Art

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Spent a chunk of this rainy Sunday afternoon to sketch in a cafe - I’m trying my best to fill up entire sketchbook pages and it’s such a fun challenge!

A weekend in New York

in ,

Went to New York for a few days and I friggin LOVED it. Did you know that New York is VERY big and VERY good and that I want to move there immediately???

I also did a tiny bit of sketching, both there in NYC but also here back home at my desk. I find it really hard to sketch in public — I get embarrassed so easily and feel very self-conscious drawing in public, as if the girl from grade 5 who was mean to me is lurking in the bushes just WAITING for me to take out my sketchbook so she can jump out and say “what is THAT! u think ur an ~artist~?” but it turns out she’s not and you really can just take out your sketchbook and draw and no one friggin cares. So that was nice.

I’ll be posting some more post-NYC sketches soon, but for now, here are some I’ve done so far:

Riso Printing Workshop

in

Last night I tried out a risograph printing workshop at Colour Code Printing. I’ve always wanted to try riso out but didn’t want to do it without knowing how it kind of works (it’s basically like if a photocopying machine and a screenprinting machine had a bébé) and so I figured a workshop was the perfect way to try it out. Because I guess I like just hurling myself into the unknown, I also decided to try printing a digital illustration despite the fact that I have never done a digital illustration before???? While I’m still not really sure what I was thinking, I’m kind of glad I did it? It’s nice to stick your hands into something you’ve never tried before!

in ,

Just working away on this little blue guy this afternoon!

in

If you’ve seen the storefronts I’ve drawn up until now, you can probably make a super-safe assumption that I live in the west end because, uh… everything I’ve drawn is in the west end? Over the past few months I’ve been asked where all my east end stuff is, and that’s a GOOD heckin’ question. I finally added some new east end portraits to the mix and I’m really happy with how they turned out!

Upcoming markets! Wahoo!

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So my ~BiG gOaL~ of 2018 was to finally start doing tabling at markets. I’ve always found it so intimidating (“I don’t have enough stuff to sell!” “Who the heck is going to want to buy something of mine?” “Where do you buy one of those big-ass TENTS from?”*)

But I finally bit the bullet and applied to a bunch of shows and figured I’d just cross that bridge when I get there (an excellent business strategy, I’ve heard) and, well, looks like I’ll be tabling at my very first event in June at Dundas West Fest! I have gone to this street festival a lot and have found that of all the street festivals in Toronto, this one has a good selection of not just food and open patios, but also good art and craft vendors as well. I’m very nervous and very excited.

But what this also means is I’ve got to get cracking and start really focusing on producing some more work so I actually have a bunch of things to display and sell at the market.

* uh, Amazon. 2017 Nat was a dummy.

in ,

Working a little on my graphic novel this morning. I feel like I’m constantly shocked by how looooooong things take me - for example, scribbling out rough thumbnails, translating them into larger sketches, inking them in, etc. Here’s a little sneak peak of a page!

Trying out a little something new...

in

I’ve had gouache paints just hangin’ around my studio for the longest time. I love watching other artists use it but I’m not 100% sure on how to go about using it myself. I’m still figuring out how to use colour, so I thought I’d try scribbling with some pencil crayons overtop the dried paint - this was all truly uncharted territory for me!

Life Drawing, from ~ back in the day ~

in

I used to attend a lot of life drawing classes — and probably should get back into doing that! I love not only trying to draw the model and capture the energy of the pose, but also looking around at everyone else who’s drawing and see how they’ve interpreted the model’s movements and twisting limbs.

These sketches are from 2017 - waaaay back in the day!


Subway Drawings

in

I did a series of illustrations for the TTC Sketch the Line competition — even if they don’t end up getting accepted, these were a lot of fun to do!

When I first moved to the city, riding the subway was a JOY and a TREAT! (“You mean there’s an underground train? That’ll take me exactly I need to go? And it just zooms along and sometimes there are little brown mice in the tunnels and maybe if I’m extra lucky there’ll be a DOG on the train too?”) After a few years, as with anything, the novelty wore off and I’d feel annoyed when the subway was too full or too hot or too slow.

But every once in a while, I’ll look up and scan the people waiting on the platform and I’ll wonder if anyone, in that big crowd of people, told their partner “I love you” for the first time today? Who couldn’t find matching socks and is hoping no one will notice? Who just found out they’re going to be a parent? Who just realized they forgot their packed lunch at home? It makes me a little less annoyed with the subway and a little more aware of all the glimpses of humanity and small niceties that you can catch happening between strangers.