5-7-5 gig poster

My friend Rebecca can get some quirky/awesome ideas when she's booking shows for Costello's.

For the show on February 17th there are 5 bands, with a $7 cover and $5 Steam Whistles, 5-7-5, not unlike the working syllable scheme in a Haiku! Too bad the Japanese didn't make Haiku's end with 2 syllables, just think how cheap drinks would be! Also 5, 7, 5 adds up to 17....like February 17th.... It all comes together in an eerie way, and none of it is a stretch. I've never seen Jim Carrey's movie The Number 23, but I imagine the reoccurring numbers felt a little like this. Oh and there's a Haiku contest, with incredible prizes (not sure what they are, but it always feels pretty incredible to win something).

Above is the poster I did for the show. The other day I had talked about doing a take on the one of the pieces from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, and having the Haiku/Japanese connection was the perfect excuse to make it happen. Miesha Louie (of Meisha and the Spanks), Nathan Johnson, Mark Mills, Elder Abuse, and Backlash are all set to play, so come give them a listen!

36? gig poster

 
Here is the gig poster I did for 36? (that's not a question, that's just their name). 36?, as well as Steve Wirzba (from Hunger Hush) will be playing at Costello's on Feb. 20th. Check out the Facebook event page here for more info.
I kind of wanted to do a take on Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji for this, but thought that despite their iconic appearances the actual name of the series could be a bit obscure and make things confusing. But I'm having some fun with that idea in an upcoming poster!

cliff house

Here are a couple pics of the Elsethings event at Cliff House as well as a couple pics of my art (that is still hanging up there as of now). Big thanks to Sarah and Colin for letting me be a part of this!

Make sure to check out the music from Nicolas Field and Georgia Sound who played the Elsethings show and killed it.

A few older pieces mixed in with some new ones.

Hey it's my friend Jenna with my Curiosity piece!

Georgia Sound performing

heartvark posters

Here's Gen putting up some of the HeARTvark posters, at what must be the Divine stairwell.

mallard gig poster

Here's the gig poster I made for Mallard. I couldn't resist going with the Duck Hunt theme. I switched the colour scheme from the usual bright green and blue you're used to seeing on your NES in hopes to make it a bit more in line with the Mallard vibe, (just check out the lyrics "I live for the fall, for nothing at all, except to sport my autumn colours" from Mallard Time). They play at Costello's on Feb 20 with The Dead Yetis.

Watch a Mallard performance below.

fairytale friday installment 1: the little mermaid

  

This is the first installment of my new Fairy Tale series I'm doing for FFWD Weekly. I'm pretty excited about it, I think they're some of the best pieces I've made!

Every week (for the next 8 weeks or so) will be a new fairy tale illustration, so collect them all! I will post them up here on Fridays for the sake of alliteration (issues are released on Thursdays though).

This scene depicts the little mermaid's voice being taken by the witch.

I don't know if I'll have time to delve so extensively into my process for each of these, but I thought I would for this one anyways. I love seeing artist's processes, and I get asked about my own quite often, so hopefully someone can take something away from this!

I started off trying to come up with the idea, here are just a bunch of ideas I started with overlayed over each other. I sort of knew what scene I wanted to try to depict already.

Once I had the general idea, I started coming up with some character designs for the witch character in the bottom left there.

This was going to be the general idea, as well as the basic composition.

 I have refined the character designs here, as well as the environment. I wanted the witch to have a witch doctor/shaman vibe and for there to be an occult feeling in the ritual/spell he was executing.

Tightening up the composition. By having the mermaid pressing herself against the rock more, it increases the tension and further implies that it is an unpleasant experience.

Here I have inked all the elements and am beginning to lay in the flats.

The flats are almost all put in, I haven't started worrying about colors at all at this point (though some of the teal ends up staying fairly similar).

I'm beginning to play with the colors more at this stage.

Shadows and highlights are added in for the finished piece.

Hopefully this isn't too much boring info!

Your song of the day is not under the sea, instead, listen to How To Dress Well's Ocean Floor for Everything.

january sex column

Here's my illustration for this month's Keepin' It Sleazy, read it here, or grab an issue of BeatRoute at your favorite pub.

elsethings arts festival

I will be showing some pieces at Elsethings festival this evening, lots of great artists and great music!
via the facebook event page, here is the description of the event:

On Saturday, Jan. 19th at 8:30p.m., local musicians Nicolas Field and Georgia Sound will play at The Cliff House as part of Elsethings, an innovative new arts festival.

Elsethings Arts Festival is a national arts festival taking place simultaneously in 15 Canadian cities, from Victoria to St. John's. Calgary's stage is curated by Sparrow Tree Productions and arranged remotely by record label Cabin Songs.

"We're trying to bridge the gap between disparate Canadian communities," says Tyler Butler of Cabin Songs. "Our mandate is to create a network of artists for artists from coast to coast." Cabin Songs is a newly fledged artist-run label devoted to showcasing musicians all across Canada.

Elsethings Arts Festival will bring together 70 artists from 15 communities across Canada. The festival was inspired by Cabin Songs' new release from Halifax musicians Nick Everett & Everybody, Elsethings. The album showcases songs written and recorded in various Canadian cities with a battery of talented musicians. The newly minted album will be available at all Elsethings Arts Festival stages.

Doors will open for a gallery viewing at 7:00p.m.

Music starts at 8:30p.m.

Cover is $10.

I believe my work will be up for a month, if youdon't get the chance to take a look tonight, keep your eyes open for my stuff at future events.

the escorts gig poster

My friends, The Escorts, will be playing a show on the 30th, go check it out. Here is the gig poster I did for them. More information at the facebook event here.

january freq

This month I did something a bit different in my column. I picked my 3 favorite illustrated album covers of 2012, see which ones I picked here, or grab a copy off newsstands.

One album I missed, mostly because it doesnt really fit into the music Freq covers is the father John Misty album. Besides being one of my favorite albums of the year, also had a killer illustrated cover by artist Dimitri Drjuchin.

birdheat gig poster

Here is the gig poster I inked for the upcoming Birdheat show at Costello's. The Deadlight Messenger and Matt Root (of Falcon) will be opening. More info at the facebook event page here.

heartvark

My friend Gen is putting on an art show with Cat on a Leash (which I had previously mentioned I designed the logo for). It's going on a few days around Valetine's Day. I made the above poster for it, and I think I will be displaying a piece in the show as well. Take a look at the facebook event page for more details here.

million dollar fix gig poster

Gig poster I did for Million Dollar Fix who play at Costello's on the 23rd. Daywalker will be opening.

For more info check out the facebook event page here.

& ampersand 4 show

event poster by Michael Mateyko and Hans Theissen

The 4th annual Ampersand show is taking place this month, with an opening reception this Saturday, 7-10 PM. The Ampersand show is a group exhibition that celebrates the collaborative process, having all pieces in it the result of 2 or more artists collaborating with each other to create something. This is the third time Sam and I have collaborated on a piece for the show. Come see what we came up with, or make your way down sometime in January/beginning of February. I saw a few of the pieces when I installed our piece, and it's definitely a show worth seeing!

Show curator, Vicki Chau, describes the exhibition here:

"an annual art exhibition that celebrates collaborations between creative minds, where each collaborator brings a different skill, practice and perspective. Collaborations are a unique experience where inspiration, motivation, and different perspectives can influence the works created. The beauty of each work comes from how new ideas emerge, as part of the collaborations, where it would not have happened alone. It is never a perfect process. As you work off each other, you start discovering your own strengths and weaknesses. Either working harmoniously or clashing ideas, by the end of it, you never know how it’s going to turn out. There are 18 collaborative works, involving over 35 artists in all stages of practice and different disciplines. This is the fourth year of &ampersand, which has continued to inspire individuals to work together, creating something new."

Check out more details on the facebook event page here.

cat on a leash

Here's a logo I made for my friend's Cat on a Leash Creations. They're going to be putting on art shows and have a hand in other creative endeavours  The idea is that it doesn't seem natural to see a cat on a leash, and that it goes against art's nature as well to be restricted (or so is my understanding).

style yyc feature in swerve

I'm featured in Swerve Magazine this week! Local fashionista and style huntress Aldona B snapped my photo for her weekly Style YYC section, and came up with a very sweet write up about me. Check it out here.

Big ups to Aldona for making me look good! Make sure to check out more of her great photography on her site here and ladies should follow the blog she keeps with her sister, Beauty By the B!

Your song of the day is Fashion Party by Das Racist (who I'm pretty upset about breaking up) featuring Chairlift  front woman Caroline Polachek:

single serving

Here is an illustration I did for FFWD this week. The article is a funny sad sack story about a single guy (author Gabriel Hall) getting through Christmas alone. Make sure to pick up an issue of Fast Forward Weekly or give it a read online here.

Your song of the day is "Walk Alone" by The Roots:

werewhale gig poster

Here is a gig poster I made for the upcoming Werewhale show. Also performing that night will be, the awesome band, All Hands on Jane, and Mark Mills! The show is at Costello's on January 16th. More info on the facebook event page here.

best of finishing lines in 2012

I blogged a good amount in 2012, over 100 posts! At the end of the year I like to reflect on not what I started, or ideas I had, but things I actually executed, got done, and shipped. Like Mark Zuckerberg says, while he sells off your baby photos to Burger King, "'Done is better than perfect'.....always keep shipping."

Often times as an artist, I think that it is very easy to get discouraged and feel like you're not getting anywhere. Not everything that is seemingly on the horizon pans out, and sometimes potential projects can slip out of your reach. So take a second and think about the progress you did make! The steps you took in the right direction! We all have at least a few accomplishments under our belt this year. For me looking back on my posts of 2012, I was able to work on some pretty cool things this past year. Working with Creative Control and Genesis the Greykid was great, some album artwork, and shirts got made, lots more editorial illustrations, I started my own monthly magazine column, I was a part of Sled Island, I had my first solo show, and I gave a lecture for the first time. Here are 5 of my favorite posts from 2012 that I consider highlights, in no particular order:

- Mother Mother video gets nominated for a Juno

- Arkells video gets nominated for a MUCH music video award

- Look I'm on a billboard downtown

- I direct a music video for Sally Shapiro

- I made a cover for FFWD magazine, with my comic characters

It will be interesting to see what 2013 has in store!

Here is your song of the day: