Wednesday, December 30, 2009

another dollar

hey,

unless something very important and unexpected occurs within the next few hours, this will be the last entry for the mighty year 2009. i guess i am glad to see the year go, for no reason other than the fact that one should always be ready to let go of the past and dive head first into the future.

people tend to make resolutions, promises, pacts with themselves when a year comes to close. i'm no different. its funny how the "noble" ideas and desires i have to improve myself grow in volume when i am riding the bus home on my own, accompanied by the background music and distant voices from my ipod. its funny how the mental list begins with the usual "get in shape" and "eat better", then slowly turns into "be a more understanding brother, be a better friend, speak less/listen more", only to then dip down into "spend less money, make more money, travel, buy this, buy that, achieve fame and fortune". by no means am i suggesting that one shouldn't take the material into account when trying to identify what changes to attempt to make for the sake of the budding new year. we are only "human" after all... which really is another way of saying that we are flawed. we spend so much time thinking about what we want that we forget about what we need. yes i would very much like to do some travelling and buy myself a car and get a six-pack, but what i need is to become more independant, to better prioritze my goals and to be more driven to achieve them. the thing is, some resolutions are better off written in sand then on paper. we are clumsy, fickle creatures that are only capable of self-less thought when we are alone with our own thoughts. the moment a person becomes people everything changes. suddenly goals become focused not on being better for the sake of being a better individual but to be better than the other. i don't know... in time the voices of reasoning and whatnot die down and i'm left thinking about what there is in the fridge to eat.

so what are my resolutions this year?
maybe by making them public i will be that much more determined to see them through? maybe not. haha oh well i'm definitely not the first or last one to do so. ok so... hmmm lets see. in no particular order, without too many details:

- get in shape. being consistent with both cardio and weight training, eating better etc.
- read more books. "smarter" books, readings outside of graphic novels and the usual fare.
- be a better friend. better friend to those i call friends and more of a friend to those i know as acquaintances.
- more art. the more art i make the better art i make. need to be more driven and dedicated in order to succeed at all. also redo website oh snap!
- give in to the 9-5. i need to get a for real job as much as i don't want to. i need the constant money flow, and all that comes with it.
- travel. this means that roadtrip happening. getting my damn passport and visiting family in Cali.

hmmm that about covers it i think. the important ones maybe.... hopefully. either way i can always add more. overall the idea is in with the good and out with the bad. only heaven knows.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

come clean

hi,

today my beloved girlfriend and i will be celebrating 5 magical years together. 5. that is an awful lot... in my opinion it is. we're not doing anything overly fancy, much as i would like to, because well, we don't have the extra cash to go all Gatsby on the occasion.

usually when i stay over at the gf's place i choose to use her dad's man shampoo and a bar of soap. for whatever reason i ended up using her "stuff". for reasons unknown to me women enjoy products that leave them smelling like they were just dragged through a field of flowers, followed by an apple orchard, follow by a bakery. stepping out of the shower earlier today i felt like i had just washed myself with a fruit salad. i honestly felt less clean than when i went in. i just don't care for kiwi strawberry blossom hair. nor do i care for leaving a towel smelling like a fruit roll-up. i enjoy "manly" products. products that are named after natural disasters and BMX moves. the bottled scent of a glacier earthquake explosion is really the only way to go. of course i am referring to my preference in regards to my own aroma. i have nothing against my lovely smelling like a grapefruit dipped in honey and... oats.

today i am wearing my Captain America t-shirt. which caused the girlfriend to frown. until i pointed out that Cap's star has 5 points... to represent the 5 wonderful mickey mouse years we have shared. she then smiled and walked away.

yesterday i picked up these 3 movies. hopefully we will watch one of them. but i doubt it.





Friday, December 25, 2009

merry hairy xmas

hello friends,

first of all i would like to wish you all the best of the best that these holidays have to offer! if good happenings could be measured in rice i would wish you all... a lot of rice! tons even! sacks and sacks of delicious rice, brown, wild and brown!

well, my family and i usually do the whole christmas getup on the 24th, making the 25th a more chillaxing day or relaxing adventures. as such i am in my lair writing this blog-o entry. i've been enjoying the last days of the year very much so. nice gifts i have received! i'll tell you about that some other time...

ok so TODAY was odd... it was like no 25th before. i woke up pretty late, after about 3 "breakfasts" i sat down to some tele. which led to sitting while watching MONSTER TRUCKS (no clue whose idea that was), a show on PRIMATES and others on the DISCOVERY network, paired with some wine drinking and empanada eating. here are pictures illustrating such:





here are 2images composed of some sketchbook scanning! sketchbooks are so fun, im so glad i have finally learned the importance of keeping a "book" opposed to scraps of paper that get lost and wrecked.


as i type this i am watching Mike Mignola's THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD. a definite for any Mignola fan! the art is great and although it is very short it is packed with so much of what makes Mignola stuff super amazing fantastic i love it.


much love to all. more rice and best wishes for the new year and the days remaining in this one! xoxo.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

woodn't you like to know?

ah-choo!

i mean... hi. today's blog entry is based on wood! how random i know. there is so much to say on the subject! but i am somewhat tired and don't really care enough to go too much into details. so here are some facts or somethings....
i enjoy the smell of freshly cut wood, but i am apparently very allergic to it! for that same reason i have never been able to give carpentry a try, outside of the necessary cuts of wood ie. 2x4 studs for renos etc...
since i can remember i do in fact knock on wood for superstitious reasons. which is really odd considering my persistence in insisting that there is no such thing as "luck" when arguing with friends etc... much as i would like to drop the wood-knocking habit i can't seem to, it is heavily hard-wired into my system.

when the duct installing guys came over to the house they had to (obviously) cut holes in the hardwood for he vents, hardwood pieces which we kept to repair some other junk... hardwood pieces that i painted on. it was fun, mostly because they are so small haha if that makes any sense... it remind me of a segment from Mr.Dressup where he would use cups or something and they would have drawings on them that would do.. stuff and live and such.


the other day i was at an arts and crafts store and i picked up these 2 wooden puzzles. one pops out the pieces and then follows the "directions" and then you end up with 3d wooden puzzle things. i bought two so i could share with my brothers (aww). this is the one i ended up doing... after what felt like many many hours i finished with this. which is more or less what its supposed to look like... only i have a few left over pieces... and not everything actually stays where its supposed to. all in all it was fun but no i probably won't be buying any more. these puzzles are for ages 6+, which i found amazing. not because i don't think kids are capable, but because i don't personally know any kids with the patience to follow it through to the end. *shrug*

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

artificial growth

sleighs and slays!

thanks to the insane determination of my father i was able to make the space for the beloved plastic Christmas tree! after a few ticks i managed to lug out the tree bits, attach them and "fluff" the branches to the desired fullness. no decorations just yet but the damn tree is up! haha at this rate the lights will go up on the 20th, the decorations on the 23rd and the whole shabang will probably come down sometime in February.

putting the tree up one can't help but be drawn back into days of yesteryear. i remember being about 10 years old or younger, making a trip downstairs where my younger cousins lived, paper and pencil crayons in hand, brother right behind me. i remember how excited and grown-up i was in instructing and assisting the slightly younger ones in making their Christmas wish lists. shuffling through the pages of the Sears WishBook that had arrived at our doorsteps earlier that week, scribbling down the names of the PowerRangers and Barbies of the year on sheets of paper embellished with prismacoloured trees and hollys. haha oh man its nuts how much fun we would have and how much i enjoyed playing the Teacher or whatever....

sadly this tradition, much like all traditions eventually do, came to an end. not really due to not having enough time etc etc but because i became more materialistic. my "wish lists" began to include prices and store locations, eventually including images and specific instructions/details. the innocence of those days lost in holiday greedyness and ugly consumerism.

hey remember the Dragonzord?! so cool. though i was always more of a RedRanger kinda guy.

anyways... that was then and this is now. currently i am sitting at my desks watching season1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! oh man was she hot. what is she doing nowadays? last movie i saw with her also featured Brendan Fraser... called Breathe i think... not overly exciting.
i am also drinking from my massice Mug of Coffee and enjoying some toast with Nutella while working on a watercolour piece for a gift exchange of sorts, i will post it when i'm done.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

you got squared!

bonjour!

it has been an eventful month and a bit. seriously. oh man where to start? i will do a montage o sorts. here we go!
turns out the wicked headaches i've been getting were not due to my sudden infatuation with the magical world of McDonalds but was in fact the result of all the CO i had in my system.


turns out the boiler was broken, and needed to be replaced. KA-CHING!$$$%^%$


the house had old water radiators so the decision was made to upgrade to a furnace/forced air system... which meant lovely invasive renovating! goodbye basement ceiling! KA-CHING!$$$%^%$ KA-CHING!$$$%^%$


while renos at the house were still going on BAM! there goes the car! not a huge deal but its out of commission for a few days which is a horrible inconvenience. (note: this isn't my car, kinda looks like it tho so.. yea.) anyways... KA-CHING!$$$%^%$KA-CHING!$$$%^%$KA-CHING!$$$%^%$


i got these LIMITED EDITION prints made. edition of 7. they will be available at SLEEPINGGIANTGALLERY!! check them out! i doubt they will last too long.


my friend Elia's Mom hosted a squaredance/social event! it was very awesome. the girlfriend and i had mucho fun and wine and goodies. i highly recommend this fantastical dance to anyone and everyone! there should be a movie about squaredancing crews that battle each other! i would definitely see that. apparently squaredancing isn't a competetive sport though. and yes it is a sport!... least in my eyes.


i made a zine! entitled "after the sky fell". sound familiar? its the same name of my blog which you are currently carressing with your beady little eyes! i had a table at a music/art/crafts night hosted by BROKEN ARTS at Isabella's Cafe in Oshawa. i was very pleased with the experience and will definitely be pursuing this zine business further. i still have some of the original few i made! email me if you'd like one. only 500 Canadian pennies!

hmmm so... yea. that and the usual holiday fun adventures, art making, eating, sleeping... that basically sums up my month so far. not all good things but hey i can't complain too much. we're still here and have plenty to be grateful for. something one often forgets in times of crisis. like the saying goes; "everything will work out in the end, if everything is not okay, its not the end."... or something like that.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

el seis de diciembre

today is the 6th of december. today is the day my 8x8 piece goes up in the window of fine & dandy gallery. it is part of their advent show wherein every day of december a new piece goes up much like those advent calendars with the chocolates. equally as delicious! just... in a different way.
you should check it out.

here is a picture of my piece in case the gallery has yet to update their site.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

time machine-o

greetings!

soon to be seasons greetings i suppose, though really i do not know what that means. but anyways... the other day i was at SLEEPINGGIANTGALLERY at the reception for Different Strokes for Different Folks, i was talking with fellow artists Jacob Hughes and Mark Burnham. for obvious reasons the conversation turned to age, to the fact that Jacob was 17, Mark 32 and myself 24. three different generations in the same place at the same time. which got me thinking about what i was up to at 17, because sometimes to get a better idea of what the future holds one has to look into the past.
after taking a trip back in time in my amazing time machine i came to realize that although much has changed much has remained the same. many themes and subjects have stayed with me through the years. the more evident ones are as follow; figures, teeth, angel wings, outlines, white figures, superheroes, muscles, distortion of said figures, and darkness. haha looking at this short list i can't help but feel like i should have many more issues than i do (i got none baby!).

at the moment i don't care enough to dig up pre-highschool images so we wil make do with these:


these two images here are from gr.11. it was the first time having to create a "series" of work. for whatever reason my series was on phobias. above we have fear of public speaking and below we have fear of being alone. its pretty crazy looking back into old sketchbooks. i had "meanings" and "reasons" for every element in the paintings. haha and as much as they suggested i avoid outlining things.... i clearly couldn't help myself.



these two here are from a much longer series that came up from a strange dream and metaphors class i had in... first year at OCAD i believe. so i was... 19? i really liked these and stuck with them for a bit. the first one came before OCAD i think, while i was messing with some paint in trying to be a "rougher" painting... i think thats where the buildings came about. the one above here is actually the first piece i ever had in a showed outside of a classroom. it was for a square foot show. which was really open to anyone but it still made me feel very special. especially when i saw that little red dot on the wall beside it haha. good times.



ok so now we come to the present. which all began with much smaller ink on paper drawings in a 4th year class with Ed Pien. the idea was to challenge ourselves by working like one of the artists he showed us slideshows of. i think i actually went with Ed's approach to some of his works which was to begin with a random stroke of ink on the empty paper and draw from it and with it. my first reactions was to draw from inkblots but to draw superheroes. so i had a batman here, a superman there. Ed saw potential in it and told me to keep trying but to not use copyrighted images that the world recognize as such. which led to small random images which ithen decided would be fractions of stories, as they were based on random titles i pulled from books. eventually i tried out mylar as it would allow me to use layers much like i do in Photoshop. time passed... and here we are. the image above is actually one of the first mylar pieces that i regarded as a success. it remains one of my favorites and is the image on my business cards! the image below is much more recent and is currently in a juried show at StationGallery in Whitby.
the current series is doing pretty awesome for me. people seem to like it. which of course is all i can ask for haha. but as any good artist knows, i can keep doing the same thing for only so long. already its begun to evolve in leaps and bounds, at this point i can only guess where i will go. as much as i hate it... i think the plan is to go BIGGER!