6.14.2012

Phoenix Rising: A Bit of Background


 

Remember a while back when we were working on a drawing for Little Paper Plane's new book? Okay, so now I can't find any posts, but I'm sure I talked about it in at least a few posts. Anyway, it was recently released through Chronicle, and is now available for purchase! Though since I've decided not to shop through Amazon anymore, I think purchasing it through Little Paper Planes is far better...why not purchase it directly from the curator? Working with the Little Paper Plane's crew is always a treat, the gals are upbeat, funny and beyond dedicated to furthering the arts for the benefit of the artists. This experience was no different and to be a part of it is such an honor; 20 amazing artists and 20 fun projects. The art that matters most to Wolfie and the Sneak is art that engages the mind and the community, and this book has that and more!
The drawing pre-Photoshop coloring

A little background on our contribution and evolution: To stick with what we do best, we went with a nature-themed OCD style drawing: a bird. This time, though, the bird reflected a common source of awe for Charlie and me--the Firebird. As is the case with most of our prints, I do the drawing and Charlie works with me critiquing, editing it in Photoshop, and generally getting the design and colors tweaked just so.We also tried a few old school paper plane designs, but went with Charlie's favorite.

The drawing post-Photoshop coloring

To accompany the book, Little Paper Planes had a book inspired show. We took the opportunity to create a 200+ page flip book showing the rise of the phoenix (if we were better organized or had more time, a second volume may have shown some birdy combustion).

Flip book nearing completion, and look, a little bird shadow!

I took this picture of the show from LPP's facebook page.

and this picture of the publisher's offices from LPP's facebook page.
Instructions on how to make Charlie's favorite paper plane.
A most beautiful design by Christine Buckton Tillman.
So there you have it, a little glimpse into our part of this amazing book. And guess what!? If you've made through all the gushing and ramblings, you've made it to the part where we offer one copy of Little Paper Planes to give away! You have to do a little digging...name 3 of the artists in the book. At least one of the artists must be someone not listed in the Amazon description. This post on the Chronicle blog will help you on your mission. Comment below with the names and you'll be entered in the giveaway! Enter as many times as you'd like, but your answer has to be different every time! Make sure you leave an email or a link so I can find you if you win. Good luck and happy flying!

The end.

11 comments:

mjb said...

This looks like such a cool book!

Anonymous said...

These are the artists I see
Julia Rothman, Alyson Fox, and Lisa Congdon

smk113 @ aol.com

moonsword said...

Jen Renninger, Gemma Correll and Michael Hsiung are in the book but holyhellfires your Phoenix Rising is the screamingly cool. I'd love to see the original. Fabulous work!

ashley said...

moonsword is right -- your Phoenix Rising is awesome indeed. Love the detail and the color.

mjb said...

I didn't even pay attention to the rules! Julia Rothman, Alyson Fox, and Lisa Congdon are the easy ones that are in the Chronicle post :)

moonsword said...

Alyson Fox, Julia Rothman and Kate Bingaman-Burt are also in the book. Cheers!

moonsword said...

Supercool illustrators Lisa Congdon, Ryan Berkley and the team of Ashley Goldberg & Drew Bell are in it too!

moonsword said...

The edgy Hernan Paganini, Russell Leng and Brendan Monroe are also LPP designers.

moonsword said...

Graphic artists Ashkahn Shahparnia, Josh Cochran and Christopher David Ryan designed airplanes for the book as well.

moonsword said...

LPP artists Jonathan Ryan Storm and Alexis Anne Mackenzie do collage and Christine Buckton Tillman works in a variety of media.

moonsword said...

...and last but certainly not least, photographer Elisabeth Dunker and Renee Garner and Charlie Lybrand aka Wolfie and the Sneak are featured artists in LPP.
Okay, I admit it, I'm trying really hard to win this one because it's for my nephew who loves paper airplanes and is a budding little artist who will hopefully grow up to be a making-a-living-at-it artist, rather than a football hall-of-famer, which is what his dad wants him to be. I'm trying to save him from this fate and if a book about amazing airborne paper creations can help, then yippee!