Sneak Peek at a my upcoming book

Lady of Pain commission progress

class of vessel: Destroyer

this is for a Star Trek AU

First Video of my process :)

Wolverine Progress from Chase on Vimeo.

WIP working on a moving castle

tons to do yet, it needs more of a patchwork feel yet... stay tuned.

im off to play pool with some mates and have a couple drinks to help forget that im trying to tackle too many projects at once :)

Finally, a branding package

this was far overdue.

Its been harder than I thought, trying to brand myself... the big problem is how quickly I'll start to critique and want to change my logo- I find designing logos for high profile mortgage companies or such clients far far easier than coming up with something for myself.

but I think this will work.

Initially, I had wanted a more illustrative logo, but this graphic will (90% of the time) be used in conjunction with my artwork, so something more simple and elegant was called for.

I needed this logo for my upcoming comic con Banner, as well as the cover for my 2012 Artbook

hope you cats approve!

Winnipeg Comic Con

Another Winnipeg comic con has come and gone, and I'm happy to report that I managed to double my print sales compared to last years show :) between that, all the great people I met, and the copious amount of other shenanigans I got up to this weekend, I'm placing this Halloween firmly into the the legendary category :)

Friday:
Set up my table at the con, the volunteers, of course, sent several artists to the wrong tables, so there was a bit of shuffling, but I've come to expect things like that at c4 :)

I had to duck out of the convention early in order to take off to Brandon for my eldest sis's wedding social. My friends and I managed to take home the group costume prize at the end of the night... as the group of sexy nurses.

Saturday:

The very good looking and talented James Gillespie was kind enough to work my table Saturday morning, giving me a chance to recover from the social and make my way back into Winnipeg.

After the frenzy that is Saturday at a con, there was a quick visit at Boston Pizza for a beer and perogi pizza (oh my god delicious) and then it was off to the Six Pines Haunted house, just outside of Winnipeg- it's worth checking out

Sunday:

Sunday at c4 was the very first time I've ever seen the biggest attendance on the last day of a show, thank you Will Shatner:) Sales were steady throughout the day, and as always, the end of the show, there was a rushed race to catch various artists before they packed up for art trades. got some good stuff.

Still mentally and physically exhausted from the show, but already getting excited about the prospect of the next big show, and have made a big long list of new pieces to get ready in time for it :)

Morning Scenery :)

got to spend the morning creating a background scene for a new 2d scrolling game I'm working on :)

Chasing Artwork_the book.

"An artist is always learning, always evolving, always growing. Your best piece of work will always the next one. Start chasing."

I have started putting together my first ever (limited run) Artbook, which will be published and available early 2012

I met with a printer and publisher/distributer last week, and have everything ready to roll other than building the actual book!

....small details...

This high quality book of awesome will include 60pages of artwork, a detailed description of my vector process , doodles, some of my meandering thoughts, and a bunch of new art (like exclusive never-will-be-posted online- paintings)

At this early stage of the book, I would love to hear any ideas or suggestions on what you guys (as you are a great, and good looking, example of my audience) would like to see or have me talk about in the book, any input would be greatly appreciated

cheers mates.

Launching My First book this Weekend :)

after almost 3 years of work, my first book has been published!

From the author:

This 72 page illustrated book written by a passionate father trying to teach his two teenage children something about electricity. As an engineer I was surprised when looking through my son’s Grade 6 Science book to see the same material introducing the topic of electricity to my son that I saw when I was in Grade 6 back in the 1960s. It showed the basics of static charge like a balloon sticking to a wall and pictures of light bulbs and conventional wall light switches.

Today, in the 21st Century, we live in a different world. The advent of the microchip and computers made teaching the subject of electricity much more relevant and fascinating. My career has taken me along some amazing journeys and has allowed me to see things, which I thought incomprehensible, clearly in a different way.

I wanted to share what I know with my sons in such a way that any entry level or high school student can grasp. The concepts laid here are not complicated. All one needs is imagination. The heart of the digital information age involving computers, smart phones, jump drives, music, video, and cameras are explored through a young girl named Rachel. All this is explained in a non-technical pragmatic way through a strongly visual, picture book format.

I am hoping that in some way this work, inspired by the illustrations provided by Justin Currie, will spark further interest and study in Science and Engineering. I can tell you, it is one heck of a ride, and …… it is just beginning!

Check out all the info here for the book launch this weekend

go here for more info on the book, or to purchase

Deadpool

Last piece before the c4 con happening next weekend! (SoO ExCIIttted!!)

This piece will be available sans word bubble, or with a blank one, so you can write in whatever you want :) bit of a custom piece, hopefully it sells well :)

Crazy productive weekend

WIP: Almost done this Starship - its been a sweet commission to work on, looking forward to finishing it off and starting on another ship in the fleet .

From Monty Pythons "Holy Grail"

this beastie has to be my favorite part of the film

Below is a new childrens book project about a duck :) ... just tossing out a teaser for now

and then this is what my computer looks like on sunday night... chipping away on my last piece the upcoming C4 winnipeg con: A customizable Deadpool print.

The print will be available plain, or with a blank speech bubble for customers to have whatever they want written in :) I think it could be a big seller,

The Fett

A progression of a Airship I'm working on :) still lots to do yet,

but I think I'm starting to find the shape and style I want.

wallpaper version:

had some requests for wallpaper versions... have at'er :)

no need for an umbrella

I felt it was about time to do a piece without dragons or robots...

that, and its been like, 2 weeks since I painted something new for myself,
I was starting to get the shakes.

Toronto Fan Expo Aftermath

Boo-ya! the Toronto Fan Expo went right ahead and rocked my world.

So first off- unlike most con weekends, I actually got a chance to see a bit of the city:) the convention is right downtown, at the MTCC, right at the base of the CN tower. I rode a subway for the first time ever, got lost in a neighborhood or two, saw a bit of buskerfest... all kinds of good times :)

Onto the show!!

Before I even got on the plane- the security guard checking my bags flipped through my portfolio for bombs or w/e, loved my artwork- and so I ended up giving her 2 pieces to take home (she made sure I had been cleared for not having drugs/explosives before accepting) haha

The Fan Expo is huge... and awesome...

I did not get to meet Tom Felton myself (Draco from Harry Potter) but I did send my cousin in for 2 autographed pictures- as I had promised some important ppl back home some malfoy ink :) sounds like he's a pretty easy going guy, everyone seemed to have a lot of fun chatting with him.

I also chatted with Lance Henriksen- twice :D once when I went up for a signature on my "all hail the Queen" piece, and then a second time because he wanted a copy of the picture as well!!

I grabbed another print from Mike Boldt,

his childrenbook illustrations are all kinds of impressive and inspiring- nice guy to boot.

Also met Caanan, this guy has some sick style, most definitely be keeping an eye on his work from now on... very calvin+hobbes esq = im on board.

One of the artists responsible for the Iron Giant movie dropped by to grab a print and chatted :) The Iron Giant is inside my top 10 movies of all time list, so this was beyond cool for me.

an exhausting four days.... think that's about it for the weekend, it was a great show, Im already excited about heading back again next year :)

in other, non-fan-expo news:

I will be in Winnipegs Market square on Oct 1 for " Culture Days" , selling quick sketches and prints... I'm not expecting a huge turnout or profit, but I feel like im behind on my traditional mediums practice quota, and drawing live for kids and bystanders is great incentive/practice.

got interviewed here about the Royals comic hitting shelves

one of the coolest things happened the other day.... a FF fan from the UK has gotten a piece of my art Tattooed front and centre. damn.

ALSO! while were talking about this piece- its been downloaded 100-god-damn-thousand times from some wallpaper site... which is cool... but the fact that they upload their wallpapers without giving credit to the artists has me irked. I have had a dozens of people come up to me at comic cons who recognize the piece because they downloaded it from this site... super cool... but a bit not

Xmen and a tee

Working on an X-Men piece- shes in the very early stages, but you get the general idea (wolverine is taking on a sentinel)

I had originally planed on having this piece ready for the fan expo- but life has been hitting me from all sides lately, in the best kind of summer-is-awesome-and-overly-hectic-kinda-way just didn't have the time to finish :S

catch you cats when I return from Toronto next week!

also- this past week I screen sprint 40 tees for this goofy idiot's annual kegger (you had the option of blue or yellow):

some new noise

your first task: Go listen to this sad/awesome portal vid

and now for some ramblings:

Got featured on kotaku which means I received MAD internet attention for a couple days :) always nice

Got back from Chicago wizard con 2011- first off- thank you everyone who came to my booth and purchased work! this was my most succesful artists alley to date, and I am already excited to make the trip next year... (ive been hearing some great things about the Chicago C2E2 show, may have to make that con as well...)

I winged this wknd solo- so I was pretty much stuck behind my table the entire time, but I did manage to wander a bit and check out some of the other talent, this years con featured 500+ artists, and good lord was there some talent kicking around... I wish I had bought/traded far more artwork :S

also grabbed one of these bad boys:

My desk now looks proper-classy

also- did an interview with these guys: the first video just has a little blip of my work/table, but I think the full interview will be posted soon.

my hotel was also quite the wknd experience: I had breakfast a couple tables away from Felicia Day, rode an elevator with the Chewbacca actor, checked out at the same time as Lough Farigno, and took a shuttle back to the airport with one of the Boondock Saints... celebs just coming outa the woodwork

So now that my print inventory has been completely decimated by the classy cats of chicago- its time to rush to my printers for the Toronto Fan Expo in 2 weeks!!

cheers mates!

August Long

Just wrapped up August long weekend-and regardless of having no plans made whatsoever, it turned out to be a great one... im writing down what I did -more for me to remember, than for you guys.

Fri- sent off my print files for the upcoming chicago comic con, met up with my mates and went to the "Toad in the Hole" pub, met some random country people, followed them to the "Academy" Patio, after a drink or two there, we skipped over to the Australia bar "billabong" where our bartender working was Jermaine Clements (from flight of the conchords) doppelganger... im still not convinced he wasn't the real one.

From there, we set off on a trek for the "Taverns" rooftop patio-for whatever reason we ended up walking through a forest on the way... was a bit sketchy, there was randomly a mattress in there. The night eneded with a trip to the Poutinery (which is a place that exclusively sells big messy plates of fries+gravy+awesome)

Sat- finished off the above Metroid piece :) then BBQ and beers with some buds, followed by the famous BDI's ice cream and then off to a sports lounge for exotic beer. finished off the night with a marathon of "East Bound and Down"

Sun- went to Winnipegs Folarama Festival "Celtic Pavillion", followed by drinks at a buddies house, then off for pints at the kings head pub- which included a staggering loss at foos ball against some new friends. Im pretty sure they were AAA foos ball players in disguise.

Mon- hit a club for the first time in a while, and did all the things one does at a club. wait in line to get in, danced it up, waited in line to get a drink, dance, waited in line for the patio, rinse and repeat.

also:

found a stellar New song for the playlist

Comic Cons are Great :)

My current job is awesome... "design anthropomorphic steampunk animals" was a task given to me the other day. success.

0

Commissioned Iron Man piece, should sell nicely at the upcoming comic cons.

STUFF update:

Recently I attended the AiKon anime convention here in winnipeg- which randomly turned out to be my most profitable wknd of selling artwork YET. awesome surprise. I think a big factor was: Anime artists are the shyest most socially awkward breed of artists out there, so the fact that I actually talked to people walking by helped me out greatly with sales.

My print supply is now decimated, so I'm currently in checklist/new piece mode in prep for my upcoming trips to Chicago Wizard con and Torontos Fan Expo. I expect both trips will be a blast, cannot wait :)

cheers

My current desktop

The Fall

The Fall updated

My Angel Gabriel WIP

WIP- just started this up, and I really should be working on other things- or getting ready for a weekend of camping. Annoying how i always produce my favorite stuff when I should be spending my time on 6 other things besides my own pieces :S

One of my current favorite songs at the moment is Gabriel by Lamb. Great tune, and as with all songs, i keep imagining my own little music video whilst listening- basicly an angel has done something, and is cast out of heaven. the fall to earth causes her halo to disentigrate, her angely power to dissipate, and her wings to burn off, by the time she lands, she completely mortal.

the final piece will have a lot more to look at, as well as some nifty verbage :) stay tuned

GlaDOS Wallpaper for da

got a lot of requests for a wallpaper version of my previous portal piece- so voila!

WIP Tree Guardian

I had originally planned to enter into a "Create A Collosus" contest, but ran out of time- I blame my little sis's wedding. very selfish of here not to adjust things to my schedule :)

I still plan on finishing the piece, the final will feature a group of horrified little woodsman whom just shopped down trees in the wrong woods.

On a side note: my little sis got married last weekend, it was a great event, copious amounts of pictures, family noise and festivities. I think i might be fully recovered sometime next week.

Portal Fanart:

Finally managed to play a bit of this game the other week, thought it would make a great addition to the print selection for the upcoming comic cons. (Ai-Kon, Toronto and Chicago, i'll blog about those soonish)

My new favorite trick: build your artwork in grayscale, then play with colours afterwards. It really allows you to experiment and come up with some nice looks.

was about time to update this beast... My lack of updates was due to a comic project with Bluewater productions- I'll have my first comic on shelves this August :)

Steamy ol Tony Stark

Commission for a friend, but i was happy for an excuse to work on a steampunk character.

Just signed up for both AiKon and Toronto Fan Expo Comin cons :)
now I just need to wrap up some freelance so I can get working on my own artwork!

In progress Iron Man

lots of work to do to this, but its already been a ton of fun, very much looking forward to a finished product.

Portals: a great way to make new friends.

Fanart, based on Portal 2

still not sure about colour scheme...

a far better day at the beach

Im starting to really like drawing full scenes and backgrounds, which is a relief, because 80% of my portfolio lacks a background, that needed to be fixed.

still a bunch to add, a rusty bot half buried on the beach, some kids playing, plants, etc.

In progress poster,

Cloak and Dagger

ug its late, but I was on a roll with this piece, and if your work flow is flowing DO NOT STOP.

In-Progress commish

got commissioned to do a "Cloak and Dagger" poster, not overly familiar with the characters, but Im a fan of their designs :)

this piece is fairly overdue... hope the client enjoys the final product

Toronto results!

great wknd. like frosted flakes Greeeaaaat.

on friday, Aaron Douglas (the Chief from Battlestar Gallactica) did a double-take while walking by my booth, was very impressed by my work (I was overly ecstatic about this) so he ended up signing my halo print : "Fraken Badass", he Tweeted about my work, then grabbed a copy of the print for himself to have at his table the entire weekend, his mate:Toby Proctor (sailor moon's Tux Mask also picked up some pieces to show off while signing autographs. Fantastic guys to chat with, wish I hadn't had to fly back home so soon or I would have went out for some drinks with em. next time i'll miss the flippin flight.

My booth neighbors this weekend were the very talented "Red Letter Media" crew (the very same cats responsible for those hilariously scathing 70min Star Wars reviews) They were great guys to be sitting beside, although due to the nature of their fame, they did attract some very... "unique" individuals.

We were also right across from the "SuckerPunch" promotional booth, which had some nice eyecandy, however they also had the one minute trailer blaring and on loop allllll weekend. we almost went insane listening to it over and over again. (the booth girls were equally annoyed with the trailer, but did a great job hiding their frustration)

Got the chance to catch up with Lamin Martin again,

a phenomenal artist I had met last Oct. Huge fan of his work, this cat draws dragons and girls like they should be drawn. I hope/plan to get a colab piece rolling with him sometime in the near future.

Vids:
check out this guys video, I'm the first artist he shows :)

things for next con: (this list is here, just so I have it written in a place I'll be able to find a couple weeks from now)
- New Muse print
- no more stickers (too much effort, and my work does not make for good stickers)
- something similar to the venom print (spawn?)
- a DC piece (superman/batman Esq)
- redo Kerrigan/stracraft
- Star wars piece/prints
- better paper/stock for comissions
- New portfolio case
- re-tweak remnant 2.0