Joseph Timmons

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Irene Flores—Illustrator & Mangaka

an Artist with a Flair

Article / Interview By Joseph Timmons GS1

In a small bistro in San Luis Obispo I met with Irene Flores, published and well known anime artist and illustrator. Over lunch we discussed her travels in the art world and how she became one of the few anime artists in the United States to be just as much, if not more popular than artists and illustrators from Japan. Irene has always been interested in art, as a child she enjoyed being given opportunities to explore her interests freely, and having a father who was also an established artist was very helpful and her whole family supported her dreams. From an early age, Irene enjoyed reading comics and graphic novels, growing up in a family that was very close to its Asian roots , she quickly moved from American style comics to anime and then on to animated movies from Japan and Asian countries. Irene would examine the story telling aspects of illustration and found appreciation for the craft and its natural ability to be transformative, to change and grow with the story line or plot. She relies on the emphasis of good story-telling to give her illustrations life.

During Irene’s journey in art, she has grown to treat her illustrations as if they were alive, the characters grow and mature, experience personal development and become real, not just to Irene, but to her fans and followers. Irene shared that at the many Comic Conventions and Cosplay events she has been at, both as a patron and as a celebrity; it is the fine line between fantasy and reality that excites her about her artwork. Irene enjoys being an artist, but also keeps a certain amount of anonymity. Irene stated that as well as being a published artist and illustrator, she continues to live a normal life; she has a day job and tries to keep her celebrity status “Low-Key”. Irene has been a bit disappointed in the transfer of Japanese anime and animated movies that are voiced over or edited for American audiences, stating that the process takes the life out of the story and mutes the true voices of the characters, “Some things just cannot translate” she said as she was sipping her smoothie and enjoying the sunlight streaming through the window. Irene likes living in California and often works at the local library and art schools services to teach illustrative skills and share her gift.

Her works include a series of books that teach anime style illustration, her work with Impact Comics, Tokyo-Pop, Marvel and is working on a project for Yen Press. Her most impressive work however is her Anime series Mark of the Succubus, A story where an unmotivated high school student named Aiden meets Maeve, a succubus-in-training sent from the demon homeland to learn about humans. This series was voted as one of the top titles in Tokyo-Pop’s publication and is available on Amazon.com and other online distributors.

Irene Flores Website

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Akomplice – Taking Urban Fashion to New Levels

The concept of Urban Street Wear is not new, since the 60’s the image or graphic message found its way from the highway billboards to the chests of America’s youth. We have seen everything from “Have a nice Day” to “Go $#@% Yourself” and there are many independent artists, designers and major labels that saturate the market with their vision of that is hot and what is not. The center of the mass market image campaign of most “designers” is how to maximize the money making potential and just print, print, print, until the newness of the fad design has passed, only to hope it becomes retro and returns for more money making potential. Personally, I find that the T-Shirt fad is passed on from one cheap shirt printers to another, or at least I did until I met with Akomplice.

Akomplice is a small company founded on the concept that style should not be stupid and fashion is not always about the dollar. I met with a representative of the new flagship store for Akomplice in Santa Barbara, CA and we took a brief tour of the store and discussed what Akomplice is all about. The vision behind Akomplice and their line started with the “In Your face” image and message companionship of art with a strong street flavor and the message of youth and social change, looking forward to a day of equality among all, this was the companies first step to greatness. Akomplice used their dream to bring street fashion design out of the darkness, the artwork on the shirts represent the vision of the artist as a messenger of hope and change, that hard images can be used to inform and educate, bringing about a world view to their patrons.

Akomplice quickly moved into working with musical artists and personalities to create a charitable concept of collector’s designs, artwork, CD’s and gift boxes. One such Gift Box was The Doom Box; the buyer gets a sealed wooden box, enclosed is a limited edition Shirt, gift items and music media, all the items are worth more than the sale price of less than 50.00, but each sales proceeds went to charities and the company has made a mark on the local fashion market with their philanthropy.

Akomplice has moved into more than just T-Shirts, they have increased their line to include button down shirts, slacks, shorts and jackets. They have created a full fashion wardrobe with season attentive ideas and great sense of line and look. The recent line is a blend of durable materials used in uniquely creative color matches and simple texture blends. The lines of accessories are utilitarian but do not lack any creativity to use, and are easy to mix and match.

I can easily say that the lines of design for Akomplice are not just for the beach or the college frat party, but are real fashion concept for the people who want great comfort and outstanding value in their wardrobe choices, and want to look and feel special. Akomplice small run approach allows them introduce new designs in season run, rather than create a line of 10 shirt designs for the year, they will produce almost 10 times more, using multiple art designs and illustrative ideas, they can make their flexibility a true advantage and make the patron feel their choice in just as unique as they are.

The interior of the store is sparse, hip and full of art, keeping to murals and hanging renditions of their designs and art from local artisans, it has a upscale feel that you would expect in Los Angeles, New York and other metro locations, but staff is knowledgeable about fashion and look to help their clients find just the right look. We talked about their grand opening party held just a week before our interview and I was told they had a packed, standing room only house. The local “fashionistas” as well as the consumer public truly appreciated Akomplice's whole concept and the flagship location is making a name for themselves.

“Akomplice's mission is to bring fresh concepts and artful expressions to heads across the globe. Our designs reflect the things that inspire us: nature, philosophy, hip-hop culture, cinema, art, politics, and music. We want our ideas and images to make a positive impact, provoke thought, and communicate about issues that are affecting the world today. Making Akomplice into a profitable business that stays fresh, creative, and fun is one of our biggest goals. To us, true success is making clothing that we love, and that people love”.

From dressing hip-hop icons like Ice T,Big Boi (of Outkast) and Raekwon to having their gear showcased on HBO’s Entourage, Akomplice has made consistent moves to spread the word about their clothing where major retailers across the nation are clamoring to get in on the action. Instead of trying to retail in Wal-Mart or Target, Akomplice Clothing have partnered with retailers like Fuzion and other boutique style locations. The keeping it real ideal, selling out of the big brand locations would feel like “selling out” to Akomplice.

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Agua Fresca–Mark Bittman

Agua Fresca Simple, Easy and Refreshing

NY Time Video

Mark Bittman makes a light, refreshing and very minimal summer drink.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Win an Alphas T-Shirt from SyFy and Groove Studio One

Alphas: A New SyFy Channel Action Series

Premiers on Monday July 11th, at 10/9c

About The Show

Alphas is an action-packed thriller from writers Zak Penn (The Avengers, X-Men: The Last Stand) and Michael Karnow. In the series, five ordinary people are brought together to form one extraordinary team of Alphas -- people with the unique power to stretch the capabilities of the human mind giving them superhuman physical and mental abilities.

Alphas on SyFy

Operating within the Defense Criminal Investigation Service of the U.S. Department of Defense and led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), an expert in Alpha phenomena, the team investigates cases that point to others with Alpha abilities. As they work against the clock to solve this new brand of crime, they must prevent their own personality differences and disparate backgrounds from interfering with their ultimate mission to catch the enemy.

In addition to Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Temple Grandin, Good Night, and Good Luck), the ensemble cast stars Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Why Did I Get Married?), Warren Christie (October Road), Laura Mennell (Watchmen), Ryan Cartwright (Mad Men, Bones) and Azita Ghanizada (Castle).

Learn more about Alphas:

http://www.alphapowers.com/about/ and http://www.syfy.com/alphasseries