FACEPOCALYPSE

While buying time at the Green Tortoise hostel I’d found 2 pretty appealing options as far as house-hunting went.

The first was Yuba Buena Commons near 3rd and Harrison; a subsidised, low-income SRO (single residence occupancy). The apartments are really nice, close to the POD (studio) and well-priced, but it’s reminiscent of some elaborate human storage operation. I went to ask a few residents what it was like living there and got mixed responses. And by mixed I mean “Seems good, everyone keeps to themselves” from some people and no response from others. Literally. No response. Just empty stares. I’d be halfway through saying “Hi, can I ask you a-” and they’d turn their heads and look at me with absolutely no emotion, then just continue on their way. This happened more than once. And by more than once I mean twice. But still, I only talked to 4 people so that’s a 50:50 split! Read the rest of this entry →

Crazytimes, crazy people. I’m certainly drifting, and it’s fun. I’ll share a few stories and people I’ve met thus far. Read the rest of this entry →

My 3:50pm flight from Dallas to San Francisco was delayed till 5pm or thereabouts. This didn’t particularly bother me, but there was obviously a big fuss. A handful of seats were double booked, and when my boarding pass came up with an error I had to get a new one. I didn’t pay much attention to it but when I walked onto the plane it turned out I’d been allocated a first class seat! Awwww yeah. It even had a ‘massage’ button on the seat. Read the rest of this entry →

Most people are busily painting at the moment. At least those who haven’t finished this week’s Illustration Academy workshop assignment. I kind of half participated and did my own stuff this week. I produced a few pieces (oil paintings) that aren’t anything special but I was mostly experimenting with the medium.

Anyway, I thought this was a good photo to share.

People are crowding around to watch Mark English work his magic on Niko’s painting (which is pretty awesome, he may eventually post it on his blog). For reference, Niko is standing on the left, obscured by the guy with the hat.

Also, if you’re not familiar with Francis Vallejo’s work, check him out!

Oh man, I need to keep these somewhere safe!

Sometimes you just need to let adversity fuel you. Don’t give up. Some people see defeat and abandon all hope, but it’s really opportunity in disguise! You are now the underdog! There are no expectations placed on you, so when you surpass expectations you can be all “Check it out! I’m balancing 24 plates on my head!”

I guess to me it feels like a test – people saying no makes me want to shoot fire from my eyebrows. Hair-seeking fire that will hunt down and incinerate the nay-sayers’ precious hairstyles. It’ll be of little significance that my eyebrows will also be gone. I have a full facemask or two which can be used for special occasions like Sans Eyebrow Day.

Anyway, regardless of the lack of funding I depart for next adventure (studying at TAD) in less than 2 weeks! Let’s make it 25 plates!

Transperth have a new TV ad, and I thought I’d throwdown some opinions because it looks like a lot of work went into it. The 3D is pretty fantastic but I think it has one fundamental flaw as an advert.

Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve just watched the free TAD on demand streaming workshop. It’s available for anyone to watch if other artists are interested. I enjoyed the process insights but think the best content is probably in the Q&A section at the end.  A lot of common problems artists face are brought up. Things like what to focus on to be a better artist, when perfectionism helps vs hinders, the question of ‘style’, and so on. However, I thought I’d write a post on ‘critiquing’ since  it extends beyond artists.

Constructive critique can be a great tool for improvement, but I’ve received a lot of horribly unproductive crits in my time and it’s generally due to a lack of awareness. There’s a lot more to critiquing than people realise, and little comments can have more impact than people realise. One of my old art directors had a “No driveby critiques” rule in the studio, which should be implemented in any studio. A lot of it comes down to communication skills and problem solving, which are both distinct from technical skills.

Anyway, I’ve compiled artists’ pointers from the video as a series of notes: Read the rest of this entry →

Went to the 2nd session of a 3-part fashion illustration/design course today at which there was an hour of life drawing, with easels and all! Unfortunately I missed the first half hour, but here’s a 10 minute pose.

The rest of the workshop consisted of fashion design with a focus on recycling and combining old clothes. Creativity and craziness was encourage. I started work on a ‘pant hat’, and will likely publish the final result after the final session in 2 weeks. I’m totally reinventing belts as headwear though. Remember where you heard it first – I’m the next fashion pioneer.

+1 meme.

I’m thoroughly amused – thought I’d share.

While in Melbourne I was treated to a meal at Vue De Monde courtesy of a generous soul I did some design work for last year. It’s a very fancy French restaurant. So fancy that I needed to adapt my eating habits. Instead of mashing food into my face with a spade I had to use cutlery. Furthermore, I cut my food into little pieces. I did consider eating the smoked Kingfish fillet (my main) in one mouthful, then standing on the table and proclaiming myself “the winner”, but thought I’d save that initiative for when I remember to bring a megaphone.

Eating/rambling aside, this is a colour study referencing my Vue De Monde photos. I might actually refine it a little and get it printed… I like it. It’s efficient.