Scratchabet

Behold, a simple alphabet that I made yesterday afternoon to use in an upcoming project. Looking at it now, I am reminded of Edward Gorey a bit...or maybe it's the brisk weather that has me thinking about the big, glorious overcoats he frequently draws. You decide.

The First of my Thesis Pieces

As our second year in the MFAI program is moving merrily along, I am finally knee deep in thesis work. I didn't explain it in depth in my previous post but my thesis revolves around the idea of the six word memoir. If you're curious about the subject I highly recommend visiting www.smithmag.net, the editor of all the Six Word Memoir books, an awesome website where you can create an account to write, comment on, and favorite as many six word memoirs as your heart desires. They choose pieces from the website to appear in their books so you never know when you might write a winner!

I've been slightly obsessed with these minuscule stories ever since taking a memoir writing class with Betsy Boyd (a lovely and talented Baltimore based writer) at MICA and this seemed like the perfect fit for my thesis here at SVA. I'll be illustrating at least twelve memoirs that I've either chosen from Smith Magazine's database or written on my own, giving me the perfect opportunity to practice hand-lettering paired with imagery. At the end of the year (expect this in April) I will be compiling all these pieces into a book to be shown in our thesis exhibition.

In the last few weeks I've started sketching out numerous memoirs that I'd like to work with, drawing alphabets and words, and I have officially completed my first spread of pieces...

Remember the tiny parasailer? Now you know why he was needed. Anyway, these two pieces will most likely appear in the book with the lettering on the left page and the image on the right. Some spreads may combine the image and text while the rest, like this one, will be separate.

I'm currently about 95% done with my next two pieces so check back in the next few days to see what I've been busy with! It might make you laugh...

Today I drew a tiny parasailer.

The title says it all.

Branch Lettering

I've been quite busy lately beginning my thesis but I took a break this morning to get an alphabet out of my system. A large part of my thesis actually does deal with hand lettering so this isn't totally irrelevant! I'll be illustrating a series of twelve six-word memoirs that will later be combined into a book, lettering on the left hand page and the corresponding image on the right. Keep a look out for this around April of 2012! 

And onto the alphabet...

(some sample text, click for a closer look)

At it again..

As I hope you all know by now, the opening to my MFAI Book Show is this coming Tuesday. We decided to include a merch table for the night so I'm spending this dreary Saturday making some shrinky-dink jewelry! It's been awhile and I forgot how relaxing it can be. No pressure. Here's a preview:

I'll also be selling small colored dot earrings which are always a favorite.

Stop by and check out all of our highly anticipated hard work!
SVA Gallery / 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010 / 6-8PM

Book Project: Complete

Alas! I have returned (I feel like I say that every time I make an entry lately, they've been so sparse). Fortunately I have brought with me a plethora of work to post, so much that it's difficult to pick and choose what to add without overdoing it. Since I last left you in the beginning of August, I somehow managed to finish my book Growing up Biker Style before the fall semester began. The official title is as follows:

Or, if you'd like to see the custom patch I had made for the cover, it looks a little somethin' like this…

Or, if that isn't enough for you, here is a photo of the actual bound and completed book:

 

It's held together with three 3/4" book screws – I could have fainted the day we drilled the holes on the drill press, watching all that work under the weight of such heavy machinery, knowing there wasn't enough material left to make another copy should something go wrong – but as you can see it was well worth it in the end.

Now, onto the drawings! These images are in order of how they appear in the book – if I post any that have made an appearance here before it's because I've altered it in some way, shape, or form.

The first self portrait I've done in years, appearing in the introduction:

Technically, I suppose this is a self portrait as well – this was one of the first images I made for the book, still a favorite, but with a slightly different, subtle background:

One of the most charming pieces, of course, father and daughter motorcycle vests:

My grandfather's accident, an excerpt of text from the book…

December 10, 1990

My earliest memory is visiting my grandfather in the hospital after the accident – I was three years old and I still remember it like it happened yesterday. He had taken the Goldwing to meet my uncle for breakfast on a 

wintery Sunday morning and it happened on the way home. It was a careless man who caused the scene as he switched lanes on the highway not even a mile from our house, tapping my grandfather into the pavement, causing his leg to be crushed by the weight of the bike as they skidded across the ground together. All that was left keeping his foot attached to his leg was skin.

We brought his 63rd birthday cake to his bedside just days after his foot was reattached at the ankle and this is the part that I remember clearly. I really didn’t understand the severity of his accident at the time, but for years and years and even still do this day, every time I see the scar on his leg I can’t help but feel lucky that he’s here – toes, foot, ankle, and all.

If you're from North Jersey you know that It would be wrong not to include The Notch:

And now I've really lied when I said I haven't done a self portrait in years...

My grandfather's stolen Harley, a proposed tattoo idea to start off his half-sleeve at age 84:

This has been found most impressive by numerous viewers and riders alike: the timeline of the twenty-two motorcycles my family has owned. These aren't necessarily in the order we've purchased them, but in the order of the year they were produced...

And to bring the story to a close, a drawing of Matt and I as we ride together today. Unfortunately I couldn't add this bike to our timeline because it's not owned by a Jacobs family member, so just for the record it is a 2001 Harley Davidson Dyna Glide:

And who could forget endpapers? Always an important finishing touch:

There are many more drawings and stories that appear in the actual book – If you'd like to see the complete version the best way would be to come to our MFAI Book Show! It runs from September 23rd through October 15th 2011 and the opening reception is on Tuesday, September 27 from 6 to 8 PM at the SVA Gallery / 209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.

It's going to be a particularly great show, I can promise you that. There will be work from all eighteen of us in the MFAI program, check it out! Rafa Alvarez, Joana Avillez, Elizabeth Baddeley, Trip Carroll, Charles Chaisson Tony DiMauro, Nina Frenkel, Li Pei Huang, Jae Kyung Jeong, A. E. Kieren, Haejeon Jessica Lee, John Malta, Charnelle Pinkney, Cecilia Ruiz, Brad Soucy, Dasha Tolstikova, Rebecca Zomchek

Motorcycle Madness - The Final Countdown

Wondering what I've been up to lately? Check out these two graphite drawings I finished in the last week for my motorcycle book...

This is my dad and my cousin David in 1981 when he was 3.

I was thinking this would appear very early on in the book, probably on the bottom right corner of a page with a lot of text introducing some background information.

And this is my grandmother in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1955.

Pretty classic, wouldn't you say? My grandfather is a lucky guy!

I'm feeling okay about the progress of my book at the moment. There is still a lot to be done but I feel like I'm on a decent pace, as long as I can keep it up for the next four weeks. I also already ordered and received leather book cloth for the final binding and it's pretty badass, can't wait to show everyone. Cross your fingers for me and keep checking back for more work!