I’ve been volunteering with the Canadian Improv Games off-and-on since 1994! I’ve even done a lot of the design for merch/adverts on the local level. This year I got to also design the national games’ t-shirts! After the Improv Camp staff/camper tees got such high praise, I was given free reign to do… whatever! The only caveat was that it had to be done in three colours for a white tee.

Canteen opened its doors back in October, and The Little Big Show was the first exhibit they hosted. Canteen’s a small gallery run by my friend Inaas, who’s also the owner of the hip Milk boutique in Ottawa.

For the gallery’s first night, Inaas decided to hold a group show benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Ottawa. She was able to build a very impressive contributor list of local, national, and international artists – many of whom donated the entire proceeds of their sales! Artists included local hero Hayden Menzies, Toronto’s Liam Thurston, Robert Mars, APAK, Pamela Henderson, Marysol Foucault, and Scott Campbell, just to name a few.

The night was a resounding success; attendance was high, and sales were plenty. There were a lot of familiar faces squeezed into the small space, and a lot of new ones.

Here’s a link to some photos of the night on Flickr.

Working at Fenix Solutions for the past three years, I’ve created a lot of advertising pieces for Carlingwood, a local shopping centre. Usually these involve taking a lot of art direction from the centre’s Marketing Director, but this past September we got to implement a nearly complete branding overhaul!

Aside from their established logo, the only other direction given was the tagline “Shop Together”. Having just returned from ICON5 I was really pushing for illustration over photography.

The campaign (including posters, directories, a website, and flash animation) was launched in September to very positive reviews!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted anything – work has been keeping me way too busy. I may have to rethink my whole blog strategy… But before I get to anything TOO drastic, let me get some recent stuff online!

First off, I had my first solo art show at the end of August and it was a big success! I’ve collected the series as scans and put them up on Flickr for public enjoyment. Hopefully I can clean up my HiRez scans and get some prints made in early December… still wondering if there’s going to be enough interest in them!

I took some pictures of the vernissage, however I’m stuck in the dark ages and still have a film camera… and have yet to develop that roll of film – but I’ll post the photos once they’re done.

As part of her of the ICON5 program, Toronto-based illustrator Julia Breckenreid organized a collaborative book under the title New York City, Real & Imagined. The idea was to have artists contribute their own visions and interpretations of the big apple to the book, which will be on exhibit at MICA sometime this September.

My contribution is this little piece of retrofuturism; a theme that’s close to my heart. The piece was done in pen and watercolour pencils, which is a medium I’m growing to love. I really like the control it gives me! Now… back to work on my pieces for the La Petite Mort show!

It’s almost arrived – my very first solo art show. Since last October I’ve been on the roster at La Petite Mort, a heckuva gallery here in Ottawa. I’ve only had a few pieces on display – mostly because life’s been keeping my busy elsewhere in 2008, and partially cause I can be a lazy bastard… but no more! Over the past month and a half (since just before ICON5), I’ve been bitten by the creative bug again, and besides filling up pages in my sketchbook, I’ve gotten to the business of painting some pieces for this show! I’ve still got a ways to go – so it’s going to be a busy few weeks for me.

One Night Stand with Stefan Grambart (link)
August 29, 2008  |  7 – 10pm

La Petite Mort Gallery
306 Cumberland Street | Ottawa, ON | K1N 7H9
Telephone: (613)860.1555
Email: guy@lapetitemortgallery.com

“Anja and her sisters traverse the Ghostwood, pursued by the wolves, Dust, Smoke, and Shadow”

A collection of new fantasy/folk-tale themed paintings that follow a single encounter between the entitled characters. Like the panels of an illustrated story or modern graphic novel, each piece allows the viewer to experience the wordless story as it unfolds, all the while representing the overall theme on its own.

Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1 FM

Here’s the deal; being a “One Night Stand”, that means the artwork is only up for a single night – Friday August 29th. After that, they’ll be taken down (though a select few might stay in rotation for a few months). The pieces will be available for sale, in case anyone feels inclined to buy something, and that all gets worked out with Guy (the curator/owner of LPM).

I’d love to see everyone there; where possible – If you’re in town, please drop by!

This past weekend we family reunion & multiple birthday party at my sister’s place out in the country. About a hundred family and friends showed up in cars or campers. Kim and I brought our tent, so technically these sketches are still “camping” sketches!

Above, we have a landscape depicting the view from the back porch, a shot of someone fishing down at the waterfront, spectators (to the Newfie Horseshoe tournament) sitting beside an ancient camper, Norton the dog, and a half-finished study of the kitchen.

Here’s an earlier page… more views from the back porch, including a few quick studies of the fleeting Chickadees that were zipping to and fro by the feeder.

It being summer and all, Kim and I went camping with friends & family this month – first to Cape Crocker on the northern part of Bruce Peninsula. That’s where I found this little boat beached on Georgian Bay – a few yards from our campsite. One early morning I awoke before the rest of the gang, so I went down to the beach with my folding chair and sketched for about half an hour.

I’ve finally gotten ’round to finishing some new artwork! These three paintings/illustrations are the first in a short series I’m doing exclusively for La Petite Mort gallery here in Ottawa. All three were done in ink & acrylic on paper.

All three pieces are framed in ornate little matte black frames.

I’ve been a member at La Petite Mort since October, but have been very slow to produce work – unfortunately life has intervened to thwart my carefully planned schedule! That being said, I’ll be having a One Night Stand show there at the end of August – and I’m looking forward to it!

This July I’m heading to New York City to attend ICON5, and I’m pretty pumped up about it. I found out about the convention via Drawn! and to be honest I was a little skeptical at first; the price-tag seemed pretty high, and I had to factor in travel and accommodations as well!

But then I saw that James Jean was heading up a workshop on digital colouring! Suddenly I was interested in checking it out! The more I looked into what the con had to offer, the more impressed I got… and the more that hefty price-tag started to sound reasonable.

I’ve been a big fan of James’ work since I first stumbled on his blog while randomly exploring the internet. The first thing that caught my attention was his amazing eye for colour and lighting. I was deeply humbled by his abilities… and now I have a chance to glean some insight into his technique!

I’m really looking forward to collaborating with some fellow illustrators in a workshop setting – for the most part, my experiences working with other artists has been predominantly online (with a few cherished exceptions), and this will be a nice change of pace.

After checking out his blog, make sure to hit up James’ website (be sure to browse his sketchbooks!

As for the rest ICON has to offer; I’ll have more to say on that in the future!

“Getting Clean” and “Shinedown” are the copyright © James Jean, all rights reserved.

Took a little breather yesterday and made time for some drawing. I picked up on this illustration challenge via RSS, and decided to give it a go. A fun little exercise that let me forget about CSS, and website coding for a bit!

As previously blogged, I took part in the first print version of Fray magazine. The premiere edition of the new quarterly arrived the other day, and I have to say I was very impressed with the print quality. The theme for this issue was “busted”, and I was assigned a story to which I really could relate. Here’s my piece (click for an enlargement):

The good folks over at Fray are putting out their premiere print issue this coming January, and I got to take part as an illustrator. I’d love to tell you more, but that would just spoil the surprise! Why not head on over to Fray.com, check it out for yourself and subscribe to the mag?

It’s been over a year in the making but the Robotface Collective‘s AtoZee project is finally being let out into the world! As a dual release, the book is being made available in print as well as online. Put together by Robotface’s own Chris Bishop, the site contains the complete works found in the book and uses a handy interface for browsing.

But the internet’s not for everyone; some of you might want to have a real live print version to read to your kids. That’s why Robotface’s Eric Carl created an account at Lulu and has made the print version of Atozee available to the general public. At $9.78 (US), the book’s a steal and makes a great gift… order two though, you may want to keep one yourself!

Check it out: AtoZee Online and the Lulu product page.