I make self portraits from time to time.  Mostly I self portrait because I always have access to myself, so if I want a reference for a muscle, or pose, or just some practice, I’ve always got me.  Also, I like myself a bit.  Maybe I need to start asking friends and acquaintances to pose for me…

Regardless, I produced two new things recently:

I guess I’m still in the process of eking out “my style”.  Or refining the process that defines my style.  Or flexing various art muscles in an attempt at self improvement.  Or all.  I can never be too sure.  One thing I do know is I’m still looking, but I’m pleased with the outcome so far.

Both pieces were made in photoshop.

Eat your hearts out,

You may recall a little while ago my very beautiful and talented friend, Claire asked me to design art for her new EP.  She has since flattered me further by requesting I convert it to a 1 color design for T-shirts!  After no small amount of re-tooling the very multicolored album art (it was made specifically with a song called Technicolor in mind…) I came up with this:

Soon we can all be wearing our very own Claire & the Crowded Stage T-shirt designed by yours truly.  Ain’t life a dream?

Anyhow, I’m gearing up for a very rail heavy tour of Europe in less than four days (!!!)  See you upon my return in three weeks where I shall plaster this here blog with many photographs of my journey.

Eat your hearts out in the meantime,

I’ve been thinking about failure lately.  And what failure means.  And how hard it is to embrace failure as a sign of life, and effort, and hopefully, progress.  To fail in art is absolutely vital, but also frequently painful.  This is probably why I’ve been lazy with my art for the last few years.  I say “no more”!  But I might fail at that too.  Wouldn’t be the first time.

Now for some new photos:

Forced paper white bulbs, James and Penny at the river, twisty twigs, Mia at Powell Gardens, and a section of my living room wall.

In totally unrelated news, my fellow, Thomas and I will be zig zaging across Europe for the better part of February 2013.  We’ll be mostly in London, Paris, Strasbourg and Frankfurt.  Have restaurant/attraction/oddity suggestions?  Please advise!

Eat your hearts out,