The NEW improved justinwinslow.com!

After a looooong pause in blogging, I find myself compelled to throw something up until I'm able to elaborate. The kid's show I was working on ended, I did some traveling, and I spent the last few weeks working at a new studio. So I've been quite busy shifting gears from working to not working and then scrambling around for a job. On top of all the other life changes, I've been culling together all my best work for my NEW WEBSITE. A good friend of mine, Scott Sosebee, helped me create a new look for justinwinslow.com. Please check it out. I'd love to hear what you think of it. I hope it represents the best of what I have to offer to the worlds of broadcast design and illustration. (I also hope it bags me an agent.) We'll see if anything spectacular comes out of it, but for now I'm just giddy clicking through page after colorful page. I think Scott did an incredible job with the interface and I feel like it represents me well. Hopefully, it presents something new of mine you haven't already seen before.

The Art & Flair of Mary Blair in San Francisco

I recently returned from an amazing trip to San Francisco with my boyfriend and friends! It was a beautiful trip...and the added bonus was taking in "The Art & Flair of Mary Blair" show at San Fran's Cartoon Art Museum. Above is a close-up of the main piece in the exhibition showcasing Mary Blair's work. If you're not familiar with who Mary Blair is, check her out: Disney Legends, Mary Blair Flickr set, Yesterland, & The Art & Flair of Mary Blair the book.




This brilliant painter, concept artist, and stylist was one of the first women to reach great heights of influence within the Disney canon, in the 1940's and 50's amazingly. Her paintings distilled mood and emotion into deceptively simple design compositions, therefore they were used as a loose guide for the animators when creating scenes for the films. Her expressive use of colors and forms can be seen in several Disney films, and her work continues to inspire artists and animators to this day. Her work is most evident in Disney's Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and DisneyWorld's It's a Small World attraction. Beyond Disney, you can see her work in several Little Golden Books from the period.




Here's another close-up of one of Mary Blair's pieces. I love these colorful and whimsical parrots! This piece was inspired by a trip Mary Blair made to South America, and it was later used to inform the style of a Disney short.


This is perhaps my favorite piece in the entire show. I love the design of the two girls.


Here's my friend Keiko, a very talented animator who met us at the exhibit! Check out Keiko's work, it's great!


Here's Me, Edson, and Keiko again...the following photos are more shots from our San Fran trip!


Me, Edson, and Carol at a park in downtown San Fran.


Here's the whole traveling group: Jay, Carol, Karina, Me, Edson, and Paulo. We're all sitting down for a big lunch at a cool little cafe we found.






I loved San Fran, and could easily live there. But once Edson and I set foot back in Manhattan, we were glad to be home!

Happy V Day

My lovely boyfriend surprised me with a fab new button down shirt and a cool pair of pants on V-day. I'm lovin' it. I returned the favor with a hand-drawn card (above) and exotic orchids (yellow with bright red streaks bleeding out from the center bud). I think he dug it. I know I dug spending the day with him. Here's to our second one together, baby! :)

B-Bot-Boy

New Year's Cards

I couldn't resist posting this shot of a couple New Year's designs I sent out as post Xmas "sorry you didn't get an Xmas card" cards. "HEEEAAAVE!" The inside read: "Here's to starting off the new year RIGHT!"

Imaginary Relationships

Since I plan to get back on track with my little comic strip narrative, I thought I'd post some of my developmental sketches. This is a loose relationship chart linking all the characters together. As you can see, I'm getting kinda' ambitious with this. I want to flesh out the whole universe of their warped little world. I'm a big fan of mythology and magical creatures and space aliens and robots, so I decided if I'm going to create a little world, it's going to involve all of my clashing fascinations. With a strip title like "Mythfits", I feel obliged to make opposites attract. I'm eager to induce all the meet and greets...even if it takes me a while.

Happy New Year!

These pics were taken on the rooftop of my apartment building right when the clock struck 12 for the new year. To those far away, I wish you could have been there with me. To those nearby, I'm lucky to have your friendship in this city. As the above pics illustrate, I like how we can be serious or SILLY together! Thanks for making my life here so enjoyable.

When I look at these New Year pics, part of me is amazed that I've arrived in New York. I've made it, as they say (well, at least as far as my area code goes...maybe not according to my tiny, tiny bathroom). I've proven to myself that I can survive in NYC with a smile. I can pay the rent. I can run with the big dogs. It feels great to cross off this huge item on my childhood list of dreams. I'm really in love with this place, too. Many people say they want to live here, move here, and find numerous things they can't stand and get out, but I think it really gels with me. Mind you, there ARE those occasional days where NYC is kicking my butt, be it from the extreme bipolar weather, the tense pedestrian traffic during rush hour, or the ornery subway system, but overall I've gotten by just fine. In fact, NYC has improved me as a person, as a professional, as an artist, and even as a boyfriend. Living here now I see why I didn't really "fit" in other places. It's eye-opening to have that realization. Now that 2008 is here, I'm happy to report my continued residence for a little over two years! They say here that the first two years are the test, and if you make it beyond that then you're officially a New Yorker. Thank God I made it!

2008 resolutions*:
-Make more comics
-Eat healthier
-Update my website
-Travel with my boyfriend
-Keep a consistent work-out schedule
-Visit distant friends and family more
-Keep my flimsy blog going

(* may be terminated at any point)

Holiday Card Madness

Increasingly with every passing year, Christmas seems right around the corner once Thanksgiving slips by. And here it is again! But this time I'm armed with CARDS. Oh sure, I've made hand-drawn Christmas cards before, but this year, I really went all out. (the ones pictured here are only HALF of them) I've lined them up on my coffee table for your viewing pleasure. (Please excuse the washed out shots my crappy camera created. I think its lens is damaged or something and I hope to get a better camera soon.)


Some are "nice". (Cutesy reindeer and talking stockings abound)


And some are "naughty". (Check out Santa's outfit)


An occasional menorah pops up for a few Jewish friends, and an occasional robot pops up because they're fun to draw, and Dolly Parton makes a Christmas appearance for a coworker who's her #1 fan. And yes, those are two huge ornaments she's holding up.


I finished them all just in time for the holidays with hardly any time to spare. I really hope they arrive in time for everyone!

You remind me of the babe...

BEHOLD: JARETH from Labyrinth!


My boyfriend Edson as Pan!


Our friend Dustin as a Gothic Lolita Harajuku Girl with a MONSTER!


Dustin's boyfriend Enki as the Mad Hatter and Kim as Amy Winehouse!


Edson again with Lu as a gypsy woman!


(my Drunk Bowie face)

It's after Thanksgiving and I'm just now getting around to posting pics of my Halloween costume. How sad.

I hope it's worth the wait. First of all, I hope you get the reference, and NO, I'm not supposed to be a drag queen. I'm going to embarrass myself by stating that I am a total Labyrinth geek. I've watched that movie about a thousand times since my early teens. I rememeber seeing the box cover for it on the shelf at our local video store and at first, I was hesitant. I had been traumatized a few years earlier by the bleak post-apocalyptic flick, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdrome, and somehow my teenage mind confused Tina Turner's face (and hair!) with Bowie's face (and hair!) on the cover of the Labyrinth box. Here's the two covers. SEE WHAT I MEAN? (Sorry they're so small.)










So initially, I thought Labyrinth was going to be some sort of terrifying sequel to the Mad Max series (I was such a wus), even though the words "Mad Max" weren't anywhere on the Labyrinth packaging. That shows you the power of visual merchandising on my young impressionable mind.

Thankfully, my Dad rented Labyrinth (probably thinking it WOULD be an intense continuation of the Road Warrior genre), and I was exposed to it. I think my brothers and my Dad were disappointed by the lack of violence, thrills, and things blowing up, but I was in HEAVEN! Labyrinth was my new FAVORITE MOVIE from that point on. Being a visual person and artistically inclined and all those cliché budding artist descriptions, I was enthralled by Jim Henson's GENIUS. He was a GOD.

Thus my Bowie/Jareth costume!


I even stuck a sock in my tights to get that conspicuous "Bowie bulge" ever-present in the film.


Not only did I chance upon the crystal orb at a local plastics manufacturing store, I also found an owl! (It's a bastardized "Hedwig" prop from a Harry Potter costume.) And if you're wondering if I bought the outfit as one of those pre-designed costume kit packages–I DIDN'T! It's all my doing, baby; pieced from various clothing articles and accessories found in various New York costume shops.


That's me on the right. Not the Bowie on the left. I think the girl is checking out our bulges.

So as you can imagine, Halloween 2007 was THE SHIT for me. I even marched with my boyfriend and friends in the official New York Halloween parade. It was amazing! I even saw another dude dressed as Jareth, AND he was holding hands with a girl dressed as Sarah from the movie. Almost Immediately I had the urge to rush over and smear his Bowie makeup and rip his wig off... but I restrained myself. Hey, Jareth's up for grabs for anyone, not just me. However, I did contemplate stealing "Sarah" away from him, not because she was nice or I liked her particularly; I just wanted her as an accessory.

Moving

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I just finished moving from the Lower East Side to Midtown West. (My drawing above sorta' reminds me of my neighborhood.) I found a fab studio apartment for a great deal. I'm shocked, actually. All my books, art supplies, and furniture have been carted across town and hauled up four flights of stairs. I hope to post pics of the new space soon...once the sea of boxes part to reveal a path to the promise land! FREEEEEEDOMMMMM... to decorate however I want! All my "ironic" kitsch treasures will crawl out of their hiding places and perch themselves proudly upon every surface, shouting "Unite! Unite! 'Good' taste shall be undone!" I will sit and lovingly admire each and every one of them, from detached baby doll heads to shiny, saucer-eyed fawns to plastic-molded, cartoon figurines. They will rally around me and serve as my minions. I can't wait. (Actually, I like good taste too, but bad taste makes me laugh.)

More cartoons to come...

Let's talk about feelings

Tagged!!!

Cutesypoo (go see her fun creations) tagged me earlier this week. To show I appreciate the love, I'm gonna play...

The rules:
1.) Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2.) Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3.) Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4.) Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here we go...
1.) As a kid I drew LOTS of dragons. (Here's another one up above.)
2.) I have so many allergies I might as well live in a bubble.
3.) My day job is creating these crazy backgrounds for a kid's show.


4.) I like making cards for people, especially people who I know will appreciate them.
5.) I didn't learn how to drive until I was 21. (I was a spazz behind the wheel.)


6.) I like grapes, pineapple and kiwi fruit, but I hate cucumbers, green peas, and celery.
7.) I'd secretly love to be a gifted chef like Remy the rat in Ratatouille (an amazing film), but I just don't have the drive –or time –or space.


Here's who I am tagging: (sorry!)
1.) Dave DeGrand, who is an amazing cartoonist whose doodles never fail to crack me up
2.) BIG AL'S SPOT, where Al Pardo animates funny characters
3.) D'Home, home of Stephen D'Andrea, the world's most talented teacher
4.) Kansa-Shite, where a cool fashion student named Gilda muses about the world
5.) Tirui, because her designs are great and she's cool
6.) Misadventures of Dee, because she's an awesome background designer
7.) The Ward-O-Matic, even though I'm sure Ward doesn't have the time

Something smells funny...

High Fashion and Poop

Well, it was OBVIOUS that I had to continue the adventure of this little turd. He appeared earlier, but now he's going to have his own little story.

While I drew robots, unicorns, and poop this weekend, my boyfriend checked out some collections during NYC's fashion week. I got a chance to see some of the designer lines as well, and boy, there was some pretty impressive stuff. It's so interesting to learn more about an area of design I'm less familiar with. I love hearing my boyfriend talk about the silhouette, cut, and details of clothing. It's mesmerizing how much thought and planning goes into some of these shows, too. There's such an eager audience for these events! People arrive and wait with bated breath to get a glimpse of their favorite designer's new creations. I can't say that I've seen many fine art crowds as passionate and impatient to view the latest creations by a living artist.

It's really interesting to me how the fashion world forces its audience to charge ahead and stay with the times. If fashion shows bared any resemblance to most American art museums (and their patrons), the styles walking down the runway would be forever stuck in Victorian England's fashion era...or maybe even caveman skins.

Let's go Shopping...

I hate grocery shopping, but I tried to ignore that when I was making these supermarket backgrounds.

Here, have some CHEESE!!!


Actually, I went to the acupunturist the other day, and she said I should try to cut cheese out of my diet. She says my body type is "hot and damp" and "easily accumulates phlegm" and cheese engenders dampness in the body perfect for phlegm production.

Yum.

A Doomed Relationship?

Hey, check out the awesome take on my unicorn character by Albert Pardo. He's an incredibly talented animator who does work for the kid's show I design backgrounds for. I'm honored that someone would do a stylization of one of my characters... and a hilariously silly one, at that!

Little Ditties

Hey folks, I've been gone a few days vacationing in Provincetown. It was a beautiful Labor Day weekend. I hope you all had a pleasant one as well.

I'm workin' on more adventures with Robot & Unicorn, so sit tight! For now, I'm posting a little doodle that was half-way transformed into a finished illustration. When will the people at work realize I need to devote ALL my time to these Mythfits??? ;)

In addition to that, here's a few sketches from NY City and the beach!


There's really no better place than NY to draw strange people...well, maybe Las Vegas?




Ugh...the woman on the right ended up out of proportion. She was supposed to have more of a midsection than that.

You know what I realized while sketching on the beach? There sure are a lot of fat Americans out there.



Below is a photo of my friend, Luciane, who I sketched above while lying on the beach. She liked the finished drawing, so I'm going to give it to her eventually. (Don't tell her, but we're also trying to find her a girlfriend! She's single, ladies!)

It was great to relax in the sand and practice some figure drawing, although I think my drawing of Lu came out a bit stiff...but I like the movement in her hair and skirt. Gotta' loosen up.


I'm trying not to get sunburned.


Fishing sure looks boring to me.