Thursday, November 08, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Arne
"Arne from Olds, AB"
We met Arne shortly after we moved, and he is a bit of a local celebrity here. Arne is the unstoppable force behind the St. George Soup N' Sandwich shop (I'm still reminiscing about that Pork/Apple Cider-sauteed onion sandwich...mmmm...) and slings coffee at the Laundromat on occasion, as well as leading by example in the organic food/sustainable gardening/ Monkey Money scene.
Arne has been kind and very generous in making us feel welcome and helping us to fit in a little 'round Moncton.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Tim Horton's Sketches
Got rained out walking to a late-night concert...sought refuge in a Tim Hortons. A country music jamboree (don't ask) was wrapping up, and all sorts of characters stood around in line for me to sketch from.
The lanky kids are a few of the many skinny-jean-Ramones tee-shirt wearing under-fed punk teenagers that wander Moncton's down-town in a daze. I could spend all day analyzing their gait in my sketchbook...
Yes, this actually happened to me...sigh...
"Lady, I'll zoom up to your eyebrows, that's the best I can do."
rainslickers seen on concer-goers out the window...
The lanky kids are a few of the many skinny-jean-Ramones tee-shirt wearing under-fed punk teenagers that wander Moncton's down-town in a daze. I could spend all day analyzing their gait in my sketchbook...
Yes, this actually happened to me...sigh..."Lady, I'll zoom up to your eyebrows, that's the best I can do."
rainslickers seen on concer-goers out the window...
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
WWII comic
Sketches for an educational tool for a military museum's propaganda literacy program. Based on "The Great Whites": paper-ban era WW2 comics in Canada...especially Leo Bachle's over-the-top patriotic bare-knuckle adventures of Johnny Canuck.
These images are comic panels or cells, that will be arranged to create a large comics page. Dialogue and text will be added by the participants.
These images are comic panels or cells, that will be arranged to create a large comics page. Dialogue and text will be added by the participants.
Monday, July 16, 2007
FFWD sketches
FFWD cover thumbnail sketches re: damage to lands around CFB Suffield due to oil development.
I particularily like the two owls carrying the stretcher in the background...
Settled a showdown sketch, which was developed from the cowboy image, the animals in the stretcher sketch and oil rigs drawn with the tablet:
A less confrontational sketch was suggested:
I liked the rough and loose brushwork on the oil rigs, and used them in the final drawing.
I particularily like the two owls carrying the stretcher in the background...Settled a showdown sketch, which was developed from the cowboy image, the animals in the stretcher sketch and oil rigs drawn with the tablet:
A less confrontational sketch was suggested:
I liked the rough and loose brushwork on the oil rigs, and used them in the final drawing.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Illustration Friday: Discovery
Hey IF folks!Illustration Friday's word this week is "Discovery". Haven't drawn with pencil in a while...
Just moved last month, and cleaning is under way in the new home. Under (what is apparently 5 years of) dust above a window casing in the masterbedroom...a men's wedding band. Interesting, mysterious and disgusting...the best kind of discovery.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The Dartmouth Shuffle
Met this character walking along the train tracks with friends in Dartmouth. He approached us in the scariest way possible (a lurching run), doing his best to make painfully awkward small talk. I don't know how Andrew and I would have defended the women folk armed with cilantro and crab legs...but I'm sure we would have figured out something. Nothing came of it, other than cathartic rusty-iron-spike jokes for the rest of the night.
Here's to you, Crazy McStabbington...
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Science Matters
As yet unpublished FFWD column by by David Suzuki about declining bird populations related to UK agricultural policies. I couldn't resist the metaphor of a little coal-mine canary.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Progress Pics...
I've had more than a few emails/comments about my colouring technique...here is an abridged excerpt from an e-conversation with Winnipeg's formerly-most-eligible-bachelor:
My colour work has changed a lot, and quickly! I was snooping around in a used book store, and struck gold: 3 Keith Knight books! Anyways, the same trip I found an old mag called "Draw!" that wasn't very interesting, except for an insert with a tutorial by Dave Cooper himself on colouring in photoshop.
I coloured step-by-step with Dave's tutorial many times...until I got the hang of his steps and fully understood his reasons for each. Once I understood why I was setting this to such-n-such number, or doing this before that...now I can start to stray a bit and find my own personal adaptation. This is happening slowly, and I now find myself drawing on paper with a mind towards colouring, and this is saving me a lot of time. I'm getting faster and more confident, but it does take practice.
That's the technical...as far as colour theory...If colouring was cooking, I'd be the guy putting ketchup on ice cream. I have a lot to learn.
My colour study has greatly benefitted from two particular sources:
John K's blog (particulary his bg posts and the review of Kali's Flintstone study)
Mary Blair's Golden Books (quit laughing).
Here are a few captures of the poster I made this morning...which is coloured based on Dave Cooper's tutorial.
Sketches involved researching the musician, which revealed some very amusing pictures...including a closeup of his trademark instrument. I quickly traced a photo to get a feel for the construction of the bass.
These were sketched while listening to his tunes on his website.
Once I'd settled on the pose, composition and likely lettering...the poster was drawn with Pitt brushpens (I wrecked 2 pens on this piece) and finework was done with my trusty Tradio. No worries about mistakes, I scan the inkwork, blemishes and all.
I use photoshop to clean up the b/w file as a bitmap (no grayscale fuzziness...). I scan at 800 dpi, clean up in 800 dpi and compress to 300 dpi for colouring. Here is the cleaned up version. The date "flame", opening act and venue info were drawn separately and added to the initial file.
As per Dave's tutorial, I create new layers and drop his signature colour blend (C:11 M:4 Y:40 K:1 ) into the entire picture. Using the Hue control, all of my colours more or less originate from this colour.
I don't get too complicated at first. I make my way around the picture, selecting areas and creating a basic colour relationship.
Re-selecting colour shapes and starting to manipulate hues.
Using quickmasks of a shape (i.e. a finger or leg) to "deselect" portions with control...not unlinke relief printmaking. Once an artfully selection is ready, I'll adjust the hue again to create a shadow with a closely related colour.
Using Dave's techniques, I then create a Color-Range-Select layer from the linework (follow his instructions carefully or you'll screw it up royally). I colour the lines the exact colour of the basic colour schemes...and adjust their hues accordingly. I was very hesitant to give up my black linework at first, but the results have made me very happy these days...
The checker background was created by cutting/pasting 8 hand-drawn checkers, selecting them and using that selection to manipulate the hue of the yellow background...gotta love photoshop.
In hindsight, I'm thinking that my skeleton's fingers owe Tim an apology. Thanks, man.
Thank you for all the feedback everyone...
My colour work has changed a lot, and quickly! I was snooping around in a used book store, and struck gold: 3 Keith Knight books! Anyways, the same trip I found an old mag called "Draw!" that wasn't very interesting, except for an insert with a tutorial by Dave Cooper himself on colouring in photoshop.
I coloured step-by-step with Dave's tutorial many times...until I got the hang of his steps and fully understood his reasons for each. Once I understood why I was setting this to such-n-such number, or doing this before that...now I can start to stray a bit and find my own personal adaptation. This is happening slowly, and I now find myself drawing on paper with a mind towards colouring, and this is saving me a lot of time. I'm getting faster and more confident, but it does take practice.
That's the technical...as far as colour theory...If colouring was cooking, I'd be the guy putting ketchup on ice cream. I have a lot to learn.
My colour study has greatly benefitted from two particular sources:
John K's blog (particulary his bg posts and the review of Kali's Flintstone study)
Mary Blair's Golden Books (quit laughing).
Here are a few captures of the poster I made this morning...which is coloured based on Dave Cooper's tutorial.
Sketches involved researching the musician, which revealed some very amusing pictures...including a closeup of his trademark instrument. I quickly traced a photo to get a feel for the construction of the bass.
These were sketched while listening to his tunes on his website.
Once I'd settled on the pose, composition and likely lettering...the poster was drawn with Pitt brushpens (I wrecked 2 pens on this piece) and finework was done with my trusty Tradio. No worries about mistakes, I scan the inkwork, blemishes and all.
I use photoshop to clean up the b/w file as a bitmap (no grayscale fuzziness...). I scan at 800 dpi, clean up in 800 dpi and compress to 300 dpi for colouring. Here is the cleaned up version. The date "flame", opening act and venue info were drawn separately and added to the initial file.
As per Dave's tutorial, I create new layers and drop his signature colour blend (C:11 M:4 Y:40 K:1 ) into the entire picture. Using the Hue control, all of my colours more or less originate from this colour.
I don't get too complicated at first. I make my way around the picture, selecting areas and creating a basic colour relationship.
Re-selecting colour shapes and starting to manipulate hues.
Using quickmasks of a shape (i.e. a finger or leg) to "deselect" portions with control...not unlinke relief printmaking. Once an artfully selection is ready, I'll adjust the hue again to create a shadow with a closely related colour.
Using Dave's techniques, I then create a Color-Range-Select layer from the linework (follow his instructions carefully or you'll screw it up royally). I colour the lines the exact colour of the basic colour schemes...and adjust their hues accordingly. I was very hesitant to give up my black linework at first, but the results have made me very happy these days...
The checker background was created by cutting/pasting 8 hand-drawn checkers, selecting them and using that selection to manipulate the hue of the yellow background...gotta love photoshop.In hindsight, I'm thinking that my skeleton's fingers owe Tim an apology. Thanks, man.
Thank you for all the feedback everyone...
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