Big Rock Cock

Big Rock invited me to work on a mural of their distressed cock logo for a spot in their main space. They want a big round mural to the right of the skylight above the doors. This is the view front he second floor landing a the top of their stairs.

I created a variety of samples for them to choose from.

Each one has different aspects I thought they may like.

The first two are conservative, using their logo with their brown and red pantone colours.

The next are black with gold and red over the brown with a release technique to distress it further.

Here is the one on the right once some of the red paint is peeled away to reveal the brown underneath.

On the next two I decided to try something a bit different, the first, on the right is inspired by the old traditional label and the one on the right is the base layer to create a bottle cap design.

Here is is with a variety of washes and layers to achieve various looks.

On the right you can see how the black layer is removed to reveal the silver and red underpainting.

The Calgary Stampede and exhibition has arrived so my city and this project is on hold until the debauchery ends and the town sobers up. I look forward to hearing from Big Rock what they are interested in.

Black and White

With so much going on since my return of my most recent residency, I still managed to creature some new work for the Black and white show at Studio Phi. 

I didn't get a lot of process shots but this is a  derivative from the work I re-introduced during my residency and continued experimentation with the flower of life motif. I treated myself to an art supply purchase. Regular followers will be well aware of my art supply addiction. I went to a new store in Manchester which sells drafting supplies specifically, though I really wonder how valid that claim is when there were only 3 compasses to choose from. I picked up a Staedtler Mars 522 and am thoroughly happy with the purchase, it was the only option that can hold a variety of drawing devices.

I washed and wiped the surface to remove some of the patin in order to give it an aged aesthetic. Then revisited each panel, though I haven't photographed that stage.

I did however get caught up in the auction and I managed to win Dustin Pools piece for $800. Its gorgeous and will be going over my bed, plus it was his first venture into watercolour and I think its phenomenal. It was such an amazing show and I did get to catch up with so many amazing art friends and colleagues, even though I was bagged and wanted nothing more than to get home to catch up on some Z's. It was a great experience…...Returning from that tangent, these two pieces do fit together and I will continue to work on them since I usually want more time and layering, it seems my pieces are never done quickly and they require not only time but layering, it is after all a labour of love. I will post in the future the finished pieces, but there is two murals and numerous commissions and classes to report on in the interim, stay tooned :P

Values, light and Dark

I began teaching my Drawing 1 course at ACAD again . This post is for the students who missed last class in order to help them catch up on anything they may have missed out on and for any followers and readers who find this stuff as fascinating as I do!   =:D

Last week we began in the realm of imagination and using line. Line is very powerful, as you draw it is like you are cutting through light. A drawing can be made with a line which separates dark and light.  But line only describes a form but does not give mass and body to it. We need to learn to describe three dimensionality with shading. In order to accomplish this we need to develop our value scale.

Using the tools of drawing each student completed a value scale by utilizing the variety of pencils H - HB - B - F, charcoal or pen and crosshatching. In this way we have a base line to compare the values in  the drawing.  In the above image of the value scale the lower strip has the middle grey value added as a comparison. This is incredibly useful information especially if you are using a neutral ground as your starting point.

The next step is understanding how to see how these things play out in reality on any given object. For this I brought out SHAPES!!!! Some people dread the shapes, I remember the groans at art school for spending days at this. I think they are a valuable tool for understanding drawing. It is such a powerful way to understand what you see and I still practice it from time to time.

We used white painted plaster and wooden shapes under a single light source to create very defined shadows. If you are working from home, find white stuff around the house, you can make shaped out of white paper, paint stuff yourself, use what you have, or buy these at art supply stores. The goal is to use the value chart as a comparison in order to  create drawings of the simple shapes defined in space by lights and darks. Below is an example as to how the values relate on the drawing surface.

At this point it isn't as important to me that you have the proportions absolutely correct, as we will be working on that tons later, what we are really after is the ability to blend the values to create smooth transitions of shadow. Hard edged shapes tend to not have blended shadows. This exercise is to draw what we see! To understand the core and cast shadows and to have the relationship between the light and the dark on these shapes relate properly to create a realistic drawing.  Remember: Draw what you see!

I have included some snap shots taken on my iPhone so they are not "superfantastique" by any means but they were from the class set up for those who missed and would like an idea what we worked on.  It is helpful to work with white painted shapes as they are less confusing to break down. It is also better to try this from life rather than photo as the camera does change the way we look.

There was no homework as we used the 3 hr class for demos and exercises and finished off by looking at what we created in the class. Next class we add to this by working on still life using what we learned with values and we will begin our pursuit of proportions. Ciao for now. Have a great week-end and CANADA DAY!

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!!!

Sweet message from a collector

While updating my blog post, I received a nice FB message from a collector that visits me every Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. She sent me some pics of the prints she bought framed up and this nice message, which she has given me permission to share with you
below.

"Hello Brian, I wanted to share with you how amazing your art has made my home! We met at the comic expo and I told you about the one matching my curtains! Ha. And the rainbow deity looks effin amazing with the new frame! 
Everyone who comes to my home loves your stuff:) thanks for being amazing!"

~ Chelsie Grenier-McNabb

This was the first piece she got off of me two years ago, all framed up nicely.The previous(above) two prints are sold out and I won't be making any more. 

Above  "Songs yet to be sung", I still have a one or two of more prints available in a very limited run of this piece, if you are interested contact me.  This is the piece that the original was purchased out of Motion Gallery by a collector who writes for "Heartland".  Look how awesome it looks framed!

I am so stoked that Chelsie went out of her way to contact me and spread the joy of art. I really appreciate it! It certainly has brought more sunshine to my day, it is nice to know ones passion and hard work are appreciated at times. = :D

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!

figure and portraits continued

We continued our study of the figure and the musculature.  Using tracing paper, I draw the big muscle groups over the reference picture to aid in the development of the drawing. It helps to understand how the shapes and shadows fall across the body. 

We did lots of tracings of the figure and broke down the body into simplified shapes to understand different poses and how to construct our own figurative pieces.

I transferred my reference image using the charcoal and tracing paper technique onto my primed canvas.

Using a simplified palette, I block in and big form model the basic shapes that make up the figure.

The result is the first layer in copying this work.

Did some tracings of simplified shapes that describe and communicate a portrait.  All that is needed is light and dark and then we can develop it further from there.

Next we work on portraiture,  I transfer a copy of my reference image onto a prepared canvas board and block in the shadow shapes.

I block in the fleshy bits of the face, keeping thing simple and not worrying about detail elements at this point. There is not, enough time left in the class to complete what we started, however the lessons were full to leave us with plenty to work with in order to improve our practice.

I quickly block in his clothing and pack up all my wet paintings in order to head home and eat with enough time to prep for my evening class at Quickdraw Animation Society.

Never stop improving your technique

Practice does make perfect. With art you've got to practice, practice and practice some more.

I know I need to put in more quality time to get to where I want to go artistically. I am taking another 3 day workshop with Martinho Correria titled: Studying the figure through the Masters at the Calgary School of Art at Cactus Arts Supply store. Check out their respective website for more info. Its nice to see some familiar faces as well as many new ones for this intensive in classical atelier methods of instruction. I love the private training, you always get pushed beyond the levels and learn so much, making the price worth every penny. I highly recommend these courses and others like them at Swinton's Art Supply etc. if you really want to learn artistic skills and techniques directly form those in the craft every now and again I ma delegated at the opportunity to improve my skills as a student and devote some time to improving my practice.

After the first lecture we worked on tracing gesture type drawings from old masters works to get a feel for the essence of "gesture drawings". It is challenging to remove what you know and previous skills and learn to work a different way. These gesture drawings are meant to be simple ways of conveying the weight and feeling of a model and freezing it into a moment as models tend to move even when posing for a long time. This means you have to learn to capture the feeling behind the figure being drawn.  We traced a myriad of figures done by different artists for reference.

We learned how to properly prepare a pencil and how to hold it for this type of drawing. This one was plastic composite and not wood, I was fooled at first, until I got my exact blade in it, it shaved weird. Then you make a point in the lead with some sandpaper and use smooth wrist and arm movements to create soft and curved S and C curved lines.

We practiced on a small Brague drawing example. First doing a gesture drawing to capture the feeling of the form and then moving into getting the basic shapes and proportions of the figure in place. I took additional notes during the demos to add to the invaluable handouts our instructor Martinho provided.

After a lunch of a delicious "Manwich" at the Holy smoke Grill across the street, I felt groggy with so much meat and bun in my belly. I set up my drawing board on an easel and set up the reference next to the paper another student was kind to offer me to try and work on. This pose is a little intimidating given how much time we had left in the class.

We worked on drawing our figure larger using comparative proportions. I think my guy is a little thick, in places, there is some definite tweaking needed before continuing onto the next stage. But I did manage to get the majority of the figure blocked in in the time given. I look forward to learning more in the next few days, we will see how things develop, I hope this interests you and you come back to check it out.

Ciao for now = :D

Feral art show piece

This busy buy bunny can now see the light at the end of the Tunnel.  Meanwhile, in the midst of business I managed to crank out another thematic piece for my good friends the "Gentlemen Destroyers" for their "Feral" group exhibition at the White Lodge Gallery.  Each artist was selected three things. An life form, an object and an activity.  I got a Squid, a Meat Grinder and Dancing.

The Gentlemen Destroyers are great guys. Jim Laing, my old studio mate when we were at ACAD, dropped off the panel they build for each artist.  I gathered my planning materials and got to imagining.

My first concept is to have the squid going thru the meat grinder as the tentacles remind me of how hamburger would come out the other end. So I begin drawing to get a general composition down.

I realize, in order to get this right I may need to work out my perspective a few times. It took me about three tried to get it how I want it. I then transfer this mock up to my other paper.

Here is the basic design after transferring. To transfer: I rub the back of the sheet with charcoal, and redraw over top the drawing pressing down hard in order to transfer the charcoal to the new sheet of paper. This is the same technique I will use to transfer the final drawn composition to the blank support.

Now I can draw in the squid and its tentacles. This plan is coming along nicely. I decided that with this piece I needed to have it well planned in order to tackle it efficiently and effectively as I don't have a lot of time to work on the painting due to how busy I am finishing up the 5 month Aboriginal Youth Animation Project screening.

I transfer the drawing and use spray fixative to lock down the drawing so that I may paint it without losing my plan or getting the charcoal in my paint. Unfortunately, this magic step is also extremely toxic :(

I decided to use Acrylic because of the limited time and its ability to dry quickly so I can add layers almost immediately. I also have colours and metallic pigments that are still unavailable in oil. Here you can see how reflective the silver acrylic paint is.

I have to give a second thick coat of the squid colour before doubling up on the iridescent silver. Then I add some shading and shine and paint in the squids eye and the handle on the meat grinder.

I paint light and shadow  onto the squid to give it a sense that it is a 3 dimensional form and pattern. It is starting to flush itself out now.

I add a bit more textures and a spotted pattern to its skin and rub in some iridescent purple sparkles over its surface so that in the right light it sparkles a bit.

I add in his sticky suction cups using a light colour and outlining with brown sharpie marker. So I've got the squid and he seems to be doing some crazy moves as he goes thru the meat grinder, but the dancing bit isn't implicit enough.

Here is the finished piece. 

The final step was  to paint in squid dance step instructions to the background and sign it in gold. I love all the pattern and how this piece came together in the end. I am proud of this piece and it reminds me where I should continue to be  putting my efforts and energies into creating art. I know a lot of people including some of my students came down to see the show, thanks for that!

Update: It sold and I know it went to a good home. Shout out to Sabo Forte for grabbing this piece up!