Sweet Street Anatomy

I'm a little bit of a science nerd. In high school I excelled in my science classes, and Biology was my favorite. If art school hadn't worked out, the plan was to go into med school, no lie.

As a runner (especially as such an injury prone one), I'm very conscious of they way my body works as it seems every season I hurt a different ligament, tendon, muscle, bone as a result of my body's inability to properly metabolize iron, calcium, vitamin X, Y, or Z.

This all shows through in my art. My art is about the body; athletic, injured, writhing, active, or even stagnant body. I find the body infinitely beautiful and intriguing inside and out. To make my art I'm always looking for reference. I've got quite a few anatomy books and if I had a dollar for every Google Search I've done on organs or otherwise, I wouldn't need to make art.

Every once and a while, I find a really great gem of a site. Sites I bookmark and return to over and over again. One of these sites is StreetAnatomy.com. It seems these folks seem to share my obsession with the body and regularly share some really great findings of organs, bones, and otherwise in pop culture, sub culture and anywhere else they can find it. They've been a great inspiration.

The other day, I sent them an email letting them know how great I think their blog is. In return I received a sweet message back and was super excited to find myself posted on their site. I'm just so excited I can't contain it.

Boy I'm glad I became an artist and am not helping someone with an awkward rash right now.

Kanye West

Can you say Ass-Glasses? Maybe it should just be glASSes? I don't know. For those of you that follow Pop Culture, I'm sure you know how Kanye West was a total jerk to Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last week. (For those of you who don't, Kanye interrupted Taylor during her acceptance speech and said she didn't deserve the award, seen here.)

Everyone keeps making jokes about it, so it's been on my mind. This idea came to my head, and I just couldn't resist. Kanye really didn't seem like someone I wanted to spend a week drawing, so this is just a page from my sketchbook. Enjoy!

CeleBritney

It's Britney B*tch! I'm a huge fan of Pop Music. I admit it. There's nothing like it to get my energy flowing. There's no way I would have gotten my college (or grad) diploma without its special brand of simple beats and repetitive lyrics.

In honor of Pop Music, I give you the Princess of Pop herself, Miss Britney Spears. Girl is a hot mess, but she can't be ignored. And I can't get enough. There's no one I'd rather shake my booty to in the studio working or in the club workin' it.

Here's to you Britney Spears and Pop Music.

Alice + Olivia Spring 2010 Fashion Show

It's Fashion Week here in New York! For most people not much changes this week until you find yourself standing next to a 6'2," 110 lbs, blonde girl on the corner near Bryant Park or in the Meat Packing District.

Last night I got to step a little deeper into Fashion Week by attending designer Stacy Bendet’s Alice + Olivia Fashion Show/Party. I got an invitation after being hired to create illustrations for the show. The show consisted of a Parisian theme for their Spring 2010 collection and I was asked to create pen and ink drawings of things quintessentially French: the Eiffel Tower, Pont Neuf, street signs, windows and then some fun accessories for the models to hold: balloons, ice cream cones, and flowers.






The show was a ton of fun to attend with a live performance by the french band the Plasticines, and I was super excited by the way the illustrations turned out. I was worried they might not hold up being blown up in size a couple hundred times, but they held together on the wall just as well as they did on paper.

I'm not very good at the whole celebrity sighting game, but I nearly brushed shoulders with Heather Graham as she strolled through the show. There was one girl everyone was taking pictures of that I had no idea was. Turns out it was Ashley Greene one of the vampire stars of that hit (that I haven't seen) Twilight. Also in attendance were Lindsay Lohan, Mena Suvari, Nikki Hilton, Jared Leto, Kelly Rutherford from Gossip Girl and some stars from the new series of 90210 and Melrose Place. I guess I need to catch up on my pop culture before heading to my next show...

You can check out some pictures of the celebrities (some posing next to my drawings!!) and the rest of the pretty clothes at the following links.
http://shop.lucidnewyork.com
http://www.zimbio.com

There's even a YouTube video!

This project was a ton of fun and I really wouldn't mind doing more like it (hint, hint, nudge to anyone reading).

Tweet Tweet

I'm on Twitter! (Actually, I have been for a few months now...) If you can't get enough John MacConnell (and who can?), you can follow me on a day by day basis! Come check out my Twitter page and subscribe to find out updates on my art, running, and random thoughts. More John MacConnell than you ever thought possible!!!!

If you've haven't heard of twitter or have thought tweets are for twits and have been ignoring it, it's a really cool site. Although I to post a thing or two a day, I mostly use it to follow my favorite artists, news organizations, and friends. Everyone keeps me up to date on the latest in arting and running trends.

You can see on my page who I am following, but some of my favorites are Runners World, Running Guru Mike Young, PhD, illustrator Luc Latulippe, and designer Ben Kutil.

Check it out!