Christopher Koelle [blog]

Blog relocating...

2008-10-20T10:33:00.003-03:00

I'm relocating my blogging to the new Koelle Art blog, where both Annie and I will be combining our blogging efforts.

Please bookmark the new blog and check it often!

Koelle skateboards. Rad.

2008-09-10T11:15:00.002-04:00

Popdeck, a skateboard design contest site, recently launched a new site called Deckpeck. Designers upload skateboard and wheel artwork, and customers order the skate decks directly from Deckpeck. It's awesome for artists and designers to get their own boards made, and it's awesome for skaters to get cool decks and support the artists, who split the profit with Deckpeck.

Check out my Deckpeck store at koelle.deckpeck.com

My decks are $50 each.

ACCESS DENIED

2008-09-09T00:13:00.001-04:00

The verdict is in, the writing's on the wall, the Top 10 are announced, and mine didn't make it.

Thank you so much to all of you who supported my efforts and helped spread the word by emailing, posting, blogging, and flat-out spamming your friends and family. Thank you for helping promote my design and my work in general—you know who you are. You are wonderful people. Congratulations to DBH for getting a ton of free advertising and for picking some cool designs aaaaaaand some not-so-cool ones.

And of course, congrats most of all to the artists who have now have a fighting chance.

DBH 10K: Drawing: Time Lapse Video

2008-08-26T17:25:00.000-04:00

Design By Humans: T-shirt Art: Time Lapse from Christopher Koelle on Vimeo.

DBH 10K final drawing process video coming soon...

2008-08-24T21:03:00.003-04:00

I'm working on editing and exporting the time-lapse video captures of the final drawing process in Photoshop. Check back soon for the video!

And here's a straight up black + white + gray version. I've always been a big fan of grayscale.

Design By Humans 10K Contest: Help us win $10,000!!!

2008-08-22T21:45:00.008-04:00

Where would we be without t-shirts?!

Just look at all the wonderful things you can do in a tee!! Play sports, listen to music, make music, make art, pounce like a cat, accidentally kick someone with cleats on, intentionally yell at someone on your cell phone, levitate in a void... the list goes on! This design is a celebration of the T-shirt, incorporating full-size all-over front and back printing. Color variations are endless—the blue-ish coloring here is just one possibility.

Annie and I (mostly I) worked on this double/front+back t-shirt design over the past week or so (whew!) and it's now up for voting at Design By Humans for the DBH 10K contest. It's a winner-take-all contest (as in, winner takes $10K), and we'd sorta kinda like your votes. Three rounds of your votes, to be exact.

Here are the details:

Contest Selection Process:

The DBH staff will announce the top 10 semifinalists on September 8, 2008 at DesignByHumans.com. Semifinalists will be chosen based on a variety of factors including originality, creativity, ingenuity, votes, and the artist's efforts to promote their design.

Top 10 Semifinalists - Sept 8th - Sept 14th (Midnight, PDT)
Once the top 10 semifinalists have been announced on September 8th, all of the votes received by these 10 designs up to that point will be reset to zero. The 10 semifinalists will then compete against one another for an additional week to see which 5 designs will continue on to the final week of voting. The 5 finalists will be chosen solely on vote count.

Top 5 Finalists - Sept 15th - Sept 21st (Midnight, PDT)
The top 5 finalists will again have all of their votes reset to zero and will then go head-to-head for one final week of voting.

Winner Announced - Sept 22nd
The design with the most votes at the end of the Top 5 Finals week will be declared the winner and will be awarded $10,000 cash! The winning design will be produced in 3 color options (on 3 different shirt colors) and sold in the DBH store the following week.

Soooo............

Show the Koelles some love! Please:

- VOTE!

- POST on your blog / Facebook / wherever about our t-shirt design up for voting and include a link to the voting page

- EMAIL US with the link to your post

- Each and every blogger who emails us the link to their Koelle-post will be entered in a drawing to be one of 50 (yeah, fifty) randomly chosen to win FREE signed + numbered art prints of the design (both front + back artwork)!

- If our shirt wins the grand $10K prize, we'll also randomly pick another 25 (uh- huh, twenty-five) bloggers to receive winning shirt FREE!

-We will notify all winning bloggers by email.

So, please vote and spread the word, and you just may end up with some free and fancy Koelle artwork and some uber-cool expensive t-shirts! And a really big thank you from us...

THANK YOU!!!
Love, Chris + Annie (+ Marshall)

P.S. If our shirt wins, note that it will be printed in 3 different color versions (3 different color tees, different color inks). I'll post a few more color variations here, so if you really dig one or the other, shoot us an email and let us know.

I'll be posting time-lapse video captures of the final drawing process from start to finish very soon!

In the meantime, here are a few more images of the my initial/in progress sketches, and some pics showing size, placement and details:

Vote Here!

Annie's latest tee on DBH: Coleoptera

2008-08-18T13:00:00.006-04:00

Congrats again to Annie for another awesome Shirt of the Day at Design By Humans!

Life. Family. Work. Art. Future.

2008-08-13T22:57:00.004-04:00

Yeah, those are big words, big things. And they've all been feeling very real at this point in my life. As of a month ago, I have officially left my full-time position at Portland Studios. It goes without saying that I'm missing seeing and working next to such great friends daily, but it is such an exciting time for myself, for Annie, for us as a family.

I'm pursuing my personal artwork more fully, and of course, so is Annie. I'm doing freelance illustration and design work, as well as working part-time with Greene Photographs, doing photo retouching, post-production, and design work. I feel busier than I've ever been, and I know Annie feels the same, especially with us both having to keep Marshall from destroying the house and himself. But really, it feels great, knowing that doing our art, doing our work is truly a team effort now. We've both got quite a few upcoming art shows in the works, over the next few months, and even more exciting personal projects brewing. And we'll be starting a new blog very soon—one that we will actually update regularly—to keep our friends, family, and fans in touch with the daily life and work of the Koelle family.

If you feel so inclined, go ahead and bookmark our sites, and if you want some Koelle art to hang on your wall or the wall of someone you love, shoot us an email.

christopherkoelle.com
anniekoelle.com
koelle art shop
royal buffet

Much love,
Chris + Annie + Marshall

My shiny new website!

2008-07-04T14:10:00.002-04:00

At long last, I finally have a real website. It's pretty fresh, so you can expect a few improvements over the next few weeks.

Coolest shirt ever.

2008-06-18T12:52:00.003-04:00

Go vote at Design By Humans so Annie's latest tee gets made. This is going to be oh so awesome.

Joseph M. Prospero

2008-05-26T17:15:00.003-04:00

New DBH tee by Annie

2008-05-15T11:53:00.006-04:00

A is for Annie!
A is for Apple!
A is for Acquire!

Operation Homecoming on DVD+iTunes

2008-05-12T11:01:00.005-04:00

Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience is now available for purchase on DVD and at the iTunes Store. The trailer on iTunes includes some clips from "Men in Black."

This is the full uncut version, which is a good bit longer than the television broadcast which was trimmed down due to time restraints. "Men in Black" appears in its entirety, a good 2 minutes longer than the trimmed and censored version seen on TV/YouTube.

Helen of the Higher Education Research Institute

2008-04-26T12:27:00.003-04:00

The lovely Helen S. Astin, psychologist, author, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, Senior Scholar at the Higher Education Research Institute, and all-around wonderfully smiley woman.

Head on over to the PS blog to see more Helens.

Sweet Ride available now!

2008-04-25T10:36:00.003-04:00

Now up for sale, including all of the original drawings. Get em while they're hot, kids. These things are gonna sell like mp3's.

Aaaaaand you have to watch the commercial.

Guy-Smiley

2008-04-22T11:14:00.003-04:00

Steve Reich

2008-04-22T10:08:00.004-04:00

Whenever I end up listening to Music for 18 Musicians, Six Pianos, Triple Quartet Duet, Tehillim, Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards, and so on, I want to hug Steve Reich. I have Ben to thank for introducing me to this awesome dude's music.

Coming Soon...

2008-04-16T21:46:00.007-04:00

Portland Studios, the place where I work, is publishing a zine I made. It's called "Sweet Ride" and is a collection of 26 drawings of people with bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles, based on old photographs from way back when.

32 pages, color cover with wraparound artwork, black & white interior art. The drawings were done in pencil, ink, and charcoal, including entirely hand-lettered text written by me (with a little help from a very clever Mollie Greene on one of the drawings, and of course some help from my also very clever wife Annie). Thanks again, girls.

Each and every copy of "Sweet Ride" will be signed and numbered by me. Yes sirree, limited edition, each signed and numbered.

It will be available in about a week exclusively at the Portland Studios store.

All of the original pencil, ink, and charcoal drawings will be available for purchase as well. Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow.

I'm quite proud of it and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Here are few sample spreads from the zine:

a is for apple

2008-03-15T18:04:00.005-03:00

Please go vote for my loverly bride's new design!

Here's a big version of the pic, too (click to see biggie).

I challenge you to a duel.

2008-03-14T17:33:00.003-03:00

A big thanks to all of you who voted!! Now go get one or two.

Royal Buffet

2008-01-17T12:44:00.000-03:00

My wife and my good friend Aaron's wife have started an online shop called Royal Buffet, where you can buy all kinds of delightful little handmade things, made with love by Annie and Mollie.

Check out the Valentine's Day cards, and get em while they're hottt.

Snow Mix

2008-01-17T01:13:00.001-03:00

If snowflakes wore headphones like joggers do, they would listen to this album.

And this one, obviously.

Shirt of the Week

2007-10-28T19:28:00.000-03:00

Whoah, awesome. Annie's Squid Count tee won the Shirt of the Week award ! If you haven't gotten one yet, well, you know, you really should, so maybe it could win Shirt of the Month and then we'd be filthy rich!

She's unstoppable!

2007-10-18T17:09:00.001-03:00

My amazing wife Annie has submitted yet another design.

You know the drill. Vote for it!

Annie won. Again.

2007-10-17T13:47:00.000-03:00

Yes, it's true. Annie got her second t-shirt design (Squid Count) made at Design By Humans.

Go get one.

Annie's T-shirt design won, baby!

2007-10-03T22:11:00.000-04:00

Calling all boys: Buy one for your girl or sis or mom or cousin or fellow church-attending "friend."

Thank Annie and Design By Humans for helping girls wear nicer clothes.

Annie's new Squid Count t-shirt design

2007-09-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

My amazing wife has submitted another amazing t-shirt design to Design By Humans. I would so wear this. If you love it, vote for it!!!

Illustration Friday: Visitors

2007-08-29T01:05:00.000-04:00

When I hear the word "visitors," I kind of think of visitors from outer space, or any other mysterious and numinous persons who might enter our world and, by their mere existence, shake humanity with a sense of awe and wonder and even dread.

You know, people like Steven Delopoulos!

Woo hoo!

2007-08-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

To all of you who voted for my t-shirt design on Design By Humans, thank you!!! It is now available for purchase in both mens and womens sizes.

For a short time until it expires, this discount code will get you 15% off your entire purchase! Just enter the following code when you check out!

64BB4J

Now vote for Aaron Greene!

2007-08-27T23:02:00.000-04:00

Aaron Greene, fellow friend and coworker, has posted a sweet photograph of his on JPG Magazine. To show your support for his monochromatic Moscow sweetness, take a moment to sign up and vote for his photo!

Speaking of t-shirts...

2007-08-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

My loverly wife has submitted a simply gorgeous t-shirt design to Design By Humans. If you want it made, you'll have to vote for it!

Portland Studios: Site and Store

2007-08-23T13:28:00.000-04:00

The Portland Studios store is now up and running.

Check it out, and check back often, because there will be alot of cool stuff going up within the next few weeks.

Library drawing

2007-07-18T10:27:00.001-04:00

From last week. There was some real friendly guy down on the lower level who was waxing eloquent about who knows what, in conversation with someone. The only reason I could hear him was because he was practically shouting. No one asked him to lower his voice. But you BETTER not get caught with your cell phone ringing, son.

Men in Black Artwork

2007-05-22T10:54:00.000-04:00

A lot of people have been asking about the process/technique behind the Men in Black segment. I can talk a little bit about my end of the production. But as for the actual animation, the guys at The Law of Few are the ones to ask. They did a really outstanding job with the animation, and deserve much praise for the work they did. Men in Black was truly a team effort, and The Law of Few made it something really special.

That said, here's some sentences:

The artwork was done entirely in Photoshop CS2 on a Mac, using a Wacom 4.5x5.5 inch Intuos3 pen tablet.

The actual resolution of these individual scenes were pretty big. We're talking 4440 pixels by 2760 pixels, including generous bleed for pans, zooms, and camera shakes. Some scenes were composed wider or taller, depending on the desired pans and zooms and whatnot. Each scene had its very own PSD file, numbered consecutively, of course, according to the final script.

I used basically one custom brush for all of the linework, and another custom brush for the dust cloud effects (thanks, Justin). None of the linework was vectorized.

For each individual scene, the background elements, foreground elements, individual figures, vehicles, and effects (like gradients, color adjustment layers, dust particles, explosions, debris, bullets, ricochet sparks, cigarette smoke, etc.) were each given their own layer. The actual objects, like people, vehicles, and buildings, were each "opaqued" with a scanned texture (which would also be used as the base "gritty texture" layer for each scene). I knew that the animators should be given as much flexibility as possible, so I gave them all the layers they could possibly want, without overwhelming them with layers they didn't need.

With all of these layers in each Photoshop file, I made it easier on the animators by labeling each layer, so the animators could easily spot which layer they wanted to mess with. Often, I would group a bunch of related layers together, using the "New Group from Layers" command. Having to scroll through a ton of layers gets mind-boggling, so this helped me by condensing (or collapsing?) a lot of related layers together while I worked. Like, little families of layers that belonged together.

I did use a ton of photo reference to draw basically everything. From jpegs of stryker vehicles found on the internet to multiple models posing in army uniform (bought at the local Army/Navy store) to models posing with AK-47 BB guns, photo reference ensured accuracy and efficiency in actually doing all of these drawings. Having the reference you need takes lot of work and alot of time (not to mention connections), but it always pays off in the end. Thank God for digital cameras.

As far as my production details go, those are the basic specs.

Koelle Web Gallery Art Update

2007-04-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

Just updated the Koelle art gallery. Added some recent artwork, as well as some not-so-recent.

And, just a friendly reminder: go to theringingbell.com and Pre-Order Derek Webb's new album that comes with a 96-page book of my art.

OPERATION HOMECOMING tonight on PBS

2007-04-16T12:40:00.000-04:00

Tonight at 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" premiers on your local PBS channel. I did the artwork for the segment titled "Men in Black," written by Colby Buzzell.

Check out the TV schedule for showtimes.

The Ringing Bell

2007-04-03T18:52:00.000-04:00

I recently finished a ton of artwork for the huge 96-page art book to go with Derek Webb's new album, The Ringing Bell. The album (coming out May 1) is now available for Pre-Order, but this isn't just any old Pre-Order. For 20 bucks, you get the CD, the FAT 96-page book of my awesome art, AND the complete MP3 album download, as soon as you Pre-Order it. Just do it.

America at a Crossroads Premiere

2007-01-25T11:22:00.000-03:00

America at a Crossroads' series of 11 documentaries is scheduled to launch on Sunday, April 15 and will run nightly through Friday, April 20, 9–11 p.m. (ET).

Not long ago I finished production artwork for a segment in the episode titled Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience airing Monday, April 16 at 10 p.m (ET).

To watch the series Preview, head to the series homepage and click the link at the bottom right corner.

12 Stone Art

2007-01-17T14:29:00.000-03:00

Head to 12 Stone Art to see a new piece based on the parable of the Good Samaritan, titled "The One Who Showed Mercy."

SAVE THE DATE!!!

2007-01-05T10:56:00.000-03:00

The Redemption of Sans Foy

March 28, 2007
8:00 p.m.

McGee's Irish Pub
Anderson, SC

And you don't even have to pay to hear us rock.

See our myspace page for some music, etc.

Another Guy Makes Music

2006-12-21T23:30:00.000-03:00

Click here to listen to a few recordings of mine.

If you're into that kind of thing.

Shannon Stephens

2006-11-17T10:25:00.000-03:00

Where the heck did this come from? Why hasn't anyone told me about this angel called Shannon Stephens?

Click on post title to discover something beautiful. You'll be glad you did.

coming soon

2006-11-16T20:44:00.001-03:00

National Botanical Garden

2006-11-16T20:44:00.000-03:00

D.C. a few years ago. Kids. I think I remember them being not American.

makin musak

2006-11-16T02:14:00.000-03:00

So yeah, like, we've been getting together and making noise. Some of it sounds pretty neat. Check out our low-fi jam session recordings at our myspace page with a temporary band name because we're really picky and haven't decided on a for real one yet. (click on post title above)

I just recorded some stuff tonight by myself at home, and I'm excited about actually making music, once again.

tired

2006-11-07T15:49:00.000-03:00

Been a while.

We moved. Most of the hard stuff is over now, and Annie and I are definitely tired. The house has its pros and cons, but boy does it feel good to have space to live in. Hung a ton of artwork yesterday; still more laying around. I might post some pics of the place in all of its well-decorated glory. We plan on taking alot of our own work to a gallery in town--we already have our foot in the door there, so hopefully we'll start selling some more through the gallery.

The recent PBS project is *mostly* done on my end. There might be a few stragglers and/or revisions with the illustrations. But overall, I'm excited to know that I did good work and I don't have to stress about it now. We overnighted a DVD full of all the art to the client last night, and they should have it by now. Three cheers for FedEx.

I've been listening to lots of different music, most notably Steve Reich, Scott Tuma, Sufjan Stevens (hey, all s's so far), Sun Kil Moon (whoah), Great Lake SwimmerS, and So on.

I've been reading the book of Hosea, and Perelandra.

Billy the kitty wakes us up every single morning (very early) by scratching and whining at the bedroom door. I can't take it any longer. I'm almost passing out my desk.

If any of you have a working refrigerator you're trying to get rid of, we need one. Let me know. Thanks.

my greatest project ever

2006-09-11T09:34:00.000-04:00

From January until August, I was slave to the most grueling project ever.

As of 3 weeks ago, I am now working on the most rewarding project ever.

Key factors:

1. Cinematic documentary segment for PBS

2. Over 100 illustrations

3. It's going to look awesome

4. I'm excited

FREE DEREK WEBB!

2006-09-06T12:03:00.000-04:00

Download Derek Webb's FULL album Mockingbird for free.

(Yes, it's legal. Derek Webb actually WANTS you to steal this album).

An album worth listening to, and an album worth thinking about after you've listened to it.

PORTLAND STUDIOS T-SHIRT STORE!!!

2006-08-28T08:46:00.000-04:00

Go get your sweet tees for you and your sweeties.

Only 10 bucks for a tee? NICE.

Anathallo

2006-07-28T16:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks to emusic, I recently came upon an album called Floating World, by a band called Anathallo (it's Greek, meaning "to renew or refresh").

Please go to their website anathallo.com and buy Floating World. You will NOT regret it. You could just get it off of iTunes or some other mp3 site, BUT you would be missing out on the entirety and true greatness of the album (lyrics, story, and amazing cover design). In other words, buy the actual CD. Quick. You'll thank God for letting a band like Anathallo do what they do.

PORTLAND STUDIOS: newness

2006-07-28T16:44:00.000-04:00

Check out the new Portland Studios blog, because you will love.

AND be sure to befriend Portland Studios at our new myspace page. T-shirts and posters are coming. Very soon. Seriously.

I have a life again

2006-07-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

So yeah, I've been working on this ridiculously big project since January or something, and now, the worst is over, we're just wrapping things up now, and i am so happy to be done with it. I actually don't feel inhuman anymore.

So I shall resume posting stuff, now that I have a life again.

Andrew Osenga FREE MP3 Download!

2006-05-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

Click the pic for a FREE MP3 from Andrew Osenga, the rad dude for whom I did all the sweet album art.

Illustration Friday: Sorry

2006-05-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

Jesus' story of the Prodigal Son returning home to his father is about the son's repentance, about being really, truly sorry. But most of all, it's about Dad.

teamwork makes the dream work

2006-05-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

Andrew Osenga

2006-04-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

Over the past, oh, long time, I've worked on the art and design for two albums by singer/songwriter Andrew Osenga. One is the re-release of his wonderful album Photographs (which gets better and better with each listen, on into infinity), and his new album The Morning (the cover pictured here). Good old Brannon did much in the way of being awesome throughout the whole project. Together we did a lot--not just the cover, but the interior spreads as well--from start to finish. Check out Andy Osenga's blog comments about the cover for his new album, The Morning. I for one am happy about the response.

Prodigal Son etching, stage 1

2006-04-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

I did an etching of The Prodigal Son, and here is the first stage, just the lines. (The final piece has alot more tonal areas). I scanned this in a while ago and thought I'd put it up. As you'll notice, the border in the etching is alot more involved and intricate than the color digital version.

I used to be allergic to cats.

2006-04-20T09:19:00.000-04:00

But now I have my very own:

Vader in kill mode.

Father and son. Awww.

Prodigal Son prints

2006-04-19T13:10:00.000-04:00

I've had several high-quality prints made of The Prodigal Son, and if there are any of you out there who are interested in purchasing one, shoot me an email at ckoelle@portlandstudios.com.

Limited edition of 200.
Printed on archival watercolor paper.

Two sizes available:

2 ft. tall $75

3 ft. tall $125

chill OUT, Austin! yeesh...

2006-04-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

Jared Chapman told me that Austin keeps bugging him about when I'm going to visit there. All I can say is that I have to finish this romance novel I've been working on before I can leave town for any significant amount of time. Yes, that's right. I'm working on a romance novel. Except it's illustrated. In fact, you could even call it a GRAPHIC NOVEL.

Jealous yet?

But Fabio's not on the cover. So don't worry, it's not really that graphic. And it's 124 pages long. But it feels more like 1,024. Aaaaaaaaaaand... so yeah, sorry, Austin. I won't be able to visit for quite some time. But as soon as things clear up, you'll be the first to hear about it.

New name, same great taste!!!

2006-04-14T19:54:00.000-04:00

Dear People of the World,

After some consulting of my personal timf, I've decided to actually not wipe the dry-erase board clean. I'm just going to change Sequencing's URL address to... (drumroll)

christopherkoelle.blogspot.com

Yeah. It's that simple.

So, if you try to go to sequencing.blogspot anytime in the near future, and you can't get there, just go to the large-fonted aforementioned address. Pass it on.

Thank you,
The Management

weep not, for the cool is coming

2006-04-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

I HATE MY BLOG!!!!!

Because my blog is so ridiculously neglected (i.e., no one is even going to read this), and mostly because I don't like the name, I think I'm going to take it down and start over. Like a clean slate, a New Year's resolution, except in the middle of April, and more like a dry-erase board.

I'll post again soon, giving the new name, website, etc.

show and sell

2006-01-30T22:07:00.000-03:00

Hey Koelle. Where you been? Heh?

For those of you in the G-vegas region who haven't seen my show yet, you've got like 5 days until the opportunity shrivels up and dies like an octopus inksquirt. The show comes down February 2. So git!

And for those of you who aren't in the area but are interested in purchasing artwork (paintings, etchings, aquatints, digital prints, and so on), I should be making a way to view work for sale and then let me know if you want to purchase.

Until then, if you are interested in purchasing any artwork, shoot me an email at ckoelle@portlandstudios.com and I'll get back to you ASAP. And check out my online gallery if you haven't yet. I'll be adding more work soon, and I actually plan on being more consistent in regularly adding new work to it, so check it out more often, and you just might find more new work more often. That was a slightly large and awkward sentence. Please forgive me.

Peace.

Merry Christmas Eve

2005-12-24T11:06:00.000-03:00

Greetings all yall.

Put up a few new/old/tampered-with pieces in my gallery. Checkit ite, ay?

Wedding Day smoochin'

2005-12-20T22:13:00.000-03:00

There's my bride. Annie.

back again

2005-12-20T21:51:00.000-03:00

So yeah, I'm kind of back again, er... all right, I admit, I hate doing blog stuff. It's my worst nightmare.

Anyways, I've been working on various and sundry stuff for my art show coming up in January, and working on stuff for Portland Studios, which you don't need to see just yet. In the meantime, check out LasanksyArt for some of the most amazing intaglio prints I've EVER beheld. Yes, amazing. (I must say I like his later U.S. work better than his earlier work he did in his homeland Argentina). Lately, I've been getting quite a bit inspired by Mr. Lasanksy's work, and I'm not going to suppress it. I'm compelled (or whatever) to delve further into the wonderful world of printmaking, and this guy's stuff is doing the compelling.

Take a gander:

Over the period of 6 years, Mr. Lasanksy did 33 drawings expressing his horror at the holocaust. And they're not just little 8x10 sketches. The figures in the drawings are lifesize and larger. Follow the links from his website, and/or see The Nazi Drawings website.

back from the dead

2005-12-08T16:32:00.000-03:00

hey look, I'm alive. I'm such a neglectful blogdad, i know.

I've posted a few new links in
the sidebar-------------->

Check out Justin Gerard's delightful new blog, new book cover design company Cover Story, and my newly spawned web art gallery, www.christopherkoelle.com/gallery. (sorry, I can't figure out how to turn that into a link. believe me. i tried. maybe I'm just foolish.)

teaser:

tag-team doodling

2005-11-14T17:51:00.000-03:00

So yeah the other day, around Halloween, my wife and I went to this FLAMAZING sushi restaurant and just had a wonderfully unrushed time of fun and sushi-enjoying. She brought her sketchpad along and at some point in the evening we were talking about her pets she had as a child. She did some really quick, wispy sketches of some doggy dog, and then I good-naturedly added some embellishments to the drawing. Then she did another dog she had, and then a cat, and then a bunny. And the madness continued.

A few weeks later, Annie drew her [childhood] hamsters for me. Golly! Marriage really IS fun!

Illustration Friday: Broken

2005-11-03T19:26:00.000-03:00

I know I posted this piece a while ago, but Illustration Friday's word o' the week is "broken." I think this applies.

The Prodigal Son

2005-10-29T17:42:00.000-03:00

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Here's the finished product of the Prodigal Son. Quite different from my original sorry excuse for an idea (see earlier post).

P.S. I grew up my entire life thinking that "prodigal" meant "really bad" or "really REALLY BAD" or something similar. I remember when I first realized that it meant "wasteful" it felt like an epiphany. Thinking about that even now, it really brings the parable close to home, because WASTEFUL is a way that's all-too easy to be in light of God's grace to us.

Veterans and Christmas lists

2005-10-11T17:57:00.000-03:00

This is a monotype with colored pencil. Based on a guard at the National Gallery in D.C. He was great.

all right, I just got off the phone with my mom. She's hilariously wonderful. A while ago she emailed me about me and me wife visiting for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mom's the kind of mom who, once autumn rolls around, is always asking what you want for Christmas, via phone, email, etc. Bugs you about it. Anyways, her email about visiting home sparked in me the desire to, finally, write out my Christmas list for her.

1. a sweet iPod
2. lots of money
3. lots of more money
4. D.M. Lloyd Jones' complete commentary on Romans (it's only about a million dollars)
5. gift cards for Half.com, Amazon.com, Buy.com, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, any art supply store,
6. anything that has to do with Sufjan Stevens, the greatest singer/songwriter ever to walk the earth (I already have most of his CD's).
7. a barrel of real live monkeys
8. sleep
9. slight comprehension of the vastness of the universe
10. ridiculous musical talent
11. lots of cool, random tiny objects
12. a really expensive etching press made by Takach
13. really good camping supplies
14. riddance of lower back pain
15. stuff
16. tight black leather pants
17. a black Harley-Davidson bike built by dad
18. a thousand-dollar scanner I can use at work
19. never-before-seen artistic ability and unstoppable motivation
20. FIVE GOLDEN RIIIIIIIIINGS
21.The complete set of Ren and Stimpy episodes on DVD
21. my own personal sushi chef
22. the entire city of Asheville, NC
23. the entire state of Oregon
24. a partridge in a pear tree

eine kleine painting (malen? ja, deutsch?)

2005-10-11T17:43:00.000-03:00

This is a tiny little painting of the painting room. Mostly gouache, and watercolor.

i'm a poet and i didn't even no it

2005-10-07T16:11:00.000-04:00

Here there be

four or three

imagee-

-sof art by me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His first name's John
His second is Kerry
This drawing of him
Ended up looking scary

Cedar is big.
Cedar is tall.
If everyone knew him,
He'd be loved by all.

Angels bring messages,
That's what they do.
Since they're sent by the Father,
Their message is True.

This monkey's a Howler
and stuck behind bars.
Would you not howl too
if stuck behind bars?

1) duffel bag 2) bulldog 3) fear of nakedness

2005-10-05T16:46:00.000-04:00

Today's lightning-fast story concept, thanks to Jamin's random-keyword-selecting skills...

Remember folks, these are mere stream-of-consciousness "word sketches." No proofreading, no revising, no prolonged thinking here. Nastyfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spike?!?! WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES!!!?!????” Peter shrieked as he recoiled in terror, bracing himself on the doorframe before almost falling back out onto the front porch.
He had just walked in the door, only to see the forbidden white-grayish blur of his meaty bulldog’s body darting across the kitchen.
Peter couldn’t think. For a moment, he thought he was going to have a heart attack, his chest pounding and making his head feel like it was going to explode. The blurred image of his naked bulldog flashed across the screen of his memory until it reached the terrifying level of a Francis Bacon painting come to awful, nightmarish life. Trying his hardest to resist the horrifying image from clawing its way into his mind’s eye, Peter steadied himself and tried to replace the image with images of turtlenecks, tuxedos, and spacesuits—ANYTHING to crowd out the gut-wrenching recollection of his unclothed canine.
Yet, in all of this vicious, hellish mind-war, Peter knew he had to cover Spike somehow. He couldn’t get anyone else involved, he knew. He must somehow, someway GET SPIKE COVERED without looking at him. Trembling like a freezing Chihuahua, Peter managed to make his way toward the closet under the stairs and began tearing through it until he found, at last, his oversized adidas duffel bag. Ripping it out from underneath the pile of junk, he fell back against the wall with a house-rattling thud. He rummaged through the rest of the closet mess until he found, at last, his winter gloves—thick and puffy and Thinsulate. He frantically tried to cram his hands into each, trying to hold onto the duffel bag at the same time, until, exasperated, he remembered the Velcro straps, which he frantically ripped loose. Finally having smashed his trembling hands into the puffy gloves, Peter rounded the corner to the kitchen and listened long enough to hear the clicking of Spikes toenails against the linoleum in the kitchen. Summoning up every ounce of would-be courage he could, Peter turned and shouted into the front dining room, “Spike! Here boy!” and like a bolt of lightning turned back into the hallway and pressed his back up against the wall. The sound of Spike clickety-clacking across the kitchen floor became suddenly muffled by the carpet of the dining room: Peter’s dreadful cue to make a mad dash for the kitchen. Clambering through the hardwood floor of the hall like a drunken, enraged orangutan with FEAR written all over his pathetic face, Peter aimed straight for the Snoopy-shaped doggie treat jar, obliterating jars and pots and everything in his path. Shattering the heirloom Snoopy jar over the kitchen counter and spilling the treats all over the counter, Peter frantically clutched a handful of Snausages, threw them into the duffel bag, smashed his eyelids shut as painfully tight as possible, fell to his knees, and spread open the duffel bag.
And against all rational thought and with a voice quaking with terror Peter summoned the naked dog into the kitchen.
As the nightmarish sound of the clicking toenails and jingling collar grew louder, Peter cringed as he held the opened, Snausage-filled duffel bag as far away from himself as his stretching, trembling arms would allow.

some slightly less recent work

2005-10-04T15:29:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pieces I did last year. They're all etchings.

Here's Gracen. She's a real person. And a real great person.

This piece carries ideas such as deliverance, salvation, rescue, transformation, and so on. In other words, "Everything's going to be okay."

This is actually the first/second of playing with this kind of imagery.

And I just really like this one.

Don't touch that dial. There's more to come.

Goil...

2005-10-04T15:12:00.000-04:00

The other day I saw a painting of Toulouse Lautrec's (not the REAL THING, silly) that i simply had never seen before. I absolutely loved it. I would have to say it is very different than his famous paintings. ...anyways, I want to do a piece similar to it. I just did this quick sketch, vaguely based on his composition.

Story Time! (the first of many i think...)

2005-10-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

I have been commanded by my superior to post a series of quick story-esque concepts that I and my fellow Portland Studios co-artists will be doing daily as a "creative excercise" of sorts. Every day, for a specific allotted amount of time, we will be given a specific set of criteria from which to put down a quick situation/story idea/concept as well as any sketches. It's kind of a foreign land to me, so bear with me. The whole point of the "experiment" is to see whether it helps our corporate creativenessishesqueness. er...

Here we go. The following is today's:

---------------

The red rubber kickball pinged off the face of the kid with the butt-cut and the oversized gym uniform, making his usually puffy, squinty eyes squint even tighter.

“Jeeeeeez,” he breathed out, cupping his face in his hands.
A group of boys erupted with tilting-back laughter.
“Oh, sorry Nedward, we didn’t see you there! You all right?” one of the shorter boys laughed out.
Edward half-turned away from the laughing mob, looking in his hands to find blood dripping from his nose.
“Jeez, Nedward, maybe you should work on the whole nose-picking thing—Looks like you made your nose start bleeding this time! You find a piece of gold?”
Again, the mob roared with laughter.
Edward hunched and walked, with longer-than-usual strides, toward the locker room, his smooth, bowl-shaped hair shaking and bouncing with each step. Through the echoing sneaker-squeaking and multi-colored archs of balls, he made his way to the big metal door of the locker room.
“Hey Nedward! Whereya thinkyer goin’!” Coach blurted out across the gym, his hands on his hips and his head tilted back.
What do YOU care? he thought as he heaved open the heavy grey door.
The door shut behind him, instantly muffling the yelling and screeching and ball-pounding. Edward walked past the rows of grey lockers and toward the back of the locker room by the sinks.
When he rounded the corner, he jerked himself to a stop. There was a boy standing by the row of sinks, his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling. He was huge, at least 6 feet tall. He turned his bent neck and looked down at Edward out of the corner of his eye. “You got a nose bleed too?” He said in a low, nasally voice.
Cupping his nose in his bloodied hands, Edward replied, “You have one?”
“What does it look like?” The big boy said in a annoyed, pathetic tone. He put a wad of toilet paper on his nose and looked up at the ceiling again. “That’s what I get for picking my freakin’ nose.”

Bad apple

2005-10-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so today I open up my sack lunch and lo and behold, there's a demon-possessed apple in the bag. After the initial shock, I placed it on my desk, wondering what kind of diabolical thoughts it was having. Just for the record, I took a few pictures of it.

Officially weirded out, I stepped away from my desk for a few minutes to go look for some worms outside. Or something. When I returned...

Make of this what you will.

Job Passes the Test

2005-09-29T16:48:00.000-04:00

This piece is one of a few that will contribute towards a small art book about Bible stories. Hm. That was an interesting sentence... anyways, this is for the Biblical story of Job. Some of the old symbols carry meanings such as "birth of a child," and "death of a child."

diddly-doo sketches

2005-09-21T16:59:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent sketches: some for fun, some for real live clients.

started with the idea of the parable of the prodigal son... but it turned out looking like a Kaethe Kollwitz mom instead of a dad... oops.

Jacob wrestling the angel...

"Annoying, aren't I?"

don't you wish you were floating above a trampoline right now? come on, be honest.

and an unfinished sketch of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac. yeah, Isaac is the unfinished part. as you can see.

Justin gets mad

2005-09-21T16:54:00.000-04:00

...and then gets blown up. This is the version where his computer backfires and Justin feels the wrath. sort of. I'll be posting the for-real version sometime, probably within the next couple o' days.

oops

2005-09-18T20:24:00.000-04:00

i made a booboo and posted about million images of that aforementioned "justin goes postal" piece. SO i just got rid of all of them. don't worry. he'll be back..

Unnecessary Update: for all you out there who care (a.k.a. Gwen), I'm still working on it: I realized that instead of looking like the Great Destroyer, Justin was looking more like the death-blown victim of his monitor's overheating-techno-rage.

Good things come to those who wait. (yeah Gwen)

3...2...1...

2005-09-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

I'm enjoying the more "designy" aspect of composing. In other words, I'm turning to the Dark Side of Graphic Design. Except not really. Soon I'll be posting a piece of Justin Gerard going postal on his computer because his Photoshop crashed after having worked a good long while without saving. Yeah. He was mad.

Welcome, All Ye Who Found This Thing

2005-09-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

Here's my blog. Or so I'm told. Soon we'll be posting some things, and some other things, as well as some pictures of things. Welcome.