MassArt Illustration

November 16, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Talking CO2

revTalkingCO2poster_smallTalking CO2

Graphic Activism at Massart
300 student posters from Illustration and Studio Foundation
November 12-November 21, 2015
Tower Lobby
Reception: Tuesday November 17 6:00-7:30pm

Organized by Jane D. Marsching, Studio Foundation, and Polly Becker, Illustration

Over the course of this Fall,  300  posters were created by students in Illustration and Studio Foundation on the topic of climate change in an effort to build public awareness and effect social change. These posters are currently on display in the Tower Lobby, and will also be and presented on various platforms hosting imagery in conjunction with the COP 21 Talks and Festival of the Arts, a global Climate Change summit to be held in Paris at the end of this month. A proposal on behalf of participating students led by Illustration senior Kerry Fitzgibbon has been awarded a Sustainability Initiative grant to support further publishing, display, and distribution/dissemination of  a jury-selected portfolio of these images. All the students who submitted posters, as well as any others who would like to  get involved, are invited to join the student committee for planning the evolution of  the project during Winter and mounting a campaign of the imagery this Spring.

Talking CO2 Exhibition poster art by Illustration senior Paul Nihill.
Screen shot 2015-11-13 at 2.07.41 PM

Talking CO2

November 4, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Anita Kunz On Campus

The end of October saw the end of Anita Kunz’s wonderful Serious Wit show in the President’s Gallery. The department was honored not only to be able to display the work but to also have Anita on campus, presenting and interacting with our students. Below are pictures from the show, as well as Anita’s gallery and  artist talks.
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Anita speaks with students and faculty of the Illustration department in a gallery talk.a08a05a07

All photos by Scott Bakal.

 

November 2, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Noodle & Doodle – Fall Sessions

At the end of October the Illustration department hosted an installment of our  monthly live drawing series ‘Noodle & Doodle.’ In these open drawing sessions students have a chance to practice drawing the figure from musicians who are also their peers. It was a successful evening with many students performing and many students in attendance. Scroll through the slideshow below to see some of the performers, and the drawings of them.

Noodle + Doodle: Fall 2015

Join us for the next Noodle and Doodle session on Wednesday, Nov. 18th at 7:00pm
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November 1, 2015
by alice.stanne
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The Art of Illustrated Maps

Visiting Lecturer John Roman’s book The Art of Illustrated Maps has just been released. John’s book correlates not-to-scale maps as “the creative nonfiction of cartography,” and in this book he reveals how and why the human mind instinctively accepts the artistic license invoked in imaginative maps. Drawing from a wide range of references, The Art of Illustrated Maps traces the roots of this specialized art form’s two-thousand-year history, and through the works of numerous contemporary illustrators from around the world, documents the creative process of professional map artists as well as the inspirations behind 21st-century illustrated maps. The publication includes a map by Illustration senior Dom Civiello, whose piece was featured back in April when it was selected to be included in The Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Show.

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On October 23rd the book was launched at the Boston Public Library’s Norman B. Leventhal Map Center with an artist’s talk sponsored by the Boston Map Society.

September 30, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Alumni News: Star Wars Artwork

One thing that we’re proud of in the MassArt Illustration Department is the diversity of what students go on to do and create after they graduate. Children’s book illustrators, editorial artists, cartoonists, graphic novel artists and so on. The possibilities are unlimited as long as students have a vision of where they want to go after they leave.

We’d like to highlight some recent illustration graduates who longed to work in the entertainment design field.
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Alumni China Blue Rockett (’12), Anthony Feliciano (’11) and Indigo Moorhead (’11) all eventually found work in Boston’s Pilot Studio and have worked on the artwork for the recently released toys and action figures for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie!

Recently, the Boston Globe published an article about the work Pilot Studio has done on the Star Wars franchise.
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In a serendipitous turn, another Illustration graduate Kim Buhler (’12) found work at Hasbro in Rhode Island. The results of Kim’s work is in the boxes that China, Anthony and Indigo helped create! Kim is a Model Artist/ Prototype Painter at Hasbro and worked on the prototypes for many of the Star Wars products. The prototypes are blueprints for the factories that manufacture the toys. Some prototypes that she worked on were sent out for promotion and have been on display at San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con and toy fairs.
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Fast Company also recently did a story about Hasbro and the Star Wars line including great shots of some of the prototype sculptures.

We are constantly hearing back from alumni about their successes as artists and are proud of the hard work and dedication to their chosen art. If you are an alumni and would like to feature some of your successes and work, please send us a note!

September 14, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Luck of the Draw – Playing Card Show

Currently on display at MassArt’s Student Life Gallery, is The Luck of the Draw, a show of work based around a Junior Illustration playing card assignment featured back in May. The show is up from September 6 – 19th and can be found on the second floor of the Kennedy building on the MassArt campus. In October, the show will be traveling off campus to GTI Properties’ space in the South End.

Below are some pictures from opening night…FullSizeRender (1)

Victoria Maxfield
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Diego Chaves
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Elise Guillen

September 14, 2015
by alice.stanne
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Professor Scott Bakal Honored

Regarded as the most prestigious magazines on art and design, Professor Scott Bakal was recently interviewed for the September/October issue of Communication Arts magazine about his work and life as an illustrator.
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Additionally, a week before the current semester began, Professor Bakal’s Dim Stars: Pollution Series of 9 paintings which have been awarded by American Illustration, 3×3, the Society of Illustrators and Lurzuer’s 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide was acquired by the New Britain Museum of American Art for their permanent collection.

The New Britain Museum, founded in 1903, is the first museum strictly dedicated to American Art in the country. Further, the Sanford B. D. Low Memorial Illustration Collection, begun in 1964 and comprising more than 1,700 works, is the nation’s first museum-based collection covering the history of American illustration from the 19th century to the present.
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To see the entire Pollution series, visit here. And you can download the 8 page Communication Arts profile here.