sign up WINTER 2012  /  Volume 14


Packaging for Altoid Sours. Spring Design Partners, design firm.



SLS Hotels logo identity and collateral. GBH London, design firm. "SLS" stands for style, luxury, and service.



Ad campaign for accountant firm Kennedy and Coe, LLC. Rowley Snyder & Abiah Inc., ad agency.

Campaign Spotlight: Steve Noble

Steven Noble’s site is so jam-packed with image categories, jumps to his array of satellite websites and revolving images that show logos and identity for nearly every type of product or service you can imagine that you might get the impression that he is the hardest-working man in illustration. And you could be right!

From packaging for Altoids, Samuel Adam’s, Budweiser, Peet’s Coffee and tons more, to book covers, ad campaigns, wine labels for Sutter Home, Glen Ellen, Ventana and Cakebread Cellars, to the dollar bill, his scratchboard illustrations have graced and enhanced the identity of a who’s-who of high caliber clients.

Noble lives in Petaluma, California and works out of a studio in the Mediterranean-style house he bought because it reminded him of the houses in the South of France that harkens back to his childhood. The Northern California countryside is also a pleasant reminder of his early surroundings. “I love to take small trips on the weekends in my convertible out into the wine country in Sonoma and Napa valleys and do wine tasting,” Noble relates. “I'm often invited to many of the wineries for whom I've illustrated the labels and get complimentary tastings and discounts on wine. It's wonderful to see the final product out on the shelves, which gives me a great sense of pride.”

He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in 1968 to a French mother. His father, an army veteran (retired military) who had fought in the Korean War, was working at the U.S. Embassy in Paris at the time. Noble has a sister who's four years older.

“I believe I inherited many of his qualities, likenesses, and talent,” Noble says of his father. “Throughout his entire life, his artistic, creative side would come out. For example, he would do many portrait paintings for other officers in the military. After his retirement, he decided to move back to France and go to the Ecole Municipale des Beaux-Arts in Perpignan, for three years, on his G.I. Bill. It was always his dream to go to art school and learn how to draw and paint,” he recalls.

“Afterwards, my parents decided to move back to the U.S. so that my father could find work as a civilian after his retirement from the military as a Warrant Officer in 1969. We then settled down in Novato, California in 1976 when I was eight years old.

“My mother, who I keep a close relationship with, still lives in Novato where I grew up for most of my life. She was instrumental in my success as an illustrator. She inspired me to persevere through the difficult years and created a stable environment that allowed my career to flourish,” Noble says.

Since he graduated from the University of California at Davis in 1990, his reputation and skill for working in the difficult medium of scratchboard has steadily grown, along with his professional accolades. Noble is the master of the X-Acto blade, carving delicate lines into pre-inked clay boards which allow him to make the work look as if it were a woodcut, a 19th century steel engraving or an array of other historical styles. Scratchboard requires the artist to work in an opposite fashion from drawing. “It is almost like reverse psychology,” Noble explains. “You’re adding light and taking away the darkness one stroke at a time.” He can translate the technique into a variety of styles and treatments like woodcut, pen and ink, and engraving, as well as very fine traditional earlier century engravings.

Noble keeps an informative and well-designed blog where he deconstructs particular projects. He has helped many clients take an established brand into a new age, such as the Kahlúa package redesign that refreshed the brand, while playing on its existing appeal. He cleverly combines historic styles with modern touches, creating an amusing campaign for an accounting firm that shows figures such as Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln dressed in Steampunk fashion to convey the message that the client is not a group of “ordinary” accountants.

He is presently working on a book that will collect and present his oeuvre—a rather daunting task considering his artistic output, but one that he will tackle with typical research and enthusiasm.

To see more of Steven’s work, visit www.stevennoble.com and www.scratchboardstock.net

Q: What motivated you to begin drawing? Were you one of those children who could always be found sketching?

A: I always drew something when I was a young child. I lived in the south of France near the Pyrenees and would draw the mountains overlooking the village that we lived in for three years. I would sketch out the snow line, as it would gradually descend, as winter season would come. The shapes and contours of the light hitting the highest peaks always fascinated me. When I moved for the first time to San Francisco, my interest became the city skyline along the bay. I was always visually perceptive when I was a child. My mother would ask me when I would sit in the airplane near the window, “What are you looking at? There's nothing out there…” I'd respond and tell her, yes… there're clouds and all sorts of amazing shapes and my imagination would run wild.


Poster for Chaz Maviyane-Davies exhibition.




Paintings by Twenty-Two Gallery members (clockwise from top left) Melissa Bryant, Patrick Neilson, Derek Jecxz and Michelle Gallagher.

What's Hanging
Exhibitions of note nationwide.

Being: The Graphic Design of Chaz Maviyane-Davies
De Affiche Galerij (The Poster Gallery)
Den Haag (The Hague, Netherlands)
Through February 27
www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/culture-and-arts/museums/De-Affiche-Galerij-2.htm

While this exhibition is far beyond the borders of America, and he is a designer, I think it’s important to include Chaz Maviyane-Davies, a remarkable designer from Zimbabwe who defied his government to create powerful artistic statements about equality, peace and the rights of man. "Over the years I have tried to use images and ideas to cut through complacency and apathy while trying to raise consciousness about an array of social issues from discrimination and human rights, to health and the environment.,” Maviyane-Davies states. He calls design his weapon and he has dedicated himself to waging Creative Defiance against repressive politics. Visit www.maviyane.com to see more of his moving work. (Note that in the poster shown here, the arrow fletching is a barcode.)



Member Artists Group Show
Twenty-Two Gallery
236 S. 22nd St,
Philadelphia, PA
Through February 5th
www.twenty-twogallery.com

Since 2003, Twenty-Two Gallery has been showing local and national, as well as emerging and established artist’s work. The gallery represents 22 Philly artist members that work in many mediums including oils, acrylics, sculpture, print work, mixed media and photography. The gallery in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood holds art openings on the “Second Friday” of each month, that include a wine and cheese artist’s reception from 6 to 9 p.m. The back area of the gallery always shows a sampling of other member’s work in addition.

(MORE EXHIBITIONS)


Malibu Cheesecake, The Pinup Art of Olivia



Good Books
A brief review of notable titles and inspiring monographs.

Malibu Cheesecake, The Pinup Art of Olivia
edited by Joel Beren
Published by Ozone Productions, Ltd., 160 pages, hardcover, $39.95.
www.eolivia.com

The Pinup Art of Olivia, author, illustrator Olivia De Berardinis that is, presents over 100 new paintings, drawings, and studies plus comments by the artist on her technique, models, and the creative process as well as interviews with Hugh Hefner, Bettie Page, Dita Von Teese, and Margaret Cho. Ms. De Berardinis has a range of books on other vamps, imaginary and real such as pin-up icon Page, in addition to calendars and other products including my favorite, the Dancing Betties — Pink Ladies T-shirt.

(MORE BOOKS)

PLAY! Illustration and Design
for Toys & Interactive Games
Directory of Illustration Medical Illustration Source Book

Good Surfing
A few hot breaks to check out while surfing the net.

www.artrfairinfo.com — “News Dealers Can Use” is the slogan and mission statement of this interesting new website. They pledge to provide details on upcoming art fairs, the results of said fairs, the latest on promising new markets, trend observations, and interviews with artists. Check out this dialogue on global art fair choices available to dealers today. I know more and more illustrators who are exhibiting their work at art fairs and other venues with wide exposure to find new audiences.

www.kickstarter.com — Many artists and other creative sorts are using this site to raise funds to produce books, theatrical experiences (Cynthia von Buhler’s “Speakeasy Dollhouse” for example) and products. You can find a fascinating array of projects to help support. Your dollars are not tapped until, and unless, the goal amount is raised. Or start your own!

(MORE SURFING)

NPR
Chris Buzelli
The Sunday Times (UK)
Lee Woodgate
Rolling Stone Magazine
Jason Seiler
The New York Times
Maria Corte Maidagan
Smithsonian Magazine
Edward Kinsella III
Mattel, Inc.
Malane Newman
Wharton Magazine
Murray Kimber
Outdoor Utah
Scott DuBar
Veggie Patch
Dave Garbot
Velo-City Global
Mark Armstrong
Scientific American
Tyler Jacobson
Whimsical Wizard
Marc Tobin
Sears
Jode Thompson
Your Family Tree
Garry Walton
Tor Books
Goni Montes
Ying Chang Compestine
Yan Nascimbene
J. Patrick Lewis Book
Gary Kelley
Komatsu America Corp.
Technical Publication Associates, Inc. TPA, Inc.
AOPA Flight Training
Charles Floyd
Georgia-Pacific
Greg Banning
Nu:vo
Kuel2

(MORE ILLUSTRATION PROJECTS)

blog.directoryofillustration.com
Featuring over 180 blogs from artists and their representatives.
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blog.playillustration.com
Blogs from illustration artists in the Toy and Interactive Game markets
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Read More... blog.playillustration.com

Industry Advice
Advice from an industry of one, but a determined one.

As an editor I cull from a vast number of magazines, websites, blogs, vlogs and more to find information that I feel can be of assistance to IV readers. While much of the material I peruse on a daily basis, might be focused more on design or another field related to illustration, I believe that there is good, practical advice to be gleaned from these disparate writings.

I admit I was first drawn in to Jim Signorelli’s piece below by the literary reference in the title. Like it or not, branding is now a ubiquitous cultural term. I admit I still think of it in connection with cows, and my time on a Texas ranch, but it has come to define savvy advertising that taps into the core qualities and attributes of a product or service, distinguishing it from the pack. Illustrators can take a lesson from the message here: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You are the brand. You, the artist, your imagination, dreams, history, influences. Don’t try to be someone else, be you. Each of us is unique. Artists, and other creative individuals need only tap into their passion, and be true to who they are as an individual. Nearly every creative person out there says the same thing on their website, or in their PR materials: That they are problem solvers, they are creative thinkers, blah blah. And while the work does speak for itself, it is nice to have a little background about those we work and collaborate with.

When I go to interview an illustrator, I want to know what makes that person tick. Why are they an artist? What path did they take? What drives them? What books are on their shelves, what music on their iPod? How do they live? Tell your story, not the party line, but YOUR story. Make that your resolution for 2012! I wish everyone a Happy and Successful New Year.

(READ MORE)

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