Editorial Cartooning with Dale Cummings

I attended SAGE this past friday which is a Manitoban inservice day for teachers to get special instruction in their subject matter. I went to a talk by Diana Thornycroft on her most recent tableau works, then attended a workshop on creating a classroom mural, and then attended a session with the Editorial Cartoonist from the Winnipeg Free Press. Dale Cummings has been working as an editorial cartoonist for 30 years and says that he'll hold onto that position until he dies. He showed us some of his original works, and it became a question and answer period about his work. Given my recent dedication to illustrating news headlines, this really interested me. After answering questions about his work he took us through a basic tutorial as a line for line drawing Stephen Harper and Jean Chretian(pictured above). Mine isn't stellar, but it was interesting to get myself thinking of the style that he draws in. It was a really good exercise.

Gadhafi Dies, Libya is liberated...

"Libya's new leaders to declare liberation Sunday amid questions over Gadhafi's killing"
Image # 2 from my new challenge, to create an image a week based on a news article. This one is from the Winnipeg Free Press.

Operation: Headline Deadline

"Zombies Hurt in Film Set Accident"

With my image a day challenge behind me I decided to begin a new challenge for myself: to complete a piece of art based on a weekly news heading of my choice. I decided to just keep the challenge well within reason and so that I would try to focus my attention on one piece for longer. The image a day for a year was actually really great and I still sort of have that mentality that I need to be sketching every day, but it's a bit of relief to know that if I don't draw I'm not disappointing myself, and also won't have as much to catch up on if I slack a little. I found the image a day challenge really great to stimulating spontaneity, creativity and great ideas. It would really help to loosen me up and also helped me to be more ok with a drawing that was simple. It also made me appreciate sketchbooks so much more. With my new idea challenge I want to push myself a little more stylistically and also technically.
The rules for my new project are as follows(it's fairly straightforward, but I like making clear guidelines for myself):

I will take any news headline and illustrate it any way I choose, except if it has already been illustrated.
I must post weekly, and complete each drawing by Sunday night.
The starting week is the week of Oct 10th to Oct 16th.
I am allowed to make more than one image per week which can count towards future weeks.
In the event of disaster, death, a large commission, moving house, or major illness I can excuse myself from image making without penalty(in my image a day project I stated a clause that if I took longer than the time frame to complete it, I got a one week extension with an extra image tacked onto the pile). Yeah, ok I know that it's a bit silly to make deals with oneself, but that's the only way it's gonna get done, set a definite goal!
I will complete 52 images.


This week's Headline is from BBC News: "Zombies Hurt in Film Set Accident" (just an FYI, on the linking page the headline was shortened to this, but the full headline reads "Zombies hurt in Resident Evil Film set Accident" In Toronto some zombie actors were hurt on the movie set and when the ambulance arrived, the paramedics initially thought the injuries were a lot worse because of all the zombie make-up. Read up on it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15268321

Draw, Cut, Paste, Draw

"I looked after her as long as I could see her, a tall, stooping figure in unfashionable clothes, walking slowly out of my sight, and out of my life forever."

"I am assured that after life there is death and after death a more enduring life in a happier world."
Here are a few collages from the past week. It's been a while since I sat down to make my own collages. The text from both are some tweaked lines from an Agatha Christie novel, and the rest of the images were also made from pages of that book. It's so satisfying the way old newsprint pages take ink...

Inclusion Drawing

School started again for me, which unfortunately continued to push blogging onto the back burner. I've been struggling to come up with consistent themes in what I make, because I finally feel ready to make connected artwork, instead of things here and there that don't have an underlying theme. Here are two pages of my notes from an inservice day I attended on Friday with inclusion specialist Jennifer Katz as the keynote speaker. Being able to draw while someone is speaking helps me to pay attention, even if it makes me look like I'm not listening. I have an illustration coming up that I need to finish titled, "Things I Did With My Summer." This may shed some light on my lack of summer blogging. Will fall here and cold weather approaching I think my internet presence may be pumped up a bit because blogging fits perfecting with whiling away Winnipeg winters. I recently started taking a silk screening class at Martha street studios and I'm very excited about learning how to do this art form, I've already got some ideas swimming around about what to do with my first few screens It is very process-based, and I think I am going to really like it.