Be sure to check out the Creation Station at Kumoricon this weekend! It is an annual anime convention in Portland, Oregon. Copic Markers will be available to check out at the Creation Station along with various workshops and contests. Below is an awesome piece of artwork from a Creation Station winner for “Best use of Copics” by  Mewta (Natasha Allen).

First give us a bit of background Information- Where are you from, Education and Artistic interests?

I live in St. Paul, MN with my husband and two sons.

I work as both a psychologist and artist.

My education is a master’s degree in psychology from the university of MN.

Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?

I am a self-taught artist.

What inspired you to create?

What inspires me to create is listening to the beauty in people around me.

How did you develop your illustration style?

I began by taking note of moments clients in my psychology practice would share insights that took my breath away. I began a manuscript out of this inspiration. As I was documenting all their beautiful words, I began wondering how I could add illustrations. I asked myself “what would messiness inside look like?” and what would “holding hands” look like. Here is where the artist in me was born! It came out of a deep love for people and wanting to celebrate and share that in fuller color with others. Now I continue to find artistic inspiration from not just my clients but also from listening all around me and within me.

Which art materials do you prefer?

My preference of materials has crystallized, at this point, as beginning with an illustration with a fine sharpie marker and then coloring in with Copics. I adore the markers’ deep yummy colors.

Who are some of your favorite illustrators/ artists?

I tend to be drawn to other artists who are also about inspiration/lifting others up/who couple their art with words…. as, for example, Sabrina Ward Harrison, Brian Andreas, and Sark do. Also, lately I’m really into art by a blogger friend in Florida (Carissa Paige).

What criticism from a teacher or mentor have you received on your work that really helped you develop?

As far as guidance, I loved what Sark said in a book of hers, to be as true & you as you can be & then share your work with the world.

What’s your favorite part about being an illustrator?

My favorite part about being an illustrator is how happy I am when I draw and how happy I am to meet the new friends I have through blogging and how happy I am to celebrate the beauty in people and how happy I am to feel like I am being myself.

What is the worst part about being and illustrator?

The worst part is not having as much time as I’d always wish to breathe full life into this part of my heart-career.

It is so great to soar with colors!

Check out more of Rachel Awes:

www.allididwaslisten.blogspot.com

www.rachelawes.etsy.com

Happy Birthday Learn Something Every Day from Young on Vimeo.

Learn Something New Everyday is celebrating their first year. We featured them here on our blog several months ago and now Copic is proud to be a sponsor of the website. If you have not been there yet please check it out. They have a new book coming out with Penguin Press in 2011 so be on the lookout for it.

Meanwhile, we are pleased to announce several new products that will be showcased at CHA:

High Tack Tape by X-Press Graph-X Supplies
This High Tack Tape is perfect for your artistic adhesive needs. It has an extremely strong hold, is double sided, and works well on many surfaces. This tape is great for use on metals, wood, paper, glass, plastic, and fabric. Other applications include heat embossing, and use with photos. This tape from X-Press Graph-X Supplies is available in three widths: 1/8″, 1/4″, 1/2″.

Mask It Film from X-Press Graph-X Supplies
Mask It Film is perfect for detailed projects that require layers of color. The clear matte finish is great for tracing, and works well with a light box. With eight sheets to a pack, this Mask It Film is available in 15″x10″ sheets. By X-press Graph-X Supplies.

Blending Card by X-Press Graph-X Supplies
This new high quality paper from X-Press It is a perfect match with the Copic product line. The super smooth, silky cardstock leaves crisp special effects and bright colors. Its dense 92 lb cover weight keeps colors sharp while blending, and prevents feathering. Acid free & archival. This is the paper to use for all of your stamping and card making needs.

Color Swatch Book
Keep track of your marker colors with this handy swatch book! The color swatch book arranges all 334 Copic colors by family, and lists the marker styles for each color, making it easy to choose the next colors you need. This 7” x 3 1/2” booklet is a convenient size to accompany you wherever you need to make your next color consultation.

Anime Expo 2010!
Come visit us at booth #800! Copic Markers, in partnership with Dick Blick will be at the booth featuring all of your Manga and Anime needs.

Don’t forget to join us in Room LP3 for Copic classes taught by Marianne Walker:
July 1st 5:30pm: Copic Beginner Workshop
July 2nd 9:00am: Manga Inking and Papers
July 3rd 9:00am: Copic Beginner Workshop

Anime Expo will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center July 1st-4th. Check out their website at www.anime-expo.org for more details.

Click here for images from AX09.

German Manga illustrator Marika Herzog sent me this link via Twitter this week. Here she’s inking a page from her ongoing series entitled Grimoire. You can preview it here. The second volume is due out this summer.

FYI, she’s using Copic Multiliner SP’s  (0.1 and 0.3).

First give us a bit of background information- Where are you from? Where did you go to school and what are you artistic interests?

I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. I have a Bachelors of Science in Fine Arts from Towson University and studied Photography and Art History in Florence, Italy where I studied Renaissance art and black and white photography techniques. As for my artistic interests, I am drawn to the simple beauty in everyday things. From the strength of a concrete overpass to the decay of an old house, the shapes, colors, textures and sharp contrasts are my eye candy.

Tell us a little bit more about what you do. How do you describe “Interaction Designer”?  Who do you do work for? Are you freelance or with a firm?

To me, an Interaction Designer is someone who makes the complicated problems simple by designing intuitive, thoughtful solutions regardless whether its online, offline, environmental or service inspired. As an Interaction Designer for Pinpoint Logic, a user experience design company, my background in visual communication gives me a unique edge when it comes to understanding business problems and crafting an informed design.  My thought process is very visual and I spend a lot of time doing sketch notes and whiteboard exercises to help navigate through the problems and define solutions.

It’s cool to see Copic Markers used in such simple and functional application. You are actually blending and adding tonal elements in your prototypes. Will you describe your process with the markers?

I use grid paper, nothing fancy, and pencil in the outer frames of the prototype. Then with the Copic Multiliner SP 0.7 pen, I start outlining. I often switch to a smaller gauge pen to do any type treatments. I have various line styles to denote headings, copy, links, etc. Once the outlines are inked, I then use Sketch Markers to add depth and dimension to the modules. I use c1, c3, n1, n3, w1 and w3 of the grays to indicate static, active and inactive states of the windows. Through the use of the markers I have created a set that works quite well in most paper prototyping situations.

Sketching out the windows and user interface elements help me visualize the interactions and decide whether my initial design thoughts were correct. Paper prototyping takes less time than trying to create the screens on the computer and allows me to get the answers faster; whether its from myself, from a team member or a user. Its amazing how quickly you can determine if a user interface will be too visually cluttered just by layering a few sheets of grid paper.

When you linked me to these images of your work I was surprised because in my experience with web design/planning it’s usually done on a white board and/or wire-framed using software. Is your approach typical?  Why take so much care with the initial phase? Is it aesthetic for you? Are you just an artist/craftsperson at heart?

I am not sure if my approach is typical although I have seen a spike in sketch notes which lead me to believe that there may be others like me out there. Working this way allows me to be creative and hold on to my fine arts experience but yet move forward in a technical problem solving kind of way. Creating the paper prototypes confirm design decisions and when I share them with the users, they become more engaged. Its amazing to see how they interact and quickly see what designs work and what will not. Its a lot cheaper for me to draw, test and redraw on paper than it is to spend weeks crafting just the right wireframe in Omnigraffle.

Interaction Design has everything to do with how humans engage information. To me it seems like hand-drawing your browser frame and content layouts is a much more tangible and direct way to think about the human side of information. Do you see it that way? Does slowing down the layout process help you think about content better/differently?

Yes, I do see it that way. We spend so much time looking at, and working in, a box that we miss out on opportunities to really digest how humans interact with the tangible world. Taking the interfaces and drawing them out, gives me the opportunity to see each element as an object that has a purpose and needs to help the user, not get in their way. Overall, I enjoy what I do because I’m an advocate for the user… but some days I enjoy it just because I get to draw with markers all day.

Drawing all day is always a bonus. Tell me more about your photography? When did you start taking pictures?

My photographic journey started when I was a kid and its been a start and stop trip ever since. In the fall of 2008, I bought my first digital camera and vowed to get back into taking photos and rediscover my eye. So the 365 day challenge began. In 2009 I took photos almost every day. It had been so long since I had taken photos on a regular basis that I was unsure what my “style” was. So I left it open and focused on taking photos and not get too hung up on the technical aspect.

Who are some of your favorite photographers?

Some of my favorite these days are those who I know personally. I hope to learn more about well known photographers and study their techniques. This is actually part of my project this year. I’m working on mastering the Manual mode:)

Most of my photos do not have a human element in them and that is something I hope to change in time. I’m always intrigued when someone can capture the pure essence of a human in their raw environment. My friend Dave has a knack for this. I find photos, whether famous or a simple snapshot, incredibly beautiful. It’s the story that the image communicates and how we interpret them that always leaves me in awe. <

I always find a lot of inspiration in the creative output of my friends. Absorbing work that is different from what I do professionally or in my own studio has always been helpful for me as well. Do you feel there are direct connections between the practice of shooting pictures and your design work?

Yes. I found that just the sheer act of taking photos every day really helped me strengthen my understanding of basic design elements (balance, composition, etc) and in turn started to affect my interaction design. I approach my designs differently now, especially in breaking down complicated tasks into the simplest of measures. Whether it’s zooming in on particular user flow, or approaching a system from a 30,000 foot view, my sketches/prototypes hone in on the true task at hand without the clutter of any system noise. I don’t think I would have noticed if it wasn’t for my co-workers who started to pick up on the shift in my work. After a few months of tracking my photo project and my interaction designs, they linked the two and confirmed it for me.

I have a BA in Art History and find that my ability (as a graphic designer) to look at and talk about images to others has been greatly helped by this experience. While there is no obvious, direct connection between the Renaissance and interactive design, what about your understanding of fine arts in general informs your commercial work?

Since I have a BS in Fine Arts (I’m serious, a BS! I started out as a Bio Chem major) having the basic understanding of the elements of design really helps me design the GUI (graphic user interface) as well as the overall balance of interaction on the screen. I never thought all those terrible and rough college critiques would come in handy in the real world. Might sound funny but being an art student really did help prepare me in handling clients and gathering requirements. I feel like I’ve perfected the art of asking all the right questions.

Thanks Michelle! Check out more of her photography on Flickr. Find @michellechilds on Twitter and check out her blog Complicated is Easy.

Copic will have a booth at Sakura Con, April 2nd-4th in Seattle, Washington! Sakura con is the Northwest’s premier anime show. There will be games, concerts, contests, and many great exhibitors.
The event is held at the downtown convention center. Copic’s booth number is 510.
Come visit us!

Image courtesy Sakuracon.org

Copic will be in attendance this year at CAMEX in Orlando Florida. Produced by the National Association of College Stores, CAMEX is the higher education retailing industry’s largest trade show and educational event. Each year, CAMEX attracts more than 7,000 exhibitors and attendees, representing more than 1,100 college stores, 700 companies, and more than 90 product categories.

CAMEX 2010 takes place March 13-15 and we are booth number 1974. Please come by and say hello if you are a buyer or store owner. This show is not open to the public.

The 2010 catalog will soon be available. We just got these in today from the printer and they should be shipping out soon. This version sports a new cover but has much of the same content. New products and updates have been added.