Career choice #2

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

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

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

Reaching critical levels of happy fun

Accessories + Accoutrements

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)

A very important story

I really like drawing tiny campfires.

CAT-MAN

Haha, what?

The 100th post!

Recent sketches from Montreal. (and an old one, reworked)











PS: I went to the science center.

That's some conceptually deep shit.

Just messing around in the sketchbook.

PS: My website is back up again. I don't know if anybody noticed, but I hadn't paid the bills and the site hit the dirt for a couple weeks.

l'ONF

I made a visit to the National Film Board last week, and managed to finally catch Madame Tutli Putli. Turns out, you can now view the whole thing online.

Madame Tutli Putli (Thank you, CBC)

It is so, so beautifully made; the attention to detail is just insane. I was really not expecting it to be so dark in subject matter, but it's a gorgeous short film all the same.

je ne comprends pas.

(Click to enlarge)







(Obligatory downtown view)

So I'm here in Montreal, having an amazing time and lacking a scanner. (Also, severely regretting underestimating the difficulty of learning to speak french.)

I've seen some amazing live music, drank some alright beer, and done a hell of a lot of walking. It seems like there's at least 3 festivals going on simultaneously at any given time in the summer months. Totally bonkers!

Scenes from BC

I spent some time in a little town called Kaslo in southern British Columbia the past two days. It's built on a forested mountainside by a lake, and some of its back residential roads look like they came straight out of a miyazaki film.





And afterwards, we went to Ainsworth Hot Springs, which features a CAVE. Seriously, you go sit in a cave in piping hot water and sweat until your brains come out of your nose. It's pretty awesome.


(Photo courtesy of Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort )

PS: Tomorrow I am going to Montreal for a month so that I may mangle the french language. WISH ME LUCK.

Vague Locations

Acrylics on Canvas, edited in Photoshop

Old Fashioned, No Frills Life Drawing

Except I have to pay for sessions now that I'm no longer a student.



A fifteen minute pose, I think?

Curious Facts

I was checking out my Google Analytics, and I've gotten a hit for the following Google searches:

baboon cake

baboon wearing clothes

and my personal favourite,

baboon bum photo.

It would appear all the right people are making their way here.

Romeow and Mewliet

I should be shot for terrible pun usage, I know.

But...

SHAKESPEARE CATS.

Scenes from Alberta

A portrait of the artist as a young woman

Cabin Fever?

PS:

I updated my website! There's a lot more stuff on it, and the text is for the most part, now selectable.

Except, there's some wonky stuff going down in the narrative section of the gallery for the time being. Anybody know the best way to display that kind of thing?

IRMAKNIIVILA.COM

Observations

From a craft/music fair. Maybe you'll recognize some archetypes?







(Click to enlarge)

The benefits of home

Back in Calgary!

While there's no studio space, and the greenery is more like brownery, I woke up to this on my bed this morning:

Now get a job, you damn bum!

Hey, tomorrow is the Sheridan Illustration Grad show!


(click the invitation to enlarge for info)

Come down, have a beer, check out what we've been losing sleep over.

PS: Also check out the website:
SHERIDAN ILLUSTRATION 2009

Business Cards are here!

Botanical!

Native edible plants for Toronto rooftop gardens:

Spread #2

What comes after a career in triceratops-dom?

Vintage Irma, circa 2004(ish?)

Haha, some things never change.

Who does this asshole think he is?

Stayin' up too late and listening to music too loud.

Here is a spread from an upcoming narrative project:

Boston, the Big Picture

The Big Picture + Earth Hour

Ryan turned me on to Boston.com's The Big Picture a while back. They always have these amazing photo sets with the added bonus of long strings of vicious comments that come afterward.

They recently did a series of photos based on Earth Hour, where you can click on the photos and it will show you a before and after the lights were turned out.

Las Vegas! Insane!

Continuing my slow descent into madness

It's..so...thiiiiiiick!

Certainly not my current state

For a narrative project:



Ink and acrylic on Arches watercolour paper

Oh, here we go

So you take the principles of visual subtraction, and throw in a complete disregard for religious sensitivity, and you get...

LASER JESUS.




You can't say I didn't learn anything in school.

PS: IT'S SPRING OUTSIDE. Life returns to my frozen heart!
This also means, a new banner! Oh ho.

Ghost-Boat Adventures

I did this today, just for fun. It's been a long time since I've done something for no reason.

Hansel and Gretel

I'm actually really pleased with how this turned out. It somehow reminds me of old russian illustrations?



Ink and acrylic on Stonehenge Paper, manipulated in Photoshop CS3

Figure drawing, it's been a while.

I had a dream that I got fired from school and had to clean out my desk last night.

A chilling sign of things to come? Haha.

Josh Reichmann + Dinosaur Bones

A poster for Paper Bag:



If you happen to be in Hamilton on Wednesday the 18th, you should swing by the Pepper Jack Cafe to see these guys play!

Josh Reichmann Oracle Band Myspace
Dinosaur Bones Myspace

Don't bother, it can run faster than you

The terrifying/adorable dichotomy continues!



Ink, acrylic and pastel on yupo