The Best Day Ever

I have been meaning to try out a graphic novel style painting for a while, and after a very busy couple of weeks, and with a couple of custom pieces coming up (when I get paid and can go buy supplies) I decided to take a couple of days off to do something I wanted to paint.

I've been staring at this photo of the celebration right after the winning goal on my wallpaper for two months now. I love this photo. Seriously, it just makes me happy every time I see it. (Even if after last night I'm a little less fond of Crosby. Stupid Pens beating my Habs.) I'm sorry I don't have the photographer's name right now, I don't have the MacLeans it was in but I'll stop by the library and see if they have it so that I can put credit up.

The idea was to do a little bit Sin City style, a little bit me (like these two drawings, no pun intended even if those are my legs, whoa!), and a little bit of the Tell-Tale Heart style thrown in there to connect it to the graphic novel idea, because if I ever find a writer it'll look something like that. It was really just an experiment to see what it would look like.

I'm extremely happy with the final result. I wish I could sell it, but that would be a pretty serious copyright violation, so unfortunately this is probably fated to my portfolio downstairs and will never again see daylight. Oh well. I would really love to do one in this style. I love the shots taken from directly above the goalie. Maybe I can find a nice photo of Martin Brodeur. I have a mad crush on him. Seriously. I mean, I always really liked him and then I nabbed a copy of the Hockey Times featuring him on the cover and he's wearing a Bell & Ross watch. I absolutely adore those watches. I like the Phantom just a tiny bit better than the white face he had, but still it was awesome enough even to cancel out the fact that he's wearing a chain and I normally find that completely revolting. I am wildly off topic! Maybe I should paint a Habs goalie, I'd b e more likely to put that on the wall.

Back to the picture. Here are a couple of shots as the drawing progresses.

Some in progress photos. You can see it started off a little spindly, just like Tell-Tale Heart. I was actually using the same nib and everything. I tried for more of a Sin City stark black and white thing, which you might be able to see on the far left, mainly the sleeve, where I started out a little harsher with the lines (I'm right handed, so I work left to right). But I'm a bit undisciplined and pretty soon my natural tendencies took over and I just scribbled all over everything.

This is after the second pass. I used a brush to fill in the big areas. I don't think you can tell in the photo but the cross-hatching texture is still visible underneath. Many of the lines were thickened, and some areas had shadows added. I really really like it at the stage and was a bit leary of throwing ink drops all over it, but that was the original plan, and the point was to experiment, so I did it anyway. And I love LOVE how it turned out. I made such a mess! Which is why I should have been working in my studio instead of the office with it's nice hardwood floors, but whatever. The ink is waterproof, of course, so after this dried overnight (I've ruined more than one thing by erasing or painting before it was dry) I just filled in the blanks with red.

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.