Canadia!

Whenever I'm in the States, people always ask me what Canada is like. Today being Canada Day, and Canada's 142nd birthday, I figure I should finally give an accurate description, as well as clarify some myths about us neighboUrs to your North.

FACT: Canada is directly above (to the north of) the United States of America. We have 10 PROVINCES instead of STATES, as well as 3 TERRITORIES.

FACT: Our national colours are Red and White, and our flag features the Maple Leaf.
FACT: We have a Prime Minister instead of a President.

FACT: Our National Police are called the RCMP.

FACT: Each Province has their own Police force as well. Ontario's are called the Ontario Provincial Police.

FACT: Canada's national food is Tim Horton's, a "coffee" chain named after a famous hockey player.

FACT: Smarties in Canada are different! Instead of bizarre rolled up multicoloured chalky candy which we refer to as "rockets", Smarties are a delicious multicoloured chocolate. You are supposed to eat the red ones last.

FACT: It is always cold.

FACT: Fortunately, because we have winter all the time, we've gotten used to it and have acclimated to it.

FACT: We eat delicious Canadian chocolates called "Bueno Bars"

FACT: We go on maple syrup hunting expeditions riding moose into the wilderness.

FACT: In Canadia, Beavers are a man's best friend.



Note: Some of these facts may or may not be entirely ... true.

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

R.

Transformers 2

So, last week I made the mistake/choice of watching Transformers 2 - I *am* glad to say that there was no forking over of money on my part, thankfully. I thought I'd post my review/experience.

From the minute the opening credits rolled, the experience that was Transformers2 began. My life would never be the same.

Akin to the astronaut Dave from one of my favourite films 2001: A Space Odyssey, I may have seen Beyond the Infinite, I'm not entirely sure - as one never really can be.

I felt as though Director Extraordinaire Michael "KABOOM" Bay was actually physically inside my head, punching the very knowledge and being out of my brain for the 9 hour long duration of the movie.


I can't really remember when/how I stumbled out of the theater, it's all such a blur...this is the best rendition I can come up with based on the information I've pieced together.

It's not a blur for Michael "KABOOM" Bay though! He's laughing in his giant mac truck, painted like Optimus Prime, all the way to the bank.

I'm sorry that there aren't more details about the plot - or spoilers - as I can't really tell you what happened. There were explosions, loud colors, even louder noises. The entire movie looked like this to me:

I was reading up on the psyche of Michael "KABOOM" Bay, and I think this quote was amazing:

“Visual-effects supervisor Scott Farrar was in charge of turning Industrial Light & Magic’s computers up to 11 to create the new characters and told reporters that the sequel features 40 new characters. That and the increased resolution of the characters for new IMAX footage nearly exhausted ILM’s render farms: After one hard night of rendering computer-generated footage, some of the hardware actually exploded.”

Even the computers of ILM couldn't take the AWESOME that he was about to put on screen. He overcame, you guys.

I think this is the best movie review I've ever read

In short, you can clearly see that I really think you should go see the movie. It's a cinematic masterp...aw hell...It's the loudest, longest, eye-ringing, head-smacking movie I've ever seen, shock after shock of you wondering, "wow, how could this make any LESS sense?" and the question being answered over, and over, and over again.

If you do see it, don't resist it, don't try and make sense of it, let it take you. Whatever you think meets your eye, it's more than that.

KABOOOOOM!
R.

Clownin' Around.

Designs/character exploration for a comic/short project I'm attempting to develop.

Random Doodles

Here are a bunch of gestures I did this week while traveling the subway, and sitting in coffee shops. Been trying to work on some stuff I've been learning from the Stanchfield books. Still a long way to go, but hopefully these are going in the right direction.

It was this couple's 6 month anniversary - Marcia and Charles.

This was my good friend Matt's band "Silverlane". You should really check them out by clicking here.

Some gesture studies of the band

Some cool stuff I've found on the interwebs this week: Multicolr Search Lab lets you search Flickr by color. The new Gobelins films are out, too. Check out my friend Ugo's "Jelly Sunday"
Also, I recently started re-watching HBO's underrated series "Carnivale" - if you have some spare time and are wondering what to watch, definitely check it out. It got cancelled after two seasons, but worth it. Lastly, Jenny over at Blackwing Diaries has made a great post about Up, and animated films in general. Definitely worth a read.

New post coming soon!
R.

Bunch o' Nonsense

A weird little idea I'm toying around with - perhaps for a comic.

Here's some stuff from the last couple of weeks:

These were done (really quickly) at a new music night at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. The band playing is The Superstitions. They were rather good.



I liked the attitudes of the characters on this page.

I was attempting to simplify with this page, I think I got something with
the girl on the top left.

Not too much to write - UP was awesome, want to congratulate my friends Vlad Kooperman and Guillaume Chartier, as well as Pete Docter, Ronnie, Nick and all who worked on it for an amazing job. Also, if you haven't seen the Beatles Rock Band debut trailer, I'm assuming directed by Pete Candeland and Designed by Robert Valley, check it out here. Lastly, I was reading the Walt Stanchfield book, and something jumped out at me, I'll leave you with this:

"Drawing for animation is translating and action...into drawing form so an audience can retranslate those drawings back into an experience of that action."
-Walt Stanchfield

R.

Unforgiven + Doodles.

"'spose you wouldn't mind lookin' in on m' youngsters while I'm gone..."

"Hey KID! It's ME! Will Munny!"

"No...But I ain't armed..."

I just watched Unforgiven the other day, for the first time, and taking a cue from Leo, decided to do a couple of quick shots that I thought were great. Clint Eastwood as William Munny, Morgan Freeman as Ned and Gene Hackman as Lil' Bill star in an absolutely astounding film. A great story, structured amazingly, brilliant shots, and amazing, engaging characters all directed by Clint Eastwood that made me realize why he's given free reign on anything he wants. He's really, really earned it.

And now, some doodles and observational sketches:











Also, I think I forgot to post this! The Princess and the Frog trailer is out! Go watch it!!
Comments are appreciated!
R.

sketchy.

Well, THAT wasn't a long time between posts at all, right? ...Right?
Here's a bunch of drawings I did all over the place, but mainly in my favourite spot (anywhere that sells coffee). Trying to really focus and concentrate on gesture and character in the above, hopefully some of it comes across. Also really trying to push the poses more - pesky brain likes to straighten things out as vertical as possible.
I've been reading the Walt Stanchfield books as much as I can since I got them, and they are incredible. Thanks to Don Hahn for putting those together - I love the fact that no matter how many times I re-read it, something new always comes to light. I'm not big on quoting, but the following struck me as something I continually attempt when doing gesture/observational sketching, so I thought I'd share:

"Completion of a drawing does not depend on material representation. The work is done when that special thing has been said."
-Robert Henri

Met some fantastic artists this weekend - including the illustrious Scott C., Graham Annable and the awesome Kate Beaton.

Also, go see Star Trek.

R.

Gals

Just a few quick doodles trying out a new brush. More soon!

R.