10 Amazing Images by Mary Blair

Mary Blair was a master of color, certainly, but she was no less gifted in her ability to convey atmosphere. She applied impressive tonality and texture with pastels and created conceptual hallmarks during the golden age of animation with her work on Disney's Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.

In celebration of 100 years since her birth on October 21st, 1911, here are 10 amazing images by Mary Blair that have left a lasting impression on me over the years and contributed to my own development as an artist:

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum & Ghost Ranch

I had the privilege of visiting the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and seeing the O'Keeffiana: Art and Art Materials exhibit recently. The museum is situated in downtown Santa Fe, which I must say has excellent weather this time of year.





Seeing O'Keeffe's art materials in person is a strange experience. Here are these things - mostly pastels and oil stored humbly in her husband's tackle box and other modest containers; nothing abnormally special - and in this rudimentary form they created some of the most beautiful and notable art of the American Southwest.



I also got to visit the famous Ghost Ranch, where O'Keeffe lived and worked for nearly fifty years.



It is easy to see why she loved this environment. One characteristic of O'Keeffe's paintings was that she oftentimes focused on small portions of a subject, magnifying it to epic proportions. I don't believe the motive for this approach can be fully realized without visiting the territory in person. Ghost Ranch is a place that not only looks big, but feels big. Overwhelmingly big. The features themselves are not what create this feeling so much as the contrast of said features against their inactive and comparatively dead surroundings.



Georgia O'Keeffe's home/studio at Ghost Ranch still has her ladder propped up against its adobe walls. It is said that whenever she would have guests, they would always be made to climb up the ladder onto the roof where they would talk and take in the view. The ladder also made an appearance in her 1958 painting, Ladder to the Moon.



I highly recommend touring both the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe and Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu.

DS19

© Ryan Cooper | All Rights Reserved

J's Tattoo

Tattoo design for a friend.



Final tattoo.

SXSW 2010 + Current Projects

Well, I have survived another SXSW. Pictured below are Yacht and Glass Candy, a couple of highlights from the experience.


I am working on several paintings at the moment, in tandem with my usual graphic design responsibilities. Here is a sneak peak at Friends of Cupid.

Budgeting my time has been a challenge lately, and unfortunately it has come at the expense of my blog. Nevertheless, 2010 is going to be a big year for Analogous Life when it's all said and done with.

The script for my next animation project is currently underway as well, so expect some updates on that in the near future.

Until next time...

Evan Keogh Drawing Comics

Evan Keogh, contributing writer of The Perry Bible Fellowship, has a new comic blog. It's obviously a new venture—there are only 2 (two) entries thus far—but hey; these guys obviously have talent, so color me intrigued.


Is The Benevolent Spung destined to become the next PBF? Only time will tell.

Haiti Relief - The Renmen Project

The Renmen Project has been assembled by the team at Thunder Chunky and Ben The Illustrator in an effort to raise funds for UNICEF's Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal. If you would like to get involved, head over to the Renmen Project's official page for more info.

Gawker Artists

I am now a featured Gawker Artist. Check out my (in progress) page here.

Creative Boom Magazine

I have been featured in Creative Boom Magazine, a British publication. Check it out here.

Working mostly on longer term projects lately, so please excuse the lack of updates. There is plenty on the way for 2010.