For Want of a 25w Bulb

I started out this morning with some more copying of The Tell-Tale Heart, but my bulb burnt out. I haven't been able to make it to an art store in weeks (there's only one and it's in the middle of nowhere) I have no paper and nothing much to do. Except this. I started it ages ago and it turned out just brutally bad.

First, a couple of credits. This drawing is from a photo my friend Starsha, who generously let me paint it. You can see her work on her webpage. I love having many photographers for friends (and thank God I do as I can't take photos to save my life). I could paint loads of this guy, she has tonnes of good ones. I loved the expression in this one. The band is The Creationists. I got the title (Funk is it's Own Reward) from a comment on their page I liked.

I used some handmade watercolour paper I'd been dying to try, and unfortunately it didn't work all that great. I made a smaller painting and discovered that the paper sort of came apart when it got wet. Not ideal, obviously. But I loved the texture, so I thought I'd try it with some charcoal. Just a nice, traditional, straightforward drawing such as I haven't done in, well, probably years. No good! It caught all over the place and ended up being a dusty mess with no detail at all. So much for my careful copying of his features. Luckily I'd put some masking fluid down first where I wanted really bright highlights, so there was at least something to work with instead of being universally grey.

So, lacking anything else to do and figuring I couldn't possibly make it any worse, I brought it back out. And fell back on my usual device of scribbling all over it with ink and watercolour until I liked it. tada! I like it, even if it's not quite as precise a portrait as I was originally going for.

It's on a large sheet - 16" x 20" but was made to be matted to 11" x 14". I'm leaving it up to whoever buys it before I matte it because I think it will look good even smaller, cropped right into his face.

Buy it at my etsy shop!

Goin' to Winnipeg

A few years back Fountain Tire came out with a terrific commercial in which the annoying Fountain Tire guy is on a plane in a loud tropical shirt, talking excitedly to the two business men in sweaters next to him about vacationing in Hawaii. They look at him strangely and inform him this plane is destined for Winnipeg. He kind of nods, looks resigned and says "Goin' to Winnipeg." Which is what I'm doing this weekend. I packed up a few crafty things; namely, the bit of leather that is destined to cover The Tell-Tell Heart because I can embroider in the car. Not that I got very far despite the six hours of completely flat prairie (If you ever travel across Canada drive the Yellowhead through Alberta to Manitoba, it's much prettier). I blame Stephen Fry's Harry Potter audio books for that.

I forgot to take a photo before I left, of course. So, consequently, I wasn't going to post anything. However, I just made a big sale and I'm pretty excited. Four books! And some of my favourites. I'm going to miss the postcard book, it looks so nice with all of mine on display. Good thing I have an idea for another one. This is definitely the best sale I've made to date, and not having sold a painting in some time it's pretty exciting. Oh, I lie, the Caryn's Kite painting is getting sold - to Caryn no less! Beauty! And on that note, here's a bit of Winnipeg for you from local band The Weakerthans. One Great City! is the name of the song, taken from the signs welcoming you to the city.

Tradeseys?

Guitars & Drums, Take 2 (JunoFest 2009) by redpumpkinstudio

I made another treasury on etsy today (which I'm trying to post in a slightly more organized manner than the last one) featuring city views, music, and graffiti in some combination or other. I had a very clever name for it, too, but I'd forgotten it by the time I had to actually type it in. Oh well! It's called Cityscapes instead. I based it around my drawing here. of JunoFest 2009 I was originally putting together one around the Rhapsody in Blue painting I did and posted a couple of days ago, but I started to realize that just wasn't anywhere as cool as the ones I found, and started again hoping this one would stand up better.

But all of this got me thinking, because I found many awesome pieces of art I would now desperately like to own but can't afford. And what I'm thinking is there should be a way to trade on etsy. I've got a couple nice pieces of art from my student days I traded with my classmates for, and it's a great way for broke people to get stuff. Cash poor, art rich. So to speak. It could be kind of like a dating site, you know. If you both favourite something the site automatically links you up, and you swap the item. Anyone up?

Urban Flight by brianelston

Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles by zuppaartista

No Parking 51 by eyeshoot

RecordCity by Zone4

City Skyline by therawart

JunoFest 2009

These were based on a photo a good friend of mine took at JunoFest in Vancouver last year and I finally put them up on Etsy. I loved that it has the guitars and drums signs at the very front, and both the Vogue and Orpheum theatres. Completely appropriate for a music fest!

It was originally one large picture but I didn't really like how that looked, and so eventually I decided to chop it apart and frame these parts separately. This was done in ink first, and even though I used waterproof ink it bled a fair bit when I put the watercolour over it as a underpainting. So on that went the conte and pastels. The red frames set off the colours nicely. I redid it later as one piece as well, and it turned out very well that time around (last picture), but part of me still likes these ones better. Sometimes the accidents are the best parts!

Making Paper, Swearing at the TV

Yesterday I was going to start sorting out the paper swap and realized I really wanted to keep them all for myself. But now that you know my address that might not be so easy to get away with, so I decided instead to make a few sheets to add to my own stack, and at least that way I get back more. Plus I had a fair bit of nervous energy to get out of my system before the hockey game. And during the intermissions, as I worked myself into a raging headache and jumped around swearing for the last 10 minutes of regulation and needed to simmer down a bit. Damn it Crosby, you spend the whole tournament not shooting the puck and then wait until the most dramatic moment possible for that goal? Twenty minutes early would have saved me, and half the country, a heart-attack and their voices. It's alright though... trying to calm back down again. I had a sneaky feeling that's how it would end, then when it when into overtime I knew it was because God loves us and wanted us to have a ridiculously awesome Paul Henderson moment to cap off the Olympics. :) Which were awesome right up until the concert started.

I know the stereotype is that Canadians apologize to much, but on behalf of all of us, I am very very sorry VANOC choose such horrible acts. I believe NBC cut it off (as they did with much of their coverage) and I don't know what other countries saw, but for good Canadian acts please see: Our Lady Peace, Great Big Sea, Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, The Guess Who, BTO, Steppenwolf, Five Man Electrical Band, Choclair, Swollen Members, Tom Cochrane, Holly Cole, Diana Krall, Sarah Slean, The Weakerthans, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Hawksley Workman, Feist, Arcade Fire, Rufus Wainwright, Rascalz, Molly Johnson, Sass Jordan, Kardinall Offishall, Maestro, Melissa McClelland, Glen Gould, Oscar Peterson (OK, those two wouldn't have been able to perform but look them up anyway), Bif Naked, Tegan and Sara, The Pursuit of Happiness, David Usher, Big Sugar, 54-40, The Band, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, The Philosopher Kings, Peaches (ok, she wouldn't have been appropriate but Nickleback screaming about getting hammered was?), The Trews, Big Wreck, I Mother Earth, Hugh Dillon, Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra, Sam Roberts, Beast.

What I would have love to see was something fun like Russell Peters hosting The Arrogant Worms' "Canada is Really Big, Rocks and Trees", Moxy Früvous' "King of Spain", Great Big Sea's "Ordinary Day", "Consequence Free", "Old Black Rum" to get everyone dancing, Barenaked Ladies' "Falling for the First Time", "Be My Yoko Ono", "If I Had $1000000" or something, The Hip's "Fireworks" if only for the opening, one by Prozzäk for fun, Rascalz' "Northern Touch", Stompin' Tom's "Good Old Hockey Game" of course, Trooper's "We're Here for a Good Time" just because, and finish with Spirit of the West's 'Home For a Rest.' Would have been awesome and appropriate.


Anyway, back to the paper. I did three where I layered calligraphy and watercolour over and over until it's only pattern and the words are not distinguishable (one's O Canada, I'll make sure that goes to a Canuck, I guess I was feeling inspired after hearing it so many times and because our outfits were terrific, well done HBC), and the one at the front of the picture I made by using my new (old) letterpress and stamping masking fluid, then covering it with ink. This one I really liked, especially since I thought the letters would be much blurrier then they are. I think I'll try some more resist work the next time I make antique paper.

My newest book might just be my favourite one yet! The idea for this one came about because I joined the etsy bookbinding street team (BEST) around Hallowe'en and they were having a themed contest. I have a great idea for a monster book next year, but didn't really want to wait. So I adapted it to be more on the prettier side with some nice sheet music. I like open bindings when I cover the signatures with patterned paper. I've never done the raven's foot binding before, and it turned out really neat. A few hours at work well spent! I hate the mall.