Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Google Doodle Mystery Artists REVEALED!!!! (UPDATED 6.19.21)

UPDATE 5/28 --- GOOGLE does credit the artists of most of these doodles -- links and names added!

Today's Google Doodle celebrates 107th b'day of Rachel Louise Carson -- writer, scientist, and ecologist. The Google Doodles are so much fun -- and spark a discovery journey to learn more about the subject. Only wish Google would CREDIT THE ARTIST(S). Does anyone know??? (online searching revealed more info and updates added 5/28) Google just credits an anonymous "team of talented illustrators" at this general link on doodles here: http://www.google.com/doodles/about

Info about individual artists -- AND SOMETIMES COMMENTARY FROM THEM ON THEIR CREATIVE PROCESS -- can be found by searching the individual doodle (links added 5/28)

Google Doodles are a wonderful example of how curiosity inspired by an image can help you learn something new every day :)

RACHEL CARSON GOOGLE DOODLE

Here are some links to learn more about Rachel Carson:  http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/public-and-environmental-health/environmental-chemistry/carson.aspx
and here  http://www.rachelcarson.org/Biography.aspx#.U4SzqHJdXTp

Carson Doodle is by artist Matthew Criukshank. More on this doodle here:
http://www.google.com/doodles/rachel-louise-carsons-107th-birthday

DOROTHY HODGKIN GOOGLE DOODLE
This graphic design doodle honors scientist Dorothy Hodgkin, a pioneer in work on the structure of chemical crystals. Here's a brief bio from the Facebook page "Physics Today" :
It's the birthday of Dorothy Hodgkin, who was born in 1910 in Cairo, Egypt. Hodgkin studied chemistry at Oxford University and crystallography at Cambridge University. She was a pioneer in the application of crystallography to proteins. With her collaborators she derived the 3D structures of several important biomolecules, including penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin. Hodgkin was awarded the 1964 Nobel chemistry prize for her discoveries.
Link for more info on Dorothy Hodgkin:
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/molecular-synthesis-structure-and-bonding/hodgkin.aspx

Hodgkin Doodle is by Leon Hong. More on this Doodle here:
http://www.google.com/doodles/dorothy-hodgkins-104th-birthday

MARY ANNING GOOGLE DOODLE (This one's still a MYSTERY 5/28)
Mary Anning's Google Doodle celebrated the 215th b'day of the world's first fossil hunter. She was one of the very first women scientists -- and best of all, she was recognized by her peers for her contributions. Learn more on Mary Anning: :http://www.strangescience.net/anning.htm
and here http://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/in-the-museum/mary-anning
and also here http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/anning.html

Doodle post for Mary Anning doesn't seem to credit an individual artist. Here's the link:
http://www.google.com/doodles/mary-annings-215th-birthday

PERCY JULIAN GOOGLE DOODLE
All the images in the doodle above just scratch the surface of the accomplishments of scientist Percy Julian. He held over 100 chemical patents and it's his work that opened the doors to a range of chemicals and plant-based medicines in wide use today. In spite of all the obstacles in his path, and the bitter racism he endured, he refused to give up. In the end, he was a wealthy and recognized leader in business and science. A true visionary and pioneer.
Links on him here:
http://www.chemheritage.org/percy-julian/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/forgotten-genius.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bmjuli.html

This Doodle by Mike Dutton. Link here: http://www.google.com/doodles/percy-julians-115th-birthday

JOHN VENN GOOGLE DOODLE (8.4.14) artist Mike Dutton.
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2014/08/google-doodle-john-venns-180th-bday-by.html



MARIE CURIE GOOGLE DOODLE

This Doodle from 2011 saluted Marie Curie's 144th b'day -- and arrived in the International Year of Chemistry celebrating (among other things) the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie's individual Nobel prize, won in 1911 for her work in chemistry. The 1911 award made Madame Curie the first person to ever win TWO Nobel prizes. She won her first Nobel prize in 1905 as a shared award with her husband Pierre Curie and another scientist, Henri Becquerel, for their work on radioactivity. 

Read more about the Intl Year of Chemistry (IYC) here --
From Chemical Heritage Foundation (one of the best science museums EVER :)
and from Intl Year of Chemistry official website:

For more about Marie Curie:

The artist for the Marie Curie Doodle is Jennifer Horn. Here's more info on the doodle: http://www.google.com/doodles/marie-curies-144th-birthday

Two more favorite doodles  -- these honor great women artists:

MARY BLAIR GOOGLE DOODLE
Here's link to Mary Blair official website: http://magicofmaryblair.com/

 Doodle by Mike Dutton. More info on doodle: http://www.google.com/doodles/mary-blairs-100th-birthday
More on Mary Blair here on the blog -- post from mar 15, 2014 for exhibit at Walt Disney Family Museum.

Here are some books on Mary Blair  from the SNB website -- http://stuartngbooks.com/



http://stuartngbooks.com/magic-color-flair-the-world-of-mary-blair.html

















http://stuartngbooks.com/blair-babys-house-little-golden-book.html




http://stuartngbooks.com/before-the-animation-begins-the-art-and-lives-of-disney-inspirational-sketch-artists-signed-by-john-canemaker-and-tyrus-wong.html



http://stuartngbooks.com/the-art-of-the-disney-golden-books-pre-order-your-signed-copy.html


This final Google Doodle is for  iconic Audrey Hepburn.
Here's official site for Ms. Hepburn: http://www.audreyhepburn.com/menu/index02.php
Doodle by Jennifer Horn. More info here: http://www.google.com/doodles/audrey-hepburns-85th-birthday
If you like the style of this doodle -- and Ms. Hepburn -- you might also enjoy images on blog post here from Oct 4, 2011 for book "Masters of Fashion Illustration" from SNB:



also book on artist Bob Peak, famous for his posters, including My Fair Lady







April 14, 2015 Google Doodle Celebrated 155th Anniversary of the Pony Express... with an interactive video game..
Did you know the Pony Express only lasted about a year (1860-1861). Here's link to historical timeline for Pony Express http://ponyexpress.org/pony-express-historical-timeline/

This link has more info on Google Doodle artist Nate Swinehart and the team behind the Pony Express Doodle and game... https://www.google.com/doodles/155th-anniversary-of-the-pony-express

May 26, 2015 Google Doodle Celebrated 64th b'day of astronaut Sally Ride.



Link below to Google Doodle page contains animation by Nate Swinehart: a behind the scenes look at the doodle, narrated by doodle artist Olivia Huynh and Sally Ride partner Tam O'Shaughnessy, who authored the doodle blog post.
https://www.google.com/doodles/sally-rides-64th-birthday

UPDATE 11.9.15

Google Doodle by artist Jennifer Horn celebrates 101st birthday of STEM star and film icon Hedy Lamarr...http://www.google.com/doodles/hedy-lamarrs-101st-birthday






UPDATE 3.21.16

There is an annual Google Doodle contest for student artists --- K-12.
The contest has state and regional finalists as well as the national winner. The 2016 winner is high school student Akilah Johnson for her doodle "My Afrocentric Life" Here's what she said about her image:" My Afrocentric Google is drawn as a box braid, with my personal characteristics surrounding it. I based this picture off my lifestyle and what has made me into what I am today."

More info on the contest on the Google Doodle website: https://www.google.com/doodle4google/how-it-works.html

UPDATE 6.2.16
Doodle for animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger

art for the doodle ... by Olivia Hyunh
This post includes link to a behind-the-scenes video clip about doodle's creation.
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/google-doodle-for-lotte-reiniger-early.html

UPDATE 6.9.16

Two science gals celebrated by Google Doodles on the same day:
UK Doodle for Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
US Doodle for birder Phoebe Snetsinger (art by Juliana Chen)

links and behind-the-scenes of these doodles in this post: http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/google-doodles-different-doodles.html

UPDATE 9.9.20

Links for 2020 Google Doodle posts

Jackie Ormes 9.3.20
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/09/google-doodle-jackie-ormes.html


Alexandre Dumas 8.28.20


Barbara Hepworth 8.20

Juneteenth 6.20


Hawaiian icon Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole 5.20


Martin Luther King Jr Day 1.20


Juneteenth 20201


Monday, May 26, 2014

Get Inspired -- four-footed war heroes

Honoring another example of teamwork and being inspired by others on this Memorial Day holiday with this look at our vets who were four-footed partners. These images are great for reference -- and practice. Want to get better at anything? Learn and practice (draw) every day (even holidays) :)

history and reference on K-9 war dogs here:
http://www.uswardogs.org/
 Learn more about real-life war hero horse Sgt. Reckless here:
http://www.sgtreckless.com/Reckless/About_Reckless.html
and about memorial statue and her (yes HER) career as a Marine:
http://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/korean-war/sgt-reckless-korean-war-horse-hero/2748461639001/

Get Inspired by learning from others -- Patchwork craft fair Long Beach and Natl Gallery Cassatt-Degas show

This post is a bit of a tangent (and is part of long dormant theme on the blog of posts titled 'Get Inspired')--- but got reminded myself so wanted to share it's important for artists to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE/STUDIO :)

You can learn so much from seeing other artists at work. So many artists spend too much time alone.Don't underestimate how collaboration with others --- and FRIENDSHIP -- is a an important way to replenish the creative "well" you need to draw on (no pun intended).

At invitation of my photographer friend Sarah, I got out of the house and into the sunshine of a glorious Southern California Sunday. (BTW -- Sarah is an amazing photographer --- check out her Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Hunt-Photography/229447121842
She also has a page on a particularly fun subject -- with 5,600 + likes ..
https://www.facebook.com/martymousetherat

Hand so much fun walking around at the show (and being out in the sun) I even had to re-apply my sunscreen. In addition to lots of booths, there was also several acts with live music --- and food trucks!. Admission and parking were free. The setting was scenic Long Beach for one of the Patchwork.com shows. Here's link to their website: http://patchworkshow.com/

It was great to be part of the energy of artists there working in a variety of mediums. Here are booths/info on a few of the ones caught my eye ....

Squishies Felt Animals
https://www.facebook.com/squshies?filter=3
 Scarlett Glass
http://scarlettglass.com/
 Paper Wilderness
https://www.facebook.com/paperwilderness

Here are some goodies I got ---
Loved the cards and book themed items from the gift shop of LA Library ...
http://www.lfla.org/store/

Another item of interest with this theme comes from Sunday 5/25/14 Los Angeles Times. Terrific article by Stanley Meisler about "Degas/Cassatt" exhibit on view at National Galley of Art through Oct 5th. There are 70 paintings and prints in the show -- 1/3 are from the Natl Gallery collection -- exploring the artistic influence these two friends had on each others work. Read the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-ca-degas-cassatt-20140525-story.html#page=1

Some images from the article and the show:
"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" Cassatt 1878

Degas sketch of Cassatt and her sister
"Mary Cassatt at the Louvre" Degas circa 1879
 Degas "Visit  to the Museum" (Mary Cassatt and her sister Lydia)