Rory Campbell

Hey there everyone. What a wonderful summer it has been. With its passing, another painting goes before your eyes.

Not bad, right?
I'm sure you noticed that big blue blob in the middle. The swimming pool, a staple of the season! What is our pool saying? Who is our pool saying it to? Hopefully I can clarify that for you.
The pool composition was something that just came to me, honestly. And, I don't wanna be that guy, "Yeah man the paintings just come to me". But really, it just happened.
Conception isn't the whole story though. There is much, MUCH more:)
Our pool is something greater than a premonition. I like to think of it as a symbol. Oh boy, a symbol in a painting! I'm just full of original thoughts today. Self deprication aside, it is a symbol. A symbol of WORK. Work, everyone's favorite noun. This pool was something that I repainted probably three or four times. This isn't all too abnormal for me, and is not the real reason I compare it to the W word.
The reason it's work is because of WHY I needed to repaint it.
I absolutely could not figure out how to paint water.

I've been realizing what work feels like this year. Work feels good, work feels bad, work feels hard. Most importantly, work FEELS. That feeling you get when you know for a fact that you have no idea what you are doing. Work is really, really challenging. Work is something that will stroke your ego while destroying your confidence.
Lets get more specific. My mind, body, and spirit are one in work. If they aren't, I can't get my work done.
Imagine this focus like the rasengan. You know, Naruto's signature energy orb?Yeah, this isn't a picture of the rasengan. It's actually a picture of Naruto right BEFORE he learned to make one. See that focus? That determination? Our boy is completely locked in to his work. Do you think that Naruto knew exactly what wielding the rasengan felt like?
Real life work and focus is just the same. To obtain anything worthwhile, there must be some period of what I will call "unreferenced progression".
Unreferenced progression is working towards something that does not have a clear reference of completion. Naruto knows that immediate completion is making a rasengan. Rory knows that immediate completion is painting the pool. But why are we making the attempt accomplish these things?
Sure, you could say Naruto wants to be Hokage. But if you watched the show, you know that what dude really wanted was to protect his friends. Tell me, what specific action quantifies protecting your friends? Does it stop at the rasengan, being the strongest ninja, hokage? It is none of those things. Protecting his friends was something that Naruto has always succeeded AND failed at.
The act of work and focus is a perfect balance of failure and success. Thus concludes, until next time!

The first thing I would like to say is, I am sorry.

June was the first month that I couldn't provide you all with a new painting. In my defense, I DID make more than one painting in that 6th month. The only issue is, they were terrible.

In some poetic way, I am sure one could derive beautiful things from them;

Not me though, they are ugly, and you will probably never see them.

It's not to say these monstrosities were not fruitful. In fact, it is because of them that a new painting was born.

This little guy, while admittedly not my favorite, is the result of a few learnings. One of those is that success is NOT the magnitude of fulfillment. Success and fulfillment might as well get a room with how close to one another they are. Despite this, they remain tightly insulated, and for good reason.

Take this painting, and the process taken to make it. Crafting its predecessors, those who will not be seen, gave me quite a dejected feeling. Inside my brain, the form of the branches and the lighting of the leaves would not click.

This was a surprise. I mean, look, I have been able to paint trees before. No really, look, there is a green fella only a few swipes below these words. This tree was quickly rendered, and left little for me to linger on.

Alas, I can come back to the little thesis. Our July painting did not impress my understanding of my own abilities. It was, in many ways, a punch in the face to the ego I've been building since I started painting.

So there's not much fulfillent here. And that's simply put. HOWEVER, there is much success. Success in the committment to the idea, success in my new approaches to the canvas, success in the refusal to compromise. Maybe the idea wasn't as great as I had hoped, but it was my idea. And, maybe that's what it is really about. I know that THIS is what my idea looks like, and without my persistance, that idea would never be any more.

What I am trying to say is you won't always end up with something that impresses. Many times you may have to face that who you are isn't enough to make what you want. But, when you face who you are, and what you CAN do, and what you CAN improve to make that thing, the little successes that you've never seen may begin to show.

It's time for a supply of Tealsky content! The flyers were for their first two concerts of 2025.
And, yeah, thats about it for now. NEW PAINTING COMING SOON!

It has been almost a month since rorycampbell.me was updated. I am so SORRY.
If it makes you feel any better, I've been working on some pretty cool stuff. That stuff includes the first finished painting of my life (see below).I worked on this painting over the course of a week or so. If you don't recognize it, the painting depicts my parents and I posing in front of the bull at the New York Stock Exchange.
Painting is something I've always wanted to learn, but never took the time to. My experience with drawing has definitely helped me ramp up into the foundations of the medium. But, even so, learning to translate monotone drawings to a colored composition is not easy!
If you are like me, learning new things like this is very exciting! And, if you are even more like me, you also get a little dejected when climbing that mountain of experience. No reason to worry, though! With the power of my inpervious spirit, my skills will be honed.

So I've been workin on some stuff! It's exciting, engaging, continuous, and yet to be revealed. In the meantime, I have this cute little garment I've come up with in Illustrator over the past few days.
I found that the structure of this shirt was similar to the vestments you'd see a priest wearing; and, to be honest, I think I am okay with that! Those of you who followed me about a year ago will probably notice some similarities to the star-C apparel prototype. If not, go do some homework!

I promise there will be more Rory originals posted soon, just bear with me while work wraps up. Merry Christmas and all of that, I love you guys!

I know, there hasn't been much output from me this holiday season. At least, not on the website. Production is not stopping, DON'T WORRY. The last week or so, I have actually been trying to develop this idea of a mock sports brand, Sport Co.
Sport Co. was never 'created'. It has never endorsed an athlete or pushed a major ad campaign. Instead, I like to think of Sport Co. as an embodiment of the concept of sports.
While designing the t-shirt graphic, I tried to center everything around the core characteristics of what I recognize as sports.
The block lettering doesn't require much explanation; below it, however, are some things that probably do. That big, blank, rounded rectangle may not be something you'd see on an ordinary uniform. Instead, it's something you're more likely to see in a weight room or practice field.Maybe I could tell you that I left it blank because it represents the indomitable spirit of human competition. That putting a label on that spirit would be mortifying to me. In reality, I enjoy how it looks being blank.
Now, the NUMBERS! These were what started the whole design process. I wanted to make a shirt with digital characters because:
1. They look neat.
2. They carry two meanings to me
The first is the obvious. Numbers are the biggest characteristic of sports uniforms. As children (and adults), we identify numbers with our biggest heroes. They act like the logo for your favorite superhero!
Also, by making them in the style of digital characters, they represent what both our favorite players and ourselves are constantly fighting against. TIME.
From practicing a buzzer beater in the driveway, to working on a deadline, we will never escape the concept of a countdown. I was hoping that incorporating that 01 into the design could help keep a reminder to myself, that I am always working on a shot clock. And, if I play my cards right, I can be the game winner.

Another Tealsky promo; and this time, they actually posted it! That is not a knock on the wonderful members of Tealsky. It is actually a call for celebration! Between a full time job of my own, learning to paint, and trying to make new art every week, finding time to be still and celebrate a win is not to be taken for granted.
Work is fun! Work is hard. Work is rewarding! Work, when its something you love, is one of the greatest things life has to offer. I have noticed, unfortunately, that the greatest things we have are especially taxing on our spirit.
Everyone wants to be fulfilled. To end their day with a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction with themselves. But standing right between us and that joy is a sort of void.
The void is all that we don't know. The things we are trying to see for ourselves, but aren't quite sure where to find.
And so, our roles as individuals come in. We accept that there is no person on this planet that can point us directly to our aspirations. We must walk into the unknown, using our faith to guide us towards what we know is possible.

Listen to Red Eyes by Tealsky, it's out now on all major streaming platforms

I've been thinking about grids lately. More specifically, I have been thinking about how they are everywhere.

We live in space, right? Without constraints, space would be undefined. Great! We understand what a dimension is.

This isn't about calculus. What I am really interested in is how that concept translates to our lives PRACTICALLY. If you are in a building right now, you are inside a grid. If you are outside right now, you are still in a grid!

Hehe...but for real.
A constraint can be something helpful, like sleeping 8 hours, or watching what you say around a narcisist!
They can also be bad, like when we lose confidence in ourselves.
Grids are INESCAPABLE, and that's a good thing (as long as you know you are in one).

I guess you could call me a 'creative director'. Actually, not yet. As of right now, this promo cover has not been used. But that is not to say it won't happen!

Tealsky is a promising band whose drummer is a close friend of mine. Whether its publicized or not, I could never pass up a creative opportunity.

If you are reading this, I have good ideas! Look at them, and if you think the same, let me know. I am always looking for a chance to make something.

Some time has passed, I know. But fret not! I can assure you that there is an abundance of new ideas still at my disposal.

It is one of these new ideas that has taken me away from the blog for the week (as well as a Bladee concert).

As you could see, there is a lot left to be imagined. What you CAN imagine, I hope, is a typeface that demonstrates clarity.

In other news, I recently revisited photoshop to play around with some pictures I took at a sculpture garden.

Miu Miu is, unsurprisingly, making me very happy with the trends they are starting. It seems like it was only yesterday when we were (tastefully) flaunting Nike Elite socks, complimented with a pair of Sperrys.

The boots are not a direct rip of the topsider sillouhette. At least, I hope. Their real inspiration is derived from the mocassin-like seams that run across the front of the shoe, as well as the large flappy upper. To give them a little ruggedness, I also added a thicker sole.

I would like to think that the owners of these boots could be found in a variety of places. Maybe a sailing adventure, a walk in the park, trip to the grocery store, hike in the mountains? Honestly, any environment will do, the only thing I really want to come from this concept is more concepts.

There is still a lot of empty wall space in my apartment. As of right now, the vibe is lighter wood accents, muted blue fabrics, and mid-century forms.

A lot of the inspiration, besides some basic sillouhettes from the Internet, came from this Marc Jacobs storefront I passed on the way to the movies last week.

Steve Lacy is coming back. At least according to him.

I have a feeling that Steve is going to do some DESPICABLE things. He has shown from the time he got popular that he is a versatile musician. Everyone loves his guitar skills, but the drums he puts on his tracks are equally exceptional. Seriously, listen to his outro on Apollo XXI (link on Michael).

William Shakespeare was well aware that The Tempest was the last work in his career. His play is a story of forgiveness. More specifically, choosing to forgive. Prospero, the main character, is the former Duke of Milan...and an advanced sorcerer. After being overthrown by his brother, Antonio, he is exiled to a remote island with his daughter, Miranda.

Over the years, he has raised Miranda and enlisted the help of a magical spirit named Ariel, who seems to be a woman but is actually a dude. That is, if spirits even have a gender? Anyways, Prospero finds an opportunity to detour Antonio and his entourage to the island. That's not exactly accurate, he wrecks their ship and crashes it ashore.

One could imagine that Prospero is looking to inflict maximum pain on his bro. After all, he has been alone on this island with a teenage girl and non-binary spirit for over a decade. That's not what happens though! The five acts of the play progress like a Tarantino film, tracking the storylines of the ships inhabitants until they all converge at Prospero's crib at the end.

In each group's journey to Prospero's, we can see that most of these people are not the best. There is an assassination attempt, a drunken butler, a deformed slave, and VERY spontaneous marriage proposal. Prospero, with his magical wizard powers, watches this all unfold, and, despite all of that, he forgives them all. Before Shakespeare checks into the retirement home, he leaves us with this beautiful reflection through the eyes of the main character:

" Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint. Now, ’tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."

What would happen if we woke up and decided to forgive EVERYONE? Prospero must have imagined obliterating his brother and his crew. It would be easy. And, I will be the first to admit, rage bait Twitter threads have a special place in my heart. But, what do we gain when we fuel ourselves with contempt? You would think that we gain nothing. Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. All of that hatred comes back to us. Our world is self-centric, the negative feelings we project onto others are the same ones we feel from ourselves.

This is not to say that we should let ourselves be doormats to all of the bullies of the world. What I do think, however, is that we should be mindful of the reasons we want to project our anger.
In the story, Prospero could have chose to kill everyone before they even reached the island. We know that's not how he operates though! In fact, the choice to let them onto the island is what gives the entourage an opportunity to see from Prospero's perspective. It's beautiful!

Basically, start being more understanding, it helps.