Category Archives: creativity

I visited Hellions with sQuishiepuss!

I had a great time visiting with Atlanta artist Ray Geier, better known around town as sQuishiepuss. Besides being an awesome artist, Ray has started a video channel called Hellions, which is his forum for interviewing other artists, talking about the creative life, and giving straightforward talk about the business of being an artist.

Check out the show and Ray’s art, and be sure to subscribe to his channel!

Also, you may not know, Ray and I collaborated on a painting, which is for sale in Ray’s webshop – check it out!

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The Doodleslice Doodle Manifesto

Stultorum Calami Carbones 2014-01-22

I wrote this about a month ago originally thinking that it might be about four or five items in length. It’s now up to 37 and counting.

The Doodleslice Doodle Art Manifesto

1) Lines are movements, let them dance.
2) Accidents are beautiful.
3) Overworked is the enemy.
4) Over-thought is the enemy.
5) Smiles and laughter are not just important, they are noble, elevating, aesthetic experiences.
6) Respect the integrity of your chosen media, embrace the quirks of your chosen media.
7) Experiment!
8) Practice acceptance.
9) Respond!
10) Improvise!
11) Let people see what you make especially the pieces that make you nervous.
12) Art is Love for everybody.
13) We make art on Earth. We are Earthlings one and all and only one planet is open for business.
14) Choose Mudita over Schadenfreude.
15) Glory in color.
16) Strive to bring the feeling of color even when using only a black pen on white paper.
17) Even a single line can be beautiful.
18) Even a single line can be profound.
19) Your hand knows its business – don’t be too swift to judge it when it surprises you.
20) Doodling is openness to the essential.
21) When in doubt, draw a bird.
22) When in doubt, draw a bunny.
23) When in doubt, write a word in the middle of the page. Love is a great word to choose.
24) Believe in every line you draw.
25) When in doubt, be simple and spare.
26) When in doubt, be complex and turbulent.
27) When in doubt about starting, make a single random mark on the canvas or page.
28) When in doubt about finishing, stop and walk away. If you’re not finished you’ll know it when you come back.
29) Poems love doodles and doodles love poems.
30) Grownups deserve art that is joyful without being jaded, mawkish, ironic or saccharine. They need it at least as much as kids do.
31) Give yourself permission to put your whole heart into what you do.
32) Give yourself permission to love the silly, the whimsical, the absurd.
33) Hug unreservedly.
34) When in doubt, draw!
35) When certain, draw!
36) Draw! Draw! Draw!
37) And don’t forget to post.

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color me balloons – let’s collaborate #doodle

1342-colormeballoons

Let’s play together! Yes, it’s silly, but I guarantee if you try it
you’ll like it. I drew some balloons for you, I’m asking you to have
some fun and add some color for me.

Go ahead, use crayons, markers, pencils, nail polish, paint, mustard,
ketchup or blueberries, whatever media works best for you.

Send a scan of what you come up with to balloons@equationarts.com and
I’ll post them to my blog.

Thanks for playing!

-David
🙂

http://www.EquationArts.com/blog

UPDATE: Here’s the first submission by the awesome Daniel, @friendlyhuman

UPDATE 2: Here’s one from Kaj:
kaj balloons

I’m looking forward to seeing yours too!

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Are you a late bloomer or a long bloomer?

Orange Hummingbird and Flower

Long Bloomer

Are you a late bloomer or a long bloomer? It seems to be a more common phenomenon these days: thirty-something’s, forty-something’s, fifty- and sixty-something’s finding that it is not until they are embarking on their 2nd, 3rd, or nth career that they feel they are really hitting their stride. It’s a time they wouldn’t trade for the world, but it is also a time when they sometimes yearn for the vitality of younger days. A time of more energy and less creakiness. Late bloomers they get called and maybe I am one too, but is this a fair label, does this give credit to the road they’ve walked? The hard work and exploration of the years spent finding their way?

The other day my girlfriend and I were sitting on the sofa, me with my nose in my laptop and Julie thumbing through a dog lover’s magazine. As she flipped a page an interesting squiggle caught my eye, “wait, go back.” There was a page of delightful cartoons accompanying an article about William Steig. The article focused on a recent collection of his work and featured many of his dog-centric cartoons. I recognized the work, but realized that I didn’t know much about the man, so a-Googling I did go…


I was so inspired by the story I found. Not only was Mr. Steig a talented and prolific young artist, he was a lifelong force of growth and creative exploration. I was wowed to learn that he had over 1600 cartoons and 117 cover illustrations published in The New Yorker. It’s kind of staggering, but it was the product of a lifelong relationship with the magazine. But it was what I read next that made me feel excited, and a whole lot less creaky: W. Steig published his first children’s book when he was 61 years old! He won the Caldecott Medal for his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

As a doodlist it has always been an ambition of mine to write and illustrate a children’s book and I’ve had many starts in that direction. And also many times when I look at the calendar and marvel at how fast the years manage to go by. Don’t get me wrong, I love the work I’m doing, and I’m proud of my past accomplishments, both in my artwork and in my business life, but I still have itches left to scratch. Yes, my bifocals have been replaced by trifocals and my salt & pepper beard gets saltier every day, but I’m resolved to still hit some of these big to-dos on my list.

I think this is the lesson of William Steig, doodler-divine, that whether we’re early bloomers or late bloomers, we can all be long bloomers. We can put growth and accomplishment on our itinerary for the rest of our lives, and there is no limit to what we might accomplish no matter how late we start. By the way you know what Steig did when he was around 83? He drew a character and wrote a book about him. He called him Shrek! They based a movie on it, I even heard it did well…. 😉

What about you? Are you a late bloomer, an early bloomer, a perennial? I’d love to know what inspires you and how you inspire others. Be a beacon my friends and keep on blooming!

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Fibonacci!

I just had to add this quick one. A fellow named Pierce Brown wrote me saying some nice things about this site. He sent me this cool infographic he made. I love it when rabbits and ‘rithmetic collide! Thanks Pierce!

It's got bunnies!

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Right Brain resurgent

So where are the posts, David? Yes friends, I’ve been a little delinquent in my writing, but inspired today by a post written by the awesome Fabeku, I decided to just show up.

Now I don’t want you to think I’ve been idle in my absence. I’ve actually been putting out a fair amount of content, but it has been of a more whimsical and decidedly visual bent. I’ve been a doodling fiend. If you’re interested you can check out the magic marker output (along with the occasional picture shot on the go from my phone) by visiting my posterous at http://davidscohen.posterous.com.

I’ve been enjoying this resurgence of my creativity, and frankly a little nervous about ramping up the degree to which I show the world my soft and silly side, but the fact is I preach authenticity in branding, and by gum I mean to practice it as well. (and how often do you get to say “by gum”?) I expect that the current flood of doodle inspiration will abate a bit over time, but it has been bottled up for a while and it feels good to let the drawings flow and not get too judgmental about them. I’ve picked some fairly humble materials to work with too: basically I’ve been drawing on 4″ x 6″ blank index cards and mostly using Sharpies, pens and highlighters. Sometimes I’ll use nicer art markers too – the highlighter palette is a bit limited. I keep it all on the desk so I can take my doodle breaks, scan them and tweet them to the world. So far, the world hasn’t complained, and I’m grateful for that.

I’m also cooking up a new website for Equation Arts. It’s not quite done yet, but I think it will be a better expression of who I am. Here’s a hint of things to come:
There will also be a lot of the color orange ( I love orange), and some crossover doodles will make their appearance there as well.

I hope that people who connect with me know that I’m a big believer that we all have something special to offer the world and each other, but sometimes we find ourselves framed in the wrong context – that “something special” ends up hidden, muffled, suppressed – unable to shine. So the new website is for me a shift in context toward something more authentic. I hope you’ll stick with me through the transition. Thanks! And remember…

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