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I know it sounds corny saying that cows are friendly but that's what I experienced in Scotland when I met some cows grazing in a pasture along the road. They are such beautiful and gentle creatures that are very aware of the things around them especially humans. They remind me a lot of dogs. I was shocked at how moved I was by these wonderful animals. i wanted to visit them everyday I was there in Scotland and was happy when I finally got a good 2 hours to go out and draw them. Here's the results along with some pics and a video of these amazing animals.

A picture of some cows that were interested in what I was doing…

Some drawings of cows in the field.

A video of my new found friends..

I drew this last week at figure drawing and wanted to share it with you. I feel I captured the subtlety of the model and her relaxed pose. I used the pillows and the fabric in the front to lead you into the composition and to contrast the human form and frame it. Let me know your thoughts about this one.

"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together." ~John Ruskin

Sometimes you choose to lean towards a more dreamlike state in design. This poster has that mysterious seductive feeling to it. There are a few elements that I think help accomplish this type of look. Here they are:

All in all I think you get the point. With all these elements put together you get a certain feeling. I'd like to point out that these elements came together for me in an intuitive process. I didn't plan for them to happen. I more or less analyzed why they worked after the fact. The point I'm trying to make is that you should go with the process and see where it leads you. If an element is working then move forward and add another element and hopefully that works as well. If it doesn't work then try something different. It's all like a puzzle that needs to be solved and in the end you wind up with something that surprises you and hopefully speaks to you as well, as this poster design did to me.
And finally after all that analysis here's the actual poster. Let me know what you think in the comments section below…….

A few years back I hired Aletta de Wal to help me move forward with my artistic career. It was one of the best career decisions I've made. Through the years I've gotten to work with her on numerous occassion and this year I was honored when she asked Kevin Corcoran and I to be the Featured Artists for the month of June at ArtistCareerTraining.com. There's a written section and an audio interview to check out. For those of you who don't already know Aletta, who runs Artist Career Training, here's a little background information on her:

Peter: "My involvement with Aletta through one-on-one coaching has helped me to understand the importance of being organized in all areas of your artistic career. Especially in dealing with galleries and other institutions. You have to have your bio done, your list of collectors, etc. are like a ground base that you have to lay down in order to move forward in a professional manner. It's important to look as professional in your business side as it is in your creative side. To have it another way is a recipe for chaos. Quality is quality and we should strive for it in all aspects of our careers."

CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT Artist Career Training

Here's a few of the many projects that Kevin and I have worked on together.

That's right, it's a free event to help raise money for "Gift of LIfe International". We're raising money with Art and Surfing to help save a child's life. This is our 5th year and we're looking forward to seeing you there.

See this event on Facebook

See Flyer below…..

This is a 12 foot tall by 240 foot wide collaborative mural accomplished in the summer of 2010 by the following artists:

Peter Bragino
John Bragino
Kevin Corcoran
Lisa Distefano
Christine Kane
Jeff Slack
Jennifer Quinn
Sonia Vera-Leon

I designed this mural as a 4 seasons cyclical theme starting in winter on the South wall and ending again in winter on the North wall. It's painted inside a 120' tunnel and both walls were painted to complete the cycle of the seasons. I gathered some of the best artists I knew to come down and join me in the creation of this mural. My brother John shot a documentary while we painted this.

Here are two versions to view. The top one is a wider format so you can see more of the mural at one time. The bottom is for checking out details. Enjoy!!

If this were an actual step by step tutorial it might not read very well. I'm not sure if you can give a step by step on something like this. A logo is a symptom of an ideal. The thoughts, the dreams, the vision that a person has for their company. It's how they want the public to view them and what services they offer. Color, graphics, style, treatment of all these things tells a story visually without them having to do it verbally.
Here's some quick advice for working on a logo:

• Ask your client a lot of questions about their style, tolerance for design, color preferences, and most importantly how they want other people to view their company.
• Sketch as many ideas as you can but narrow it down to the top 3 or 4 designs to show the client. Don't give them too many ideas to consider because it will just confuse them.
• You as a designer are responsible to get the client what they want but remember your the one who knows what looks good and what doesn't. That's why they came to you and you have to steer the process as much as it requires. It's ok to tell a client that what they envision won't work. Make sure to tell them why, in your professional opinion, your steering them away from that idea.
• Consider the company image as a whole. It's not just a logo. It's a brand. How will they present this brand with all their future marketing materials? Web, print, stickers, fonts, verbiage, etc…..
• Charge accordingly. This is an extensive process which I budget for at least 20 hours of design. It will probably be twice that amount. Figure out what your hourly rate is to design and multiply that by at least 20 hours and thats how much you should be charging to design a logo.
• Have fun and enjoy creating the brand. It's hard work but it can also be very rewarding.

Although I would not consider myself a logo designer I have designed my share of logos. I like to think of myself as an artist in general. If you understand design you can approach a great many disciplines in art. It all just requires doing it over and over till you get the feel for the specific discipline. Here's some logos/brands I've designed over the past year. I rarely take on commissions to do this type of work but I have a lot of friends and family that have started their own businesses/dreams. In these cases I try to help them out when possible.  This is what we've done together…..

Live Your Yoga (designed logo and website)

www.liveyouryoga.net

Vero Restaurant (designed logo and print marketing material)

www.verorestaurant.biz

Vittorios Restaurant (designed logo and business cards)

www.vittorios.biz

Town Farm Organic (designed logo, business card, tshirts, website)

www.townfarmorganic.com

Wolf Garden of Massage (designed logo, business card, website)

www.wolfgardenofmassage.com

Customizing things like a pair of headphones can be a very rewarding experience and it's sure to have it's complications as well especially when it's your first go at an item like this. I've customized many a item before but when your dealing with audio equipment that's delicate like these headphones you have to be careful. I was at my friend DJ Justintime's house a few weeks ago. Justin's an icon on the NYC house club scene. He's known for outrages outfits, eating beats, raising a ruckus and breaking records and that's on a calm day. Your always in for an amazing musical event when your attending one of his DJ performances and he deserves a set of headphones that fit the bill.

Justin's better half received a pair of Skullcandy headphones that sounded great but looked a little bit too "cute". Very pink and something that neither of them used because of the style. Of course I volunteered to customize them. Surely I could do something cool with them and it shouldn't be too difficult either. I figured I'd cover them with stickers or something simple like that but simple was the last word I can use to explain to chain of events that happened next. Here's what they looked like before I got my greasy little hands on them..

Headphones before customization..

I'm not going to drag you through the entire process in length but I'll paraphrase below so you can get an idea of what it takes to customize an item like this just in case you choose to jump off this plank yourself.

• Sand every surface to be painted, yes every nook and cranny. If it's still shiny you need to keep sanding. You want it to be dull.
• Tape/Mask of all areas that you don't want to be painted. That means cover everything with no gaps.
• Paint with paint of choice. I mistakenly chose OneShot which is an enamel. Slow drying, and too much for an impatient person like me.
• Dislike the first color which was black, experiment with stippling silver and red. Hate that. Paint the whole thing over with Olive drab. Like that.
• At this point I got the idea that the headphones would look like old military gear, something from the 60's but modern all the same.
• I chose a picture of their bulldog JD (He's the real rockstar in this family) to use as an icon for one earbud. A star with his initials on the other ear. Yes JD is short for Jack Daniels. I told you he's a rockstar.
• Paint more paint on top, let dry, try to reassemble, break the piece that holds the earbud to the headpiece. Realize I just ruined a day and a half of work and my friend's headphones. Sit in disbelief for about 30 minutes then refuse to give up on it. I figured if I was going to crash and burn on this project I might as well take it all the way to destruction.
• Drilled a hole in the missing nub and successfully did it without breaking anything else. Now I need to find something small and strong to act as a dowel to hold the earbud on. After about 3 attempts finally found a screw that worked perfectly. Onward and back in business.
• Still hate paint, scrape half of it off and realize that the OneShot on the base layer isn't drying anyway so it had to be done. Re-sand.
• Get new, faster drying spraypaint which works well but looks like crap because of all the scraping. Try to texture the paint with a paint brush to cover up flaws, doesn't work, try a heat gun to cause bubbling for texture, melt headpiece to an almost liquid state, ruin padding on underside of headpiece. Seriously, this is all happening. Let plastic cool and harden back up, fix padding with tape and back in the saddle.
• Vow to make this look good no matter what. I'm all in at this point.
• Alright, that's enough rambling. Here's the finished result. Put some rivets in for cool factor, added some hemp rope ties to the headband for unique factor. Enter Star Wars movie prop status. 4 days later I'm done. Make ad to promote this imaginary product. Sign it. Now I'm done…….

A friend of mine is in his last year of University and is writing a dissertation entitled "Reading Graffiti". He asked me to answer the following questions about my own art and about graffiti. I'm publishing this for you to read with his permission. The opinions stated here are just that, my own personal opinion as I see it today. I'm sure a year from now I could have a different opinion all together but today this is what I think. If you are of a different opinion please express that in the comment section. Any and all opinions are welcome.

Peter Bragino
www.bragino.com

1. How would you characterize the art which you make?
I’d say that it’s based on organic design, nature and the randomness of the way nature creates things. You have that aspect in my work along with the urban environment that I”ve grown up in. My work is generally celebrating both of those things at all times no matter what I create..

2. Can you describe the first piece of art you made? The most recent?
> The first considerable piece of art that I made on canvas was a painting called Frustration. It was me trying too hard to make what I wanted to make but the work of art had something different in mind. After hours of throwing paint and having fun my first spontaneous piece of art was born. It was a liberating experience.
> The most recent image I made was a digital painting created improvisationally and wound up becoming a scene of a girl flying on the back of this giant bird down into a mountain top village with towering, post-apocolyptic fortresses on top. It’s called Mythic Mountain.

3. How often do you make works of art?
I make works of art on a daily basis. I’m always drawing, painting, designing. It’s a constant thing..

3. What is the significance of the particular medium/s you work in?
The mediums that I work in are more of a reaction to the result I’m after rather then being a significant thing in themselves. The medium depends on what I want to do and where the art is taking me. If it calls for digital, that’s where I go, sculpture, mixed media, spray paint, walls, it’s all subordinate to the idea and the work itself.

4. How would you describe your own style?
My style is evolving but has a heavy influence from design based art, nature, and the human form.

5. What factors have most influenced your work as an artist?
Above all nature influences my work more than anything else. To me nature is the master artist.

6. Do you feel others have been effected by your work?
I hope they have. I’ve been told that they have but it’s more important to keep going, learning, exploring, and growing as an artist. I think that’s more inspiring than the work itself.

7. Is there a relationship between image and word in your work?
At this point there isn’t much of a relationship between visible words in my work but writing and storytelling have a very strong role. They’re what drives my ideas, so in that sense words are ever present..

8. Can you describe the relationship between form and colour in your work?
I’d say form and colour play equal parts to me. I’m just as excited about line, composition, and mass as I am about color. When you mix the two together you get a carnival of emotions. It’s visceral at that point and hits you in many of your senses at the same time. I’d like to think that they compliment and strengthen one another in route to building a unique world to view.

9. How does the setting in which your art is viewed effect how it is viewed?
The setting is enormous in how the work is viewed. Everything is in relation to one another. This is true of color on a canvas and it’s true of how people interact with art. A piece of art can change drastically depending on where it’s viewed. This is why street art is so exciting today. It’s being viewed where we walk, breath, and live, not in some cold, white gallery.

10. Is graffiti art? If so, since when and for what reasons?
Graffiti, as far as I define it, is certainly art. It’s an expression of an individual and depending on who interacts with that expression it has the power to influence. I think the lines of what is and what isn’t graffiti are getting blurred pretty quickly though. I relate graffiti to a calligriffic art style. I don’t believe that any art that is created in a street environment is graffiti. Art is a broad subject and there are many avenues and disciplines to engage in. I think the true artist is intereted in growth and continual knowledge of their craft and of themselves, not in a title that limits them. I don’t consider myself a Fine Artist or a Grafitti artist, or an Airbrush artist. These terms are restrictive. Artists should be able to talk in many visual languages, with any medium, at any time. The person who finds one thing that they’re succesful at and repeats it contunually without an overiding intellectual reason to do so is, to me, not an artist. Art to me will always be about traveling into the unknown, not reproduction unless that reproduction is creating higher awareness in others. Grafitti is one style of art. I think it’s been art since the first time it was put on a wall. In my opinion, and I’m sure many would disagree, once you start tagging the same thing over and over without interest in variation and growth it becomes something different than art, especially when it has no message other than fame. Grafitti is definitely art but I ask you this. What is Grafitti? That’s the question and I’ll bet there are a million different opinions on it…

11. Do you feel there is a relationship between graffiti and your own work?
There is definitely a relationship between graffiti and my work. I grew up in New York and you had no choice but to be influenced by graffiti. I was breakdancing in the streets on cardboard between ages 12 and 15 when breakdancing first came around. I’ve been drawing people names for them my entire life. That culture, especially grafitti or lettering styles, kept my hand moving as an artist for my entire childhood but I don’t consider myself a grafffit artist. As you move forward as an artist many things influence you and graffiti was surely one of them. My motto is try it all, keep experimenting, always learn and never stop making art..

12. Do you feel there are any differences between graffiti works on display in the street and those displayed in a gallery?
I consider graffiti a calligrific lettering artform in general. If that hangs in a gallery I would still consider it in the style of graffiti but I wouldn’t consider it graffiti. Graffiti was a movement that started on the streets and on trains but that doesn’t make all art done on the streets today graffiti. If graffiti style was started way back when on canvas then it would feel more at home on a canvas but that’s not where it’s roots lie and that’s not where it will ultimately be loved the most. There’s no shame in painting a canvas and calling it Fine Art or Illustration or Graphic work. If you want to display in a gallery then understand it’s a different format and maybe it’s just not graffiti anymore.

13. Are there any further comments you would like to make regarding graffiti?
Graffiti is one of the most interesting and unique forms of art in recent times but painting on walls isn’t new. It’s the calligrific quality of the work that set it apart. The lettering styles were pushed to a great deal even so far as to become abstract. But that abstraction had already been done. I think graffiti was born out of abstract expressionism and mass media, printing, etc. It’s been a powerful force for many people and has added great benefit to the art world but it’s not and end unto itself. It’s a style. The best artists that I’ve seen, who choose to paint in a graffiti style, are also well trained and studying artists. Not sure if we can even still call what’s happening now graffiti? I think graffiti has past us already. The artist’s of the world are onto something else but there’s nothing unique enough yet to warrant it’s own name like graffiti did.