Drawing sketchbook: Back in March I drew this birthday card for my friend, the most giant Bruce Springsteen fan in the whole wide world. If you know one of these people too, feel free to print it out, fill in the blank, and pass it along.  [click for a larger view]

Drawing sketchbook: My great uncles, Matt & Lou, were hilarious kind men with great faces.

The #copygram game: I liked the challenge of Krunk.Yawn. this week. Popstanding took the Krunk photo, so I kept an eye out for graffiti words to compliment it. Funny thing I realized is that for all the miles of graffiti on the Lower East Side, it’s almost all tagging and rarely spells anything. After days of searching, I found Yawn painted on the fence of a hippie garden up the street.

Kiosk paparazzi

The NY bicycle

Laundry

Krunk. Yawn.

Popeye the sailor man

It’s been quite a process, but I’ve finally made myself a new lauramanney.com. Please check it out.

I’m an art director, graphic designer, video editor, and website maker. I’m always interested in taking on freelance work, so if you like what you see, drop me a line lauramanney@gmail.com

#cop·ygram

/ˈkäpēgram/

 n. pl. cop·ygrams

1. An imitation or reproduction of an original Instagram photo; a duplicate: a copy
2. A single specimen of a picture that occurs in a multiple edition on Instagram

 v. pl. cop·ygramming, cop·ygrammed, cop·ygrams

1. To follow a model or pattern established by a pre-existing Instagram photo while taking a photo that is your own version of the same thing
2. To imitate an Instagram photo fairly, with great enthusiasm and happiness, and hashtagging it #copygram

________________________________________________________________

I hope the definition I put together helps explain the #copygram game a little better. We closed out three last week, and it’s still just a popstanding and betweenmediums collaboration. Anybody can jump on board, just look up the hashtag and have your iphone ready. It’s surprising, the things you notice when you start looking.

Ridin’ the Rails

Stop. Sunset.

Rain Man

Today I went to a cafe in the neighborhood that I rarely frequent. New cafe, where’ve you been all my life?! Just a block away, and full of characters in action. It’s my new spot.

Guy #1 answered his phone every 30 seconds, screamed into it for 10 seconds, slammed it down, repeat. repeat. He finally got a mass shushing, at which point he stood up and yelled “I’M HAVING A F%#@%NG NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, PEOPLE!” and ran out the door to get the phone he’d just chucked onto Avenue A.

Guy #2 was pretty oblivious to it all, wearing headphones and watching a movie while pounding his fist on the table muttering “TOO MANY RED HERRINGS! TOO MANY RED HERRINGS!!!”

Then some Pavarotti-style music came on and reminded me of one of the funniest videos I’ve ever seen. I was working on a blog post about some art I like at the MET, but started watching the video and got derailed. It never gets old. Well, my friend and I think it’s simply hilarious, and maybe we’re the only two, but I really doubt it. Just in case, I put together some stills as a comedy preview. It’s the weirdest, possibly greatest, duet of all time.

Saul Bass would have been 93 today, and he’s still the greatest. I’m plugging away, making my way through the giant book, with many more Saul-themed posts to come. Sit tight and take a look at the tribute video that Google put up today. They call it a “doodle“. I call it awesome. Happy BDay SB!

Hello, Wednesday, hello, people! It’s week 2 and we’re going strong with the #copygram game. I actually like it even more this week because it keeps me on my toes, always looking for my next pic as I walk around the city taking care of everyday livin’.

The only problem I can see with the weekly #copygram post is that it makes my lack of blog posts in-between pretty obvious. I’m just really busy. Just kidding, I shun that excuse! Things are certainly sucking my time, but I do think I could turn it around if my job was writing about whatever’s on the top of my head …  Enthusiastic creative in nyc! loves playing #copygram, designing things, writing blog posts, drawing pictures, reading Twitter, shooting videos, hanging out, and painting … yeah? yeah?

The NYC Bird

In The Sun

Litter Only

Garbage

Night Lights

Watch Out For Hop-Ons!

Which Way To the Airport?!

Last week I invented a game called #copygram. I was on jury duty recess, wandering around lower Manhattan scrolling through Instagram, when my friends green mailbox photo popped up. I was standing next to blue ones, so I took this pic and hashtagged it #copygram. We’ve been playing for 7 days. I like it. I think it has great potential.

Dual Mailboxes

The NY Pretzel

Deli Flowers

Moon

Willy Bridge

Iconic Strand

Sunday

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When I showed up for my first tour of jury duty yesterday I was pretty excited. I know it’s weird, but I had 12 Angry Men on my mind all morning and sort of hoped I’d get picked. Everyone talks about it like it’s the worst thing ever, but I’ve never been to court and don’t plan to return, so once I got in there I wanted the chance to see it up close. I get nothing from the sketches.

I’m serious though, I think it would be really interesting even if the case was lame. But yesterday I sat in a courtroom all day listening to potential jurors answer questions about their current struggles and dark pasts (that part was actually pretty good), and today I read half a book, took a 2 hour lunch and was dismissed. I feel swindled. Oh well, back to work. It’s like the old school Olympics … 4 more years …

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and didn’t know what to do with myself because it’s never happened before. It seemed too dark to get up—too quiet to stay inside, and too dangerous to go outside. So I stayed put, and started reading about Saul Bass while listening to Daytrotter on my iPad. (new favorite thing)

I think it’s a well-know fact that Strand is the best browsing bookstore in the world. Usually I’m not looking for much besides a good idea or two, but if I am looking for something specific, I almost always leave with something else. They get me every time.

The last time this happened I went looking for a small Francis Alÿs book, and left with a huge Saul Bass one. This book is so incredible it sucked me in. After an hour of leaning on a table flipping through the pages, it became clear that my life would suffer if I didn’t own it. Off we went to Avenue B.

This morning I planned to skim through it and write a Saul Bass post before the clock struck 6. How silly my brain is in the wee hours. Nobody can write a decent post from a book that’s 1.75 inches thick, and about the greatest designer in the whole wide world. It’ll have to be a series. Congrats, you’ve now completed part 1.

Surprisingly I had a pretty great NCAA night. I’m from Ann Arbor, so Michigan sports are a bit of a family affair. Usually it only revolves around football, but the basketball hype this year was nuts. The last time I cared about Michigan basketball was back in the 90′s when I was in high school and watched the Fab Five at Chrysler Arena on the big screen.

Tonight my parents started things off by sending this picture, and we spent the game on an intense family group text. It was a sad ending, but a great night, and mostly a really great game. Here are the before and after pics.

Next year, Michigan, next year.

I’m playing “Fantasy Art Collection,” inspired by games like Fantasy Baseball. Go to the main page to get the idea.

Fantasy Art Collection pick #17: 2 Diebenkorns

A few weeks ago I raced to the Met to catch the last weekend of Matisse: In Search of True Painting. I was thinking about buying one, but a weird thing happened, and all the show did was remind me how much I really love Diebenkorn. So I bought these two: Ocean Horizon and Ocean Park No. 67. It’s the combination of Matisse and Diebenkorn that’s helped me learn to see, and how to paint.

I started taking drawing classes in high school, and have a terrible memory of sitting on the local defunct train tracks with a sketchpad, trying to figure out perspective. The experience was terrible because sitting on train tracks of any kind is nauseating, but also because looking at the huge world in front of me, and trying to put it down on a piece of paper was equally nauseating. It simply didn’t fit on the page (I had the same problem with obese models in figure drawing).

It was around this time that I discovered Matisse, and remember seeing the two paintings below—finally able to see 3D as 2D. Something switched in my head, and I suddenly saw the paper as a flat surface, and the picture on it as an arrangement of shapes. Everything collapsed and the receding train tracks became a triangle, the horizon a rectangle, I saw lines instead of streets, shapes instead of cars and was finally able to draw the world in front of me. AND for this I thank you, Matisse!

So … back to the weird thing that happened when I went to see the Matisse show … I was walking through room after room of his paintings and couldn’t for the life of me remember why he struck such a chord with me in my youth (the previous thoughts came later). Aside from these two, I was looking at paintings of fruit, landscapes, women, and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Diebenkorn is obviously influenced by Matisse, but his work makes more sense to me. I can relate to it better because it feels contemporary. I don’t know why exactly. I don’t live in California and spend little time at the beach, but it’s not really the subject matter that I’m drawn to. His paintings look like things I see, and they have more to do with perception. Their non-specificity allows me to see my own world in them, and the layers of color and energy of his marks equally amaze me. Perfection!

I think it’s natural to grow out of artists. I guess it’s a positive thing that signifies creative growth and life moving ahead, but there’s a part of me that wishes I could still hang on to all the old inspiration with the same intensity. From time to time I still think of Matisse when I’m sitting here writing at my desk, looking out the window.

I was going through my books of his work tonight and pulled out Dance Me to the End of Love. I bought it 19 years ago, and started remembering why I loved him so much. I didn’t know who Leonard Cohen was at the time, but the book actually has more meaning to me now than it did all those years that it sat on my shelf. Here’s a slideshow of the book.

The very best of Matisse & Leonard Cohen … Dance Me to the End of Love.

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_1

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_2

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_3

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_4

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_5

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_6

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_7

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_8

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_9

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_10

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_11

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_12

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_13

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_14

Matisse_LeonardCohen_BetweenMediums_15

I’m playing “Fantasy Art Collection,” inspired by games like Fantasy Baseball. Go to the main page to get the idea.

Fantasy Art Collection pick #17: A gigantic Michelangelo

On Saturday I was telling my friend that I needed to make a quick March purchase for my Fantasy Art Collection so I didn’t fail my new years resolution to make one fake purchase of real art every month for a year.

Since Easter was happening in a few hours, we were thinking I should buy something religious to keep in the spirit of things. I thought about it, but I already bought Carravaggio and couldn’t think of any other religious art that I really wanted. David is amazing and so is The Pietà, but not so much that I want them looming over me in the tight space I call home. That seems weird. I’d rather go to Italy anyway.

So we decided I should buy the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. That works. I love it so much I’ve gone out of my way to see it twice. I could just slice off the top, bring it back to nyc, hang it from a crane so it didn’t take up too much space, and wait for the day that I have a big barn art studio in need of a roof. It would also give the new pope an opportunity to flex his Argentinian muscles and make his mark replacing it. AND my collection would rule in the meantime. win win.

Truth be told, I intended for this story to be the time-sensitive intro to a different art purchase. But as I got to looking at Michelangelo’s work tonight, it choked me up—I just love it. I grew up catholic and have known of it for as long as I can remember. But now I see his work differently, with much more meaning than it ever had for me before. It’s simple. It’s about connection—the reason why we’re here. I know I can’t have it, but hanging above my fantasy art collection it looks incredible.

{click on the drawing for a larger view}

Related posts

• Signe dresses up as paintings in My Neel is Headed to Sotheby’s
• The other kids also hit it big in Manney Acquisitions
• A Mummy Trade is arranged

{ I trade art with my nieces and nephew. Here’s the story of how it all came to be. }

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Signe and I Trade Mummys
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Life was so much easier in the ’90s …

I’ve been chipping away at a new lauramanney.com because my site is a fossil. I can’t update it because I paid someone to make it back when websites seemed too tricky for my brain. The main problem is that there’s only a sliver of my work on it because at the time I was trying to be slick—fueled by the fear I’d make no sense showing work that didn’t support my fascinating artist statement.

But times are a-changin’. I was never slick, creative frustration gets easier with time, and I finally realized I’ve got a ton of pretty good work in hiding. So tonight I decided to focus, find all my old stuff and finish the new site. Sounds pretty cool, right? Great way to spend a rainy Wednesday, right? … Wrong! Not cool. Not cool at all! I’m in hell, people! Hell!

What’s the saying … “Hindsight is 20/20″ or something like that? Not for me. I have no idea how to fix this mess so I think I’d phrase it differently …

“Hindsight is a __________________” (you can fill in the blank once you read on)

Here are a few of my hard drives. Back in 2002 I was in grad school, haphazardly saving my huge video files onto a million CDs. At the same time I was daydreaming about getting a dog and naming it Dave. Maybe the bigger dream at the time was “ooohhh, your dog’s sooooooo cute, what’s it’s name!!?” “Dave.” Either way, my brother’s name is Dave, so that seemed weird.

So I finally bought my first hard drive and named it Dave. Then came Bob, Andy (deceased), Andy Jr., Matt, Jim and Tobias. You’d think I would’ve stopped at Dave and started naming them by year or anything else that might suggest their contents. But no, oh no! And the worst part is there’s no rhyme or reason to any of the names except that I thought they’d all make really great dog names someday.

I guess all I’m trying to say is that it’s going to be a bit of a hold-up on the new website. Don’t worry, you’ll know, it’ll be a big ta do. It was so much easier back in the ’90s when I just loved Matisse and filled sketchbooks with drawings and really deep thoughts. Hindsight’s a _______ .