Inspiring. Picture Fermat coming home from the office and working on maths after dinner, for fun. What’s your after dinner fun?
Interesting how ambition can fluctuate between people, but success occur. Colossal Descartes. Modest hobbyist Pierre de Fermat. Both with immense contributions to mathematics. Descartes inventing analytic geometry, and Fermat the “founder” of the modern theory of numbers.
First Steven Spielberg, who is, if you make movies, if you direct movies, this is somebody who can help you. You look to his movie for solutions. He usually found a way to do it right. He’s one of my favorites.
JEAN JULLIEN: Can you remember when I first started to draw?
SYLVIE JULLIEN: As far as I’m concerned, you’ve always drawn. You’ve been doing it ever since you were able to pick up a pencil. You didn’t “learn”
BRUNO JULLIEN: You drew all the time, even on tablecloths when we were out at restaurants. It was your way of expressing yourself, of describing the tiniest routine events. You did this in sketchbooks that you would carry around with you, the ones we would offer you regularly. It was a ritual.
JJ: Yes, you gave me my first sketchbook. When I was at school in Quimper (a city in northwest France), my teacher Jacques Vincent encouraged us to keep a journal. There wasn’t much in the way of rules; the idea was to get us to draw and draw and draw so that we developed a visual language. And what better way to do that than to look for inspiration in what is around you? I think that my practice of drawing every day and my interest in everyday life come from that exercise.
Jullien, Jean. Jean Jullien. New York: Phaidon Press Inc, 2022. (see page 35)
Having Jean Jullien’s parents share his drawing origin story is a wonderful approach. Our origin stories must look different to our parents, who if they were around, watched them manifest in real time.
The idea of keeping a drawing journal seems beneficial for developing your own visual language. Your own style.
An inspiring list of world changing projects completed quickly.
Our favorites?
The Spirit of St.Louis: Charles Lindbergh piloted and help design the plane. 60 days!
The Empire State Building: The name alone – Empire state. Full swagger that. Not only was the Empire State Building built quick, it’s stood the test of time. 91 years old and it still stands, straight backed, imperious. Also impressive, the builders – Starrett Bros. & Eken didn’t own any equipment during the bidding process:
TGV: Every country, and every state should have high-speed rail. The French completed the rail link between Paris and Lyon in 1,975 days. Compare that with California’s high speed rail project connecting San Fransisco and Anaheim. The project began in 1996 and is estimated to finally be completed 2033. 37 years!
Maybe because it’s the first year I’m taking the subway to work, but this is the first World Cup where I’ve noticed strangers rockin’ their countries kits.
This week alone I’ve seen 2 Argentinas, a Germany, and a Mexico. And then on Friday, out of no where, a French “Henry” number 12 shirt.
I always want to yell something real at these true believers. Something like “aww man, cool jersey bro.” The best I could muster was an awkward thumbs up to the German gentleman . He smiled an efficient smile and got off at the next stop.
Floodlights and Goalposts 