Colour in Pastels...

I was fooling around with some oil pastels today. I always forget about them as a colour medium, but I actually really love how you can get the effects of paint, but the control of drawing. Once there are a lot of thick colours built up they can be a lot of fun to smear around. This one was done using a combination of paint thinner and a smudging stick.

Introducing Sherlock

In January I got a tiny little dog from the pet shelter Hull's Haven. Despite specializing in Border Collies this rescue shelter takes in small dogs as well and I found Sherlock while in foster care. He is part chihuahua, and probably part miniature pincher. Most of the time he is a little sweetheart because he loves to cuddle, and fits perfectly on my lap, which is where he is resting right now as I write this. Sometimes he can be a little monkey, and show some neediness and co-dependency, but overall he is a fantastic little dog, and I can barely remember how boring and bland my house was before I got him.

This one is a self-portrait.

When Pride rears its ugly head...

A drawing inspired by a sermon at Riverwood Church by Wayne Seimens.

Illustration Friday-Sight

Ink and acrylic on paper.

Chair Lair

Able wholesale is this somewhat eccentric used goods and Liquidation store on Notre Dame Avenue in Winnipeg, except it's not the cool kind of eccentric like Ragpickers, or that antique store in Osborne Village. It's more like the eccentric-eerie kind of store. I drive past it everyday, and one day in summer I couldn't suppress my curiosity anymore: I entered this three story building mish-mash of furniture, housewares, industrial kitchen supplies and other miscellaneous products. As I was walking through this place it just kept on going and I didn't know what I was going to find next. There was at least one flickering florescent light, and in the back part of the industrial kitchen gear there were some guys moving furniture around. To be honest I felt a lot like I shouldn't be in there, like this is the kind of place that isn't so great for a 20-something to be by herself (no-one in there was creepy or acted weird, it was just the general vibe my intuition was giving me). Nevertheless, I love a good bargain, and can't resist the idea of turning something ugly or almost-good into something fabulous. I happened to find an old vintage desk chair that looks a lot like something that Ikea would mimic nowadays. I got the chair for the fair price of 20 dollars, took it home and refinished it. Here are my visuals from that experience.

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.

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.

'Lovejoy' survives encounter with the sun

An Illustration for an article about a comet that flew into the sun, lost it's tail, but kept going... From the Winnipeg Free Press, Weekend Edition.

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

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.

Illustration Friday- Swell

It's a bit late in the week, but still Thursday, so here is this week's Illustration Friday: Swell.

May leads to June and June leads to freedom

It has been a long time since blogging, and finally have a bit of time to think about blogging. I have still been drawing, I haven't forgotten about that, but the blogging has been put on the backburner due to lots of business with life. I have moved into a new house, and I'm sitting in my new art room which makes me really happy as it is a definate upgrade from the last artroom that I used. There have been so many weddings or wedding-related events in the past two months that it has slowed down my production and art-making time. I am somewhat behind on my images, I'm going to have some catching up to do once school is finally over(3 more days!).
Here are a couple of drawings that I've done recently.
Falling.


These next two were inspired by a doctor's office waiting room.

Duet- Illustration Friday

Duet for Illustration Friday. I tried two versions. I'm on images number 193 and 194 for my year-long image a day project, with means that I'm actually a little more than halfway. All year I've been doing pretty good at not falling behind, but in recent weeks I have missed drawing for a bunch of days which leaves me almost three weeks worth of images behind. I'll have to push myself to catch up.

The Sketchbook Project

I am pleased to announce that my sketchbook has made it to Brooklyn!! I submitted a sketchbook for ArtHouse coops 2011 sketchbook project. I have mentioned this project previously on the blog, and now the sketchbook has actually made it all the way to Booklyn where it will be catalogued and then it gets to travel the united states for about six months stopping at art galleries in Texas, Washington, Florida,California, Georgia, Illinois, and Maine.

It was a little sad for me to send it away and probably never see it again. However, it was also exciting for me to send my drawings away somewhere for strangers to look at.
The sketchbook project takes small moleskin sketchbooks from artists around the world (an astonishing 28838 artists were involved this year!) The sketchbooks tour galleries as a travelling exhitbit where people can take out my sketchbook as though it were a library book. At the end of the tour it will end up in Brooklyn where it will be a part of a permanent sketchbook library.
I have posted many of the drawings from the sketchbook on the blog over the past few months, but I felt the need to document the sketchbook before saying goodbye to it for good, so I did take a video of all the pages, and haven't decided yet if I should edit and upload it to youtube. I treated my sketchbook as a form of a visual jounal, and actually managed to keep my drawings all more or less in the same style throughout. It was a challenge to stick with a theme the whole sketchbook, but it was very satisfying in the end.
check out Art House coop and their other projects they have going on:
http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

Oh and I had forgotten to actually promote my own website on my blog!
My online portfolio is up and running, though could still use a few tweeks perhaps.
www.juliamark.ca

Cabin Collage

This past weekend I went out to the whiteshell to a friend's cabin. We did all the normal fun cabin stuff that you can do in winter-went snowshoing, and skating, hottubbing, and we also did some collaging! It turns out that Keira has been hiding her collage talents from me all these years. Happily we sat in her sunroom cutting, gluing, drawing, and sewing things together. That's where I made the above image. Keira has a lovely collection of fabric scraps that she shared with us. It's amazing how someone elses' fabric scraps are so much more appealing than the ones that I own, because hers are unfamiliar to me. Thanks go to Keira for the lovely weekend, and the collage party!

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.

Deja Vu-Illustration Friday

An Illustration Friday for the topic Deja Vu. It is a drawing collage.