Billy T James

Billy T James

#Illustration of William James Te Wehi Taitoko MBE, better known by his stage name Billy T James. #BillyT, was a #NewZealand #entertainer, #comedian, #musician and #actor. He became a key figure in the development of New Zealand #comedy, a household name during his lifetime, and remains an #icon to the present day.

The Billy T #Award was founded in 1997 in honour of James. It is New Zealand’s most prestigious comedy award, recognising #comedians with outstanding #potential. Winners are presented with a #yellow #towel, Billy’s trademark from his “Te News” sketches.

#madewithwacom #bamboostylus in #adobeideas
#nz #aotearoa #TeNews #news #laugh #funny

 

billy-t-james

100 Days Project – One thing. Every day. x100.

100 Days Project – One thing. Every day. x100.

The 100 Days Project is simple. Choose one creative exercise, and then repeat it every day for 100 days. Record each daily effort and see what evolves in the work and in yourself over time. The project gives anyone a framework and the permission to be creative. It challenges you to dig deep into your creative reserves, to rely on your readiness to work in order to achieve creative breakthrough. It can be an end to procrastination, and the development of resilience. It takes a lot of energy, and yet the rewards can resonate for a long time after the 100th Day is over.

In 2011 Emma Rogan decided to start a 100 Days Project after reading about Michael Bierut’s ‘100 Days of Design’ class at Yale. She invited others to join her and word of the project spread. Since inception hundreds of people have participated in the project.

I began participating in the second iteration of the 100 Days Project in 2012 after being invited by a friend, Laura Cibilich. Laura was at the time conducting a similar exercise where she used various media and materials in creating the day’s date every day for a whole year! Check out her awesome project at www.mydailydesign.com

After joining and beginning my first 100 Days project of creating a tiling pattern inspired by everyday objects or items around me, I realised that perhaps I had been a little over-ambitious with the scope of my project and had underestimated the time it would take to create each pattern from concepting stage through to producing a vectorised tiling pattern square. Unfortunately I ended up bowing out of the 2012 exercise at around Day 14 with my pride a little bruised but having learned some important lessons.

The following year I came back with renewed vigour and determination to complete a new project in the 2013 iteration of the 100 Days Project. Initially my goals was to get back in touch with my long lost drawing skills by completing one doodle a day for the next 100 days. After a few days I realised that I spent too long trying to decide what to draw and so I ended up refining my goal to give it more limitation and focus and to save myself hours of indecision. My updated project goal became; to sketch one of the 100 most influential people of last century each day. This will give me an opportunity to learn more about these individuals and what they were known for. The 100 individuals are taken from the collection by TIME Magazine and information taken from Wikipedia.

Having these added limitations freed me from over-thinking the project and gave me a pre-populated list of individuals to draw. I proudly completed every day of this project and I am currently posting up some highlights of the 2013 100 Days project here on my blog.

If you would like to view the whole project you can see it here – 100 Days Project 2013

100 Days Project 2014 – Changing Faces

My goal for this years iteration of the project is to literally change the face of social media and rid our visual, social landscape of tacky and unflattering profile photos, one person at a time.
I will do this by composing, shooting and editing a head shot portrait of one lucky individual each day for 100 days. At the same time I am hoping to further develop my composition and photography skills in capturing an accurate representation of what embodies the individual.

The 2014 project will begin on July 11, 2014. You can stay updated with my project here on the 100 Days Project site and as there are still a few days left you can still register. Join me!

 

 

Day 2 of 100 – Māori Warrior

Day 2 of 100 – Māori Warrior

A #sketch of a #warrior of the #Māori people of #Aotearoa (New Zealand) the #culture with which I identify. Found at the southwestern point of the #Polynesian triangle, the cultural history of Māori people is tied into a larger Polynesian phenomenon and share similar cultural traditions such as religion, social organisation, myths, and material culture.

Polynesian #seafarers were ocean #navigators and #astronomers. Polynesians were capable of travelling long distances by sea. The strong female presence among early settlers in New Zealand suggests Polynesian #migration #voyages were deliberate rather than accidental. The most current reliable evidence strongly indicates that initial settlement of New Zealand occurred around 1280 CE.

A defining attribute of the Māori culture is it’s strong visual language. The face markings you can see on the sketch are known as Tā moko and can also be found on the body. Tā moko is the permanent body and face marking by Māori, the #indigenous people of New Zealand. Traditionally it is distinct from #tattoo and #tatau in that the skin was carved by uhi (chisels) rather than punctured. This left the skin with grooves, rather than a smooth surface.

Captain James Cook wrote in 1769: The marks in general are spirals drawn with great nicety and even elegance. One side corresponds with the other. The marks on the body resemble foliage in old chased ornaments, convolutions of filigree work, but in these they have such a luxury of forms that of a hundred which at first appeared exactly the same no two were formed alike on close examination.

#Drawn on #iPad in #AdobeIdeas using the #Wacom #Bamboostylus. #AdobeDrawing

#Maori #Toa #NewZealand #Polynesia #Pacific #Waka #Tamoko #Moko #Whakairo #Kowhaiwhai

MARAMA O TE TAU – Maori Calendar 2012-2013

MARAMA O TE TAU – Maori Calendar 2012-2013

This is the third desktop calendar I created for NZ Job Squad and Maori & Pacific Jobs.

As the two previous Maori Calendars (2010-2011 & 2011-2012), the calendar begins it’s measurement from the month that Matariki (Maori New Year Festival) begins.

This particular calendar focusses on the rich, native birdlife that can be seen throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand. The calendar contains 12 unique illustrations of a specific native bird species and includes a whakatauki or proverb that relates to that bird. The cover is a silhouette of an iconic NZ native bird called the Tui. Once again the cover has a unique die cut that allows the cover to fold into itself and become a stand. The cover is also wirebound to allow the user to flip the page over to the next month.

The clients, NZ Job Squad and Maori & Pacific Jobs, used this unique design solution as promotional marketing material that they send free-of-charge to their clients and potential clients.

 

Matariki-Maori-Calendar-1-2012-2013

 

 

 

 

Matariki-Maori-Calendar-2-2012-2013

 

 

 

MARAMA O TE TAU – Maori Calendar

MARAMA O TE TAU – Maori Calendar

This is the first desktop calendar I created for NZ Job Squad and Maori & Pacific Jobs while working at Native Council.

Named Nga marama o te tau – Maori Calendar 2010-2011, the calendar begins it’s measurement from the month that Matariki (Maori New Year Festival) begins.

The calendar contains 12 unique illustrations that are a visual representation of the whakatauki that has been used for that month. The cover is an image of some raranga work and has a unique die cut that allows the cover to fold into itself and become a stand. The cover is also wirebound to allow the user to flip the page over to the next month.

The clients, NZ Job Squad and Maori & Pacific Jobs, used this unique design solution as promotional marketing material that they send free-of-charge to their clients and potential clients.

 

Maori-Calendar-2010-2011