As wonky as this looks, this is me studying colour theory.  I know it seems primary to be going back this far into my education to studying something so basic, but it has it’s perks.  A recent academic assignment asked me to illustrate an emotion using colour.  It’s a simple task when think about it.  The psychology of colour runs deep with people, whether they have a formal artistic education or not.  And I have always had an interest in the subliminal meanings colours have.

I added some elements within this painting to further push the idea of the emotion I was playing with.  I like working with grids and patterns, so I manipulated  a basic 20×20 grid to have it’s lines mimic the emotion I was using.  Have you figured out what emotion I was playing at?  I suppose there could be multiple answers; however, the emotion in particular that I chose to illustrate using colour and line was doubt.  Doubt to me is a festering and aching feeling that holds onto something true.  I tried to use colours that represented infection and swelling, and tried to use lines that collapse and become jagged when amongst the “infectious” colours.  I don’t think I can explain this project any better.  It’s simple, with a twist.  Painting all the individual shapes put me into a trans-like state.  Csikszentmihalyi calls the phenomenon “flow“.  It’s when hours become minutes and minutes become seconds.  So true.

I am so stoked to post that For Print Only has run a feature on the CD packaging for Jean-Paul De Roover’s album Windows and Doors!  For Print Only is one of my favourite sites to follow all the exciting new trends and developments within the world of print media.  The integrity of the work featured on the site is incredible.  Earlier today I found out that Windows and Doors would not make it into the final nominations for CD packaging category for the 2010 Junos.  A big shout out to City & Colour and Patrick Watson who HAVE been nominated for the CD packaging category.  I’m a big fan of both of them.  So you can imagine that this feature brought my spirits right back up again!  I’m working on a new CD package right now, so maybe I can take a shot at the Juno’s again in 2011.  Here’s hoping!

Every now and then I stumble upon something that I find unnecessarily amusing.  It usually comes in the form of an unusual photo opportunity, nostalgic consumer products or found art.  I would categorize the image above as found art.  As you can see, somebody or some people decided to write down the 50 States of the U.S.A. from memory.  I like to think of the back story as some sort of friendly bet between chums.  As you can see contestant #1 did fairly well; however, there are some things I should point out.  There is a consistent mix up between States and major American cities.  Though, the cherry on the top of this proverbial ice cream sunday is the poor, yet comical spelling.  At some point poor spelling magically leaps from being frustrating to hilarious and endearing.  Case in point; I have highlighted my personal favourites such as Tenese (Tennessee), Centicut (Connecticut), New Braska (Nebraska) and Masituchia… (which I have come to understand as Massachusetts).  I feel very melancholy over this because on one hand this little trinket of poor spelling made my day as I made my way down the list, but on the second hand, I was rattled to discover that this list was written by a University undergrad student.  The very same undergrad student that will be among the ranks of our nation’s next professional working class.  Should I be afraid?  Probably, but for now I’ll keep smiling and reflect upon how this reminds me of the closest American state to my home, Minasoda (Minnesota).

I forgot to post this a little while ago when I posted the recent school project I did for the new NIKE EDGE athletic shoe.  I liked this concept.  It’s very cinematic in the way that the photos are arranged together like a storyboard; some being full scenes, while other are tight close-ups.  The blacks integrate well with the warmer colours to create an intriguing narrative that is very comic book-like.  I also had to use my own imagery, so I was limited to some old high school basketball pictures I had kicking around.  The final product looks better than I expected it to be.  So why did I trash it and use another concept?  I’ll tell you.  This is an ad targeting basketball players and the NIKE EDGE is a cross training shoe.  Basketball shoes is a completely different industry in itself.  This ad has integrity, but there is no truth to it.  It’s misleading.  I guess I just wanted to make a basketball ad, but didn’t have the right ingredients.  No worries.  It was fun to roll with a small idea and make it grow.

Here are the last of the Victoria photos, which I took last weekend.  There’s not much more that I can say about Victoria that I already have mentioned in the previous post.  Beautiful city.  Most of the photos in this selection were taken at the London Wax Museum.  Some of the wax models are absolutely outstanding and some others were, well . . .  not so good.  It was fun to be around so many significant people even though they were inanimate.  It makes learning history fun!  You can look at more Victoria photo-documentation here.

P.S. Canada vs. U.S.A. for Olympic Hockey supremacy.  At this point I’m thinking pride is worth just as much as gold in this game — maybe more.  It’s debatable.  It’s going to be a great end to make up for a terrible opening ceremony.

One of the reasons I moved to the West Coast was to do some mindless exploring.  I like the feeling of traveling alone and setting my own schedule, and having no responsibility to anyone but myself.  On the first couple days of my study break I took a trip down to Victoria, BC to see the sights, experience some new culture and meet up with a friend.  It was incredible. There are some places that you just have a good feeling about.  For me Victoria was one of those cities.  I had the same feelings about Ottawa and St. Catherines.  I have no idea why I feel this way about some cities.  Call it intuition.  My stay consisted of nothing of great importance.  No concerts or ticketed events.   Just wandering the downtown/harbour area basking in the sun-drenching sidewalks, shopping in used book stores and snapping some photos at the Royal British Columbia Museum, as well as the London Wax Museum.  Photos from day 1 can be found in my Photo Journal here.  I’ll have the day 2 photos of Victoria up soon.

Hey Yall,
I thought I would update everybody with some recent projects I’ve been working on.  The image above is a two-colour silk screened t-shirt design for Canadian musician and song-writer, Jean-Paul De Roover.  Since I Illustrated his most recent album, Windows and Doors,  Jean-Paul asked me to illustrate a t-shirt that would be used for his upcoming Spring tour.  The focus of the design was to recreate the aesthetic feel of the album artwork.  After listening to the album and letting it resonate for a while, I determined that Jean-Paul’s music was very organic with a continuous amount of building energy as each track passes.  In a way I felt the music bio-mimics the life of a beehive — energetic yet structured.  And for some reason which I cannot understand, I am really digging geometric structures and figures these days.  Don’t ask me why.  Eventually I would like to make this sketch into a painting, but right now it will stay on the shelf.  My walls are becoming quite cluttered with drawings and preliminary plans for smaller personal projects.  I’m hoping to start some of them sooner or later, but for right now I have tackled some larger projects.  Projects in which you will see within the next couple weeks!

Process!!!  Amidst the school assignments, I still have a little bit of time to work on some freelance illustration.  This is a private commission depicting a “modern angel” — looking ever so seductive and elegant.  At this part of the process, I have laid down a grayscale under-painting and have slowly began to apply thin layers of colour.  Usually when painting on paper I save the tints and tones of shading until the final stages.  I’m working a little bit differently than I usually do with this painting.  The guidelines of the project allow me to experiment with media and application.  So it’s been challenging and rewarding at the same time.  But if you’re like me, your best work comes when you meet new challenges.  More hours will be spent on this painting in the next couple weeks.  I’ll be posting new process shots of a new and exciting project that I’ll be working on very soon.  Another CD!  The last CD project I worked on was such a positive experience that I didn’t want to turn down the chance to do another.  More details to come very, very soon.

This is a recent project I completed for the Photography class I am taking.  The project was for product photography, so I decided to experiment with some techniques I’ve seen floating around on Photoshop tutorials online.  The main focus of these ads was to convey a “suspenseful energy”.  Each ad spotlights an apex predator.  I wanted to instill the feeling of being stalked and hunted before the final strike.  At the same time, each ad conveys a cosmic energy reflecting the awesome power of each beast.  Each ad is accompanied by the line, “Better. Faster. Stronger.“  I thought it was appropriate seeing that these are the attributes of an apex predator.  And there is also a small play on the aesthetic presentation of Daft Punk and their song “Harder Better Faster.”  This project is more experimentation than anything.  You can check out the individual ads here.

For those who don’t know, I grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Not too many people make it up to Northern Ontario, so there are always questions and misconceptions that need to be cleared up.  This video by Jordan Burnell shows the essence of Tbay.  In a world saturated with rap videos depicting money, women and expensive cars; this video is what appeals to me.  It’s honest, simple and Jordan let’s the lyrics run in the forefront to spotlight the city as much as he spotlights his own talents as a songwriter/performer.  Jordan and I grew up in the same neighborhood, so I am really happy to see that he’s following his dreams and making moves.  Thunder Bay has it’s own unique culture and anyone who has ever experienced the city will have a strong appreciation for this video.