Iceland 2015 : Artists in Residence

Congratulations to our 2015 artists in residence!
After a long deliberation and many incredible applicants, we've put together two exceptional teams for next year's Light Grey Art Lab Iceland 2015 Residency Program.

In the summer of 2015, two diverse teams will join us as our 2015 artists in residence. Our July 25 - 30th group welcomes a team of illustrators, concept artists and painters from different areas of the United States, Canada, and Austria. Our July 31 - August 5th group welcomes a team of animators, directors, illustrators, cartoonists and book makers and from different areas of the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. We will be traveling through Southern Iceland to visit some of the most secluded, wild, and sublime locations in the world. Our day excursions will include visits to some of the creaking glacial feet, boiling mud pots, hidden waterfalls, haunted hillsides, sleeping volcanos, basalt caves, and more. Equipped with our sketchbooks, cameras, and hiking gear, we set out on an adventure of a lifetime to explore, document, collaborate-- we hope to create an atmosphere of learning, open exchange, and dialogue.

TEAM MOSS
(July 25 - July 30, 2015)
Artists in Residence

JESSE RIGGLE (Vienna, Austria)
CHARMAINE VERHAGEN (Vancouver, Canada)
JULIANNA BRION (Maryland, USA)
ERIN MCGUIRE (Texas, USA)
ANDREW OLSON (Texas, USA)
ERIK KRENZ (Minnesota, USA)
MICHELLE SCHWARTZBAUER (Minnesota, USA)
CORY GODBEY (South Carolina, USA)
JUSTIN OAKSFORD (Washington, USA)
STEVEN HUGHES (Michigan, USA)
REBECCA OLENE (Minnesota, USA)
LAURA BIFANO (Vancouver, Canada)

For more information on our TEAM MOSS artists in residence, please visit their residency page here.



TEAM LICHEN
(July 31 - August 5, 2015)
Artists in Residence

LYNN WANG (California, USA)
ED SKUDDER (California, USA)
EVAN PALMER (Minnesota, USA)
LEE CRUTCHLEY (England, United Kingdom)
ANA BENAROYA (New York, USA)
KATE O'HARA (Nevada, USA)
JOY ANG (Edmonton, Canada)
BRIDGET UNDERWOOD (Oregon, USA)
MATT FORSYTHE (Toronto, Canada)
NICOLAS DELORT (Paris, France)
LEIGH LUNA (Minnesota, USA)
MEERA LEE PATEL (New York, USA)

For more information about our TEAM LICHEN artists in residence, please visit their residency page here.

Please welcome our new artists in residence for 2015!



Details about the application process for 2016 will be available fall of 2015. In the meantime, feel free to peek through the 2015 application page and description of our residency program here.

Huge thanks to everyone that applied for this year's residency program!

Light Grey Game Night: Marketplace

It's November. You've got deals on the brain. You've got to be cutthroat to get what you need at the price you want. Start sharpening your bartering skills, it's time for another Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Friday, November 21st from 6:30 to 9:30 PM! That's right, Friday! We moved it up from next Wednesday to avoid the holiday rush!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is Marketplace!

We'll be playing games about making deals, acquiring goods, building riches, and most importantly, crushing the competition! Earn your Seal of Excellence in Jaipur, don't loose your cool in Going, Going, Gone!, or flood the marketplace in Key Largo, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Also, here's a sneak peek at the next couple Light Grey Game Nights, so you can plan accordingly!
December 3rd: Emergency
December 17th: Stay Frosty

Podcast: Vague-ities

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Vague-ities
Length: 00:57:36
Synopsis: After spending the week reading dozens of artist statements from both well-established professional artists and new students, Jenny, Chris, Lindsay, and Francesca discuss the specificities of being specific. From art making to grant writing to career planning, being specific can help you set goals, define your schedule, and understand your own work.

Show Notes:
Give To The Max Day

Give to the Max Day!

We have HUGE news! This year, Light Grey Art Lab has been granted fiscal sponsorship through Spring Board for the Arts. This has been a great step in supporting the depth of our projects, community involvement, and connecting with artist and art programs in the Twin Cities! This partnership also makes us eligible for many funding opportunities, including the participation in this year's Give to the Max Day, November 13th!

Light Grey Art Lab opened in 2012 by Founder Lindsay Nohl. Since opening, we have exhibited nearly 2000 artists, illustrators, designers, and makers of all type across the world. Each new monthly exhibition features between 50-150 artists, exhibiting their work in unique formats, publications, gallery events, videogames and more. We are honored to work with so many great and ambitious artist who make these projects fun, compelling, and interactive.



In addition to the exhibitions, Light Grey Art Lab also hosts professional artist workshops, traveling residencies, lectures, mini classes, artist meet + greets, lock-ins, weekly podcasts, artist interviews, and more. Our mission is to create a space for global collaboration, sharing of ideas, and exchange.

Over the past couple years, we have been thrilled by the response, excitement, and support from the community. Many viewers contribute in forms of participation, donations, purchasing artwork, and attending events. Proceeds from exhibitions go directly back to supporting artists, future projects, books, and facilities. We appreciate every form of participation and enthusiasm!

November 13th is Give to the Max Day- an online project that allows anyone from any location to donate to their favorite charity, non profit, or project. We invite you to give to the cause! Support Light Grey, Spring Board for the Arts, or any of the other incredible and important businesses! Let's help new projects happen in 2015!

Thanks for being a part of what we do!

Skate or Die Exhibition Closing

Stop by Light Grey Art Lab this week to catch the final few days of the Skate or Die Exhibition! If you haven't seen the show yet, Skate or Die features a gorgeous, grotesque, and macabre-inspired designs made by 60 artists from around the world!



These unique, artist designed skateboards are made on 7ply Canadian Maple decks and are completely display or skate-ready! With any alternative format work, we hope that viewers can enjoy the artwork, the design considerations, as well as the functionality- slap trucks and wheels on your board and skate right out of the gallery.

If you can't make it in person, feel free to visit our online shop and online gallery here! Thanks for your support!

Artist Interview: Miranda Meeks

Meet Miranda Meeks. Miranda is an illustrator living and working out of Provo, Utah. Miranda graduated with a major in illustration from Brigham Young University, and since has had the opportunity to work with clients such as Popshot Magazine, Spirituality & Heath Magazine, Diesel Apparel, and Issimo Productions. Her work has been seen in editorial, concept art, video game art, t-shirt designs, gallery work, and more. Miranda currently lives in Utah with her husband and one-and-a-half year old girl.

We have had the pleasure of working with Miranda in the current Skate or Die Skateboard Show. Miranda is known for her soft and detailed drawings, beautiful images, and subjects of mystery, growth, and transformation. We are thrilled to have the chance to talk with Miranda about her work, studio practice, and thoughts on illustration!


Dusk

Could you describe your current studio practice? What is your space, surroundings, work time like? Do you have any studio habits or rituals?

Since most of my work is digital, I just use a desk and two monitors and my trusty small Wacom Bamboo tablet. I also have an old cigar box which holds all my pencils and pens; best pencil holder I've ever had! As far as studio rituals go, putting on my noise-canceling headphones and listening to music or podcasts really helps me to get in the mode of creating art. I feel like it blocks distraction, allows me to focus on my tasks, and even helps me continue to work when I'd rather be doing something else.

I stay at home and help raise our little girl while my husband works at a full-time job. It can get pretty busy at times, so I do most of my work while she's napping or after she's gone to sleep for the night. I try not to overload my schedule with jobs and projects; this helps me to balance work and life better!


Dawn

Your work beautifully combines elements of death, stillness, and mystery. Could you talk about your creative interests, aesthetic, and inspirations?

I've always been inspired by animals, nature, and darker themes. The furthest back I can remember was when I was in 5th grade, I would draw all sorts of weird monsters and rent books from the library that taught me how to draw different animals. I also got into Tim Burton's work in high school, which actually has had a strong impact on my taste (as cliché as that may be). I'm drawn toward a dark, haunting, and beautiful aesthetic, because I just find it the most intriguing. It pulls the viewers in, and makes them wonder and ask questions. I'm also very inspired by Hitchcock films for that very reason.

That being said, I'm not really into gorey, or very disturbing images or themes. My goal is not to create art that disturbs you (there's a time and a place for that - it's just not my thing), but art where beauty and mystery can coexist. I believe strongly in surrounding yourself with beautiful things whenever and wherever you can in your life; this is simply my way of trying to add more beauty to this world. And yes, death is a common theme in my work, but it's not necessarily purposeful. I think it keeps showing up because, personally, I don't handle death very well; even seeing animals die breaks my heart (which is ironic since I love animal skulls and bones so much...), so I think I find it intriguing and terrifying at the same time. I like that it creates this seemingly self-contradicting feeling, so I guess I would like for others to experience the same clash of emotions.


Detail of Miranda's work for the Skate or Die Exhibition

What was your process like creating for the Skate or Die Exhibition? Did you have additional considerations because of the function/skate/format of the skateboard?

To be honest, I had a really hard time nailing down the concept for the Skate or Die exhibition! I had a basic idea of what I wanted, but had to run it across a bunch of old classmates from the university to get some feedback. Thankfully, they helped out a lot and I got some good advice. Sometimes you know the exact image you want to create, and sometimes when you sit down to work, you have no idea what the end result is going to look like (in this case, it was the later).

I never really work in such a tall format, so I had to adjust some of the initial plans for the image. For example, part of the reason I added the smoke at the top was just to balance out the heavy darkness at the bottom of the image. It's important to make the necessary changes to create a better flow of composition within the constraints of the given proportions.


The Gardener

What are some of your favorite projects to date? And how did they affect you as an artist?

Although I really enjoy the work I've been doing lately, the project that probably changed my path as an artist was back when I was in school in the Digital Illustration 2 course. The assignment was to create an illustration based on a song, so I created The Gardener based on the song by the same title from The Tallest Man on Earth. I learned so much from the critiques that I got from the other students and the teacher, and I learned a lot about the type of direction I wanted to go into with my art. Before that, I didn't know even know if I should draw more stylized or realistic. Creating this image steered me into the right direction to help find my voice as an artist.

A lot of your work seems to have a narrative element. Could you share some of the stories/moments (personal or cultural) behind your work?

There isn't really a specific story behind any of my pieces. I'm drawn toward images that add narrative elements because it adds layers to the piece. I love experiencing that feeling of surprise and satisfaction when I look at an image again and find a new element that I didn't previously notice. A big contributing factor to this narrative element I find so fascinating was a book I got in third grade from my teacher called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. The pictures in that book all had a narrative and mysterious aspect that I think really contributed to my desire now to create the same kind of feeling in my own pictures.

Do you have a different approach to personal projects and client projects? If not, what is a technique or approach that you have been dying to try?

Yes, I do approach client and personal projects differently. With clients, I'll start out by drawing lots of thumbnails, then once we settle on an idea, I proceed to the sketch stage, and then finalize everything. With personal projects, I usually already have the idea in my head, and I go straight to roughing the idea out with a sketch. I go back and forth a lot and sometimes make adjustments to the drawing even in the final stages. There's a lot of flexibility with personal assignments that you wouldn't want to thrust upon a client because it can create a stressful relationship and project.

As far as new techniques, I've been really wanting to start doing more traditional work. After working digitally for so long, it really makes you miss the feeling of physical brushes and smooth paper in your hands. Once we get settled, I plan on bringing out all of my paints and acrylics and messing around with them.


Memento Mori

Can you describe your creative community? Do you often have a chance to talk with or collaborate with other artists? Professionally or personally?

Luckily, I currently live close to the university where I studied illustration with a lot of my friends, so we still get together regularly and hang out. I would highly suggest any current art students try to do the same. It creates a great support system where you can help critique and improve each other's work, but it's also just a great chance to sit around and talk about art!

However, being that we do live in Utah (it's not known as quite the gathering place for artists like NYC or San Francisco), I don't get a chance to talk with a bunch of professional artists personally. The internet has been really helpful to make up for this, where people can connect with other artists around the world if their location wouldn't otherwise make it convenient.

Do you have any big projects on the horizon that you can share with us? Any upcoming shows or work?

I just finished a bunch of labor-intensive projects, but besides the current freelance jobs, I'm enjoying a little bit of a breather :) There are a few possibly big projects on the horizon, but I'm unable to share them as of right now unfortunately!

Thanks, Miranda!

You can check out more of Miranda's work on her website here, follow her work on tumblr, and see Miranda's skatebaord for the Skate or Die Exhibition (available through November 7th!)

Light Grey Game Night: On The Road

It's that time of year. There's frost on the grass in the morning and the trees grow more and more bare each day. People are packing for holiday traveling; to home, to tropical resorts, or to Light Grey Art Lab for Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, November 12th from 6:30 to 9:30 PM!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is On The Road!

We'll be playing games about planes, trains, automobiles, and any other way you might choose to travel! Plot the best route in the classic game Ticket To Ride, take tourists sightseeing or dive for hidden treasures in Key Largo, or take a leisurely hike down the coast of feudal Japan in Tokaido, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Podcast: The Order Of Things

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

The Order Of Things
Length: 00:59:00
Synopsis: Who is the coolest old man; Patrick Stewart or John Cleese? Or maybe it's David Attenborough? Of course, the answer is nearly impossible for our brains to process, but on this week's podcast we share a method of comparison that could help you reason it out for yourself. Alternatively, it could be used to determine what city you should move to, what's the next job you should take, or which project on your endless to-do list you should tackle next.

Show Notes:

Artist Interview: Ashley Hohnstein

Meet Ashley Hohnstein. Ashley is a fantastic graphic designer, art director, illustrator, and printmaker living and working in Minneapolis, MN. Originally from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, she attended and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with Graphic Design. During college, Ashley discovered her love for process, illustration and hand lettering, and has continued to apply this passion and techniques to her work today. Ashley is an incredibly prolific creative, initiating several personal projects, working with local and national clients, and exploring new mediums and formats to enrich her art practice. Ashley is currently an Associate Graphic Designer at Target for their in-house creative studio.

We have had the opportunity to work with Ashley in several Light Grey Art Lab Exhibitions, such as Stacks and the current Skate or Die Skatebaord Show. It is always a pleasure to see her intricate line work, gorgeous letterings, and sensitivity to design applied to the exhibition topics and themes! We are thrilled to present Ashley's work, share her inspirations, and learn more about her process! You can check out Ashley's work on her website here, and view her work for the Skate or Die Exhibition on the Light Grey Shop.

Home Studio

Could you describe your studio practice? What is your space, items you are surrounded by, studio rituals? Do you have any must-have materials?

When working at night and on weekends, I have a pretty good studio space in my apartment. It’s actually technically a very small dining room. I have a big desk and a small laptop with a second monitor I plug into. Not because I work off of both screens, but because one of the main things I need to get work done when I’m alone is a steady non-stop steam of Netflix as background noise.

My walls are covered in printed ephemera, gathered from many years of what I can only call “selective hoarding” from antique stores, museum kiosks, abandoned houses, and bits and pieces of paper from everywhere. I like to spread out things when I work, so my desk is never tidy and tends to have stacks of sketches at both ends. I have a lot of different notebooks with different textures and grids, and love sketching with felt-tip pens and various brush pens, and have many different processes I use to take my work into the computer.

Home Studio Inspiration

At Target, I don’t have much control over my environment since it’s a large corporate office. I still have a double monitor set-up, though this one is without Netflix, and keep a good stash of pens and paper at work for doodling and sketching. My closet/shelf tower at the end of my desk is covered with a curated selection of the earlier mentioned printed ephemera that doesn’t fit on my walls at home. The really nice thing about my space at work is that it’s partially desks, and partially critiquing space, so the room is covered in in-process work from other brands that the team works on. It’s pretty cool to walk around and get inspired by the diverse body of work happening in the space!

Your work has a very whimsical and playful quality! What are some of your favorite ways of working, techniques, or designs?

When starting a project, I normally make a lot of lists and a plan of action before I really jump in and start. After that, I’m normally rapid ideating in large brain-dump lists and then I start sketching. If I’m doing something that’s hand-drawn, I’m normally starting in pencil and layer over it with tissue paper refining with different felt-tip pens, brush pens, or even india ink with different brushes. Then, I will scan that in and manipulate it in Photoshop until I get to the aesthetic I’m going for. Some work is a lot less fussy than others, of course. If I’m doing purely digital illustration, which for me is pretty geometric and vector based, I jump back and forth between sketching and Illustrator pretty quickly to test things, and then back to the drawing board. At the stage I’m currently at, I’m still exploring a lot of different styles. Sometimes I’m frustrated about that, and other times it’s really great- I’m trying to embrace it.

Graveyard

We loved having you contribute to the Skate or Die Exhibition! Could you describe your process for the project? What were your considerations, concepts, and topics?

I LOVED this project, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I love all things creepy and spooky, and combined with my middle school desire to be a skater kid (even though I have no coordination whatsoever and everyone called me a poser) - it was a perfect storm for me. I actually jumped around quite a bit with what I wanted to do, originally settling on an overly-ambitious idea to do a board covered in icons from all genres of everything spooky (movies, halloween, ghost hunting, etc.), with no repeats. It was crazy. I don’t know what I was thinking. So, as with most of my projects, I had a “get real” moment and re-adjusted my expectations and made myself actually choose an idea vs. doing all of them. I ended up making a very geometric and flat representation of a graveyard. With custom type, fun illustrations and a lot of pattern - it’s kind of a dizzying design up close but from far away looks pretty rad. I started with big list of all the stuff I wanted to throw in, and rather than keep it scary, I made it funny with the copy on the tombstones. It was a blast to make, and turned out even better than what envisioned it being!

You often have the chance to work with packaging and interesting project parameters. What is the best part of working in packaging/design?

My favorite part about working in packaging is that it’s not just a flat graphic or a thing on a website, it’s a physical object that can often compel someone to pick up and interact with a product. Working at Target allows me to work on a crazy variety of brands with different looks and feels, and sometimes even help ideate new ones. It’s super fun, and pushes me to try new styles (and strengthen ones I already work with). Unfortunately, with crazy far-out timelines on the work, none of the actual real-world packaging I’ve worked on at Target is in stores yet or something I can share here :) Just trust me when I say it’s been a blast!

Muesli

Do you find time to work on personal projects? What are some of the biggest differences in your personal verses professional approach to art making? (experimentation, trying new formats, design challenges, etc. )

After spending the day at my job with Target, I still have plenty of time and energy to pursue selective freelance projects and personal illustration work on the side. I’m very conscious of my work load, and try to always be working on at least a few things. I don’t have a lot of hobbies beyond design and illustration, so this is what I do for fun too! I think the biggest difference is just that with my full-time design job, I’m working on large teams on projects with a large scope within specific parameters.

When I’m doing personal work, I have a ton more freedom to do what I want and I really use projects like that to explore new techniques and methods of creating. Like I said earlier, I think I still have a ton to learn, so I just try to do something new every time. I did a one-a-day called What I Learned for a few months last fall, and that was amazing. Just taking my day and reflecting on it, and doing a spot illustration to accompany led to so much personal and creative growth in a short amount of time.

Home Sweet Home

What is the best creative advice you have ever received?

The best piece of advice was something I actually heard Debbie Millman say in a lecture at AIGA MN Design Camp two years ago. It was something along the lines of, and I’m completely butchering/paraphrasing this into what my brain liked, “If you don’t love what you’re doing, after trying pretty hard at it for awhile, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.” I know this isn’t specifically creative advice, but it was a MAJOR lightbulb moment. Rather than driving myself insane pulling late nights and trying to do 10x too many things in areas I’m totally not into, I limit myself and invest a lot of time in personal projects I really love working on and make me feel fulfilled as a person.



What projects are you currently working on?

At Target I am on a wide variety of projects ranging from major rebranding and conceptual work, to working within existing style guides to improve packaging and create packaging for new products. I love that I work on so many different things. They’re on brands from Market Pantry to up&up to Threshold, and everything in between.

I’ve finally adjusted to my Target workload, so I’m starting to work on personal projects again. There are two big ones currently in planning phases. One of which is a blog with two of my crazy-talented BFFs, Heather Christianson and Julia King. We all have super different styles, as evidenced by just a glance at our portfolios, but we’re going to start a blog of some sort creating art based on the same theme a few times a month. The project is a means for loosely collaborating, keeping in touch, and to push ourselves to grow faster in a fun environment. I’m really excited about that!

The other project is that I’m starting to explore actually selling prints or products in some sort of online venue. I have a teeny bit of experience with that with the letterpress studio I worked at, but I’d like to toy around with zines and prints on Etsy, or maybe throw some work on Society 6. It’s really fun taking my nights and weekends to push my illustration and lettering work into new areas.

Wish We Were Here

Do you have any favorite resources? Books, magazines, media, artists, other?

Oh boy, it’s hard to narrow it down. Some of my favorites currently are Andrew Kolb, Philip Eggleston, Eight Hour Day, Dana Tanamachi, Justin Pervose, and so many more. I could list them for days (and I might be willing to share my bookmarks if you email me and ask nicely :) One of my favorite places to discover work, is Niice.co, which pulls from a lot of major blogs and work sharing websites. For general life inspiration, I love reading the Great Discontent which is a long-form interview blog with all sorts of creatives. They post one a week, and they’re always very motivating!

Thanks, Ashley! This was incredible!

You can find Ashley's work on her website, twitter, instagram, dribble, and say hello: ashley.hohnstein@gmail.com. You can also see her work for the Skate or Die Exhibition on the Light Grey Shop here!

Podcast: Getting in the Mood

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Getting in the Mood
Length: 00:45:50
Synopsis: Halloween is nearly upon us, and the Light Grey team are getting in the mood for fright! On this week's podcast, Lindsay, Jenny, Chris, and Francesca talk about what they do to get in the spooky spirit. That leads us to think about things we can do to set the mood for other occasions, like hunkering down for a productive work session, or getting in the mood to be outgoing and social when all you really want to do is sit in your pajamas and draw all night.

Show Notes:
Light Grey Game Night - Fright Night

Artist Interview: Philippe Poirier

Meet Philippe Poirier. Philippe is an animator and artist, living and working in Montreal, Quebec. He has a background in traditional and 3D animation, and currently works in the gaming industry at Hibernum Créations. Philippe has worked on projects such as Pearl's Peril in partnership with Wooga, and is currently the lead artist for an upcoming (soon to be announced!) X-Box One game. Philippe has also participated in past Light Grey Art Lab exhibitions, including Animystics and the recent Dream Arcade Exhibition and video game.

It is an honor to work with Philippe on these projects, and we are thrilled to present his work and process! Below, you can read all about his art practice, upcoming projects, and reflections on his personal and professional work! You see all of Philippe's work on his website and play his level for the Dream Arcade Game here!



Could you describe your studio practice? (Where you work, your studio, materials, favorite tools)

I work full-time as a 2D-3D artist at Hibernum Créations. When I am making personal projects, I have a desk at home with a bookcase next to me. I work mostly with Photoshop and a Cintiq, and I usually carry a sketchbook at all times. Cat owners will understand the struggle of having your pet hanging out right in front of the computer!

What are some of the things you surround yourself by for inspiration? -or- What are some of your biggest sources of inspiration?

I get the chance to work with incredibly talented people, and it’s always inspiring to see how active everyone is outside of work. Tumblr, Pinterest and Behance are amazing platforms that I often use to discover new artists, I am astounded by how much talent and passion there is out there. I’ve always been drawn to backgrounds, but I’m trying to do more characters: I really like Sargent, Ingres and Leyendecker’s work, to name a few. As for the contemporary artists, Jeremy Vickery was a big influence when I started to work more extensively on backgrounds and lighting. James Gurney’s blog is always really amazing- he posts every day on a variety of subjects. Also, I love Hchom’s art, with all her tidy lists and great illustrations!

Screen shot of Philippe's level for the Dream Arcade Exhibition

You were one of the participating artists in the Dream Arcade Exhibition. Could you describe the world that you were building? Character and space inspiration?

I went for a detective mystery/noire inspired level- I love how atmospheric these movies were! I looked up a lot of images of Los Angeles and movie stills for set design inspiration. I usually collect images and put them in a folder whenever I start a new piece, and I frequently go back and see them again to get motivation and specific details as I progress. For the final work, I incorporated haunted aspects and mystical fantasy to open up possibilities for enemies and different experiences.

Background by Philippe Poirier

What are some of your favorite parts of world building/ character building?

I am a big fan of layout design! The design was a part of my work when I studied in traditional animation. My layout teacher was one of my most important influences from school, and I still apply his teachings to my work today. I just love how a background can express the characters’ personality and set the mood through small narrative details. It can let you tell the story in a single image, what kind of characters evolve in there. "Setting the Scene: The Art & Evolution of Animation Layout" by Fraser MacLean is a great book on the subject.

Do you often work in a collaborative manner or with a team of animators? Could you describe that process?

Making a video game is an intensely collaborative endeavour indeed! I was lucky to be able to work as a lead artist on a video game project, where I had to supervise and assist the work of the art team and communicate with the other teams. It was really great to see everyone’s specialty up close- it provided a lot of insight into everyone’s particular field.

Usually, artists will work closely with game designers, who work on establishing the gameplay mechanics and the general flow of the game. The art team itself, will generally include concept artists, modelers, texture artists, animators, UI and FX artists. The programmers are building the game from scratch, making sure it all works nicely and they also integrate the art assets. We all work closely together as figuring out how to achieve what we want, which usually involves some back and forth. QA will then make sure the game is bug-free. And finally, the producer and art director oversee and manage the project as a whole. Everyone’s role is essential in the making of a video game! It all comes together through intensive collaboration and collective brainstorming when faced with difficulties.

Background by Philippe Poirier

What are some of your favorite projects to date? What made these project important to your practice?

Working on my 3D short as a student was a superb experience. The art direction was left to the student’s care and I really enjoyed the exploration process, sketching and illustrating in 2D so that my 3D work was already informed visually. I was really lucky to work for a 3D studio at the same time, and be able to apply this new knowledge to my school work.

Pearl’s Peril got me started at Hibernum Créations after graduating. It was a fantastic project, and I had the opportunity to work on some really atmospheric backgrounds. I’ve also had the chance to work with very experienced artists, and learning a lot quickly by seeing how they work. Animystics was my first gallery show, and I loved the experience and to actually hang the piece on the wall made me want to make more physical art.

Illustration from Petite Douceur

What are some of your favorite things to do outside of art making?

I’m kind of a reference material hoarder- one never has enough books, right? Whether it’s trips to the library or just hanging out with a coffee, I love looking at books, magazines, sifting through images. I’ve also had a superb trip in Paris this fall and I’d really love to get out and travel more in the future! Playing video games is a big hobby of mine as well!

Detail of Philippe's work for the Animystics Exhibition

Do you have any upcoming projects you can share?

I am starting on a new mobile game project at work which is pretty exciting and as for personal projects. I want to make postcards for the holidays, and I’d also love to print a small illustration book in the coming year. I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for new calls for art too.

Thanks, Philippe!

You can find more of Philippe Poirier's work on his portfolio site, behance, instagram, and follow his tumblr here! You can also play Philippe's Noir level for the Dream Arcade Exhibition and Game on the Light Grey Website here!

Podcast: Elevator Pitch

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Elevator Pitch
Length: 01:02:10
Synopsis: On this week's podcast Jenny, Chris, Lindsay, and Francesca talk about the art of quick introductions. How do you sum up who you are and what you do - to your grandmother, an interested peer, or just a stranger on an elevator - in just a sentence or two? How do you see yourself, what language is able to cross barriers, and when is too much information really too much? We share out thoughts and talk about some odd situations where we've had to condense our personality and life experiences into 15 minutes or less.

Show Notes:
I Hate My Kitchen - Wild Side

Light Grey Game Night: Fright Night

Boo! Did I scare you? That creeping sense of dread means it's time for another Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 29th from 6:30 to 9:30 PM!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is Fright Night, just in time for Halloween!

Together we'll be battling battling hoards of zombies, witnessing the Old Ones awaken, and questioning if your allies are actually betrayers in games like Dead of Winter, Eldritch Horror, and Ultimate Werewolf, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Skate Or Die Opening Reception Recap

Last Friday marked the opening reception for Skate Or Die! We want to give a giant thank you to the artists involved, and to everyone who visited the gallery and made the night a huge success!

Skate Or Die is a celebration of death and destruction, with 60 pieces of art displayed on hardwood skateboard decks. The presentation was jaw dropping, with a gallery absolutely packed with rows and rows of glossy skateboard decks adorned with amazing artwork.

Designs ranged from grim and creepy, to over-the-top absurd, to outright beautiful and visitors respond to each piece with appropriate laughter or contemplation. Longtime skateboarders, horror enthusiasts, and art lovers alike all shared the gallery with a common appreciation for the love and craft that went into the Skate or Die exhibition.


You can view more photos from the opening reception on our Skate Or Die Flickr set. You can buy one of these beautiful skateboard decks, or a gorgeous large-scale print, on the Light Grey Art Lab shop!

Once again, thanks again to all of the artists, collaborators, and supporters!

Podcast: Skate Or Die

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Skate Or Die
Length: 00:54:35
Synopsis: Skate Or Die is here! And on this week's podcast, Lindsay, Chris, Francesca, and Jenny talk about the days and weeks leading up the final reveal for 60 hand-decaled, artist-designed skateboard decks. We talk about the inception of the project, our history with skateboarding, and the physical process of making the boards for the exhibition.

Show Notes:
Skate Or Die

Light Grey Game Night: Deck Building

Think carefully and shuffle thoroughly, it's time for another Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 15th from 6:30 to 9:30 PM!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is Deck Building, a Light Grey Art Lab favorite!

Deck Building is a versatile game mechanic where players acquire card and add them to their deck, increasing their power and strategic options as the game progresses. Deck Building games allow players to fight criminal masterminds with the help of powerful superheroes, or compete with other monarchs in a race to build the most impressive dominion, or carefully bluff dangerous enemy gangs in an effort to recruit desperate survivors in a frozen wasteland!

We'll have deck builders of all types, from the game that defined the genre, Dominion, to epic co-op variants like Marvel: Legendary, to my personal favorite, Arctic Scavengers, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Also, here's a sneak peek at the next Light Grey Game Night, so you can plan accordingly!

• October 29th: Fright Night

Podcast: Comments Below

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Comments Below
Length: 00:47:28
Synopsis: On this week's podcast, Lindsay, Francesca, and Chris talk about everyone's favorite place for public discourse on the internet, the comments section! We discuss why comments sections are an unending supply of joy (or anger, depending on the person), how Facebook integration changed comments forever, and Francesca shares her wild ride into the world of owning and operating her very own forum!

Show Notes:
YouTube Comment Reconstruction Videos
Not super related but we mentioned it... so play Dream Arcade!

Artist Interview: Joey McCormick

Today is the last day to see the Dream Arcade Exhibition at Light Grey Art Lab! This collaboration, show, and creative endeavor has been an incredible adventure in both art-making and game playing. Throughout the week, we will be celebrating some of the artists that contributed to exhibition, getting to know their work, and sharing their process through artist interviews!

Dream Arcade prints will be available on the online shop through October 10th. All of the work is also permanently archived on the Dream Arcade Gallery, on the Windows App Store, and available for playing on the Light Grey website!



Meet Joey McCormick. Joey is a graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design, specializing in Animation. He has worked in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York City as a graphic designer, freelancer, and animator. Over the past several years, Joey has been working with talented animators and art directors on projects such as 'Oreo' with Hornet Inc. and 'Chobani, Fruits and their Mating Games' by Borja Pena at Psyop. This is the first time Joey has exhibited here at Light Grey Art Lab, and we could not be more excited about his contributions and process!



Hi Joey. Could you describe your studio practice? (Where you make, studio habits, materials)

My studio space is a small desk in my living room. It's pretty uninteresting. I do most of my work on a surface pro 2 and computer paper. I like computer paper since I can toss it if it doesn't work. The surface pro 2 is excellent, I also use a Cintiq, but I like being able to move around freely because I’m sort of flinchy!

Usually I freelance with studios in-house, and when I work from home I try to stay on that same schedule. I head out early in the morning for a bike ride. It burns up extra energy so I can focus. Then I get back and put on head phones. Even if I'm not listening to anything, it's like having blinders on.



Could you describe your creative community? Do you often work in a collaborative environment?

The creative community I work with is fairly small. Mostly people I've worked with already and a few people from school. But the community is extremely talented and ambitious. We all work with each other supporting and pushing to produce higher quality work. We also share contacts as much as we can. I've begun reaching out on social networks like tumblr and instagram. Making friends with other artists and inspiring each other. It's really a great way to grow!

I usually work in a collaborative environment. Even when I'm the only designer on a project. I'll work with directors or producers. When doing personal work I get feedback from people I trust. I'm working on a short now with a small team. That way we can all bring a lot of our own choices to the project.



Could you share your process and inspiration for the animations and characters you made for Dream Arcade?

I love space and scifi! I also enjoy using graphic shapes in my work, especially triangles. So that was the jumping off point for the Dream Arcade. That interest translated really well to pixel art animations. All my effects were simple geometric shapes enlarging or flashing. For the character, I was originally planning to make a space knight with a sword, but I wanted the character to look cleaner than that. Eventually, I went with the energy claw type weapon that just appears during the attack. For the character animation, I roughed it all out in Flash, then exported it as a .png sequence and brought those into Photoshop. Each frame was a layer. Next, I cleaned it up in the pixel art style. My 'effects animations' were all created in photoshop. I made loops of squares and triangles flashing or exploding then repeated them in most of the effects. I was really happy with how they turned out!

What were the initial concepts and considerations for your world?

Originally, I wanted the world to be a mix of scifi space and medieval fantasy, but I wanted the world to feel cohesive- combining the textures. After doing some sketches, I decided to create a meteor world that is still in development. It includes big, chunky designs that are still futuristic, and the texture of the ground would read clearly against the metal assets.



What are some of your favorite subjects and imagery to include in your work?

Triangles. That's not really a subject or imagery, but I really like to include that shape. And I always love to use with a fantasy or scifi imagery. Drawing a guy drinking coffee is fun, but drawing a robot powered by arcane magic and drinking coffee is more fun!

What projects are you currently working on?

Outside of professional work, I'm working on two short films. One is called “Onions Stay in the City”. It's just me working on this one, and it's going very slowly! I'm on the background stage now, hopefully I’ll move on to animation soon. The other is “Sugar Rush” by Alex Horan. He's directing and animating it and I'm doing the backgrounds. It's really fun, and is going to be a little inappropriate for younger audiences. It involves a lot of ice cream cone strippers!



What are some of your biggest inspirations to your work? (artists, mediums, books, etc. )

I'm constantly inspired by other artists. Kevin Dart has been one of the biggest inspirations of mine. I love his use of lighting and color. Another big influence of mine would be McBess. His use of typography and character feels very modern, but throws back to classic cartoons. More recently, I've been into Fabien Mense, and a lot of French illustrators. And I don't think I can talk about scifi without bringing up Creature Box! They're an amazing pair of artists that do some of the best robot, monster, alien or anything weird like that designs. Really dynamic and always have incredible color. And Erik D. Martin and Ryan Lang taught me so much about digital painting and how light works. And if you follow my tumblr you can clearly see that whatever video game I'm currently playing is inspiring my work!

Thanks, Joey!

You can find more of Joey's work on his website here, and follow his current projects on tumblr. You can also see Joey's work for the current Dream Arcade Exhibition on the Light Grey Shop and play the game on the website here.

Skate or Die Opening Reception

We invite you to join us for the opening reception of Skate or Die, coming October 10th!

Skate or Die is an art exhibition of artist-designed skate decks with a death metal slant. The show features dark, gorgeous, and macabre-inspired designs by sixty artists from around the world. The original artwork will be used to create limited edition, vynal images on hardwood decks.

Sneak Peek of work by Kate O'Hara

By showcasing the artwork in this unique and functional form factor, we appreciate the influence skate culture has had on our society and to view this counter culture work as true art. And in addition, to not forgot why it exists, hoping collectors will slap some trucks on their newly acquired masterpiece and skate it home!

Sneak Peek of work by Angela Rizza

These decks include bones, twisted forms, feared beasts, and eery landscapes- Come see the entire collection at the opening reception on October 10th from 7-10pm. You can find all of the event details, see the full list of participating artists, and help spread the word on the Skate or Die Facebook event page here!

Dream Arcade Staff Pick!

Dream Arcade has been out for a few weeks now and it's gotten a great reception! In fact, right now it's a featured Staff Pick on the Windows Store and we couldn't be happier!

It's also on sale right now for $0.99, so it's the perfect time to grab it if you haven't already! Just follow the link below!

Dream Arcade on the Windows Store