Creative Mornings Geneva - WORK

Early in the morning on Friday the 13th, me and a few other creative types got together to listen to a talk by Jonas Vonlanthen about Work. More specifically how he helped structure his company, Liip, and some of the big and small things that can make a huge difference in defining the workspace. Below are a few drawings I did while there. In keeping with the spirit of 'Work', i'm showing my workspace, the sketchbook. Oftentimes when I'm thinking through a visual idea I use post-its to expand or play with ideas without having to turn the page. One idea leads to another, organically.
I started with a warm-up of portraits. And when the talk began I began to play with the ideas he was speaking about.
In the end, I started to play with the idea of a company being structured like a horizontal totem pole, Everybody has a role/symbol, and are integrated in such a way that everybody is on the same level.

 

On Friday, July 10th, Creative Mornings Geneva hosted Hadi Barkat to speak about collaboration (http://creativemornings.com/talks/hadi-barkat). Every time I go I help set up and then do some drawings. What you see here are the people arriving, signing in, mixing amongst each other, and then a few drawings of the talk. I hope you enjoy them.

If you live in Geneva, Switzerland or nearby, add your name to the mailing list, follow us on social media, and come to our next talk!

http://creativemornings.com/cities/ge

Caran d'Ache

It's funny how the world sometimes works. So, I met this guy riding my bike at the local velodrome, and he introduced me to a guy who used to art direct at Saatchi&Saatchi here in Geneva, who put me touch with his writing partner, who asked me to do some spec portraiture for a brochure he was doing for the Lausasanne Orchestra (he proposed my portraiture drawing instead of the normal photography), and nothing happened for a couple months until I received a phone call from a guy who spoke to the designer that my friend was working with on the Lausanne job, complaining that he had looked at 200 illustrators and no one had a line he liked, so this Lausanne Orchestra designer said, 'I saw a guys work who might have what you're looking for. We didn't use him, but maybe you'll like his stuff'. Which leads to my getting a call asking if I'd like to do illustrations for Caran d'Ache.
It was such a dream and honor to do this job. I've been happily using their products for over 20 years. What I wanted to do here is show some of the expression and personality that using Caran d'Ache can help people unleash; that the arena that their product inhabits is limitless.
I was told that Caran d'Ache feel that this is one of their best brochures. Fingers are crossed that I can do more work with them, and maybe even a factory tour because it's made locally! That would be cool.
But the real lesson from this experience is that I should ride my bicycle more. Who knows who I'll meet next?
Here are are a few spreads from the brochure. It's advertising their gift boxes, and I was told is being distributed by sales reps.

People

During my few months of blogging inactivity, I was still scribbling away on my iphone, drawing the faces and figures of people while I waited for a tram stop or at a train station or on a street corner. I do enjoy the evolution of habits. Sometimes I only want to draw in many thin lines, other days few, and yet another moment a single thick line line where I might have another day used plenty. There is also something very enjoyable in the study, the breaking of a habitual way that a face is drawn (first nose, then another day first lips or the right eye).
Usually I make faces on the iphone. The other day, I saw a woman with a pendulous heavy body leaning weighted upon her thighs. Which then led to drawing some other full figures while standing at the local train station. A joyous woman swung by, and then a young woman in tights with a  large bag on her shoulders stopped to look at the train ticker.

I'm still here!

I've been quite busy the past few months of blogging and tweeting inactivity. I do have a few things that I'll be sharing over the next few weeks. Some Israel drawings, a few portraits, some oil paintings of hands, and tomorrow I'll be live drawing the TEDxCERN event. It will be very exciting and fun. I'll be at the back of a room of 1,000 people all seated in a giant tent on the CERN campus, drawing the ideas of the speakers as they're spoken. A much more cerebral reportage than I'm accustomed to. This should be an incredible challenge, as well as a lot of fun. There won't be any chances to correct my work, so it will all be out there, my thoughts and interpretations, in the moment. And then at each break 1,000 people stream past my work and see what was just drawn. No pressure! I hope that I have fun, that this jet-lag clears up a little more, and that everyone enjoys what I create. Check it out at my twitter account, @Millerocity and TEDxCERN @TEDxCERN. The show begins at 1:30pm and ends at 5:30 central european time (NYC friends, subtract 6 hours). We'll see if we can link it to my Facebook as well for those who know me there.

Until then, here are some portraits that I drew on my iPhone. It's great fun to be able to think and study via different pathways. Sometimes working through a big idea or story, other times a portrait or 4 of people on a train.

Hrvatska

While in Zagreb for the holidays, I spent a fair amount of time listening to Croatian, and only understanding random words. Since I wasn't fully engaged in the conversation, I'd take out my iphone and do a few drawings.

Grga has very carefully tousled hair. This is seen from the back, while riding a tram.

A smile is a frequent feature on Zvonimir's face. 

This aunt enjoys expanding upon truth to the point of absurd, humorous fabrication, and passing it off as gospel.

Another view of 'Aunt Truth'.

Ana's mother, a woman of great patience, intelligence, and discipline.

Choral Singing in Zagreb

The holidays are over, but drawings still remain in my phone, which I'd like to share. While in Zagreb, we went to a church to hear choral singing. While sitting in the hard wooden pews, I decided to do a few drawings. Working within the limitations of a small screen made it really conducive to a faster, more impressionistic approach. Next week I'll post some portraits I did there.