Oh man, do I love making postcards. If I could only do just to the whole process. I love making postcards.
But first, an aside.
Have you listened to Hamilton? Nothing makes me feel unaccomplished like listening to Hamilton. Particularly Non-Stop.
"How do you write like you’re
Running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re
Running out of time?
Ev’ry day you fight like you’re running out of time
Like you’re running out of time
Are you running out of time?"
My goodness! Surely a goal of a postcard a week is not out of reach. But what do I write? On what? To whom?
Luckily I have a pretty clever community.
This was for my friend, Emily! Between school and work, she seems to meet a lot of office minded folk, so I thought she would appreciate this Terry Pratchett quote. I struggle with layout, especially once text is involved, so I confer frequently with my sister, who is quite a talented designer. I must have drawn this between ten and twenty times, trying to get the words to be a tie.
These poor scratchings were for Westen. I actually began another design for her, but when she revealed that her favorite color was red and not, in fact, whatever I had thought it was, I knew it was time to start again. I have a red ink that I am absolutely in love with, so it's appearance was guarantied. Ross then sent me the characters for "shinketsu wo sosogu - pour your hearts blood into it" and "mizu no kokoro - mind like water." As far as I know, Westen does not read Japanese and will not object to any mistakes I have made. One of the least typical of my designs. Ross has been a driving force on a number of artistic endeavors, and recently sent ME a postcard.
Jen and I had a conversation about redesigning the Hydra logo, so I went full octopus with this design.
Someone gave me a watercolor pencil set with no brown or black, which means someone out there designed a watercolor pencil set with no brown or black. What. The. Hell. I recently purchased some brown and black pencils to complete my collection. This portrait emerged from a test of one of the browns. I then struggled to find words that felt deliberate, eventually happening upon this quote from Shelley. Too bad my eyes are all wonky. Once I had successfully blended my janky portrait with a quote, it was time to choose a recipient. Nothing says Geoff Vining like the concept of something being terrible and worth defending. Boom!
This is an earlier one! A perfect quote for the absolutely enchanting green I have, but I was not yet brave enough to merge imagery and text.
The Jim Butcher quote was a Jen request, and then it was on me to show my designer sister that I could make something that is not a square. In my preparatory sketches, I did a better job of filling out a diamond shape.
Check that out! Three colors! Multiple font sizes!
Who's my buddy? It's Skeletor! Look at that awkward fusion of text and context! I do not remember who received this gem.
Still a great line. Skeletor, you my guy.
We thought it would be funny to send this one to Ken, because he is easily alarmed and confused, but recovers quickly.
We thought it would be funny to send this one to Ken, because he is easily alarmed and confused, but recovers quickly.
Maggie's card! This one also took some doing. She initially requested "tenderness is in the hands" from
"The heart is the toughest part of the body.
Tenderness is in the hands.” - Carolyn Forche
Which is just ridiculously outside my mental image library. Luckily she later said "any hands that make art have tenderness in them" and I had my out. Maggie then went on to say nice things about me on the internet and I cried. Feelings make me uncomfortable.
See? A community makes these cards. Sometimes art first. Sometimes quote first. Sometimes recipient first. But we cobble it all together. Carley has been my go-to for who I should write to or where I should hunt for quotes. Ross answers my questions about kanji and reviews designs. Jen and I text images back forth while I am working. A few people have given me prompts (or challenges, as I think of them). Laura and I talk about watercolors. My aunt sent me pens. My parents sent me pens. Westen sent me rebuttals. Lin-Manuel Miranda sent me a sense of overwhelming under-accomplishment. Will and Alyska have given me food and a pen and ink and paper.
I am confident I am forgetting the many others of you who have contributed. Thank you, you! Well done. Teamwork is making the dream work.
See? A community makes these cards. Sometimes art first. Sometimes quote first. Sometimes recipient first. But we cobble it all together. Carley has been my go-to for who I should write to or where I should hunt for quotes. Ross answers my questions about kanji and reviews designs. Jen and I text images back forth while I am working. A few people have given me prompts (or challenges, as I think of them). Laura and I talk about watercolors. My aunt sent me pens. My parents sent me pens. Westen sent me rebuttals. Lin-Manuel Miranda sent me a sense of overwhelming under-accomplishment. Will and Alyska have given me food and a pen and ink and paper.
I am confident I am forgetting the many others of you who have contributed. Thank you, you! Well done. Teamwork is making the dream work.
