Willamette Weekly: This is Lents

Oh look! It's an actual post! And it's of something that I've actually drawn! The miracles never cease here on The Ward-O-Matic, I tell ya. Willamette Weekly is a weekly freebie newspaper here in Portland, OR. I did the cover for the May 27th, 2009 issue. Read article here, if you're curious. Lents is a neighborhood in the SE section of the city that's experiencing a possible re-birth. I actually went to the area to take photos of various buildings, parks, corners, etc. to get the look & feel of the neighborhood. Took the kids to Lents Park and had ice cream. It was a great day.

Got the call on Saturday, and had to turn it around by Tuesday -- yes, on Memorial Day weekend. So it goes.

Of course, this is based off those wonderful vintage large-letter postcards. What's in each letter? See below:

L - New Copper Penny: restaurant & bar on SE 92nd & Foster.
E - The new Beavers Minor League Baseball Park being proposed for Lents Park.
N - I-205: the highway split the neighborhood in two.
T - New MAX stop scheduled to open shortly.
S - Building near 92nd & Foster.

In case you're wondering how "Willamette" is pronounced, there's a saying that the locals say to any newbies: "It's Will-AM-ette, dammit!"

What you see here is the image I sent - the way they comp'ed it together looks rather nice, so i'll take some shots of the actual cover and post them here later on today.

Oh! Hey -- Andrea's got some new prints up in her Etsy shop. Check them out. Stunning images. By the way, I'm getting ready to update my Etsy with some 5x7 versions of the b-boy series. I think they look pretty stinkin' cool, but that's just me.

Coming soon: my children's book will be released on June 2nd!

Fun Greeting Cards

More vintage inspiration, this time from several cool mod cards, made by Sunshine Cards. The imprint on the back says "A Studio Card". No illustrator credit. No date, but probably late 60's-early 70's. I say "early 70's" because of the numerical code on the back suggests it might be 1971. But you can never tell with these things. These cards belong to a full set that feature the same looks and concept: fun stylized characters with a bit of real fabric or yarn, collage-like. The real bits of fabric (yarn for these two cards) are not actually on the cards themselves, but rather a photo. Adds a nice dimensionality to the cards, if you ask me. An extra bit of character to the characters.


"MINI HAPPY RETURNS!"


"But so is THE MORTGAGE, THE GROCERY BILL and the PAYMENT ON THE CAR!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY anyway!"

Har har! Always with the corny jokes.

I'll have to scan the rest of the set. The box they came in is pretty cool as well.

Kretschmer Wheat Germ Recipes

More inspiration for you guys, this time from Kretschmer Wheat Germ, circa 1971. Even though it's dated a little later from what I normally post, the illustrations found in this little cookbooklet (yes, I made that word up) are fun, colorful and lively. It's an interesting group of illustrations here because they almost serve as a bridge from the cheerful & simplistic 50's cookbook illos to the more decorative and graphic, pen & ink style of spot illustrations seen in the late-60's and 1970's. I'm no expert on this, just a simple observation.

Kodak Ektachrome booklet from 1955

How about some nice Monday morning inspiration? Yes, I thought so: here's a nifty booklet on Kodak Ektachrome film, 1955. No illustrator credit given. The few illustrations that are present are fabulous throughout, with fun linework offset by bold shapes of color. Nice use of type and lettering, too. Click on each image to go to its respective Flickr page.