ojbits

I am working on finishing my IMC piece this weekend...and whenever I take a break I seem to hit the muddy colors blog.  That is where I found this vid, and it is oddly fitting to my recent experience at the IMC.  

I learnt so many things there I won`t even try to list them all, but the one thing that stood out, the one thing that was said first as a quote from Boris Vallejo to Julie Bell, and later reiterated to us all in various forms, was:  

Slow. The hell. Down.  

There is so much depth, and truth, and (this is becoming some meta-art-magic-rant so I`ll stop it here) stuff to this wisdom that I will have to come back to it later.  Hopefully when I have applied it to a few projects.  

Right now, this video will have to do.  

Illustration Masterclass 2012 - a small sample.

I'm currently relaxing in Boston after a week of Illustration Awesomeness in Amherst, MA.  

A week-long workshop with a fantastic lineup of instructors this year: Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Iain McCaig, Brom, Donato Giancola, Dan dos Santos, Scott M. Fischer, Greg Manchess, Rebecca Guay, Irene Gallo, Doug Alexander and James Gurney.

Lady and the Tramp pencil test, by Frank Thomas

Just got home from seeing these girls live. They are absolutely fantastic in concert, and were assisted by an equally great warmup act Peggy Sue. All in all, 4 very skilled ladies. Too relive my first infatuation with First Aid Kit, see an earlIer post for more awesome.

Over the last 2 weeks, some of my colleagues and I have spent lunchtime at our desks doing some digital studies from reference.  The first 2 are studies of work by Nathan Fowkes, the rest are photos.

These are done in a relatively short amount of time, about 30 minutes each (some I have gone back and spent a little more time on) and with every one, I learn something new.  So much fun.

Study of the road outside the house, from back when there was still snow.

Hudson river valley as seen from the Adirondak

Hudson river valley as seen from the Adirondak #2

About six months ago I sketched part of the view from my window on my (then brand new) Ipad - today I did the same, and though I shifted the motive a little it`s fun to see the difference in colour palette.

TLR camera quite inspired by my Rolleicord IV, done in marker and ink.

Candlestick telephone and cash register, done with markers.

My darling wife got me the book about gnomes for Christmas, aptly titled 'Gnomes'.  

According to the New York Times: 

"[The original book] sold more than a million copies and spent 56 weeks on the hardcover list before the little creatures crawled back under our collective Pet Rock. Now, an anniversary edition, published on April 1, aims to enlighten a new generation with its accounts of gnome biology (they weigh 300 grams and live an average of 400 years), gnome customs (they greet each other by rubbing noses and maintain friendly relations with rabbits), and gnome sex (which always results in twins, who live at home until age 100)."

It is wonderfully illustrated by Rien Poortvliet, the foremost reason why I love it, and contains eight removable prints from the book in an envelope in the back cover, as well as some of the artist's sketches.  It's a gem.