Art Wisdom from Steve Brodner

November 17, 2024 by Gary Schroeder in Art & Design

Steve Brodner was one of my first illustration heroes. I just loved his work and his unique fluid style. While the creation of the Internet has generally been regarded as a bad move, it does have its upsides—one of which is that it connects people who in the Old Days would never have met. In this way, I discovered that I could take classes from Steve because he taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. During those classes, I would jot down things he said as we students scribbled away in our sketchbooks. I’ve collected some of that wisdom here.

Tangrams

October 16, 2024 by Gary Schroeder in Art & Design

Many design problems can be posed with this game in mind, the main principle to be learned being that of economy of means—making the most with the least. The game helps to sharpen the powers of observation through the discovery of resemblances between geometric and natural forms

Why is there something rather than nothing?

June 06, 2024 by Gary Schroeder in Book Review

Most people, either alone in quiet contemplation or engaged in alcohol-fueled conversations with friends at a bar, have at one time or another considered the question "why should there be something rather than nothing at all?" After all, it seems just as likely that the universe could consist of nothingness rather than be filled with planets, galaxies, cosmic dust and iPads. In “Why Does the World Exist” author Jim Holt sets out to tackle these grand musings...with very mixed results.

The 2024 North American Eclipse

April 14, 2024 by Gary Schroeder in Misc.

The wonderful thing about celestial mechanics is that they’re mathematically precise; there’s no doubt as to when things are going to happen. Heavenly events can’t be stopped or delayed by events on Earth, bad weather, or a collective lack of interest. They’re coming whether you’re ready or not. I first became aware of an impending solar eclipse several months before it happened from people who pay closer attention to these things than I do. Eclipses happen all the time around the world, but this one would be different: it would take place in my backyard. Not only would there be an eclipse in a place easily accessible to me, but it would also be a total eclipse, the most spectacular sky show of all.

Effective Color Combinations

February 02, 2024 by Gary Schroeder in Art & Design

I have a tough time with choosing colors when making my own artwork. I often fall back into the same comfortable pairings. So, when I find a good reference like this, I want to tuck it away somewhere for safekeeping.

The Philosopher of Palo Alto

September 25, 2023 by Gary Schroeder in Book Review, Technology

This is a strange little book that covers the life of Mark Weiser, a man who the author seems to believe occupies a pivotal role in the history of personal computing. Whether the author’s belief is warranted—or if indeed the entire book is warranted—is something I couldn’t quite decide by the time I reached the end of it.

X-Risk: Thinking About the End of the Human Race

August 15, 2023 by Gary Schroeder in Book Review

This is a review of the book X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. I was expecting this book to be an exploration of how human beings seem to be continually drawn to creating the mechanisms of our own destruction. Whether it be be nuclear weaponry, machines which poison our atmosphere, or computers which will become hyper-intelligent in an instant, we always seem to head in the same direction. Why should this be so? I thought this book would help me figure it out. No such luck. “X-Risk” isn’t about any of these real world problems. It’s about the philosophical origins of these problems as written by famous Western thinkers over the last 400 years

How to Feel About Roy Lichtenstein

July 07, 2023 by Gary Schroeder in Misc.

What happened to the unattributed comics artists whose work he cribbed? Their art form was considered so low that Lichtenstein never felt obliged to credit them, nor was his audience ever much inclined to care who they were.

Notes on 'Liftoff' by Eric Berger

June 29, 2023 by Gary Schroeder in Book Review, Technology

Elon Musk “long ago decided that for humanity to have a future, it must expand to other worlds”…a premise which is kind of nuts if one thinks about it for more than a few seconds but there seems to be no doubt that Musk believes it. This belief was his prime motivation for founding a company that could build the hardware to make that wild dream a reality. “Liftoff” is the story of the first few years of his effort to build the company we now know as SpaceX.

We're Children All Our Lives

May 22, 2023 by Gary Schroeder in Misc.

Author Martin Amis died this week and I saw a post by @juderogers recounting some of his views from later in life. This section really resonated with me.