Digital Illustration Taking Over

I've been experimenting with digital illustration for a while now, after seeing the work of French illustrator/graphic artist Stephane Manel, whose career was launched with illustrations in Vogue Paris magazine.

Since then, I've starting to notice digital illustrations all over the web and in print. Here's a couple I saw within the past few days:

A lot of news publications use illustrations for their columnist. The Boston Globe's (or boston.com) gone digital.

This illustration is one in an impressive series that accompanies an Adweek feature on celebrity chefs. This one features upstate New York native Rachael Ray. I noticed three different illustrators worked on the various images (one did portraits, the other the diagrams, the other the products). Read the article and see the other illustrations here. (Adweek's probably the least sensational and most interesting media trends magazine/website out there, btw)

ACL Festival

The 10th Austin City Limits Festival is currently going down in Austin, TX, and you can catch all the action live on You Tube right here. (Listening to Secret Sisters now ... they're really good). This year's festival is loaded -- 130 bands, eight stages (yeah, fuckin huge). There are two channels so you can do some virtual stage-hopping. The big ones you don't want to miss:

Ray LaMontagne (4:45 today)
Stevie Wonder (8-10 on Saturday)
Fleet Foxes (6:30-7:30 on Sunday)
Arcade Fire!! (8:30-10 on Sunday)
And, of course, My Morning Jacket (Saturday, also at 8) ...

If you like watching concerts sprawled on your couch in your skivies(sp), surrounded by your pets (a.k.a. jungle friends), computers and flashy devices - you're in luck. Check out these webcasts this week.

Phish Vermont Flood Benefit Show: Wednesday (tomorrow!) Sept. 14 live from Essex Junction, Vt.:
When Phish plays in Vermont, it's naturally a big deal. While none of the band members are natives of Vermont, they formed at UVM in '83 and have since become synonymous with the Green Mountain State. They also have a history of giving back to places near and dear to them, and back a couple of foundations, Mockingbird Foundation and Waterwheel Foundation.

Click here to order the webcast for $20 and test your audio/video capabilities.

Wilco, Live on Letterman: 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21:
Stream Wilco live on Letterman's stage in New York City. Likely debuting some new tunes off their upcoming album, The Whole Love, and hopefully playing some staples #jesusect #iamtryingtobreakyourheart

Click here to watch the webcast free next Wednesday.

- J

New Explosions in the Sky

Beatiful stuff as always from EITS.

Paper

Gotta love Arcade Fire's approach to "alerting the media" about progress on their most recent album, Suburbs. Good-old-fashioned paper correspondence (the stamp is a great touch).

Here's to hoping the United States Postal Service is able to adapt to the reality of online bill paying, email and the like.

I used to write,
I used to write letters I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing lights settled deep in my brain

But by the time we met
By the time we met the times had already changed

So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out
I was left standing in the wilderness downtown

Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last

- "We Used To Wait" by Arcade Fire

Wilco "Born Alone"

A new tune off Wilco's upcoming release, The Whole Love, to be released Sept. 27.

Newbalance 890

If I'm going to get into this running thing, I gotta have the right shoes ... The New Balance 890 found its way onto many Gear of the Year lists, including Outside Magazine's.

Nor'easter Festival

In case you're not already in the know: For the past few years Eastern Mountain Sports has been holding a music/camping/outdoor sports festival featuring at least a few really good bands. This year's Nor'easter Festival is being held in Waterfront Park in Burlington Sept. 23-25. It's the perfect venue for this festival. I was in Waterfront Park a few weekends ago at the same time as the US Amateur Triathlon Championships. It was a huge event. Plenty of cool shops, nightlife and they love their outdoor sports in Burlington.

The headliners this year are:

G-Love and the Special Sauce
Okkervile River
rjd2

Should be a good time if you haven't made plans that weekend and want to wook out at a festie.

- J