Illustration: Lucy

 

This was less successful than the last doggie portrait for me, mostly because I have not met this pup for real yet. it is hard to get a likeness for something you have never really seen. At least for me. I am caught u with all my nephews dogs now! 

Illustration: Harley

 My nephew seems to be collecting dogs these days... this is his second of three! I did a portrait of the first so I will do them all. One more to go! 

photography: Vieux Port Montreal 13 Septembre 2023

 

Illustration: Delphine pour Luc-Alexandre

 

This took awhile. I have wanted to draw her for my friend for a few years but she likes to hide and run outside whenever I had my camera with me for ref photos. I finally caught a few of her outside with my iPod touch. Not the best camera but the best camera is the one you have with you. 

Illustration: rue_de_la_visitation_03

 

This might be the last of the building drawings for a while. It's my least favourite so far and the least interesting to draw. If I come across something inspiring, I'll do another but while this is OK I would rather move on to some other stuff. Like the small scale of the houses so I am not sure I want to do "landmarks" or "architecturally important" structures. The sort of odd not quite maintained look of the ones I have done already is what drew me to them.

Illustration: Rugby

 At the parade for Fierté there are often sports groups marching in their gear etc and I took advantage to make a drawing of a ruby player in Sketchbook Pro. 

Animation: Pulled Towards the Sea

I wrote and illustrated a short story before deciding to make this animation and got some feedback on that which helped this be a much better story in the end. The last 2 years have been a horror of dealing with dementia in several close family members and how this terrible disease is very much a monster that takes those we love away in one of the most heart breaking and sorrowful ways. 

Originally this seemed like a good project to do in Blender and start my transition away from Cinema 4D before my old version of that software stops working but I have not been able to  get to a point where I can  understand Blender well enough to do that and getting this done seemed more important than learning something new(ish). 

I decided early on that black and white would be best and I don't regret it. I am an avid photographer who especially loves black and white images and tried to give this a sort of silent film/vintage photography look. I worked for months on the cliff set and small town to get the look I wanted and tried not to overdo it on the details that would never be seen or used. The shot of the walk from the town to the cliffs was the most daunting and took 46 hours to render. I wanted the pace to be slow but I think it doesn't drag on and it has kept the attention the few people who have seen it so far. 

Editing in Final Cut Pro and composting was done with Apple's long neglected but sometimes still updated Motion software which I like working in and doesn't cost me money every month like After Effects would. 

Music and sound effects are by me and I am not expert in either but I hope they work well enough. I am planning to try and get this in some festivals. The "Another Hole in the Head"  in San Francisco has been very good to me over the years and I hope other festivals will pick it up as long as I can find the money to enter a few! 

Personal note:

This is the first gothic animation I have made based on a short story I wrote myself. It is the first animation I have done in over 2 years and is the direct result of why I hadn't produced anything else in all that time. 

As I often state with my projects, Mike Luce was kind enough with all the other things he is doing to make the time to do the voice work and give me feedback. Core4d.com where I have been an active member for many, many years also deserves credit for the encouragement of the gang in the forums there. 

Illustration: Fierté 2023, danseurs sur la rue

I started with the top on, then moved on the the second that had more colours then put them together which I can't decide if that looks good or not. All 3 made with Affinity Photo on the iPad pro and I am getting more used to it. I do like things with material folding and bunched up in for some reason. It was always a big challenge when i was only doing pen and ink drawings and once I got a feel for it I just took a liking to doing it. The guy with the hat actually looks like him. maybe he will sue me! Not that more than a few will see these! 

illustration: rue Atateken 02

 
Another in my series of buildings I see when I walk through the neighbourhood. Some of the details are off on this one as I had to peak behind bushes and trees and then remember what I saw. 

Illustration: Rue Atateken 01

 My friend Philip, another artist, used to live in this building. I don't know where he is now he moved out of the city and I only saw him once or twice on the street when he was in town after that. The place, to be honest is a mess. They have done just enough repairs to be kept from being condemned. It still has interesting features and the apartments insider are HUGE and with lots of original details present. 

Like always, I thought this was a total failure until about 10 hours in when it seemed to come together and work. I do the outlines first, then put in solid colours behind them and slowing fill in colour detail and shading. Last things added were the bush and light out front.