Kurt Vonnegut on AI
Originally published in May 2023 in Blog
Milton Glaser on Attentiveness
Originally published in March 2023 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
“Attentiveness is the great benefit of drawing.” Milton Glaser said that. But becoming attentive to your life is a question for every human, not just artists. To pay attention without preconceptions is massively challenging. As Milton explained it, too much belief spelled the end to observation and understanding. Self-restraint, like listening, is an exercise in […]
Happy Pride!
Originally published in June 2022 in Blog
During Pride Month, I’m remembering Keith Haring, one of the gentlest humans to have walked this earth. We owe it to ourselves to keep his irrepressibly hopeful art dances going. Cue up Keith’s friend, Madonna: Everybody spread the word We’re gonna have a celebration All across the world In every nation It’s time for the […]
Working For Free
Originally published in April 2022 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
Building your castle on someone else’s land is deceptively simple and attractive … until the landlord changes the terms on you. Etsy sellers are facing a 30% hike in their transaction fees. The plugins exist to go out on your own. Sure, it will take time, but what you get back in pride and ownership […]
Art Classes: Cocoa & Paint
Originally published in March 2022 in Art Classes, Blog, Toronto Illustrators
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 […]
How I Drew This
Originally published in July 2021 in Blog, How to Draw, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
Process Porn: I drew this landscape in the @Procreate app using the “Peppermint” pencil ✏️ (in the Brush Library under “Sketching”). Paul Cézanne was my guide. His angled brushstrokes had a consistent rhythm. They look like the wind blew them all in the same direction. I prefer Procreate’s pencil tools to it’s oil brushes (at […]
Saturday at the AGO
Originally published in January 2020 in Blog, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Visual Storytelling
How I learned to create a Gif
Originally published in January 2020 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
“If you deal in quality, not awards, what you do will always feel real.” This is what happens when people’s determination to produce gets greedy and misplaced. Switching gears. Understanding how to tell your stories in multiple formats is a power thing. Hats off to Melissa Lee (@MelissaLeeDesign). Through her @Skillshare class, “Create a Hand-Drawn […]
