Mixed Media: A Few Quick Thoughts, Illustrated

Lately, I've been having some fun experimenting with mixed media techniques. It seems to be the new craze right now; I've found numerous blogs, websites and magazines offering advice, materials, community and other resources. I absolutely love the stuff I find out there, it is all so very inspiring and shows what you can do with relatively inexpensive materials and a lot of imagination! 

The challenge of this is to make something uniquely different, something which stands out. A lot of mixed  media art does not seem to reflect the artist's unique style, and there is a tendency among creatives to adhere to a certain "look," often very feminine-looking hybrids of Victorian and modernist non-figurative. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely dig this style, with all its lace and flowers, shabby "found objects,"vintage yellowed pages with brightly-colored rubber stamps, splashed paint and so forth. I have also found artists who do let their personal style shine through. I am just still looking for more variety in contemporary mixed media illustration, an area where everything is permitted and thus possible. 

Don't look at me, though! I am still just experimenting, as I mentioned earlier. These two pieces are the ones that I have liked enough to keep around so far, and as it often happens with the things I make, the comics influence seeps in everywhere...

New Exhibit, Poetry And Things-To-Still-Look-Forward-To.

There is a new exhibit at the Brookline Town Hall in Brookline Village. Until July 31, 2012, my drawings will be on display alongside works from two other Brookline artists, Evelyn Berde and Luca Ricco. The town hall apparently exhibits works of local artists throughout the year, something I never even knew until fellow BCR member, Peter Stringham suggested I submit my art. Thank you, Peter! And thank you also, Brenda Sullivan, for all the help you provide to make these exhibits happen!

My drawings will be in Room 103, to the left of the main entrance. You can view them during the town hall's opening hours, Mon through Fri, 8.00AM-8.00PM, as long as the room is not in use for a meeting. The other artists have their work in Room 111, to the right of the main entrance, and upstairs (I think). We will hold a reception, Friday June 8, 5.00-7.00PM that I hope you will attend! There will be (non-alcohol) refreshment, and lots of interesting people, I am sure! I am so excited to be in this exhibit because it is my first show in Brookline, the town that I have lived in for the last 9 years, and which has become my "home town" here in the United States.

Some of the illustrations from Magnus and Jenner, a children's book by Brookline-based author, Kim Girard, will be on display for the first time. The book is due to come out soon--practically "any minute now!"--and will feature these drawings and more. Above is "In the Troll Cave," where Jenner checks out the intellectual troll, Magnus's heavy collection of books, and Magnus takes a peek at Jenner's beloved comics. The scene is set below ground, in Magnus's damp burrow by an old bridge in New England. This is right before his journey to...but wait, I'll let you read all about it when the book comes out! Other stuff will also be available, and here is a sample of the merchandise, a t-shirt with a Magnus and Jenner illustration from the book:

Aside from the book illustrations and the exhibit, I have been busy with other projects too. You can check out an illustration I did for a poem, "Man Dies After Sex With Horse," by Jade Sylvan. It is published online as a broadside here  by the journal Amethyst Arsenic,  edited by Samantha Milowsky (who offered me the assignment. Thank you, Samantha!) I love the poem, it is not what you would expect to read when you hear the title, which refers to an  actual event that probably made a quite a few headlines in the media when it happened. The event actually also led to a change in legislation regarding certain animal "interactions," but that part of the story is not what the poem is about. The poem deals with bigger metaphysical questions regarding human identity and our place in cosmos, timeless questions we as humans never stop thinking about.

Last, but not least: I recently illustrated another story for Troy Minkowsky, "The last Temptation of Hansel and Gretel," which he submitted to a Vancouver-based anthology published by Gurukitty, this time with an alternative-fairy tale theme called "Once Upon a Time." I am happy to say that the story made it to the anthology, which will probably be published later this year! I loved doing these illustrations, because I experimented a little with the frames and background, and was happy with the result. 

And now: back to work, because there is SO MUCH to draw and SO LITTLE time!

Coming soon: Magnus and Jenner.

The children's book, Magnus and Jenner, by Kim Girard, which will be out in May, 2012! I am very excited about this project, since I have had the pleasure to illustrate this awesome story, and I can't wait to see it in print! This illustration, however, is just something I've put together for this blog post. Who better to start talking about the book than the hostess from that grisly reality show, "Beasts in Your Backyard?"


In Magnus and Jenner, this lady will help you hunt for strange creatures that lurk around your neighborhood. She is not the only one who offers help for people in distress either; further south, you can call the Alligator Eliminators, who will be more than happy to remove those pesky alligators that wander off from the swamp...and maybe the alligator eliminators have an eye out for other suspicious-looking creatures too...like trolls! But do trolls really exist? Are they dangerous? Or perhaps they are even more afraid of you than you are afraid of them? If they exist, then how come you never get to see them?

Magnus and Jenner is the story of an unlikely friendship between two very different characters, a boy and a troll. While the ever-cautious New England bridge troll, Magnus, sets out to search for his family, Jenner is in trouble at school, weighed down by his troubled family and just wants to run away. Since they  have a common destination in mind, the two set out on a journey that turns out to be more of an adventure than they had envisioned...

This won't be the last blog post about this book! Look out for the book's webpage too, it's currently under construction!

"Sweet Nothings" for 2012 Sketchbook Project World Tour

This video shows my finished sketchbook for the Art House Co-op's 2012 Sketchbook Project World Tour. I sent the book in yesterday, right at the last minute! This is the first time I put together a video, so bear with me! The music is by my son, Alexander Olsson, who took piano lessons growing up , and who briefly studied digital music production in Norway. Now he makes music in his free time, mostly digital stuff. Lucky for me, he lets me use his songs as soundtracks to my videos!

For more info on the Sketchbook Project, go here.

Sketching in Boston and Brookline

I bring my sketchbook everywhere, and there is nothing I enjoy sketching more than cityscapes and buildings, preferably with people in them. Landscapes and cityscapes alike seem lonely if there isn't at least one living creature in them (a squirrel will do, but I prefer people, and most of all people with a bit of a personality or attitude that I then want to capture). Or maybe the way I draw people says more about me and how I view the world than the people in my pictures? You be the judge.

Kenmore Square. A made-up billboard ad promoting "romance, marriage and financial security" a toned-down CITGO sign and a crowd of indifferent students (how could they not be indifferent?). 

 The Koo Koo Cafe across the Brookline Village station. I used to come here all the time with friends, because there are toys for kids to play with at the back. Now that my kids are all in school, I only stop by when they have lemon poppy seed muffins (which is only once in a while).

On the C-line (which is more like a sluggish trolley bus than a subway train), a day in November. The quote is from Thich Nhat Hahn, and one of my favorites.

On a bench overlooking the Boston Commons. At lunchtime, there were people everywhere, spilling out from office buildings, the State House, schools and subway stations. They crossed the park to go who knows where to have lunch, to meet up, or, as the elderly (probably retired) guy on the right, to go for a run. I was listening to music, and some lyrics from Bob Dylan's Abandoned Love ended up on the pages as well.

Sunday at the Arboretum in JP. The brutal-looking concrete building housing the Mass State Laboratory was at once a contrast to the nature of the park, but also seemed to belong there, in the surrounding city with its eclectic architecture.

Steampunk-inspired illustration

This is my first steampunk-inspired illustration. The foreground is done with ink and watercolor pencils on bristol board. The background is a manipulated photo of the BU Bridge, that I took this summer on one of my excursions to Cambridge.

Projects

There are exciting things waiting to happen in the near--or not too far off, at least--future. Around March, Brookline writer Kim Girard plans to publish her children's book, and it will be full of my black and white illustrations. I can't say too much about it now, except that it is a lot of fun working on this project, and that it is an awesome story!

I have just been accepted to exhibit my drawings (mostly black & white comics and illustrations) at the Brookline Town Hall for a month in 2012 (probably May-June), so that will be fun too! I have to go through my submissions and weed out the darkest pieces, though, because since this is a public space, the images can't be too explicit or disturbing (and a lot of my stuff, I have realized,  is either dark, bloody or topless)

I still do illustrations for Spare Change, and the last one appeared in the last November edition. It was a portrait of Gary Johnston (aka John Doe), which I drew sometime in September or October. He was a very impressive and interesting person, and I enjoyed sketching him as he worked on an article in his "office" as he laughingly called it, in Central Square. Another illustration that I just finished last week is due to come out in one of the next editions, but I am not going to post it here until it has been in the paper (so buy the paper!).

I signed up for an account on the website Behance, so be sure to swing by and check out the projects I post there.

Gothista: Alternative Fashion Illustration. A project that I am not doing for a client, but just having a lot of fun with. Plus, I could use a lot more color in my portfolio!

Idea for a graphic novel set in Copenhagen.  Thanks to Copenhagen based photographer Thomas Christensen, who takes awesome photos of his city, and whose bird's view photograph I used for my top panel reference.

Spare Change illustration of Gary Johnston.

Hellbound and More Comic Art New England

Happy Halloween! Above is the result of some playing around with pens, paper and Photoshop last night.  Otherwise, I have not been very involved in Halloween preparations this year. However,  several members of The Boston Comics Roundtable got together to create a horror anthology, Hellbound 2, which is out now. To purchase a limited art edition, order your copy here. To read some Hellbound 2 press coverage, click here.

The Comic Art New England exhibit (the art exhibit that opened in connection with MICE and went through October 16th) has been extended until November 19th. This time, the works are on display at NEIA Gallery 303 (New England Institute of Art) right here in Brookline! I am very excited, because this is literally right down the street from me. Opening reception happens this Thursday, November 3, 6-8 PM. New England Istitute of Art is that ahem...modern building across from the Brookline Village t-stop, 303 Boylston Street in Brookline. BCR has a write-up on the exhibit on their web page.  I hope to see you there!

Line Art & Illustration is Open For Business: www.lineolsson.com

My portfolio portfolio website encountered some technical difficulties, but they are resolved, and here it is: www.lineolsson.com

Above are the images I am using for my business cards. No, they are not pathetically flattering & unrealistic self-portraits! ( I wish...:-)

This is Where You'll Find Me Tomorrow: MICE 2011

I will greet you in the front lobby of University Hall between 10AM-1PM. Later, I participate in my first panel on writer/artist collaborations. 4-5PM, I think. Should be fun! I am looking forward to all the great new stuff this year, I can't wait to get inspired! I only have one thing at MICE this year, which is a page in Leann Leake's zine, Hot Tea, Cold Water, #3. I also have a few framed comic book pages in the exhibit. Follow the link to see a list of exhibitors, then come to Porter Square tomorrow and secure some copies of their awesome work! It's free, it's fun, and you'll be supporting local writers & artists in your community too!

MICE, The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo

September 24, 2011 10am - 6pm

1815 Mass Ave., Cambridge MA (Porter Square)
Illustration by Jerel Dye

Bad Hair Day? These Ladies Can Help...Chapter 5 Of The Ragbox!

Finally...or almost! Chapter 5 of Dave Kender's graphic novel, The Ragbox will be out soon, and there will be more on that at this year's MICE. I really took my time illustrating this chapter, since I've been pretty busy this last year, but I did enjoy every minute of the process.

The Ragbox is unique in the sense that a different artist illustrates each of its chapters. Kender published the the three first chapters in one volume, but printed chapter 4 as a mini, as will be the case with chapter 5. You do not have to have read the first volume to enjoy the subsequent chapters, as they also stand alone as slices-of-life stories, but it is fun to compare the different illustrators' individual style.

Kender has matched illustrators with chapters that would specifically interest them, and I really enjoyed drawing the people (stylistas, both young and not-so-young) and the setting (dilapidated hair salon) of this part of the story. I am not quite sure why, as I don't really follow fashion trends (I'm much too cheap to pay the price of designer stuff ), and don't spend much time in salons either (once or twice a year, just to get some peace and quiet, and because my hair has reached the point when it's so bad, it's not even funny). However, I do love looking at stylish people, and all the going ons of the salon are sort of fascinating. Also, my artistic mentor in the 1980's, combined his studio with a hairdresser salon in the basement, so I guess I have sort of spent time in that environment after all...that's an entirely different story, however, that I'll tell you all about later. Maybe. For now, get your first four chapters of The Ragbox at MICE and familiarize yourself with the characters of this neighborhood (which is loosely based on San Francisco's Mission district). To read more about The Ragbox, click here. For information on MICE, click here.

Enjoy!

Destination: Thieves Paradise

This is the last page for now. What meets Captain Scarlet and the crew at this eerie place? Stay tuned, cross your fingers and find out!

Overboard

The Captain's Quarters

And a Bottle of Rum...

Parrots, Rum, and a Zombie Called Regan's Corpse

Roman Scarlet, Dandy Long Legs & Doktor Sock

Bloody Mutiny

This is page three, and when I drew this one I learned the following about myself: 1) Drawing blood & gore is not as disturbing as I had thought it would be, but actually a lot of fun. Probably because it's really just ink... 2) I kind of like drawing men, when they're as handsome as Dandy Long Legs (according to Troy's script he is very dandy, and I modeled his appearance on a romantic portrait of one of my favorite English poets, John Donne).

More Pirates...

Open Fire!

This is the first page of the pirate fantasy comic, Open Fire! (Written by Troy Minkowsky) Is the editing in photoshop done? Is this the final look? No, probably not. But it will be something along these (crosshatched) lines.

Just A Few Sketches from June & July.

I just realized that I haven't updated my blog since June! How time flies! I am not on summer vacation, just keeping very, very busy! Among my projects: a pirate comic, illustrations, and of course, job applications. In the meantime, here are some pages from my sketchbook to look at...

Below: Inspired by a relatively new picture book about Audrey Hepburn, Just Being Audrey, written by Margaret Cardillo and illustrated by Massachusetts-based artist Julia Denos. I found the book at the Curious George store in Harvard Square (which we will miss very much now that it is closing!), and wanted to buy it for my kids. Unfortunately, my boys did not share my enthusiasm on Audrey Hepburn; they took one look at the pictures and decided that the lack of monster trucks, dragons and epic battles did not interest them. So I ended up buying the book for myself, just so I could look at all the gorgeous illustrations. Well, it was so worth it!

Next: More random pages from my sketchbook. I must admit I prefer to draw women rather than men.

Spare Change Illustration

Recently, I had the opportunity to do an illustration for the Boston alternative newspaper, Spare Change. With this assignment, I really got the feel of what it is like to do creative work under a very tight deadline, and I must admit that such pressure tends to work well with me. I spent about an hour and a half sketching Marc Goldfinger, part-time vendor and writer for Spare Change, during his interview with freelance writer, Micah Stahl. It was a nice, warm day in Cambridge's Central Square, and time flew by as I filled my sketchbook pages with observations. I love to draw people in person, rather than from photographs, and especially while they are not paying attention to me, but focused on a conversation with someone else. This situation draws out a person's personality that I then try to capture in my drawing. I also like to bring the surroundings into the portrait, in this case the area outside the 1369 Coffeehouse. To me it seemed like a nice, busy place that I could have spent the whole day in, had I not had to rush home and take care of kids and their school pick-ups, park playdates and karate lessons (yesterday, however, a Spare Change vendor complained that I had made Central Square look 'too nice,' since in his opinion it was the worst #%*!! neighborhood in town! :-)

In-between picking kids up from school, packing for a weekend trip, etc. I had to draw the illustration with ink, based on my pencil sketches, then scan it, clean it up in Photoshop and send it off by around 7-8 PM. Thanks to my lovely friend, Sowmya, I was able to make it, since she brought my kids over to her house for a few hours to play with her son.

Hopefully, I will be able to do more assignments like this one. In the meantime, I am working on the Open Fire! project (see previous blog post), and as the July 1 deadline for that one comes closer, my productivity seems to go up!

The Pirates Are Coming!

Here is a cover and a preview/promo page for the upcoming comic, Open Fire! It is not a new project for the writer, Troy Minkowsky, but it's a new one for me. In fact I don't think I have ever drawn a comic about pirates, zombies and other fantasy figures before (except mermaids). I definitely have not drawn a comic that features a sock puppet, that one is a first! I really enjoy doing the artwork for this story, though. The characters are interesting, and there are at least three female characters in the story, which appeals to me. I also enjoy drawing seascapes, sea creatures and all that good stuff, and it's always fun to do something that is entirely new to me. I hope this won't be the last you hear of this story! There will be more to follow...

An Education

This the first page of a 3-page story that I submitted to an upcoming anthology on education. The anthology should be published in time for a conference on comics and education (for more info check out this website: http://necac.net/46/)

I chose to do a story set at Balfour House School, a British private school in Wales that I attended for a few years in the late 1970's. I was the only non-native English speaking student at the time, and although I learned English quite quickly, I would not recommend anyone to learn a new language in that sort of setting. Balfour House was a very strict school where corporal punishment was practiced regularly, an aspect of the school that I tried to work into my comic.

A few years ago, I learned that Balfour House no longer exists, and that the building is currently falling down. It is too bad about the building, it is an old stone structure, and originally a monastery (or so the rumor went back in the 70's). I saw some pictures posted online, where the iron gates were rusty and the windows boarded up. Weeds and grass grew up through the exterior staircase. On the other hand, part of me is relieved to have outlived that institution, because although I remember most of the students and many of my teachers fondly, I really, really did not like that school with all its rigid rules, traditionalist gender views and violence against kids.

Comics in the New Year!

In 2010, I started a new project, to illustrate chapter 5 of Dave Kender's graphic novel, The Ragbox. This is a really fun assignment that I love working on, but I also hope to finish up quite soon (it always feels good to complete assignments!).

The chapter is set in a beauty salon in the Ragbox neighbourhood, the setting for the novel. I love the characters in this chapter, especially Angel, the beautiful twentysomething hairdresser who I really enjoy drawing!

To read more about this graphic novel--the first three chapters have already been published--check out the blog for The Ragbox: http://www.theragbox.com/

Dreamers

This is a pen & ink drawing I made the other day, inspired by one of my photos from Copenhagen last fall. Tivoli is an old amusement park smack in the middle of the city, a beautiful and magical place or a kitchy tourist trap, depending on your outlook. I tend to go for the first description myself, although the quiet (yes, a quiet amusement park in the middle of a city!) atmosphere with its million little lights, brightly colored flowers and fairy-tale feel is an illusion. It is definitely a place for daydreamers, which I've tried to capture in this picture.

Scenes From The Holiday Season in Boston

This Saturday, I tabled at Bazaar Bizarre in Boston, an alternative arts/crafts fair that draws a huge crowd of holiday shoppers. Above are my pink ladies, which I displayed on one corner of the BCR table.

Eric Boeker planned and arranged the Boston Comics Roundtable presence at Bazaar Bizarre this year.

Things at our table: Independent work by Dan Mazur, Aya Rothwell and various contributors to the Left-Overs of the Living Dead, put together by Jay Kennedy.

A little untraditional holiday cards by Eric Boeker.





Bazaar Bizarre was held inside the Cyclorama, which is a gorgeous building. This is the ceiling in the middle of the hall.





Above: panel 2 of a short comic strip I worked on with Troy Minkowsky. Below: panel 1 of a short comic strip I worked on with Roho. Both may show up on some BCR holiday wrapping paper this season.

The Cyclorama is in the beautiful South End neighbourhood of Boston.

To be honest, I don't have a lot of skills as a salesperson (none, in fact), but I enjoy working at the holiday fairs--all fairs and conventions--nevertheless. It's fun to see what other vendors have to offer, and to be inspired. It's a great place to people-watch, and to chat with people who approach the table. I hope to be at the Holly Fair in Cambridge next weekend.