Monday, January 31, 2011

Space Girls.

Just a quick shout-out to Mike Hoffman. His Space Girls blog now features my Astrochick illustration from the Hey Ladies book.

Thanks, Mike.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

One Thousand Days.

Greetings and salutations. The Month From Hell is nearly over, and I'm trying to get my life back on track. Hopefully the Emo Flu has completely run its course, so I can start living like a normal human again and stop second-guessing every decision I make.

Part of my reconstruction plan is what I'm dubbing the 1,000 Days Project. Which probably sounds like something new, but it's really not. If you've been reading the blog in the past, you know that in 2008, and again last year, I drew and/or painted every day of the year. It's a great exercise; helps me focus and learn at a much greater rate. Plus it's highly therapeutic - pretty much the only thing that kept me sane over the past 23 days.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

On New Year's Day when I had a fever, a nasty headcold and a raw throat, I drew this:


After that I decided to go with the every-day plan again. Why sacrifice all the momentum I built up last year, right?

Then a few days back it occurred to me that it was Day 384, not Day 19. So I thought about that a bit - should I go for a full thousand days?

Hell yeah, I should.

Bret Taylor
Vancouver, BC
Day 388/1000

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Welcome to Another Year.

Hey folks, another rambling catchall post here, to kick the year off. Sorry 'bout the delay; I got hammered with a nasty headcold on New Year's Eve and it just wouldn't take the hint. Knocked me for a loop both physically and mentally.

On the plus side of the equation, once again I'm drawing and painting every day - as much to take my mind off stressful bullshit as anything else. Pushing paint around on a canvas is supremely helpful as a form of meditation. And sketching is a whole 'nother experience. Yesterday was a rare sunny day for January 2011, so I ambled on down to the beach with my camera and a sketchpad. Spent a long time learning that I don't enjoy doing landscapes (surprise, surprise), shot a few photos, froze my ass off, and finally started to head for home.

Then I saw the seagull.




This little fella was perched, as you can see, atop one of the posts they use to hang volleyball nets in warmer weather. Only had time for a quick sketch before he flew away, but that was enough to get all the basic info down on paper. After that it was just a matter of beefing up the lines with some General's extra-soft charcoal and adding a bit of watercolour.

Finished piece is available here, if you're interested.

In other news, I now have 4 commissions to work on, plus a whole slew of small paintings for a potential show sometime in the spring. Oh, and my good friends Lisa and Rev. Paul of Mojave will be performing at the Tipper in Vancouver at the end of April, and I'll have some paintings on display there, as well.

More info here.

And that's where I am. How are you folks doing?