Robot Machines at the Grocery Store

A Dragon Postcard. I'm rediscovering oil pastels lately. When I first used oil pastels years ago it was for a poorly set up still life, and I was very frustrated with the results. I have since given them another try, and I'm starting to like their "messy" qaulities. There is a smoothness to oil pastels that are nice to work with. This particular piece was done with a pencil crayon background, a drawing collaged on top, and then oil pastels worked into the background. Markers were also used on the dragon.

Navigation to the Jungle

Using an old book about flight paths and flight calculations I made this a few days ago. It seems I eventually go back to some kind of creepy thing to make. Collage work can be really satisfying. I'd like to experiment with silk screening some collage layers. I think it would work out well if I tried laying the silk screen colours in the same way I would collage elements.

Temperatures this week were dipping around the minus forty mark, which had me cold to the bone at times, and dreading going outside. When Winnipeg's winters become 40 times colder than my freezer I start to get a bit cranky along with a bad case of cabin fever. To soothe this state of mind, I went over to the Assiniboine park conservatory today with Jay, my boyfriend. The conservatory has a nice indoor pathway that winds through layers of tropical trees and Tiki-inspired rock carvings. I brought my sketchbook along to make me sit and enjoy the "jungle" with Jay. Today at least the outside temperature rose up to -4 degrees, making the quest for tropical temperatures a little less necessary.
Here's what I ended up with. It is a marker drawing with water wash.

Grounded- Illustration Friday

Ok, so this isn't my best work, but here it is anyways. I recently adopted an adorable dog, and he was the inspiration for this work. I'm not sure why I put grass on the ground, when there is snow all over the place currently. I guess it's wishful thinking.

Folk Fest Drawings!!!

The 2011 Winnipeg Folk Fest has come and gone, and this year I made a point of doing more drawings. At certain times I tried to sit close to the stages so I could see the performers' faces. Drawing the eyes of people on stage was the most difficult aspect of this type of drawing. People watching at Folk Fest is hard to beat, so there was a great assortment of subjects for my sketchbook. All my drawings were done as marker washes.
This was a guy from the Band Dawes:


This is a singer/songwriter named Chuck Prophet. I saw a very enjoyable solo set at Little Stage on the Prairie.


This is a member of the band Jaune Toujours- they are a really fun Folk Rock/Roots/Balkan band that in some aspects reminds me of Cat Empire.

Gesture-Illustration Friday

Gesture drawing done at the Winnipeg Folk Fest. People watching(and Drawing) is extra fun there. It is done in markers with a wash overtop.

Illustration Friday- Layer

Jackrabbit Layer.

Coloured Pencils and Snow Days

I thought this quote was appropriate for a snow day!
School has been cancelled due to treacherous roads, so I am happily at home in my pyjamas colouring with markers. Now to motivate myself to get my Illustration homework done...
Here is a link with the essay by G.K Chesterton where this quote is from, and is well worth a read if you like a good lie-in (lie-in: the term Brits use for laying in bed longer than is necessary).
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/20726/

Chicken-Illustration Friday

I did this drawing in summer and never posted it, but it fits perfectly with this week's Illustration Friday Topic Chicken.

While in London for an illustration course, my class went to the Southbank to draw the people and the sights there. The Southbank is a walkway in London where street performers go to try to earn money off of tourists and there are a lot of people in costume who try to get paid for taking pictures with people and children. I sat down on a curb against a fence that faced the Thames River. Across from me was this guy in a chicken suit. When I sat down to draw him I was trying to imagine what it would be like if that's how I earned a living. From where I was sitting I couldn't really tell if he was happy with me or not for drawing him, because I actually was thinking that if that was my job I wouldn't want someone to draw a picture of it. But this chicken guy came over to me by the time I had finished and LOVED this drawing! He wanted me to give it to him, but I didn't really want to, and also I wanted to be able to bring the drawing back to my class and show my instructor. We exchanged emails so that I could send him a copy of the image, or talk about an exchange. The chicken man now had a name, his name was Mike, and he was from Poland.
I agreed to have breakfast with Mike in exchange for the drawing. We met up for breakfast, and Mike proceeded to tell me his story about how he became a chicken man: after moving to London from Poland, several connections fell through for him, and it was difficult to find a job. After some hard times that including worrying about where to even sleep for the night he acquired this chicken suit because it was left behind at a job site. He felt that God had blessed him with this suit as a way of making a living, and that it was his destiny to be a chicken man. I was humbled by his story, his faith, and his enthusiasm for earning a living as a performer on the Southbank. He promised that my drawing would be hung proudly in his home, and I was honoured to give it to him.

Illustration Friday-Resolutions

This week's Illustration Friday challenge is Resolutions. Here are some of mine. I regularly create new resolutions for myself, about twice a year, sometimes more even, and usually I categorize my life so that I can achieve my goals professionally, spiritually, and in life in general. This one got all mixed together. My scanner is slightly smaller than my sketchbook, so a few items got clipped off in the scanning process. I think I could have refined the colour palette a lot more...but oh well, I can add that to my list.

Also, I was given a waterbrush pen for Christmas, which is just a great artist tool! I used it on the above drawing. It's a paintbrush that doesn't need to be dipped in water because the inside is filled up with water and the water comes out of the bristles. I tried one when I was in London, and it is perfect for traveling because you don't need to worry about anything to dip your brush in.
Here is a picture of it that I stole off of http://www.scribblers.co.uk/acatalog/Pentel_Brush_Pens.html

Best Art Blogging!(?)

Gian Lorusso from the art Blog ArtSediments sent me an email last week saying that he was adding my blog to his list of "Best Art Blogs." It's nice knowing that someone out there in the blogging world appreciates my posts. Lorusso states on his blog that:

"Art Sediments deeply believes that creating art is a human necessity, as love and friendship: art is in the nature of everyone of us. And Art Sediments deeply believes that art, as love and friendship, needs to be shared with others."

I'm happy to be included in a list with that kind of mandate!
Here is a link to the list of his best art blogs:
http://artsediments.blogspot.com/p/art-blog-list.html

Yesterday I headed over to a friend's daycare in Winnipeg to do an art session with some of the kids there. The plan was for them to tell me a story while I drew it. I supplied them with the bare bones of the story, sort of mad-lib style and they filled in the descriptive details for me. It turned out to be a really fun activity. I don't get to draw with younger kids anymore, I always work with high school students. We ended up with a drawing of an alien dude named Mr. Bob who wears a leather jacket and a speedo. His best friend is a dog named Stinker who has eyes on his ears, pogo sticks for legs, and has always dreamed of going to Catopia. Mr. Bob and Stinker live in a garbage dump, eat smelly cheese, and sleep under a giant mushroom. I didn't think of bringing my camera, so I don't have a picture of it, but I was very pleased to work collaboratively with the kids. Finally, people who like weird drawings of things!

Here a couple of recent drawings I did this week. I suddenly realized that the deadline for the Sketchbook project is coming up in only about two weeks, which means I have to have my moleskin sketchbook all filled up and ready to be sent out very soon. I think I have about 14 pages left, so I'll have to work hard at finishing it in time. Here are a few pages from the sketchbook. By the way, the numbers correspond with my ongoing image a day project that started at the end of August.

#114 I have cold hands. Collage with watercolours and ink



#115 Coffee Collage with watercolours and ink

Collage Drawings!

# 97 Take Flight Collage Drawing with marker wash.


#99 Lost and Alone in the City. Collage Drawing with marker wash.


I realized I really like the idea of incorporating text into my drawings. It's interesting cutting up other people's words, rearranging them, and making them a part of something that I make. It's also interesting searching for books whose purpose will be to cut them up. The local MCC book/Cafe Sam's Place by my house has a great selection of old, strange and discarded books, and all for a very low price. It's funny how with some collages when I finish them, not only do I like to look at them, but I like to touch the texture of collage pieces over the rest of the drawing. That makes me happy.

My friend Sarah is insisting that I start writing children's book with found text. I like the idea, and am considering it. I feel like it would have to be a series of short stories, that might fit my way of working a lot better.

Irish Bailout

I decided to make something that was about something going on in the world for a change. After reading a free press editorial on Ireland getting bailed out by the European Union, I created this drawing. Go to this link to read the article: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/whos-sneering-now-110334009.html

Happy Marker Day

Filling myself with happy thoughts today I bought a new package of 64 markers. I love it when art supplies are actually entirely affordable and I can find them at Staples. Ah, a new package of unopened art supplies is like a having a little breath of fresh air mingled with excitement, because there is something so satisfying about owning something that's whole purpose is to provide assorted colours to play with.
Here is my green deer from today, made with the new markers. What's with all the deer lately? Well, it's just a theme I decided to go with. I'm teaching myself how to draw them from pictures because then when I feel like drawing deer on my own I'll know how. I still need to work on deer feet.

Happy Green Deer

Deer in Colour!

Continuing with my deer studies, here a few from today. They are all marker washes with ink overtop.

Blue Reindeer


Green Fawn


Red Deer

Reindeer

#64 Green Reindeer

Markers, was, pen and ink. I'm thining about making some Christmas cards out of the deer images.

Hello Dear.

#63 Hello Dear.


I'm in a big deer phase right now. This one was made with markers, wash, watercolours and ink.

Art-a-Day

#52 Dear me


#53 and 54- Sadness and Disapointment


#56 Wrong Track

Image-a-Day...

#47 Impatient Monsters - Made with Markers and wash, and pen and ink.


#50 Green Hand - Made with Markers and water wash, with pen and ink.


#51 Freedom - Lino Cut print

I went to an art education workshop on Friday, and made this lino cut print at Martha Street Studios. Martha Street Studios is a printmaking studio that exists as a gallery, studio, and place for community members to make use of it's facilities - they run workshops regularly for adults and also have high school programming and programs for youths. It was nice to finally see this place, because I've been eyeing workshops with them for a while.

Spooky-Ilustration Friday

Marker wash with pen and ink collage. It makes me happy.