Inspo dump & life updates

I received this book from a friend maybe a year ago but recently went back to look through it but it’s so fire I just had to make a post about it.

B4 I get into these artists, I have a general announcement!! I’m moving back home (Westminster aka Garden Grove aka 30 miles south of LA) to detox from NY, get therapy, and be with my parents. I had a really big life change between March and April & I’ve been struggling to get out of my depressive state of mind. I decided to do this despite all the excitement in NY about summer, vaccinations, and well summer (I'm sure there's hype worldwide about a post-covid roaring 20s summer). However I don’t think I can enjoy the change in seasons without a serious detox. I don’t want to get too into it but life happens! If anything, this change is probably the best thing that’s yet to happen to me. 

A few months ago, I took a hiatus from freelance but was unable to fully stop. Things like rent, the bills, a scarcity mindset, & financial anxiety made me.... continue working freelance jobs despite being “on a break”. I continued to hustle and compromise my mental health in fear like many other young adults that I wouldn't have enough. I’ve realized it’s impossible to fully stop while I’m physically here so I’m moving home to pursue a personal video project. 

I’m greatly inspired by a 3D artist which I have a very lengthy post about queued up. This artist doesn’t even know I exist but his drive towards his personal project has inspired this move and separation from the hustle and bustle of NY freelance work. Overall, it just means more Patreon content (and more consistent since I'll be in therapy too!) I plan to return to New York in July depending on the state of my recovery. Thanks for listening and being so patient. I am still working with a high quality print maker in NY to develop the prints I discussed in March. 

Okay so this book. It covers a selection of global talents across the globe. The sleeve gives a pretty good explanation:

"MASCOTTE! is a spectacular new book from the authors of the best selling MONDOFRAGILE dedicated to cute mascots, puppets, 3D characters, and their original applications. The book is more than just a lineup of cool stuff - it's a strong collection of images from 26 of the best studios and artists from all over the world (most of them are French and Japanese). Mascotte! shows how the power of characters operates in various contexts in the fields of design, illustration, photography, and advertising."

I'll let a lot of the pictures do the talking here but this book published in 2003 covers a lot of ground in the world of character designs. Everyone has such unique ways to portray fictional worlds I snapped pics of my favorite pages and listed their names below.

Yukio Kuwajima (Japan)

Satomi Yai (Japan)

D'Holbachie Yoko (Japan)

Hiroshi Yoshi (Japan)

Ian Stokes (United States)

Ken Hoshino (Japan)

Doudouboy (France)

These artists were really inspiring for me to see execute such wild styles. Many are in 3D however there are many who are simply illustrators or ceramics/doll artists. I will warn you that the book includes the German artist Boris Hoppek who is controversially... distasteful (in my opinion) for his (racist) characterization of ethnic groups. I hope I didn't trigger anyone by saying this, I just wanted to be explicitly clear before you open the book and go WHOA. Everyone else is fire. Feel free to cut out his pages if you find the book.