The Snail
Posted by Troy | Filed under Collaborations
For Collaboration Friday today I got a handful of totally random vector shapes from Minneapolis designer (and Old & New contributor) Anne Ulku.
I saw a snail and some tee-pees and a bird face so there you go.
Want to do a fun collaboration next Friday? Follow me on Twitter so we can make something rad.
Tags: Anne Ulku, snail, spontaneous collaboration
The Beatles
Posted by Troy | Filed under Music
Illustration by Troy DeShano
This year new music sharing will alternate with music-based illustration.
My 9-yr-old daughter has really been into The Beatles lately, and on the rare occasion that she takes a break from The Muppets soundtrack you’ll hear the Fab Four ringing from her iPod.
I thought it was pretty cool the other day when she had a friend sleepover and I could hear “Love Me Do” coming from her room and wondered how many sleepovers over the past 50 years have had that song in the background.
So in honor of her and her always classy tastes, here’s the first in what will hopefully be many Beatles-inspired illustrations from our house.
Tags: original illustration, the beatles
Bunny Eating Contest
Posted by Troy | Filed under Collaborations, Other
Illustration by Troy DeShano
It’s Collab Friday!!
This week’s illustration is a reader suggestion… and for some reason this week everyone was suggesting super-weird and specific things (like I’m that weird??)
Everything from three-headed-kitten-mermaids to stilted tortoises…
When two different people happened to mention pie I knew we were on to something though…
@sacredlotus suggested bunnies eating pie and Matt suggested Cake vs. Pie…
So I decided to draw Cake vs. Pie in a bunny-eating contest.
Still kind of weird for me, but that’s the fun of collaborating, right?
What should I draw next time?
Bunny Eating Contest Wallpaper
Get this delicious illustration on your desktop dudes:
2560×1440, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1280×1024, 1020×1080
Tags: original illustration, wallpaper
Kathleen Edwards: Voyageur
Posted by Troy | Filed under Music
This new album from Kathleen Edwards is totally worth the long wait since her last. I love how this record sounds enough like her previous work that you know and recognize her fingerprints, but also has a whole new feel to it.
Which is nice.
The subtle newness can be attributed on some level by the fact that it was produced by Bon Iver and…
I suppose I don’t need to write anything else. She’s awesome.
Also. My giddiness hearing this new album was coming was cranked up a big notch when I saw the totally rad great lakes album art by Darren Booth!
Tags: kathleen edwards
I’m Here
Posted by Troy | Filed under Self Project
I’m lucky enough to have never suffered from chronic depression.
But it does sneak up on me from time to time.
Every once in a while I’d just as soon stay in bed and am lucky that my office is a mere 3 feet away or I’d never make it.
Today is one of those days.
Tags: depression, Faith, original illustration, self
Denno’s Museum Center NW Michigan Exhibit
Posted by Troy | Filed under News, Traverse City
I’m lucky to be one of only five artists to have multiple pieces included in the Denno’s Museum Center regional artist showcase.
It was interesting to see the diverse styles represented in the show and wonderful to be among so many talented individuals who call northern Michigan “home” at the opening this past weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: art, Denno's, Traverse City
Wonder Woman Reads
Posted by Troy | Filed under Collaborations
Earlier this week I threw a “who wants to collaborate today” on Twitter and the first to respond was Lori Andrews (aka @designertweets) so I told her to send me a photo and I’d do something fun with it.
Having watched Lori’s work for a while I totally expected one of her Albertan landscape polaroids, but she totally threw me for a loop with this shot of Wonder Woman on her day off..
I immediately thought of those 1980s READ posters that you’d see at the library.
More Collaboration
This is the first of a brand new project category for Strong Odors – every Friday will feature a collaborative project. It will either be an Odorifous interview, a spontaneous collaboration like this, or a reader suggested illustration.
So for next Friday I need your help!
Leave a comment below or on my Facebook page what I should draw and I’ll pick my favorite to publish next Friday (January 20).
Who knows, your idea may even end up as a limited edition print!
Want to Collaborate?
Are you an illustrator, photographer, artist, designer, etc? Let’s do something fun together! Email me with an idea or a random image.
Tags: Lori Andrews, photo illustration, spontaneous collaboration
Chai Tea
Posted by Troy | Filed under Strong Odors
On the rare occasion that I pour a cup of tea without spilling a drop I feel like some sort of martial arts master.
I’m sure it’s possible that after a million years of pouring tea our society could have designed a pot less prone to dribbling, but to pour a perfect cup from some sort of fool-proof “modern” design just wouldn’t offer the same satisfaction.
In those one-in-a-million moments when I lift and tip with the perfect angle and trajectory that not a single molecule of red rose drools down the spout I sit up straighter and feel that much more confident… like I can take on this afternoon with the unmatched balance of voracity and patience of a Jedi master.
Tags: martial arts, original illustration, strong odors, tai chi, tea
Farmer’s Progress as told by Willie Nelson, Coldplay
Posted by Troy | Filed under Film
Tags: Coldplay, music video, Willie Nelson
Delay Trees: Delay Trees
Posted by Troy | Filed under Music
Totally obsessed with Delay Trees right now.
Kind of like Sigur Ros only more accessible (the songs are much shorter for one thing) and it is catchy and upbeat (but not too upbeat) and has these little wonderful moments of really intense energy.
I feel like I could recommend this to just about anybody.
While I’m wondering how some kid from Helsinki can write songs about everyday things, love, life and the apocalypse in a way that a kid from Michigan can appreciate, I noticed the band bio on their website:
In his early twenties, Rami started to write songs about the growing pressures of adulthood, unemployment, ending friendships and the long Finnish winters.
Ok.. That makes sense then…
Which makes me wonder… is art style, genre, medium or even tempo determined on some level by personal experiences? Even if Rami and I live on opposite ends of the Earth, but have long winters in common are we more likely to create things to which one another can relate? or feel inspired by or connected to?
Or just enjoy?
So many great things about this record. I love the opening to my favorite song on the record – the apocalyptic “Summer 2012″ — speak to me in tongues or through fire alarms.
That’s a winner right there.
Tags: Delay Trees, Music
