Kayak Issue #38: Spent!

Here is the cover of the latest Kayak which dropped in the mail a couple of weeks back, it is chalk full of great information about the development of trade and currency in Canada. It is also chalk full of great illustrations by the likes of Charlene Chua, Anthony Brennan, David Namisato, Alex Diochon, Colton Balske and Jeff Kraft.

It should be on newsstands around the country. Or at least at McNally in Winnipeg.

I'm right in the thick of it with the next issue so I gotta go.

Peace out!

SoapScum: Meltdown Poster

Here is the Poster. Drawn by myself, and coloured by my wife.

This is for the newest improv soap opera put on by SoapScum Presents. It will play every Monday night at 8PM at the Park Theatre on South Osbourne.

SoapScum: Meltdown Poster Process

This is the poster for SoapScum Presents upcoming production of Meltdown: Atomic Wasteland. You've seen the sketches, here is some of the line work done in Adobe Illustrator. I've been very busy at work so I did not have time to finish the poster myself. so my lovely and talented wife did it for me. I think she did a great job.

I will post the final soon.

Labyrinth Sketches

I had a blast last night!

My daughter and I watched Labyrinth on Netflix. we took some red conté and a big old pad of marker paper and went to town drawing characters from the movie at speed. I also did a lot of tracings of Lilly's feet.

By the end it was a complete mess but it was one of the most artistically liberating evenings I've had in a while.

Here are a couple of shots

SoapScum: Meltdown Concept 3

So this is the concept I'm working up into a final poster. It kind of reminds me of Darth Vader. Gas Masks are creepy yet fascinating. I'm just finishing the drawing up and my wife will be finishing the poster with her fabulous painterly style, via digital media. I can't wait to see the finished product.

SoapScum: Meltdown Concept 2

This is another concept for the Meltdown: Atomic Wasteland poster. I thought this was kind of quaint. Though they should all have deformities and look a bit more mutant. Extra arms and such. I have one more concept to post. It is the one the head honcho's at SoapScum chose. I'm thankful because it will be the easiest to execute and it is a pretty solid concept. It is a bit more symbolic in nature. I'll post it in a couple of days.

SoapScum: Meltdown

A new SoapScum Presents season is coming up. This year is is Meltdown: Atomic Wasteland. I am working up their poster and have come up with a few conceptual options. This is number one. Just a simple post apocalyptic scene. I have done a sketch of a two headed crow to sit on the street sign. I will post that a bit later as I have not scanned it in yet.

I will post more of the concept sketches soon.

Movember

So I've been participating in Movember.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it here is a brief description to get you up to speed:

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world. With their “Mo’s”, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer.

On Movember 1st, guys register at Movember.com with a clean-shaven face. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.

Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.

At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their gallantry and valor by either throwing their own Movember party or attending one of the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by Movember, for Movember.

I've had a beard for 7 years and have never shaved off my mustache. But a good friend of mine convinced me to participate and so just before midnight on the 31st of October I went through a step by step process of removing my facial hair. A week prior I took off my beard and had been going with a Musketeer (mustache and lower lip hair) I then removed everything but a pencil mustache and then took it all off for the Full Monty.

On my cleanly shaven picture you might be able to see how red my upper lip is. Well apparently after 7 years the skin on your upper lip gets pretty sensitive. Let that be a warning to the adventurous souls who would shave off their face badgers.

I will post my mustache progress as the month moves along

If you wish to donate some money to help further the research done to combat prostate cancer please visit my mobro account here http://mobro.co/jamesgillespie

Lilly takes her pet for a walk

This is a sketch of my daughter Lilly walking her pet dinosaur down the hallway. She does it with such gusto. I'm hoping with the obedience classes we are putting it through that we'll be able to take it to the off leash park soon.

Just Some Steampunk Western Kids

Just some steampunk kids I sketched up the other night. I had not drawn all day and I was not warmed up. That is why they look so static. But I believe very strongly in posting my failures here as well as the drawings I'm proud of. I think I can pull something positive out of these sketches and that is that each of these characters has potential so I may give each of these blokes and lasses a page so I can work on costume and pose.

I'm becoming a huge fan of the author Cherie Priest she writes steampunk but from a North American perspective. I love the British stuff very much, don't get me wrong, but I love the frontier and imagining how the steampunk would have impacted the wilder areas of the world.

More sketches coming and maybe some final artwork in a bit as well.

Oh... I also made it to the Central Canada Comicon this weekend. I Helped tend to a friends table in Artists Alley and pushed Kayak on unsuspecting comic fans. I Saw a Catwoman who was practically popping out of her costume, and caught a glimpse of the Shatner.

I Hope to get my own Table set up next year. I just have to have something to sell other than a great attitude and near perfect teeth.

Rob Rodgers Wears Me Like a Coat

So I'm at my friends wedding a few week back, and I get into a conversation with a friend of mine Rob. As our witty banter went on the conversation took a morbid yet humorous turn. I ended up agreeing to do a drawing of Rob in a heroic pose after he had skinned me and made a coat to wear. So here it is. It is the first drawing in my very first shmancy Molesking sketchbook. I really like this sketchbook the paper is super thick and the coating on it takes pencil and pen really well. One chink in the armour though.

Most of you have probably noticed my less than great colour job on this sketch. I give you my apologies. Although Moleskin makes a great product they do have a small flaw as far as I am concerned. These sketchbooks do not take watercolour! In fact they completely repel water. This is a pro if you spill a drink on your book or drop it in a puddle but man when you do a sweet drawing and then try to colour it in watercolour it's pretty surprising when the medium doesn't take.

Now acrylic, oils or ink will work, but these are not quick or easy to clean up like a watercolour puck set. In Moleskin's defense they do make a watercolour sketchbook. But I like really smooth paper to draw on. That is just my personal preference. Unfortunately Moleskin only makes coldpress watercolour paper sketchbooks, and the paper is rough and textured. I will gladly finish this sketchbook and work on my acrylic skills. But when I'm done I think I will make my own sketchbook out of hotpress watercolour paper.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is Moleskin should make a hotpress watercolour sketchbook and give me a free one or ten.

Stay golden Pony Boys and Girls

Harvest Sun Music Festival: Lilly

This is my daughter Lilly playing in the sand at the harvest sun music festival. She is two years old and it is almost impossible to get her to hold still. So it was a wonderful moment when she hunkered down to cover her legs in sand. I see so much of myself in her.

iSad

Sad to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs. I'm very thankful for all he achieved in the time he spent among us.

Harvest Sun Music Festival: Bearded Dude's Daughters

These are the daughters of the Bearded Dude. They had amazing outfits on, handmade by their Mother. They looked like gypsy children, and they were always dancing. Very, very cool.

Harvest Sun Music Festival: Gisele

I like to post my failures every now and then. This sketch is one of them. I don't hate this sketch by any stretch of the imagination, but it also does not look a lot like the woman I was trying to sketch. In my defence she was on the move and was difficult to get a solid moment to sketch her when she was standing still. However it was good exercise for me as I draw men with beards quite well, but pretty ladies are intimidating for me to draw.

But onwards and upwards is what I always say. I will take another stab at drawing her face. Maybe from a photo as real life proved to be a bit too challenging.

Harvest Sun Music Festival: Bearded Dude

I'm having trouble remembering this gentlemans name at the moment. But I assure you he is a bearded dude. I spoke with him around our camp fire and he told me stories about his experiences hunting deer around Riding Mountain and his life as a mason and a father of 4 children. Very interesting man. His wife also hand makes clothing of the most beautiful kind. Makes me want to move out to the country and have like 12 children. They have graphic designers on farms right?

Harvest Sun Music Festival 2011: Rob Waddell

Sketch I did of folk musician Rob Waddell at this years Harvest Sun Music Festival. What a blast, I hope to get back there next year.

Pecha Kucha Winnipeg Vol.7 complete

Well I did my first public speaking gig in a couple of years at Pecha Kucha. It was a positive experience but I have some work to do with how I put presentations together and how much I say "um" when I speak.

Regardless I got to speak with some very talented and prominent artists from around the Winnipeg area. The biggest bonus was meeting up with artists and past speakers Kal Barteski, GMB Chomichuk, Justin Currie and James Van Niekerk. Through the seemingly unstoppable creative energy that seem to exude from Mr. Chomichuk, with in minutes of sitting together we had all agreed to take part in a collaborative art project. The next day J. Currie sorted out the details and we are now all committed. What a brilliant evening.

I have some sketches from the Harvest sun music festival that I will be posting soon.

Stay golden pony boys and girls.

Pecha Kucha Vol. 7

I will be speaking at this event tonight in the company of some very talented artists and designers. I'm really looking forward to it.

That and beer.

If you are interested in hearing me spout off about things I'm interested in stop on by.

Chloe Cooley Final

So here is the final illustration. As I said, it was inked and coloured in Flash. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue in this style, or if next time I will physically ink the piece, and then colour it digitally. There is still too much disconnect from drawing into the computer with the tablet, and too much time designing and not enough time practicing with the tablet to get proficient.

So please remember september 12 is when this image inside of the magazine hits the newsstand. Please go out and pick up a copy and help support the promotion of Canadian history to Canada's youth.

Chloe Cooley Sketch

This is a rough for the Chloe Cooley illustration I did in issue #37 of Kayak: Loudmouths.
It was the case of a historic character that had no historic likeness available. I had fun even though the story is a bit dark. So here is one of the three sketches I did I scanned this one into the computer and did the final version on Flash. I'll see if I continue to use flash for illustration purposes. I may try something in photoshop next time, or maybe illustrator. I really should just choose one and master it but I can never seem to commit to one. I would love to try a Cintique as drawing using a Intuos tablet still has a bit of a mental disconnect for me.

I will post the final Chloe Cooley photo in a couple of days.

Stay golden pony boys and girls.

Kayak Issue #37: Loudmouths

This issue is one of the reasons I have not posted so much lately. I have been wrapped up in the production of Issue 37 of Kayak: Canada's HIstory Magazine for Kids. I'm quite proud of this one it has many great articles/stories and illustrations concerning passionate Canadian activists who helped shape our country. The Issue has dropped in the mail today but will not hit newsstands until the 12th of September. So if you don't already have a subscription for your kids or yourself get one HERE!

This Issue Deals with a variety of outspoken Canadians (Tommy Douglas, Adelaide Hoodless, René Lévesque) we also have articles on Stompin' Tom" Connors, Stories about the Regin Riot and a comic about the beginnings of Greenpeace.

The artists in this issue are Scott Chantler, Mathieu Beaulieu, Thadeus Maximus, Keith Milne and the cover and comic art was done by Alex Diochon. I even got to contribute a bit to this issue, but I'll post about that at a later time. In the meantime feel free to check out the work of all these great artists.

Beaker Sketches

These are the initial two sketches I did of Beaker, The first I thought was too much it would have been fun but I wanted the more classic nervous look he has whenever he stand beside Dr. Bunsen Honeydew during one of their insane experiments. Well that caps it off for the process. As I mentioned before no more secrecy, it leaves me with too little material to post until I'm done then I have to do blog post after blog post in a condensed span of time. Thanks for checking in I will post some more arts and crafts stuff soon.

Beaker: Painting Process

So here is my painting process.

I primed a board and sketched the image onto it freehand from a sketch I had done prior. I will post my sketch variations in the next couple of days.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a shot of the sketch before I applied the blue wash. So then I applied a blue wash I'm not sure how much influence it actually had over the painting as the oils have a high level of opacity. I did it none the less.




I then started to knock in the background colours.




I then blocked in the main Beacker colours and then started to work in the various light to dark contrasts.






All of this was done in my basement and in my kitchen between the hours of 9PM and 12AM. As I mentioned previously I will post the original sketches soon. If anyone has any specific questions about my process please leave a comment. Constructive criticism is also welcome.

Beaker

Well, here he is.

About one and a half months late, but here he is.

As I have mentioned before some frinds requested a couple of months ago, that I do a painting of the Muppet Beaker following the creation of my Gonzo in a flight suit painting. I have documented the process and will post the progression in the next couple of days. This was a real blast to work on. I paid special attention to the eyes in this painting making sure the pupil's do not reflect light, but that the ping-pong ball eyes give enough sense of roundness. I think it was quite successful.

This is something I attempted with Gonzo and was also successful with, but with practice comes improvement, and I think the sense of depth and lighting are superior in this painting. Going back to the eyes of both Muppets, I made a point of not adding highlights to the pupils of the eyes as that denotes that there is a wet reflective surface. What I find interesting as with the actual puppets themselves, even though they have essentially dead eyes they still feel full of energy and life.

I've often found it strange that even though they are in fact puppets, that I never think of them as puppets. Beaker is Beaker and Gonzo is Gonzo (Real life characters to me.) I thought for a while that this phenomena was due to the fusion of puppeteering and television. The ability to always crop the puppeteers out of the scene, but just watch kids or even the adult actors interact with the Muppets live. You will notice the suspension of disbelief with all of them. Even directly confronted with the puppeteer controlling the Muppet.

Although there are many things I tried to do with this painting concerning lighting and painting techniques. I regret not doing a proper colour comp. This I think slowed me down considerably in my decision making process during the actual execution of this painting. What I am very happy about is the green background and the vignette. The green is as close as I could get to the actual colour of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and the vignette gives a dark and slightly ominous feeling, like the Dr. is about to unleash some horribly useful invention upon Beaker.

I can not folks who suggest I paint Beaker enough for their idea to do this painting. This painting proved to be a very rewarding and pleasurable experience. Thanks to the both of you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I can now focus back on finishing my mini Peter Pan paintings and then get back on track with my Folk Fest series and other things.

Until next post,
Stay Golden Pony Boys and Girls

Beaker Update

OK, done, but I'll not show him to you until the people who requested that I him has seen the final piece in person. Hey, hey, hey! none of that. Practice you patience people. You'e acting as though I have posted nothing of artistic value on the blog for more than a month . . . yeah uhh, I'll get this up for guys as soon as possible.

Beaker Finished!

This post will be a bit lack luster because I don't have a photo of the painting yet. But I wanted to put you all at ease and let yu know I am still alive. There have been vacations and fringe festivals and all sorts of musical summertime activities keeping me from blogging. But in a couple of days, rest assured I will post some photos of the final Beaker painting and some process photos too.

Stay golden Pony boys and girls.

Pan Tuba

Just another sketch from the Nintendo DS this is one of the first ones, so it is rougher looking than my rough looking digital paintings that don't look quite so rough. What I love about using the nintendo DS is the ability to work with colour so easily. A lot of these are done during the winter when I bus to work instead of biking and it is quite hard to get the old water colours out on the autobus. Thanks for looking. I assure you my commission is 98% done I have to let it do some drying and lay some final touches then I will post some of my process.

Stay golden Pony Boys and Girls!

Coogan

This is a Sketch I did on the NIntendo DS of my sisters Cat Coogan. I think the expression speaks for itself.

Quiver with Fear

Well as some of you might have read, I have taken up archery of the traditional kind (No crazy super powerful, rifle like, physics enhenced, ultra-bow) In keeping with the traditional idea I made my own back quiver. My Mother has been stockpiling leather, so when I mentioned this crazy idea she was like "Oh yeah I got like tons of that, fer-sher really." So I mad my first prototype. I intend to make another back quiver out of natural looking tooling leather but that will be when I can afford to buy some. Until then I am working on a hip quiver out of canvas.

I'm sooo close to finishing this last painting it hurts, but I can't show it to you yet, I just can't. No worrie though As I mentioned in my previous post I will take you all along for the ride when next I do another painting.

Stay golden Ponyboys and girls (My new trademark line)

More sketches of Pan the Man...Boy...BoyMan

This is another sketch Done of Peter Pan Flying up from a ship over the Mermaid Lagoon. I really do need to do some more refined drawings of this stuff at some point. I still have to finish the mini paintings done of the Peter Pan characters. I'm super close I just got distracted by other projects. Sheesh! My wife commented the other day that the term Okey Dokey was not used by adults. Am I the lone 30 year old who still uses this term. If so I'm starting a campaign to take it back from the children. Okey Dokey Smoky

Origin

This little phrase is a variant of okay. It is 20th century American and first appears in print in a 1932 edition of American Speech.

There are several alternative spellings - okay-doke, okey-doke, okee-doke, etc. In addition to these is the comic version that has brought the phrase back to popular attention in recent years - The Simpson's Ned Flanders' 'okely-dokely'.

All of them are just a perky reduplicated variants of okay, utilizing that favourite device of two-word phrases - rhyming. As a reduplication it is properly spelled with a hyphen, although it is often given without.

Like okay, 'okey-doke' is used to indicate that all is well, e.g. 'everything is okay here', but may be used when responding positively to a request. That is exemplified in this piece from Colin MacInnes' book City of Spades, 1957:

"One Guinness stout, right, I thank you, okey-doke, here it is."

Phrase origin courtesy of http://www.phrases.org.uk/

Goodnight Neverland

Been a while since I dropped a line.

Hey everybody!

I have some work I've been doing but it is not finished yet. and I've made s decision. No more of this secrecy stuff. Next painting I do, I'm taking you all for the ride, process shots and all cause this waiting to show you guys stuff is just plain boringst.

This is a sketch I did on the Nintendo DS, it is of the tree that Peter and the boys live in, in Neverland. Man I love Peter Pan.

Stay golden Ponyboys and girls.

The Western Map: Lower Tit-Mouth

This is a map of the Lower Tit-Mouth region. This area is occupied by such characters as Goodie BadApple, Izza Cockburn, "Stinky" Pete Cunnington, Longfellow Talliwacker, Chester Fields, The Doc and Studz EsSex. Come and see them tonight at 8:00 PM at the Park Theatre on South Osbourne. If you can't make it tonight the show runs every monday night it cost $8 to get in for roughly two hors of quality Soap Opera style improv.

The Great Gonzo: Oil Painting

Here it is. I've been talking about it for a while and now for your viewing pleasure the oil painting of The Great Gonzo. I did this painting based on the song "I'm Going to Go Back There Some Day" from the The Muppet Movie. It is a great song and a great movie. It took a while to get this painting done but when the smoke had cleared I look at this as one of my best paintings to date. I will soon be painting another Muppet of renown. But you'll just have to wait and see who it is.

Enemy Pig Prime Minister

Here is a sketch I did of Enemy Pig Prime Minister my niece's alter ego. I did a pencil sketch and then on a trip for work I started painting this bad girl up. That's right Enemy Pig Prime Minister is a girl. I should be getting that Gonzo painting up anytime now. So stay tuned.