Theme On Eames. Chairs.

Oh man. That title is so lame. But as soon as I thought of the rhyme, I HAD to write it.  It was a Siren Song moment (in case you don’t know what a siren song is: when you find yourself in a situation, where you know you should NOT! do something, but you just NEEED to do it anyway. E.g. 1) this lame title, 2) wanting to drop your keys in a grate as you walk over it (I’ve never actually done it, but everytime I walk over a grate, I actually have to hold onto my keys tighter to fight this insane compulsion..), 3) wanting to press every button only when someone tells you not to press any button, etc. )

[p.s.: Do any of y’alls have some bad/good Siren Songs? Post them in the comments below! (Ha, seriously, do it! Some of the ones mentioned on the podcast (that I linked above) were hilarious!) Oooo. I just thought of another one! When body lotion smells really good (and like food of some sort) I really, really have a compulsion to eat it.]

DAR 1948, by Eames

ANYWAY. Today’s post! So, today’s post was supposed to be up on Monday, but of course some issues arose on Monday, so I am posting it today! Here is the start of a series I’ve been working on:

 I’ve drawn up probably the most famous and well-designed Eames Chairs, the DAR (1948).   After, I have started imagining up crazy and weird variations on the theme.

To start off slow, I drew this cushioned version of the chair.  Its kinda interesting cause for me, I was totally going for an 1850’s interpretation of the chair, but while keeping the original chair as in-tact as possible,  but I think it may have come off as FULL 1960’s version anyways..  Whatever, as they say, what happens, happens. Also, I drew this a while back, way back when my perspective still sucked and also, I kinda had to finish it off fast, since I kinda spent awhile on that cushioning, so don’t mind the rough-and-dirty-ness! Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to show you guys some more versions on this theme sometime soon.

My First Top-Ten Round Up

Here are my favorite (mostly, kind-of art-related) things that I am into this week! I will post these round ups every Friday, since I’ve always loved them so much from other blogs. Enjoy!

(Friday photo above by Mel Mijares called ‘Here Comes The Sun’.)

1. Super cool wobbling wall of nine cubes origami DIY.
2. The Design Exchange! (a design museum in Toronto! How did I not know this existed?!?)
3.  Joy the Baker’s things she’s learned in 30 years… Love her.
4.  Film: Beautiful Losers
The punk-art movement in San Fransico and New York in the 80’s.
5. I’d rather be short. Damn straight.
I can wear heels as high as I want! And thank you, I will go gangbusters. (Thanks Tracy Shutterbean!)
6. Ira Glass (the creator of This American Life podcast) quote. Thanks Ira, you’re the best. (And, put into video form by David Shiyang Liu)

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

You can also watch the whole video of his talk here.
7. Katie Shanahan’s online comic. So cute and funny, and her illustrations are awesome.  Also, she’s from Canada!
8. The Thonet Chaise Longe, c. 1910
(one of the many variations that were made)

9. I think I am totally the last person that was invited to the grooveshark.com party, but anyway, grooveshark is pretty great.  You make an account and can basically listen to any song you’ve EVER WANTED (spice girls, no scrubs, the arkells, fidy(50cent)…) online.  Its like listening to music on youtube, except better.  And they make suggestions for you. And you can keep your playlists if you make a free account.  And it loads a bit faster than youtube if you are listening to a long song.  Although, there are no fingers of Charlie on grooveshark…  (What a gem..)

Happy Friday.