Blog Archives - Page 16 of 76 - Alison Garwood-Jones Alison Garwood-Jones

Ever the student

October 5, 2021

Ever the student, I decided to complete the Google Certificate in Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design with Coursera.

Google Certificate in Foundations of User (UX) Design

I took notes. Lots of notes! Junior High Alison is alive and well — behold the highlighters and outlined headers. Junior High Alison also likes that she received 97.41%.

I went through this course almost every morning over the past 4 months because I wanted to learn about building wireframes, how design sprints work, and the thinking behind designing with accessibility and equity in mind.

But there’s another reason. As a writing and digital strategy instructor at the University of Toronto (SCS), I also wanted to study HOW online courses, outside of university and college continuing ed programs, are designed and delivered. What works? What doesn’t (Guh– Discussion Forums are a nightmare everywhere).

The takeaway: None of us should be ignoring the fact that in the last three years a significant number of employers have dropped the 4-year degree as a job requirement, and are hiring candidates who have successfully completed these short, intense bursts of education. This includes Bayer, Deloitte, Accenture, T-Mobile, Best Buy, and AKDM.

These companies are offering Google grads well-paid entry-level positions in today’s most in-demand professions: UX Design, Data Analytics, IT Support and Android Development, starting at $68K USD.

Google Certificate in Foundations of User (UX) Design

Given the state of social media and its effect on democracy and civil discourse, if we actively care about each other and the common good we should upgrade our skills andcontinue to study the humanities (art, ethics, philosophy, history) to make ourselves better employees, better bosses, and better humans. Mark Zuckerberg famously skipped the humanities at Harvard.

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Pencil Crayon Nomenclature

September 30, 2021

How we name pencils by Alison Garwood-Jones

Photo: Wikipedia, “Crayola Renamed.”

Photo: Erick’s Laurentian Pencil Blog

Photo of June Handler and Ed Welter. Handler’s caption reads: “From Flesh to Peach it’s good! – June Moss Handler” From Welter’s blog, Crayon Collecting.

September 30: This is our first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

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Live with art

September 20, 2021

French Interior illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones

Come and sit down. Let’s catch up.

Inspo: A country house in France from the October issue of Victoria Magazine.

Tool: Drawn with Procreate (Chalk brush).

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The pooch

September 12, 2021

My ode to Jules Feiffer’s mix of energy and malaise. It’s the story of one child-free gal’s pooch.

Comic by Alison Garwood-Jones

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Control of the Ball

September 4, 2021

1. The battle for control of the ball will never end.

Republican Control - Illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones

2. “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsberg

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Today’s Old Master Copy

August 30, 2021

Look how the dog’s ear drapes over his leg like a neck tie!

Today’s old master copy is after P.D. Eastman’s classic 1960 storybook cover, Are you My Mother?

P.D. (Phil to his friends) was an American illustrator and screenwriter who trained with Walt Disney Productions and worked with the Signal Corps film unit during WWII, headed by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss).

Phil went on to write and draw the storyboards for the Mr. Magoo series and to direct educational films on flight safety for the United States Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics.

In his down time, he co-wrote and illustrated the Academy Award-winning animated short, Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Here is Phil in his Walter Cronkite glasses.

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Paris in Muskoka

August 27, 2021

Illustration of Parisian Café by Alison Garwood-Jones

Last week, we had the most delicious croissants, crêpes, and coffee from the food truck, Frenchie’s Bakery and Crêperie. You can find their truck parked on the sparkling shoreline of Huntsville inner harbour.

You don’t go to Muskoka to leave it, but while the food was on our plates we WERE IN PARIS!

We dedicate this drawing of the Café Bar du Brésil to the owners of Frenchie’s and their petit bébé.

The care and dedication of small business owners everywhere makes the human race glow from the inside out.

Drawn in Procreate with the Chalk Brush (under Calligraphy category).

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A Stroll Through Allen Gardens

August 25, 2021

Illustration of a couple walking through Allen Gardens, Toronto by Alison Garwood-Jones

Anita DM’d me on Instagram to ask if I could capture Toronto’s Allen Gardens, the place where she and her boyfriend, Scott, first got to know each other. Here’s to love!

I had the freedom to interpret the scene as I saw fit. This is my favourite kind of working relationship.

Tools: I drew this in the Procreate app. I used the Peppermint Brush in black (under the Sketching category) to draw the scene. After going through the entire roster of digital brushes, I thought this brush came closest to the boldness and assurance of a black pencil crayon or a Chinese/Butcher’s pencil. Next, I used the Wet Sponge brush (under the Water category) to paint the scene. The effect of this brush is a cross between a watercolour wash and the bloom of a Copic marker. Phone pics of some planters in Huntsville, Ontario served as the inspiration for the colour scheme of the flowers: red, magenta, orange and yellow. When the snow flies in a few months, this scene will remind me of the explosive beauty of Toronto’s summers.

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Reaction to The 2020 US Census

August 15, 2021

Cartoon of an angry man reacting to the demographic changes outlined in the 2020 American Census

Evolving demographics and more nuanced approach to data collection on the US Census form has revealed, for the first time, a drop in the non-Hispanic white population.

For many Americans of Northern European descent, this racial diversity is challenging their sense of the social order and their understanding of America.

Some responses (above) have been pretty raw and unfocused. Others are more organized. They are pushing back on demographic changes by intentionally setting up barriers to voting, including redrawing the electoral map (called racial gerrymandering).

To understanding the findings in the 2020 US Census, go to the source at the United States Census Bureau. You can also read this New York Times piece, or this article in The Wall Street Journal.

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Tea at The Carlyle

July 31, 2021

Tea at the Carlyle - Illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones

The 1955 murals by costume designer Marcel Vertès at the Café Carlyle in New York wrap the room like a diaphanous silk scarf.

To me, they are a mashup of Chagall, Schiaparelli and Moulin Rouge (1952, not 2001). I saw them come to life last night in the documentary, Always At The Carlyle.

Today’s drawing challenge: take Vertès’s meandering mid-century fashion illustrator lines and pastel splashes of paint and apply them to another subject.

I’m calling this one “Tea with Marcel.” Imagine Bobby Short at the piano in the background.

Tools: Procreate (brushes: 6B Pencil and Wet Sponge).

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