'you cereal-box reader, you social deviant, you!'

Sharpies & Notepaper

Two really excellent things.

I did some cafe-sketchings at a show with co-workers on College & Dovercourt a week or two ago. Sort-of-Johnell, an unusually-smiley Tedd, Andrew, one-beer-in Fraser, and Kevin le guitarist who also rocks an impressive beard! 

Tedd's friend Red, with Napoleonic flair

 t'was a hot-spot of hipsterdom

non-patron-of-the-arts hipster

...well I slept in 'til noon today, the first time in months, and that felt great. I've recently been engaged in some fabricating projects, Christmas decorating crezzyness, and a bit of relocating, and this work station pictograph is a pretty apt representation of the last month or two as a whole. All good times though, and I'm looking forward to Christmas and the months ahead. 

Pasta Sid

He wasn't actually a mafia member, I'll assure you, but he did possess some very striking if not uncannily shifty-lookin' features. 

Those eyebrows.

I love being back in my parents' church whenever I go home - it's teeny-tiny, filled with old Dutch folks, prayers for the farmers, hymns that move me to tears, and sweet old ladies who take the time after the service (koffie's klaar!) to ask me how my art is going and life in Toronto. I've been really blessed with being a part of several communities, both there and here. 

A conglomeration of inspiration from the likes of Iron Giant, Wizard of Oz, and perhaps Alice Walker's The Flowers

oodles of doodles

noreen, wednesday sketch nights

a sketchbook doodle from the weekly sketch night at Saving Gigi's

aaaand a sector of the Toronto stop-mo animation community at the first-ever Burlington Animation Festival - yours truly, Evan, and Mike (thanks, BAF!)

 ye olde days of teenage angst

and probably the best gift I've ever gotten in the mail - a mink scarf!

blue-bellied skink

This is a skink. It is kind of like a salamander, and we often found it in the gardens.

Also, never underestimate the importance of couches.

I went to the High Park Zoo for the first time on Sunday - checked out the reindeer and the peacocks in particular, and the smell brought back pleasant farm memories.

Are the animals happy in the High Park Zoo? This is a question all of us should ask.

Are the animals happy in the High Park Zoo.

 If they are, one can't complain too much. Food, shelter - they've been blessed and provided for and aren't wandering the streets. Not all living things have the privilege of a place to lay their head.

But if they're not? Do they hang in limbo or get the hell out? Return to their origins in search of the elusive place to call home? Should the brain grow sharp and the spirit dim? And would a return to wilderness reverse this, or merely slip into another form of degeneration?

It sure does feel strange being back in (quote-unquote) civilization. And in the meantime, here is a sketch of the kerry-cattle. They had quite the fan-club of flies.

Film Course & Fest

I had the pleasure of seeing The Scarf included in a University of Toronto film course coinciding with TIFF last night. Many of the questions and observations from its participants and facilitators were ones I hadn't heard before, hadn't even consciously been aware of during the creation process. They're a keen group.

You think you know a work because you created it, but it reveals more than what you knew when it was made. I've read this in Madaleine L'engle's work before but until recently had never experienced it.

The Scarf has also had a surprisingly long tail. It's been two years since completion, it's done a run on the festival circuitry and still seems to be finding new places to go. I'm very grateful for this.

In other news, Words That Feed The will be having its premiere screening at the Burlington Animation Festival on September 29th. Last I heard there are still a few tickets left, so snatch those up while you can! It looks like a good film line-up, and I (as well as a number of the other film-makers) will be in attendance.



A few more chickens!
I absolutely loved these ladies. If chickens by themselves aren't amusing enough to watch, these ones had lost most of their tail-feathers and they looked like a bunch of half-baked meals on legs.

Chickens!

3 hens a-layin'

bk-bck. bk-bck.

Mr. Rooster

The Pecking Order (& rooster flanked by his favourite ladies)

One of the chickens had a devil-eye!

The Railway Steam Gallop

The Railway Steam Gallop just finished playing at the Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival in Japan this week. I had the absolute pleasure of working on this film with Kaj Pindal (Sheridan professor, NFB veteran, and a very funny man) as principle animator under his direction and tutelage, shortly after graduating. It was an incredible experience learning and working alongside him, and tremendously fun as well - Kaj always has a good story or pun hiding in that smile of his.

I don't think I ever properly promoted the work-in-progress or the final piece, so below are a few making-of pictures (courtesy of Owen Colborne, photography technologist who came in to snap a few shots):

Editing stages & director approval

A final shot

Kaj fiddling with an engine. On the back wall are the storyboards, highlighted shots having been completed.

Hard at work

Below is a little snippet of some of the folks behind-the-scenes in the early stages of prep work; painting bystanders, setting up shots, testing equipment (via Chris Walsh, producer).
KajPindalTrainFilm_Day1 from Chris Walsh on Vimeo.

And the final film:
The Railway Steam Gallop from Carla Veldman on Vimeo.

Great Tante Aaf

I made a short film two weekends ago for the 'Manimate!' 24-hour animation film-making maramathon. The theme was trickery, and instantly prompted memories of me youth:

Great Tante Aaf from Carla Veldman on Vimeo.

tree lines

Shadow Le Dog

fun with pen & fingerpaints!

A Post About Bugs

I am kind of a bug nerd. Have always been, but being up here means exposure to some pretty snazzy insects. Yesterday we hunted down The Great Tomato Horn Worm which is the caterpillar precursor of hawk moths, and also possesses an impressive array of defense mechanisms:

1) Firstly, they are green and camouflage very well with the plant, and are therefore difficult to find.
2) If you shake a plant on which they are presiding/consuming, they will warn you with clicking noises.
3) They have very good grip and a decent number of legs. Prying them off a tomato stem is not for the easily-deterred.
4) When you do manage to pry one off, it will either try to bite you with its mouth or stab you with the little dark horn on its butt.
5) Or flail one end from side to side so you can't grab hold as easily.
6) And if all else fails, it will try to puke green juice on you.

Chickens love them.

Mosquitoes' Hall of Fame

sketches, sketches

  

The forest is always changing

     

the Drake

         

un chat

Updates & Slight Sketch Dumps

The episode of the CBC Short Film Face-Off featuring The Scarf and related interviews, audience feedback played this past Saturday night, and you can catch the episode here!

I'm also pleased to announce that another film I've had the pleasure working on, Kaj Pindal's The Railway Steam Gallop, has been selected to play in the Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival!! I'll share more about that soon.

In the meantime, some observational sketches:

 Cow, horse, and who-knows-what-else. Very cool.

 A most excellent lake. Likewise, very cool. (Ba-dum-chuh!)

  

The rodeo. Very macho. Lots of gratuitously unbuttoned shirts and macho swaggers.

Some folks observed at said rodeo.

                                  

 And Shadow the Dog, who hates singing and also does not like being watched while he eats. Sweet old chap.

We Used to Have Wine in the House..

It's another round of films playing tonight via le CBC Short Film Face-Off (see previous post) - be sure to check out the next three! 

On other matters, here is a comic about my older brother, who got married last weekend. He was an interesting (and very amusing) person to grow up with.

 

CBC Short Film Face-Off!

The CBC Short Film Face-Off Competition starts up tomorrow night! You can catch the films on CBC television or online and cast your vote June 30th! (My film will be playing that night).

Puppet Progress

Puppet progress - arms etc. There's a horse outside my window.

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead. In fact, I'm very much alive these days.

This summer is one of silence and cacaphony. Community, dirt-induced seratonin boosts, low-lit evenings and the proper weight of night. Reading books out of the wazoo as they say.

Halifax, by the way, was fantastic and very quaint.

The following are some related and un-related sketches:

 a girl in Tequila Bookworm who had incredibly graceful hands

a horse at the rodeo

Shadow The Dog (this one done in finger-paint and pen, which is rather fun!)

I'm off to Hali(fax) tomorrow! Off to land of sea! p.s. More posts soon to come.

Speaking In Other Languages

There was a summer when my twin sister and I tried to speak in our own language. It never worked though, because we were too lazy to actually bother about giving any words meaning - we just liked making the gibberish with some random French words thrown in.

Th'Scarf - more screenings!

Good news, mes amis! The Scarf has made it into a few more screenings, and a book!

First up, it will be playing on May 8th at the Pencils, Pixels & Puppets showcase, a Sheridan 'best of the last 5 years' at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Second, it will be in competition at the CBC's Short Film Face-Off program happening in May (televised in June, by the looks of it). So I'll be in Hali-fax for a few days where things are happening, hoorah!

And Third, The Scarf has made it into a book compilation of The Art of Short Films, which is a pretty brilliant idea for an art book and something I'm thrilled it's a part of.

And also: a random sketch for your enjoyment.

Myrtle

Well, spring has sprung and I'm starting a new puppet.