Change is the only constant. So bring in the new year.

To end off the year my final sketchbook drawing and process are below.

It started with a simple sketch in pencil, drawn in with copic multiline and outlined with a regular old sharpie.

It may be the end of the year but that does not mean “it’s the end of the world as we know it”. Try not to have a catchy tune in your head. I love how music is the soundtrack of our lives. A few notes are able to evoke a strong emotion and bring us back to a moment in time. Audio is a powerful thing.

I then coloured in the body and antlers with Copic markers for a deep rich colour.

As we approach the end of the year, for me, it is a time to reflect and gather ones thoughts. . Every year I write a list of all the things I did in the previous year that made it awesome, then I make a list of the things I’d like to accomplish in the next one. I also make a list of all the people I love just to remind myself how lucky I am to have all of you. Finally I buy myself a new moleskine day-timer and begin filling in everything I have booked so far. It’s great that as the previous year comes to an end we all have the opportunity to begin anew. Like a final chapter in a book the new year offers endless potential and the chance to begin a whole new story. Let’s all start the new year on the right foot while making a step in the right direction!

I filled in the background with watercolours so they would not be as vibrant as the main subject, though sketchbook paper is not well suited to the material, it was a risk I was willing to take.

2014 has been both a challenge and a joy. The things that occurred were both difficult and interesting. There were notable tribulations some acted as a real test of my intentions and morals. TO say the least it has been engaging. It has been hard personally and I’m sure many readers can relate. I remember all those who I have lost, this year I had 6 funerals for family, friends and acquaintances. I hope next year there are none.

I added some texture with prismacolour pencil crayons onto the watercolour paint. I masked out the deer with painters tape by cutting around it with an exact knife, being sure not to goo too deep as to score the paper below.

Nothing mean more to me than knowing that after my vulnerable and heartfelt words that there are those of you who read them. I feel so deeply and decided to share but the vulnerability often makes it difficult. Your deep, rich resonating replies mean the world to me, I really appreciate it. I am so grateful that you let the conversation commence and your opinion/viewpoint are honoured.

I splattered white out with a tooth brush and misted the paper to create blurred flowers and to set the background further back. This photo was for Instagram and has a vignette and some tilt shift added. I wish it was easier to draw blurry like this. I like how it has turned out but may revisit it with more pencil crayon and copic marker in the foreground in the future.

I look forward to the new year and all it may bring. I hope yours is awesome too! Cheers, see you in the new year!

A picture says a thousand words

20% cooler & have 30% more time.

Before I quit Facebook, they require you give a reason as to why. "It was taking up too much of my time" was definitely the least intrusive of the options.  Stalkers and threats etc being the other reasons. I feel good about my graceful exit, like a tremendous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Every time I pick up my phone and have nowhere to go to, no app to select. It is kind of strange yet strangely gratifying to have my life back. I did manage to get a coffee table book published with some of the content and tagged pictures as a back up plan.

Teenagers using Facebook said it was 30% of their lives. Adolescents growing up with todays connectivity and technology face new problems that us adults can barely rectify. It is implicit that mature people are responsible enough to make healthy decisions and yet it is still challenging.  But what about the developing mind and morals of youth? Daily activities surround the pictures they planned to take to post. It was like they were maintaining this other life. Preteen girls dress up in a highly provocative and sexualized way and post them to their online avatars. I am not sure they have an idea of the gravity of what their were doing. It may just be an innocent way to attract boys. Or a means to bolster self confidence. Or that by maintaining this status quo that invented persona will influence who one will become in 'real' life.

I have found myself in this vicious cycle. The persona people think I am is nothing like who my closest friends know me to be. One is real, the other surreal. We always aim to put our best foot forward and to portray ourselves in the best light possible. I kept an internal rule to keep everything I post positive. But we only show what we want others to see.  We are our own censorship mechanism to some degree. Maybe they don't need to be broadcast to the world. But then again is there really any privacy?
Those embarrassing pictures of drunken debauchery will continue to bite you in the ass.  Society is not forgiving. Life and technology seem to spin so quickly out of control these days.  Our decision and our mistakes are what make and help us grow as individuals. Failures and mistakes are often good. After all, we are just human.

On a lighter note. The holidays were good to me. My family has never been really close and we don't get together as often as I would like. Especially for dinner…….. my mom is an amazing chef. Family and friends are the most important to me and we are continually making efforts to constantly improve it amidst all the challenges, hardship and loss. My brother, who I really haven't seen in a decade made a real positive leap this year and sent us all a care package. He combined what he loves doing, making chain mail armour combined with a bit of online research to see what might be an appropriate gift for me.  He made made me a chain mail guitar strap for my new cigar box guitar that I got myself for my birthday. I really appreciate is his effort. To me its the best gift I could have gotten this holiday season, though it is as heavy as the guitar it is strapped too.

RIP FACEBOOK. Open mind – close Facebook.

I spent 7 years of my life on Face Crack, and for what?

Am I any better for it?

1691 “friends” and 528 likes on my artist page.

Swiping past photos of strangers.

Is this what it is to be connected?!

The reason I am taking the first step is to regaining some semblance of my life, time and relationships. It is enough of a reason that the new users agreement gives up our rights and freedoms. What worries me more is that we are so attached to this time waster of an app that we are so willing to trade off our personal information and freedoms to corporate interest, for me personally, this is the last straw. An impetus for personal change.

Many years ago I banished the Nestle corporation from my life. I had to drop my favorite chocolates and candies, carnation, Delissio frozen pizzas, my favorite cologne and bottled water. At first it was difficult. Nestle is a powerful and pervasive corporation, interested in privatizing the worlds water supply.  Yet in a short period of time it has not impacted me negatively in the slightest.  1 me stands for what I believe. I don’t think exodus from Face-Crack will be any different.  I need to be free once more. Fingers crossed.

2014 was a very challenging year. I lost many friends, family and acquaintances.  An inevitable reminder of our inescapable mortality. It feels to me like life is slipping away and I need to regain it with all my fight and fervor.

Exactly a year ago this time, I was forced out of my studio. Which has taken away my ability to create art leaving me feeling dulled. I have been without my temple of creation and it has been more than difficult. That being said, I have saved the same amount I would have spent on rent and I now wonder what to do with it.

I drew myself out of life, hiding away and battling the doldrums. I intend to put the effort back into this blog, my website but mainly my artwork and I hope a return to this brings the benefits social media could not.  I feel naked and alone these days. Vulnerable and lost. I need to find myself in all of this craziness. Re-read favorite books. Turn off Netflix. Pick up one of my many instruments instead. Spend my time, my most valuable asset, by building amazing new memories.

I can be proud of my constant self-reflection, or maybe my overtly self-critical nature inherent in any artist.  Social media has become an addiction, an addiction to immediate gratification. I find myself reaching for my device every morning, which battles the importance practice of writing my morning pages. In this I worry I am dissolving and losing the parts of myself that I love most and make me unique.

I have kept up a daily practice of sending “♬ ♬ ♬ H a P p Y b I r T h D a Y t O y O u ! ♬ ♬ ♬ .... and many more....” because it is as important as knowing somebody’s name to the bearer.  Every now and again the rare and deeply satisfying conversation or connecting to friends from the past.  It gives me a constant flow of news I don’t need. “Comments” and “likes” being fished for to build up ones ego. Hundreds of events I cant remember or attend. Yet I feel this alone has set a huge wedge between my true self and this other "internet-identity".

It seems to me that my interactions have become less and less sincere. I keep putting in my effort but as I look around, I see people around the table, at the club and in the mall, their fingers punching frantically, their eyes lit by little glowing screens.

I turn off my phone when I drive, and keep it off when I share a meal with friends, which does not seem to be the norm. But the thing I’ve missed most as of late is real connections with people. I’d rather have one close person in my life who really knows me deeply than 1600+ “friends” who when I encounter in person seem to loose eye contact after the first surface hellos. We really never really connect deeply. I want real connections, not “likes” and text messages. 

I don’t think dropping completely out of society is a solution, but I feel like those I interact with, or date should equally respond with an enthusiastic attitude of “FUCK, YES!” If not, then there is no real reason to go forward. Recently, I tried to make every effort to grow some new friendships.  I consistently put in energy but it was met with apathy and indifference. Why have I wasted my time struggling for no reason? It seems my lesson lately is to move onto things that really matter.

Like a hungry ghost my taste never ceases for an adventurous and passionate life. For people with a shine in their eyes and a fire in their hearts. Maybe along side my art I should elevate my drives and desire to write, to love and to eat amazing food. I desire connection and love, just like you. I reach out here, I invite you to be part of my world still but in a more real way, if you say “FUCK, YES!” you know where to find me.

Real life is better…..Farwell Facecrack!

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and farewell facebook!

R2-D2 - Lego Kit Assembly

Here is my latest lego assembly time lapse video for your enjoyment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDXNAGkPtQ&feature=youtu.be

Stop motion set fabrication class review

For my "partner in crime" in this class, Soha who has unfortunately been under the weather, which always sucks.Ii have been sick myself and not feeling up to the high standards I aim to keep. I know she regrets missing the class as much as we miss having her participation. Also to the the rest of my beloved students in hopes it helps remind them in some part of all the things we covered since we were without equipment to film the process for future reference. Also, as always my blog is for anyone and everyone out there who loves to learn more about the stuff I am so passionate about. So on with the show….

First I gave a general overview of the lecture. We discussed how to set up the table before and set up the camera and choose lenses we begin construction of the set pieces. The most important thing is to have a space and table that doesn't move. A good animation table is steel and sandbagged to fastened to the floor. You can top any table with a 4 X 4 piece of 1 nice plywood raised and fattened to 2 X4's. You can drill thru your table directly and skip building the platform if you can reach underneath and drill thru it to attach your tie down screws.  Remember when planning, framing the shot and building your set to try and best match your storyboard plans.

You probably have a lot of the tools you need for this portion but there a re a few good things you'll definitely need when working with the various materials such as rigid or floral foam. I got my folding japanese Dozuki from Lee Valley. Its a dangerous store to go into if you one tools as much as me, they have a great online service where your an order first then go in quick to pick up and get out before you break the bank. Have a good knife and scissors and a bunch of tools you've already been using for other projects in the class. Set building and fabrication is a huge subject and really depends on your goals but I attempted to cover some blanket techniques that are useful to everyone no matter what their end scene may be.

first we used cheap materials like foam core and cardboard to block out the elements and to see what scale they may be for their placement and how they look on camera. I can't emphasize the importance of preplanning. It'll save you time and money so don't skip this step.  I explained the idea of constructing islands as they are extremely versatile. The basics are make them on a surface like wood that can eventually be fastened to the table, yet they can be moved around and used to cheat shots since they are mobile. You can use a variety of materials like rigid foam, wood, papier mache, clay, plasticine etc to build them. Fasten them to the wood base for greater stability.

After a demo and giving the students some time to build elements we moved onto the next section which is to paint and texture their creations. This is one of my favourite steps and really adds to the quality and realism of the set elements. You need to know your products so that you can get the look that you want and so that the surfaces stick and hold up to the rigours of shooting. On the board are the steps we followed throughout the hands on demonstrations of various set piece examples.

These are the main products I use and they really aren't that expensive. To the far left is my new favourite spray adhesive by 3M, I picked it up at home depot and it is far superior and much cheaper than the stuff one can get at art supply stores. Then glue, and any glue from the cheap white glue to modge podge and/or wood glue is fine. I have my satin or matte medium from Golden for sealing and applying pigments. Pure pigments from pro tints. They are expensive but go a long way. You can also use any other paints you are comfortable with, like acrylic but you need to know the process and how to ensure they adhere t the many materials you may be using on your set construction. Some effect finishes to the right which patina silver and then baby powder or other release or anti tacking material.

this was a quick example I demonstrated with. carved foam with dollar store stir sticks, some paint effects after giving everything a hard sealing coat made with white glue mixed with water. The sphagnum moss and flocking give it an aged look. I did some splatter paint and marbling effect as well as dragged some halloween spider webbing across the gate.

Here are some other examples I used, a foam core silhouette piece to get the proper size for creating set pieces though arguable this can be used in the far background of a shot if need be. I created a fence piece with dollar store stir sticks and floral wire. The fun fur was an example of how to adhere it to the foam and stain it quickly for a more realistic grass look. I would recommend tan fun fur instead of the scrap of bright green, as the roots of it after painting will resemble dirt and look more natural on camera. We will continue with more examples for foliage, and how to cast and set up the backdrop and more when we reconvene for next weeks class. Ciao for now :D

What is a "Forest Bigot" anyway?

Well I don't really know either.

A friend and fellow teacher sent me a challenge on Facebook with the challenge to draw a "forest bigot", whatever that is. The writing looks nice, lots of serifs, though I do prefer cursive, but anyone who reads mince can tell you, you have to work at it a bit. This is what I got for a clue to create my "forest bigot" drawing.

this enterprising student must have really wanted to utilize their new word. It reminds me of some of my ridiculous and naive homework assignments. It's a wonder any of us got through these tough yet formative years.

I grew up in a small logging town so this subject hits close to home. This new lumberjack style seems to coming back. The hipsters are getting a touch of grunge. forest bigots reminds me of the rednecks chopping down the forest for beer money where I grew up. On week-ends their kids, the high school students would gather together bringing their illegally acquired six packs of Lucky to the remote logging roads for some good 'ol wholesome small town fun and pointless debauchery. Spinning wheelies in their trucks and triumphing one another in a show of masculinity. The girls were there because that where the boys went on fridays.  I was never invited, but the bullies included my by throwing their cans of beer at me when driving by. I accepted the beers which narrowly missed me but never did hit the mark, who throws full cans of beer away anyway? I think it was a peace offering or some weird sort of charity. The constant dis was them yelling "freak" and "purple" out the windows as they aggressively sped by on the only road in town.  They were clearly colour blind, my mow hawk was fuscia pink. Not very creative either. Ahhhhh the glories of awkward adolescence. Kinda makes me warm inside.

I sketched this up with a brief pencil outline and then bravely went straight into ink with no fear. I quickly filled in the colour with copic markers. Lickety split does the trick. The figure is based off of an histogram my friend Chris Millar posted of a sloth fetus he saw the same day.

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In addition I received a proof of my page for the Motion Gallery catalogue that will be released at their 3 year anniversary party on December 13th.

They will be selling them which includes all the artists that have been part o the gallery since it opened. Awesome! Go Calgary arts scene and the people who make it go! Party info below, come by and say hello!

Wild and Free figures + last Drawing 1 class pics

I went to the Wild and free drawing session at Slaughterhouse studios. The weather was crazy yet It was packed. I brought lots of supplies, my drawing board and big paper, even my pastels but there wasn't as much room as I expected so rather than spread out I opted to work small and sketch in my sketchbook.Vian, Rak and Targus made sweet sounds as we drew which was a really awesome experience. All the psychedelic sounds and lighting coupled with naked models in masks really made me feel like we were at some sort of Illuminati/ "Eyes Wide Shut" ritual.

The stage lighting did make it difficult to capture a line drawing as the models were back lit and coloured. I used pen and mechanical pencil for the quick warm up and 20 min poses. The models were great and they wore hand made leather masks while having interacting poses as pairs.

I did this piece in conte, forgetting how it gets really messy in a sketchbook. "Off Beat" put on a great event and I would definitely attend again, I highly recommend it if you can participate in the future.

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Below are some snap shots I took during the final class of my Drawing 1 course at ACAD.

I am really proud of the progress and improvements my students made this semester. they were a really talented and engaged group. Weather aside, the majority showed up to complete the "dreaded" self portrait in 2 hrs task. Great work guys!

Figure drawing sketch book warm ups

In preparation for tomorrow evenings Wild and Free figure drawing session, I spent the last week drawing in my new sketch book for 30 minutes each day. Each session begins with a number of 1 minute gesture warm ups, then a few 2 minute poses followed by some 5 minute poses. I admit I am rusty but I am finding the practice exhilarating. I look forward to it every evening instead of Netflix or chores or whatever else distracts me from spending time drawing. You can probably relate?!

I took pics with my iPad so they are not great but they serve this purpose. The first one on the left was actually done in about 7 min with the model we had during my drawing class at ACAD. When I got home I added a paint touch up with fluid acrylic made by Golden in my favourite colour fluorescent pink.

I tried to stay away from my comfort zone which is mechanical pencil and instead, use a variety of ink medias so that I would have to work fast and I couldn't erase my mistakes. Its the quickest way to see where you go wrong. Later, I added some highlighter and drew a bird from a recent issue of National Geographic. I also filled in the background with a free sample from Golden in a Manganese blue hue, I didn't like the consistency and it was too transparent to get an even tone with one light coat.

In these sessions, I used thinned india ink and a brush as well as some graphite. Some interesting alignments happen when shapes of the body overlap during quick sketching.

I tried some pens I found in random places while tidying up the studio. Many did not work so they wound up in the trash. I have so many random art supplies, it is ridiculous. Sometimes it sucks when you start drawing with a pen only to find out it bleeds through the paper. That's the reason I haven't used my Copic markers in this new sketchbook, they go right thru to the next sheet.

I tried to use the whole page for two sessions and leave a fresh one for tomorrow which turned a bit chaotic. I like where these are going and I will try more materials and mark making techniques to get out of my comfort zone.

What is art for?

It may seem quiet on my blog as of late, maybe I haven't been artistic lately. Has he given up his artistic practice. I respond with a resounding and gloriously confident NO!

There are so many considerations when it comes to living a life of creativity.
But there is no chance I will wane from my path.

In fact, rather than stay docile while on a few weeks of cleanse and healthy living, I have been able to better reflect on my life and drives.  I have been regularly teaching my classes to groups of inspired learners. I'm loving my classes, unfortunately in the next few weeks they all come to an end before the winter holidays.  In addition, I have been organizing loads of supplies and building a new studio space since I have gone nearly a year without a suitable temple of creation.  So as all to this transpires I have maintained a low profile on social media and the internet. I'm gathering my troops in order to strengthen my resolve once more.

I came across this post today to share a little food for thought so that you too can consider the purpose of your creativity.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2014/sep/10/what-is-art-for-alain-de-botton-guide-video