March 7th / Todays Post(s)
Xerox machine and a little bit of pastel, 2011
My page in Brian Collins’ booklet, “The Triumph of the Commons: 55 Theses On the Future” along with 54 other designers, available at info@collins1.com
CalArts backyard
March 4th / Todays Post(s)
Both sides of a thin 3 x 6 ” polished Chinese “landscape” rock, purchased at the Tucson Mineral and Rock Show last month for $8 and no cents !
Found Art: Part of a drawing left on a scrap of 1914 paper. What could it have been a part of ? The Flatiron Building ?
“Photographs of How Lettering Looks Photographed:” Sampler in an Antique Mall, somewhere, and sometime ago. One of thousands of photos I have in this category, where I’ve had a long held fascination with the subject. I can never remember where or when I took all the pictures, not that it mattered then, but on the other hand, it might now.
February 29th / Todays Post(s)
A leap year rubbing drawing, black crayon stick, Bestine, white Prismacolor pencil.
Backyard morning through blinds, window glass, and screen.
Various Drawings in Various Styles from Various Times
“Imaginary Empty Lake (In The Middle) Telegraphing A Full Cloud”, color pencil with collage, 2002, Melbourne, Australia
China marker drawing on torn black Xerox print with collage bit, 2012
Drawing on the back of a drawing.
8 pages from a small sketch book on drawings of “forms”, 1999
Drawing with collage from 1996 sketch book
Drawing from 1996 sketch book
Condolence drawings, one lost in the mail, 2012.
Collage, drawing, collage, current sketch book page, 2012.
Sketch book drawing, black ball point pen, with collage bits, 2012
Alternative History Project
This was written by Brian Tucker, curator and director of the Pasadena City College Gallery. It was for a wall plaque during the first time showing in 2010 of this project as part of a larger exhibition of my graphic design work called “Ed Fella: I’m History”. His description is better and more to the point than anything I could have said about it. I started the project in 2001 and have probably done close to a thousand drawings of “paintings” to date. I find it the most liberating kind of “art” I can make, since for me, it’s outside all time and place and has no necessity other than it’s own pretend(ion). The following posts are examples, in no particular order: pretty pictures (an ongoing body of work in an artist’s studio practice, as they say) to amuse an “exit-level” graphic designer !
Oil pastel drawing on scrap of 120 year old paper, 2010
Gestural drawing….part of a series of 100 consecutive drawings done in 100 consecutive days during a summer break in 2010
Old Post Cards as Graphic Design or Photography or Illustration
I’ve been a post card accumulator for many decades and have more of them than I can ever comprehend, although one of these days I actually intend to categorize all of them. Meanwhile, as I keep finding “new” cards, I can’t help making these juxtapositions.
Two different illustration styles, one “insider” and one “outsider” from 1906 or thereabouts.
An example of inadvertently subtle typography (or probably hand lettering): the slight irregular differences in the letter spacing are truly beautiful. Enough to say, “Oh! I Say!!” or more to the point, do.
No dates on either of these: the attached bag is long empty and who knows what’s happened to all those couplings ?
Someone named Frances sent this card in 1909 with the rather tenuous question asked in a poem on the front along with her reply to a Mr. Ray Brooks for finally sending her a long overdue letter… I wonder if the dreams came true sooner then never, and if old Ray ever did stop for the maid Frances ? Illinois is a long way from Massachusetts.
Today’s Post of Graphic Design or Fancy Lettering
Postcard for a Detroit AIGA event. Didn’t make the final cut via online votes !
Every year the CalArts students do lots of T-shirt designs for an AIGA fundraiser event. My contribution to this year’s sale.
Cover for my catalog for an exhibition at the Chaumont Poster Festival in France during May of 2011
Birthday card lettering, Prismacolor pencil, 2011
Drawing of lettering done with ellipse guides and filled in finished version.
Unreadable “experimental typography” drawing on part of paper place mat, 2012
Printed Material From An Age When Reproduction Really Was Mechnical
Illustration from “The Growing World; or, Progress of Civilization, and the Wonders of Nature, Science, Literature, and Art, Interspersed with a Useful and Entertaining Collection of Miscellany by the best authors of the Day.” 1885
” Cozenza: A Tale of Italy, and Other Poems.” by a Mrs. N. Furlong of Oakland, California: faded gold detail of a very late 19th century book cover, 1899 to be exact.
Polaroid Archive
Outhouse, Texas wall, 2001
Turn of the last century landscape: Picture of a picture, circa, mid ‘oo
A diptych of two Polaroid photos (titled “A Western Story”) of printed material taken through a “Lupe”. Click on the image and get an enlarged view if you love half-tone dot patterns!
Michigan August, 2004
“Ned Kelly Looking For Boilerplate”, B&W Xerox of original, collage on Polaroid, 2008
3 in 1. Wall in North Las Vegas, 1998. Click on it for larger and better look.
2 Polaroid photos with collage and drawing, 2009
Polaroid with collage, 2010
Collage and drawing on Polaroid, 2009
1996
Polaroid pictures of pictures, “Old weird America” grouping, 2010
“Polaroid Paintings,” China marker “drawings for paintings” on blank or discarded Polaroids, part of the my counter-factual history project, 2012
Pages From Current Sketch Books
This and the following drawings: 4 color ball point pen with white and yellow Prisma Color pencil and an added collage bit, 2011 and 2012. For 30 years (1957-1987), I worked as an illustrator in Detroit, and although I do no more commercial work, I can’t help adding little cartoons to my sketch book pages now and then….
A Sometimes Daily Post Of Something Or Other
For winter, wherever it is, a couple of Polaroids with China Marker and Wite’Out additions, 2011
A early 60’s illustration inspired or copied: actually more like reworked in a then current wannabe style for me, from a painting called “The Signing of the Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28th June, 1919”, by Sir William Orpen. I got the picture from an issue of “American Heritage”, back when it was a hard bound magazine. Orpen has become a favorite painter of mine over the years: an amazing portrait of his, which I always visit when in New York, is in the Met. I never did make anything out of that illustration style !
Exhibition of my work at Fotokino in Marseille, France, a wall of flyers and a puzzled kid (?) or maybe not: how about an enthralled kid ?
A painting by Taylor Fox: Cottage, oil on canvas, 60″ x 80″ Currently on view (along with others, both large and small) in the Snow Library, Orleans, MA
Several years ago a CalArts student had a series of postcards printed up on the positive aspects the community where the school is located. This was my contribution to his project.
A 1978 pencil drawing with two added bits of white tape (now yellowed) based on a 1930s or 40s (?) jumbo postcard of the Art Deco ladies room in New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
A 1978 Xerox print, hand colored, of the above drawing. Copy machines in the 7o’s made a muted black and grey reproduction of any image used. At the time, I found this so interesting a transformation, I made small editions of “XeroxPrints” of various drawings, photographs, and collages. Also little booklets, now nicely termed “Zines”.
Digital photos, cropped and enhanced in I-Photo (since Photoshop is to complicated for me), dragged into Keynote, juxtaposed, screen grabbed, and finally posted as “arty photos” with no real purpose other than what they look like and if by chance seem to mean something or maybe allow for some sort of narrative or just more “whatever, it’s all good” contributions to the over filled image-sphere….
Downtown LA from the Getty Museum, 2012
Cutesy Valentine Post for my daughter and grand daughter: February 14 2012
Marian Bantjes sends out many hundreds of Valentines every year: here is the current (2012) one I just received. The silver overprinting of her wonderful lettering on the front reads, “from me wherever I am to you wherever you are.” I think the old postcard is from 1911, and I hope Ma’s not the one in jail !
Archive: Holiday posters
Silk-screened poster (22″x 22″, green and silver on red paper) from 1964 or thereabouts: a promotional piece for two reps at New Center Studios in Detroit, a mix of “op art” and “art-deco”, popular movements, one current, one retro, at that time, but also meant as a complete disparity between a “high” and a “low” aesthetic. Now probably considered a post-modern hybrid, but back then, I thought it a joke !
Xerox print, (11″x 16″): My annual holiday promotion, done in a “radical” (in that I couldn’t use it in professional work) lettering style of mine from 1983, which vaguely hinted at it’s own construction, among other things.
Family Holiday Cards 2011-12
Annamarie Fella, high school math teacher, San Luis Obispo, California, and “circle artist” !
Andrea Fella, graphic designer, Brooklyn, New York, and “photographer” !
Lucy Bates, wife and muse, Valencia, California, and “collagist” !
Orlena Fox Fella, granddaughter, Brooklyn, New York, and “natural artist” !
2011 Holiday Greetings
Two years ago I ended my 20 years of printed Holiday flyers. That last print run was around 700 copies and with the printing, paper, and mailing, came close to a thousand dollars in costs. So I included a short note in each one sent out that said:
My first e-mail greeting from last year:
…and this years:
