my love for you is a stampede of horses.

q&a with michael hsiung.

i'm not sure where i first saw michael hsiung's work. it was over the past year or so. however, i do remember distinctly how quickly mesmerized i was by his monochromatic color scheme and humor. i really enjoy the nautical debauchery and pillaging that goes on within michael's work. i'm not normally a big fan of violence, but i was instantly overjoyed by the scenes michael creates. he draws them so well, making the mayhem almost delightful. plus his subject matter which includes narwhals, mermen, teddy bears, and centaurs is just the bee's knees.

michael recently answered some q's i had for him about his drawings, inspirations, hitler, horns and why unicorns and narwhals are so radical. i hope you like it, i laughed out loud. michael is incredibly funny, which clearly comes over in his work. this is one description from a drawing on his website: "there is no knowing what a stretch of love and beauty the human mind is capable of contemplating while it is sitting upon a baby angora unicorn." to enjoy more of his humor check out his flickr page and blog. both insanely entertaining. my favorite, for sure.

your work has a bit of an old timey flair to it. has it always been that way?

i think a lot of my early stuff wasn't so old-timey. it was just animals fighting each other, armless guy doing stuff, unicorns and hitler. an odd group. i think it started with the mermen really.

why do you think old timey is such a great description?

old-timey is such a great description because it sort of captures the ambiguity of all periods somewhere from the 1950's to the 1800's. and that's huge... it's like anything from a top hat to the locomotive. you know, i recently had my birthday themed old-timey and my sister said she'd come as a cave woman.  see, i guess that's also kind of old-timey too.

i saw on your flickr page you had a photo of a woman in a carriage w/ a crocodile pulling it like a horse it was titled 'drawing inspiration'. what are some of your other inspirations?

dungeons & dragons 2nd edition of course, gary gygax, the book on the whaleship essex, olaus magnus the mapmaker, john ashton, fantastical creatures in general, the zoo, xanadu... but often times I'll find myself thinking of "ice skating" or something and then after i do some searching about it - i'll find amazing old pictures that sort of will inspire me to do something. did i say grace jones? well, she does. i also love romance novels.

many of your drawings have animals that seem to be hybrids of other animals. can you talk a little bit about these horned furry creatures.

i think my hybrid animals are mainly my failed attempt to actually draw real animals. somehow me drawing a wooly mammoth turns into a giant beaver. sometimes i draw shapes and they turn into half beaver, half bears. as far as those little fluffy baby angora unicorns - i think i was trying to draw rabbits! 

speaking of horns, let's talk about how great unicorns and narwhals are. you go first.

 

unicorns and narwhal are definitely magical. i have several printed pages from the "internet" on them. where do I begin? in john ashton's curious creatures he's got a compilation of descriptions given throughout time. there are these great descriptions of how unicorn horn's possessed healing powers or how they have been seen to jump off cliffs (and land on their horns) to avoid danger. i've illustrated that remarkable feat somewhere. and there's a natural link between narwhals and unicorns of course. sailors were using narwhal horns as proof that unicorns existed. there are several things i love about narwhals. first, that their name derives from Norse "corpse" which was given to them due to their coloration and fondness for swimming upside down. how the horns are one large tooth? how we had one in captivity and it couldn't survive? god, and the fact the males rule their horns together? the list goes on and on.

funny how this will be my longest response of the whole interview, huh. okay, you're turn!

you have a great sense of humor that translates into your work, have you ever worked on serious pieces?

somehow the serious pieces turn into humorous pieces no matter what i do. perhaps it's a curse.  occasionally i do illustrations for LA Record, a newspaper magazine here in LA, that require me to draw actual musicians.  those are generally pretty serious despite the fact one musician i drew ended up looking like corey feldman.

i love your mermen drawings. what is it about mermen that you love?

i find the mermen totally repulsive in their excessive drinking, debauchery, and obvious lack of respect for their bodies. they wear too many accessories and are often times making a ruckus. i ask you why are the mermaids always with sailors? because the mermen are drunks. ha.

hitler seems to be cropping up lately in your work. have you gotten any flack for that?

funny thing is, or rather perhaps not so funny thing is that the hitler drawings were done early sometime in 2006. a while back, i had read William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and always imagined how hitler was like as a failed artist. i imagined him drawing unicorns and castles and then failing miserably at music and dance even. i don't know i guess i was trying to figure out what turned that guy. anyhow, i haven't had too much "flack" i just tell them it's Charlie Chaplin.

i was approached last year about doing skateboarding graphics for the company enjoi. they wanted, you know, a merman, some narwhals, but also a hitler graphic. i was a bit nervous doing it so i made the character more chaplin-esque, gave hitler a four o'clock shadow, and put him in a warm coat. the board is being sold as "the man petting bear" board. 

what are you working on right now? what's coming up for you?

well, right now i should be working on more and more drawings, an album cover design for henry clay people, and a logo for unhee clothing, but i'm sitting here at work pretending.

i've got an upcoming show july 11 called crazians at the world of wonder which puts together crazy asian artists(i think I might be more crazy than asian), then the suggestion box group show at GR2 july 19, and finally september 19 a group show at barnsdall art park, los angeles where I'm doing a mural? really? shit. oh yeah, i'll have some stuff up in NY october 2008 at gallery hanahou for spread the lead show.  this is all making me panic.

lizzy stewart.

julie from analogue books sent me over a great little package from across the pond this week (more on what was in this package next week...after i get my scanner unearthed from all the paper on my desk.). in it was a darling business card of the illustrator lizzy stewart. julie suggested i may like her work. well, it's not a secret that julie has impeccable taste, at least not in my mind it isn't. so i knew to get on lizzy's site stat.

and really folks, how could i not just fall over myself for an artist that's 'about' section says:

lizzy stewart is an illustrator studying at edinburgh college of art. she is a fan of pencils, cardigans and russian history. and also bears. she can often be found making lovely things for lovely people as part of the superexcellent duo sing statistics with designer jez burrows (who is, quite frankly, tops).

yes. my friends, it's easy to fall for. then add lizzy's illustrations, paintings and prints on top of that and i just about get woozy. izzy has a way w/ brush strokes and color. her work is subtle but lasting. as i looked over her site, i was very excited to see she has an esty shop. besides digging all of her work in general i was really moved by her print inspired by everything is illuminated; they are on the insides of the lids of my eyes. very intense and lovely. lizzy is most definitely a new favorite for me.

sing statistics: i am the friction.

i'm so crushed out on lizzy's work that i figured i two separate posts about her site and her 'collaborative concern' w/ jez burrows, sing statistics. she and jez have just released their very first book, i am the friction. here's what they have to say for themselves about it:

i am the friction is a book of illustration and very short fiction, written and drawn in the absence of better judgment and a copy editor. it has two covers and reads from both directions: one half of the book is composed of stories inspired by illustrations, while the other contains illustrations inspired by stories. it's really quite nice.

judging by the images on both lizzy's site and sing statistics it looks very nice indeed. you can purchase the book here. lizzy also has a great print called wolf dream available in her etsy shop of which is an image from the book.

happy birthday moose!

the folks over at moose, the online australian shop of total goodness are turning two today! yay! happy birthday moose. they carry many an artist and designer i have showcased here on my love for you. people like sean morris, allira tee, fun is cool, brooke bobridge...just to name a few. there inventory is really impressive and great. i think you will find lots to pine over for sure. so to make it easier on our wallets moose has offered 15% off to my love for you readers, just add lovemoose2 at checkout. it's good for 5 days from today. that should help w/ our flimsy dollar!

klein family art on etsy.

lena wolff sent me an email recently announcing that she and her partner have opened an etsy shop called klein family art. oh etsy, you're so good to us! sometimes i think etsy is such a magical place that some where there should be a huge LED sign and a big bell that sounds when a new great shop opens on etsy. but that's just how things would exist in my world if i ruled it...completely besides the point. so yes, klein family art is miriam klein stahl and lena klein wolff. some of their offerings are (but never limited to!) fava beans in a lovely baby jar w/ a lino cut label, and a beautiful archival postcard set of lena's gorgeous paintings. it's the first printing ever! you can also purchase them separetly. lena was really excited to be able to offer affordable prints...as was i, because lena's work is AMAZING. see more great prints and cards here.