- Nov 13, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Illustration Rolling Calendar @smartigraphicdesign
The year is a nebulous thing, right? Time passes quickly and it’s hard to visualize exactly what happens when. I always want to see the whole year at a glance when I push pencil to paper. For the past couple of years, I’ve been designing my own yearly calendars. Simple rolling year calendar that helps me plan and block out the year into design focus, seasons for adventures, and traditions. So I’ll chat a little bit of my process and link the calendar at the end - in case it is of service to you, dear reader.
Illustration: Calendar Planning in Pink @smartigraphicdesign
A rolling calendar is one with all the dates in a rolling fashion - no distinguishing spaces between months. There's something fascinating about seeing each month roll into each other to make up the entire year. It works well for me because I love planning and organizing things. And time is a concept that is hard for me to lasso. So seeing it in a big picture format makes it more tangible.
For planning, I start by forecasting design study for the year. It doesn’t always turn into a project, but it does focus my attention. Last year I was lucky because I studied colored pencil work, which resulted in the vintage object poster. This year was supposed to be watercolor, which got sideswiped for cultural learning in Namibia because of our move (which I'm hoping will turn into a tiny tourism ticket booklet at some point.) Next year, I'm going back to the watercolor idea, so I'll make my tools more accessible and schedule in reminders with prompts in my ToDoIst app.
Seasonal adventures help section the year with activities. I think it's easier for people with kids to do this, because they are coming home from school with seasonal activities like Valentines greetings, or Halloween dress-ups, etc. But without kids in our home, and our changing residencies, it's important to section something seasonally appropriate on the calendar. It helps remind us to be present in the season. For us, it's summer barbecues, fall bonfires, winter board game nights and spring camping.
Illustration: Summer BBQ, Fall Bonfire, Winter Games, Spring Camping @smartigraphicdesign
(Super side note: The seasons are flipped in the southern hemisphere, so we’ll be shifting things around with summer blooming in December and winter falling in July. Different but fun! We've done it before when we were stationed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was almost kind of nice to opt out of the winter holiday consumerism and instead enjoy tank tops and hot weather. But yea, it can be weird to complain to friends about the cold weather in July when the major news outlets are reporting record temperatures through the summer. Northern hemisphere-centricity is a real thing.)
Finally, I think the year is so special when it’s sprinkled with traditions. Although I did read in Think Again by Adam Grant that traditions are peer pressure from dead people. Hehe. That's a reminder to let go when it doesn’t serve anyone anymore. But also, from Meik Wiking’s books on Hygge and his other title The Art of Making Memories (and frankly, our 2-year residence in Copenhagen) I can recognize that traditions bring in magic delight to a community. I like sharing harvest pumpkin loaves in the early fall, hosting Thanksgiving, simmering a spring chili cook-off. It's also nice to join into local traditions (side note: I can't wait to join those while we're here in Namibia!)
Illustration: Calendar Blocked in Blue @smartigraphicdesign
I block off all of these things in the rolling calendar, along with possible travel so that I can foresee more or less how the year will go. (There’s always unexpected surprises!) It really helps me feel grounded. There's events to build up to, as well as quiet restful pauses to revel in. When the whole year is laid out like that, it can be both stimulating and relaxing.
Here's the link for my 2024 calendar. If you want that BIG PICTURE effect, just be sure to print it out in A3 size or larger at your local printer of choice.
Happy calendar planning to you,
smarti
- Oct 14, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Illustration Treasure Chest of Children's Books @smartigraphicdesign
Momola bought a wooden storage chest once in a Japanese bazaar and as we moved around from country to country during my childhood. It became a safe space for my favorite things. And then childhood ended and I went on for other adventures. It's been in storage for a decade. And I finally reopened it this summer. What I found was a portal to my childhood self - a small collection of the illustrated books that made that time so special. Some of them you'll know, dear reader! But I suspect that some will be a surprise!
I had intentions of reopening this chest years ago. But you know how it goes. Life has other ideas. I just never got around to it. I got up the courage to unearth it this year. And opening it up, I found a collection of things that I had forgotten. A music box that played Maiden's Prayer, a whittled wooden charm that I used to wear on a necklace, a trick Japanese puzzle box, a Twin Stars lunchbox - even a Jenny doll (the Japanese barbie.) It was a gorgeous foray into the mind of a younger smarti: the tiny things she liked, the color choices she preferred, the magic of youthful whimsy.
But when I got down to the books. The books. THE BOOKS! I was so incredibly enamored. It's so true that the books one reads as a child integrate so deeply into our conscience. The stories still elicit a sense of excitement, happiness, playfulness. And while I can't exactly see the world with the same eyes, I can see how the aesthetic of the illustrations have inspired so much of my style, my choices, and the art in my present life. Here's the top hits of the collection that I'd like to share with you, dear reader:
illustration credit: Dr. Seuss enterprise
Green Eggs and Ham By Dr Seuss
A classic of any childhood generation, Dr. Seuss reigned supreme in our bedtime story traditions. My dad had a thousand voices at the ready while reading stories, but Sam-I-Am was by far his best. I love the inky lines, the strong contrasted colors, the imagination of all the propping aparata that were needed to lift boxes with foxes, or stilt trains speeding into a lake. And how's about a round of applause for the wand with a whole other hand attached at the end? Bravo!
illustration credit: Maria Pascual Albrecht
bibliography: Barrio, Fedro, Esopo, Iriarte, & Samaniego (Eds.). (1983). Fábulas. Tomo 6. (Pascual, Illus.) Ediciones Toray
Fabulas, Tomo 6, Authors: Barrio, Esopo, Fedro, Iriarte, Samaniego. Illustrated by Maria Pascual
This is a story collection book series that exclusively featured the artist Maria Pascual Albrecht. She was a prolific children's book illustrator in Spain, and although her body of work emerges during and out of the 70s funk - only dark eyelashes from that era extends into her art style. Otherwise, it's pages of delicate outlines of scenes and people, the softest blended bright colors, and an eye for background scenery and ornamentation that make every illustration glow with magic.
illustration credit: Yoshisuke Kurosaki
bibliography: Sakade, F. (1994). Japanese children’s favorite stories. (Kurosaki, Y., Illus) Tuttle.
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, edited by Florence Sakade. Illustrated by Yoshisuke Kurosaki
This book is a compendium of classic Japanese tales with the most elegant lines and dreamiest watercolor illustration by Yoshisuke Kurosaki. He was a master of clean inked scenes with teensiest details of decoration. Characters have such round features, background shapes are soft-edged and curvy with smooth lined textures. Cute doesn't capture all its adorableness. And dear me, the colored pages are so bright and cheery they look almost edible!
illustration credit: Ron & Atie van der Meer
¡Oh, Señor!, written and illustrated by Ron & Atie van der Meer
[originally in English, but my Spanish cousins gifted it to me, so I have the Spanish version, which I decided to translate into English at some point - defacing my own copy! Original title: Oh Lord!]
A dutch artist husband-wife duo who wrote and illustrated this comic strip style book of the story of Genesis from the Bible. Apparently, Van Der Meer is known for being a paper engineer who has a long library credit of pop-up books. This book is not a pop-up. But it was a favorite to me for the neat layout and colorful imaginings of Genesis. I love how it compacts a convoluted story in such a clear and clean and colorful way. The genius use of a comic book structure is that it helped me understood the book before I could actually read it. Twice the use, double the fun.
illustration credit: Eric and Lucy Kincaid
El Sr. Ve-lo-todo dice "Mira Adentro", written and illustrated by Eric and Lucy Kincaid
(This was another book originally in English, but I have the Spanish copy. Original is titled: Look Inside.) The main drawing on each page a is realistic rendition of an animal, insect or food in nature. The accompanying background is always an imaginative scene that exaggerated the behavior and dwellings in the most creative ways. I loved the personification of everything - peas marching into a pod like soldiers, birds in do-rags vacuuming their nests, postal worker bees collecting pollen in jars and baskets, Of course, the addition of fairies in different scenes really made my imagination burst joyful about nature. (I cannot tell you how many times in my life I've thought of that orange packing fairy struggling to fit them back into their peels!)
My treasure chest was almost a time capsule, with the amount of time that had lapsed since I last opened it. And boy oh boy, that gave it such a rediscovery charm. A joy, curiosity and excitement of things I had almost forgotten! In the end it was hard for me to go through things without assigning some weight to all my keepsakes and trying to only keep the heaviest hitters. (Minimalism is not for the faint of heart.)
Thankfully, most of the books still captured my heart. They will stay with me for a while. I still find so much inspiration from them. And I can see why I chose bright colors, little details and clean lines, and work so hard to constantly simplify as I grow as an artist. It's part of my homage to the many illustrators who influenced me and my young self. A hearty thank you and big cheer for them! Hip hip hooray! I appreciate how you've made my world a wonderful place.
and now, here's wishing happy children's book memories to you too,
smarti
- Sep 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Illustration How To Make a Dress With Momola @smartigraphicdesign
The talents and tradition of clothes-making herald back through generations and I'm the blunt end of a long line of gifted seamstresses. Baby outfits, theater costumes, prom dresses - thanks to Momola, I've had them all. So it wasn't much of a stretch to query her on how to break apart a dress to make another. Here's a little peek behind that curtain on that adventure back in August 2021 (dear me, 2 years ago!):
Left to Right: Illustration of Find A Dress You Love. Photo of Pattern Breakdown. Illustration of Carbon Copy It ©smartigraphicdesign
Thrift-hunting in Paris, I found a polka-dotted swing dress with a full skirt perfect for swing dancing. I wore it out until the threads were busting all over. And instead of trying to mend it, I brought it home to Momola and asked if we could make a copy.
Normally, you can just take your shirt/pants/skirt and trace it inside-out on a long sheet of paper. (Check @withwendy for her YouTube video on cloning clothes if this excites you.) But my dress was made of complicated godets, or triangles that form the skirt. Too complicated for this technique. So, I split apart the seams and copied the cut pieces on a sheet of paper. And then I cut out carbon copies of each piece.
Left to Right: Illustration of Serger Photograph of cutting the pattern. Illustration of Ironing The Dress ©smartigraphicdesign
Serger (which is not a sewing machine, but rather a joining machine?) is the next phase. Dress parts are pinned together first and then passed through the needle but instead of tying the fabric together, the thread merely binds parts so they don't shift. Undoing the threading is suprisingly easy. And once the serger marries everything, it can go through the sewing machine for the final clean sewing line. Or at least, that's what I can make out of that phase. It seemed rather frivolous to me. But Momola was the boss, so I did it.
And then it was a lot of back and forth - serging and sewing. Every now and again, the folds of the material needed to be ironed to make sure that they lay flat to get the cleanest sewing lines. A safety cloth goes between the iron and the dress, and then iron presses the parts into a flattened form before making more rounds with the serger and the sewing machine. Slowly, the dress started to come together. The top resembled a shirt and the bottom formed a skirt.
Side note: This is where dress-making gets tedious. But pushing through the doldrums of mid-creation is the hardest part in ANY project. I think about the proverbial hill at the end of a marathon, where the best advice is to keep your head down and keep moving one foot in front of the other. I wish there was a better way to get through things, but sometimes it's just a muckfest.
Left to Right: Illustration of Momola Does Her Magic. Photograph Loving the Twirl. Illustration of Love the Twirl. ©smartigraphicdesign
Eventually, I had to ask for Momola's tailoring magic to capture a hundred little details in tailoring. This is where I'm crazy lucky that Momola can fit a dress to my body with chest darts, underarm holes, sleeve lengths, smooth interior slip, etc. I followed her sparkling expertise as best as I could. But the magic is watching her wordlessly pinch, pull, sew and tailor small details that make all the difference in the fit. In the end, the dress came out gorgeous, fit beautifully, and twirls like a dream.
Illustration How To Make a Dress With Momola. ©smartigraphicdesign
All my life, Momola has been one of those ladies with a can-do spirit that's bewitching. She'll try anything and can do almost everything. Carpentry, tiling, ceramics - it's delightfully fun to watch and a lesson that crafting is a learned intelligence that comes with time, practice and attempting things in different arenas. I'm grateful I get to be reminded of this when I watch her in action. A hearty thank you goes out to Momola for teaching me some new tricks and using her magic to bring yet another garment to life!
Illustration Thank You Momola. ©smartigraphicdesign
happy dress-making dear friends,
smarti
