From way back when...

A few pieces I found in a drawer from the last two years at IDEA

One illustration for a children's story book that we wrote as a class. No idea what happened to it...our prof was supposed to produce it in some way, and all the images did get scanned. Anyhow, here it is! That is a monster in the front with the big yellow horns. I did this 2 years ago...my sense of depth rendering skills have much improved! The little girl is dragging her teddy behind her...completely forget the story...but the teddy is important I remember.

A poster for the band of our choice. I chose the Shins...and got a tad visceral. Done sometime around October 2009.

One illustration from a group of 5 for a brochure on Vancouver's Gardens. I will try to find the other 4 for you...this was the best and biggest, though; was for the cover. Done last year sometime...March 2010?

No idea what the project was...three figures or something. I did Andrew, Warren and Jonathan, "The Trio", from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, I'm a geek...oh well. November 2009.

Little something I did on my own, back in May 2009! Was heavily inspired by Lynn Olofsdotter. Look her up, she's amazing!

The Tale of a Do-Over, Part 1

Now, these two posts are a special treat for you readers, a case study if you will. They will showcase that, like everyone, artists make mistakes, are not always happy with the work they do, and sometimes even re-do pieces for clients!

You all remember this piece? If not, go back through the archives, it was posted in June. My client commissioned this piece after he saw (and could unfortunately not buy) "Porcelain" from my solo show at the Naam. He wanted something similar, so I created this...

"Purity"

Again, using Ink, Watercolor, and Gouache on Illustration Board.

He got it framed beautifully and it hangs front and center in his waiting room!

Now, he liked "Purity" so much, and thought it looked so lonely, that he requested another one like it right away. However, at the time I was very busy and leaving on vacation in a few weeks. Despite his assurances that he would wait until I got back, I wanted to get it done before I left.

And here is the result, "Patience".

Obviously, as you can see, it is not up the the standards of the first painting, nor does it match due to that reason. I was rushed and not taking the care and attention that I usually would have. Plus, perhaps, my ego was telling me "Oh hell, this is your 4th one of this series! You've got it down to a science, no need to fuss over it!"

I really should have fussed. There's lack of detail, care and color variance...

And I got a bit carried away with all the drips and drops.

The client and I discussed it, and I said that I would prefer to do it again (as it would just annoy me that I hadn't done my best work, and given him a lesser-than piece). However, it was agreed that I would take all the time I needed to complete it to my standards. See the next post for how it turned out!

The Tale of a Do-Over, Part 2

The client did frame the second piece and hung it up in his waiting room with "Purity". Here it is, framed and matted to match the first painting. I must say, it looks much better matted, but still not up to the standards as the first (and soon to see below, third one).

"Patience"

Here is the third painting I did for this client, finished just this morning!

It's name is "Patience II" and is part of the Porcelain series (see posts back in February for the original "Porcelain").

Some close-ups...

Extra care taken with the face and hands especially...

And of course, lots of drips and drops (but not too many)!

Let me know what you think! I personally love the colors and think this third one is better than the first! I did have much longer to slowly work on this one and ponder my next brush stroke, which is always good for me. Which do you prefer? Please comment!

10x10 Show paintings

Hey everyone! Got a bunch of posts coming up for you guys...some old work, some new work, some work that didn't work, etc.

Here is my latest series, completed this past Thanksgiving weekend for my IDEA Program's upcoming 10" X 10" show. We are all painting on these identical ten inch square panels and a local gallery/eatery is showcasing them. They're all on for an incredible price of $70 each. So come on down to the Cafe for Contemporary Art at 140 East Esplanade, North Vancouver. It's on from October 23-31. Our opening night is Saturday October 23rd from 6-8:30pm.

The theme of the show is The Age of Attention. I more or less see the age of attention as a negative thing (even though ironically I'm going to school for marketing and graphic design...basically how to sell things to people). But I do not agree with how much people are bombarded with attention grabbing crap day in and day out. So I did a series based on the "No Evil" iconic images. The subjects are attempting to block at least one route into their intelligence that all that stupid "attention" is trying to steal.

"Hear No Evil"

"Speak No Evil"

"See No Evil"

They all have a unifying pink border

Can be sold separately or together. I think they work better separately as while they are all very similar, they are also very diverse in style and composition.

All done with Acrylic, ink and black pen on wood panel.