In the palm of my hand

puntista strikes again.

I'm sharing my procedure for the creation of the palm tree piece inspired by my view at the Aquarius suites in Dorado Puerto Rico. My phone and pictures drowned so I only had a few references remaining including the studies I did of these three palms nearly every morning.

I would see the sun rise and set and where the cross meets is the time that I would leave my spot on the beach to meet my group, who drank every night and woke up later in the day. The X marks that spot.

ink trees

Mostly I'm spending hours on this laptop putting the many pieces of my animation together.

I painted my main intro title frame by frame on this black and then fit it into my timeline.

 I wanted some trees to grow as they zoom past the camera in the foreground. I intended to shoot them a variety of ways in black on white and drop out the bright. Since it is frame by frame it will appear to grow organically.

 I made an elaborate set up consisting of a fish tank with a glass bottom being shot up toward so that I can paint with ink onto the back of wet paper towel, allowing it to soak thru and bleed.

I also decided to do a few trees as top down progressive animations. I based some of my trees off of bonsais from my book collection.

Here is one done in ink on animation paper. They turned out alright, the experimenting allowed me to come up with a variety of things for my animation that I would never have thought up to do. This opportunity has been an incredible opportunity for experimentation.

how do you like them apples?

In my studio I created some apples out of styro-foam balls from the dollarama. I coated them in a base coat of red acrylic paint and pierced them with a toothpick.

In order for them not to get suck to a surface while they dried I invented another use for dried up rice cakes.

I painted a second layer once they dried in a rough textural way to add more depth and colour. I then applied yet more reds and topped them off with some red sparkles.

Here is the plasticine tree I built as an animation on the spinning lazy susan.

Here is the general set up once the lights had been turned back on and after all the leaves (tiny drink umbrellas) had blossomed.

You can see the twists and turns of the trunk. It got so hot in the studio space under the lights the plasticine got soft and the entire thing slumped.

You can see in this close up the delicious looking fruit amongst the colourful umbrella foliage.

You can see Lindsay Sorrel doing some wacky stuff outside my window space while I shoot this scene.

This is the tree after the shoot and after it slumped. I had to use many bamboo skewers both inside the structure and on the outside to have it stay up. I think it turned out really pretty.

The shot from outside my space before going home for the week-end.

The tree of imagination

I walked out of the studio today, proud of how far I've gotten so far on my concept for a Children's book cover. There is still more to do, but first I need more input from the author, Clorinda.

What are your thoughts Clorinda? 

click on the image to see it larger

Ideas: I might put in the characters in a variety of ways, there is this little dragon guy named flint that could sit atop the stone or put the evil character 'Count Palavar' could be perched on it.  The little girl, Eleanor,  can be climbing the hill to the right toward the tree or actually up in the tree. I can also put a glow on the stone, I'm visioning purple or magenta to enhance the mystical spell that is cast upon it. I also want to add some large mushrooms to the foreground.  The more I think about it the more great ideas that come to mind ;)

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The first step was priming the birch panel with clear acrylic primer, 2 coats with sanding of 150- 220 grit sandpaper between each layer. I left some texture to grab onto the paint.  Then I used charcoal to sketch out the main structure of the tree. The drawing was sprayed with workable fixative before applying paint.

The next step was to block in the main areas of color, starting with the background sky. I wanted the piece to have some life and flow like the wind was blowing, and that kind of whimsical energy seen in a Van Gogh painting.  My intention is to have leaves blowing off the tree like they do in fall.

The sky is in and I've roughly blocked int he darks of the soil. I usually start with the darks and shadows because the opacity of these tones is less that the brighter colors mixed with white that will sit on top. I left the tree and some leaf areas bare, you can still see the birch panel.

I know it's a big jump, from the previous image to this one, but I worked for many hours in the studio on this day. I didn't take a photo of the stage between the start of the day and the end. But you can see, I have painted in the high lights an texture of the trunk, the many details of the ground from grasses and moss to fallen leaves and a magical s Stone of Amajara, in which the character in the story must find on her journey. I had to take a step back at this point and let my eyes and hands rest. I tried to paint the owl character twice but couldn't get it right, it was 2:30 am and I needed to hit the sheets.

Upon waking, I saw how the next part could come together. I was so excited, I woke up early and raced to the studio to get back to work.  My concept is developing and as you can see I have blocked in the owl.  He is going to have a bright yellow beak, brown body, a downy white head and a peculiar feather sticking straight up out of his head. My idea is to have the tree slowly dying from the top and the leaves turning brown and falling.  This will make it feel much more dark and ominous. There will be a visual transition from night above to day below as there will be from winter and death of the tree to fall colors and spring below. It is a metaphor for the journey the main character must as she encounters the conflicts on her adventure to save the 'Maginaries' world. I plan to work on the moon a bit more and add the lighting effects and shadows. I have left plenty of room above and below the tree for the title to be placed digitally.

Cleanse the Palette

I just got a call from a good friend of mine to tell me that today is the day that one must cleans and purify ones tools. I just so happen to be on my way to the studio and will now do such a thing before beginning a new work for the upcoming horror show.  Poster below:

I am planning on making a Tibetan inspired calendar with a strong Haida influence on the under painting/line work. Who knows what will come of it. Fingers crossed that it works out, we will see;)

The all seeing hand. It can perceive and do!

Also: I am beginning work on a commission for a children's book cover. I quickly sketched out this fall tree before having the author show me what sorts of things she had in mind.  She definitely wants  to go way darker, I think I can handle that.

Plant a seed, grow a tree, build a dream.

Here is a drawing I did with my COPIC marker at midnight last night while watching the end of Thunderheart.  It grew across two pages.

Tree of Immortality

The tree of immortality, according to the asian classic Journey to the West, was a large tree whose fruits once eaten would give immortality, the fruits were shaped like infants in the story and I always imagined that they would cry when the gods ate them at the yearly festival. Later, the fruit became a peach, maybe because it resembled a fuzzy baby's bum. More edible and commercially available.

I had an idea to bring a tree sculpture to the Burn. Secondly, I wanted a tree/ piece of art for my acreage that would stand the test of time.

IDEA #017 - Corrugated Metal tree with Happy Apples

My idea is to take sheets of galvanized corrugated metal and to fold them into cylinders. Then I will stack the cylinders and create a trunk and branch structure with. The finished tree will be fairly light because it is hollow. The corrugations in the metal emulate trunk texture while adding structural integrity. From the branches will hang fruit. I collect Fisher Price Happy Apples, They make a really cool sound when they jiggle, so as the branches blow in the wind the little smiling children's toys will create a melody like wind chimes.