Macrocephalic Baboon!

2011-11-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Fair warning! Mushiness follows.

First off, a note that sketches and a lot of artwork will now be posted to Tumblr:

kniivila.tumblr.com

I'll still be updating this blog, but moreso on an extensive artwork posts / personal blog basis. I promise to be a better blogger, haha.

Since I suppose the cat's out of the bag in the real world, might as well throw it all down here. After 2 years (3 if you count the internship), I've left my post at Paper Bag Records to focus on my personal illustration career.

There are some narrative projects that have been brewing for the last few years (see above for mysterious peeks at...something), paintings waiting to leave me, and somehow I feel like I'm finally ready to take myself seriously. The years with a wonderfully close team at Paper Bag gave me confidence in myself and the business side of the arts that I just didn't have after graduating.

I'd be crazy not to thank everyone in the PBR office - Trevor, Melanie, Darryl, and Dara. I had the pleasure of working with these amazing people the last two years, as well as an entire host of incredibly talented bands and their teams. This job flew across the Atlantic a couple times, drove me across America twice with PS I Love You, and forced me to take responsibility and grow as a person.

Driving across America, Venice Beach CA to Manhattan, NY.

You would do yourself a service to check out any of the bands on the Paper Bag Records roster - ridiculously talented and hardworking, and just overwhelmingly good people.

I've also been surrounded by an amazing personal circle of family, friends, and artists who haven't been afraid to give me a kick in the ass when I'm being negative or lazy. Thinking back to graduating, moving back to Calgary and basically lying facedown for a month because I had no direction and no motivation. This time it's different - I'm excited and ready.

So anyway! Thanks for reading, and check back for updates as this new chapter starts!

2011-09-14T04:52:00.000-07:00

Mysterious huts in the woods, eh Irma? Predictable.

(But I love them so)

2011-09-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hairstyles not applicable to those with round faces:

2011-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I...spent a shameful amount of money shopping in the last few days. Clothes on the brain, so much justifying...

(But actually, neither of these outfits are mine)

2011-09-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to draw schoolgirl outfits. So suuuue meeee.

2011-09-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

A joke that's not really a joke but makes me laugh like a goober anyway:

2011-07-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Meditations on dinner:

2011-07-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I worry I'm becoming a cat lady. Will I....die alone?

2011-07-05T16:36:00.001-07:00

Poor, poor neglected blog. It's just....patio season sweeps in and between work and drawing and hangouts in the park, blog gets squeezed out and has no choice but to patiently wait for me to come crawling back in the winter months when it's too damn cold to do anything but scan with numb fingers. Yep, I think I'll be sticking to drinking beer in the sun while it lasts. In the meantime, a few tiny bits:

A portrait of the lovely and talented Rachelle Letain, from a recent NYC trip

Sometimes I just draw what I feel.

Lastly, I've started occasionally running. In other news, I've discovered how painfully out of shape I am. Apparently fitness is not earned through eating purely brown sugar croissants, much to my surprise.

2011-05-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

I won't even pretend I haven't been woefully neglectful of you lately, internet. I found this thing called spring, and suddenly the outside world doesn't look like such a harsh and inhospitable place!

A tidbit:

2011-04-27T20:59:00.001-07:00

Oh geez, I'm woefully behind on everything lately...

I made a birthday card for my grandmother, a hand painted robin on stonehenge paper...you can't tell, but it's double sided and stitched along the bottom and open along the top to form a pocket to contain little birthday wishes :)

Also, Ken over at Boxed in Design was kind enough to ask me to answer a few questions - you can read about 'em here!

2011-04-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

2011-04-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

A mystery of sorts:

2011-04-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

2011-03-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Some doodle-bits...

2011-03-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

2011-03-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Couple more fashion-y things. I'll be heading to Austin for SxSW next week, before finishing up a long-standing narrative project that's been weighing on me for some time now!

2011-03-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

Further Fashion, and a portrait of Nicki Minaj:

Help me, I'm drowning in my own to-do list!

2011-03-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

Some fashion-y doodles...I'm dying of winter-blues and dreaming of wearing summer dresses right now.

2011-02-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

Batman, finding out where babies come from

2011-02-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Doodlebits!

2011-02-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

Sorry guys, I am on posting-fire today. Some doodle comics - unfortunately a true story.

2011-02-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

Oh hey!

I made another Wallpaper for Erika Brouwer's Canvas Collective. Featuring a little ghostly...man...thing. I made another surprise one, but you'll just have to wait until that comes out, ho ho.

If you're interested in participating, contact Erika! She's a super gal. And she lives in GERMANY. (irrelevant information)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WALLPAPER

2011-02-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I've been watching a lot of Lord of the Rings Special Features. The brilliance of the art department in no way reflected in these silly doodles. (sigh)

What are they partners in? Probably fighting science-crime.

2011-01-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

Year of the ____ images aren't usually my thing, but I'll be 24 this year...which means that it's my year!! So what the heck. Year of the Rabbit!

2011-01-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm really annoyed with how tiny Blogger reduces these images.

Maybe it's time for a proper website instead of a blog?

In any case...wizard failures are the best failures! (click to enlarge)

2011-01-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

This started out as something completely innocent...and then I guess 3AM got the best of me. The funny thing is, I don't really care for dark or scary things, but they sometimes just fall out of me. I can't even watch horror movies!

In any case...there's something really wrong with the space, but somehow I find it appropriately off-putting.

2011-01-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

This has been my outfit everyday for at least the last month. Recorded for posterity's sake. Who has motivation for alternate outfits when it's below zero? Apparently no longer me.

2011-01-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

Eye problems, man.

Please click to enlarge!

2011-01-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

Give it a couple months, these styles will be white hot in Brooklyn.

2011-01-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

I've been mildly obsessed with grimacing cowboys since I went to the desert for the first time ever this year. You'd think growing up in Calgary would've done it, but all that did was make me hate the Stampede.

Please click to enlarge! It's just...so tiny.

2011-01-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

I have this book, and it's one of the best I own! Sometimes I do drawings straight out of it:

2011-01-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

2011-01-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

These days, most of what I do is a combination of traditional painting followed by a lot of messing around in photoshop and surprisingly enough, the paint bucket and dissolve, two things I swore off as "amateur hour" long ago. Blast!

2011-01-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hey there, persistent headache! Can't help but notice you hanging out in my brain.

2011-01-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Lee Van Cleef's face freaks me out and man do I love it.

2011-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

The first drawings of 2011!

Been drawing almost exclusively in ballpoint for the last few months. This is largely what my sketchbooks look like these days:

For some reason, I'm fond of this little one, so I threw some colour on:

And lastly, a peek at what I've been working on this weekend. Acrylic + ink on some sort of plastic-paper. Apologies for the pitiful photo quality!

2010-12-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

Why haberdash? Well, the simple answer is...I'm not sure.

And on the note of tiny, crummy comics:

One day I will magically gain the ability to draw straight lines. That day is not today.

2010-12-01T14:14:00.001-08:00

#10 of 10!

2010-11-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

#9 of 10: Big Plans

2010-11-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

#8 of 10: Late!

More or less how I feel in life these days!

2010-11-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

#7 of 10: Aragorn's got POWERS, man

2010-11-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

#6 of 10: Costume 2

100% digital, start to finish. In reality, it would save me trouble and look better if I were to draw these by hand and then colour digitally, but bad habits will be bad habits. (And gimpy hands will be gimpy hands....d'oh.)

2010-11-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

#5 of 10: Three Figures.

Thanks to Kagan Mcleod for hosting lifedrawing sessions! since I've been lifedrawing in a sketchbook rather than on a large pad, I've been looking at them more as illustrations and less as lifedrawing exercises. Which means I don't feel guilty about going back in photoshop and making edits as I please!

2010-11-25T13:22:00.000-08:00

#4 of 10: You can dress her up but you can't take her out.

2010-11-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

#3 of 10: Red Face.

2010-11-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

#2 of 10: What are you....some kinda were-pervert?!

2010-11-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

#1 of 10 days in a row of blogposts:

2010-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook lifedrawings:

...and somtimes things do go my way.

2010-11-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

4 pages of cityscape thumbnails. All based off of concept art and photo reference from my inspiration folder. Just trying to get a hang of city density and perspective for the time being. I think it's actually pretty startling, the progression from left to right. (Click to enlarge for details)

I've been on a domestic tear as of late, and have taken to copying recipes I really want to try into my sketchbook. This means I never lose the recipe, and has the added benefit of making sure I try the damn thing out since I went through the trouble of copying it out by hand. (I can attest to the deliciousness of each of these.)

And sometimes things just don't go my way.

2010-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

I've started painting again, after a brief veering stint in baking. Starting small...watching documentaries and mindlessly sketch-painting.

Half traditionally painted, half photoshop.

Sketches from Calgary

2010-10-28T20:21:00.001-07:00

I just got back from 5 weeks away from home - I spent 4 on the road with PS I Love You, and a week in the middle at home in Calgary.

My time at home consisted mostly of thinking about baking instead of actually baking, and watching ridiculous combinations of movies (Batman Under The Red Hood followed by He's Just Not That Into You followed by For A Few Dollars More).

I found this amazing sketching pen, the Zebra Z-1 in Nelson BC, and haven't been able to find it anywhere since. It is driving me nearly to madness.

Roadtrip Scenes

2010-09-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago we saw the sunset in Utah - one of the most unreal things I've ever seen.

Also note the bullet holes in the local signage. Haha!

J + J

2010-09-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my cousin's upcoming wedding, which I will be missing due to an upcoming month-long trip across America! Look forward to photos from the road.

Fluff, fluff.

2010-09-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

I am a shameless lover of mindless, fluffy pictures of girls. That is all.

Paper Bag Records Vinyl Sticker

2010-08-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

My employer for a year now, Paper Bag Records, has been all kinds of wonderful to me. I've racked up all sorts of experience, been able to travel, and worked with some really incredible people to date - it's a little hard to believe sometimes how fortunate I've been.

One of the perks of being the only graphics-trained one in the office is that I get to contribute to Paper Bag's visual identity in small projects here and there. In this case, it was 3-inch stickers for the limited edition collector's vinyl. Right now, I'm obsessed with jam and cheese packaging - I think it shows.

The variations were presented, and the unanimous vote was for the bottom middle.

Everything comes together!

2010-08-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've been bouncing around this Ghost Wizard idea for about 2 years now and am slowly fleshing out ideas and worlds. Ideally, one day I'd love to see this turned into an adventure-style game but literally do not have a single clue as to how that sort of thing happens.

So for now, I paint.

Presenting: Lantern Lagoon!

The original painting is about...18"x24"? Acrylic on Stonehenge.

Past Ghost Wizard posts can be found HERE.

These little guys need names!

2010-08-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've got a fishbowl on my desk with some aquatic plants in it and an Amano shrimp (Which I've named Yoshitaka, Yoshi for short. Get it...? Ha. Haaa...)

Last night I made the discovery of not one...not two, but THREE baby snails, which look like wee ramshorn snails. They must have come in on the plants and have been growing ever since. I'm so excited to be witnessing the miracle of life before my very eyes!

Though, unchecked, this could easily become a veritable snail infestation. So exciting!

On the note of aquariums, I've certainly spammed this link out enough, but one last go...just the best planted aquariums on the planet.

I'd definitely rather have a dog than an elaborate aquarium, but MAN. Lookit those things.

Late Wallpapers

2010-08-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I totally forgot to post these up when they were made, but here goes!

I made a couple wallpapers for my friend Erika Brouwer's wallpaper blog, Canvas Collective. The blog has really taken off since its beginnings and is boasting an outta control lineup in the coming days. She's open to submissions, so check it out either to download or contribute!

DOWNLOAD WALLPAPERS FROM CANVAS COLLECTIVE

Lifedrawing Pt. 3

2010-08-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

Can't stop won't stop! A series of gestures followed by a...10 minute pose, I guess?

Brought the acrylics and watercolours with me instead of pastels today!

Unapologetic Nerdery Pt. 2

2010-08-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: The Awkward Early Years Pt. 2 (Apologies in advance for the generally crummy drawings)

Ep. 3 - Nien Nunb learns a valuable lesson (Kids are assholes.)

Ep. 4 - The Rebel Alliance.

Ep. 5 - Goddammit, Lando.

No thanks to Bennett Slater (legitimately one of the biggest nerds I know), I can't help but notice the high concentration of ridiculous looking guys and creatures in these movies just wearing normal-guy slacks. I find this funnier perhaps than anybody should.

Lest the comics above leave you with the impression that I'm some sort of cool person, a visual representation of my Saturday evening. An accidental nap turns into eating candy in the dark. We should probably never speak of this again.

Lastly, a little guy for a new icon. I have affectionately titled it "And now, for my next trick". I like to think of it as a complex metaphor for life.

Sketchbook Paintings

2010-08-04T18:39:00.001-07:00

Yeesh, amazing what a good sketchbook can do for productivity...!

I recently picked up Life on Blu-ray and have been sketch-painting in acrylics with it as reference. It is nearly impossible to screw up a painting with the BBC on your side, fyi.

Follice Folly

2010-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

Holy Moses.

I got super, ridiculous jazzed for Phil McAndrew's Beard and Mustache Illustration Championship Competition and pumped this out in one night.

Please click on the image below and view full size

It Hungers....For More!!!

2010-07-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Still on this drawing-buildings kick. I'm kind of flirting with the idea of taking an continuing education course in architectural drawing or Film/Stage set drafting.

*colours tweaked in Photoshop

Playing games and watching animation growing up, I was always more interested in the backgrounds and world design than I was the action or characters. The subject of the Myst series came up recently and I'd forgotten how all over that I was. Running around cool places without having to battle pointless monsters every 4 steps? Yeah, I can get behind that.

Sketchbook - London Edition

2010-07-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Based on a photo I took when I went to London in January:

Just...try to ignore the glaring errors. I'm new to this, haha.

Sketchbook Excerpts

2010-07-24T23:10:00.001-07:00

Blogging on a Saturday night: Officially the coolest cat you know.

I recently got a couple sketchbooks coil-bound at Staples - I've been assembling unruly masses of laser paper, stonehenge, cardstock and other bits. More fun than a one paper sketchbook and less effort than custom stitch-binding.

Some selected results are below:

Lifedrawing Pt.2

2010-07-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely shaking out the dust... (10 or 15 min. poses)

I've noticed that some people take their lifedrawing waaaayyyyy too seriously. What is it about art and over-analysis? Sometimes it's okay to just enjoy. Yeesh.

Unapologetic Nerdery

2010-07-15T19:57:00.001-07:00

Star Wars: The Awkward Early Years.

(Click To Enlarge)

Lifedrawing

2010-07-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yeeeeeesh. I dropped into an open lifedrawing sessions at the TSA today.

It's been almost a year since I've drawn from life - while it wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, there's definitely a good layer of rust on me. Below is the best of the batch, a couple of 10 minute poses. Feels good to go back to the basics...almost makes me want to set up a still life.

Brilliant Social Commentary

2010-06-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Or something.

Jumping Ship

2010-06-15T21:06:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I make stupid lifestyle choices and then make stupid doodles about them.

Abandoned

2010-06-12T23:01:00.001-07:00

Unfinished.

There's something about mossy forests...!

A bad case of the trotskies.

2010-06-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

With apologies to Russia's long and illustrious history:

For my friend Chelsea, who has a mad history-crush on Trotsky.

Ha ha, oh you.

2010-06-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Years later, I still can't decide if my lack of stylistic consistency is an okay thing. More likely, I should probably accept that it's just who I am and quit whining about it. Sometimes you just feel like drawing a lady with shiny breasts. Am I right?

Sketches

2010-06-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Holy moly, it's been a while, sketchbook. The first is a small painting from Edinburgh, which I was lucky enough to travel to this past month. The second is....dumb fluff.

Prototype

2010-06-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Attempting to create some sort of...greeting card. Makes a good "congratulations on your engagement" gift.

It is a double sided, stitch closed little envelope thing with a pull-out tongue. Though it kinda looks like a huge mouth dong. YOUR CALL!

I'm going to try out a couple different papers, make the lettering better, and make the stitching neater. And then...I will create an army!!!

It's a Trap!

2010-06-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

A chilling vision of things to come...

Reverse

2010-05-30T11:53:00.001-07:00

...and in white, because I'm noncommittal like that. (This is much closer to the original painted version)

By Accident

2010-05-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

For the first time in an alarmingly long time, paint on paper. (...edited in Photoshop! Cheater alert!)

Things Get Sinister

2010-04-25T12:23:00.001-07:00

Untitled Projects

2010-04-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

It's all going somewhere!

Wallpaper

2010-04-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

My good friend Erika Brouwer recently created a wallpaper blog wherein you can download artist-created wallpapers!

I created this wallpaper, which you can download here:

DOWNLOAD WALLPAPER

Some Days

2010-03-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

Are better than others.

Like Herding Cats

2010-03-24T20:36:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure I lost a complex metaphor in here somewhere......

PIE!

2010-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

Reminiscing

2010-02-26T20:38:00.001-08:00

Order's all out of wack!

Carpe and Diem Seize the Day

2010-02-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Trying my hand at narrative again!

I should actually probably post up the children's book I made for my final semester. (Nearly a year ago! Holy smokes time flies!)

London

2010-02-10T19:44:00.001-08:00

At last, the great continental escape!

Dubious Perspective

2010-02-04T11:35:00.001-08:00

Cats.

2010-01-31T22:25:00.000-08:00

Things are a'brewing!

(Pretty obviously based off of this photo. My skills in urban landscape are still pretty poor)

More Paintings

2010-01-29T22:41:00.001-08:00

Third arm syndrome

Experiments + Variations #2

2010-01-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

Experiments, Variations

2010-01-25T20:51:00.001-08:00

Just messing around

In colour,

And in B&W

Jack of Hearts

2010-01-10T22:48:00.001-08:00

For a project, re-designing the face cards. My assigned card was the Jack of Hearts.

My initial thought was to do a painting of one of those boys that manage to steal your heart despite you knowing that they'll only eat it in the end. It was meant to be a traditional painting of a beautiful boy - it ended up being this instead. Yikes.

Best be watching that soul!

Career choice #2

2009-12-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Fly, little wizard, fly!!

I've always kind of wanted a hot air balloon pilot's license - most likely I'd go down in the jungles of South America never to be seen again, though.

As a Bird

2009-11-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

Whoops - have been slow on the illustration uptake as of late.

Should be kicking it up a notch soon now that I'm moved into a place, proper!

Little Girls Posters

2009-09-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Whoops, long time no post!

I moved back to Toronto a month ago to work full time at Paper Bag Records, and things have been crazy every since - no time to make blog posts!

I'm in Montreal right now for Pop Montreal - designed this poster on the fly to be put up around town and can't seem to shake this love of designing posters in doubles/negatives.

If you get the chance, check out the band's myspace, and if you're down for Pop Montreal, come see the show!

passion is a fashion

2009-07-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Reaching critical levels of happy fun

2009-07-28T02:29:00.000-07:00

Accessories + Accoutrements

2009-07-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, technically some of them are more body part than accessory, but.

A list of things our friend must regain:

(Click to make it big enough to read)