Doodlebots

From my sketchbook. I'm thinking about doing a series of robot cartoons in the future. I like the idea of fancy robots being plugged into an outlet with a five-foot cord. Makes them rather useless. And makes me laugh.

Edgar Allan Poe

I was looking for a new subject to do some pen and ink work when I came across the famous Edgar Allan Poe daguerreotype (1848) on Splinter In Your Eye. It's a blog from British Columbia hosted by a photographer and an illustrator... some great stuff. I don't know why Poe was there -- most content is local scenery -- but it was my good fortune.

This cartoonish portrait was inspired by David Levine's work. My awful crow image reminded me that I need to take more care in my artwork instead of barreling through it like a race to the finish. "Poe" was an exercise in patience. I enjoyed working on it and I was pleased with the end result so I think I'll do some more of these.

Eastern Health cartoon

This is my latest for NLPress.ca. 

For those of you not from Newfoundland, the province has been rocked in recent years by a scandal within out government health services. Improper breast cancer screening over the course of several years caused some people to needlessly have mastectomies while others who needed them, didn't get them resulting in numerous unnecessary deaths. This week, the Cameron Report was released and assigns blame to all levels of Eastern Health. The government seems content to have the same people who contributed to the problem, fix the problem. I think (and I think others would agree) that heads should roll: clean house and give them a budget that will help keep people safe. I'm normally a big fan of our premier but when poor government services and budget cutbacks result in multiple deaths, then maybe it's time to reconsider who's in charge.

The cartoon is digital, largely completed in Illustrator with some Photoshop work to finish it off.

Different Wigs for Different Folks

I decided a few days before deadline to do a piece for the new "Different Strokes..." painting challenge. It's not my best work but, as always, good practice so I'm glad I did it.

Acrylic Spheres

I shot these for the new portfolio but ended up not including them. These are some of my earliest paintings (I believe 2006). I remember wanting to paint but not having a clue about subject matter so I tried this.

Purple Sphere and Blue Sphere

acrylic on canvas panels

14" x 18"

New web site

I've been busy the last few weeks looking for work and applying for jobs... hence the absence from the blog. I launched a new portfolio site for myself this morning. I've been out of the loop in terms of web design for a number of years so it took considerable time to reacquaint myself with the process. I'm fairly happy with it but I'd like to find a better way to present the thumbnails. But that's the nice thing about web sites... they're always a work in progress. Feedback, as always, is appreciated.

Old Bull Lee

An old friend of mine dropped by the house today to pick up an "Old Bull Lee" print (thanks Mike!). Made me realize I've been ignoring my linos... both on the blog and on the cutting bench. I should really get back at those.

Old Bull Lee is the name used by Keroac when referring to William S. Burroughs in "On The Road". I was a big fan of the beat poets at one point in my life so they tend to show up in my work now and then. The original series has since sold but there are still a few proofs left in the shop.

Old Bull Lee

2 colour reduction linocut

4" x 6"

Townie Crow

I've been picking at this one over the last few days. It's based on a photo I outright stole from Townie Bastard's blog. Not something I make a practice of but I didn't think he'd mind.

I wasn't terribly pleased with the outcome but I'm glad it's finished. I read a great quote somewhere the other day that every artist has a thousand bad paintings in them so the sooner you get them out of the way, the sooner you can get to the good stuff. I know I've got a ways to go but I'm hoping that's not a precise number....

Townie Crow

watercolour, ink

10.5" x 4.5"

Exploseph Joseph

Here's a little diddy I did for Janet: a portrait of our boy, Joey. (Can you tell we don't have kids?) He's not nearly as exploseph as he once was but every now and then he bounds about like a puppy, forgetting that he's an old man with bad hips and foggy eyes. 

I was pretty pleased with it... it's a good likeness I think. There's a few flubs but I'm trying not to focus on them.  I did a rough sketch then did the watercolour background. After that I inked it. I do love crosshatching. I'm a little impatient with it but sometimes that adds to the energy of the piece. Other times it just looks sloppy but I think it worked here. I'm a big admirer of artists like Edward Gorey. And in the Newfoundland scene, Boyd Chubbs.

Cupid revisited

This is the same cupid cartoon I posted last month but I spent a little more time stylizing it before submitting it to NL Press. It started as a rough pencil sketch then outlined with pen and ink. Everything else (colour, etc) was completed in Photoshop.

Paint Paint Evolution

Art's funny. 

Not funny ha-ha, as my father would say, but funny strange.

Most of my finished pieces had a distinct end goal and a fairly good road map to get there. Sure there's some deviation along the way... that's part of the process. But most ended up pretty much as I imagined.

This little bugger, however, went way off track and I have no idea if it's a good thing or a bad thing. While it has certainly been enjoyable to work on, I'm a little perturbed because I thought I was prepping a background for a much more complex piece but my gut is giving me a cease and desist order before I've even begun working on the primary subject.

If this were a design project on my Mac, I'd confidently explore the outer reaches knowing that I can undo everything at any moment. Not so much in painting.

I think I'll put it aside, let it dry and when I'm feeling more courageous, I'll let loose with the oil and see if the subject I had in mind is worth doing. If I decide soon enough that it's not, I can always wipe it away.

Briefly on the evolution: I started with a heavy coat of cheap, white acrylic applied with a paint knife (I wanted to cover up some flaws on the canvas). Then a thin uneven coat of Yellow Ochre Light Hue. Then I threw some water at it. Dried it with a hair drier. Stenciled small, varied bird silhouettes all over the canvas with the same paint but varied densities. When dry, another thin coat, this time with Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue. (The smaller image above is a detail.)

So that's where it stands. It'll hang unsigned on my basement wall until I decide whether or not it's finished.

Opinions anyone?

David Levine

This week some friends of mine bought me a calendar and reintroduced me to an illustrator I'd seen many times in the past but never took the time to really get to know. He's worth knowing.

Budget blast

This is my latest contribution to NL Press. I'm quite pleased with it. So pleased I entered it in the Applied Arts annual Photo/Illustration contest "Editorial Cartoon" category. I never win these things but you can't win if you don't buy a ticket as they say.

Boil up

Death by a thousand cuts

The annual provincial arts and letters competition is coming up here in Newfoundland and Labrador. I was originally thinking I wouldn't enter anything this year but now I'm thinking about entering my 'Imagine' print. It's not exactly local subject matter but it's probably the piece I'm most pleased with from last year so what the hell. That'll give me a good excuse to get one professionally framed.

The "thousand cuts" in the post title refers to the maddening process of cutting the plate for this print. Maybe I'll do a future post on the process of making linocut prints.