Cafe 22

Beth and I went out to Cafe 22 tonight and had some dinner. Beth had a calzone and I had an Italian antipasto, very tasty.

I'm trying to take my sketchbook as many places as I can these days. There is just so much to draw and so little time. I decided to bring my sketchbook to Cafe 22 tonight, this is a quick sketch of Beth in low light. I like it because it is looser than most of my sketches and gives me confidence that I am relaxing a bit more with my drawing, which is a good thing.

Baby!

Two Saturday's ago I was drawing with my almost two year old niece Kacey. She is very talented for her age, within 1.5 hours we managed to do 16 pages of sketches. She is way faster than I am. About on quarter of the time she would stop drawing on the paper and graffiti my arms and stomach, not to mention remind me on the occasion that I do indeed have nipples. I know many of you out there doubt this, but I do indeed have nipples.

One of the images that Kasey drew most often, was a series of circles when she had finished drawing these she would look up at me and say "Baby"

One of these babies was drawn on my arm and caught my attention, so when I went home I immediately did this sketch inspired by the baby scribble on my arm.

Lower Fort Gerry... I mean Garry... Lower fort Garry

Beth, Heather, Linda and I went to Lower Fort Garry the other day.

I got some nice sketches out of it, one of a cool broken down York Boat, a corner of the fort, and Heather lounging in the grass. It was a wonderful day and Linda prepared a wonderful, not to mention healthy picnic.

Thanks for the great day guys.

Random Sketches

These two sketches are just random things I draw sometimes, 90% of the time my sketches start with me drawing a circle. it is just a comfortable shape for me, go figure.

They really have no meaning the one of the boy is just a young boy smoking and giving you the up yours gesture.

There is historical meaning behind this gesture. British archers during the war with France would have there index and middle fingers cut off if they were captured, so a fitting gesture of scorn would be to display them to there enemies from a distance. I think this gesture is cooler than the middle finger and more North Americans should give it a go.

Also I think we should all use the word "Wanker" more.

The frogs are frogs. You can quote me on that.

Folk Fest Sketches

These are the only sketches I got down this folk fest. Last year I did a ton with fellow artist Jason Botkin. I should post those. Remind me OK. OK!

The one of the camp was simply the central camp in field 1B it was cool and had a Welsh flag up. I like the Welsh dragon it is almost as cool as the Scottish lion.

The sketch of the bug, was inspired by this brilliant green bug that kept landing on me, I would try and colour it but I really don't think I could capture the brilliant colours of green and purple that nature deemed fit to bestow on the little guy.

Unfortunately that is it as far as sketches, I spent too much time drinking, playing the pipes, getting engaged and helping out with the pirate ship. Which in hind site I should have spent more time sketching. But alas that is the way the cookie crumbles. Next year I intend to do a few more... Maybe.

Heart

Just doodled this up while experimenting with different photoshop brushes.

Sent it to my girl. Awwwwww...

Bastille

This is a character I sketched up yesterday unlike my Hulk drawing I decided to take some more time and do something I liked. I named him Bastille he is a hairy French pirate. I have not decided on a first name for him yet. Maybe Patrique or something. It will just be for background purposes as he will always be referred to as Bastille. the one drawback to doodling is my quick change in direction I started drawing Bastille with a serious expression on his face but finished with him dancing a jig. I would of liked to have put a joyful or drunk expression on his face. Maybe both.

That's about it for now I will be scanning some sketches I did of Lower Fort Garry. I had a lot of fun live sketching the other day, I would like to do it more.

My only suggestion to anyone who reads this blog is, read more Will Eisner graphic novels he has written and drawn some very interesting stories.

Cheers

SKETCHTRAVEL

This is a great concept, sharing artwork the world over. A taste of everybodies talent for the sake of art and enjoyment, no competition. Don't get me wrong I love competition. However sometimes it is nice to share with people in a relaxed comfortable environment. I think that is what Sketchtravel is all about.

Check out the website and promotional video, even some of the sketches that have been drawn.

http://www.sketchtravel.com

Boy, I wish somebody I knew would get something like this going, perhaps on a smaller scale.

Hint, Hint.

The Incredible Hrabok

Just f––cking around today with painting an image without a base drawing. Started to get imapatient and so here is a whatever digital painting. I always wanted to do a picture of the Hulk called the Incredible Hrabok based on my friend Mike Hrabok. The color of his skin is the only liberty I took with this painting, he really lifts tanks.

Tim's Tattoo Process

Here is a collection of sketches I did over a long period of time concerning Tim's tattoo. You can see the evolution between the furious Attacking Samurai and the Calm Dangerous Samurai.

Tim's Tattoo Concept Applied

Here is the sketch applied to Tim's back. Some work will need to be done to harmonize with the dragon and I think the kids flag could go higher up the side of Tim's body.

I think it is a good starting point for the tattoo anyway in hindsight I would have thickened up the lines a bit to match the calligraphic look of the dragon.

Tim's Tattoo Concept

A good friend of mine asked me to do a tattoo concept for him a while ago involving A Samurai taking on some ninjas. How could I say no. The specific story is that of "Lone Wolf and Cub" I'm thinking of calling the painting "Perambulator by the Mountain of Death!" Seems appropriate. This project took sometime to find the right reference and to just come to terms with whether I wanted and all out crazy battle or a face off. I compromised and chose a scene between the initial confrontation with the Ninjas. The first one has attacked and been killed and the other two are holding their ground with the knowledge that they are "fucked" because they are facing a far superior and fearless opponent. I chose to color this drawing with watercolor a reason it took so long and I tried some experimentation with under-coloring. The Photo taken here is bad and I will try and update with a better version. Also I have a whack of prelim sketches and photo's of Tim posing for reference. I be posting those real soon.

just a jumpin kid

I have not posted in a bit so I did a quick sketch today. I actually drew the whole thing in photoshop, using my tablet. I'd like to give it a go with my intuos instead of my graphire. I think 4x5 is a little too small for decent sensitivity to what I am trying to draw.

I'll be posting more soon.

Soap Scum

Soap Scum Presents is a troop of talented improvisational actors who do a weekly serial improvisation show based on a theme, performed without a script, with musical accompaniment. It's as insane and as fun as it sounds. Here is the logo I did for them. It was fun working on something, being given creative license with no strings attached, as well complete trust in my abilities to produce something fun and interesting.

The theme for the upcoming show is Space Quest so I based the spaceship on a beer bottle, and used a bold exciting typeface to give the logo some impact (while not using the impact font).

The actual Soap Scum Presents logo was more of a literal interpretation, instead of trying to mimic a soap opera title I chose and interesting font trapped inside bubbles. I was trying to flow the type circularly but Beth suggested I stack it and use the blocky shape to contrast the circle. I think it works well.

It was a good experience, I hope my work will help them along their way to creating an even larger fan base.

Thanks guys.

For everyone who has not seen the show, it is definitely worth checking out. I will be posting a link to the Soap Scum Presents blog so you can check out the time and the place of the performances.

Cheers