Blackboard time lapse

and demonstration from my portrait drawing class where we cover the head at different angles lecture.

Have a look. if this seems like its up your alley and you want to know more visit Atelierartista.com

Our classes and times are listed online and it he above video.

Ep 55 Coming Soon!

EPISODE 46 Workshop #1 Canvas Building Workshop

Hey guys and gals, I just finished a 2 week cleanse and visited the dentist twice, so Im feeling squeaky clean as I bring you this instalment. Episode 46 - Workshop #1, Canvas Building 101. Take a look!

EPISODE 45 SWEAT EQUITY

Time for another fun Vlog episode!

Humbled, sitting on the floor of my studio, bringing you episode 45 sweat equity. I want to give a glimpse behind the scenes of what it makes to make the show go. It has been my first month in operation with paying students and it is going really well. I’ve seen the growth and achievements of my students already using my teaching methods. Hard work and discipline as well as focused study are the name of the game. Having goals in mind in which you aim to achieve will help you attain them. You can’t just walk through the doors of the atelier and take an art class, thinking that you are going to walk out a Michelangelo. We are in fact our own worst critics.  There is a lot of mental play going on. We need to train the eye. I don’t think so much that I am an art teacher in terms of technical skill and craft but a teacher who teachers people how to see.

You can’t know what you don’t know, its my job as teacher to guide you to help lift the veil and introduce new ways of seeing things differently.  It is up to you to continue to develop, to show up and do the work. I can’t make your art for you, only you can. And through time and with diligence you will arrive to where you are going and afterward you will definitely have a whole new vision for what is possible and I assure you, you will get there more quickly than you expect if you continue to work out and once there you will not believe the doors that open up to you creatively.  In regards to the future, it was bill gates who stated:

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.

I often use the metaphor of a gym when explaining the curriculum at the atelier. We come to work out our eye hand and brain muscles as we continue to strengthen our skills. This is where your sweat equity pays off. Artists tend to not think like athletes but we should, thats the way to achieving that gold medal and creative success.

In terms of my efforts, Im still working every single day of the week. I feel like a one man army, teaching, making these videos, updating the website and blog. I need to plan and prep my classes. Most nights I work at ACAD or QAS. I am at the atelier at 8 am and I usually don’t get home until later than 10:30 or 11 at night. Thats a long day but Im doing what I love, building my dream and passionately creating, teaching and living all the while. Some week-ends Im at Swintons doing samplers. They say all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Im anything but dull.

You may get some inkling of the real deal by now. Im here a lot and a big part of my job is being a great host and mostly humbly mopping the floors. Its not all glamour but when it is like last Friday when I offered my space to host the Peoples portrait prize party and it was a huge hit!

My students and I showed work and my pal Cosmic Lurkn spun tunes, Danielle (another non drinker) served up the beers and at the end I cleaned up throughout the night. I was beat by the end but I’m glad I did it on behalf of all those artists who exhibited and the organizers involved in putting it on. I like big clean spaces, After another mopping session I look forward to the next event, another opportunity to have a great time in the temple of creativity I’ve built. Keep posted and next time join me won’t you?

Check out the website as new stuff and updates come down the pipe: http://Ateleirartista.com

EPISODE 42 - THE ANSWER

It may seem like i just pumped these last two episode out back to back. Well, they do go together and they represent how I spent my last two week-ends when not teaching. I'm pretty proud of what this one lone art guy is capable of accomplishing and I hope you think I'm doing a fine job too, because I do it for you!

Take a watch and pass it on, help me get more subscribers if you like what you see :D

https://youtu.be/j03xVtOZsHI

EPISODE 41 MODEL MAYHEM!

Check the video on how I spent my week-end building a model stand for Wednesday evening figure drawing. more here: http://www.atelierartista.com/figure-drawing

Belas-artes Lisboa residency week 1

After getting settled and beginning to navigate around the city of Lisbon. I have two drawings completed that I am fairly happy with. Watch below and see what inspired me and how I developed this "Good Shepherd" drawing.

NUPASTEL PORTRAIT PROJECT

Just uploaded my latest episode where I use a mateial new to me that I highly recommend trying out. watch it develop through the magic of time lapse photography.

A dozen ways, a dozen days....what am I doing these days?

Keeping it up as any bunny would and could. I made this video from the studio of a piece I am slowly nudging toward completion. Check out the video on my you tube channel by clicking on the video below. It's only 5 min of your time deep in my thoughts and goals.

EPISODE 11 - "Muslce head"

I made Episode 11, the third in a series, in order to show more detailed rendering and to bring my charcoal study from the mini plaster cast. Check it out below or on my you tube channel :D

EPISODE 10 - "Making Headway"

I continue on with my drawing study of the tiny plaster head and muscle cast.

Check out how after building the proportions with a scaffold of sorts I begin blocking in the lights and dark values to create form.

EPISODE 9... the latest is up!

It was the long week-end and I assigned my self some additional homework to help illustrate how I get started and going on a sketch from life. Watch it below and/or share this link: https://youtu.be/AUhWN8zCFiY

EPISODE 8 "no rest for the wicked"

I was reluctant to put this one out after realizing how tired working myself to the bone has got me. I wasn't going to post it but I decided to do it anyway for you. Hopefully it goes to show you how hard artists can work and the time lapse gives a bit of insight into my process. Check it out on my You tube channel/below.

I have a lot of things coming to a head, classes and jobs are coming to a close in the next month and a half, comic expo is on the horizon,  another free sketchy sounds night at Local 510, instructing figure drawing at Body worlds, the publishing of this years Blackfoot Graphic novel, a big trip to Japan and much more!

Elephant WIP

Now that I have a tidy space in which to work, I immediately get going on an elephant painting for my Cousin Joe.He and his wife Lisa sent me an example of a piece they saw that they were considering picking up for the room of the daughter they are expecting. I figured I could do better, but as I got working it changed a lot.

 I added a baby elephant since its for a little girls room, I thought that would be a cute addition. I went for more realist style wanting this grand creature to feel physically powerful. When the lights are off there will be a little secret bonus, the tusks and eyes have glow paint.

Here it is as a Work in Progress, I am adding more here and there after sitting with it for more time, if you'd like to see how it came together in sped up time, check out the video below, I time lapsed the process.

For the love of building

We are all builders.  We build our lives, our dreams, our relationships, our homes etc. Building is a fantastic metaphor for what we do in life. Building happens with every passing day. I have been building every day I am alive which is for 13, 281 days according to my daily morning pages where I keep track with every entry. Between work and play I combine the two and get to play by building some more, but this time with toys :D

Here is my latest Lego star Wars time lapse assembly video.

I set up my Canon T3i facing straight down to the floor on a tripod. I captured each frame using Dragonframe software on a green screen. I imported the footage in to After Effects where I keyed out the green and added the generated star field background. The left and right audio channels are two different pieces of Imperial Starship audio at two different speeds.  Now that my fun is over, it is time to get back to the build.

I spent an enormous amount of time with this view of a spindle sander.

In this particular case, we had to pull an all night session without the assistance of anything but Monster sports drinks and an extreme motivation to beat the clock and make the deadline.  By the end we were all a bit delirious and definitely slipping past the fogginess of being sleep deprived. The last time I remember doing this, I regret it. This is the very skill I trained for 4 years during art school and repeated hundreds upon hundreds of times making videos and working on film festivals for the past decade plus. I thought I had grown out of it. lol.

A beautiful stack of wooden bones to sand and piece together.

I got up early to get a quick start not he day. Alas he took two hours before I could get my friend out of bed and get to working. The previous day I lost 5 hrs waiting so today I gave myself an additional hour before wasting the two. Not only is time money, but we really had no extra time to spare in this case. Came in and a bunch of the work was nicely stacked and waiting for us to get down to business.

Getting the base and a working plan together.

The most important thing to get right when building is the foundation. From there you can begin to build up with confidence. Take time to ensure you have a plan and that it is going to work.  "Measure twice cut once."  We had to assemble and epoxy the base as it doesn't sit flat on the floors and we need a stable foundation to assemble the remaining pieces of the sculpture.

 I like to keep organized, here is the next section laid out in numeric order.

Each piece is individual, and so well designed, I can't believe how well the assembly went. I kept track of every piece and marked the master list. Amazingly doing this allowed me to find which pieces were missing or mislabelled. One point for Virgo power and organization. When making something one of a kind, usually there is some give, some mistakes to repair, some finessing that is necessary. This monster was so well planned out for the previous 6 months that we didn't run into the normally expected issues.

See the handy home made mallet.

This is more like ship building than carpentry of construction. the base foundation curls up and kind of looks like a beautiful leaf shape.  Blocks are used to hold up the curves at a precise height so that the final sculpture does not sage and will fit tightly together in the end. Pegs are used to hold it all in place then we take them out, open each joint and glue up each piece with quick set epoxy. Though it wasn't that quick and it did not set up so the heat was cranks dint eh studio to the point of it almost being unbearable and we continued with the work.

Planning the next step, yet another challenging part.

We had to imagine how the final sculpture would appear in space and plan out how to assemble and mount the pieces based on flat drawings. The Epoxy base was setting up so we had to carefully work around the parts we glued together. Each individual piece had to be measured, marked and mounted individually.

It is so hot, but Brendan keeps working in full garb.

 Each end piece has a different corresponding scribe mark to use the Festool to cut a hole for a domino. this festal cutter is awesome, and dustless so we can work in a much tidier shop for the remainder of the assembly. Some were mounted tight with a glued in domino while others were left open and loose for fitting into place. That is a lot of cutting and scribing on 90 pieces that interlock with each other.

Here is one of the many corner joints being drilled for dowel pegs to hold it into place before glue application.

The pieces fit together so well, kudos the the time put into planning and crafting the parts. We go around and piece it together, scribe the lines, cut the holes, mount the dominos then assemble the pieces followed by doing it again and again until all 90 pieces are fit perfectly together. At the halfway point it is about 2 am. I usually get to sleep before midnight, we are all starting to get silly. This stage of delirium is followed by a second wind, a feeling that on can conquer the world and keep going, then there is an abrupt a dip, quietness and soreness, pain and tired that is when you need a small break and pound back an energy drink. Then the whole cycle begins again.

After midnight is when Jim starts to shine. 

We have to pull up our pants and keep focused because there were only a few more hours left and much more work to complete before the truck was going to pick up the piece to deliver to the gallery in Edmonton.Amazingly it got assembled and glued up, just in time. I was beyond tired, but my loyalty shows as I worked my ass off to get it done and did not back down from the challenge. It was insane, especially because there were power tools involved, but we all came out with every finger intact. Although I bashed mine pretty hard with the mallet at one poitn an kept working thru the swelling and pain.

The artist inside his nearly finished sculpture.

What a tremendous project and learning experience. It was well worth it! To see the beautiful lines of this Ash constructed piece, you will have to go to Edmonton and see the Alberta Biennial show, the work is by Brendan McGillicuddy, check out his website and other creations here. 

Now onto the next project, what to build…….

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

Spin me right round baby

 I set up a downward facing time lapse scenario while working on more abstract works based in sacred geometry patterns.

The first birch panel was primed black and the second gold. I worked on each piece in stages and crossed back and forth simultaneously so the two pieces would have a relationship to one another. Watch these short videos below, they are not only entertaining but they also reveal my process.

Its kinda funny, it seems that both times I made a painting just to paint over it again. Well so far, that is my process.

I hung both of these pieces in my Ramsay window for the neighbourhood to enjoy and then put them up at the Black and White Show at Studio Phi and House Galley's Black and White Exhibition. It was a fantastic show with over 60 artists. I was beat but had a chance to reconnect with many friends and artists that evening. In addition I created two new pieces to continue with this process painting for the exhibition which I will continue to develop.

Today I am working on developing some murals for the summer season as well as teaching Drawing at ACAD to a full class with two on a waiting list. I am super stoked!!!

Artist in Residence @ Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

This year I am enjoying the much needed isolation after 5 months of intensive and challenging projects. This is a time to reflect and simplify while make work between scattered bike rides and hikes.

A  powerful thunderstorm rages above the artist cabin, a perfect time for me to update my blog.
Here is whats up on once blank walls so far. Some pieces from last year for inspirations, and a bunch of stuff to finish and blank stuff waiting to be made into something new along the floor.

While hiking I collected a beautiful little bird skull.The reason I have a heavy bandage is that I chopped off the tip of my finger while using my new axe while super tired. Blood spurted everywhere but It is healing nicely after a week. I focused in meditation that it would grow back like an amphibian. The force is strong in me, though I may be in the nubbin club with my two best friends. The core grounds keeper here also has the same marking, Maybe its a man's right of passage. lol.

This year I decided to time lapse the progression of my paintings as I create them. I posted them to my you tube channel and have them linked below. They are short so have a quick gander.

The first painting is in the style of Russian/Greek Orthodox Christian iconography. It is done with acrylic on panel. I intended on using real gold building but did not have enough, instead I used my next favourite gold product made by Golden Acrylics. It has fantastic reflection and glint, the nearest I have found to the real thing, though considerably less expensive and fare easier to apply.

I was inspired after painting the icon to paint a larger version of a gesturing hand to represent learning. I am also excited, not only to be time lapsing my work but also with my inventory and organization that I have been able to update while working in the Artist Cabin. Exciting! Stay tuned………Definitely more to come!

Lucky Bunny Part 2

What I do with the Lego gift is the exciting part, and the extremely nerdy part. As an artist and animator I can't help but set up my gear on night and time lapsing the assembly of my new toy. What can I say?! Afterward I pump it into After Effects and use some of my skills in the digital realm to put it together into a pretty package, check it out below!

Enjoy!
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If there ws any doubt.....

today may it be put to rest (on May the Sith, as if May the Fourth wasn't enough, it is still STAR WARS celebration day the extended version) I am a complete NERD!

I decided to combine a few of my favorite things Media art and Animation (time lapse) Lego and Star Wars. I went to the Lego store in Chinook Mall (yeah, that's dangerous, I didn't even know we had a Lego store..............future addict right here, got myself a V.I.P card) It just so happened that they had a May the Fourth special on. They were giving away free Han Solo Lego figures with any purchase over $75 and there was a LEGO B-wing Starfighter (10227) kit on sale for 50% off. regular $250. Need I say more?!

Here I am happy as a clam.

I time lapse photographed my Lego ckit assembly and post it on You Tube with some music, sorry no After Effects laser beams and light saber etc. added, that would be going a little too far! lol. =:D
I have access to some old VHS copies of the original Star Wars and watched episode V & VI back to back. while I put together the 1487 Lego pieces. Check it out below.

I was surprised when opening the box that it was just full of numbered bags full of pieces and also bags within bags. I remember older kits when I was growing up having vacuum formed plastic trays you can organize and fit the pieces into. I recycled all the plastic bags which is a great bonus. I am going to keep the box for future moves and maybe there is some value in it. The LEGO kit even came with a display stand. It has a bit of movement. The cockpit can fully rotate, so can the treads behind and you can change the angle of the wings. Its not stable enough to play with or let the kiddies handle. There were a couple of tough spots and some weaker attachment areas in the design, but all in all a real joy to put together. That is probably why it is a 16+ model. The design of the Starfighter in this kit is bigger in scale then regular kits, so the little Lego men are too small to sit in the cockpit so this kit does not come with any mini figures =;(  Good thing I have the free "May the fourth" bonus gift - Han Solo from Hoth.

Lego instructions are super straight forward and easy to follow. There are no languages, just pictures and a couple of arrows.  This week-end Jess and I played a game where one person had the Lego instructions and the other person had the pieces. Its a great way to practice communication skills as well as being super fun. When I worked for the city one of the application tests was to work as a team giving instructions to another to put together a simple Lego kit. Pure genius! There are no names for the individual pieces so you have to get a system to do it well. I find it is good if you organize the pieces first then get your partner to orient the piece right and get it put together. This is my kind of challenge and its fun. Needless to say Jess and I were very successful in putting together our "cookies" and colored "thingies with __ (numbers) of bumps" correctly.

The B-wing took over 4 hours to completely build on my own. I love how the designer used the colors within. In the end they are completely hidden but makes for easy assembly. At about 1 am, after assembling all the B-wing Starfighter components, I began losing focus some of the smaller bits of the constructed pieces fell apart. This is the time to throw in the towel if you are smart. Battling it just makes it worse. I decided to go to sleep and repair it in the day with fresh hands and a fresh outlook. I shot the time lapse of construction of the stand before breakfast, it was a breeze. I took some finished shots of the assembled B-wing and did the post production. I outputted the image sequence from After Effects with a new orientation and scale and brought it into Final Cut to add the sound. I sped up Meco's 1977 record Galactic Funk 167% to fit the length of the video and outputted it to upload to my You tube channel for the enjoyment of other nerds on planet earth. Enjoy!

Here is the link to the you tube if you want it :D 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFO56jrQLgU&feature=youtu.be