Visiting Venus

A recent freelance project, and some other works in progress.

"We Are Now Approaching Venus"

I went for a sci-fi/ surreal style on this one. I did a few washes to give me some texture, then I drew out the background and blocked in color. I wanted it to look biomorphic and almost map-like, as if we are landing on some foreign planet. I played off the theme of the synthesis of mechanical and organic; insect, human, and machine. So we have an alien goddess-figure plugged in to an astronaut, sort of like a robo-medusa. Her Isis crown is receiving signals from a bio-sattelite above. Then we have a beetle installed with a microchip and some sort of queen/ant hybrid crawling around. A lot of this was inspired by Amon Tobin's recent work in ISAM.

"Desert Wanderers"

This piece is the beginning of an album-cover project.

My friend Amir and I are creating a story of two explorers, an artist and a bard, who sail and travel the earth, braving danger and bringing vibrancy to whatever environment they're in.

"Leaving the Meadows Behind"

This is part two of five. Here the two amigos stand before an ominous mountain range. Danger and death await. They have no reason to leave these comfortable poppy-fields, but they do...

More to come as things progress...

Caelum

Here is my latest work: "Vita, Anima et Caelum" or "Bios, Breath and Sky"

Click on the images below for a closer view:

I used my fingers to smudge the paint while working on the clouds.

If you look close there is a beer bottle in the window, a bee buzzing around near the sunflowers, and some ants crawling on the cactus. Admittedly subtle and maybe even ambiguous, but I always like hiding things in my work.

Close up of some brush-strokes in the middle-ground.

Me in the studio

Caelum Process

Here are some photos of the process of my creation of "Vita, Anima et Caelum" or "Bios, Breath and Sky".

I began by adding some vegetation with spontaneous strokes.

Building up a shadowy under-layer for the prairies. I discovered some exciting new brush techniques at this stage, and was able to keep applying them later on.

Working a variety of colours into the scene. I wanted to give the impression of a semi-arid zone, close to the badlands, but still a genuine Alberta prairie scene.

The wood-grain had such a beautiful pattern in it; I found it difficult to cover it up with paint. So I decided to trace it out with a few different colors.

After finishing following all the lines in the wood panel, I felt like I had given the sky too many hard contrasts. It was still nowhere close to having a realistic feel, which I hoped it would have in the end. But a joyous deviation for sure...

I spattered white all over the sky with a toothbrush, and added some cloud-forms. However, the resultant confusion between these new clouds and the almost topographical or "paint-by-number" style of the background forced me to make further adjustments.

I went overtop of most of the lines with a wash of blue-purple. There was one particular shape in the original wood-grain that had intrigued me most, which I left open in the middle. I thought it looked like some sort of vortex or celestial gateway, and this excited my imagination.

I created a composition with more clouds, making use of the vast space available in the portion of the panel I had allotted for the sky. The next several days were spent working solely on the barn and vegetation in the lower third of my piece. I painted dandelions, sage, various shrubs and grasses, and also cacti. I covered the barn roof with moss and added a hummingbird emblem on the front.

I continued building up some layers and experimenting with colors in the clouds to balance things out. I also began working on the horses. The next several days would be spent finishing the horses and clouds, and finally taking a good hard look at my creation and deciding:

"I'm finished" (with no small amount of satisfaction).

Odds and Ends

Here are some random pieces from winter and spring

Click on these images for a better view:

"The Integrated, Dismantling Forest Launchpad" OR "How Yellow Makes Me Happy" Painted as a commission. Modelled after Gustav Klimt's "Beech Grove"

"Cinque Terre". Done using chalk pastel.

Cinque Terre is a beautiful Italian village that I drew for my dad.

I worked with a diverse, rhythmic colour palette for the buildings on the cliffside. I felt like I was bordering on impressionism throughout this project, especially with the sea and sky.

"The Two Trees": a project for the upcoming Earth Pulse Magazine vol.2 Inspired by some basic archetypal symbols (the axis mundi and the serpent), I put them in a dynamic sort of post-apoclyptic wasteland. I almost felt it to be like a wizard duel at times, or a cataclysmic confrontation between good and evil.

Here is the finished product. Coloured on photoshop.

"The Steez Monkey"

T-shirt concept for Light and Soul's "Animalistic" clothing line

Initial Drawing for the Steez Monkey

Frozen Forest

Drawing of my nephew Gabriel in his halloween costume

"Mandala for the Earth" I created a symbol for the earth by integrating the Ying-Yang and the Pythagorean double-spiral. I incorporated the 24 elements in the human body and the 24 stages of the Chinese Solar Year.

Pattern made from an old drawing of a goose in flight

Synthesis Diptych

I created this work in 2008 as a university project. It holds a very special place in my heart.

Click image to enlarge

The Synthesis Diptych explores the themes of birth, death, and rebirth (and their eternal rhythm). The old dies so that the new can flourish. Relentless love conquers corruption and oppression.

Compassion, selflessness, and sacrifice are immensely beautiful and important aspects of our existence: death to one's ego, transformation through grace, and rebirth as individuals who become redemptive agents in the world- healing, encouraging, unifying, and liberating others into the same sublime headspace.

Mango Moondust

One of my more ambitious works to date. Pretty straightforward message: simply Enjoy the Process. Enjoy life. Enjoy the journey you're on. Enjoy time with your friends, enjoy breath, enjoy sight, enjoy sound, enjoy food, enjoy growth itself, rather than constantly longing for some abstract future milestone. This is the highest aim. There will be moments that are not enjoyable, but ultimately life is a gift, and is meant to be enjoyed. Make it a goal in your own life to remove obstacles that impede your savouring every blessing this universe has to give.

The woodland creatures have gathered as the sun rises anew. They herald the dawn. They celebrate. They bask in the endless cycles of earth. I had a blast creating this!

*Photos of the work in progress below.

2010 Opera

Here are a some works from the last half of 2010. Most of these were up at my "Enjoy the Process" lounge, during the December Market Collective. It was an unforgettable and deeply enriching experience.

"If This Were A Temple, Would You Have The Wisdom To Enter It?"

This Mandala is a celebration of ancient religion and myth. In our quest for the transcendent, we find ourselves grasping at a truth that ultimately transcends language and image altogether- the "seamless unspeakable something"

"Across the Ancient Sky"

i- West, Logic

ii- Integration

iii- East, Mysticism

Across the Ancient Sky plays off the idea that Logic and Mysticism were meant to exist in balance in the human life. Some questions are best answered by careful mathematics or precise observation. Other problems, however, are better addressed by poetry and ancient wisdom. Still other truths must simply be experienced.

"Winter Cottage"

Super-flowy, vibed-out remix of a painting I saw at my amigo Bryson's house. Makes me think of melting candles. All seasons are fleeting. Even in the deep of winter, spring is just around the corner!

Wizard concept for an upcoming mural. He's drinking tea from a celestial french press. Also his pipe-flute is sending infinite shades of green into the atmosphere. A one-eyed owl hides beneath, seeking shelter in the cool autumn night.

*BONUS* Stuff

[Enjoy the Process]