The Portraitsphere: Rien Poortvliet

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Erica Preo

Today’s foray into the Portraitsphere takes us to the canvas and sketchbooks of Dutch artist Rien Poortvliet. Best known for his multitudes of Gnomes, he seemed to really love dogs and, lucky for us, spent a lot of time observing, painting, sketching and scribbling them. The portrait of the French Briard above is from his book Dogs, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books about dogs. It’s literally crammed with portraits of all kinds of dogs from A to Z. And not only that, there are thoughts, facts, opinions and observations scrawled throughout. In this example he illustrates a non-dog person meeting a dog:

And there are pages and pages like this, about what goes on around his house with his own dogs and the things they get up to:

Yep, he’s nailed it again. In fact, as you go through the book you find yourself saying over and over, with a smile “oh yes, that’s exactly how it is!” And you know you wouldn’t have it any other way!

I bought my copy of Dogs quite a few years ago so it’s out of print, but it is possible to track down a used copy of the book. Here is a link to Amazon’s current availability.

Artist and Illustrator Yuko Shimizu

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Erica Preo

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: dog loving people are the best. They are the kindest, most generous people out there. When you meet someone at some random moment—like while your car is being serviced—and the subject of dogs comes up (because with me it always does), and a big grin appears…you know you’ve found one. Next they reach for their phone (which used to be wallet) to show you a picture of their dog, and usually you get a little story. Well, the same thing happens in the virtual world also.

The Boston Terrier illustration above is by the incredibly talented Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu (I will quickly point out that she’s NOT the Yuko Shimizu that created Hello Kitty!), and she created it for a poster a few years ago. The dog belongs to Bon Appetit design director Matthew Lenning, and the poster was for a Society of Publication Designers competition. When I came across this illustration I knew I had to see more. It is some of the most beautiful illustration work I have seen ever, and I find myself mesmerized by it. She must be one of the most sought-after illustrators around because there’s a lot of it to see, her website showcases around 400 pieces! What I love even more is that she traded her dull career in advertising and PR to pursue art, left Japan and came to New York to attend the School of Visual Arts. Since graduating she’s obviously kept herself very busy, and she also teaches at the school.

Back to the dogs. When I contacted Yuko, she was happy to be featured on the blog and said she needs to draw more dogs (yay!). We agreed that this illustration, as well as the one below would be good choices. She also made sure to tell me right away that she LOVES dogs, and that her own handsome long haired Chihuahua Bruiser was used as the model for this poster (I didn’t ask if the caped woman is her, but since there are brushes and art supplies in her hair, hmmm). Yuko travels quite a lot for speaking engagements, and this poster was for one in Mexico.

She also said I could include some photos of her beloved Bruiser, and here he is hard at work:

And here are some other examples of Yuko’s work. Honestly it was so difficult to choose. I wish I could put them on my walls…

If you’d like to become mesmerized yourself, visit Yuko’s website here. Her self-titled monograph was published by Gestalten and can be found here. She’s also creating a children’s book that will be released this year, titled Barbed Wire Baseball. Yuko has a preview of the book on her blog here, along with an inside look at her creative process.

All images courtesy and copyright Yuko Shimizu.

The Portraitsphere: Marz Jr.

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Erica Preo

Today’s journey into the Portraitsphere features an illustration I happened to see recently in a fall issue of Vogue Magazine (yes, I’m a little behind), printed at about 2″ in height. The feature was “The Editor’s Eye”, which is an inside look at just what a particular editor personally likes/owns.

This installment was all about Vogue’s Social Editor Chloe Malle, and the subject of this portrait is her beloved Goldendoodle Jerry by illustrator Marz Jr. And based on the other embellished items shown in the feature, it appears Marz Jr. nailed her style with the crown, table, tassels and fringed setting. One of her other favorite items, a pair of Charlie McCarthy salt and pepper shakers, initially did seem a bit out of place…until I realized that her grandfather was Edgar Bergen, and her father was Louis Malle, and so her mother is Candace Bergen. Like I said, I’m a little behind.

Here are a few more examples of Marz Jr.’s work:

Thanks to Marz Jr. for permission to use his work in this post. To see more of his work, visit his website here.

Artist Yoshitomo Nara

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Erica Preo

A while back I became a fan of Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, and what initially caught my eye of course was this white dog. He appears in paintings, drawings, and installations. At some point, somewhere (Toronto? London? Chicago? San Francisco? I can’t remember!) I saw an installation of three of these white dogs in a circle, bigger than life, filling up a room. I was smitten.

But look at this guy! I hope I can visit Japan one day and see him in person at the Aomori Museum of Art. Just look how happy these people are! And who wouldn’t be? There’s something so great about the incredible sense of scale with any piece of that size, and it would be even better if that piece is a gigantic dog!

Yoshitomo Nara has also created a sweet children’s book for Chronicle with this giant white dog at the center of the story, The Lonesome Puppy. It’s about a dog that’s just so darn big, no one notices him except for one special little girl. Aw.

To be fair, Yoshitomo Nara isn’t entirely about white dogs. A lot of his work features these little mischievous kids, they’re trouble but they’re very alluring. And who knows what they’re up to! Smoking cigarettes, fighting, swearing a little and glaring a lot. I like these kids, but they’re somewhat intimidating and make me uneasy, like the kid that stares at you on a subway and has the power to make you squirm. Oh save me, giant white dog!

Great article on artist Yoshitomo Nara here.
For some info on the Aomori Museum of Art, their website is here and there’s a good writeup here.
Aomori installation photos from flickr, here and here.

The New Yorker’s Cover Dogs

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Erica Preo

I love this cover of the November 26, 1966 edition of The New Yorker because it features a dog. And not just any dog, but Underdog! Well, the balloon version of Underdog that is, floating by in the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For some reason I thought there was a particular story that inspired this cover, like a crash or escape or scandal, but since Underdog debuted in the parade only the year before in 1965 I guess not. There was a Friends episode apparently, in which the Underdog balloon did crash and added to the chaos of their Thanksgiving. But alas, no reality-based Underdog Thanksgiving Day Parade chaos exists that I can find. Oh well, I still really like the illustration and one day I really will frame it.

So then I started thinking about The New Yorker and what other great covers they’ve had over the years that feature dogs. Everyone knows (and loves) The New Yorker’s cartoons, there are so many books that feature collections of different subject matter such as teachers, lawyers, moms, doctors, cats, and of course dogs. But I was more interested in the iconic magazine’s covers, and so I put together an informal survey.

It’s interesting to see the different illustration styles and palettes, and notice what trends come and go over the years. A few covers I’ve chosen feature the work of Mark Ulriksen, one of my favorite illustrators based in San Francisco (see the post here), but I’m not so familiar with the others. Some covers seem to be referring to a current event, like Obama getting ready to enter the presidency (and he’s listening to the dogs with their demands for maybe an off-leash area in the rose garden?), or it’s winter and time to ditch the old Christmas tree in the snow. Other times you just have to wonder what’s going on, if anything (is that dog thinking of water because it’s August or was there a big water shortage in 1974? I don’t remember, I was a kid). Not being a New Yorker myself, I’m usually drawn to the covers that feel, well, more “New Yorky”, like the one in the center below with the dog on the stoop having a sale. Or the one above with the Gotham-sized fire hydrant surrounded by a group of very happy dogs (bliss I guess). One thing that’s interesting to do is track is the cover price, beginning with a measly quarter in 1965 and ending up at six bucks. For now.

Coming back full circle: if you love to root for the underdogs of the world and are interested in the phenomenon, there’s a really wonderful article by author Malcolm Gladwell that appears, oddly enough, in a past issue of The New Yorker. Not the November 26, 1966 issue, however, that would be weird. And impossible. Here’s the link.

All covers and illustrations copyright Condé Nast.

England’s Cecil Aldin

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Erica Preo

I love to walk and wander around cities when I’m traveling because I often find wonderful things by chance. If I had read about a shop or something in a guidebook or magazine, I would probably spend most of the day pulling my hair out trying to find the place and be disappointed when I finally arrived. It might even be closed (doggone pet boutique in Milan). Or there would be no parking because I didn’t know it was market day (entire city of Siena). Even then, recovery is possible because other things can be discovered like an unexpected shop or a fantastic hidden-gem-of-a-locals-restaurant and hotel like Il Ceppo (see ya later, Siena). So, it’s taken a while but now I know: over-planning is overrated and chance encounters are best.

Example: seven years ago, I was wandering around in London when I came across one of those nifty London shops tucked away on one those nifty London streets whose specialty is antique prints. Not expensive prints, but old engravings and other cellophane-wrapped things in bins organized by subject matter. I bought three small prints that day featuring a cute dog because, well, I was smitten. They were only £6 each, but I could tell they were actually old and chopped out of a book. But what book?

It turns out, the book is called A Dog Day, written by Walter Emanuel and illustrated by Cecil Aldin. Okay. It’s basically a day in the life of this cute but mischievous dog that gets away with everything and comes out smelling like a rose (Ferris Bueller?). This book has been reprinted several times over the years, but I doubt that a reprint would make me happy for the same reason my sister refuses to watch colorized old movies, Mr. Ted Turner: it just won’t be the same. I wouldn’t mind reading the whole day’s account though, because what I’ve read so far is pretty good. From the backs of my prints here’s a little disjointed sample of the story, complete with time stamps:

So I end up being even more smitten than before. The thick paper stock feels special, the letterpress printing is wonderful, the metal typesetting’s imperfections make it perfect. I would say this find was a happy accident indeed, because while all of Great Britain has loved him forever and a day, I had never heard of Cecil Aldin or seen his wonderful illustrations. Mr. Aldin’s dogs Cracker (the Bull Terrier) and Micky (the Irish Wolfhound) are a famous pair that he featured in his popular book Sleeping Partners and as models for many other illustrations. Royal Doulton and other prominent English manufacturers have used his illustrations for a range of products over the years and these items are now hugely collectible. All of Cecil Aldin’s engraving plates were destroyed in World War II, so original prints are rare and have skyrocketed in value. I’m not a collector of anything (well, except dog hair) so I’m pretty happy with my three little prints, even if they were chopped out of a book. Unraveling the mystery of what I bought that day in London has been fun and I definitely plan to keep my eyes open for more things from one of England’s best loved illustrators, Mr. Cecil Charles Windsor Aldin.

If you’d like to read more about Cecil Aldin collectibles, this article seems very helpful.

Two Westies in Perugia

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Erica Preo

Well, just when you thought you’d seen everything…

Two gorgeous (and rather large) Westies in Perugia, Italy, by the incredibly talented Mr. Mark Ulriksen. Don’t you just love the scale of these two guys, and that the people are just going about their business? I love it.

You can read my previous post about Mr. Ulriksen here or visit his site here.

Are There Any Good Concert T-Shirts?

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Erica Preo

I love music, all different kinds. But the truth is, you’re more likely to find me listening to tried-and-true Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong than a flavor of the month band. Don’t get me wrong, I do like contemporary music, but I don’t really seek out the hot and trendy (that’s what nephews are for) and so it usually takes getting my ears boxed for me to take notice. But even if I love it, I will avoid the dreaded concert t-shirt at all costs. I want to like them, I really do. But I just can’t.

My reason is simple and I know what to expect: as a rule, concert t-shirts are not very attractive. Typically ill-fitting (if you’re female) black Beefy-T’s with wall-to-wall garish typography and graphics front and back…It’s Wayne’s World on a hanger. Disclosure: I don’t usually go for any t-shirt with things printed, glued, stapled, sewn, tied or otherwise affixed so I’m predisposed to hating them. But concert t-shirts are just usually so :-/ and it’s easy for me to pass them up. Faded. Black. Cotton. Chills.

But put a cool illustration of a big ol’ dog face on there and, if it’s done well, I’m going to have to check it out. What a sweet droopy bloodhound face and where’s my wallet? A few years ago my husband surprised me with tickets to see Kings of Leon. I had no idea who the opening bands would be that night, but when I passed the t-shirt stand this design immediately caught my eye. The Black Keys? Who’s that? While I’m generally a little behind in the up-and-coming band department, I think maybe a lot of people hadn’t heard of The Black Keys at that point (except my nephew) because this was long before their music featured in 3 out of 5 television ad campaigns. But since they had this big dog face on their t-shirt, I figured they were going to be really good. And of course they were. Now who’s Kings of Leon?

So dogs really do make everything (even concert t-shirts) better.

So I’m a Dog Person

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Erica Preo

I’m curious about something: At what point do people begin to see you as a “dog person”?

I guess the quantity involved is a big factor and if so, what’s the magic number when the moniker becomes unavoidable? Two? More than two? More than three? I’m smiling as I write this because there certainly are worse things to be known for and I don’t really mind, although “dog lady” sticks in my craw a little. Craw lady. No.

Let me just say this: I think if a person even has just one dog, but they begin to dress it up in little outfits every day and push it around in a stroller, the label might be knocking at their door as well. Just saying. Fair is fair, right?

In either case, once you are a bonafide “dog person”, people will begin to give you things that are doggy. Doggy tchotchkes. Sometimes they are really wonderful things (and not at all tchotchkes) that they make themselves, like this birthday card that a good friend made for me. I was so happy when I opened it and I cherish it. The truth is my birthday was lousy this year, because my ailing dog Henry took a turn for the worse and it seemed that day might be his last. But this sweet card with these seven pups she drew cheered me up a lot on that sad birthday. And it reminded me that no matter what’s going on, being a “dog person” really is a wonderful gift in itself.

San Francisco Artist Mark Ulriksen

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Erica Preo

As a graphic designer, you’re pretty much constantly bombarded with self-promotions from illustrators and photographers. And your desk is always buried with 3-inch thick directories of the same (that really only get used for either flattening something that’s being glued down for a presentation or, in the case of one firm where I worked that shall remain nameless, as trivets for hot and steamy pizza boxes on the conference table). So when you come across someone’s work that’s really great AND memorable, it definitely makes an impression and you keep all manner of pizza toppings far away from it.

I remember the first time I saw something by San Francisco-based artist and illustrator Mark Ulriksen (and yes it’s because the subject matter was dogs, you got me there). I had picked up a copy of a newsletter titled The Berkeley Bark at the vet’s office, in Berkeley no less. At that time the newsletter was a black and white folded tabloid, with Mark’s work on the front cover. It wasn’t too many pages in length but it was good and so I would always eagerly await the next issue. It wasn’t long before The Berkeley Bark became the now-famous Bark Magazine and I’ve loved seeing Mark’s work there and other places, like The New Yorker where he’s a regular contributor, ever since. His work is also in the permanent collection of The Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. High fives.

Now I should probably mention that not all of Mark Ulriksen’s work is about dogs, but I like them (and I’m pretty sure he does, too) so I’ve gone to town here. In addition to his illustration assignments he also does private commission portrait work, so one day I plan to send him an enormous shoebox full of photographs of all my dogs and a giant sack of coffee for the long haul.

If you’d like to check out his site and more of his work, click here. If you’re interested, under “Show-and-Tell” click “Work in Progress” of the dalmatian painting featured above. Gosh, it almost makes you think you can do one yourself. But no.

Dogs Make Everything Better

Tag Archives: illustration

The Portraitsphere: Rien Poortvliet

Artist and Illustrator Yuko Shimizu

The Portraitsphere: Marz Jr.

Artist Yoshitomo Nara

The New Yorker’s Cover Dogs

England’s Cecil Aldin

Two Westies in Perugia

Are There Any Good Concert T-Shirts?

So I’m a Dog Person

San Francisco Artist Mark Ulriksen

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