angry strongo #47 the breaking point

local font find #26

Though more than a century ago, this lettering glows with cool! It was from a box of amazing vintage items that belong to Cheryl Edgcomb (her book cover was posted below). Wow!!!

1907

my good friend jonathan miller attempts yet another feat of strength

My wife was asked to draw a cartoon of my friend Jonathan Miller to celebrate an upcoming milestone. In our research for the comic, we have had to watch this video many times. Jonathan's sense of humor as he endures the effects of his stroke is truly remarkable. Give this thing a view and see how you might be handling the tougher things in your life. I know I need to keep things in much better perspective....thanks Jonathan!

a new book cover project

A few months ago I was approached to do some artwork for a local woman, Cheryl Edgcomb. Mrs. Edgcomb has lead an amazing life around Tioga county and it seems that she was continuously surrounded by stamps and the people that used and loved them. Coming from a family that worked for the U.S. Postal Service, she has not fallen far from the tree. Her personality and kindness make her one of those people you struggle to say "no" to. After a short conversation, I found myself neck-deep in beautiful examples of historical documents from the area, vintage postal ephemera, and all sorts of interesting objects and envelopes that were hard to put down. 

Mrs. Edgcomb was in the process of writing a book about the people she has met and the amazing tales that her travels found her a part of. She needed a book cover. Though not sure of what we could do for a cover, I was honored to attempt to make something concise out of all the mayhem. She had her title and tagline and the rest was on me. I brainstormed quite a bit. Her story lacked an isolated image that could stand as a cover image. I thought about creating some unique text but that seemed a bit vain on my part for this kind of story. As she started getting her collection out of the many boxes around my dining room table, the pile of stuff looked cool. I said that these things say it all. Like the countless stories, each of the thousands of items are a part of her and her history. I assume that all that know her, and that seems like every resident within 150 miles, would agree that the cluster of objects fits with her spirit....a myriad of stories that all lead into each other. For the cover photo, she picked out the items that were tied to a story within the text and other items that were close to her heart. 

She has a passion for life. An obvious one. She liked the idea as well as the final image. I used Styrofoam to ink some letters for the "stamped" look. Scanned them in and did some manipulation and color overlay. I hand drew the tagline that was inspired by her own handwriting. That's that.

Anxious to see the final book! She has put a pile of work into the project.

large pencil rendering of wellsboro, pa - 3' x 9'

While attempting to locate a much smaller piece of artwork, I bumped into this rolled up drawing in the corner of the closet. It is a large pencil drawing of downtown Wellsboro. Wellsboro, Pa. has a beautiful downtown/business district. Traditional gas lights run the length of town in the median. If you are heading to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon any time soon, stop in town and walk the 4 or 5 blocks. Anyway, I was teaching one point perspective to my 5th grade classes about 4 years ago. To get the point across, and also to show what some hard work can produce, I chose the scenic downtown as my subject due to the interesting depth created by the many buildings and the trees. 

I walked (jaywalked) across the street, stood in the middle, snapped three side-by-side shots and continued on to the other side. After combining the images in Photoshop and tacking up some rolled paper on a large bulletin board, I set into the drawing. After about 30 hours spent on the work, I had achieved my point which was to inspire the youngsters into pushing hard on their own work. 

I do have a few regrets though. Mostly, I regret not using a quality piece of drawing paper so that the drawing may have some value (not monetary) to maybe a business in Wellsboro. I guess it would not have been as sketchy if I used good paper and would have doubled my hours just to reach this unfinished stage. I would definitely finish it if it were on better paper, for sure. The tape on the back doesn't bother me due to the lousy rolled paper used. Oh....drawing trees without leaves takes many more hours than some made up leaf formations. More building visible though!

Vanishing point had a red sticker placed on it (light spot back there where the street disappears) to help the passersby while it was under construction.

eric carle inspired man cave

I've been attempting to brainstorm ideas as much as possible as of late. My second graders have painted paper like the great Eric Carle (author and illustrator of children's books) and are now using it to create images of animals. The project is based around building images using simple shapes. I attempted to reinterpret the concept of a "man cave". A small place to chill out.

All I need is light brought in, a great book and a Sheetz coffee (a large one!).