Category Archives: Illustration

Alum Faculty on the Future of Painting

Transportation Design alumnus and Illustration Department faculty member Nick Pugh recently gave a wonderful talk at TEDx in Long Beach on the future of painting. Pugh’s work in the entertainment industry focuses on the development and realization of new projects, created in collaboration with producers, directors and studios. Since graduating from Art Center College in 1990, Pugh has also worked closely with visual effects studio Rhythm and Hues on numerous feature films, commercials and video games. He teaches Originality in Design and Digital Landscape Painting at Art Center, and will launch a new class in the fall on developing and pitching movie ideas.

Check out Pugh’s talk below.

Alumni Nominated for Emmy Awards

Two Art Center alums have been nominated for Emmy Awards for their animation work. Both nominations are in the same category: “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.”

Illustration alumna Jill Daniel, an art director at Disney, was nominated for her background painting on the cartoon series Phineas & Ferb.

Fine Art alumna Vanessa Marzaroli, director at Bl:nd, is nominated for production design of a music video. Lilac Wine (shown above) was directed by Marzaroli to celebrate Dr. Marten’s 50th anniversary. The video previously won the gold in motion graphics for the 2010 London International Award for the video.

The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards will be Sunday, Sept. 18. Good luck, Jill and Vanessa!

Art … or Terrorism?

Work from Schaefer's Website

A fascinating story in the L.A. Times focuses on Art Center alumnus and faculty member Alex Schaefer, questioned by L.A. police after painting a bank branch on fire.

From the article:

“They said they had to find out my intention. They asked if I was a terrorist and was I going to follow through and do what I was painting.”

No, Schaefer said. He explained that the artwork was intended to be a visual metaphor for the havoc that banking practices have caused to the economy.

A terrorist certainly would not spend hours on a public sidewalk creating an oil painting of his intended target, he told the officers.

The police took down his name, address and telephone number on a form — Schaefer declined to provide his Social Security number — and departed.

“They were friendly. They weren’t intimidating,” he said. “I figured that when they left, they probably decided the episode was stupid and they’d just wad up the form and throw it away.”

Wrong. On Tuesday, two more officers showed up at Schaefer’s home. This time they were plainclothes detectives.

Read more: An artist’s incendiary painting is his bank statement

Art Center and SHE: Changing Women’s Lives

Art Center’s Illustration Department, along with Designmatters, hosted a studio this spring in collaboration with SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises), to raise awareness and motivate action addressing the lack of access to affordable, eco-friendly sanitary products for women in developing countries such as Rwanda.

Bathroom poster designed by student Amy Cook

“Menstruation is one of those things that people don’t really want to have anything to do with,” says Elizabeth Scharpf, founder of SHE. “Most of the population is left hanging after donation supplies run out.”

Each year in developing countries, girls and women miss about 50 days of work and school because they lack access to affordable and hygienic sanitary pads. The sanitary pads sold in Rwanda are imported, expensive and subject to a prohibitive 18 percent tax.

According to a United Nations study, females are the economic and social engines of their communities, with one dollar invested in a female offering a much higher return on investment than in a male. As a result, the high rate of women and girls dropping out of school and work just reinforces the poverty and loss of opportunities for entire villages.

SHE challenged a group of Art Center students to create an advertising campaign using traditional and non-traditional media aimed at educating young women in the United States and the rest of the developed world on the critical lack of access to basic sanitary health supplies.

The project presented significant challenges for the students, most notably: How does one tackle a “taboo” issue that no one wants to talk about, even in the U.S.? How can we solve a problem that negatively affects millions of females every year?

Learn more about SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises): Awareness Campaign Directions

Creative Inspirations: Stefan G. Bucher

Don’t miss this exclusive screening of the new film produced by lynda.com on Art Center alum, designer, illustrator and writer Stefan Bucher. It will be screened Thursday at the Ahmanson, and is free and open to the public. RSVP to alumni@artcenter.edu by July 25.

Looks like a great film—take a look at the preview below.

Creative Inspirations: Stefan G. Bucher
Thursday, July 28, 7 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium
Hillside Campus
RSVP to alumni@artcenter.edu by July 25

Imagining New Worlds with Patrick Hruby

Last year we told you about the amazing collaboration between Venice-based Blik and Art Center Illustration alumnus Patrick Hruby.

We’re excited to announce that Blik has just launched a new wall graphic designed by Hruby. The graphic, Imaginary Castle, is the same design that Hruby created for his final project at Art Center, on display in the Student Gallery last year.

Hruby first paired up with Blik in 2010 when he was a graduating student and Art Center’s Spring 2010 valedictorian. Earlier in the year, Blik had mentored Hruby’s fellow Art Center peers in the Advanced Illustration Studio class. 

This serendipitous connection led Hruby to turn to Blik to manufacture his final project, Imagine Something Beautiful.

Each year, the Art Center gives the wall in the main school entranceway to one star student to display their final project during Graduation Show. Hruby’s project was selected for the space in spring 2010, and he approached Blik to help execute his vision and overcome the challenge of placing the design on the school’s grad wall. The transformation of Hruby’s illustration into a wall graphic was easy as Imaginary Castle was always conceived as a wall decal.

“I wanted to create a magical place that was large enough to make you feel as if you were there,” Hruby says. “Imaginary Castle pays respects to my Eastern European heritage and grandparents. I’ve always been fascinated with that design aesthetic and wanted to try my hand at it.”

The punchy colors add dimension to the large-scale design, making the decal “pop-off” the wall and appeal to children’s vivid imaginations and fairy tale sensibilities.

“We were captivated by Patrick’s style,” says Blik co-founder Scott Flora. “Imaginary Castle is a vibrant cityscape reminiscent of Mary Blair’s It’s a Small World. With its interesting shapes and modern aesthetic, we envision Imaginary Castle transporting kids into a color-filled playground. Keep your eye on Patrick, he is definitely an illustrator to watch.” 

Imaginary Castle is available in two sizes: a 36-inch wide wall decal and a 6-foot wide wall decal at Blik.

Students Examine Graying of AIDS

Scientific advances in recent decades have meant that HIV and AIDS are no longer a death sentence. People with AIDS are living longer today than ever before, and by 2015 half the people in the U.S. with HIV or AIDS will be 50 or older.

© 2011 Art Center College of Design/Dlugolecki Photography (“The Greying of AIDS Exhibition”)

A current Illustration Department/Designmatters student project is underway examining the graying of AIDS. It is being conducted as a corollary to the current Williamson exhibition, Graphic Intervention, and is on display through Sunday.

The Pasadena Weekly has a wonderful article today on the topic. Carl Kozlowski writes:

In an attempt to educate the public about this increasingly important issue for the nation’s senior community, Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design presents “The Graying of AIDS Exhibition: Off the Wall,” part of the larger “Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters” exhibit at the college’s Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery through Sunday.

“Our project tries to address ageism and living with HIV/AIDS among older adults,” says Brian Rea, an instructor with the Art Center’s illustration department who teaches the school’s Off the Wall installation-art course. “Often they’re seen as statistics, so the students really took it upon themselves to address that, and take the most powerful things being said and make them the most accessible for those who might view the piece.”

Rea first learned of the project after being approached by Art Center’s Educational Department, which aligns students and faculty with outside organizations to produce art and design that can affect social change. Rea’s Off the Wall course, housed in the Illustration Department, teaches experimental image-making and installation work as they apply to illustration and design.

Read more: The Graying of AIDS: Art Center exhibit focuses on America’s largest group of people living with HIV/AIDS

Graphic Intervention Closing Party April 14

Don’t miss the closing party for Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985—2010 on April 14. The exhibit will remain on display at the Williamson Gallery through April 24.

Graphic Intervention is a traveling exhibition of more than 150 international AIDS awareness posters. This collection presents a compelling overview of the artists working within their personal cultural and national perspectives on the subject of AIDS. Starting next week, an Illustration Department/Designmatters student project, The Graying of AIDS Exhibition: Off The Wall, will be on display as a corollary to the exhibition examining the graying of AIDS.

Graphic Intervention Closing Party
 Thursday April 14, 7 to 9 p.m.
Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery
RSVP: natalie.montoya@artcenter.edu