Truman Capote was the “great dissembler” — someone whose prose switched channels back and forth between fact and fiction until they merged in technicolour. At least, that’s the word Truman’s lawyer, Alan U. Schwartz, used to describe his client in the Afterword to Summer Crossing (Capote’s lost first novel published by Schwartz in 2005). By […]
Elsie de Wolfe
Originally published in November 2021 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Elsie de Wolfe on the shoulders of her French fitness instructor. Elsie was one of the great characters of the early 20th century. As they say, she was up for anything. Daughter of an American father and a Canadian mother, she ran a successful interior design firm on “Toity-toid” street in New York, […]
Hyper-realistic vs. suggestive drawing styles
Originally published in November 2021 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Hyper-realistic or suggestive? In high school, I was OBSESSED with drawing objects so accurately that the viewer might mistakenly try and lift them off the page. I liked certainty. This copy of a Clinique eyeliner ad was a case in point. While I was making this, I remember slicing my Staedler eraser […]
Procreate Brushes
Originally published in November 2021 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
This is my morning attempt at John Singer Sargent’s 1892 portrait of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, mixed in with a bit of Marie Forleo and Amal Clooney. I drew it using the “Classic Paints” brush available on the website, Design Cuts (designer: @sadielewski) This kind of playing never gets old. Start your day using your hands […]
Her name was Paraskeva
Originally published in October 2021 in Blog, Canadian Art, Toronto Illustrators
Last week, this Jane Goodall quote was trending on Instagram and LinkedIn: “It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” Meet Paraskeva Clark, a Canadian painter with a Russian purr whose portraits dared you to blink first. Paraskeva’s self-portrait was chosen for the […]
Uninvited
Originally published in October 2021 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
If my mother had commissioned Pegi Nicol MacLeod to paint her, I imagine the artist would have given her ruby stained lips, ropey strands of hair, watery dancing eyes, and real presence. I drew this after seeing Uninvited, the McMichael Gallery’s game-changing exhibition showcasing the breadth of female talent (settler and Indigenous) working in Canada in […]
Ever the student
Originally published in October 2021 in Blog
Ever the student, I decided to complete the Google Certificate in Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design with Coursera. I took notes. Lots of notes! Junior High Alison is alive and well — behold the highlighters and outlined headers. Junior High Alison also likes that she received 97.41%. I went through this course almost every […]
Pencil Crayon Nomenclature
Originally published in September 2021 in Blog, Toronto Art Teachers, Toronto Illustrators
Photo: Wikipedia, “Crayola Renamed.” Photo: Erick’s Laurentian Pencil Blog Photo of June Handler and Ed Welter. Handler’s caption reads: “From Flesh to Peach it’s good! – June Moss Handler” From Welter’s blog, Crayon Collecting. September 30: This is our first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Live with art
Originally published in September 2021 in Blog, Procreate drawing, Toronto Illustrators
The pooch
Originally published in September 2021 in Blog, Comic, Toronto Illustrators
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