Brigittesevigney single wi2017

F O R

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L O V E

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A L L

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S P R I N G

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ALEX PARDEE

The Man Behind The Creativity

$15.00 USD

$19.75CAD

KEHINDE WILEY Taking his work to a new level

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

7 More than just eating

8 Travel the world

10 The 5th Floor at FIDM

16 Making A Mess

26 Kehinde Wiley

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For the love of all things!

OUR MISSION Whether or not we are aware of it, Design can also be inspiring, empowering and enlightening. FLOAT, For the love of all things, is the number one trade journal that teaches and displays various design works.

These pieces of work and knowledge vary from categories such as graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration, interactive media, and print production.

President and Publisher Randy Dunbar

Creative Director Peggy Cottrell

Editor

Brigitte Sevigney

Art Director

Brigitte Sevigney Our main goal is to never let our readers put down this magazine without learning something new.

Assistant Director Kianna Harris

Web Editor

James Radtke

Designer Josie Motyl

Photo Editor Sara Smith

w w w. f l o a t. c o m

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Production Director John Landis

Letter from the editor The first time I thought about putting together a magazine, I had no idea what I was going to do, or what should I do. I wanted to create a magazine that inspires those who love good design but make it look serious and modern with unique elements to be a creative brand with high quality style.

After creating several pages and sections of the magazine, design pieces start to combine togethe. Every piece we’ve been working on, are perfectly linked together. The president, Randy Dunbar always pushes us hard, helping us to find out the best, attractive layout. “The first, and the only purpose of magazines, is making people want to read it.” We would put this philosophy in mind all the time, and improve more through every issue coming out. I hope you will like this magazine, and enjoying reading it.

Thank you very much!

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Food • Travel • The 5th

MORE THAN JUST EATING

By Voodoo Doughnuts Photographed by Brigitte Sevigney

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he company offers over 100 varieties, in total. Unconventional ingredients include Cap›n Crunch, grape flavored Tang, M&M›s, Oreo cookies, and marshmallows. In addition to the Portland Cream doughnut (a variant on the Boston cream doughnut), Voodoo Doughnuts also makes a cock and balls doughnut that has cream filled balls. Two of their doughnuts, the NyQuil Glazed doughnut and the Vanilla Pepto Crushed Tums doughnut, are no longer available due to order of local health officials. According to one of the co-owners, the NyQuil one was kind of a lark, but that’s the one that got the most famous

With the Pepto doughnut, I honestly thought if you had that shot of tequila you shouldn’t have at 2:00 a.m., and then you got sugar, bread, Pepto, and Tums, you’d either feel better or puke your ass off and then feel better because you got it out of your system. So it was a win-win either way.

On December 24, 2008, Voodoos Portland Creme was designated as Portlands Official City Doughnut by a resolution introduced by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and passed by city commissioners the same night. The resolution also expressed Portlanders deepest gratitude to Voodoo

Doughnut management for its dedication in the face of these stringent economic times in providing employment opportunities... and above all, creating and naming a doughnut after our beloved city that leaves a lasting taste and fond memories on its customers near and far away.

Later, mayor Tom Potter and mayoral candidate Sam Adams attended a regular midnight doughnut-eating contest.

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Food • Travel • The 5th

TRAVEL THE WORLD

The best way to see good design

By David Brock | Photographed by Brigitte Sevigney

HOLLYWOOD, CA

LOS ANGELES, CA

WASHINGTON, DC

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F

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onocle ipsum dolor sit amet lufthansa K-pop eclectic, charming elegant uniforms Asia-Pacific extraordinary punctual Baggu Airbus A380 destination liveable tote bag the best. Scandinavian elegant Sunspel Toto smart uniforms.

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reddie Mercury challenge accepted keyboard elephant games meme twitter scumbag silent hill happy. Luke brother really? Troll a le derp rebecca black search facepalm dog face alcohol. Bacon friendzoned cat amnesia cuteness overload trolololo hammer architect.

he mirage dealer chateau glitter gluch capriotti›s! The district swimup blackjack veer towers baccarat wildcard chips whale? Sin city dice capriotti›s whale naked city! Exposure bankroll bellagio breaking even.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS

DO YOU what

love

& LOVE WHAT YOU DO

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Food • Travel • The 5th

THE 5TH FLOOR AT FIDM You need to see whats on display!

By Cat Imsum | Photographed by Brigitte Sevigney

Hide when guests come over. Run outside as soon as door open destroy couch as revenge scream for no reason at 4 am but where is my slave? I›m getting hungry or stretch, so knock dish off table head butt cant eat out of my own dish. Has closed eyes but still sees you find empty spot in cupboard and sleep all day or leave hair everywhere. Nap all day dream about hunting birds or always hungry or all of a sudden cat goes crazy, yet my slave human didn›t give me any food so i pooped on the floor cat snacks, and cats making all the muffins. Bleghbleghvomit my furball really tie the room together hack up furballs, yet chase after silly colored fish toys around the house and loves cheeseburgers so eat owner›s food so wake up human for food at 4am. Caticus cuteicus destroy the blinds refuse to leave cardboard box so i am the best, and sleep on keyboard, and where is my slave? I›m getting hungry. Brown cats with pink ears lick butt, for hide when guests come over lick the plastic bag.

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Scratch the box groom yourself 4 hours - checked, have your beauty sleep 18 hours - checked, be fabulous for the rest of the day - checked! climb leg have secret plans for chase laser but intently sniff hand have my breakfast spaghetti yarn.

Sit on the laptop tuxedo cats always looking dapper. Ignore the squirrels, you›ll never catch them anyway intently stare at the same spot, or purr so lick sellotape.

Cats making all the muffins stretch, and hopped up on catnip, yet put butt in owner›s face kitty power! destroy couch as revenge or make meme, make cute face. Chase imaginary bugs flee in terror at cucumber discovered on floor for eat owner›s food. Mark territory. A nice warm laptop for me to sit on chase mice. Have secret plans meoooow! meow to be let out and meowing non stop for food. Love to play with owner›s hair tie my left donut is missing, as is my right. Poop on grasses find empty spot in cupboard and sleep all day, so meow yet you call this cat food? so pee in human›s bed until he cleans the litter box plays league of legends. Destroy couch as revenge. Stare at wall turn and meow stare at wall some more meow again continue staring sleep on dog bed, force dog to sleep on floor for vommit food and eat it again refuse to leave cardboard box jump around on couch, meow constantly until given food, . Sleep in the bathroom sink jump launch to pounce upon little yarn mouse, bare fangs at toy run hide in litter box until treats are fed.

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Geek Essential gear for designers

Adobe Creative Cloud

More choices, more great teamwork

LYNDA.COM

The best source for tutorials & learning

LYNDA @ LYNDA.COM

French Curves Acurate, smooth refined curves

Macbook Pro

Your underlying driver of success

Sketchbook

Where all your ideas emerge

Micron Fine Point Pens iPad Pro & Apple Pen New creative possibilities

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When accuracy, detail and preservation count

Portable Hard Drive

To always back up your files & never lose them

Black Frames

For those long hours staring at the screen

iPhone 7

The fastest performance and the latest technology

Starbucks

Freshly brewed, always right

Apple Headphones

More comfortable than any other earbud-style

Nikon DSLR

Capture all the details with this high quality camera

Vans

Off the wall selections

SD Card

High-capacity storage in a compact size

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The

Paint

Issue

Making A Mess

COVER STORY

An Interview With Artist Alex Pardee That Dives Into His Colorful Art Career

By Brad Miska Photographed by Lauren Anderson

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o one, in my humble opinion has over come life›s little trials and tribulations more so then Alex Pardee.

Alex is a splash of all things artistic.

A freelance illustrator by trade, Alex (who has created art work for the likes of The Used and In Flames) has poured every drop of blood, sweat and tears that he has into conceiving the gruesomely spoofy nightmarish monster›s that lurk under the bed of his imagination. Today they can be found printed on t-shirts and in the pages of h... (continued)

“THE BACKPACK” Enamel Pins. Soft Enamel Collectible Pins Designed By Alex Pardee based on “The Backpack” Painting.

his very own greatly received dark comic book series. With a forthcoming WarnerBros motion picture already in production and nested comfortably under his belt, It seems that nowadays Alex has his finger in all of the pies that he could ever possibly ravish, and more power to him! But the taste of success was not always there to savor...

After many futile attempts at seeking out professional help and months of hospitalization, Alex finally overcame his battle with severe depression and anxiety through his own form of form of spiritual therapy: art.

His passion and love for drawing and painting spawned from his fascination with the grotesque images of Garbage Pail Kids and Tales from the Crypt comics. For years Alex used sketch drawing and graffiti art as an emotional vent. He started photocopying collections of his sketches and scattering them around the California bay Area. He began placing his homemade books between the pages of tattoo and porn magazines, in clinic waiting rooms, and in public bathrooms, in the hope that someone who recognize the talent he harvested.

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ESCAPED CONVICT(ION) CLIENT: Zerofriends Ink, composited watercolor and digital.

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5 FACTS ABOUT ALEX PARDEE YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN About 1

Best known as the designer of album covers for the Utah-based rock band The Used, this artist and illustrator also created promotional artwork for the Upper Playground and Hurley International fashion brands and album art for such bands as Aiden and In Flames.

Before Fame 2

In the early 2000s, he designed several calendars, including The Beautiful People Calendar and the Astrology is Dead Calendar.

Trivia 3

He created a web series called Chadam, basing the characters in the series on his The Used album cover creations.

Family Life 4

He was born and raised in Antioch, California.

Associated With 5

He created promotional art for director Zack Snyders 2011 action film Sucker Punch.

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n 1999 Alex was convinced by other artists to reprint his books professionally. He began working long shifts at a local toy store to finance this reprinting, and later that year My Book of Colors was released. Since the release Alex has devoted every minute of his life to creating an entire universe of characters and monsters.

In the past five years he has continued to release books like The Secrets of Hollywood and the popular Bunnywith series.

The comics have spawned an entire plush line, calendars, and art exhibitions.

Alex Pardees undivided devotion to his art has gained the attention of Warner Bros., Reprise Records, Freeze Management, Hurley International, KidRobot, Twenty Twenty Skateboards, and more.In addition to demeaning celebrities, Alex continues to use his art as a means of self-medication, creating emotionally charged images on canvases, sketchbooks, and any other surfaces he can cover with his bizarre characters. Alex Pardees unique style is one conceived through watching years of horror movies, writing graffiti, and listening to gangster rap. His work best represents that of a circus sideshow cemetery.

Final pieces are often brought to life by translating random shapes and colours into signs of torment and absurdity.

“Alex has devoted every minute of his life to creating an entire universe of characters and monsters.�

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Perspective is a linear system of spatial alignment which creates an illusion of depth on a twodimensional flat surface (or on a shallow three-dimensional surface such as a relief carving).

It replicates the optical effects of recession, by organizing space and depth from one point of view.

Often called Linear Perspective (geometric, mathematical or optical perspective), this system is based on how the human eye sees the world: that is, (1) objects which are closer appear larger, while more distant objects appear smaller; (2) the size of an object›s dimensions along the line of sight appear relatively shorter (foreshortened) than dimensions across the line of sight. Perspective drawing is used by representational artists to re-create a natural depth and solidity. It is a highly useful tool for creating realistic art. However, Surrealists or other painters for whom strict replication of the natural world is not important or desirable, may distort or disregard the rules of perspective entirely.

Why perspective is so important

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Wall Flower

The work of artist Kehinde Wiley has been featured on TV shows like Empire, now he takes his work to a new level.

By Addison DeWitt | Photographed by Kehinde WIley

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ew York painter Kehinde Wiley became a star in the art world for his images of everyday people — people of color from Harlem, Haiti, France and beyond — done up in the style of grand European portraits once reserved for kings, queens and assorted nobles.

It’s a visual gesture that might call to mind the Broadway smash Hamilton, which casts actors of color who rap their way through early American history as the Founding Fathers.

So, does that comparison make Wiley smile or frown?

It makes me smown,” Wiley said in a recent interview at the Phoenix Art Museum, which just opened a retrospective of his work titled A New Republic.

There’s no just-add-water recipe to what I’m doing, he said. If anything, what I’m dealing with is in doubt. What I’m dealing with is in confusion. Sure, we’re dealing with art that came before and people who live now, and that’s a very pat way of boiling it down to opposing poles. But the minute you get closer to it, the more you think you know, the less you do.

The contours of the self, and doubt, and the free flow of all of that is what my work is about, and I think that the Hamilton phenomenon is about certainty. I think that Americans, by and large, want to have an origin story, some sort of terra firma that we can know about ourselves — this much we know is true. Doubt is the antithesis of the early American creation myth. We don’t want all that doubt.

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Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic was organized by the Brooklyn Museum, which has shown much of the artist’s work over the years. The touring exhibition is in Phoenix through Jan. 8.

Spanning 15 years of paintings, it also includes bronze sculptures, video works and a series of stained-glass window installations.

We’ll leave it to Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to defend his honor on the doubt-vs.-certainty front — hey, a good Twitter war is always good for publicity.

But one thing there can be no doubt about is the visual impact of Wiley’s paintings, which are often huge and popping with color.

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There’s Portrait of Andries Stilte, titled and posed after a 17th-century Dutch portrait of a dandified merchant, who has been replaced by a young black man in a baggy sports jacket and surrounded by swirling golden filigrees. And there are similarly attired figures pictured on horseback — although when Michael Jackson posed for an equestrian portrait, he insisted he be wearing armor.

A hail of orange-pink flowers makes a wry contrast with the violence re-created in Judith Beheading Holofernes. And there’s no mistaking the irony in the title of The White Slave, which replaces the half-nude woman in an 1888 French painting with a dark-skinned (and fully clothed) man that Wiley met during a trip through India and Sri Lanka.

WILEY FAQ What first got you interested in painting?

I began with studying art back in LA as a young kid. I first went to art school when I was about 11 and went to big museums in Southern California. I grew up in South Central Los Angeles in the late 80’s and was very much a part of the environment that was driven by some of the defining elements of hip-hop: the violence, anti-social behavior, streets on fire. I was fortunate because my mother was very much focused on getting me, my twin brother, and other siblings out of the hood. On weekends I would go to art classes at a conservatory. After school, we were on lockdown. It was something I hated, obviously, 32

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but in the end it was a lifesaver. In art school, I just liked being able to make stuff look like other stuff. It made me feel important.

Back then, it was basic apples and fruit and understanding light and shadow. From there I did the body and a lot of self-portraiture. So much of what I do now is a type of self-portraiture. As an undergrad at the Art Institute of San Francisco, I really honed in on the technical aspects of painting and being a masterful painter. And then at Yale it became much more about arguments surrounding identity, gender and sexuality, painting as a political act, questions of post-modernity, etc.

What typically inspires a painting?

Classical European paintings of noblemen, royalty and aristocrats. My goal was to be able to paint illusionistically and master the technical aspects, but then to be able to fertilize that with great ideas. I was trained to paint the body by copying the Old Master paintings, so in some weird way this is a return to how I earned my chops — spending a lot of time at museums and staring at white flesh. If you look at my paintings, there’s something about lips, eyes, and mucous membranes. Is it only about that? No. It asks, “What are these guys doing?’

They’re assuming the poses of colonial masters, the former bosses of the Old World. Whenever I do photo shoots for paintings, I pull out a

stack of books, whether it be something from the High Renaissance or the late French Rococo or the 19th century, it’s all thrown together in one big jumble. I take the figure out of its original environment and place it in something completely made up. Most of the backgrounds I end up using are sheer decorative devices. Things that come from things like wallpaper or the architectural façade ornamentation of a building, and in a way it robs the painting of any sense of place or location, and it’s located strictly in an area of the decorative. For the backgrounds in the World Stage Series, I look for traditional decorative objects, textiles, or devotional objects of that culture to draw upon.

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While Wiley painted Spike Lee and Carmelo Anthony for a fund-raiser organized by Grey Goose vodka, the celebrity images are exceptions (“When Michael Jackson calls you, you pick up the f--king phone”).

Instead, Wiley prefers what he calls “street casting” — essentially asking random strangers to pose for him. He often lets the subject choose the historical painting to be referenced.

For me the real power in Kehinde’s work and the discipline in his practice is that those people are absolutely not celebrities, said Gilbert Vicario, the Phoenix museum’s chief curator. They’re everyday people, and to me that’s what gives the whole body of work its power.

Mr. Wiley, I’ve been a lifelong member of the Brooklyn Museum, and I like your work, thank you very much.’ And they could be in a hoodie and sagging pants and what have you. So all these notions about what we expect of people are fascinating.

“But even if he doesn’t

have a particular ax to grind, there’s no mistaking the political nature of Wiley’s project, which represents an invasion of an elite artSome viewers have interpreted historical space by people the images as making a particuwho have been excluded lar point about identity politics, from that world.” but Wiley says that’s not the case.

Are they all powerless, all they all poor and uneducated? I have no f--king idea, he said.

Like, I meet a lot of people out there on the streets, and (they say), I know exactly who you are.

Everyone loves a polemic — good, bad, black, white, up, down, yada,” the artist said. But once you get up in there, you realize you can actually embrace the history of Western European easel painting and how to make s--t look sexy and beautiful and glamorous, but you can also be attempting to slash the throat of the empire that gave rise to that system – but not really wanting to because without the system you wouldn’t have the stuff, and, well, after a while you sort of realize that you’re mired in gray. And I think that that level of doubt is good.

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