The images are small because  I pulled them from his Dribble site. But they are still so amazing! Thanks Jean-Charles!

Alright, some of you may already know how amazing McBess is (he’s huge! right?) but that’s ok, this is for the folks that may not be familiar with his work. I’ve been wanting to do a post on him for some time now, so here it is. McBess’s work is sick. I’m in love with it. His style, the minimal color palette, micro-line work, wall murals, animation, and he’s in a band?? Enjoy.

You can check out more of his work here. Thanks McBess for your awesomeness!

I came across Gemma’s work the other day and thought it would be nice to share. It’s fun and light-hearted, and she draws my favorite subject matter: cats. It’s always nice to see illustration that’s really loose and humorous. It always reminds me not to take life (and everything that comes with it) so seriously.

Gemma lives in Norwich, UK. You can see more of her work here.

Some pretty sweet patterns.

Thanks Gemma for doing such awesome and funny work. Not only am I inspired, but now I’m off to go hang out with my cat. Cheers!

Thanks Karl for sharing some really nice work with us!

Check out more of her work here. Thanks Nikki for putting out such unique stuff!

This week, with all the rain coming down in San Francisco, I am inspired by my other passion: motorcycles. I stumbled across these guys out of Portland, and oh man do I wish they had a shop down here. I love vintage bikes. Classic Hondas are my favorite and the guys of The Tarantulas really do them justice. The Tarantulas are a few guys in North East Portland who build and ride motorcycles, specifically: Cafe Bikes.

I think there are a few camps you can belong to  when it comes to Cafe bikes or classic bike restoration. I am in the camp that believes you should try and maintain the integrity of the original bike. And while some Cafe bikes look really cool, for me it all comes down to not stripping the bike of it’s original (intended) design. Decades ago, the men (and women) over at Honda worked really hard to engineer and design these bikes. So, to tear them apart and strip all of the unnecessary elements off them can sometimes be seen as crude. But The Tarantulas keep it classy. And that’s putting it mildly. They have great aesthetics and really preserve the original integrity of these beautifully built machines.

All of their design and photography work is done by Scott @ CTC.

This bike is called Mabeline. It’s a mechanically combined CB/CL175 from 1971.

This bike is called The Natural. 1976 CB750F SS

This bike is a CB350F. Tons of powder coating and beautiful custom leather. Check out those sidebags.

Check out their shop’s bad ass kegerator. A late 40’s Frigidaire stocked with Gilgamesh Copper and Ridgeway IPA from Oregon’s Gilgamesh brewing company. I wouldn’t mind one of those in my garage! Sponsored by our own Anchor Brewing perhaps?

These guys are just great and when I head up to Portland I am definitely going to swing by the shop. Maybe grab a beer and chat about bikes. Now I’m inspired to go and ride!

]]> http://theblackharbor.com/inspiration/the-tarantulas/feed/ 1 http://theblackharbor.com/inspiration/tugboat-print-shop/ http://theblackharbor.com/inspiration/tugboat-print-shop/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:00:35 +0000 Gretchen Natvig http://theblackharbor.com/?post_type=inspiration&p=8600 Continue reading →]]> Valerie Lueth and Paul Roden are a husband and wife team behind Tugboat Print Shop based in Pittsburgh, PA. They create traditionally hand-made prints with images all drawn by hand, carved out of woodblocks (with hand tools), and printed onto archival paper using their in-house etching press. Their work is really intricate and executed with such detailed precision you could get lost in it. I enjoyed looking through the shop’s site at their process, from the illustration to the first carving, it’s interesting to see how it all comes together.

Certainly nice to see artists who are dedicated to their craft and to producing unique and beautiful pieces of the highest quality. If I’m ever in Pittsburgh, I will definitely try to stop by the shop and pick up something original by the duo.

The following pieces are collaborations between both artists.

 Paul Roden’s work (below).

Valerie Lueth’s Work (below).

Some shots from their shop and works in progress.

The Conrad Machine Co. Etching press (36″ x 52″) they use to print on.

The duo behind the shop: Valerie Lueth and Paul Roden.

You can check out more awesome work on their site.

The next piece is ink on paper colored with Photoshop. It looks like most of his work is created this way. I really like that he’s doing all of this by hand with a fine tip pen, and that he can achieve such detail within the piece.

The following piece was created for WIRED Italy.

Here is Mymutas’ Behance page. I’ll definitely be checking back for more of his work. He’s a really talented guy and inspires me to pick up my Micron 005 and get to work.

When I was growing up in Vermont I used to spend a fair amount of time over at my neighbor’s house, just up the road. Our neighbors were like a second pair of grandparents. They would spend all summer and fall at this red cottage filled with lots of trinkets and treasures. I have very fond memories of being a little girl exploring that house and its surrounding fields and woods.

Their ‘real’ granddaughter Laura would come to visit with their other grandchildren. But due to my youthful shyness, I never really got to know her very well. Recently, while visiting my family in Vermont this October, I had dinner with Laura and was able to share some stories about her grandparent’s beautiful red house on top of the hill. We also talked a good deal about her artwork. For years now, Laura has been a fine artist, specializing in printmaking. Her style is influenced by the greats like Ludwig Hohlwein, Steichen, and Klimt and others from the early 19th Century. Her craftsmanship is just as excellent as anything William Morris could have asked for. I thought it would be nice to share some of her work. Her artist statement sums up her creativity far better than I could:

“The subjects I choose to draw, paint, carve and print are all about that simpler, more satisfying life. Although my work might seem like a nostalgic look backward, it’s really a wish for the present and the future. It strives to inspire us to do meaningful work, and to connect with and care for our natural world and each other. It also strives to provide a bit of soul sanctuary.”

The formats and materials used in the following include: Linoleum Block Prints – hand printed with a wooden spoon, Serigraphs and gouache.

Here’s a cool little set of images on her process.

See more work at Laura’s website.

I grew up watching The Point and always remember loving it. I recently just watched it again and was totally inspired by the message and the artwork. Last week for my birthday I received the soundtrack on vinyl written and composed by Harry Nilsson, who also wrote the story for the movie. I think it was all a sign so I thought I’d share it on here.

“I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses came to point. I thought, ‘Oh! Everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.’” — Harry Nilsson.