frankblackfrancis - part 2

Before I started the frankblackfrancis painting, I had an idea to take a photo at different stages as I was working on it and somehow turn that into a short movie I could post here. It was actually a pain shooting the photos as I had to first, remember to stop and take them, and when I did it messed with the trance I tend to work in. I've never taken photos of the progress of a painting before but I'm glad I did as it was fun to see how it all came together.

Once again I asked my super talented brother Dave Coleman (see our other collaboration here) to create some music I could use for this movie to make it cooler, and man did he do excellent job! I just wanted something fast and punk-ish to go with the quick changes as the photos race by and he delivered. Dave scored his first indie feature length film called Android Re-Enactment and has awesome music you can listen to here and here. Thanks for helping me Dave, you rocked the h out of that s!

It is so exciting to do these little projects together that we talked about starting a production company and doing some serious work. Like for money. Anyway we've called it Like the Stove Productions and there is a story there I'll tell you later.

Oh and you might notice that there is a guitar headstock penciled in on the right side of the painting for most of the movie and then it gets covered over. That was due to a birthday deadline I had to meet so I took it out in the final hours to finish on time. Just in case you were wondering.

frankblackfrancis - part 1

Okay, it is safe to say I have been obsessed with the Pixies/Frank Black (AKA Black Francis) for about the last 2 years. If you aren't aware of how amazing they are you should do yourself a favour and check them out. My brother and I got to see the Pixies in Kitchener, ON this past April, on their Canadian Doolittle tour, and man it was the best concert I have ever been to. That's right I said it, the best.

It could have been that night after the concert that my brother and I had a conversation about artwork and how he might like a print of something of mine for his apartment. It wasn't until about a month before his birthday that I got the idea to paint something just for him. So after many late nights painting and stressing over whether he (and his girlfriend) would really want a picture of the Pixies frontman in the living room, I finished the above painting. It is 18" x 24" acrylic on canvas.

I think he liked it and it did in fact find a home on his living room wall. Happy Birthday Dave. Oh, and there was a little inside joke on the painting to his wonderful girlfriend Kato, but you'll have to ask her about that.

IF: Paisley

Another contribution for Illustration Friday, this weeks topic – paisley! All I had before I started drawing was an idea to do a tie and the background the exact same paisley pattern, then I started drawing and this is what came out. I got the paisley pattern from Ruthenia Alba's blog Art Kitchen by Ruthenia Alba. She has created an awesome set of paisley patterns (among other things) for Photoshop and made them available to download. Thank you Ruthenia!

Mail Me Art 2

You are looking at my contribution to the art project Mail Me Art 2. It is a cool project run by Darren Di Lieto of the illustration news portal Little Chimp Society. The idea is that artists from all around the world create art on an envelope or other material and then mail it to the UK. Along the way it gets post marked and bumped and bruised, all becoming part of the art. There should be a gallery exhibition later this year where all the pieces are displayed and put up for sale. This is the second time the project has been done, the first time it was also turned into a book and you never know, this one might as well. Check out the gallery at Mail Me Art 2 as there are tons of amazing submissions.

IF: Propagate

Another contribution to Illustration Friday's weekly topic.

IF: Confined

This is an illustration I did for Illustration Friday's topic "confined". I felt like this all week now that I think of it.

"Long Time No Blog" or "The First and Last Post of 2009"

It really was a busy year even though I didn't post anything here until now. Most of what I did this year I was either asked to keep confidential or it was more design related than illustrated (I do graphic design as well). This was one of the things that I worked on that was under wraps until now.

I was approached by my brother's friend who is a film director to create an animated logo for his production company. It would run at the beginning of the films he is making. His name is Darryl Shaw and from the first time we talked, I knew we were cut from the same cloth. And that cloth would probably be more like canvas from a straight jacket. Darryl had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted but was cool enough to let me make it even more Christ-serpent like. We intended to have it be longer with more scenes but the reality of completing it on time meant it had to be shortened up.

Darryl has a film in post-production right now which he wrote and directed and should make the festival circuit next year. I'll blog about it when there are more details. Oh, and my brother Dave Coleman is busy scoring the film, which is also really exciting! Anyway, it was lots of fun to work on and hopefully we will be working together again in the coming year.