art
“Learn to Love Yourself” (2024) by Sean David Christensen; Ink and colored pencil on paper.
Looking forward to adding this latest design to my Etsy store in the fall. Watch this space for more art prints and products for sale!
Credits: Christopher Lawrence Baird (photographer), Lenin Hernandez (model), Teresa Barcelo (creative direction), Sean David Christensen (title design).
Designed titles & lettering for Joe Berry’s two-volume debut album "Motions," to be released later this year.
Tara Edwards (The Tissues, Coleco Club) poses with the But I’m a Cheerleader VHS pendant necklace.
Tara Edwards (The Tissues, Coleco Club) models one of my "VHS Sleepover Necklaces," handcrafted miniature videocassette pendants inspired by films that help us recognize ourselves and give voice to our dreams and desires. "It kinda reminds me of being in high school,” says Tara. “Secretly renting and watching wlw (women loving women) movies with a girl I liked late at night. It’s also unabashedly camp, punk, DIY, in-your-face and femme, which embodies queerness to me and reminds me of the queer icons I looked up to then. I think it makes me feel nostalgic and comfortable."
I hope to make more of these. I’m touched when one of my pieces can resonate so deeply with someone.
I adore the feeling of handwriting on screen for a film’s title sequence. Whenever I’m asked to contribute mine for a music video, I slow my process down and start on paper. Listening to the song on headphones, I practice the shape of each letter, pouring a lot of consideration into how my design blends with the lyrics and the melody. I embraced this opportunity to collaborate with director Andrew Donoho again, after we’d worked together on “Find My Way” with Paul McCartney & Beck. It’s my hope that my lettering leaves behind a soulful impression on the visual accompaniment to each song I’m a part of, creating memorable experiences for the viewer.
Main title design for "George Ezra - Anyone For You," directed by Andrew Donoho.
End credit sequence from "George Ezra - Anyone For You," directed by Andrew Donoho.
Black marker on sheets of office paper. Also pictured, my headphones with the song on repeat.
Adjusting a detail on my miniature “land train” designed for Animal, a darkly comedic sci-fi short directed by Lauren Adams. (Photos by Kate Esme Ünver)
I hadn’t fully comprehended the size of my latest miniature, a five-and-a-half-foot long “land train,” until I sat down behind it for a photoshoot at Dreaming Tree studio in Burbank, my friend Kate from The Daily Mini behind the camera. Transporting it to set on the morning of December 12th, each plastic squeak as it rattled in the back of my Nissan Versa hatchback stirred up memories of cradling school projects, dioramas, in back of my mother’s car, worried that they’d fall apart at the slightest bump in the road. But we made it, all 65 inches of this dystopian sci-fi semi truck painted in battleship grey for the upcoming sci-fi black comedy Animal, directed by Lauren Adams.
Set against the canvas of a collapsed, alternate history America, the film's characters pilot a massive self-driving, windowless ship for the monolithic company "PostHaste." We follow these two women as they cargo tons of freight across a desolate expanse of abandoned cities as they deliver supplies for an ongoing and ambiguous rebuild of the country. Or, so says the company. The ship was modeled from a floor plan of the life-size interior set built for the actors, which was then scaled down to 1:24 to maintain its proportions. I was inspired by the unsympathetic nature of PostHaste and its complete lack of regard for the human pilots' safety in piloting their ship. You may see there are no safety measures on the vehicle: No guard rails or warning labels that you might ordinarily see on massive industrial equipment to protect the manufacturer against litigation from personal injury. In this dystopian future, the ship represents (even from a color standpoint) this massive, grey unsympathetic force that plows through anything, even people, to make more money. The size and heft of this miniature is a pointed commentary on that theme in the script: Packages must be delivered, no matter what the human cost.
The crew of the miniature unit shoot on Animal (from left to right): Miniaturist Sean David Christensen, miniature unit cinematographer Wenting Deng Fisher, director Lauren Adams, set decorator/set PA Manon Crespin & co-writer/producer, Jeff Roberts.
The cockpit of the miniature is a partly deconstructed model kit of two semi trucks designed by AMT Models. These were used to match the life-sized interior of the ship, shot on a soundstage months prior. The other materials I used were wet media board, basswood, wooden dowels and bits of recycled plastic to "bulk out" the form. I handcrafted the shape of the front windshield and side windows to match the life-sized film set, so the edit would be as seamless as possible between the miniature and the actors inside the ship. For the windshield, I used a piece of lighting gel (ND filter) to simulate a tinted window. I didn't want the audience to be able to look inside. There's something sinister about not being able to see what's going on behind the “steel curtain” of this imposing vessel. The completed ship is just over five feet long when fully connected, made up of a cockpit living quarters section and two shipping containers joined together by "mechanical joints" made of basswood. These joints mask the seams in between each car, and create an illusion of this ship being one continuous machine, a force of industrial brutality.
The miniature set of a teenager’s bedroom, built to marionette puppet-scale, for A Puff Before Dying, a tongue-in-cheek PSA about the dangers of driving under the influence. (Writer/Director: Michael Reich, Mike Pinkney; Yellow Veil Pictures.)
It was a joy to create scenic art with my friends at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater for this innovative short film. Everything was built to marionette scale, a bedside lamp here, a hairdryer there…A Puff Before Dying, with a cast of four handcrafted puppets, is a tongue-in-cheek romp about the dangers of driving under the influence. PSA directed by the fiendishly clever Michael Reich & Mike Pinkney of Yellow Veil Pictures. Premiering at the Midnight Shorts competition at SXSW earlier this year, I was so proud to be a part of this hardworking, visionary crew. Click here to learn more about the film.
The doomed heroine of A Puff Before Dying. (Writer/Director: Michael Reich, Mike Pinkney; Puppet design and fabrication by Bob Baker Marionette Theater.)
“A man and his boulder…a journey through time.” So begins director Kimberly Stuckwisch’s description to her director’s cut (with Melora Donoghue) for “On The Road To Find Out,” an allegorical interpretation of the song by Yusuf/Cat Stevens. Re-recorded by Stevens for the 50th anniversary re-release of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman, Stuckwisch filmed the music video for this new take on the song in her trademark style, blending stunning locations with ingenious practical effects to create a singular vision.
Filmed on the coastal sand dunes of Pismo Beach in California, a boulder amalgamated from household appliances and other manmade scrap gradually grows in size as a man (Viet Dang) drags it across figurative “sands of time.” Grimacing as the ever-increasing weight slows his gait to a crawl, objects from centuries past fly through the desert and cling to this rock, a burden he has chosen to carry.
Viet Dang drags the burden of man’s progress behind him in Yusuf/Cat Stevens “On The Road To Find Out” (Director’s Cut) by Kimberly Stuckwisch & Melora Donoghue
“The video is an allegory for humanity’s journey for self-discovery and the historical events, art, and music that have influenced life and culture,” says Stuckwisch. “Through the video, we follow a man pulling a boulder that increasingly grows to represent these influences. It’s a story of our ability to break free from these burdens and our will to find inner peace.”
The fully COVID-compliant production was filmed in the summer of 2020 with a crew of ten, using all-natural light with no generators or electricity. Ensuring the music video’s carbon footprint was as small as possible, all the props used to create the boulder were donated for recycling after the production wrapped.
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Kimberly commissioned me to create hand-drawn titles & credits. Having collaborated with her before on videos for Broken Bells, Jeremy Ivey & Margo Price, we had developed an ease to envisioning what these sequences would look like in the final cut – almost before I would even put pen to paper!
End credits for “On The Road To Find Out” (Director’s Cut); Chisel-tip pen on paper.
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Suggesting we add an additional layer of artistry to embellish the titles’ design, I recommended award-winning animator Cassie Shao, who often collaborates with my band, Maggie Dave. Her illustrated blowing sands revealing the names created a storybook-like beauty to the fantastical world that Stuckwisch imagined with her cast & crew.
An arrestingly beautiful stop-motion animated short by Soetkin Verstegen. Freeze Frame is a captivating example of meticulous craft and disquieting, harmonious textures of picture and sound.
From the artist: “Freeze frame: the most absurd technique since the invention of the moving image. Through an elaborate process of duplicating the same image over and over again, it creates the illusion of stillness. Identical figures perform the hopeless task of preserving blocks of ice. The repetitive movements reanimate the animals captured inside.”
Director, writer, animator: Soetkin Verstegen
Sound: Andrea Martignoni & Michal Krajczok
Angel’s Egg (1985); Yoshitaka Amano with director Mamoru Oshii
Comic Barcelona - 37th edition; Illustration by Ana Galvañ
Ana Galvañ is a freelance illustrator based in Madrid. Recently, she has published Pulse enter para continuar, a compilation of five stories that travel between science fiction and fantasy, published by Apa Apa cómics. I’m an admirer of her character design and diffused interpretation of color.
Stunning stop-motion piece from artist & animation director Charlotte Arene. I can’t get over how beautifully the sound of the waves sweep back and forth in perfect time with the motion of the objects.
From the artist, interviewed by Filmnosis: “I think it encapsulates the anguish and playfulness that are both present in the film; on one hand there’s this light and funny aspect of turning household elements into a kind of seaside scenery and playing with that metaphor, but on the other hand there’s the storm and the heavy sleeping… which all tug at a darkest side of the imagination.”
Home Study (2020) Dir: Daniel Lee; Poster design & illustration by Sean David Christensen
When I’m lucky enough to be given it, I treasure the opportunity to artistically express a filmmaker’s vision. Translating their story with illustrations and color can be such a joy, especially when my work is given the honor and trust it needs to fully realize itself, both as an original piece of art and a compliment to the film. Reuniting with my friend and former Killing My Lobster cast member Daniel Lee was a delight, whose short film Home Study will be touring film festivals later this year. Co-starring Courtney Davis and Scott Prendergast, this charming short paints a portrait of a nervous gay couple navigating the adoption process of their first child.
WHO (2019) Album cover designed by Peter Blake.
“A story about motherhood and loss in an abstracted world of childhood memory.” Understated, devastating visual storytelling from animator Jenny Wright - an elegant example of the power and impact of a single line on the page.
Animated by Jenny Wright
Composer: Matt Huxley
Sound Designer: Ben Goodall
“2019 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival” Poster art and design by Sonny Kay
I love the artistry of the official poster celebrating the 2019 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the longest running all-documentary film festival in North America. Designed by Sonny Kay, his entrancing, layered work is just as compelling as this year’s program of curated non-fiction shorts and features.
Maggie Dave - Mean Like Monsters (Concept art) by Kadie Cook
As Maggie Dave continues to record its upcoming full-length album, Mean Like Monsters, concept art for the cover is beginning to take shape. Here’s a glimpse of what’s forming, from illustrator Kadie Cook.
Cristina Daura, on Behance.
"Know There Won't Always Be a Reason Why" by Astronaut Ice Cream Written and performed by Heather Marie Ellison and Kirt Lind Recorded by Daniel Nelson at Sky Palace Studios Mixed and Mastered by Kirt Lind.
“I’m not asking you to call me / I’m not asking for much / Just want to hear the right words fall from your mouth.” - Lyrics by Heather Marie Ellison
Elegant work by Leonardo Santamaria for the New York Times, an illustration for an op-ed about our individual expectations of privacy in public spaces.
Stay focused (2019); PSD collage, Playboy magazine cut-out
A fun, early morning [4:12 A.M.] cut-out to get the juices going!
