This site is under construction!

We're in the process of creating a Tumblr site, so anyone can go and read my entire 1st volume of my graphic novel. The second volume will start to be posted soon.

Last week in my structural drawing class at Camosun College we had our model bring in some cool costumes.  I had the students practice drawing three figures in perspective on a page to show depth. These are some demo drawings I did in class, they were done rather quickly, in a couple of minutes. In this last drawing I asked  the students to practice putting in a suggestion of a background. We had fun and the models did too - I think.

Last week was my final class of the year until Jan. when I'll be starting my Character Design class, lots of fun with that... So, I'm now on holidayzzz! I'm planning on working on the 3rd Volume of my book Aurora Borealice. I'm also in the process of putting my 1st book on a Tumblir site that will be linked to my bloodspot! The 2nd Volume is also completed and will be posted weekly - I'm so excited about this!! It should be up and running in about a week. :^)

Ken always loves to surprise me... so he showed up at one of my classes dressed as Astro Boy! He made the costume all by himself out of long Johns that he dyed pink and the boots were spray painted red...you get the picture. My students and I were flabbergasted by the spectacle!!!

Ken also decided to wear the costume on the night he showed up on Desert Bus for Hope. He helped raise over $30,000  Lots of cool artwork and stuff was auctioned in the three hours he was there. At the end of the week marathon... the group raised well over $600,00!!! 

Here's Alex our son (or should I say Alice!) driving the bus after his eight hour shift. His friends were trying to make him crash the bus but he held on till the very end. His shift raised about $40,000!  - Way to go Alex.

Here's a Caricartoon I did for the auction as well. There's a lot of sparkly gold details that didn't show up in my scan but you get the idea. I enjoyed adding extra details to this one. 

UPDATE! 

Ken and I will be on Desert Bus tonight from 6:00 to 9:00!

http://www.twitch.tv/desertbus

http://desertbus.org

One more thing... DESERT BUS FOR HOPE (an on- line charity) is now on live - they've already raised over a $137 thousand dollars for sick kids hospitals around the world and they just started Friday! 
Ken and I are going to be there tomorrow night from about 6:00 till 9:00 I'll be drawing drawing one of my Caricartoons and donating an original page from my second book just hot off the press. Ken will be auctioning off a whole lot of goodies as well. Alex is there the whole 

Go to -
https://desertbus.org

Here's a few more commissions I did. I spent more time on these because they were not done at a comic convention. I'm always in a bit of a rushed at the cons because I have to do them in a shorter period of time. As you can see, these are a bit tighter than the loose style of the previous ones I posted last week.

Here's an article that was in the Globe and Mail yesterday - check it out!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/a-program-that-lets-students-follow-in-the-footsteps-of-superman/article21509988/)/

This one was also done at the local show and the first time I did a triple figure on one page. I learned from past experience that adding rosie cheeks is not so easy with watercolour, I'd always end up with a modely mess at times. So I came up with a way to soften and blend. I used a fine soft brush (a eye shadow brush will do) then I brushed it across a chalk pastel and applied it as if I was putting on blush make up - it worked like a charm! 

Here's a few drawings I did at a local show. I came up with a technique with my brush marker that works well for long dark hair. I applied solid thick thin black lines while leaving the white of the paper for the highlight, then I added brown on top of that to give a richness to the hair. 

This is the final one of the kitchen that I referenced in a lot of my pages, in both of my books. Although this kitchen has changed a bit, it still has the same cupboards I remember as a kid... where we had so many wonderful Thanks Giving dinners.  :^) 

My brothers Ed's work shop, he loves to tinker and resore old trucks. He kind of reminds me of my dad.

There use to be a tree fort  on these branches and the rope ladder was swallowed up over time. This tree the biggest on on the property, a classic Canadian maple.

Here's the house and my brother's truck. The trees have always been there as long as I can remember.

This tire is one of the few remnants of the scrap yard, I should have stood beside it for scale. It's big.

Here's the lane way leading up to the house I grew up in... it's hard to believe this front yard was a junk yard! or some people use to call it a scrap metal yard. My dad "Junky Jack" as he was known, preferred the later. It's amazing how nature took over, the trees on the right side were not there, only old scrap cars mixed in with other assorted Junk. A great playground when I was growing up! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

I may have posted this before with out word balloons, it's my version of the classic Norman Rockwell  turkey dinner.  I 'm just going to get a little nostalgic and point out a few things in the details of this image. The pots and pans in the background were always the cast iron kind that turned black with age but they just got better as they aged. The square one had a special purpose, the oblong portion was  used for bacon and the two other squares for eggs. I don't think they make them anymore and I don't know what happened to that one. The wooden pig cutting board next to the pan, I do have, it's a special thing I remember my mom using as I was growing up. I also managed to find my dads musical saw and bow and Alex has his grandfathers welding goggles. There're just a few more things on the side table like the ice cube rolling pin and the cone colander used for making apple sauce. 

My brother lives in the house we grew up in and I've been going back every summer as long as I've lived out west. I'll attach a few pics I took last summer.    

These images are some of my water colour "caricartoons" I 've been doing at conventions over the last few months. They were done at the Vancouver Expo, London Comicon and Yukomocon in Whitehourse. The Yukon was the best because I was working non stop for  three days of the con. and then I had many take home commissions. The other cons were really good to. It seems the more samples I have to show people, the more they want to have theirs done. I just take their photos with my iPhone and  ask them what their favourite character is, or if they already have a costume on, then I just copy that. They go away and when they come back, the image is done, they don't have to sit while I draw. The iPhone has been a great tool for me to use in many ways because I can google reference for any character - in a flash! 

I dedicate this post to our student and friend LISA-JO, who we lost to a tragic cycling accident this summer.

She was a truly remarkable person I had the pleasure of knowing for such a brief time. One year ago she walked into my classroom, and I just knew we were going to have fun! She had a wonderful child-like sensibility, which we too often lose as we mature.  Her drawings and sculpture were so spontaneous and full of life, just like her. 

She was so excited to get down and play with any medium and she came up with novel ways of incorporating unconventional things into her sculpture, she would experiment and see what worked and if it didn't... she'd try something else until it worked. Like in the image below, where she took a beef bone that a dog may have chewed and discarded. It was the perfect size and shape for the laundry basket, so she used the bone for a base, then she sculpted over the top of it to look like a wicker basket. She was so excited to show me what she had done - we both had a good laugh because we knew and no one else knew what was under the surface of the dirty laundry basket!!! 

Creativity was so spontaneous with her, tempered with a remarkable sophistication of humour and charm that would bring a smile to anyone who saw her work.  These two self portraits are a reminder of Lisa - Jo as a young child and as an expectant mom who later had four children... they must have had such fun with her. She was only fifty seven and just so happy to create comics later in life. She delighted in making people laugh and have fun with her unique sense of humour. 

I will really miss you, Lisa-Jo... you touched my funny bone, and left us all with some really great comics to read and learn from!

More of Seth's design work at the barber shop.

This store front and interior was designed by 'Seth' ( Gregory Gallant) for his wife Tania's business. Ken got an excellent hair cut the day we visited Guelph this summer. Retro vintage deluxe!!!

Just a few more picks of Hamilton...this one is my favourite. 

This place was used for the set of the Red Green show. These pics are not in order..oops, go down a few.

There's was even a coffin in the place!!!

This place in Hamilton was a weird find... Mr. Used is on Barton St. it's a huge warehouse with this  stuff, junk, you name it. The guy that owns it was a horder / collector of all sorts. The building was sold and all the contents have to be sold off - no easy task!

 Well, I'm back from Ontario and I'm feeling rather guilty for not posting for so long. Being on the road is great socially and I just love to soak up the Ontario humidity but now that I'm home, I've got gardening to catch up on. So for now I'll be posting a few random pictures I took while  back east. This one was at the Hamilton Art Gallery... Every year I go back to this instulation piece and every year it grows bigger and bigger - pop culture at it's finest!! 

IT'S KEN AND MY 35TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TODAY!!!

This was a coach house way back before it was eventually turned into the Centre at the University of Toronto.  

No signs or plaques were there to indicate what a significant place it was. So typical of how McLuhan was treated at U of T when he was at the hight of his notoriety. "A prophet is never heard in his own time"....