More women

Again, not a thrilling or funny drawing, just working on painting faces and hair. This scanner generally blows out the light orange of skin tones, and makes everything rougher and less nuanced. Since I'm not buying a new scanner in the foreseeable future, I'm trying to work with that. But honestly, I like the slightly awkward quality, though am always working on my weaknesses in drawing.

Couple

Kind of unremarkable, but on a larger scale than usual for my watercolours. Not that you can tell on the web. More paint, and bigger brushes. I might put a bunch of tattoos on the guy.

Yellow Tube Guy

And his dog is only painted on a bunch of boxes.

Christmas Colours

Bought a couple of tubes of paint as a Christmas present for myself this week. They're Holbein Permanent Red and Hooker's Green. Coincidentally, shades a graphic artist friend of mine refers to in horror as "Christmas colours," but these were simply colours I was missing from the palette. For me, this is a treat. Anyhow, I painted away: nothing that needs too much explanation.

Except the final drawing is a sketch of Clement Sauvé, from a party I was at. According to the web, he's an up-and-comer in the world of mainstream comics.

Yay for Movie Villains

I do a lot of drawings while watching movies. Sometimes that makes it hard to pay attention. That's what "rewind" is for.

Though I'm a cinephile, and have been in the past a professional film reviewer, I have a weakness for big dumb spectacles. Thought of critiquing, or at least listing the movies I watch here, but that feels like too much work at the moment. There are drawings to draw, and cats to be blogged.

Above is a cheery drug lord and his moll from a dumb Michael Bay movie (is there any other kind?). Her breasts are bigger than the character's in the movie, veering into Love and Rockets territory, but from what I usually see on the net, they're nothing extraordinary. These two look like fun people to party with. But he'll execute you on the spot if you get on his wrong side.

Below is the cast from Séraphin: un homme et son péché. I was cheering for Séraphin (and his hat) all the way.

Christmas Morning

Nothing much to do on Christmas morning. At least the family back west isn't in the same turmoil it was last year, so things are tranquil. I had little to do, so decided to blog.

I live with two cats, so people think I'm obsessed by cats. One friend gave me cat Christmas lights the other year. Since I don't have a tree, I strung them along the ivy covering my kitchen bookshelf, as above.

Here's a closeup of one of the lights:


And speaking of cats, what were the real ones doing, you ask?

Ms. Boggedy was in her accustomed place, at the window. My cheap (but not bottom of the line) camera does interesting accidental effects when I aim it towards light. Funny how she resembles the light-up cat:



While Mr. B. was taking the air on the front balcony, which he does for about three minutes, before wanting to come back in:



It's a warm and sunny morning, for a Montreal winter.

Oscar Peterson 1925-2007

Not a perfect resemblence, but I tried to give an old timey feel to the drawing with some photoshop filters. I'm actually not a huge jazz fan and don't have a lot of his music, but he was a presence in the Montreal and Canadian cultural scenes, and a person to admire.

The Finger

Gramophone

Coloured pencil on smooth paper.

Combing out her Hair

Red Guy

A creepy guy. Red Room! Red Room!

Jack-O-Lanterns Left Behind

This mouldy, shrivelled little pumpkin in an abandoned store window looks unhappy to see the snow.

Another old Jack-O-Lantern, photographed by R. Gagnon last month:



This guy seems to be saying, "A-yup, Ah remember the hallowe'en of ought seven. Thet was a long ti-ime ago!"

Fantasy

Some rather more straightforward-than-usual fantasy types. I'm never going to be Frank Frazetta, or Alan Lee (or would want to be - something in me likes to undercut the seriousness of things), but drawing slightly cheesecakey (or even cheesy) subjects gives the anatomical chops a workout. (dig the lingo?)



For a dose of reality, almost veering onto my idea of fantasy, the view outside my window this morning as the sun was rising.

Settling In

Above are drawings of television network executives, who held a meeting for us Writers Guild types. They were telling us what kinds of stories and ideas they wanted us to pitch to them. They wanted us to pitch to the networks more directly, because they weren't always happy with the ideas that producers at production companies were giving them. Too conservative.

The problem is, you make more money working up ideas for production executives. Writing pitches yourself happens on your own dime. It also helps your project if you have a producer and a company behind it, because you'll have to find one eventually if the idea is ever going to get made, and it's more convincing to the networks if you come to them with an interested company in place.

So, I'll be bashing away at some things. Still drawing, because that's relaxing.

More Black and White Brain Farts

More stuff without meaning or forethought, right out of my fevered mind! I'm calling this working on lines, and lights and darks. So sorry to have missed Dr. Sketchy the other day. Instead of drawing burlesque hootchies (or art students who pretend to be same), I was addressing Christmas cards, like some Ned Flanders clone.

Above is a slick guy with his expensive car, obviously thinking of some business deal. Or, more likely, the five-o'clock martini. Actually, he looks more than a little lost.

Below, more black and whiteness. I guess she's checking on a sore or loose tooth. I'm not crazy about the dark brush pen lines, but am trying to work with them, and integrate them with the drawing. I like, however, the slightly warped quality, how things are off a little, which to me is more interesting than a conventionally beautiful or realistic drawing. I know these are errors, but I'm still working on keeping things in general proportion, making them accurate and detailed, but not too dull. I also don't like being too much of a "clone" of other, more successful artists, like R. Crumb.

Of course, he'd be out at the Cabaret, drawing the hootchies. There is a more conventional strip club close by (this is Ontario Street East, fabled biker territory, though my block is much safer and bourgeois), and I've sketched in places like that, but only because I was dragged there by more boisterous (usually visiting from another town) friends.

Don't know what would happen if I showed up alone with my cute little book and pencils. Probably would have to pay for a lap dance or two before they'd let me leave.



There's a lot more tabby-ness I can add to the portrait of Mr. B. below. But I'm loath to make it too dark or busy. As a kid I watched artists draw, and there was sometimes the step where a perfect, though light drawing suddenly went south, and I wanted to say "awwww, he's ruined it." I sometimes think this myself. So I'm leaving this cat portrait, munchkin legs and all, but will probably attack it some time in the future, when I'm feeling confident.



All of this is from the larger black hardbound book. I've got two of them: the large, 8-1/2" x 11" and the small one, which is roughly 7 inches square. They look slick, but it's hard to figure out front from back, or which end is up.

3-Pitcher Friday

A little bit too much beer on the Friday evening that R. Gagnon and I share most weeks. Above is a scribble I made listening to some of his music on the iPod (set list to come). Beautifully inked by Mr. Gagnon, especially the hand. That's Shaun Cassidy, and Paddington Bear looking on.

And here's that set list:
- Cool Fire 4:18 Shaun Cassidy Wasp
- Kicker of Elves 1:04 Guided by Voices Bee Thousand
- Hot Freaks 1:43 Guided by Voices Bee Thousand
- Tractor Rape Chain 3:05 Guided by Voices Bee Thousand
- You're not an Airplane 0:33 Guided by Voices Bee Thousand
- Time and Love 4:26 Laura Nyro New York Tendaberry
- Last Train to Clarksville 2:47 Monkees Single A-side
- Now That I Own the BBC 4:58 Sparks Single A-side
- Buddha Buddha 3:10 Parthenon Huxley Single A-side
- No, Surrender 7:40 Justin Currie What Is Love For




This is an evil conflation of Rick Mercer and Tony Curtis.



This is all my own work -- the two old guys who are regulars at the bar ('reserved' table and all).

I have to make prints of this to give them next week. It was they who gave us their extra pitcher of beer when they left.

So, if freelancing doesn't work out, I can always have a career of hanging around in bars drawing people for beers.

But Rick decided he'd had enough and went to play a game of pool. I was the first sucker he wiped the floor with, so I sat down with my pint and drew the below while he demolished all other challengers.



Here's J.D., another of Gagnon's patsies:

Christmas Cats

This is my Christmas card for 2007, for friends, family, and biz associates. If you don't like cats, you may not like it, but it made the lady at the print shop smile. I was lazy, taking an old picture and putting a ribbon around it. Still, it was late in the season, and I wanted to be sure to conjure "teh cute." Learned about Quarkxpress, too.

Could have cropped the image a little closer. What the heck. Never take your work apart like this in public. Be like my illustrator friend: Even if the computer is crashing and on fire, and the file is lost, he smiles and pretends all is going to plan. Of course there are limits to how well this works.

Gospel Hour, Marvel Superheroes invade Montreal, and Hot Cats

Visited the launch for X-Men ... Made in Quebec an exhibition of art for the Ultimate X-men comic book series by Yanick Paquette, Serge laPointe, and Stéphane Peru at Galerie Attakus. They're an outfit that builds statues and figurines of Star Wars and comics characters. Their website is http://www.attakus.com. Please click on the above photo to visit the Flikr photo set for the whole experience.

Meanwhile, I'm still doing my sketches.



The curator for a Rembrandt art show, interviewed on TV.

And a preacher with a message for us all.



Finally, imagine this video happening all winter long, and you've got an idea what it's like in my apartment.

More Angry Animal Imagery

Meow! Hisss! Woof! Woof! Squeeee!

Assorted drawings

Just some stuff so that I'm not still announcing it's my birthday, two days later.

It's my Birthday!

This is cake made by R. Gagnon for me and Sirkowski, at our little shared B-day party last night.



Delicious cake. I'm 49 years old and still spotty! (my friends will thank me for not uploading pix of them here.)

Below, Rick's kitty keeps the beat. (Not an animator, but I may work on this, to get the blurs right.)

Women in Colour

Is that her mom?

Pair of Characters

More colour.

Circumcision for the McGill Alumni Journal

Slightly bummed (but an interesting subject line). This is an illustration for the McGill University Alumni Journal, which must be out by now. Don't think it's one of my better ones, but I've been surprised before. Sometimes I've been worried about something I hand in, and then they look really pretty on the page. The concept wasn't my idea, but it was a funny article about research at McGill into how circumcision (or lack of it) may enhance guys' pleasure during the Deed.

Illustrating for McGill is a challenge. They always want upbeat pictures (almost all clients do), but the subjects can often be arcane or uncomfortable. I've done cheery illos on cancer, drug abuse, magnetic resonance, etc.

My website's out of date at the moment, and I haven't quite fixed it, but when it's up again, I will post examples of all these sorts of things, which have been my main illustration work these past three years, while writing's been the major moneymaker.

Long phone call drawing

Chillin' With Dr. Cyclops

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World

It's young A.C. Clarke!

Midnight Express

Watched that film, recently, and here's a drawing (all my own work, by the way). Amazing how xenophobic and racist the film seems today. That prison reminds me of some backpacker hotels I've seen, but stayed out of.

Collaboration Saturday

Gagnon Friday got moved to Saturday (yesterday), and there is a bumper crop of drawings. As usual, my drawing, and Richard Gagnon's inking. Above is a space girl which is pretty much a copy of a drawing by Robert Ullman, who's better at this sort of thing than I.

Assorted reptiles and the hilarious "unbeatable(?) pterodactyl" in the background are all Rick's.

Below, it's Charles Bronson throwing walnuts. His foreign films sound much more interesting than the ones I know.




Complaining cats. With the cold, and the heater often turned up so they can't sleep on it they're getting restless. This is the view I get when I'm on the phone.



I love the lines here. So working on my own inking.