ICON6 is quickly approaching, and while I’ve been meaning to post about this since I signed up back in April, I just haven’t had the time. Two years ago I decided to check out ICON5 in NYC. I signed up largely because James Jean was giving a 3hr workshop on digital painting, as I had previously posted here. While I’d promised to write more about my ICON5 experience, it seems I let that slide off my plate as well (the only other post on the subject being this one). So maybe before I get to talking about ICON6, I should write about ICON5 and why the experience has prompted me to travel across the continent to a city that may or may not sink into the Atlantic at any given moment (or 2012, if Jon Cusack is to be believed).

ICON5 was incredible. As a professional designer and animator, and someone who’s spent a lifetime drawing and eager to get back into the freelance world… it was an eye-opening and informative weekend of talks and panels discussion a range of topics. Everything was covered; from children’s books, through art galleries, all the way to editorial works. I signed up on the strength of ONE workshop, but in the end James Jean’s instruction was just one part of the myriad of awesomeness. But the best things about ICON5 was meeting other artists and illustrators; Sketch Motel‘s Huan Tran & Geneviève Cote, Rosemary Travale, and Craig Arndt – just to name a few.

So when ICON6 was announced I was eager to check it out. I had a short conversation with fellow Torontonian Michael Cho about the conference, and am glad to hear that he’s accepted the invitation to speak in LA (I finally got to meet Michael in person at TCAF, but that’s another story). There’s also been discussion amongst the Styl.us artists who’re going to the con (or live in LA) about a possible Styl.us invasion of the city! This is something I both dread and look forward too (well, my liver dreads it).

The plan is to tweet the whole thing – from the less-than-touristy touristic stuff Kim and I will be doing (galleries, restaurants, beaches), to the conference itself. so if you want to follow along in real time, follow me on twitter. But if that’s not your thing, I’ll make sure to post a lengthy trip review on the blog once we’re back safe and sound in Toronto.

The Canadiana-themed EhOK! group show opened at Canteen this weekend. Inaas asked me to take part months ago, and after some shipping kawfuffles my pieces made it to the gallery in time (thanks Mom & Dad)! Ming Wu posted some photos on his bog, both of the artwork, and the accompanying music show provided by Adam Saikaley and Cinéma L’amour. From the list of artists, I noticed Aaron Lashomb’s name… I wonder if it’s the same Aaron Lashomb I went to high school with…

Update: It looks like it IS the same Aaron Lashomb :) Yay!

Well I’m I bit behind on my posts, but the Two Days Slow show is still going strong at Canteen! This is the piece I made specifically for the show. I wanted to work with a less detailed style, try something new. I drew the entire piece in Adobe Photoshop CS4, using a Wacom Cintiq 12wx tablet (final illustration seen above). Afterwards I had a half-dozen prints made, which I then cut out by hand and bonded together with some foam core, balsa wood, and all-purpose glue. The entire assembly was mounted in a shadowbox. I hadn’t really thought of it before, but with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland being shown in 3D, it only makes sense that my Alice artwork is also shown in “glorious 3D”! Avatar, eat yer heart out :)

You’ll have to inquire at Canteen if you’re interested in buying the piece, though I’ve got some flat prints of it for sale. If you’re interested in a print, just post a comment here and I’ll make them available in the shop!

Coming up next month (March 4-28th) I’m taking part in yet another awesome group show at the lovely Canteen Gallery in Ottawa! In November I kinda decided to take some time off from shows to focus on production; I’ve had a decent 2009 and wanted to take the time to build up a small catalog of work. I tend to scramble to get works put together for show deadlines, and wanted to avoid that for this calendar year.

But that being said, I find it hard to pass up contributing to the group shows held at Canteen. Inaas (Canteen’s equally lovely proprietor) always comes up with interesting themes and settings, and we’re definitely of one mind when it comes to what is and isn’t a fun project.

So yeah… Two Days Slow!
It’s an Alice in Wonderland themed show with a buncha cool artists attached to it. I’m working on a piece entitled “You’ll See Me There”, which is going to be another cutout dealio like from my last show. The illustration style is evolving though, so you can expect something just a little different… I’ll post a WIP in a few days.

You can find out more about the show on Canteen’s listing, or via their Facebook Event. The above poster was illustrated by Casey Weldon.

Tonight at La Petite Mort, I’ve got my second solo One Night Stand. Last year’s show went over superbly, so I am looking forward to being in Ottawa again. The show’s theme this time around is “Fantastical Fabrications of a Forgotten Future”. I’m trying out some cutout/papercraft elements to go along with the illustrations, and am finally getting digital prints done up in time for the show (see below).

In any case, I’ve copied the names/links for the new additions in this post, for your browsing convenience

Man… the list is getting damn long, I should think about a better tool for displaying these names! Please add any comments to the 500+ page.

Two days ago, Ryan North published the daily installment of his excellent “Dinosaur Comics“. In it the character genius dinosaur known as T-Rex creates a couple of rather interesting characters, including the above “Sassy Space Cat“.

I couldn’t help but draw this fantastic character, and look! Ryan’s been gracious enough to post it in today’s comic!

Ryan’s all over the internet, and a lot of his links can be found on his Wikipedia entry.

Thanks Ryan!

In less than a month’s time, I’ll be featuring new work at Canteen in Ottawa! The show is called “The Curious Creatures called Combinimals” and is a project I’ve been doodling on-and-off for the last couple of years. Glad to see that it’s finally seeing the light of day!

The show will be on display all month; I’m one of three artists being featured in the gallery next month. There’ll also be an opening night shindig from 6-9pm (shortdig?) Friday June 5th. Anyone who’s in town, it’d be great if you could attend. Stuff will be on sale, if you’re inclined to buy…

Lastly, if things work out, I’m going to have some prints and/or other goodies done up towards the end of June; maybe time to get that Etsy store up and running?

Been so busy, I haven’t been able to promote my new webcomic! Horrible! April 7th marked the launch of the first page of this new weekly and after an additional two weeks, we’ve had over 13,000 readers! I’m completely blown away by the reception the comic has garnered!

Gone to Ground is based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe, designed by Games Workshop for their line of games. The comic follows a squad of lowly grunts as they bumble their way around the battlefield, trying not to get killed by all manner of aliens, empires, and monstrous creatures!

A student friend of mine was working on a conceptual children’s book dealing with the issue of homelessness. She asked if I could supply some illustrations to go with her story – a story about a dog named Sammy who runs away from home and finds himself alone in the big city.

The story is rather interesting as it draws upon many of the issues that the dispossessed face in cities across North America, but it does so in a kid-friendly kind of way.