Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

Robert McCall

Monday, March 1st, 2010

I learned today that legendary space artist Robert McCall passed away, on Friday, February 26, at the age of 90.


Robert McCall, painting a mural at a NASA center. Credit: NASA
robert mccall

To many, McCall was known as the artist who painted the poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Others knew him as one of the great painters of the NASA program, from the 1960s onward.

I had the pleasure of viewing McCall’s 2008 show, Imagination Unbound, at the the University of Arizona Museum of Art. I keep a copy of the promotional flier for the show on the wall of my studio, by the door. I see it practically every day, and it helps to set the tone for the art I enjoy making so much.

I have been moved by Robert McCall’s bold vision for the future, as well as his precise rendering of concepts and environments that are so challenging to imagine. What’s more, I can never get enough of looking at his work. Especially in his most imaginative works, there’s always something new to see.

Robert McCall was one of the people that made Arizona great. Knowing that he lived here, just miles away, made me feel better about living here. I am thankful that he so generously donated many of his works to the University of Arizona Museum of Art Visual Arts Archive.

Thank you for inspiring me, Robert McCall. We will miss you.

— Grant Wiggins

Below: Fantasia with 23rd Century Megastructures, a 2006 painting I made that was inspired, in part, by Robert McCall.

robert mccall

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Detergent boxes: Graphic inspiration

Friday, January 8th, 2010
detergent boxes
Image via daniele_lavamat on flickr
detergent boxes
Image via daniele_lavamat

Over the holidays, I rediscovered my love for detergent boxes — especially vintage detergent boxes. I love how their graphic swirls and shapes are designed to arrest the eye. Beyond that, there’s something ineffably cool about the way detergent boxes have “all-over” compositions — they use all available space. Throughout this genre of design, it is as if negative space is viewed contemptuously as a waste of space!

That said, thank goodness for Flickr. And thank goodness for people like daniele_lavamat, who photograph and upload their detergent box collections (shown at left). If you haven’t seen this collection, and you like packaging, daniele_lavamat’s photostream is worth a visit. You’ll find fascinating snaps of European brands like Ariel, Dixan, and Soflan.

And there’s also IvoryTide’s photos of classic American detergent and soap brands, such as Fab, Rinso and Dash. The Rinso box below is gorgeous.

detergent boxes
Image via IvoryTide on flickr / http://www.flickr.com/photos/43109834@N07/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Guess I should upload photos of my detergent box collection, which represents brands like Trend and Biz. Wonder why I haven’t already. Regardless, a small part of my vintage packaging collection can be found on Flickr here.

— Grant Wiggins

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Interlocking stripes

Saturday, March 10th, 2007

This may not turn out to be the most charismatic blog post ever. My source of inspiration isn’t the most charismatic. But hey! Whatever.

Glenn Roeder wears a certain tie virtually every game. It’s a pretty straightforward tie, but I think it’s pretty cool. (If you’re not familiar with who Glenn Roeder is, he’s the manager of English soccer team Newcastle United.) I found this photo online to show you what I mean.

I’ve tried to mess with the tie’s pattern. I dig the interlocking stripes, so I thought I could mash them up and make them collide a bit . . . maybe even add more layers of colliding stripes for a more chaotic effect. I’ll have to file this away for future use.

In other news: Today was a glorious day in Tempe, Arizona. A high temp of 88 and not a cloud in the sky. Ideal for opening up the house and letting the breeze roll through the studio. As it gets warmer, the acrylic paint dries faster, which is a very good thing. And so I started work, officially, on Like Antique Shopping 100 Years Ago. (Sketch here.).

interlocking

— Grant Wiggins

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