional' coffee mug arrived in 1945 - a product of the Victor Insulator Company in the USA. WW2 had dictated the design of the company's mugs in terms of being able to take a hard knock or two, not slide about on a pitching ship and sported thick walls for insulation in colder climes. These mugs' heavy duty style became very popular after the war and were known as the 'Dinner Coffee Mug'

Of course today, as consumers, we're spoilt for choice. Coffee mugs now are manufactured in metal, glass, plastic, earthenware - you name it. They're everywhere, in every household, in every office (well, perhaps not in Utah) and your favorite coffee mug can be a source of comfort and welcome routine.

As a designer, I'm pleased to be able to offer a range of coffee mugs suitable for your own enjoyment or to give as a gift to that someone special.

Must be time for a coffee?

MADJACK TEES coffee mug collection on Zazzle

MADJACK TEES coffee mug collection on Redbubble

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HISTORY: LOUIS WAIN AND THE VICTORIAN CAT MEME

Dogs are ok, but cats are my sort of thing.

As such they're fertile ground for new tees, stickers and other gifts.

Have recently discovered a British artist from Victorian times by the name of Louis Wain (lived from 1860 to 1939).

Wain's specialty was to draw anthropomorphized cats in various (human) social situations - or even just jolly single portraits. His work was extremely popular.

Unfortunately in his later years he may have suffered from schizophrenia. But even then it didn't stop him from continuing to produce illustrations although they became more and more fantastical.

At his height as an artist, his kitties had their own yearly anthologies and I guess you could say his works were the cat memes of their time. H. G. Wells said of him, "He has made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves."

His works are out of copyright now and so I've been adapting a few to t-shirt designs and they're proving to be quite popular.

It's a small selection and not likely to become extensive, but have recently added a sad blue kitty which is one of my favorites.

Check it out in the Unexpected Kittahs collection - link below.

<edit> look for a movie about Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch to be released probably late 2019.

REDBUBBLE: SAD KITTY BUDDY

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The Waikato Times cartoonist and me.

I'm a graphic designer.

I like artwork to be aesthetically pleasing, well crafted and where possible, display artistic talent. I like orderliness but also enjoy highly abstract works of art. As long as there’s passion you might say.

Now have a look at this;

This is a cartoon from the Waikato Times, the local rag that is put out six days a week covering the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand (a small country to the east of Australia).

The Waikato Times has a venerable history. It was first published in 1872 and has offices in the region's largest city, Hamilton. It has a circulation of 41,000 copies and there is essentially no other local paper of size in the area to oppose it. So it can ask for suggestions, which it does, and then add your missive to the vast collection it keeps stored at the bottom of the local landfill (for safekeeping).

The panel above is from a local cartoonist who goes by the name of ‘Hawkey’. His works appear in the paper something like five or four days out of seven, so he’s the paper’s chief cartoonist.

Here's another quality Hawkey cartoon;

I don't know what to make of this. This is what passes for biting satirical content and cartoon artistry in our main newspaper five days a week. I'm ashamed.

Here's another;

Leaving aside the flat perspective, the monotonous use of colour, the sheer awfulness of the characters - what is up with that car? Really? What is that? Do I detect doors that open up from the middle? No. Or is it a ‘coupe’ as only the front seats appear to have doors? Actually, I know what it is. It's a Morris Minor. Have another look. It's a ‘morry’, a car that was popular in the 1950's and 60’s, seen here oddly twisted by some dim recognition that cars have since become more aerodynamic, but a recognition unable to be properly expressed nonetheless.

Here’s another example of the artist’s inability to deal with modern technology.

F*ck me, look at that.

Here’s another (in a more general vein)

Don’t worry about the joke – it isn’t funny.

Again, there’s the flat perspective adding to the dreariness of the scene and the unappealing style of the characters. But my main complaint here is that I don’t recognize this as a Waikato scene. Maybe I don’t get out enough, but are these Waikato people? Do we really have publicans who wear bowties while pulling pints for the ‘locals’? Or has the above more in common with the cartoon below?

If you're living in the Waikato, have a closer look at Hawkey's cartoons when they appear. Really, is this the best the Waikato Times can do?

And finally;

Yes - they actually published this .

Leaving Hawkey’s artistic shortcomings aside, Waikato people simply don't look like this. We don't put on greatcoats when we go out (except for the odd student who frequents op-shops). Our womenfolk don’t generally wear aprons when they venture out to the postbox because they’ve spent all day baking! Our petrol pumps no longer have the nozzle attached to the top of the pump. A great number of us don’t wear ties at work anymore and a bowtie wearer is a distinct oddity. Our cars are not shaped like boxes (unless it’s a designer statement) and we have a large number of brown/olive people living here as well. In short, we’re not bloody English and it’s not the 1950’s anymore!

A suggestion?

Cut back Hawkey’s contributions to once a week – give him more time to work on his creations. And hire some new blood for god’s sake. In short, get cartoonists who can both reflect our local character and culture better and can draw well (and not Geoff bloody Taylor)!

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