odd guy’s index

As our one year anniversary approaches, let’s take a look at what we’ve accomplished, shall we?
 • Hours spent defining and researching our target audience: 84
• Number of logo fonts considered before deciding on “Hasty Pudding:” 23
• Number of hours logged on Skype: 328
• Miles from Lake Michigan our OGA studio is located: .2
• Hours spent hand-drawing much of website: 42

• T-shirt designs created: 16
• Miles walked/ran for mobile business meetings: 124
• Ranking of “raspberry” among best-selling OGA cap colors: 1
• Hours spent ironing tote bags: 35
• Number of T-shirt-shaped OGA brochure designs created: 2
• OGA YouTube videos launched: 6
• Number of foreign cameo appearances in videos: 1
• Number of cameo appearances by Walmart employees: 1
• Number of small fires accidentally set during filming: 2
• Penalty points assigned for finger quotes during filming: 10
• Hours spent editing footage: 853
• Size of OGA festival canopy: 10′ X 10′
• Ratio of Diet Cokes consumed to ounces of water: 245 to 1
• Miles biked round-trip to printer, per trip: 26
• Ranking of EnMart among most-active OGA Facebook friends: 1
• Number of celebrities named Yoko Ono who follow OGA on Twitter: 1
• Number of national magazines that featured OGA on the cover: 3
• Number of stores in which OGA shirts are currently sold: 3

Thank you for joining us in this, our first year of business. If you have any questions, or if we can help you in any way, just let us know!

Marie and Graham

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a fresh look at faces

Today a friend of mine posted a photo of her mother on Facebook, and I commented on how much they looked alike. Faces, like all 3-dimensional objects, contain geometric shapes, and when those shapes are positioned at similar angles and have similar proportions, you get similar faces.

This is usually the result of familial biology, but sometimes two unrelated strangers are mistaken as twins or siblings. (This happens to me frequently, as I live in a city wherein another woman my age has similar coloring and facial structure. We’ve been mistaken for each other for decades).

As a portrait artist, I’m fascinated with faces. When I’m out people-watching (a favorite activity), I see the ovals and cones and spheres in every face. I weigh the angles and proportions of the underlying bone and muscle structure that gives each face its unique appearance, and imagine how I’d draw each one.

The most common mistake made by beginning artists when attempting to render the human face is to draw what they think they see instead of what they really see. For example, we all consciously know that there are two tiny facial holes called “nostrils,” yet those holes are often drawn by beginners as black circles, giving the face a porcine-like appearance.

BEFORE: Disproportionate Features

In reality, nostrils are neither circular nor on a vertical plane. Look again. Nostrils  are typically an asymmetrical oval (though the shape varies widely) and, when looking straight on, lie on a nearly horizontal plane (depending on the nose shape).  From a straight-on perspective, nostrils are hidden almost entirely, and might only be rendered as subtle curves or indentations along the bottom edge of the nose.

AFTER: Proportionate Features

But that is just one example. Each part of the face requires a great deal of observation before putting graphite or paint to canvas. I urge each of you – especially those who say “I can’t draw faces!” – to spend some time really looking at the human face. What a fascinating and diverse subject.

Cheers!

Marie
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odd guy art: sexiest man alive

Break out the cheap champagne; odd guy art was just named PEEPLE magazine’s 2010 “Sexiest Man Alive.”

Art, though not technically a “man” (though a sexy abstract representation of one), joined Hollywood’s elite club of irresistible iconoclasts, beating out former winners George Clooney and Hugh Jackman, and trouncing newbie runner-up Justin Bieber.

The following interview appears in the October issue of PEEPLE magazine, available on newsstands now.

Peeple: Typically, you are shown only from the neck up. Why?
Art: For the same reason that Elvis Presley was filmed only from the waist up. Most people cannot survive that level of sexiness. They implode.
Peeple: Has a corporate logo ever reached this echelon of honor?
Art: The Lucky Charms® leprechaun was nominated back in ’87, but was quarantined with a suspicious case of marshmallow rash. Harry Hamlin won that year.
Peeple: The company you represent, “odd guy art:” Do you deem it worthy to use your image?
Art: Absolutely. “Odd guy art” is one of the funkiest and artiest new businesses on the planet. It offers quirky T-shirts, bags, caps, and cards – all featuring the designs of two artists trained in the realm of wit. And the best part? My mug appears on everything (*grin*).
Peeple: Are the endorsement offers pouring in?
Art: I am nothing if not loyal to “odd guy art.” Even though the two-figure annual salary is meager and the “gourmet” meals are pathetically pedestrian (if not inedible), it’s hard to resist being a part of something so cutting edge. So, no, I’ve had no offers.
Peeple: I’m sure the women out there are wondering: Boxers or briefs?
Art: I find that question sexist and demeaning (*wink*).
Peeple: What’s next for the Sexiest Man Alive?
Art: I’d like to advocate for other computer-generated 2-dimensional images. Even though I’m a jaundice-skinned, flounder-eyed cephalic icon stuck on a virtual canvas, I’m as much a man as a Pitt or a Depp. Right, ladies?

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pimp our canopy

Now that we’ve had a couple of great experiences selling our shirts face-to-face, we are excited about this weekend’s double-header: Our local farmer’s market on Saturday and our downtown art center’s “NOMO Expo” on Sunday (“NOMO” stands for “Non-Motorized,” as in walking and biking promotion). When we get to meet you guys in person, we are satisfied right down to our toes.

So in an attempt to catch your eye, we’re pimping our canopy.

We’ve applied some vinyl lettering to the overhang, spelling out our wares. We thought this might help you recognize us from a distance.

Graham burnishes our vinyl lettering onto our canopy. Will it stay on?

And as I write, Graham is building a frame out of PVC pipe so that I can sew an “odd guy art” banner this evening (featuring our logo) and mount it on the frame. We purchased some yellow canvas yesterday, which I already know takes opaque iron-on transfers very well, so after the sewing part is done, I’ll print out our logo and iron that baby on.

After that, I’ll try to show some restraint and let our products speak for themselves (“Less is more” and all that). We have a hanging rack to display some of our shirts; the rest we lay on tables, folded and packaged. Our bags are hung around the canopy, while caps and cards are displayed on tables.

The only thing left is YOU:). Hope to see you this weekend!

Marie

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Sheboygan: Small Works Project

I am very happy to have been able to participate in a novel and important project; the “Small Works Project” by the Sheboygan Visual Artists. Over the last few months, SVA has provided as many as three hundred 8″x10″ canvases. Local artists have used these canvases to create works of art of all types and then donated them back to SVA.

Tickets were then sold at $25 each, and were randomly assigned to the individual canvases. The money raised will fund an “Art in the Parks” program which will send SVA artists into parks, playgrounds, and other public places this summer to offer arts workshops for kids, teens, and adults.

We at “odd guy art” feel that this is a great cause. Time was tight for us, so I volunteered to be part of the project. I chose to work in acrylics and create what I call a megalithic landscape. I have a small series of these paintings which feature ancient standing stones in British landscapes. The scene I painted for this project is of two standing stones which are known as “Giants Graves.” These stones are the remains of a Bronze Age cairn circle near Kirkstanton in Cumbria, England.  Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland, and the other islands of the UK have many megalithic sites still standing.
“Giants Graves” complete.

I have no idea who ended up with my painting, but I hope that whoever it is will enjoy it. Even more important is that the “Small Works Project” has been a great success.

Graham

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Copyright © 2010 by Hetzel and McAllister. All rights reserved.

shirt designs

Good morning:)

For starters, we’ve developed six T-shirt designs for you. Those six designs are divided into two categories: “Simply Art,” which is based on our fine art drawings and paintings, and “Unlikely Events,” which includes our line of mock historical events.

“SIMPLY ART:”

         Bird Mechanics                       Last Supper                           Latte Art

“UNLIKELY EVENTS:”

            Bi-Cycle Ride                  Run For Rickets            London Triumvirate
             For Cholera

Our shirts also include a cool little “odd guy art” logo just below the back collar. And incidentally, the face on our logo changes color with each shirt, because the shirt color shows through, like this:

Our six designs also appear on our recycled canvas bags and our packs of over-sized postcards. You can, of course, see more views of our products on our website.

Join us next time for some insight into how we develop our designs – from conceptual hand drawings to computerized images.

Cheers!

Marie

All content and images;
Copyright © 2010 by Hetzel and McAllister. All rights reserved.