Multimedia

Apocalypse

Apocalypse portrays a post apocalyptic landscape. It was built up using many layers of acryllic paint and conté. This project was aimed at studying the human skeleton which obviously is difficult to portray when smearing paint around. If I could go back in time I would fix up the eye sockets and work on the shading of the bone to make it look more decrepit. Also I would probably change the composition entirely.

Dragonair & Dratini

This drawing of Dragonair & Dratini from Pokémon was done in what has somewhat become my signature style of monochromatic pointillism. It was created as a Christmas gift for a friend from League of Legends. In exchange, she gifted me a sweet Rammus Hat (Okay). Unfortunately we haven’t talked in years, but she will always be Teemo Girl.

Durin's Bane

After what felt like years of not making any art I was inspired to create this monochromatic pointillist drawing for a suomi ystävä. It took a few hours to create a preliminary drawing and explore the methods to create the windows without it looking too much like a dot matrix printer. The drawing itself sat on my shelf for months while I considered how to give the Balrog a light source but in the end I was too worried about wrecking the picture entirely to attempt it.

This piece was inspired by a piece of artwork on The Lord of The Rings subreddit (Opens in new window) that I saw once upon a time.

Hammering It Out

This one time in college our teacher asked what our plans were for a project in video class. Having been away sick the previous class I told him that I was still hammering out my ideas. He said he expected to see exactly that, so that’s what I did. For the project I hammered trees, fences and fence posts, dumpsters, a Britney Spears magazine, palettes with snow on them, a sidewalk, a paper towel dispenser, all to a Less Than Jake song (Opens in new window) with some spiced up drums. I even taunted like a Pyro from Team Fortress 2 because it was the video game of choice back then. So many memories… So many hats…

Moria

This Moria print was created by using a steel etching needle to scrape grooves into a plexiglas plate. After the etching was complete, ink was smeared onto the plate to fill the relief areas. Once inked, a cloth was used to wipe ink away from the negative areas. The prepared plate was then attached to a soaked piece of textured paper and sent through a printing press. Voilà! We have Moria, or Khazad-dûm - The Dwarrowdelf - where for thousands of years the Longbeards dwelt. It is here that the Dwarves, delving ever deeper in their search for Mithril unearthed a Balrog of Morgoth, later known as Durin’s Bane.

Nazgûl

Remember that time when Frodo and his fellow Hobbits were on Weathertop and Frodo was stabbed with a Morgul-blade by the Witch-king of Angmar? Of course you do. This print was created in the same way as my Moria print. Etching needles, ink, cloth, paper, then sent through a printing press. Bam! We have a Nazgûl. Perhaps it is even The Lord of the Nazgûl himself, but I’ll never tell as like with a lot of art it’s up to the viewer to decide such things, or something.

Porcelain

As an introduction to video class in college I enlisted the assistance of Vaughn Royko (Opens in new window) to slam dance with me and pretend to shoot toilets with a tripod. I have no idea why. The song is about Hub Muffins from the Medicine Hat College cafeteria and the ensuing irritable bowel syndrome that often accompanied eating them. In those times of need a toilet, or porcelain, is your best friend.

The project requirements included creating a song with random lyrics, both of which which were inspired by Linoleum by NOFX (Opens in new window) with some spiced up drums, the guitar solo from Modern Man by Bad Religion (Opens in new window), and a video about nothing in particular.

Lyrics:
Going into space never made sense to me.
It makes your senses go hazy.
Well that’s not true for me I eat my fiber
and then I disregard concern.
That’s right, disregard concern.

I’ve got a stomach full of hubs in my head.
Eating them only brings me dread.
I.B.S. and apathy
terrorizing me like a banshee.

I’ve got a friend: Porcelain.

Porcelain supports me on its head.
Waits for me as if I were dead.
Flushing only brings me peace.
Then goes away like flying geese.

Porcelain. That’s right, you’re my friend.
My friend.

Seagulls at Peters' Drive-In

This photograph was taken in Calgary at Peters’ Drive-In. If you have been there during the summer you will likely know just how many seagulls are scavenging for leftover food. After I had finished my meal I noticed that my friend still had a whole bunch of fries. Without her permission I used them as seagull bait then chased them away as I snapped some photos. My friend wasn’t thrilled at the loss of her fries, but at least the photo is nice and if nothing else we can now look back on it and laugh (Opens in new window).

Sorrow

Sorrow was a drawing for illustration class in college. For the assignment we were required to compile an image from magazines, transfer it onto illustration board using carbon paper and fill it in with shots of colour using acryllic paint. Art, man… It’s all deep and stuff…

Suffer

Suffer was a submission for a Halloween themed art show while I was in college. It was the first project that I photoshopped to a heavy extent and it served as a good introduction to the software. I learned a bunch of keyboard shortcuts which increased my productivity by at least 47%.

Some people say that artists have to suffer in some way to produce good work. I do not typically apply the term “artist” to myself very often, especially when liberal amounts of inspiration from popular anime shows are used, but I will say that when things are on my mind they typically are expressed through art or music.

Unparalleled Parallels

The idea for this project was to create two seemingly identical windows in regards to their shape, size and colour, but have them slightly offset from each other. This was to connotate how two things that seem so parallel, differing slightly, ultimately makes a world of difference. Oh silly metaphorical art explanations…

Despite it seeming like a black background, the painting had half a dozen layers of very dark greys and cool blues, and the windows were created with many watered down coats of white and blue acryllic paints. Sometimes I wonder if the person I gave it to still has it, but then I remember some things are better left in the past.