Nick Thornborrow

The Songsmith's Heartland: Prologue

2012-02-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

The adventure starts HERE.

The Songsmith's Heartland

2012-01-24T06:42:00.000-08:00

These are panels from the comic I'm working on, "The Songsmith's Heartland" which I was hoping to have this finished by the New Year, and it's clearly going to take a lot longer. The story is based on Owen Pallett's album "Heartland".

Toy Piano Composers present: Opera Scenesters

2012-01-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

Done for the The Toy Piano Composers. They've got a concert coming up in Toronto on January 21st.

Toy Piano Composers: Avant Guitars

2011-09-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last spring I finally managed to see one of The Toy Piano Composers concerts. This is a collective of composers dedicated to putting on really entertaining concerts featuring new classical music by young Canadian talent. If you're in the Toronto area, grab the deets, and if you like cool things, check it out this show that's happening in just a couple weeks.

Night at the Movies: The Princess Bride

2011-09-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

This digital painting will be on display along with many other movie inspired art at the OZ Kafe, 361 Elgin St., Ottawa starting at 9PM, this Thursday September 22, 2011. The show was organized by the most excellent Kyle Marshall.

Night Out at the Movies

2011-09-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

The great Kyle Marshall has organized an art show that takes place Thursday, September 22nd. He kindly asked me to submit a piece, so folks that are attending the Ottawa Animation Festival that weekend ought to stop by and check it out! Looks like there's tons of talented folks involved!

Papa Was a Rodeo

2011-07-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

69 Love Songs, Illustrated is an awesome project started by Julia Scheele. In her own words: "We are a loose collection of mostly London-based comic-artists, illustrators and writers, who have grown up listening to the Magnetic Fields and got together over a mutual love of the songs. One day, on Twitter, a couple of us decided that illustrating – or writing a comic – or a short story – inspired by all 69 songs was a worthwhile and exciting pursuit!"
I found out about it, asked if I could take part, and she kindly said yes!
Here's my submission for the song "Papa Was a Rodeo".
Check out the rest of the awesome work that was done for this project via the link above.

Scout

2011-06-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

I busted out the gouache this weekend! I can't remember the last time I used traditional media, but boy it was nice to muck around with paint again.

Deadwood: Al Swearengen

2011-06-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Spectrum Sneak Peaks

2011-05-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

These are select panels from a piece that I'm looking forward to sharing more of soon. "The Song Writer's Heartland" is about Lewis, a medieval farmer turned warrior, who begins to wrestle with his faith when he discovers that he has no free will. The Singer narrates a story of vanquishing monsters and conquests of far away lands in which Lewis is always the hero. Yet the unsettling truth always lingers at the back of his mind. This world he inhabits is fiction. The story comes from Owen Pallett's fantastic album Heartland.
I'll have more to share in the coming weeks, so don't go anywhere!

Sailor Twain

2011-05-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

From Mark Siegel's superb webcomic Sailor Twain or the Mermaid in the Hudson.

EDIT - Mark has just started a Kickstarter campaign to turn this serialized work into a graphic novel!
Go support over on his Kickstarter Page.

TCAF sketches

2011-05-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

TCAF was amazing! It's gotta be my favourite comic convention. So that's why it's been a while. That's my excuse for neglecting this blog. TCAF. And the trip to Vancouver I took before that. And then before that putting together all the Kickstarter packages for The Anthology Project, and then before that was Stumptown. It's just been non-stop. This week I might even take a nap.

It's all been a blast, and it was nice to have get away to Vancouver for a few days. Lindsey and I stayed with an old friend and we did a nostalgic tour of all the things I loved about the city when I spent a summer there. The Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park, Gastown, Robson, Granville Island, and a restaurant or two. Not only that but Lindz annihilated her first half marathon. 21.1 kilometers through Stanley Park and Vancouver's downtown. It was awesome.

Then at the end of the week I flew to Toronto with a head cold (which I hope I didn't give to any of you) for TCAF. This is the best comic convention for it's venue, the Toronto Reference Library; and for the artist driven nature of the beast. I met a lot of great people and I hope we'll cross paths again, and managed to catch up with a lot of old friends and with family. I'm kind of a sentimentalist, but if you've been to this show, you know that there is a warmth about TCAF and that seems to stick with me long after the show. I mean gosh, everyone's just so darn nice!

I stayed with my brother and his room mate in Toronto, and they're swell guys to hang out with and gracious hosts. I also managed to catch one of my brother's shows that he puts on with the Toy Piano Composers and it was superb. Those guys are a hive of creativity. One composition was called "Aries Breath" and it was a looming ominous thunderstorm of a piece inspired by Edmontonian winters. It hurt my feelings. In a good way. But Edmonton's not that bad guys. Look it's sunny out now!

Anyway I have been drawing. I'm even making some comics but they're still in the oven. For now, feast on this:

Anthology Project Events

2011-04-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about this month. If you're lucky enough to live in the New York area, this weekend is anyone's first chance to score a copy of The Anthology Project: Volume 2 at the MoCCA Festival. My good friends and collaborators on this book Sam and Joy will be there, so stop by and say hello!

Then a couple weeks after that all three of us will be in Portland for Stumptown Comics Fest. That one runs on the weekend of April 16-17 and it's going to be the best time ever.

Then we'll be at TCAF, on May 7 and 8. That's in Toronto and it will also be the best time ever.

Folks in Calgary will be able to catch us at the Calgary Comic Expo from July 17-19.

Then we'll have one more stop in Toronto for this year's Fan Expo from August 25-28.

Dragon Age 2 Frescoes

2011-03-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

Now that it's out, I thought I'd share some some of the work I've been doing on Dragon Age 2. These are the animated frescoes that you get to look at when your game is loading. Being on the concept art team at BioWare has been a pretty inspirational ride, because I get to work with some shamelessly talented folks. All of these frescoes pulled inspiration from the work of other artists in some form or another, I want to give a shout out to the team: Ben Huen, Casper Konefal , Matt Rhodes, Ramil Sunga, Steve Klit, Ville Kinnunen, and Warren Heise

The Anthology Project Vol. 2 Pre-orders

2011-03-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is the print that I did for the Kickstarter campaign that we ran for "The Anthology Poject: Volume 2", based on my comic submission for this book: "The Immortality Engine".
What's really cool though, is that this book comes out pretty soon. And starting today you can pre-order from The Anthology Project website.

Cover art by Ed Kwong

Frontier Ghost Stories: The Surveyor

2011-03-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

After a successful military career, the surveyor found himself in the employment of the rail road company. Acting as proxy for the major stake holders, he is tasked with following the charted route of the expanding rails to purchase land. Stations are built in locations of his discretion, and where there are stations, prosperous towns soon follow. The hamlets in surrounding regions vanish as old wagon routes are abandoned. Therefore, the lone decisions of the surveyor could very quickly make one very wealthy, or desperately impoverished.

Lasso and a sneak peak

2011-03-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Still playing in this world.

But also:

Psst...

Frontier Ghost Stories

2011-02-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Lain Coubert

2011-02-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty infatuated with Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel The Shadow of the Wind so here's another depiction of charred up Lain Coubert.

The Shadow of the Wind

2011-01-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

From Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel The Shadow of the Wind when Daniel first encounters Laín Coubert.

The Toy Piano Composers and TorQ: RECESS!

2011-01-21T20:35:00.001-08:00

My brother, who got all the musical talent in the family, is a member of the collective The Toy Piano Composers.
If you live in the Toronto area, check out their show "Recess!" that they're putting on with TorQ Purcussion Quartet. And even if you don't have an interest in contemporary classical music, expand your horizons and check them out.
The show is on February 26th. All other relevant info is in this handy dandy poster I whipped up for them.

3 Comic Roughs

2011-01-14T07:28:00.001-08:00

1.

Inspired by hobo Jack Black's autobiography You Can't Win.

2.

These panels are pulled right from a scene in Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind.

3.

Nick and Cate

2010-12-10T07:49:00.001-08:00

Thanks

2010-12-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

"Immortality Engine" is my contribution to the second volume of "The Anthology Project".

Earlier in the fall, we at The Anthology Project launched a Kickstarter campaign to help subsidize the cost of printing volume 2. We were hoping that through the support of fans of the first volume, and comic fans who were just discovering the project for the first time, that we would be able to cover half of our printing costs. Well yesterday the campaign closed with the pledges exceeding our expectations by double! So I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thanks everyone who has pledged or has helped get the word out about The Anthology Project. It's going to be a phenomenal book, and I can't wait to share it.

Speaking of phenomenal books, I just finished reading Jen Wang's Koko Be Good. The story follows three people. There's Jon Wilgur, a fresh out of college kid about to embark on a life changing move to Peru to be with his do-gooder girlfriend. Then there is Faron Lau, a young man with secret ambitions, whose circumstances keep those ambitions oppressed. And then there's Koko. A free spirited ne'er-do-well who upon meeting Jon decides to trade in her irresponsible ways for saint like behavior.

This is a story about trying to overcome aimlessness. It's about how we strive to instill our lives with a strong sense of purpose. There is a pressure that we feel to know for certain what it is we're supposed to be doing with our lives. And then there is an axiety that comes with NOT knowing what we're supposed to be doing with our lives. Jen Wang handles this familiar territory with empathy, humour, and wonderful ink washes and beautiful drawings. This is a rich story and it deserves your readership!

Two in Blue

2010-11-26T06:20:00.001-08:00

Never Let Me Go: Hailsham

2010-11-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Ishiguro Kazuo's book.

Term Life: Chapter 1

2010-11-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Want an early look at TERM LIFE? Well the folks at Comic Book Resources have posted the whole first chapter for you to read, for free! So check it out!

This one is for mature readers because of language and violence.

Early reviews of "Term Life" AND "Never Let Me Go" Fan Art

2010-11-09T19:44:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more reasons that you should go and pre-order your copy of TERM LIFE now.

Comic Vine

Aint It Cool

Things From Another World

Zedura

Excited? Me too. So march down to your local comic store and pre-order a copy. It is in this months PREVIEWS catalog, but one shot graphic novels such as this one tend to be under represented on the shelves unless fans are beating their drums for it.

Order your copy through DCBS for a limited edition signed book plate!

Ok. Enough horn blowing from me. Here's some art inspired by the haunting novel (and movie) NEVER LET ME GO.

Preview: Immortality Engine

2010-11-05T06:22:00.001-07:00

The story goes that, using manufactured wings, Icarus flew too close to the sun. The wings could not endure the heat, they melted, and Icarus plunged to his death. If there's a moral to take from this, it might be that the obsessive pursuit of impossible goals is to be avoided. But what if that's all wrong?

IMMORTALITY ENGINE is a short comic about a foreman and an engineer who the king puts in charge of curing death. What is the actual cost is chasing the out-of-reach? What do we end up sacrificing?

This short will appear in THE ANTHOLOGY PROJECT VOLUME 2 along with many other outstanding stories by artists who I feel very privileged to be collaborating with. Take a look at just some of the talent appearing in this book:

Joy Ang
Sam Bradley
Emily Carroll
Lelis
Darren Rawlings
Jeffrey Thompson

I know! Staggering right?

Lindz's Food Blog

2010-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

We all gotta eat, so we might as well eat well! My girlfriend Lindsey flexes her creative muscles in the kitchen, and she's decided to start up a blog on all things FOOD. Check it out HERE.

Term Life

2010-10-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

TERM LIFE is a 144-page full colour graphic novel written by AJ Lieberman (COWBOY NINJA VIKING) and drawn by yours truly.

Everyone Nick Barrow knows wants him dead. So he takes out a one million dollar life insurance policy payable to his estranged daughter. The problem is the policy doesn't take effect for 21 days.

This one hits shelves on January 12.

Didn't know I was working on a graphic novel didja? Fooled you all! In a good way.

Help Us Make "The Anthology Project: Volume 2"

2010-10-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Anthology Project: Volume 2 is well under way. Head to our Kickstarter page to get a sneak peek into what we're making. The page will also explain how you can pre-order your copy AND help us to make sure this book becomes a reality, both at the same time!

Posters from the Archives

2010-09-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm metaphorically dusting off some old work for this post.

The Toy Piano Composers is a collective of talented composers who put on concerts of new classical music every few months. One of their members also happens to be my brother, and so I do their posters. These are the ones I've done over the past couple years. The last poster was for a play that was written by my friend, the inimitable Alison Chisholm.

Guest Artist

2010-09-01T19:23:00.001-07:00

This week I've got a guest artist to fill in for me for the first sketch!
My girlfriend, Lindsey! She drew this page dedicated to various locations that one can engage in ... hide and go seek. Can you name them all?

Cowboys and hobos.

Busted out the brush pen again yesterday.

CBC Slammer II

2010-08-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Where are you going to be this weekend? I don't know.
Where should you be this weekend? Fan Expo. That's in Toronto. Jot this down. Booth A120 in the Small Press Section. I'll be there with fellow Anthology Project contributors Sam Bradley and RAWLS.
Come say hi!
When saying hi to RAWLS make sure to raise your voice. It's capitalized for a reason.

CBC Slammers

2010-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Over the course of one weekend in August, Edmonton's scenic Cloverdale neighbourhood is transformed into a community of thousands upon thousands of music fans, volunteers, vendors and artists for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. This is the best thing there is in Edmonton. I've heard that over a 100 000 people will have walked through the park over the course of the weekend. I took a sketchbook to a session featuring one of my favourites: Patrick Watson who improvised a set with Basia Bulat and Colleen Brown. Check all of them out. They are awesome.
John Prine played an emotional finale, fitting for a memorable weekend.

And this one is dedicated to the most overused verb in the CBC's headlines.

Hey I'm on twitter now too so follow me!

Beauty and the Virgin

2010-06-17T07:19:00.001-07:00

Joseph Campbell strikes again with his ideas of recurring story elements. Last week we were watching "Beauty and the Beast" and I thought, gosh. 40 Year Old Virgin shares a lot of similarities to this. Humiliated by his monstrosity/virginity The Beast/Andy Stitzer must find true love before it's too late. The symbol of this is a wiliting rose/mint - condition - collectors - item - toys. When Belle/Trish tamper with the rose/toys, The Beast/Andy are unable to own their shame and send her away. When they finally embrace who they really are, "Tale as Old as Time"/"Aquarius".

40 Year Old Virgin came out in 2005 and Beauty and the Beast was out in 1991. You can always count on me for being topical.

Blurry bits in the above sketches are super-secret-private. Or maybe just stuff I'm working on that I don't want you to know about just yet. But for the super ambitious, any image enhancing software will enhance it.

June 11 musings

2010-06-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to Owen Pallett's "Heartland" on repeat for nearly a month now. My listening habits tend to be pretty compulsive, and I'll exhaust my interest in an album (or at least my girlfriend's tolerance for listening to the same thing in the car each and every time we go out).

This one continues to be compelling for me though. It's a concept album which tells the story of a 14th century warrior named Lewis who becomes disillusioned by his creator, Owen Pallett; and eventually severs his connection by killing him. This idea of removing ties between the creator and their creation continues to ferment for me with every listen. Some friends and I were once joking that sometimes we don't want to meet the artist behind the works we admire. What if their character just doesn't live up to their works? What if they're mean to me???

Now that I think of it, the self-deprecating artist whose work does not live up to the creator appears in a lot in works that I admire. Charlie Kauffman does it overtly in "Adaptation" and again in "Synecdoche New York". "Stranger than Fiction". Stephen King did it in "Dark Tower", and Cerebus has a bit of a psychological break down after meeting his creator Dave Sim. It's been a while since I've read Cerebus, but someone will correct me. At this point in the story, Dave Sim informs Cerebus that he is a fictional creation and that his tragic ending is coming soon. But Dave has no way of changing it or controlling it. Maybe pointing to the notion that we've heard before, that a character has a way of writing itself and taking on a life of its own.

Dave is the creator who assassinates his creation. Pallett is a creator assassinated by his creation.

Anyway. I find this fictional loop hole stuff fun to explore. Here's a very literal drawing of Lewis. Forgive me Mr. Pallett, he exists far more effectively in the abstraction of music.

On Youtube:
Owen Pallett: Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

June 5 Sketches

2010-06-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is a drawing of my girlfriend who is awesome. This sketch was done at Block 1912, my favourite cafe/gelato place on Whyte Ave. We were waiting for friends to arrive. Our friends play a lot of games, and we'd always wanted to play a game at Block. We finally did that night with one my faves, BANG!

Speaking of Block 1912, I made a cool discovery there in March when I opened up the drawer of the coffee table that Lindz and I were sitting at. It was filled with hundreds of notes written on napkins! How magical! Except that after reading about two dozen, the novelty wore off. The majority of them had some variation of "LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST" on them. Otherwise it was "I'm here with ______ drinking a _____! DELISH! LOL DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO WRITE! _____'S SO HOT! LOL! " And then the negative space would be filled with stars and hearts.

It seems that no one is willing to divulge their darkest secrets to a coffee table.

May 28 Sketchbook Drop

2010-05-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

This has been a long absence, but I promise I haven't been idle.
Here are a few sketch pages from this past month. See? Proof.

To say the past year has been busy would be an understatement, but these past two months have been the craziest. Somewhere between all of the comic conventions, I found the time to move, and spend a long overdue visit with my brother and his girlfriend. There was a water park involved.

Thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy of "The Anthology Project"! Everyone who helped put this book together is a legend, so if you haven't flipped through yet, check it out!

The Anthology Project TORONTO FAN EXPO!

2009-08-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Toronto Fan Expo is only a few days away!
Come to booth A30 in the Artist Alley to see previews of comics from The Anthology Project!

The book will feature comics by

Joy Ang

Christine Choi

Ben Huen

Darren Rawlings

Kim Smith

And I snuck one in there.

And many more.

A lot of the contributing artists are going to be there, and some don't bite. Stop on by and say hello!

The Anthology Project at Toronto Fan Expo!

2009-08-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

From August 28th to August 30th the Toronto Fan Expo will be going on. The Anthology Project will be in attendance in the Artist Alley, so keep an eye out for us there! The book aint done yet, but we'll have prints and previews. Here's a taste of my short "Desert Carol". So come by our booth and say hi!

Desert Carol

2009-04-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

The Anthology Project

2009-04-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

"The Anthology Project" is a collection of comic shorts by artists feverishly exploring this medium. And it's coming in early 2010!

But on Saturday April 25th and Sunday April 26th we will be at the Calgary Comic Convention where we will selling prints by all of the contributing artists. Come visit us at booth 509! And Don't forget to check out our website:

www.theanthologyproject.com

New York Comic Con 2009

2009-02-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

Professor Herrimand: Part 2

2009-01-29T02:05:00.000-08:00

Read Part 1 first.

I'm too restless to work on one thing at a time. Interrupting graphic novel work for something schizophrenic and off-center is the remedy.

Evan and Amy: Progress Report

2009-01-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

In February 2008 I started work on a graphic novel.

Just before the holidays, I managed to cobble together an 85 page rough draft. This is the skeleton of the story that you see here, with the first third of the story sprawled out on my floor.

For friends and readers, for your comments and support, a big thank you. They are appreciated enormously. Thanks for the encouragement!

Winter Mix

2009-01-11T23:10:00.000-08:00

The Holiday 1/2

2009-01-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

The Holiday 2/2

2009-01-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

A Brief Summary

2009-01-05T15:59:00.001-08:00

The Consortorium

2008-12-15T15:22:00.001-08:00

Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein

2008-11-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

A Guy I Know Bought a Dog

2008-11-19T22:20:00.001-08:00

Somnialand

2008-11-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

Sincerest apologies to Mr. McCay

Concourse F

2008-11-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

The grand finale to my adventures in New York.
O'Hare airport does in fact have a rainbow road at the United Airlines terminal..

Tasty Tom's

2008-11-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

New York 2/2

2008-11-07T22:07:00.001-08:00

New York 1/2

2008-11-04T22:50:00.001-08:00

Fall Sketchbook 3

2008-11-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

The Sketchbook Affair

2008-10-30T21:55:00.001-07:00

Notes on comics courtesy of Scott McCloud.

Evan and Amy

2008-10-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Evan and Amy are the protagonists in an incubating comic project of mine. They've appeared on this blog in previous posts (sans explanation) as far back as February. This comic is my humble attempt at a story of young love and I'm looking forward to sharing more on here soon.

Summer Sketchbook 6 of 6: Food Friends and Family.

2008-10-12T23:17:00.001-07:00

These are the last few scans from the pocket sketchbook that I carried around with me this summer. More than just cafe drawings for me, these are meditations on my home in Edmonton. An emotional document of experiences, excursions, friends old and new, family and casual acquaintances, plus one or two delirious thought experiments. Seeing these pages laid out chronologically on the blog, it feels fitting that the final drawings document my parents' first visit to Edmonton. The "Where-I-Came-From" catches up with the "Where-I-Am-Now". Recently I have started to drop the "new" from "Edmonton is my new home" in my mind.

Summer Sketchbook 5 of 6: Four August Nights in Two Cities.

2008-10-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Summer Sketchbook 3 of 6: A few Events

2008-10-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Summer Sketchbook: 2 of 6 Avenue P. and other spots

2008-09-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Summer Sketchbook: 1 of 6 : Where I live

2008-09-22T21:36:00.001-07:00

Popgun Volume 2

2008-06-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Popgun Volume 2 is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. I contributed a short to this collection called "Wolf And Bug". Here's a page:

Jump

2008-06-02T20:53:00.001-07:00

Over Old Strathcona

2008-05-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

2008-03-30T00:30:00.001-07:00

The Foolish Bet

2008-02-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

Speed Paint

2008-02-20T21:46:00.001-08:00

Nintendo DS Paintings

2008-01-09T21:45:00.000-08:00

When a friend of mine first told me about a downloadable program that would allow you to use your Nintendo DS as a painting tool, I must admit I was skeptical.
After giving it a shot though, I've gotta say I'm impressed. With the ability to paint at double the resolution of the DS, it's really handy for doing quick colour studies on the fly. No having to carry a paint kit, and on top of that the ability to paint in darker environments.
The pressure sensitivity is surprisingly effective, and it works a lot like "Open Canvas".

You can download "Colors!" from www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/ . Now Wacom just needs to come out with something similar with an 8 inch screen and it's own power supply.

Notebooks

2007-09-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Owl

2007-08-30T19:20:00.001-07:00

Moving Day

2007-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

"The Foolish Bet": Niagara Indie Filmfest

2007-06-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

Looks like Danger D Daniel's next stunt is over Niagara falls.

"The Foolish Bet" will be screening at The Niagara Indie Filmfest. The festival runs from June 22nd to 24th, 2007 in St Catharines, Ontario. For screening times and locations visit Niagara Indie Filmfest's website.

Fin.

2007-05-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all members of the guinea pig year of Sheridan's BAA Animation program. I'm proud to have been part of this class, and I'm going to miss you all. It's been a great four years, and this last year has been the most meaningful and enjoyable one of all.

Here are a few stills from "The Foolish Bet" to tantilize your cones and rods until I can get the whole film online.

Good luck Class o' 07.

The Robber and the Lookout

2007-04-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Sketch book

2007-02-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

An eclectic mix of portrait sketches of class mates, quick observational drawings, watercolour character exploration, and thumbnails for a scene in "The Foolish Bet".

Happy New Years

2007-01-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, dear reader.

Every year I spend New Years the way anyone should spend new years, In the company of good friends dancing to good music, followed by a very late greasy breakfast in an overly-crowded under-staffed restaurant. 2006 was a good year, but bring on 2007.

Sum Bee Jeez.

2006-12-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

The film I'm doing this year has a couple shots that use text. When the text comes on to the screen the animation will freeze and the shot will take on a smokey over-exposed quality. Like the Devil taking a snap shot.

This motif of the ramp, gorge and rock spire has been repeated on my blog since last May. Almost neurotically. But this might just be the final location design for Devil's Hall.

Lee Scoresby and Hester

2006-12-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

A bunch of my friends and I are totally engrossed by Philip Pullman's series "His Dark Materials".
In his universe a soul is represented by an animal called a daemon that you are bound to for your entire life. This is Lee Scoresby the Texan Aeronaut and his daemon Hester.

A bunch of my friends have picked up the series too so we have a bit of an unofficial book club going. Sam Bradley and Casper Konefal have done some Golden Compass inspired concept artwork based on these books, so check them out pronto.

Iorek Byrnison

2006-11-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

Iorek is an armored bear from Philip Pullman's book "The Golden Compass" and he says things like "Iron is bear-metal. Gold is not." In context that statement is a lot more bad ass. Don't take my word for it though. Read the book.

The Bystanding Armadillo

2006-11-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

On the second painting you'll see I've taken the time to add some radness to it.

Super Villain

2006-11-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

This past summer I worked as a background painter at Studio B Productions in Vancouver.
In my last month there I got a chance to work on one of their shorts as an environment designer. That short is now available as a Quicktime on their website.

After retiring from a life time of evil, SUPER VILLAIN settles down with his body guard Mr Larz in a pleasant little suburb, and finds it hard to give up his old ways.

Check it out. Just go to Studio B Productions. To find the short click "In Development" then "Super Villain" then "View Promo".

Toughest of the tough

2006-11-03T05:26:00.000-08:00

Captain Bucky O Hare

2006-10-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

What happened that day at Devil's Hall?

2006-10-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Danger's Ride

2006-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Can he make the jump?

2006-09-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Can a' armadilla' curl up into a ball? Can a rattler bite your heel? This is Danger D. Daniels we are talking about.

The Terrible Error of the Replacement Mayor

2006-09-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

"The Terrible Error of the Replacement Mayor" is now online for your viewing pleasure along with concept art from the development of the film.

Check it out by going to www.replacementmayor.com

If you're going to the 2006 Ottawa International Animation Festival be sure to come see it on the big screen at the National Art Gallery on Saturday at 11 AM.

The Devil's Terms

2006-09-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Devil Approaches Danger Daniels

2006-09-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Foolish Bet

2006-09-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Danger D Daniels

2006-08-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

2006-08-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Two student short films I was involved with will be screened at the Ottawa International Animation Festival this September. "The Terrible Error of the Replacement Mayor", and Andrew Ross' "Umbrellaboy" which was a short film that nine of us Sheridan goons put together last summer. My involvement on that one was as a co-writer and background painter.

Both films are competing in the Teletoon Undergrad Film category. In addition to that, "Umbrellaboy" is being featured in the Canadian Showcase category.

For more info on the festival which runs from September 20-24 click HERE

Old Home

2006-07-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Danger D Daniels

2006-07-04T16:05:00.000-07:00