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Zombies!

Liz
I love Halloween. Because I enjoy working with my hands so much some of my friends approached me to make up their faces or those of their kids.

In this case my friend Liz decided to spring for some half decent quality makeup, and I went to town!

I have experience with theatrical make up from my days as an amateur thespian, so I documented the process of makin’ her scary. When my friend’s kid saw it he wanted his face done as well so he’s on here too.

It starts with some natural paste or spirit gum, and I attach some oatmeal and toilet paper strategically. After it all dries I tear the “skin” in places and build up “wounds” and “sores” with wax. Then comes a base coat of one tone of make up, then a different tone with an airbrush at an angle to highlight the new landscape of the face. Finally the ‘ole fake blood seeps and weeps from the wounds, with a couple of hand/fingerprints to depict a grisly history. Scary, no?

Spring Windows

chick-a-dee
Thankfully I’ve been quite busy this year and haven’t had a chance yet to post everything.

I have therefore put together previously unpublished work for clients inspired by the return of spring, since it’s around the corner already.

Enjoy!

The Tropical Experience

sunset

Due to the success of my “European Vacation” piece, I was invited to do another design for my clients at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The theme with which to work was based on their current promotion with Transat Holidays as “wedding specialists”. We began with various themes of a tropical nature and tossed around a bunch of ideas.

I’m very passionate about what I do, and am constantly pushing the envelope out of my comfort zone, trying to use a given medium in a way that makes the most of its advantages. Until now in my window art I have been using a linework/color fill process that works best for maximum impact, but have missing out on the nature of painting, using colors against each other to create an interpretation of the subject with light & color shapes as opposed to outline.

While thinking about an idea I identified that the agency is not selling a trip, or a ticket, but an EXPERIENCE, and came up with the idea of snapshots. The snapshots are designed as if they were sent in by happy & grateful travelers, and allowed me the perfect opportunity to work out my new process.

Wow! Very intense. The paint dries too quickly for any blending, (a medium to fix this makes the paint too transparent) and of course I’m painting entirely backwards, in a necessarily reversed process. Basically instead of adding layers to something that’s there, I’m building layers based on what will be there later. Since I can’t even see what’s under what I just painted I have to visualize the whole piece (backwards)like a blindfolded chess player. I learned so much about what I do and have an entirely new artistic sense of perception.

Let’s throw in at this point that I’m working in windows on a busy downtown street, with everyone watching and sometimes interacting. No pressure…

While I still used a few black lines I ended up with a very satisfying piece, and now have a whole new technique to push even further.

As an add on they came up with the idea of painting “frames” made out of shells on their door that would allow them to insert & update current individual travel flyers.

An extreme challenge thoroughly enjoyed!

Boutique Halifax 2011

Halifax 2011
This was the commissioned piece. I spent hours sketching out clothing and branding elements already in use, not to mention how to paint them backwards!

The Trip of a Lifetime

trip of a lifetime
This piece was commissioned by Carlson Wagonlit Travel. They had recently moved from a location they had occupied for quite some time.

The problem that arose once they had moved was that no one knew where. Under the shadow of a large bank, the general traffic didn’t realize a travel company was right under their noses.

Having seen my work for the Canada Games, they took advantage of their prominent large windows on Barrington St and commissioned me to put up a design themed on their upcoming European travel package promotions.

Researching their promotional material & the internet we chose the iconic images and the universal symbol of the traveling red dashes. I took advantage of the long narrow configurations of the windows to set up the icons as bookmarks in a meandering narrative.

The bright red X has done a lot to let people know where the door is.

World Tea House

full view
This work was commissioned by Philip Holmans, owner of World Tea House on Argyle St in Halifax, N.S.

He runs an absolutely first rate house of teas, and has strong values in terms of the environment and an involvement in communities both local & worldwide.

His problems were that this message was not getting across coupled with a lack of stand-out visibility.

I worked out designs to address these issues, working with a bright yet earthy green that is in accord with his branding, choosing a more natural brown instead of the usual black to outline a leaf pattern that is alive and not static, moving in forms associated with life, caring, and organic growth. These designs support the symbols of the green man and recognized organic & fair trade logos.

Philip was great to work with and has had a lot of positive feedback from his windows, and I now know where to get the best tea in town.

Top 50 CEO 2011

Wadih Fares
Every year Atlantic Business Magazine recognizes excellence in business leadership with a gala awards ceremony for the top 50 CEOs in the Atlantic provinces.

Last year I was selected to draw portraits of the CEOs as part of their award, presented at the ceremony. Though extraordinarily challenging, the portraits were all completed to the satisfaction of the client on schedule. The experience was incredible, and I felt very fortunate to have participated.

Due to the portraits being such a hit last year I was honored to be invited by ABM to take part once again in their prestigious event.

As excited as I was, I was fully aware of the daunting nature of this task. The stakes were now in fact much higher as I felt compelled to produce work that exceeded my prior performance.

This may have been my greatest challenge to date. There were 10-12 hour days put in at least six and a half days per week for almost a month and a half, but the result was absolutely amazing! ABM loved my work, and have since commissioned illustrations for several columns in their bimonthly magazine. They are a fantastic client for whom I am delighted to work. More on this soon…

I was also invited to the event at the World Trade & Convention Center and had the opportunity to hang out with the talented award recipients. It was nice to meet in person the faces at which I had stared for such a long time. What an incredibly inspiring group of people! The gala, put on by Zed Events, was a truly magnificent evening filled with amazing food & entertainment, and I shall never forget it.

I congratulate all the award winners, in particular the CEO of the year Wadih Fares. His speech nearly brought me to tears, it was hard to believe he improvised it on the spot from the heart.

Once again, a very rewarding experience which has already led to wonderful things!

And man, have I got portraits down pat.

Free Holiday E-Cards/Cards for Charity

Imagicon Illustration Holiday Card
I’ve managed to put together some holiday cards this year!

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I have always loved the idea of greeting cards, it’s a wonderful way to exchange images, and gives some of my images something to do.

I also wanted to get involved in giving something back, and feel that charity for literacy is a perfect fit for my illustration business. Laubach is a charity with which I became familiar when working at United Bookstores, as they have a mandate to support literacy and have been giving money to them for years.

In the interest of this planet which we all must share I have printed the cards on a stock made from 80% recycled materials, and the cards are available for sale at United Book Stores, Certainly Cinnamon, The Jade W books, and will soon be at other locations and you can always contact me to order some. Half of all the proceeds goes to Laubach. In the future I hope to find a printer interested in printing the cards as a donation so I can donate all the proceeds!

As a further effort to promote myself and this charity and further help the environment I am offering free E-cards. Simply right click (apple click for macs) on the image and copy it as an image to send to whomever you like. You can still donate to Laubach by contacting them at this site;

http://www.nald.ca/litweb/province/nb/llnb/index.htm

If you’re looking for last minute gift ideas, you have the option of turning any of these cards into a gift certificate! Contact me through this website & we can set up pre-purchase of Imagicon hours to put towards commissioned art, portraiture, art instruction, tattoo design or whatever your art desires.

It’s been a great year and I’m looking forward to the next. A big season’s greetings to everyone out there from all of us here full of warm winter wishes!

CEO Portraits

web-50
Every year Atlantic Business Magazine selects the top fifty CEO’s in the Atlantic provinces to receive a presentation at an awards gala.

This was one of my first big contracts. I was commissioned through Zed Events to produce pencil portraits of each of the fifty winners as part of their award.

Though time was a little tight I completed all fifty and am proud of them all.
Phew!!!!!

This year’s gala was held at the World Trade and Convention Centre. I was invited to the event and got decked out in my best suit. I finally got to meet the clients from ABM in person and had a great time.

It was really neat rubbing elbows with some of the “big” boys & girls, in particular the award winners. While this was their first time meeting me, I had been staring at every aspect of their faces for hours and hours.

In the end every one was delighted with the portraits. Zed Events is a great company to work with, the CEO’s loved their awards, and I enjoyed dealing with a client like Atlantic Business Magazine, who felt the idea was a big hit.

If you have ideas how portrait artworks could work for you, contact me anytime.

Pre Parade Pictures

flakes-1
Holiday Window time again!

I do this every year with local businesses. It’s a great way to stay in touch with clients and bring fun visibility to their establishments. It’s fun, gets my work out there, and brings in the traffic.

These are the spots along the parade route I did in time for the event. Tons of spectators staring at your windows all day is an excellent opportunity to produce works of art that work for you!

Click here to see the video!

Buskers Festival 2010

acrobat
Scott Colwell, owner of Certainly Cinnamon is continually supporting both my business & local events.

In this case it’s to help promote the buskers festival 2010. The acrobat with the hoop is my version of the buskers logo, while the juggler is a reference to one of the images making up the promotional poster.

Jazzing it up @ Gatsby’s

web-mingus-o
Gatsby’s, under new management, had been doing a lot of work & promotion for the world cup, even being mentioned in Maclean’s magazine. They did not, however, wish to be typecast as a sports bar as they have live music & fine dining as well.

The annual Jazz festival window competition was the ideal opportunity. Having already worked with Gatsby’s & having already won the competition once we were a perfect match.

I put together a window design, and we got a bunch of old records for which I designed labels from my jazz greats portrait series. The result looks fantastic, and with live patio jazz they’ve completely relabeled themselves as much more than a great place to watch the cup!

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