Sven Kirsten's Tiki Modern book

An utterly amazing compilation of things tiki that weren't covered in his first book, The Book of Tiki. Great follow-up and it also highlights Witco furniture, polynesian influences, Detroit's very own Chin Tiki, and other things tiki. Taschen (see link posted in my links section) publishes some amazing art, pop culture, design related books and this is just one in the many that they do produce.

Quick sketch

Rather than just heave perfectly good pieces of paper into the recycle bin, I occassionally will tear regular office paper into four equal sections, clip them together with a bulldog clip and use them for scribbling notes- the poor man's Post-It Note. Well today I decided to do a quick sketch of my fellow Canadian, Wolverine on this pinkish rose piece of bond paper for kicks. I think on the back side of this paper was some old departmental mail or something from school. A few quick scribbles with the Copic Markers, some white Prismacolor pencils & voila!

My two bit speed drawing

Inspired by several of my peers here (they're not just ex-students any more- they're grizzled seasoned pros now), I figured I'd give a go at doing a Speed Drawing (curse you Imran & Jeremy!). Granted that's generally my schtick for real work but I figured I'd give a shot at it here, time myself and see what I'd come up with.

Here's my go at drawing Robin Hood's buddy Little John. It had been awhile since I broke out the brush but that was about four minutes doing the black & white, a few scanning/ printing and maybe another four coloring. Total= maybe ten, eleven minutes tops. I always dug the Alan Hale, Sr. character in the movie and thought that guys who could beat the snot out of you with a quarterstaff were pretty hip.

Day One. Full of hope & promise.

It's the first week of school officially now. So many fresh new faces all across campus and for me, my responsibility stayed with the graduating seniors today. I've got the Portfolio Presentation class now- it's a daunting task for me because I sincerely want the graduates to go out there and be a success. I know I can't protect them from every hiccup and bump along the way but hopefully I can at least pass on some of the knowledge I have of being a working illustrator, a graduate of the school and just some of the life experiences I've had. I envy them because they're at the beginnings of what I hope will be very fruitful careers and yet I also fear for them because the market is in constant flux. But if they get anything out of my class, I hope it's that they know how to be agile, adaptable, relelvant to their craft, and have a sense of satisfaction.

Comic Con photos at long last!

As promised many moons ago, here are some various Comic Con photos (as taken by our fresh faced Comic Con virgin with the camera, Glenn Lattiere). It truly is the Pop Culture event to behold. Photos can't do it justice- it's literally an event one has to attend to really comprehend the scope of this thing.


Some pretty amazing Bruce Timm/ Batman figurines.


Glenn hanging with some mechanical beastie.


One of the many Daves that weekend getting gnawed on by a display.


Everyone's favorite wookiee, Chewbacca- made of Lego.


The two Daves, Swartz & Boyle.


Various cool figurines that were for sale.


The back of the Iron Man movie armor. They kept this under a huge Stark Industries crate until Saturday 2:00PM!


The DC Comics area and their array of banners.


The Comic Con floor and its sea of humanity. It was mind boggling the amount of people.

Hands & fatigue

As I'm trying to clean up my office a little bit prior to the new school year, I came across this little goofy gem of a drawing I did last year demonstrating what happens to my drawing of hands as the hours get longer and longer.

School starts!

Rather than get nervous about the upcoming semester, the incoming freshmen, and new challenges that lie ahead this year, I'm left thinking about all of those immensely talented students that have passed through the hallowed halls of CCS. Not just the students that I've taught but so many others that I never really had the opportunity to really get to know well. The ones I have met... some will keep in touch. Some have probably hated their collegiate lives and grumble & grouse about the experience. School isn't meant for everyone and everyone has a different take on it, but it is an experience; I hope they've all learned something about themselves if nothing else.

Just within the last few weeks I've gotten a handful of emails about how some of them have landed nice positions already. They're at the beginnings of their careers. They'll be focusing on establishing themselves and carving out their own niches in the business. I'd like to think I've helped some when they were in school. It's all so odd now that next week, those faces I had gotten to recognize over the last few years aren't coming back as students anymore. They've struck out on their own and have the world ahead of them and a new breed of illustrators, designers and artists are coming up right behind them.

It's a cycle I went through when I was a student and it continues along now that I'm an instructor.

Another random observation on SD Comic Con

This was an image I had done for a friend of mine at Itoya Portfolios and was fortunately an unfounded fear of ours the entire time at the San Diego Comic Con.

Pics from Comic Con

Sure it's supposed to be about comics at Comic Con (not really) but they had two of the coolest vehicles there from my childhood- the Batmobile and Speed Racer's Mach 5.

Gotta pimp 'em.

Y'know what? I might as well do some of my students some good here on my blog. Above is my up and coming Independent Study student, Wayne Porter and his work. He's seriously thinking about diving into the matte painting world and seeing if he can strike a fortune there. Wayne's busted some butt this summer doing this stuff on the side and emailing me pics (little does he know I try to have somewhat of a normal life during the non-teaching months!). Wayne seems to have the moxie and drive to do this too. Lemme know what you think or better yet, go check out his blog. He could use the feedback and could use a job in a few months too.

Mark Ryden book

This is another great book I picked up in San Diego that I think is noteworthy. It's by famed illustrator extraordinaire, Mark Ryden. I nearly forgot about it because it's so dinky in the big stash of books I brought back. I got this book from Stuart Ng (http://www.stuartngbooks.com/) at his booth- which was filled with all sorts of first editions, signed copies and all sorts of literary and visual jewels. Mark Ryden's great style, business savvy and cool art have most definitely propelled him to the top of the big illustration heap right now.

The nice guy that I am- I loaned it out to a colleague of mine Don Kilpatrick. If the pages come back sticky, drool filled or missing, there will be hell to pay! Enjoy it now Don... but I do expect it back soon, intact and in immaculate condition!

Wendy Froud

I met Wendy Froud last year at the Comic Con and presented her with a centennial pin from CCS. Our school where her parents taught and where she cut her teeth had just celebrated its 100th year. Her family's contributions to the school are amazing and far too numerous to list. She is by far one of CCS' most celebrated alums and probably one of the most famous.

On top of all the acclaim, she's one heckuva great person to hang with and friendly as can be. Her husband Brian and son, Tobey are also wonderful people as well. It was wonderful spending a few moments at Comic Con with them.

Greg Preston's amazing book

While perusing through Stuart Ng's great book section at the Comic Con, not only did I get a chance to meet Greg Preston but I also had him autograph his amazing book to me. We talked for a bit as we both stood in line for some other books and I was amazed at how lavish his book was. He took fifteen years to photograph some of the industry leaders in comic books and entertainment including Jack Kirby, Mike Allred, Mike Mignola, Alex Ross, Jim Lee, Gary Baseman, Frank Cho, Marie Severin, Moebius and an entire cavalcade of luminaries. Out of the many people that he took photos of, many have sadly passed away but there about 80+ still with us and about 60+ were at the Con. Sadly I didn't get a chance to go around and get many autographs of those people but I'm hoping to lug this book out next year and snag as many signatures as I can. Every year we'll lose a few more talented and gifted people from the industry; wonderfully so Greg Preston has taken us into so many of these creative geniuses' studios for a glimpse of their workspaces. Beautiful photographs!!!

Xaime Hernandez at San Diego Comic Con

Xaime Hernandez and his brother Gilbert have been producing some of the most gorgeously drawn B/W comics in ages. These guys seriously know how to draw great looking women with realistic attitudes and expressions. I had a chance to meet them both at the Comic Con, talked to them for a bit and could help but pick up a signed copy of The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S.

Back from the mountains AND the coast.

Of course photos will be forthcoming, but a quick update since I'm back now. I've spent two glorious weeks back in my home province of Alberta and I also spent one grueling week in San Diego doing the Comic Con. I even went up to LA, meandered there visiting old students (that are now climbing the big ladders in the industry) and shopping for tiki. Needless to say my internal clock is still a few hours off and I still haven't gotten back into my Michigan mode yet.

And school starts up in a few more weeks? Egads!