Carving Paper

sketchbook

2011-11-20T23:01:00.001-05:00

sketchbook 10/30/11

2011-10-30T18:17:00.002-04:00

A-Z, the completed set

2011-09-18T22:04:00.000-04:00

Well here it is. For the last two months I've been working on painting an image to the corresponding letter of the alphabet. A fun and at times, frustrating exercise. I think Next I'll be doing the alphabet with the corresponding hand sign.

H, I, Y

2011-09-10T20:03:00.001-04:00

F, N, S

2011-09-09T00:17:00.001-04:00

Your mission, if you choose to accept it…

2011-09-05T13:00:00.002-04:00

I've been working on painting an image for each corresponding letter in the alphabet for the last bit, in oils, and here's a few I laid out that are still drying. I have a week and a half to paint 10 more oils, let them dry and hopefully resin all 26 of them. Impossible you say, well, I'll let you know how it goes when I show these guys at my show in 15 days.

(cue music.... Mission Impossible starts now!)

E,G,K,P

2011-08-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

3 x 3 Nutcracker

2011-08-21T08:15:00.005-04:00

I've been working on this one for the last month (I know, I'm really a slow painter) but the painting phase is done and other than for a few touch ups, I'm ready to assemble this monster and get it framed.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I envisioned each painting to be much darker in mood and I guess my understanding of colour theory and technique hasn't yet reached the level of proficiency that allows me to match what I see in my mind. But it's going to be shown at the show and hopefully some lucky person will have it in their collection.

Let me know what you think.

B, M

2011-08-18T16:47:00.001-04:00

R

2011-08-14T18:00:00.003-04:00

A little out of order, but I was inspired to paint Burt Ward as Robin. Not too close to his resemblance, but there are some bits that would make you believe that it might be his brother dressing up as Robin..for Halloween, dyed in blue...

Does Burt Ward have a brother?

C

2011-08-11T18:20:00.002-04:00

A, B. D

2011-08-10T15:07:00.008-04:00

SOLD

Well, I'm trying my hand at oil paints. It's definitely a different feel from acrylics and a long way from watercolour. Its been challenging and my use of blue and white is on purpose. I don't want to be bogged down by colour problems, especially since I have to get the entire alphabet painted for my art show by mid September. So I'm just dealing with tones. Makes my life slightly simpler but still challenging.

Here are the first few paintings. "C" is sitting on my window ledge drying.

5x7 in. oils on 1/8" masonite panel.

10 oclock art

2011-06-25T09:54:00.007-04:00

Added a bit more to my 10 O'clock art spread.

I found this through Eric Orchard's blog. The concept is to post whatever is on your drawing board at 10 o'clock, regardless of what state it's in. Post it on twitter, with the #10oclockart hash mark. It'll be interesting to see all the offerings once it hopefully gets going. Plus this is an excellent way, at least for me, to draw something and not be too finicky about it because I'll have a 10 o'clock "deadline".

This is my offering. I've drawn it before, but I know how you all like to see how a starving artist, bachelor's kitchen is like. Well here's your chance.

On a side note, now that I'm writing it, the word "bachelor" makes me sound like an old curmudgeon of a guy who's stuck in his ways... I guess if you've seen my previous post on this exact same subject matter, it hasn't changed much... oh, geez, I am a bachelor.

Oops, a bit after 10.

The last three of the type and image illustrations…

2011-06-03T20:23:00.005-04:00

So here is the last three "larger" illustrations I've completed for the Riverdale Art Walk show this weekend. I think I'll put the words and image idea to bed after this show. It was getting a bit tiring doing these guys and my goal is to have a new body of work in acrylics for the Queen West Art Crawl in September.

However, I have a few more smaller rink drawings to complete before I start packing for the show.

Of course if goes without being said (but I will anyways), that you are all invited this weekend to the show and drop by booth 106 and say hi... that's if you're in Toronto.

Hopefully I'll have one more uploads of smaller ink drawings before I leave tomorrow.

Sheep 3

2011-06-03T01:46:00.002-04:00

Sheep 2

2011-06-02T18:59:00.001-04:00

Samurai helmet and half mask

2011-06-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

Sheep

2011-05-31T15:14:00.003-04:00

My second attempt at this image. The first version was way too cute and "fluffy". Not what I was intending and this one comes closer to the mark.

The ink battle continues.

Who let the dogs out?

2011-05-29T23:01:00.004-04:00

Been working on this one for a while (maybe even overworked it). I'm not too sure if I should show this at the outdoor art show. Help me folks. Yea or nay?

ink drawing

2011-05-27T18:08:00.003-04:00

I remember the first time I saw Bernie Wrightson's ink renderings for Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, it made me want to draw with ink in that style. However as a young boy, with an attention span of a gnat, my pursuit of the Bernie look quickly disappeared when I heard my mom call us for dinner. But his illustrations remain with me to this day and whenever I use pen and ink, he's the bar that I'm reaching for.

This ink drawing, from the ones I've uploaded so far, approaches his technique the closest (however, I'm not even near his level) and now that I'm drawing seriously, I hope to continue my pursuit of the "Bernie technique".

ink drawings

2011-05-26T18:12:00.006-04:00

I'm trying to cover a few price point bases for my upcoming out door show in 10 days (gulp!). I thought I'd try my hand at pen and nib again and see where it takes me. The original intent for these drawings, aside from the lower price point, was to produce them in a lesser amount of time...as it always happens, you add a fine nib point, me and a small area to draw in, I usually take longer to draw what ever image I've chosen to draw. I think I need to work on my OCD.

These ink drawings will be based purely on my whim. Don't look too deeply into any hidden meanings from them. It'll simply be an exercise into draw something I think is cool, will make an excellent composition and just drawing it really well (I hope).

image and type vignettes

2011-05-13T13:08:00.006-04:00

Not too sure about this one. I don't think it's up to par with the other ones. Any thoughts?

I'm thinking I might do a second version of this one. I really like how it turned out.

Well the start of another outdoor art show season is here and I'm scrambling to get enough work to show and hopefully sell. It'll be my first year participating in the Riverdale Art Walk show in just over three weeks. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time and since I don't want the responsibility of renting a car, I need all my art work to be small, light and compact. Hence, the continuation of this series of type and image vignettes.

You might recognize some from a previous post but I thought I'd repost them because the original uploads were really not great scans and I had an opportunity to get better ones for this time around. Hope you enjoy.

sketchbook 04/29/11

2011-04-29T19:43:00.002-04:00

Been busy trying to producing enough new work for an upcoming art show, so I haven't had enough time to sketch in my book. However here are some spreads. The one drawn at the Rex, a local blues and jazz bar was particularly fun to do.

sketchbook 03/28/11

2011-03-28T22:07:00.003-04:00

One of the benefits of sketching people in public and letting them know you're sketching them is meeting them...getting to know hem a bit. Megan was today's subject of my Starbucks' hotseat image. She was a real trooper and didn't move all that much because she was studying for her LSAT's ;). I also found out that she and her husband just moved to Toronto and have been here for only 2 months… not the most glamorous time to move to Toronto, but Megan and husband welcome to Toronto. It gets better in the summer, I swear.

sketchbook 03/26/11

2011-03-26T23:18:00.002-04:00

sketchbook 03/20/11

2011-03-20T15:45:00.006-04:00

I have to apologize to Leilani. I drew her quite a few days ago and I promised I would upload to my blog that night after work. It totally slipped my mind until today when I made another promise to another customer I sketched below. Sorry Leilani, but here it is.

Here's the hot seat customer I sketched today. Cheryl is her name. A project manager by day and an aspiring writer by night, or in this case afternoon (bad father joke, but I like 'em a lot). She said my drawing made her look angry. I'd like to think of her expression as intense concentration... a look that she bares while writing the next Canadian classic.
Cheryl if you need an illustrator for any of your stories, give me a shout!

I've also noticed that I tend to get a likeliness with some, but others, I miss the mark entirely. Don't know why that is, but it was in this case. Nailed Leilani but Cheryl was a difficult model to capture accurately on paper. The quest continues.

Globe and Mail illustration

2011-03-16T22:15:00.008-04:00

Well I finally have my first paying gig as an illustrator/artist. It was a last minute call for an image of a wedding cake that would go with an article about William and Kate's possible wedding cakes. It appears in The Globe and Mail, Canada's national paper, no less! I'm pretty stoked about it, but what really frustrated me was the missing credit in the print edition. However, my name appears in in the online version after my contact spoke to the online editor. So here is a capture of the online version (with the credit)

A special thanks to Michael Barker for passing my name to the people who needed this image.

Here's a link to the live article. I'm cake #7

sketchbook 03/16/11

2011-03-16T22:13:00.002-04:00

3x3 apples

2011-03-12T10:04:00.004-05:00

Just finished my 2 sets of 3x3 apples. My original intention after finishing the larger piece was to do these guys to hang at the Starbucks where I work.

When I finished the blue piece I was apprehensive about the numbering system I used and I still am. Any thoughts on that from the blogosphere?

sketchbook 03/10/11

2011-03-10T23:12:00.002-05:00

Sam, a Starbucks customer and good sport for posing twice for me during my Starbucks breaks... thanks, Sam.

sketchbook 02/11/11

2011-02-11T19:21:00.002-05:00

Playing around with some type.

An apple, or two, a day…

2011-02-10T16:26:00.010-05:00

I've been working with acrylic paints lately and I have found it to be quite the challenge. A few factors inspired me to start this project: I was sick at the turn of the new year and I had a lot of apples in my fridge. The large scale painting I was/am working on has really discouraged me with acrylics and I needed something to bolster my confidence with this new medium. So I thought painting something everyday that had a clear starting and ending point on a smaller scale would help with my mindset.

So that's how the Apple a Day project came to be. After completing all 31 apple paintings, I assembled them to resemble the month of January 2011 and dated each canvas with the corresponding dates I painted them on.

42"x48", acylic on canvas.

And here are some of my favourite apples:

sketchbook 01/28/11

2011-01-28T18:09:00.005-05:00

Another pen spread from Dufferin Mall. I thought a bit of water from boiling some beets would add a nice touch to the spread. I was wrong.

I'd also like to thank Reana who sent me a black S.K.B. SB-1000 pen which this spread was drawn with. If you don't know, this pen is used by James Jean, a extremely talented artist. It took some getting used to but I'm liking how it feels in my hand now.

sketchbook 01/26/11

2011-01-26T22:09:00.004-05:00

My first post for the new year.
Stay tuned for some more stuff in the near future. I've been working on an acrylic painting that hopefully I'll be uploading in the next two weeks.

sketchbook 12/21/10

2010-12-21T23:50:00.001-05:00

Laura Crickett

2010-12-21T10:33:00.004-05:00

A friend asked me to draw her portrait as a gift for her parents. I had a bit of trepidation starting this drawing because my track record with drawing friends and family isn't that great. But I have to say I'm OK with the end result. I hope Laura is too!

sketchbook 12/18/10

2010-12-19T00:52:00.002-05:00

I find it really difficult sketching family. This is another attempt at sketching my dad. Some parts are bang on, yet others are so far from what he really looks like. However, there is some overall resemblance.

Christmas Sale of my giclée cafe drawings

2010-12-09T12:22:00.003-05:00

Tis the season! Wouldn't this make a great present?!!
I had a few giclée prints left over from my art shows this past summer, so I thought I'd put them up for sale here on my blogger site.

Here are the details of each print:
- They are all printed on German Etching paper (same texture and feel like the original watercolour paper I painted them on).
- measurements: 12x9 inches. with a .25 in. white border.
- number of prints available:
Darkhorse: 1
Rooster: 1
Naco: 2
I Deal:1
NIche: 3

Each piece is stamped with my wood chop and signed.
Each giclée is $90 CDN + shipping.

If you're interested in one or more, please email me..

Thanks for your continued support.

Merry Christmas all.
WIl

sketchbook 11/24/10

2010-11-24T23:33:00.003-05:00

sketchbook 11/15/10

2010-11-15T13:53:00.001-05:00

sketchbook 11/11/10

2010-11-11T16:31:00.003-05:00

Jerry and Jiles were my models for my 15 min. breaks at Starbucks.

sketchbook 11/9/10

2010-11-09T20:58:00.002-05:00

Some more acrylic painting practice in my sketchbook. I find the smaller area of my sketchbook elicits a much more looser approach to laying down the paint. That's what I wan with my larger scale stuff, but it doesn't happen that way for some reason. I'll keep on truckin'.javascript:void(0)

sketchbook 11/8/10

2010-11-08T00:52:00.003-05:00

I'm still working on the large acrylic painting, but it's discouraging to see that what I want and envision in my mind's eye is not coming out on the canvas. So in the meantime, I'm drawing more people in my sketchbook. It's what I need at this point in time to allay the fears that I have about my lack of artistic abilities.

sketchbook 10/5/10

2010-10-06T00:47:00.003-04:00

Another acrylic trial, this time in my sketchbook. I basically manhandled the acrylic paint for this spread. I'm looking forward to the day when I could lay down some acrylic on the first or second pass and make it look like the way I envisioned it in my mind.

My next big test is an acrylic painting I plan to do of the Rooster Cafe, the last cafe drawing I did, but this time on an 2x3 foot canvas. Frightening and exciting all at the same time!

Acrylic trial

2010-09-30T22:16:00.003-04:00

Here's the final painting by itself. Hopefully you could get a closer look at it when it's not group with the other stages.

My first attempt at a full acrylic painting. I included the different stages of its development. I decided today to buy a palette knife, so you could see how that was used on the last stage of this drawing. Although my desire to apply paint with the knife really goes against entire painting, but like I said, it's an experiment.

I have decided to work at a larger scale from this point on so my uploads will be far more infrequent because it just takes more time to complete a larger drawing/painting.

Queen West Art Crawl Art Show 2010

2010-09-20T08:36:00.004-04:00

Well the Queen West Art Crawl Art Show is over for another year and it being my second art show that I've been in since I started this crazy journey as an artist, I have to say it was inspiring and humbling all at the same time. I met a lot of terrific people who I was privileged to have stop by my booth and chat for a while. I also met a lot of talented artists who gave me a bit of insight into this art game and its rules (or no rules, to be precise). Hopefully I'll be seeing all the people and artists I met this year, next year!

I'd like to extend a special thanks to Stephen Job and Stephen and Christy Richards for liking my art so much that you thought it'd look good in your respective homes.

The last 4…

2010-09-18T01:03:00.006-04:00

In 5 hours I'll be getting up and starting my trek to the Queen West Art Crawl Art Show. These are the last 4 image/type vignettes I've been working on for the last little bit.

I had to use a different part of my brain to produce these images, for the most part which were from my imagination. I didn't realize it would have been so tough, but I guess sketching from real life and sketching from the imagination come from two different sources of the brain… at least for me.

I'd like to hear what your thoughts are for the "Spinning a Yarn" image. I just "finished" it a few minutes ago but it doesn't feel as completed as the others. Feed back would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Urban Chariot

2010-09-02T07:33:00.002-04:00

Here's number three of my image/type images for the show. I'm gunning for 10 pieces before Sept.18th. Panic has descended onto the Wong household.

sketchbook 09/31/10

2010-08-31T20:28:00.002-04:00

Buggered revisited

2010-08-25T11:21:00.000-04:00

Here's one more addition to the colour/type vignettes I'm working on for my upcoming show.

1 cent gumball

2010-08-22T23:47:00.004-04:00

I'll be in the West Queen West Art Crawl Show in September and I've been trying to come up with images that will be priced at a lower price point than my cafe drawings.

This "1 cent gumball" drawing is my first attempt at this lower priced drawing. It's done in watercolour and micron pen and I'm not too sure it should have been done in this medium. I think it would have been better painted in gouache because I was envisioning flatter, more solid colours. In addition the drawing is done on a 10x15 inch sheet and this scan really doesn't give you a true read of the final composition of the drawing.

Tel me what you think about the composition, colour and execution.

Sketchbook

2010-08-13T23:11:00.005-04:00

Some spreads that I did over a few days...jumping back and forth from one to the other with no rational reason for anything I drew on the two spreads.

Rooster Cafe

2010-08-09T23:33:00.003-04:00

The Rooster Cafe, my latest cafe drawing and the toughest one I've done up to this point. I knew it would be a doozy to colour when I was black lining it and it was true.

sketchbook 08/05/10

2010-08-05T10:50:00.003-04:00

I wasn't happy with the spread I produced of the Toronto Brickworks (the buildings in the background), so I thought I'd try my hand at acrylics again. I keep James Jean's acrylic work in my mind when I use this medium and it's always disappointing when it turns out nothing like his gracefully, light handed paintings. The other thing I have to remind myself whenever I feel down about my acrylic attempts is that he's a artistic god (in my mind) and I am just a mere mortal.

sketchbook 08/04/10

2010-08-05T00:27:00.001-04:00

I got a nice, dark farmers tan to my revisit to Sugar Beach. This time I captured the really cool crane across the quay from the beach itself and a woman lounging in one of the many sun chairs.

sketchbook 08/03/10

2010-08-03T20:44:00.003-04:00

Another spread consisting of people drawn during my meal breaks.

sketchbook 08/01/10

2010-08-01T19:07:00.004-04:00

The newest addition to the Toronto's public spaces, Sugar Beach. It's be located on the old industrial lands, along the waterfront, across from the Redpath Sugar processing plant. There's still some construction to be done tot he space, but the actual beach is open to the public and was used by many today. I'm going to try to get down to this space when the tankers dock and unload their load. It'll be a great sketching opportunity!

St. Lawrence Market

2010-07-31T20:48:00.003-04:00

I'm branching out from my coffee shop series and trying to capture a few other places in Toronto. This is the St. Lawrence MArket. A great people watching place and a lot of eye candy to sketch.
I thought I'd show the process of how one of these micron pen and watercolour drawings come to be. I've changed my process a bit and when I want to capture people I try to sketch them in with pencil quickly and then black line it.

sketchbook 07/21/10

2010-07-21T10:26:00.003-04:00

Inspired by Dan, I broke out the arcylics that have been sitting in my apartment for a while.

I found a gargoyle on the web and thought it would be an appropriate first subject for my maiden voyage into acrylic paints. This image took a few days for me to get it to this point, and I think it's a bit heavy handed. In fact, the end result looks more like a painting that should have been done in oils because of the dense application of paint to the paper.

The learning curve was massive while I was painting this and I'm sure it's going to keeping on increasing as I continue to paint with acrylics.

I think I also have to invest in some better brushes. The set I used was a beginners set with 4 different types of hog bristles and 3 synthetic ones. The hog ones were falling apart and you could see some of the hairs embedded in the paint. I think I prefer the synthetics. They feel more like the watercolour brushes that I'm used to.

sketchbook 07/18/10

2010-07-18T22:06:00.002-04:00

A view from my window and a spread that has a bit of everything.

Voulez-Vous Cafe

2010-07-15T10:19:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in the Good Neighbour post, anytime I invest a bit of time and energy into a drawing I remember certain conditions that surrounded me when I drew that image. For this drawing, it was the the proprietress' French accent and how she pronounced, "Vermeer". Made me slightly weak in the knees.

The Good Neighbour

2010-07-15T10:10:00.004-04:00

Here's the Good Neighbour drawing, in part for M.B., but also I wanted to post something since it's been ages since my last one.

This image and the "Voulez-Vous Cafe" drawing were actually black lined quite a few weeks ago but I only finished colouring them yesterday. A slight burn out with the cafe drawings, but here they are. It's funny, but when I look at any drawing that I've invested some time in, I could remember exactly what was going around me when I drew it. With this one, there were two gentlemen sitting beside me talking about the nature of love. Actually it was the younger of the two men who was asking his friend what love was? Was he in love? I believe when they did leave, the younger man did think he was in love with his girlfriend. Isn't that sweet.

sketchbook 07/03/10

2010-07-03T21:46:00.001-04:00

a face a day…

sketchbook 06/28/10

2010-06-28T23:52:00.002-04:00

Boats.

sketchbook 06/27/10

2010-06-27T00:17:00.002-04:00

sketchbook 06/20/10

2010-06-20T23:14:00.004-04:00

I didn't realize how much energy setting up two shows can drain from me. I didn't have any desire to sketch after the Sunnyside show and I took a lazy man's hiatus after that. However, now that I think about it, as my aikido teacher says, it's at those times when you don't feel like practicing, is when you should be going to practice the most. I guess I slipped on the drawing and I should have been putting down the lines in my sketchbook.

So with that said, this is my first real sketch since that time and hopefully I'll be back on track and uploading something on a daily basis.

You are cordially invited…

2010-06-15T23:40:00.006-04:00

They're up and ready to go. I chose the 7 strongest cafe images and hopefully the guests will enjoy them as much as I do. Apparently the gallery contacted all the cafe owners and they might even show up for the opening.

Well 7 of my cafe drawings are up and I received the invite to the show at the Freedom Clothing Collective. It's a small venue and I'll be showing with another artist, but I'm pretty excited!

Help please.

2010-06-10T00:55:00.000-04:00

So I have the hard task of choosing two of the 4 images above to show at my next show. I like them all. I was wondering if all you kind folks could cast your votes for your top 2...the top two will then be framed and shown at my next art show which is next Thursday!

Gulp.

sketchbook 05/06/10

2010-06-06T22:35:00.003-04:00

I didn't realize the art show could be so physically draining, but it was and I only got the chance to do this drawing post-show.

Hopefully I'll do some more in the coming days.

Sunnyside Art Show 2010

2010-05-30T21:42:00.013-04:00

Suzanne, myself and Amy a fine photographer in the booth next to ours joined in for the final pose on the final day. Sunburned, tired and ready to go home.

Suzanne and I matting our art work the night before the first night of the show.

My Tent finally set up on Friday afternoon.

Martha gave me and my art a lift on the first day and helped me set up. Thanks a ton, Martha!!

It's finally over. What seemed like a life time away came and went in a flash. A very rewarding experience. I met a lot of great artists. Learned how to talk about my art with the public and got sunburned.

literally, the last images I drew for the show

2010-05-28T10:16:00.008-04:00

Micro sketchbook compilation.

2010-05-25T22:20:00.003-04:00

There's an artist I greatly admire. His name's Wil Freeborn and he's gotten into the habit of compiling all his spreads when he's finished with his moleskine. I thought that was a great idea so I adapted it to this my current "micros sketchbook". All the drawing shown in this compilation will be shown at the show.

sketchbook 05/25/10

2010-05-25T22:17:00.003-04:00

The last two pages from my 6x9in. sketchbook (the micro sketchbook). Onto microsketchbook number 2. Hopefully I'll be able to complete 20-25 more drawings before Friday. I foresee little sleep in my near future.

Omen?

2010-05-25T00:06:00.002-04:00

Not that I believe in this stuff, but this certainly was a timely omen for my art show.

sketchbook 05/24/10

2010-05-24T00:55:00.002-04:00

sketchbook 05/22/10

2010-05-23T00:12:00.002-04:00

More people at Starbucks and another micro drawing... Need about 40 good ones for Friday...gulp...so much to do.

sketchbook 05/20/10

2010-05-20T23:31:00.003-04:00

The view of the CN Tower from The Grange Park.

sketchbook 05/19/10

2010-05-20T01:40:00.002-04:00

A beautiful day spent sketching at the Distillery District.

sketchbook 05/18/10

2010-05-18T10:30:00.003-04:00

More micros from the ROM.

sketchbook 05/15/10

2010-05-15T21:39:00.003-04:00

Is it really surf and turf if the surf part also inhabits the land?

A few hours at the ROM drawing. I was fortunate that someone else had that same thought!

sketchbook 05/13/10

2010-05-13T22:24:00.002-04:00

Another "micro" drawing for the Sunnyside Art show. I'm getting kinda nervous about the quantity of micro or lack of micro drawings I have Time to turn up the output!

Naco Cafe and Gallery revisited

2010-05-12T23:28:00.004-04:00

So a few days ago I noticed Naco Cafe redecorated their interior, namely moving their bar to accommodate a few more tables. Reason enough to sketch it again, no? Looking at it now, I think I preferred the first attempt at this space. It's unfortunate that the back of the chair in the foreground rides directly up the man's back side...live and learn.

Blondies

2010-05-12T23:25:00.004-04:00

Blondies is a cafe during the day and club during the night. It's quite evident what it was with the disco ball and strippers pole in the back. I particularly liked the antler chandeliers.

sketchbook

2010-05-11T11:53:00.006-04:00

Tom, a Starbucks customer who patiently sat for me before I started my shift.

Another potential micro drawing slated to be on sale.

All Things Tea

2010-05-08T22:24:00.005-04:00

I did this drawing a few days ago and just finished colouring a few minutes ago. I had fun doing it and found out that the green tea I ordered should be steeped for two minutes in 170ºC water. Well I did just that and it tasted like… green tea. The gentleman in this image was on the first day of his job. The three hours I was there he acquitted himself well with the customers coming in. Good job!

I also continued using the minion pro typeface. Had a hell of a time eyeballing all those letters and I found that it was ok that each letter that was repeated didn't have to be identical to the previously drawn one...gives it some character.

sketchbook 05/07/10

2010-05-08T00:24:00.003-04:00

A few relative quickies at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Also trying to incorporate more hand lettering into these smaller ones. The font is an eyeballed version of Minion Pro.

Belljar Café

2010-05-05T23:17:00.003-04:00

This is another little cafe off the beaten track. It's just east of the trendy Roncesvalle neighbourhood in the west end of the city and it's a relatively new cafe. It has a 1950's feel to it, even though I didn't capture it in this image, it screams of chilling out.

Apparently the name was gotten from Sylvia Plath's novel and instead of having the negative connotation applied to this cafe, the owner wanted this a place to be an incubator of ideas. Works for me.

sketchbook 05/03/10

2010-05-03T23:06:00.007-04:00

I found out a few days ago that I was accepted to show and sell my art at the Sunnyside Art Show at the end of this month. I'm excited and nervous all at once! I know I don't have enough "finished" pieces yet so I've been going to coffee house almost on a daily basis to get some more of those studies down on paper. However, to give a bit more price point variety to the art hungry crowds (I hope) I've gone to a smaller scale and in pen. This is the first in a series of smaller, black and white "sketchbook" type pages up for sale as well.

I'll be cramming imagery and type onto one page and hopefully it'll strike a cord with people enough they'll want to buy one. The page measures 6x9 inches and when I display it, I think I'll take the spiral bind off and show each page with the holes. The pricing of this type of page eludes me. Any suggestions from people in the blogosphere who have exhibited in a similar venue would be appreciated.

Another Starbucks process spread.

Niche Cafe

2010-04-30T00:03:00.003-04:00

i am still amazed at the number of indie cafes in Toronto. Niche Cafe is the latest one I have been to and they served the most amazing green tea with a coconut infusion... had it with a bit of honey... spot on!

sketchbook 04/29/10

2010-04-29T22:35:00.002-04:00

This spread consists of a series of people who I've drawn over a period of three days during my meal breaks at Starbucks.

sketchbook 04/28/10

2010-04-28T22:18:00.003-04:00

I went up to my dad's place today and it was the perfect opportunity to sketch some unsuspecting victims...errr..models on the subway ride up and down.

sketchbook 04/26/10

2010-04-26T23:38:00.002-04:00

Meeting a friend for a coffee today, I thought was a perfect opportunity to get in another indie coffee shop. However, it wasn't up to snuff so I just drew it in my sketchbook. Oh, it's called the Coffee Tree

sketchbook 04/24/10

2010-04-25T08:59:00.003-04:00

While waiting for a friend at the St.Lawrence Market, I had a chance to black line this scene in of Peter's bulk foods. I had a chance to briefly talk to Peter and he told me he came to Toronto from Greece in 1968 as an 18 year old and started this store in the Market in 1975. Impressive that it's survived over all these years considering the economic ups and downs.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to colour it in and to be honest there was so much colour going on here that I don't remember any one colour other than the lady's blue jeans and her green apron.

sketchbook 04/24/10

2010-04-24T00:09:00.000-04:00

The last addition to this spread.

Wagamama Cafe

2010-04-21T00:42:00.003-04:00

Wagamama, in Japanese means "selfish". That's what Miwa Yamada's parents called her as a child. So when she was old enough she was so "wagamama" that she opened up her own cafe.

This is my sixteenth cafe drawing, and it was feeling slightly burned out, so I thought i'd take a different approach to it. I laid down some yellow ink splatter and integrated some text. Not feeling it on this one.

sketchbook 04/20/10

2010-04-20T23:25:00.002-04:00

Building on top of the previous post.

sketchbook 04/18/10

2010-04-18T23:16:00.002-04:00

John Mosely, the sole patron of Starbucks during my dinner break...and my model.

Dark Horse Espresso Bar

2010-04-16T01:23:00.002-04:00

Another indie cafe, the Dark Horse Espresso Bar, located a bit further east from my neighbourhood in the Arts and Design district. I decided to do this drawing while I was waiting to pick up my free copies of Spacing Magazine.

Quite the set of characters.

Lit Cafe

2010-04-16T01:17:00.002-04:00

Lit Cafe is another fine addition to the collection of small independently run cafes in my neighbourhood. The one eye catching feature is the long bar made out of reclaimed Douglas Fir. As you could each length has been left in its rough form and combined to form a monolithic bar with a lot of character.

The bar name,"Lit", was bandies around between the owners family as they were all driving in a car and the owner said every time she drank one of her coffees she was lit up. Hence the name.

sketchbook 04/08/10 - killing time

2010-04-08T00:29:00.005-04:00

The one good thing about working at Starbucks are the people. More specifically the chance to sketch them. When I take a meal break or a "15", I'll take my position in the place i like to call the "hot seat". It's two cushioned armchairs facing each other and the person who sits across from me will be my model for the duration of my break...Up to this point all these men have agreed to pose for me. It's funny, the one woman I asked said "no". I really think my shaven head is holding me back when I ask a woman if I could sketch her.

This is done while I was waiting for aikido class in a nearby food court.