Geetar-playing reference and then-some.

John Calvin at the AGO.

A morning sketch of the moon.

On Lobsters

Posting's been a little non-existent lately, leading to a bit of a costuming cliff-hanger here for which I apologize. I've been involved in some interesting endeavours the last month or so learning about textiles, fabric printing processes, muscles I never knew I possessed ("Oh, hello! I don't think we've met!"), how to fix Christmas lights, and other life-saving skills. It's been a highly enjoyable month and I'm deeply grateful for the opportunities served on my plate.

So I bring you a childhood memory:

Lobsters.


A month or two ago at a friend’s wedding my twin and I both discovered an extremely obscure memory of our first introduction to lobsters. There was an open lobster tank standing in the middle of a brown-tiled grocery store. It was filled with lobsters sporting unsecured pincers that could pinch off your fingers -(SO DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE TANK).

p.s. More Uncle Antlers costuming to come soon!

Uncle Antlers - Costuming, Part II!

Pants, shirt, vest, polka-dot bow-tie.. (he's been expecting a jacket, currently in production).

I like the progression his wardrobe's been making. He may be technically dead but he's not unpleasant - his clothes are of a proper sort, and the bow-tie (polka-dots and warm pastels) makes him a little more endearing.




I opted for painting a layer of brown acrylic over the tissue-paper-covered antlers, and used ink and a toothpick to add lines and grooves.

The Bowtie:

French knots on silk (remnants of a childhood hair-scrunchie).


I added interfacing to add more durability - the fabric by itself isn't terribly strong, and this prevents it from excessive splitting between the fabric fibres when I'm poking the needle through.


Trimmed to size and ironed.


Top and sides sewn; from there I tucked under and hand-stitched the bottom closed, then scrunched the square down into a bow-tie volume and sewed the middle to maintain that shape. I was originally going to use some of the silk to form the middle band, but it would have been too bulky and I've since warmed up to the thread alternative - it adds a bit of a folksy, hand-made feel.

Uncle Antlers - Costuming!

So! Costuming. Currently I'm a little under half-way through fabricating a costume for Uncle Antlers. (Vest needs finishing and tailoring, he's due to receive a velvet jacket, and an overcoat yet). I initially wasn't sure what kind of colour scheme to dress him in - any exploratory artwork has been pen sketches in black and white, and I wanted to make sure he fits into a distinct world that carries its own colour combinations and sense of atmosphere. Then I found this wonderful fabric at Value Village that is a brownish, almost-mauve-(rhymes-with-stove) colour but contains a tint of teal that shows up when the light hits it right. It's fantastic. From there I opted to go with a complementary navy for the rest of his suit, and I like the mix of a light-warm/dark-cool colour combo, along with the different textures involved.


I'm going for a formal and classic suit-style (almost tux-status, what with his shirt darts and a coming-soon bow tie) with references from early 1900's mens' wear. I ran an outer seam down the front of his pants to stress the crease and maintain its crispness; tailored structure. Also, I'm very proud to have made a lined vest in this scale.


Airbrushed base colour.


Added grit: acrylic paint, eye-shadow powders, and dirt.


Antlers and vest buttons...

Pictured, above: A (slightly) bulked-up Uncle Antlers, and my dad's model trucks (a love for miniature runs in the blood). As for feet, I've gone the magnetic route for securing him to sets so as to keep my options open at this point, and they're detachable (brass-stock on the bottom of his legs and top of his feet) so that there's a possibility for different rigging alternatives when it comes to actual animating.

Next week - some posts on costuming!

Uncle Antlers (a progress)

I've been meaning to make this fellow for a while. Starting with a rough scale drawings of his desired proportions, I've assembled a nice little epoxy-and-wire skeletal base which will then be bulked up with upholstery foam.


And his antlers - I'm still exploring the best means of producing these. I initially figured they'd be sculpted in clay, but when I gave that a shot I found it looked too chunky and 'heavy' to maintain any sense of gracefulnss. So I stiffened them a bit with gap-filling glue and plumber's epoxy, then added a layer of black tissue paper on top for a bit of contrasting texture to the smoothness of his head. The black's a bit too dark though, so I'm considering either adding a lighter layer of tissue paper on top, or painting details and a more accurate colur over the black. Suggestions?

I'm startin' something new..

wedding illustration

T'is a dark and stormy night (out here at any rate), and whilst I sip hot cocoa let me share some recent work with you.

I was an 'event illustrator' for a wedding a few weeks ago (very awesome idea and alot of fun to be a part of), and below are some of the little 'snippets of the day' that resulted:

a new puppet!

A puppet commission I finished fabricating recently, to be used in an online training tutorial.



(Substance: Armature wire, plumber's epoxy, sculpey, upholstery foam, liquid latex, houndstooth neckerchief).

HEY! I'll be helping out at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in (you guessed it) Ottawa this year, so if any of you dear readers are puttering around in the TAC area Wednesday afternoon or the Arts Court Thursday evening, come and say hi!

I won a fish on the weekend. His name was Atticus. He liked parsley and clocked out too soon.

drawing of the day: your local neighbourhood watch.

Edit: Discovered some very kind press on my film (The Scarf) on animateclay.com, check it out here!

Lip Synch-o

A stop-motion lip synch test I did a little while ago for the Irish studio Flickerpix:

It starts out a little choppy but as it progressed I got more into the flow of things. Also, a brief little character test piece for my opossum puppet:

The Scarf boards (and a new fest!)

I realized not long ago that I never did put these up. Adding tone recently for portfolio purposes and the film's acceptance into the Montreal International Black Film Festival makes for a timely post. Enjoy!

ode to lyd, and other people

I've been meaning to post this all week! and I've been meaning to write this ode for far longer. My best friend-and-cousin Lydia got married last weekend. She is one of the few people I know who has that rare and precious gift of truly listening; she is patient, loyal, practical, and gracious. I am tremendously thankful [and extremely happy] for her!


There is an art to watching kraft dinner on the stove, and my brother has mastered it.


And a portrait of my sister. She is hilarious, and we are twins.

p.s. I'll have some animation up again soon, and that's a promise!

My siblings and I held snail races one summer with the neighbour kids, no lie. I don't think anyone won.

Contrary to popular belief, the King is alive and well and donating paltry sums to good causes.

summer in the city

There was a girl playing recorder (that most brilliant of instruments) across the street yesterday. Her grandfather was sitting nearby listening but not watching just staring off in the distance and there's such a large gap between being 6 and being 60, I wonder what he was thinking about.

on balloon animals

I don't know about you but I've always thought balloon animals pretty cool. I saw a kid at an art fair while in Groningen clutching one of these and he looked absolutely ecstatic.

a little more on Uncle Antlers, as he'd like to be called