New citizen
My wife is going to be sworn in as a citizen later this month. I’m pretty proud of her in so many ways. When I think about it she’s accomplished so much. She’s well accepted by everyone at her workplace, she can now understand all the funky accents she hears over here including Pidgin English, she’s been a successful new mom and now she’s soon to become another US citizen. Her toughest job has probably been putting up with me for the last 5 years! I’m a pretty lucky guy.
read moreNeed a hug
I have to stop watching the news. Why? Don’t you think it’s just a shitstorm of tragedy everywhere these days? I’m inclined to think that we human beings can only have so much empathy for others in the world…these days, it’s just coming at us too much, too fast. I miss the days when news only came in 30 minute chunks each night on TV and in between comic strip segments in the daily paper. That was enough daily drama to absorb don’t you think? These days it’s like you’re constantly reminded that at...
read moreElfQuest
I was surprised to stumble across a Boing Boing post about ElfQuest today. I may be dating myself, but I know friends around my age really got into this set of indie comics back in our intermediate school days. I know it wasn’t totally original (I assume the likes of Tolkien heavily influenced these stories), but for me, it was one of my own fantasy art/story influences. Back before there was games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft made millions of people think about elves and trolls, this comic book series was the THE thing I tell...
read morePaper Miniatures
Here are some paper miniatures I stumbled on today that I found really impressive. Again, proving that there are people out there way more talented and patient than I am. The color, detail, and compositions are really inspirational. (Here I am talking like an instructor again) (via DesignBoom) Good old Elvis here looks awesome. I’m not sure if those glasses are accurate though but I know he wore shades a lot. Funny little trivia my momma tells me she brought me along to watch the “Aloha from Hawaii” show at the Neil...
read moreSo old…
So I’m turning the big FOUR ZERO this year. So I’m officially what I would have considered really old back when I was in my teens. What’s odd is that the picture I still have of my parents in my dreams is when they were in their early 30’s…so in some odd way of thinking I’m older than my parents? No you don’t have to feel sorry for me, in fact, I feel still feel pretty young. Despite the fact I haven’t run a lot lately, I still feel stronger and healthier than I did when I was in my 20s, I can still...
read moreCar shopping
So we went to this auto car show yesterday. This time we were actually on a mission. Our current far lease comes up this Summer so were on the market for the next car. Figured this car show to be a good opportunity to scope out all the potential cars we like before we hit the dealers. I think I might be hitting an early mid life crisis because I really want a more exciting car this time around. The CR-V we’ve had the past few years was great. It’s a super practical car and it doesn’t look too bad (I refuse the whole family...
read moreStolen Scream
Just a little story about copyrights for all my designer friends and students. Makes you think a little bit. I’ve certainly accumulated my share of personal images I’ve posted online over the years. Nothing that I think would haunt me if I were to ever run for President or something, but certainly it’d be nice to think that if anyone were to think a photo of yours were nice enough to use for something, they’d at least be kind enough to at least ask? I guess not in today’s world. (Fstoppers via...
read moreScrew Art
“Screw Art”?! Pun intended. This piece of 3D looking art was created by a gentleman named Andrew Myers who apparently takes thousands of screws and…err…screws them into plywood, and then paints over the heads to get this effect. I’ve seen similar demonstrations of patience before using everything from pencil tips, to crayons. But it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful normal mundane objects can be made to look provided the right person comes along and fiddles with it. (via Toxel)
read moreStudent work in Illustrator – Spring 2011
They keep getting better every year, here’s a sample of some of the student work from this Spring semester’s Art 112 class in Illustrator CS5… It’s an unusual semester, I seem to have a lot stronger interest and talent in Illustration this time around than I have for Photoshop. I’m not used to this, I’m going to have to pull out some stops for Photoshop to keep these guys on their toes! The theme here for their 1st project is “Fantasy Meal”. That’s why you typically see a lot of fruits...
read moreWhat I’m reading
Been caught up the past week reading (yes, reading), the Ozzy autobiography called “I am Ozzy”. I can’t put it down. I’m actually spending whatever break I have reading the darn thing…which is great. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been engrossed in a good book just to take my mind off of things. Don’t ask me why this book catches me so. I just like the guy’s humor and his experiences are amazing. Two thoughts enter my mind when reading this: Ozzy’s gone through some of the most...
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LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching