Sunday Experiment

"Media Experiment Portrait I"
Multimedia on Board
26" x 18"

Between the end of my summer job and the beginning of school this fall, I have a period of two weeks to wrap up summer holidays. Little to say I haven't been doing very much. Although, I have been painting and drawing again. I had some old boards and scrap pieces of paper kicking around, so I decided to do a portrait and some experimentation with media. It was fun to have no expectations. Just do whatever and see what turns out. I should do this more often.

Happy Birthday Dave Murray!

So this week was the lead up to International Dave Murray Day, Version 6.0. Since Dave doesn't live with Irma and myself anymore, I decided to bring his present to school. Voila! One fully wrapped Sheridan Illustration Work Station (Dave's work station to be exact). If you know Dave then you would know that this is exactly what he wanted. More festivities will be had tonight in Toronto at the Cadillac Lounge. Hope to see everyone there!

Best of the Best

I thought I would share some Hallowe'en costumes since October has recently passed us by. Hallowe'en is kind of a big deal for Illustration students. Our council runs the annual Hallowe'en Pub and we keep the majority of the proceeds that go towards our end of year show. Attending an art school means that there is no limit to creativity and imagination when it comes to costumes. I've never seen a greater concentration of incredible costumes than I have at Sheridan. This past Hallowe'en I went out as Gladiator. I made a full plaster cast of my body to create the body armour. It was an absolute mess to make; however, it was the most fun I've had on a project all year.

Two years ago Dave and myself made some cardboard costumes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They were quite well received and I think we could have won the costume contest if we actually made it into pub. However, we recently won second prize for an online costume contest hosted by Street Carnage. Check it out, it's a pretty ridiculous site.

Yawn + Design

So I got a little bored today at school. As you can tell. Didn't really have a plan for this design, just kinda' winged it. A lot of people were telling me that it was pretty neat looking. Reminds me of henna you would see on Raider Nation. I'm not an Oakland Raiders fan; however, I think they have the coolest fans on the planet! The collaboration of art and sport. I love it.

Graphite Circa 2004

I was fiddling around the other day and I found these pictures. I did these when I was in high school. A little incite into why I use a lot of graphite. All are done with an HB pencil on regular 8.5" x 11" computer paper. I know, I know, I used a limited palette. My oh my, how things have changed.

Family First

The Dubona Lisa

PhotoShop, 300 dpi.

6" x 8"

The Dubona Lisa under glass in a spiffy looking frame

Promise Dressed Like a Present

Mixed Media on Canvas

10" x 7"

It's hard to believe sometimes how fast time passes us by. It really is true that time flies when you are having fun. My stay in the Bay has been more than I ever could have asked for. Christmas was a bonus, I realized I took for granted some simple things that I have always had. Being away from school always brings things into perspective and vice-versa. It's strange to think that I have never made anything artistic for my family before. I decided to change that this Christmas. Joking around I told my sister I would make her a priceless piece of artwork . . . so I did. With the help of PhotoShop I made her into the Mona Lisa or how I call it the "Dubona Lisa". The second piece I did was for a new friend. I promised her I would show her what I do. Lately I have been fooling around with mixed media and some graphite. I hinged two small canvas' together and made a diptych for her. She was happy with the final product, and I was happy to do it for her. I will be returning in a couple days to Oakville and back to school. This break was very therapeutic and I'm greatful for everything that has happened. The good and the bad. Without the bad you can never really appreciate the goodness in life.

Before

So my aunt put me too work again with one of her decorations used for her house. It's an old run-down washboard panel. She wanted to restore the look and bring back the type that was on it. She made the mistake of taking a Sharpie to the wood too outline and fill the type. It bled a little bit, so she left it in my hands to clean up. Doesn't look to be too hard to do, just need the seat time.

After

This is the final piece after i re-discovered the worn down type. I outlined everything with my G-Tech pen, then filled in the rest using a fine brush and Speedball ink. Final step was using some fine 400 sandpaper to rustify it a little bit, just to take off the shine and give it some texture.

Circles & Circles

Lately i have begun to master the late nights and late sleep ins. Recently I cannot remember a night when I went to bed before 2am or have woken up before noon. I really need a job, it would pretty much save my life. In the last couple days I have succumb to doing artistic handy work for my aunt. She asked me to paint a multitude of circles on my cousins wall, to match her bedspread. I made some templates, and she bought all the paint, so all i really had to do was paint. Sooooooo many bloody circles, I never realized how frustrating it would become. The whole wall took me about 10 hours to finish, mainly because I am picky with detail and the paint was thin and needed several coats. She loved her room, it's more festive now.