It has been a while since my Guardian’s books review archive was off line. I was pleased to learn it is back online again.

Below each drawing you will find the list of the entire series

http://books.guardian.co.uk/izharcohen/page/0,,1445827,00.html

]]> http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/my-guardian-archive-is-back-online/feed/ izharcohen Search engines by Izhar Cohen http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/i-am-back-in-paris/ http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/i-am-back-in-paris/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:00:25 +0000 izhar cohen http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/?p=217

Italy, my home away from home. Simple wine, good food, Italian, good friends, family - a preview of Paradise.

My holidays are always peppered with work. I’ve got the privilege of working from wherever I am in the world yet, it is a double edged sword as work follows me everywhere also when I am on holiday. this is not a complaint, I am very happy with this state of affairs. So, here is a selection from a month long holiday. 

Harford-Economy: not colour blind

A new bi-weekly column in Globes, Written by Bibliki. The piece was for Tisha’a Be’av, the commemorative day for the distraction of the temple

Harford- Penssion

Harford-Economy forecasting

Harford-Trust

Harford- incentives for better productivity

Harford-Taking care of one’s interests

Harford-Foreign workers, new slavery

Wine buying guide

Harford- A brand of it own

Harford- Dubai car-wash deficiency

Harford- baby-sitting dow Grandparent’s nside

Lapid-Top brass exporting secret military tactics

Bibliky-Morrissey

Here it is. I haven’t got the brains to be coherent in writing right now. it has been a long day.

Here is a visual summery of a long and cathartic day. The 5 senses garden was delivered and installed in place.

There is still work to be done. but it is all there.

WOW, I have enjoyed myself.

This is my second trip to Israel in the past two weeks. The five senses Garden is taking shape and soon also colour.

I have debated with myself, the family, Friends and colleagues about the colours for the sculptures.
My initial idea was to be faithful to my source of inspiration: the giant sculptures fractions at the Campidoglioin in Rome, and keep it all in white.

Well. in the meantime, life got in the way and colouring the elements turned out to be inevitable. So, here is a Photoshop simulation of the coloured version.

Some of the photos revel two of the great people who sculpt and realise this dream for me: Or- Shuki’s son who is in fact responsible for the translation of the model into its current dimension. and Shahar, who lend a wonderfully helping hand.

Sight+Shahar, working on the eye, Or, brushing teeth

Taste+my Dad and Shuki

Smell and Hearing

Touch+Or, on the roof

Last week Lapid wrote about a legend and a man whom I greatly admire - Leonard Cohen.

It is a tricky task to illustrate Cohen’s poetry. In fact, all poetry lends itself with great difficulty to illustration, if at all. By nature, poetry, is charged with emotions as it is, to my understanding, a matter directly emitted from the heart.

I am usually shying away from making portraits, however, I have made an effort this time. After all, Leonard is family…

I am bringing here the lyrics of Cohen’s poem/song Who By Fire. first of all, because I just love it, and secondly as it was brought to the reader in Hebrew this week, beautifully translated by Lapid

Who By Fire.

And who by fire, who by water,
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay,
and who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche, who by powder,
who for his greed, who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,
who in solitude, who in this mirror,
who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains, who in power,
and who shall I say is calling?

]]> http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/cohen-by-cohen/feed/ izharcohen http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/regulations-squeezing-my-brain-once-again/ http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/regulations-squeezing-my-brain-once-again/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:16:37 +0000 izhar cohen http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/?p=95

As always, I find it a challenge to treat ‘dry’ abstract legal text. This time, the article was concerning new tighter regulatory directives towards majority share holders-directors in public owned companies, woof.

I always try to find a metaphor which I could customize for the event and stay alive through to the aftermath. Hope I have made it this time.

Yesterday, I saw Waltz with Bashir, the first ever animated documentary film in the history of cinema.

A part from breaking grounds of cinematic history, it is a gripping experience that would not let one’s memory lay to rest, or stay indifferent, neither to its story nor to the brilliant story telling.

So much has already been written, and still much more is yet to be said about the film, that I shall spare you most of my thoughts. Still, one very strong notion hit my conscience while I watched it: I found the actual idea of animating such a story, is rendering the objectif - obsolete. I felt that the visual articulation of the scenes through a manual manipulation was the most daring and subjective statement, coming from the director and his team.

I feel privileged to take off my hat before this most admired group of this film makers, mainly to ( from left to right): Yoni Goodman, Ari Folman and David Polonsky, BRAVO!

Here are the wikipedia and the official sites links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_with_Bashir
http://waltzwithbashir.com

It is a rare occasion for an illustrator to be invited to cross the lines into the third dimension. Such an opportunity was granted to me by the municipality of the city of Hulon in Israel.

I shall elaborate on this project as It goes along, for the time being, here are a short clip from its current stage, and a few snaps taken at Shuki Kafri’s workshop today.

Taste

Touch

Shuki and me on the tip of the tongue

Smell

Some of Hearing, Smell an some of Taste

Sight as seen through Touch

Hearing and my dad

Touch

Shuki working on Sight

Rear of sight

And on last view of Sight

Following the scissors illustration for the markets taxation article in Globes last week, came another one on the same subject.

So, by trying to avoid the mine field of imagery’s cliches, I hope I have ‘coined’ a new visual idiom which I find dificult to pronounce in words.

Tommy Lapid, Yair’s monumental father, has succumbed to cancer. I am using this word as, typically to his way in life, he gave the disease an incredibly good fight.

The Israeli press bid Tommy an honorable and voluminous farewell, an appropriate one for the departure of such an incredible person. As I am not a man of words, I have used the privilege of expressing my own farewell to Tommy, in my illustrations to Yair’s most incredible and moving obituary to his beloved father.