22 posts tagged “illustration”

Today is Drawing Day 08 and I originally had some good stuff planned but didn't get around to it. I still wanted to post something though so I figured I would post some progress stuff.

I haven't had much time to work on this lately, but here is some progress on my character, "Cashew" - part of my dress-up series. I'm going for a teal/brown/tan color scheme for this one and I think it'll look pretty cool when I finish it - which hopefully won't be too far away. And here is an EXTREMELY rough sketch of one of the other characters. I didn't even finish sketching it out because I realize that I usually ignore my sketches when I start painting anyway so it's a waste of time. I still have the rabbit one to paint after I finish Cashew, plus I have a girl with goldfish sketched out and ready to go. After that comes snake, frog, sugar glider, turtle, etc.... or whatever else inspires me in the meantime. DRAW! _______________________________ Moving on. Last night I went to a party at Tara's(boss) place and had a great time. There was a much larger group of people than the last get-together and it was kind of a potluck thing. Mike and I made caesar salad with homemade dressing, croutons, etc. It was so garlic-y that the collective breath of the party could peel paint I'm sure. I also made pina coladas which went over well. Originally the party was planned as a hot dog eating contest between my co-workers but as more and more people got invited, (or invited themselves) they crumbled under pressure for fear of appearing piggish. Bernie did eat four though.. so that's something. ;) My appreciation for my job continues to grow and I feel quite fortunate. The woman I'm replacing was at the party for a while and I told her she's not allowed to return in January. Tara spoke up and said I shouldn't just assume I'd be leaving when Gillian returns but I guess we'll see. A lot can happen before then. As soon as the summer is over and my seasonal depression kicks back in, I'll likely be anxious to move away again anyway. I actually had a lot of stuff I wanted to write about but I was hung-over this morning and I'm feeling lazy now. Slowly but surely this blog is being abandoned. I'm pretty impressed I still write at all after eight years. Ta!

I've had an interesting week... and I don't really feel like writing about most of it. I am, however, excited to have recently finished my first painting on my new computer. Big screen + more RAM = happy painting times for Jared. I've been looking over my recent work and I wasn't entirely happy with how it's been turning out so I decided to try out a different technique with this illustration. I think I achieved quite a bit more tonal depth with this than I have with my previous stuff. I get frustrated pretty easily when I struggle with painting, but all I have to do is look at some of my work from this time last year and I become pretty satisfied with my progress so far.

(apologies for those on my friend's list on multiple blogs and see this stuff like ten times...)

I had a ridiculously long, shitty day. I was originally going to post a rant about it, but I'm far too exhausted a the moment to dwell on it any longer. If today was any indication of how the rest of the week is going to be, however, I'm sure they'll be a lengthy rant in the near future. Clients from hell. :S

I decided to focus on the positive instead. I'm currently working on a series of 'dress-up' illustrations in my free time that I'm pretty happy with. I find I have two very different styles for my illustration work - one which comes very naturally to me and one which takes a little more time. This is an example of how I draw naturally and I decided to just go with it for once instead of always trying to force myself to draw in a style I'm not comfortable with. I had honestly forgotten what it felt like to just draw without all my hang-ups. I was surprised by how quickly things came together.

Anyway, here are three of the character sketches for what I'm working on. I won't go into much detail now but I hope the final series is as fun as I expect it to be. I have nine more characters at various stages of development at the moment. I'll start painting these once I get my new computer and have the correct RAM and screen size to properly illustrate.

Cheers

As usual, not much of importance has been happening for me. I still find myself longing for some sort of adventure or discovery, but I figure I'm the type of person who will always be searching for something else so I'm coming to terms with it... I guess. ;)  I'm just bored. I want to learn new things and I'm horribly impatient. There are a few things that I've wanted now for quite some time and none of them seem to be getting any more attainable. Anyone who actually reads this journal should know by now that the top of my 'to-do' list is to get to Asia. (Tokyo preferably but Bangkok more realistically and likely) At this point, even I'm sick of hearing me talk about it so I really just need to get there in order to get it out of my system, I think. However, maybe upon arriving there I'll be even more infatuated and only return to Canada with a stronger desire to get back to Asia. I guess we'll see... eventually.

Another item on that list of things I'm impatiently waiting for is to get my dog. Unfortunately our new apartment, though ripe with perks, also comes with the drawback of not allowing pets. The other building in the complex does, however, so there's always the chance we'll move into that one sometime in the future. The idea of moving yet again just so we can get a dog seems pretty silly though. Who knows. Mike and I are both pretty serious about it and I think we'd get a puppy tomorrow if we could. I really miss having that companionship. I've always had a dog since I was two years old, so it's been strange not having one for so long.

Work has been going more or less good. I've gotten into one of my design-funks where I lose all confidence in my work and can't seem to produce anything. Fortunately, I've spent the last two weeks doing realistic renderings of things so I'm at least in my comfort zone. I find that even though I still lack a lot of finesse as an illustrator, I feel much more comfortable with it than design. At some point in life I can see myself focusing on it entirely, though it'll be a long time coming I'm sure.

I also have a hard time reading people at work and tend to worry about how I'm perceived. I really like everyone there and think two of my co-workers in particular are hysterically funny but in typical Jared fashion, can't seem to open up to them. I can't figure out whether they intend to lengthen my contract when the woman I'm covering for is back from maternity leave but if I'm being realistic, I really don't think they will. For one, they don't really have the room for me in the office so they'd have to make special arrangements just to bring me on. Plus, I'm not sure if they'd really need an additional person. Things are pretty hectic at work right now, and I know the bosses are working crazy overtime but I get the impression it's not very common for them to be that swamped. And plus, I haven't really done anything impressive enough for them to think I'd be valuable enough to keep in spite of any complications that may come along with it. That's not me being negative, just honest. I think I'm fairly decent at what I do but I can identify my shortcomings and know that there are several areas of design that I struggle with. I think it's fairly lucky that they just happen to have a few illustration jobs coming through the office at the moment.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that at this point, I assume I'll be looking for another job in July if only because they simply don't need another full-time employee. I won't worry about it until then though. I'm making this seem much more dramatic than it actually is. :)

Speaking of work, my whole office and Mike went for dinner and drinks last night. I had an extremely good night. My bosses are ridiculously funny and light hearted. They crack inappropriate jokes, poke fun at some of their more eccentric clients (and there are so many) and are just all-around fun people. I find that I'm a lot more open when I'm not in the office setting so at least they get to see a little more of my personality when we all go on outings - whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen. ;) Not to mention, they're crazy generous. They paid for everyone's cabs but also paid for seven people's dinner, (steaks with blue-cheese and chocolate sauce :) ) drinks, desserts, etc. Plus, they bought me and my two other co-workers awesome new jackets from Veer. (picture below) Of course, they also bring treats into the office ALL the time, take us out for lunches, buy as coffee, and so on. I think I got very lucky with my first job - which makes it a little crappy that I likely won't be staying around after the summer. <:)

Anyway, I'm ranting. Here's my new design-themed jacket which is geeky as hell but awesome all the same. Oh, and I finally got my beanie from Scott last week and have been wearing it entirely too often considering the unusually warm weather around here. :) I love it.

Ta ta.

Since I have a few extra minutes this morning, I figured I should make a quick update since I'd meant to write one earlier in the week. As usual, however, I just never got around to it. Poor neglected blog. I need to buy you an ice-cream.

Last Wednesday was my birthday. Ew. 23 is just an ugly age to me.. and I'm not even sure I can make sense of that. Like, 22 and 24 seem like fine ages, but 23 does not. Maybe I just have a thing for even numbers or something. It's strange that certain ages have particular attributes assigned to them. Like, 13 - you're a teenager, then there's sweet 16, at 19 you can drink (Canada), etc etc etc. Nothing is exciting about 23. *sigh* I guess I have a full year to get used to it.

As usual, nothing has really been happening for me. I find that while I still like my job, the novelty has worn off and I'm officially at the point where the weekends don't come quickly enough. Last week in particular was hellish. I spent many days near tears from pure frustration with what I was working on. Thankfully, I'm off the project now and this week looks to be fairly monotonous. I'm doing illustrations all week for two different clients. One set is purely vector and has been in my docket for a month already at work. It looks like the illustration job that will never die simply because there are SO MANY things they need. The other job is a series of realistic paintings of 2-story houses for a construction company in the city. It sounds boring, and kinda is, but it's extremely challenging as well. I'm ashamed to say that I've never drawn anything in 2 point perspective before and wasted an hour or two just trying to figure out how to draw the damn thing. I'll post a picture of the process eventually.

What else. Oh, our furniture from IKEA arrived last week and everything was great except they sent three black-brown chairs and one pine. So last Saturday I had to make the trip out there to get it replaced. The guy at the Customer Service counter was amusingly homosexual and made me laugh. When I explained the problem, he said in the entirely stereotypical lisp "Really? Oh SNAP!"  I don't even know what that means. But he was adorable so I'll let it be.

I think that's all. My life, though never very exciting, has definitely fallen into the adult routine. Wake up, work, gym, home, tv, sleep.

And, I still want to go to Asia.

Ta!

Since moving to Edmonton, I've found myself desperate for some sort of inspiration for my work. I've been struggling to find a replacement to the environment and dynamic automatically created by being surrounded by like-minded people in a University setting. I don't find much beauty in this city to be honest. There's not much that sparks my creativity... I feel like I'm trying to force it.

One place that does still capture my imagination, however, is the Asian supermarket in the West Edmonton Mall. I'm absolutely fascinated by Asian culture. I love that their use of color and illustration is so unrestricted. The whole phenomenon of 'cuteness' is something that has always thrilled me. I find a lot of North American design and illustration to be bland and too reserved for my taste. I love looking at a box of crackers and being thrilled visually by the colorful characters and illustrations.

Overall, I just feel very creatively 'stuck' here. I would love to be able to travel and explore and become more wordly. I think my work would definitely improve from it.

Here's one more example of something that has inspired me greatly and really is a visual masterpiece. I just saw this movie the other day and was floored by the animation. It's gorgeous start to finish.

I'm going to get a tattoo. On the inside of my right forearm. I had never planned to get one and never thought I would but suddenly I feel strongly about it and have it planned. I just need to design it first. 

I just cleaned my bathtub. My hands are wrinkly and smell like tile cleaner. I'm buying eco-friendly cleaners from now on. I'm sick of having a house that smells of fake pine.

There's really nothing to report in my life. Since moving to Edmonton, I've been in a bit of a rut. I'm taking my time with applying to jobs (probably not a good idea) but I've been enjoying my time off to some extent. I worked non-stop for the last four years and it's nice to be able to have the break. My mother actually told me not to work for the rest of the summer and she'd find a way to support me because in her words, "You've impressed us all and achieved more than most. You deserve the break!" As kind (and ridiculous) as that offer is, I couldn't take it. I can feel myself getting a little anxious to get back into the grind. I guess my break has been pretty hectic anyway. All but a few of the days I've been here have been spent researching, designing, or illustrating. Plus, I have some pretty big plans for my future that require me to start bringing in and saving some money. I'm not going to sit back and hope that something happens the way I want it to anymore. I'm sick of letting life pass me by.

The problem I'm having lately is a small case of depression. Not sadness, but depression. That hopelessness that sometimes hits you. It runs in my family and I'm extremely lucky that I haven't been as effected as the rest of them. My mom and two of my uncles are on medication for chemical imbalances, and my brother and I have both suffered to some degree. I seem to be more bipolar than anything else so despite having moments where I feel completely lost, I can usually bounce out of it relatively quickly. That's lucky for me, but not so much for people around me I suppose. I admit that I am ridiculous with my mood swings but it's out of my control. Part of the whole Jared package I suppose. Unfortunately, I find myself falling into the dreary moods more and more.

I began reading up on Buddhism recently. I'm not entirely sure why, but I was curious. I've never been a religious person but don't consider myself to be an atheist either. I generally refer to myself as agnostic simply because I don't feel like I've given up hope entirely for some sort of higher power. Buddhism seems to be something that would interest me but I already know I would have some trouble following The Eightfold Path. Interestinly enough, the steps on the path that I anticipate would be the most problematic for me are those which I already seek to change in myself already. (right speech, right thoughts, right actions...) I think I'll look into it some more and maybe take from it what I can, but I'm not sure how able I am to dedicate myself to anything these days. Also, I haven't been able to find any information on Buddhism's stance specifically on homosexuality, so that may be something worth researching.

ANYWAY. Longest post in a long time. Good for me. I was inspired by my research to do a new illustration for the art blog I'm a part of. I kept the piece pretty abstract but incorporated some specific buddhist symbols (unending knot, lotus, parasol...) to tie into my mind-set at the time. I'm pretty pleased with the result. I'm getting into a groove with my work lately.

I guess I really have lost a lot of my motivation to update my blogs lately. It's funny, because I've had plenty of free time lately to update. I guess a lack of interesting stories contributes to my fading desire to update. There have been plenty of changes for me in the last month, however, so I guess I should at least jot down the main ones.

1) I graduated from University, yessiree. Got me an Honours degree. Pretty sure I lost my diploma though because it wasn't in any of my luggage when I arrived in Edmonton. Bummer. Knowing me, I wouldn't have gotten around to framing it anyway. I'm not very good at getting stuff like that done.

2) As mentioned in #1, moved to Edmonton. :) Here with the boyfriend, the best friend, and the boyfriend's friend. Things are swell. We moved into our new place which is pretty swanky if you ask me. I have pictures up on Facebook but doubt I'll ever get around to posting them anywhere else unless there's a strong desire from someone to see them.

That's literally just about it. Since moving, I've just been getting adjusted and very slowly starting to look for work. I've lost a lot of motivation in the last few weeks and I'm trying to get it back. I keep finding convenient exuses for why I deserve one more week of freedom but reality is setting in. I'll need to start making payments on my loans soon and that'll be no fun without an income.

I just feel like I want to spend a little more time on my own stuff before I devote myself to working for others. I want to experiment with styles, learn some new tricks, and add some cool pieces to my portfolio. Basically, I want to have a clearer sense of what it is I really like to do before I start applying. Unfortunately, all of my time has been spent reading, watching, and viewing other people's work and not really making much progress on my own. The only new thing I've done since getting to Edmonton is an illustration I did for my friend Jenn whom I miss very much and credit with my new love of illustration. While I know there's still huge room for improvement, I'm really starting to enjoy illustration in a painterly style instead of typical vectors, which is what I've been accustomed to for so long. I'm posting a video of some of the process just becaue I think Gawker is kick-ass and like to document my work.

Two posts in two days. What's gotten into me? You can tell the school year is wrapping up when I have time to update the journals again. Hopefully I'll make a habit of it as more time frees up.

I was up until six thirty this morning talking to the boy on the phone and working on school stuff. My head is playing tricks on me lately, fooling me into thinking I have more free time than I do since things are so close to being over. I anticipate at least two more all-nighters before I get out of here, but probably more. Mike is home in less than two weeks and I leave for Edmonton in roughly three. :) I never like to wish time away, but nine months is a long time to be away from my guy. I want April 14th to be here now.

Part of my tasks today was aging some signs for our exhibition space. I figured out a cool technique in Illustrator using Opacity Masks which is giving some great results. I like how it remains editable which is something I couldn't'achieve in Photoshop. I really am a geek for this stuff. I love learning tricks.

Anyway, back to work. Got to get the files ready for printing tomorrow.
P.S. Steve and Julé are still my favorite bitches.