howyadoin graphics

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 20/366.

2012-01-30T01:08:00.000-08:00

Why yes, I am way behind:

Graphite, Photoshop.

One Hundred and Thirty-Four Days.

2012-01-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Finished:

12x24 inches, acrylic on canvas.

Blast From the Past.

2012-01-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a car magazine publisher named Tom McMullen. Back when I was in highschool, several of his magazines had sections that published illustrations from readers - Truckin', Street Rodder, Custom Rodder, etc.

Fancying myself an accomplished illustrator by this point, I promptly shipped them a handful of my drawings (never occurred to me, of course, to keep copies for myself). Over the next year or so, I think they published four or five of my pieces - my first published work. And last week as I continued in my efforts to purge a lot of the useless crap out of my life, I found three of the magazines:

I knew immediately which issues they were. I can still remember how excited I was to see my art in them. Here, have a look:

I still kinda like that Monte Carlo. Maybe I should draw an updated version sometime.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 19/366.

2012-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Souvenir of San Diego ComiCon, either 2004 or 2005:

Ink, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 18/366.

2012-01-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

Souvenir of a friend's trip to the Big Easy:

Graphite, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 17/366.

2012-01-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

And another:

Go Habs!

Ink, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 15-16/366.

2012-01-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

Playing catchup again, so this post will be a two-fer:

Ink, coloured pencil, gouache.

Pencil, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 14/366.

2012-01-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

Continuing my catchup efforts, I believe this is another glass I got from Gary & Morna of Starfish Glassworks fame:

Graphite, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 13/366.

2012-01-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

I seem to have fallen behind on this project again. Catching up, one step at a time:

Ink, Photoshop.

Bret's Big Art Sale.

2012-01-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

So yesterday's sale was a smashing success. I commandeered the studio at Imagemaker Photographic Studio, lots of good, fun people showed up, paintings and prints were sold, and a good time was had by all. The show wasn't even started before several prints were already sold, and with the guidance of my Lovely Assistant and Social Media Director, Tess McCann, the momentum kept going as we turned the sale into a bit of a Twitter event (#BretsBigArtSale).

(Photo courtesy of George Smeltzer - GSCameraworks)

I was really touched by how much effort people made to promote the sale. Plenty of mentions, retweets, photos and link sharing on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Right off the bat, I should thank these fine people:

John & Chrissy Watson, George Smeltzer, Lori Kittelberg, Patti Catroppa, Ceci Graber, Brandy Trudeau, Jeff Hornby, Donna Jay-Crowe, Adam Carlson, Ned Tobin, Nikki Cruickshank, Nicola Rueschmann, Richard Finch, Adé Win, Vincent Ng, everybody at Cosca and Novo, Nicola Rueschmann, Yvonne Milroy, Matty Sadorf, April Trasy, Valarie H., Kimli, Stephanie Insixiengmay, Anthony Wittrock, DaDe Art & Design Lab, Vancouver Vantage, Carly Fryer, BC Berrie, Lora Jean, John Bell, Jenn Ashton, Lola Frost, Louise Perrin, Ashley November, Steve Kubien, and of course my family.

Sold a set of 6 bourbon prints, a Jack Daniel's print, the Crow's Funeral painting I did in tribute to my good friends Lisa and Paul in Mojave, etc. etc. I was sort of sad to see this one go, but at least it went to a good home:

(Photo courtesy of Brandy Trudeau)

In the midst of all the wining and dining and wheeling and dealing, I managed to get a little sketching in:

(Photo courtesy of Tess McCann)

And of course, adult beverages were provided to keep spirits up (see what I did there?). There's still a bit of wine left in my fridge, but the tequila didn't survive:

After 6 hours we packed up the paintings and called it a night. Only thing left to do at that point was celebrate with vodka and poutine.

Thank you one and all for a stellar day. Let's do it again sometime soon.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who put up with my twitchiness and general neurosis on the days leading up to the sale. Apparently I'm always going to be a bit of a mess right up to the point where a sale/show starts.

Ready for the Sale.

2012-01-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

So I've spent the last couple days getting everything ready for the art sale. I've taken over my buddy John's photography studio and changed it around (more than) a little. Yesterday while we were still setting up I snapped this pic of the Reception area:

Today we went over with a boatload of art. Here's how it looked shortly after we got there:

Finally I had all the paintings up in the Lounge:

Once that was all done it was time to pose for a photo myself:

Weirdest part of all this, of course, is how my livingroom wall looks now:

But fear not - that big wall space will be reserved for the first Closing Time painting.

Big day tomorrow.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 12/366.

2012-01-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

Wasn't really feeling this one tonight, but here it is anyway:

Charcoal, watercolor and ink. Got this shotglass from my good friends Morna Tudor and Gary Bolt (they actually made it.)

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 11/366.

2012-01-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

Just a quick drive-by post. Stressed out to the max about arrangements for the art sale on Saturday, and nothing else seems to be calming me down any, so I figured maybe drawing Stewie Griffin would help.

The verdict is still out.

Ink and watercolour.

The Big Art Sale.

2012-01-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

So I've been talking a lot lately about this upcoming Closing Time show I want to put on. And of course, the first painting's already done, but if I'm gonna put on a full-fledged show on the scale I want, it'll take some funding - I'd like to put together a book (via Blurb) of the initial sketches of my Muse and offer that for sale at the show in addition to the paintings. And really, having copies of my Hey Ladies book available couldn't hurt.

Coincidentally, I'm also trying to strip a lot of excess baggage out of my life these days. Being a packrat is a real flaw of mine, so I'm determined to cut some of this extra crap away. (Why no, it's not a midlife crisis at all.)

Killing two birds with one stone, then: I'm hosting a sale this weekend, and almost all my paintings prior to the Metalflake show in October are going, going, and hopefully soon to be gone. It'll free up a ton of wall space and hopefully raise the cash I need for the next big show. Prices are being slashed as if I were some crazed, fez-wearing carpet-warehouse owner.

What's on sale, you ask? Well, you can download a catalog of the show right here.

So stay tuned, and if you're in Vancouver, please come by the show. Relevant info is as follows:

Saturday, January 14th, 2:00PM - 8:00PM
210-2075 Yukon St., Vancouver, BC

Thanks, and please spread the word.

Bret Taylor
Vancouver, BC
January 2012

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 10/366.

2012-01-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

Saw this one at a friend's place tonight, and just had to draw it:

Ink and watercolour. Only artistic license I used was in colouring the skull red to give it more emphasis.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 9/366.

2012-01-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

Got this particular glass from my good buddy Paul Whitt, along with a matching flask. He allegedly found it in an establishment of questionable moral fiber:

Coloured pencil.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 8/366.

2012-01-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Anybody who knows me knows how much I like Jack Daniel's. And a few of you keep asking when I'm gonna draw a Jack glass, so without further ado:

Ink, china marker, gouache, Photoshop.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 7/366.

2012-01-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Running a bit late, but this is yesterday's shotglass pic:

Drew and painted it last night after supper, but there wasn't time to scan it before I had to go to a birthday party.

Watercolour, charcoal.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 6/366.

2012-01-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

For tonight's entertainment, I proudly present with:

Ink, watercolour, coloured pencil.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 5/366.

2012-01-06T01:34:00.001-08:00

Not much in the way of commentary to go with this one:

Ink on paper.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 4/366.

2012-01-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

Another shotglass offering tonight. This one's from Busch Gardens, another place that I've never been:

Graphite, watercolour, gouache.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 3/366.

2012-01-03T23:41:00.000-08:00

Day three:

Souvenir of (duh) a trip to L.A. in 2004. Picked it up at LAX on the way back to Vancouver.

Watercolour, graphite.

It occurs to me that the number of blog posts this year will obviously be jumping pretty drastically.

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 2/366.

2012-01-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm probably late with shotglass number two, given that the holidays are over. But here it is anyway:

Coloured pencil, ink, watercolour, gouache.

(Got this particular glass from my folks, if I remember correctly. I've probably only got about 60 or 70 shotglasses, so I guess that for this project to go beyond that point, I'll have to either invent some shotglass designs or buy more.)

Shotglass-a-Day Project, Day 1/366.

2012-01-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, folks. Yes, it's a whole 'nother year, and so I figured I needed a new art project.

'Cause all the existing projects just weren't enough, of course.

The new idea is, I draw a quick sketch of a different shotglass every day. Day in, day out, for the whole 366 days. (Yep, 2012 is a leap year.) Trying not to go into it with too many preconceived notions, so I'm not putting any hard-and-fast rules into place. I might do these in charcoal, ink, coloured pencil, watercolour... whatever floats my boat on that particular day. It's as much a disciplinary exercise as anything else, although hopefully it'll help mantain my drawing muscles as well.

So without further ado, may I present you with the inaugural shotglass of the day:

Coloured pencil and charcoal.

Stay tuned for more, every day of 2012.

Cheers,
Bret Taylor
Vancouver, BC
January 1st, 2012

Goodbye, 2011. And Hello, 2012.

2011-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Probably the final post of the year, so I thought I'd talk a little about 2012. As I've mentioned previously, I've been doing sketches for a show called "Closing Time" - a series of pinup girls against the backdrop of bars and other drinking establishments (two subjects near and dear to my own heart).

Well, just one pinup girl, to be honest.

Anyhow, I procured a 36x36-inch canvas from the good people at Opus Art Supplies today, brought it home, scratched my chin, and thought about what I could do with such a canvas:

Of course the answer was obvious: I could plunge into the Closing Times series. Now, I've been giving these a lot of thought lately - figuring out how I might render them, whether or not I should incorporate some texture, etc. etc. (I must admit, the subject of these hypothetical paintings has been strolling through my subconscious on a regular basis, too.)

Anyhow, after some deliberation I figured out the approach I want to take with this series, and shockingly, it's a much simpler, more minimalist route than the one I take with the Metalflake paintings.

So, you've seen various iterations of this already, but a number of tweaks have been made to this design since:

(And keep in mind, of course, that this is just a mockup, not the actual painting.)

All that being said, I will be applying the first blue washes to this piece tomorrow, and we'll see where things go from there. And if you want to see where I go with this one, Loyal Reader...

... well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Thank You, Thank You.

2011-12-28T02:46:00.000-08:00

So here we are, almost at the tail end of another year. It's been really up-and-down for me, but for our purposes here let's focus on the pros and not the cons. I met an astounding number of new friends, both locally and worldwide. And among other things, these friends (as well as the ones who've been with me for years) have bought and/or promoted my art everywhere.

I've been interviewed, profiled, reviewed, you name it. I was in two very successful shows (the second of which was my first solo show, and let me tell you, brothers and sisters, that there was no small amount of anxiety in the days leading up to that one). I've had many commissions, a handful of which are nearing completion as we speak.

And of course, I found my Muse.

So without further ado, here's the roll call for 2012. It's loosely organized into categories, but there's so much overlap that I'd rather not get too specific about what those categories are. Here we go:

My family, Dan Udey, Jenn Ashton, Patti Catroppa, Nicole and Todd Cruickshank, Ceci Graber, Lori Kittelberg, Donna Jaggard, Lisa Jarvis, Mario Loubert, Joe Clark, Karina Halle, Scott McKenzie, Regan Taylor, Devin Oickle, Jeff Murphy, Mike Seymour, Geoff Seymour, Susan Burzynski, Cynthia McShane, Lola Augustine, Jenny Burzanko, Linda Kat Spencer, Domenick Bartuccio, Geoff Gauthier, Anthony Wittrock, Jennifer Davis, Kit Knowles, Randy Bishop, Blair Pritchett.

Colin and Cameron and P.J. from the Tipper, Franziska San Pedro, Lori McNee, Lindsay B., K. Myles, Ned Tobin, Mike Hoffman, Cathryn Salter, Crystal Kwon and Karm at VanCity Buzz, Sati from LiveVan, Vincent Ng, Bahaneh Grewal, Matty Sadorf, Lexy Stabbs, Meghan Low, John Lee, Ian A. Martin, Rheni Tauchid.

John Watson, George Smeltzer, Gary Bolt, Tina Power, Stephanie Young, Jaye Frisina, Pól Rua, Mike Watson, Donna Jay, Jeff Hornby, Anthony Smith, and everybody at RedBubble, Imagekind, Blurb, MOO Cards and ABC Photocolour.

Robert Genn, Alyson Stanfield.

Tess McCann.

I thank you all.

(Please note: if I left you out, it's not a personal slight; it's just the effects of my insomnia. In which case, drop me a line and I'll correct the oversight ASAP.)

A Christmas Story.

2011-12-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Gather 'round, children, and I'll tell you a tale of happiness and Yuletide joy. Once upon a time there were a boy and a girl who fell in love. And they both loved art, which is a good thing, 'cause otherwise this would be the end of the story.

Now this couple (let's call them, oh, "Dan and Donna") already had several paintings by a local Artiste (let's call him, oh, "me"). And they wanted more. So "Dan" contacted the Artiste in question and asked about commissioning a portrait of "Donna". The Artiste, of course, was quite enthusiastic about such a project, because he loved painting (and truth be told, he was also somewhat fond of financial remuneration).

So Dan and the Artiste struck a deal, and work began. And shortly thereafter, the Artiste heard from Donna, who wished to purchase a painting called "Ace of Spades" as a present for Dan.

This pleased the Artiste to no end.

(An amusing side note: after the deal was struck with Donna, Dan contacted the Artiste again, this time to inquire about purchasing the Ace of Spades painting. The Artiste expressed sympathy and apologetically told Dan the painting was already spoken for.)

The Artiste was understandably amused by all this subterfuge, and with uncharacteristic restraint, only told a couple of people.

Okay, a whole bunch of people. But not Donna or Dan, which is key.

Meanwhile, work continued on the portrait of Donna:

And time passed, as it usually does. The painting and the Artiste found themselves disagreeing from time to time, but with the help of the Artiste's lovely and talented Muse, the painting was finished with an entire day to spare.

On Christmas morning, paintings were exchanged, Donna and Dan were happy, and there was much rejoicing throughout the land.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Closing Time.

2011-12-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Further thoughts on the latest show/series concept: the title will be "Closing Time", after the Leonard Cohen song of the same name. And when the show happens, people will have the option of buying the original paintings, or buying a book of the preliminary sketches.

Two more from the past few nights, then:

More info as it occurs to me, obviously.

Seven Hundred Days.

2011-12-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

... and counting. My brain is practically exploding with ideas lately. Something like twenty paintings are currently in the works, and ideas for more come every day. Having your brain on fire is kind of a weird, surreal thing sometimes. But I've learned to just roll with it.

In particular, ideas for the show/book of pinup girls in bars just keep popping up. I've tweaked the idea from the other day, and sketched out another. I've got concepts in mind for almost ten more.

Here's where things stand right now:

I've also just complete two 6x6-inch metalflake paintings that I'm pretty happy with. Been thinking for awhile of doing some with just a simple border and no other linework, and lo and behold, the concept works:

On top of that there are Christmas gifts and five commissions in the works. Busy, busy.

And that's my story.

On the Bar.

2011-12-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

So December is upon us - one month left in this tumultuous year. Like a lot of people I'm already thinking about 2012, of course. I'd very much like to maintain the creative momentum I've built up in 2010 and 2011, if not add to it.

Already got ideas for a couple of big projects - two potential new shows, and a book to accompany one of them. One of the shows will most likely be a metalflake series, but it's the other that concerns us here. Been toying with the idea of exploring the pinup-girl subject again, following the success of my book, Hey Ladies. And on that note, after much discussion, sketching and brainstorming, I've concluded that the other new series will be pin-up girls in or on bars.

To wit, here's the proposal for the first of the series:

Haven't made any major decisions in terms of rendering style, etc. I do know they'll be acrylic on canvas, but beyond that... ?

Hot Rods 2

2011-11-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hey, I just released a new Hot Rods calendar in my RedBubble store.

Get 'em while they're hot.

Hottest?

2011-11-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm in good company today. Franziska San Pedro has included me in her list of 15 hottest male artists:

I am not going to define “hot” in detail here but here’s a list of artists I have met online and I think the stuff they make is smokin’ H.O.T.

You can read more here.

Thanks, Franziska.

Colour and Texture.

2011-11-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

Working, as I may have previously mentioned, on another series of metalflake paintings. Today there was big progress on 15 of them.

A few highlights of the day:

What'd you do today?

No Holds Barred.

2011-11-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

As you might've guessed, painting for a living (much like any other occupation) has its share of gripes. In this particular case, of course, the issues are compounded by the fact that so many ignorant people seem to think it's a cute little hobby for children, but ultimately something we should grow out of - the ironic part of that being, of course, that the same people make the worst clients because they act like spoiled children themselves. Combine that ridiculous sense of entitlement with bad manners, general rudeness, and willful ignorance, and you've got a recipe for frustration:

Probably the most aggravating thing is people who offer shitty advice, or pass on leads that are obviously useless, but demand answers and validation right away. Here's a tip: if you give me a lead and I say "I'll check it out," that means I'll check it out. If I have a question, I'll get back to you. If it turns out to be useful, I will thank you, probably both publicly and privately. If it sounds fishy or turns out to be a scam - which it often does - I'll ignore it. Acting like a needy child won't help sell me on it. More than likely it'll make me feel tempted to ignore you in the future, and that's the politest response I can think of. So don't send me frantic followup messages the next day because you need your ego stroked. I will check out your recommendation and either follow it or not. This isn't about you, regardless of how noble your intentions might be.
If you know somebody who's looking for free art in return for some dubious "exposure" somewhere, point them in the direction of an art school. Maybe some lucky student will learn an important lesson or two about scammers and grifters. Me? I've already been down that road many times, and I've learned what there is to learn.
Don't be a flake when you're commissioning or buying art. If you've got a project in mind, by all means get in touch. I'll probably ask a few questions, then give you several different options with regards to size and price, and tell you how much I want for a down payment. If the idea of a down payment bothers you, then please fuck off and don't contact me again. It's specifically because of people like you that I ask for down payments in the first place.
Further to that last point, if you make a business arrangement with an artist, honour it. Don't run away when the project's half-finished. Don't pretend you didn't get messages, emails, calls, or invoices. And don't just assume I'll forget. It makes you look like a flake, an idiot and a scumbag.
And finally on the point of flakiness, don't offer to help someone out with a reference, a commission, or anything else and then bail out when the time comes to actually help. Especially if the aforementioned bailing-out involves pretending you're sick or out of town.
If you know someone whose kid would do the job for much less than I charge, hire that kid, or go buy yourself a nice print at Walmart or IKEA. I'm not interested in making bargain-basement art, so don't waste my time.
If your significant other decides halfway through a project that they don't like it, I don't care. I don't have a business arrangement with them; I have one with you. They have no say in the process at all. And if you have a disagreement with them, it's your problem. Not mine. Don't drag your dysfunctional baggage into my life.
Shipping is a legitimate charge, not an afterthought or a cash grab on my part. And it isn't an exact science; I don't know all the prices and regulations for FedEx, Canada Post, or UPS. If it costs more than originally anticipated, then it costs more. I will try my damnedest to give you a realistic quote, but I can't guarantee things down to the last penny. Trying to stick me with any additional costs makes you look like a cheapskate.

Wow, that was therapeutic. Any other artists got suggestions for issues I haven't touched on?

Oh, and if you think I might be talking about you? I am.

Paint Therapy.

2011-10-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

So I woke up too early this morning, after dreaming of better circumstances, to find myself at home. And outside in the hall, the building manager and the painters he hired were yelling at the tops of their lungs as long-awaited renovations finally took place. (A word of introduction: building management has done almost nothing in the way of upkeep on the building for the last couple years - a long-standing resident manager left under mysterious circumstances, then we had temporary relief managers, then we had a guy in his early twenties who was apparently too preoccupied with looking like a gangsta to actually do his goddamn job. Elevators sat broken for months at a time, lights in the common areas were burned out, homeless people were constantly trying to infiltrate the building, mailboxes and entrance doors and even apartments were vandalized, etc. etc.)

Anyhow, three guys standing five or six feet apart while they all yell to one another simultaneously makes for a hell of a ruckus. Literally a rude awakening after only four hours of sleep.

(In case you're wondering, this is actually going somewhere.)

On top of all this, there have been many, many changes in my life in the past few months, nearly all for the better, but with their own accompanying stresses, of course. Insomnia has come back for several extended visits, the forces of evil seem to be conspiring, money issues continue to rear their ugly heads, people I need answers from are being flakes, and there are days when it's all I can do to just roll with the punches.

Which brings us to today. I was jittery, bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, and generally feeling like my whole emotional spectrum had been abraded with coarse-grit sandpaper.

And I took a look at some of the new metalflake paintings I've got on the go, and decided they needed a quick application of glass bead gel. Opened the jar, got out a palette knife, and started spreading the gel. Half an hour went by, and I realized a huge chunk of the stress had just... lifted off.

Paint therapy. You heard it here first, kids. I recommend it for everyone, even if you aren't a painter. And did I mention I've got 19 new paintings in the works? That's a lotta therapy.

Top Seekrit.

2011-10-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I haven't had much to say this past week; the Metal Flake show kinda left me drained. Been picking away at some illustration work and loosely planning two more shows, but nothing significant has gotten accomplished.

What seems to be dominating my psyche these days is a Top Secret Painting. I'm still keeping the details on the down-low, but think of it as a hymn to the muse.

Overall piece here, prior to clearcoating and such:

Colour study (the painting will eventually have copper-coloured linework over the clearcoat):

And of course, the teaser:

Stay tuned, faithful readers. Further clues will be revealed in time.

Metal Flake - a Photo Retrospective.

2011-10-11T01:01:00.000-07:00

The Booze Brothers:

Explaining the method to my madness:

First sale of the night:

Talkin' art with Gary from Ontario and Gary from Ontario:

Another sale:

Planning and scheming:

Good friends sharing a laugh:

Having our picture taken:

Twitter friends:

Hangin' out with the ladies:

Overview of the show:

And that's all, folks.

P.S. Photos by John Watson, Gary Bolt and George Smeltzer.

Possibly the Best Day of My Life.

2011-10-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

So. As you are no doubt aware if you're following this blog, I had my first big solo art show last night. After the show a couple close friends came back to my place for drinks, which inevitably led to me not saying anything online about the show.

Till now, that is.

The verdict? The show was a blast. First sale of the night went to my friend Patti, who bought the "Power Trio" triptych. Since then three of the smaller pieces were also snapped up, after some heated debate over "Dangerous Curves". The rest, of course, remain on display and on sale at the Tipper till the end of the month.

What really made my night, though, was seeing old friends and new come together to eat, drink, and take in my art. Even writing this now is making me a little choked up. I am a lucky, lucky man.

And the show of support lately has been absolutely stunning. I've been profiled in the Vantage and VanCity Buzz, friends have come from all over the damn place for the show, and everywhere I had a question or a concern about anything, somebody always, always stepped up to bat.

Without further ado, then, the above-and-beyond roll call. These people are permanently in my good books: John Watson, Patti Catroppa, Lori Kittelberg, Dan Udey & Donna Jaggard, Sati from LiveVan, the irrepressible Jonny Warkentin, Ceci Graber, Nic & Todd, Nicola and her mom, Gary and Gary, Colin and Cameron and P.J. from the Tipper (without whom none of this would even be possible), Lindsay B. and K. Myles, Corinna Carlson, Karina Halle, Kelly St-Laurent, Mollie Caselli, Carly Fryer, Mike Watson, George Smeltzer, Ned Tobin... and I know I'm still forgetting people. I'll keep editing this post as the day goes on.

Also, a number of people couldn't make the show but were kind enough to send along apologies and/or encouragement anyway, because they rock: Jeff Hornby, Brendan Moran, Donna Jay, Amanda West, Dilara Litonjua, Adam Carlson, Kate MacDonald...

And finally, the biggest and most heartfelt thanks of the day have to go to my lovely assistant, without whose support this event wouldn't have even been conceivable. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tess McCann. Mere words cannot express...

The Vantage.

2011-10-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Just a quick drive-by post. Preparations for the show are coming along nicely, and people are starting to talk.

This interview, for instance, just went live today.

All my thanks to the lovely Ms. Lindsay B.

Almost Done.

2011-09-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Coming down the home stretch for the show now. Finished this piece today:

That leaves two remaining, and I oughta be able to finish one of them tomorrow.

In other news, today is day 634 of the 1000 Days Project. Ergo, a year from tomorrow and I'll be done.

Then what?

Metal Flake.

2011-09-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

So there've been all kinds of big doings going on lately. Arrangements for the big show have been made, and there are only three paintings left to finish (maybe 6 or 7 hours' work altogether).

Now, of course, there's a million other little details to take care of. But they're coming along nicely.

Here's a first look at the promo card/ad for the show:

How's it look?

Experiment in Terror.

2011-09-11T02:36:00.000-07:00

I had what we call a "bizness meeting" with my friend Karina Halle today. Which generally means Jack Daniels, food, some talk about art, music, and of course her Experiment in Terror series of horror novels. The third book (Dead Sky Morning)came out recently, and that was the start of my involvement in the project - I drew the map that appears in the opening pages.

Just for fun I whipped up a full-colour version, too:

If you're not familiar with D'Arcy Island (and I wasn't), it was the site of a leper colony for Chinese-Canadians from 1891-1924. A pretty grim real-life story, but worth looking up. The book uses the site and its sordid history as its setting. I'm still reading it, but so far it's really creeped me out several times. Which is a pretty rare quality in a horror novel these days, my friends.

Anyhow, Karina has 5 more books projected in the series, and has enlisted my creative abilities to help with the process. In addition to the map, I've designed a logo:

(Part of the premise of the books is that the two lead characters make a web-TV show about their paranormal exploits, so the logo for the book series doubles as the one for the fictitious show.)

The next project was more involved: a definitive portrait of these characters. It started with this basic sketch:

We made a ton of changes to this, but the basics still made it all the way through the design process. Once we nailed down the basic looks of Perry and Dex in the pencil stage, it was time to do inkwash renderings of them:

I also had a slew of ideas for background treatments for this picture. In the end we used three separate concepts, including one where I made a collage of pages ripped out of the first book, Darkhouse (kind of a weird and surreal experience to take a friend's book and literally tear it to pieces).

Without further ado, here are the three different versions of the illustration, which Karina will be using to promote the books:

So that, is essence, is the beginning - for me at least. We've got a ton of ideas for future illustrations (I'd like to incorporate some photography and sculpture to accompany the more traditional illustration), and I'll be helping out in any way I can when the trailer for Dead Sky Morning is being shot. We're even trying to arrange a trip to D'Arcy Island, which hopefully isn't anywhere near as haunted as it is in the book.

Cheers, then. A toast to creativity, collaboration and chills down your spine.

Creative Minds.

2011-09-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

So hey, I've just been interviewed by Franziska San Pedro over at Creative Minds. The results can be found right here.

Thanks for the exposure, Franziska.Much appreciated.

Gasser T-Shirt.

2011-09-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

Been thinking about t-shirts again lately, and I thought of another piece of mine that could easily be adapted:

Gasser t-shirts are now available right here. In wide variety of colours, as they say.

Hit and Run.

2011-08-31T01:48:00.000-07:00

Just got time for a quickie post before I head off to bed. Things have been busy as well the past week or so. After spending half the day doing photo retouching, working on this one was my idea of relaxing:

This one's got a long way to go yet.

Six Hundred, or: Power Trio.

2011-08-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

So here we are at another milestone in the epic journey towards my one-thousand-day goal. Six hundred days. Puttered around with three small pieces to get up to speed today. A little drybrushing, a coat of clear...

After that the goal was to finish one of the big metalflake paintings. This particular one is titled "Power Trio" - think Rush, Cream, or the Jimi Hendrix Experience. First I did a couple hours of masking (my back and shoulders are still thanking me for that):

Once that was nailed down, it was time to slap on a bit of titanium white:

Eventually all the white areas were done, and the tape came off. Then I took the painting out on the balcony to take advantage of the early-evening light:

And that one's a wrap. I'm exhausted - done painting for the night.

600.

Bretutog.

2011-08-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different - I painted this when I was four years old. My grandparents held onto it for decades, and it eventually made its way back to me:

The title was my four-year-old's idea of what a native-Canadian version of my name would sound like. Even at four I was into mixed media and juxtaposing hot and cool colours.

Latest.

2011-08-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

Well, things are proceeding nicely. Out of the twelve 8x8-inch paintings, eleven are now done. Just finished this one late last night (or was that early this morning?):

And I designed the lineart for another of the 8x24 pieces this afternoon:

The biggest hurdle to get past now is building up the layers of clearcoat on the remaining paintings. Love to get these finished by the end of August, so I can book the space for the show in September.

Oh, and I'll be spinning another painting off from this series - a friend has commissioned a big, expensive abstract piece. So essentially I'll be eliminating the white lineart that graces all the others and just going with a similar colour/texture combo. I may do a keyline in gold leaf, though. Just to show the depth of the clearcoat.

Good times.

Shirts, Shirts, Shirts.

2011-08-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Uploaded two more t-shirt designs to my store yesterday:

Already sold two of the bee shirts. More designs to be added over the next few days. I will, of course, keep you posted.

Skull Fragments.

2011-08-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm in the process of setting up my new fall line of t-shirts (because being a fashion maven has always been my secret dream).

You can see the first of the new ones, entitled Skull Fragments, right here.

Or preview the actual image right here, of course:

All Things Metalflake.

2011-08-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

So, things are progressing nicely. All the glazing for the paintings is finished, and clearcoating is underway (the longest part of the process). Six of the eighteen paintings are finished.

Here's the latest:

Just designed these two in the past couple days:

And I'm looking at this for the next t-shirt tie-in:

Oh, and I've already had inquiries about two of those six finished pieces.

So far, so good.

Art, Dreams, the Recession, Google.

2011-08-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

By now you've heard me talk a lot about inspiration. Painter and mentor Robert Genn has just posted a very interesting blog entry that touches on this subject:

Readers of this letter frequently ask if I think there’s some sort of malaise in art these days—particularly in Western Art. Some want to know if it’s all to do with the economy.

You can read more here.

... and More.

2011-08-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Finished these two today:

Two More New Ones.

2011-07-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry Bomb.

2011-07-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Daddy, hello Mom:

Just finished a few minutes ago.

Eighteen.

2011-07-28T01:31:00.000-07:00

Howdy. Another numerical post title tonight - eighteen being the number of paintings that'll be in my next show.

Past few days have been extremely productive. Creativity is bursting at the seams again. Lots of painting, a bit of drawing, lots of design. All of the metalflake paintings are well underway now - the final four are in the glazing process. That should be finished soon, and then it'll be clearcoat time again.

The glazing process is probably my favourite part of the whole sequence now. So much fun playing with vibrant colour, and it's probably the least labour-intensive step, too. It's funny - my first attempt at glazing was only four years ago, and at the time I thought I did a bang-up job. Other painters who saw the piece were generous with their praise, too. And the painting was garbage. Just horrible. I didn't even know how to hold a brush properly for glazing at that point. Plus I kinda skimped on the drawing part of the process 'cause I was so geared up to start painting.

Anyhow, glazing and I are old friends now. I think it was reading about how and why glazing was done in the Renaissance era that made it all come together for me - essentially, the pigments they had were so primitive, they'd do a yellow glaze and then a blue glaze on top to create green (for example). In some ways that seems needlessly complicated in the modern era, but similar practices do add a lot more vibrancy and chroma to colour.

Meanwhile, I thrashed out the designs for seven more of these paintings today:

And last night I whipped up a list of what design will go on which painting:

Everything's coming along nicely, now. I should soon be able to predict a completion date.

Good times, good times...

First Rule of Creativity.

2011-07-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've said this elsewhere, but I think I oughta elaborate on it here a bit: The first rule of creativity is, feed your head.

You need to stuff your brain full of inspiration - read more books, go to more movies, listen to more music, talk to more people, travel to more places, drink more booze. Then let all the input rattle around in your subconscious. You might just be surprised at the result.

Case in point: I haven't been creatively blocked in years. I've got notebooks and sketchpads full of untapped ideas that could keep me going for a long time to come. Surely I can't be unique in this regard.

Seventeen.

2011-07-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was an interesting day. Didn't get to sleep till about 3:00AM, and then abruptly woke up three hours later. And let me tell ya, I was WIDE AWAKE. Tried to get back to sleep for half an hour or so, but it just wasn't working. I felt like I'd been mainlining Full Throttle.

So I got up, checked my email and then had a look at the previous night's artwork. Immediately started touching up a few details on the various paintings. By 7:30 I'd worked on four paintings. And of course there were plenty more needing my attention; I've always got a few paintings on the go, but lately the numbers have ramped up considerably.

Kept chipping away at the artwork all day, other than for a couple hours when I took a break and went down to the beach.

At the end of a 19-hour day, I'd lavished my attention on 17 paintings. No errors or missteps, no regrets. The creativity and the paint flowed, despite how jittery I was from sleep deprivation. Not a day I'd necessarily want to repeat, but the results speak for themselves:

Best New Products of 2011.

2011-06-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not have noticed, Liquitex makes a few products that really float my boat. I'd be lost without their Pouring Medium (I've probably gone through three gallons of it so far this year), and they make the best palette knives I've ever had the pleasure to use.

But recently they're stepped up their game in a couple areas. For one, they've got a new line of brushes aimed (primarily) at street artists called Liquitex Freestyle. As you can see from the link these are divided into two groups, the large-scale brushes and the more traditionally-sized ones. The first group is particularly innovative, and obviously the result of listening to what painters actually want. The paddle brush and the splatter brush are my faves so far.

The other product shown in the photo is Acrylic Inks. I'm doing a lot of glazing these days, and the inks are amazing in this capacity. Beyond that, they behave a lot like watercolours, but have the permanence and lightfastness of acrylics. That's a winning combo in my book.

Now I just need to paint something huge...

It's All About Context.

2011-06-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

One of the things that makes being an artist so fulfilling is the feedback I get from people. Another big one is knowing that my art is in so many people's homes and offices. Ideally I'd like to have something of mine in every Canadian province and U.S. state (among many other places).

Off the top of my head, there is art of mine in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. That only leaves Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the U.S.: California, Ohio, North Dakota, D.C., Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Virginia... obviously I've got a long way to go there. I've also sold prints, calendars and t-shirts in England and Australia.

What really floats my boat, though, is seeing the art in context - hanging on someone's wall, where people see it every day. It's kinda mindblowing sometimes to think that people are spending their time looking at my art that way. A handful of people have even been kind enough to send me photos:

Honestly, this does my heart good. Thanks, everybody.

Six More.

2011-06-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Slowly accumulating ideas for the Metalflake series of paintings. I almost wish I'd called it something else, because I seem to be pathologically incapable of typing the word without help.

At any rate, there are now four completed paintings (three of which have been sold), seven more that will soon be ready for the white lineart, and another six that are just in the early, texture-building stage right now. The single most time-consuming phase, of course, is slowly building up layers of clearcoat over the metallic-looking textures.

In the meantime I'm free to design the lineart. I've got a 3.5x5.5-inch drawing pad that I've been slowly filling with thumbnails since December. The process goes something like this: I scan the thumbnails, import them into Adobe Illustrator and redraw the lineart in vector format. Eventually the vector art gets printed at actual size, and I use that to make my stencils.

The ideas have been coming fast and furious lately - inspiration comes when it comes, I guess. Here are the basic designs for the next six:

Till next time,
Bret Taylor
Vancouver
June 20/2011

Super Chicks.

2011-06-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

Just finished a new piece tonight. From start to finish, only a handful of days:

Planning to do a small, signed and numbered run of prints soon. Still working out prices and such, but I'll keep you posted.

Dawn Patrol Redux.

2011-06-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just got this photo via email tonight:

The paintings are officially mounted on the wall in their new home, and all is well in the world.

Flake.

2011-05-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

So. Another month almost over, and all kinds of art going on.

My main focus, understandably, is the Metal Flake series. At the moment there are 11 of them in various stages of completion:

The four along the top are done; three of them sold. All kinds of big plans in store for the ones on the bottom. Hints: the red one will be titled "Cherry Bomb", the middle one "Power Trio".

And of course, "Bubblegum Rock" is finished:

And that's where it all stands at the moment. Should be prepping wood panels for four more of these in the next day or so. I'm starting to run out of room for them.

Shaggin'.

2011-05-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share a rough sketch I did yesterday. As an impressionable young man in the late 1970s, I loved custom vans. Chopped tops, metalflake, shag-carpeted interiors - pure 70s eye candy. And while the fad didn't last long, it never really went away, either. It's still an unfulfilled goal of mine to own a shaggin' wagon someday.

(An aside: I remember, back in the day, my Uncle Geoff first using the term "Shaggin' Wagon" in front of me. I drew a van with that name displayed rather prominently on the side, and promptly got in shit from my parents. I had no idea that "shaggin'" was a euphemism.)

Anyhow, an online friend who's seen a lot of my automotive work contacted me about a possible commission - her husband owns a Dodge van he's in the process of customizing, and she thought a picture of it would be a nice gift. So yesterday I sat down to do a quick thumbnail of it, but I got a bit carried away:

Hope she agrees to go ahead with this. I'm pretty psyched now.

Artists and Social Media.

2011-05-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

So hey, I wrote a little guest-blog thing for Lori McNee's Fine Art & Tips website.

Five Hundred Days. Or, Halfway There.

2011-05-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

Well, today was an auspicious occasion - my 500th consecutive day of drawing and/or painting. I worked on ten paintings today to mark the event.

Here's the scene early in the day, before the paint started to fly:

A bit more glazing, more Liquid Mirror and more black lava gel, and the metalflake paintings started to look more like this:

(Still a ways to go yet, of course. And I also laid the base coats for three more of these babies. They still look kinda boring at this point, though.)

Then I got to work on the hot pink metalflake triptych you might've seen recently - my tribute to bubblegum rock. Here's a rough idea of what it'll look like:

After that, I started the process of adding that linework to the actual painting. The middle panel of the three has just been applied:

Hoping to finish this one in the next couple days. By now the masking/painting process for these is fairly simple and uneventful.

And that was my 500th day. What'd you do today?

Hello Again.

2011-05-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

So here we are with another installment of "what I'm working on lately." Been working my ass off the past couple weeks (ah, the life of a freelancer), but the art is still happening. Don't think I could stop now if I tried, to be honest.

What's also been occupying my time, of course, is the Game. Or hockey, as you non-Canadians might know it. The Canucks have been having quite an action-packed time of it, so in honour of their recent success, I've done this piece:

That's gonna be printed on metallic paper, 24x20 inches. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I've also got a handful of new pieces underway - three that'll use the acrylic transfer method, and three more metalflake paintings. Trying to use a lot more bold, over-the-top colour these days:

In other news, Sunday will be day 500 of the 1000 Days Project. Still dunno what I'm gonna do that day, but obviously it needs to be something big. Possibly a pinup girl - haven't drawn any cheesecake in a looong time.

Oh, and I should be starting on a brand-new commission any day now. Key words: shaggin' wagon.

The Big Show and Other Stories.

2011-05-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick report: the show with Mojave was a smashing success. Sold all but one of the pieces I had for sale, and sold them in the first half hour or so. Had a nice talk with the owner, and it looks like I'll be putting more art up for display/sale there in the near future. And I still want to put on a full-fledged gallery-type show before the end of the summer, and it should be possible to book the room we used last weekend for that very purpose.

Based on the responses I've been getting to my art lately, I want to explore three very specific directions for my painting. To that end I started six new paintings today, though there's not really anything to show at the moment.

I also ponied up the hundred bucks to buy a platinum membership at Imagekind. That gives me added galleries, a custom storefront (which I'm still tweaking), and most importantly a lot more info on sales - detailed figures, and info on where the buyers are and what they bought. Turns out I've made a pretty decent chunk of cash over the last year and a half with Imagekind.

I'm pretty pleased with Redbubble, too. I've recently added t-shirts to my online merchandise, and those are slowly starting to move. Thinking about postcards next.

There's probably more stuff I'm forgetting, but it's late. So I'll just leave you with this recently-completed commission:

Bret
Vancouver, BC
May, 2011

P.S. Special thanks to Lisa & Paul, Dan Udey, Susan Burzynski and Mario Loubert.

A Show/Display Question.

2011-04-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

Fellow artists, as you may know I've got a show tomorrow night. I'm still in the process of doing all the prep work, of course. Isn't that always how it is?

For the moment at least, my focus is the display cards that go on the wall under the paintings. I figure they should include the name of the piece, the media used, the price, and my contact info.

Am I missing anything?

Four More Days...

2011-04-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

... till the big show with Mojave. Pretty psyched for this, I've gotta say. There'll be a whole slew of new art from me, nearly all of which will be for sale (two pieces are sold already).

Plus I haven't seen Lisa and Rev. Paul in ages. And all sorts of friends, new and old, will be in attendance. Also, the Tipper is a great venue all around.

If you're in Vancouver on the 29th and looking for something to do, come by the Tipper for some music and art:

2066 Kingsway at Sidney.

8:00PM-11:00PM.

Oh, and admission is 10 bucks a head.

Hope to see you there.

Green Metalflake and Living in the Future.

2011-03-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been quite a night here. As you may recall from previous installments, I've been planning a series of paintings for a show sometime this year - all simple, iconic white lineart over glossy, deep, metallic surfaces. The title of the series is "Metal Flake", so the common subject is rock 'n' roll.

Since December I've been filling a sketchpad with thumbnails:

And of course, I've also been doing the heavy-lifting portion of the first three paintings:

Anyhow, this first one came to a head tonight. I masked off the necessary areas and laid down the white lineart:

And when that was done, I promptly posted this last photo on Twitter, Facebook, etc. etc. The result? Within 17 minutes the painting was sold and financial details were sorted. God, I love the internet.

Inspired.

2011-03-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

So I may have mentioned this before, but I don't always have an easy time of it when I'm writing for this blog. The delays you see generally happen because I just can't think of anything to write about, and I don't want to cram the blog with filler.

The thing is, though, I sweat it so much that I practically get performance anxiety. Which is ridiculous all on its own. I mean, it's only a damn blog entry, y'know?

Anyhow, it occurred to me that there's one arrow in my creative quiver that I haven't really used on the blog - I'm a compulsive listmaker. Have been all my life, and it's still my strongest organizational tool as well. (Hell, let's be honest. It's really the only way I know of processing and sorting information.)

Also, 2011's been, to be frank, a fucking hellish year. January was brutal - money problems, sickness, general anxiety and stress, cabin fever, all sorts of ugly highschool-drama bullshit, depression, no work, short days with little sunlight, post-holiday anticlimax... you name it, I had it. Looking back on it now, it's like looking at somebody else stumbling through a horror movie. I was definitely operating on the frayed ends of sanity.

February, in comparison, was infinitely better. Not without its share of grief, but the overall amount of trauma was greatly reduced, and things just started to happen. March, so far, has been another giant step up - a huge amount of work dropped into my lap when it was desperately needed, I've got a bunch of new art commissions, I've made some new friends, and of course there's an art show the end of April to prep for. Plus next month will feature some live bands and a friend I haven't seen in a year coming to town for a brief, steak-and-whiskey-filled visit.

By now you're saying, "where's the damn list?" Well, I'm getting to that. More than anything (except the art itself, obviously), what's gotten me through these Dark Times was music. I've heard a ton of new(ish) stuff, and it gave me what I needed to keep the hangman from my door.

So without further ado, here's the good stuff; it kept my creative juices flowing, too:

Social Distortion: Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes. This band has been a fave of mine for many years. Sometimes it's like a gutpunch; other times it's like hanging out with an old friend. And this new album is as strong as anything they've ever done. Highly recommended.
The Heavy: The House That Dirt Built, and Great Vengeance & Furious Fire. These guys were recommended to me by fellow artiste and all-around swell guy Snakebite Cortez. They've got a great sound, clever lyrics and a great party vibe.
The Californian: Sea of Love. Also recommended by a friend (in this case, jazz bassist and brother in arms Lyman Medeiros, of The Funky Supervillain fame). They've got a bit of a surf vibe to them, with inevitable influences by the Pixies.
Slash: Slash. I resisted listening to this album for a long time, mainly because of some negative reviews I read when it first came out, plus the presence of some questionable guests on it. Then I ran into my old buddy Scott MacLeod, and he said I should at least give the song with Ian Astbury a chance. Turns out the whole album is damn strong from start to finish.
Gin Wigmore: Holy Smoke. Strong writing, a quirky voice, good performances all around. Although I've gotta admit, "Dying Day" was a bit too much for me at times.
Dropkick Murphys: Going Out in Style. God, I love this band. I've been a fan for years, and this album absolutely does not disappoint.
Michael Franti & Spearhead: "Say Hey (I Love You)". A pure, sweet, honest sentiment, and a damn danceable tune. First heard it on an episode of Weeds.
Cee Lo Green: "Fuck You". Because sometimes it just has to be said.
Hugo: "99 Problems". An odd little cover of a Jay-Z tune - some tasty guitar, great percussion, and a sentiment I can definitely get behind.

Thank you one and all; I couldn't have done it without you.

ARTbattery.

2011-03-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

An announcement of sorts: ARTbattery is now live. Not much to see yet, but give it time. It's basically an art collective, and we've got big plans for the future.

(Also, current blog header by yours truly.)

Portrait of the Artist.

2011-03-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

(Photo courtesy of Imagemaker Photographic Studio.)

Welcome to March.

2011-03-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hi there. Welcome to a brand new month. Lots of news to report, so bear with me and I'll get right to it.

First off, the Dawn Patrol triptych is done. Having the paintings photographed on the weekend for posterity's sake, and then it'll be time to ship them off to their new home in Calgary. Thanks, Regan.

Secondly, a handful of other commissions (including a book cover that I can't talk about yet) are either done or nearing completion. So if you're interested in having something done, now's a very good time to ask. Drop me a line and we'll talk.

Thirdly, a major milestone has been reached - art sales actually paid my rent this month. It's a pretty great feeling, let me tell ya. Especially in an economy as bad as this one.

And fourthly, I've set myself up a Cafe Press shop. Just a Basic account at this point, so I'm quite limited in terms of what I can sell. Right now there's a mousepad, an iPad case, and these three iPhone cases:

(More to come as I investigate further options, obviously.)

That's a pretty good start for March, right?

Self-Portraits, Cheap Brushes, and Finding My Groove.

2011-02-27T22:56:00.000-08:00

Well kids, this has been a revelatory weekend. As I've mentioned in the past (Shaky, for instance), linework has often been a tricky issue for me, particularly if I'm inking with a brush.

So yesterday I sat down to ink a commission for a client, and when I was looking through my brushes I found a cheapie that I picked up at Home Depot a few years back. Well, it turned out to be the best inking brush I've ever used. Put all my Windsor & Newtons to shame.

And armed with this trusty weapon, I cranked out the commission last night, and today I wanted to do more. I wanted something simple, 'cause the main point of the exercise was just to play with ink.

Anyhow, I finally decided upon a self-portrait:

Think I finally found my groove as an inker.

The Sistine Chapel.

2011-02-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

You really, really have to check this out. Just amazing.

The Wreckage.

2011-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

Today, on the advice of my many mentors, I took an old, shitty, unfinished painting and destroyed it.

Fellow artistes, if you haven't tried this yet, you really should. Catharsis on a galactic scale, plus there's one less ugly painting in the world with my name on it.

Dawn Patrol Slideshow.

2011-02-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

So in case you're wondering, January was all about the Dawn Patrol triptych. All the base colour work and glazing are done now; the next step will be building up coats of clear.

For you process junkies, this slideshow shows a bunch of macro texture shots:

Thanks.

Space Girls.

2011-01-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

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

Thanks, Mike.

One Thousand Days.

2011-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

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

Welcome to Another Year.

2011-01-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

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?

With a Little Help From My Friends.

2010-12-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

Just a brief end-of-the-year post. I've gotten an overwhelming amount of support for my art over this past year: invaluable creative input on many fronts, inspiration, commissions, and print sales. I can't begin to express how important this has all been to me. I'm starting to have an actual art career, and I couldn't have done it without that support.

Hell, why don't I just list some names? In no particular order: Cynthia McShane, Regan Taylor, Chad Horwedel, Berkley McLean, Lori Kittelberg & George Smeltzer, John & Chrissy Watson, Joe Clark, Mike Watson, Brandee Brown Barker, Genina Dovale, Ben Lipman, Rob Cooper, Nicole & Todd Cruickshank, Linda Kat Spencer, Cathryn Smith, Holly Morrison, Brian Cronin, Jason Williams, Eric & Jennifer Davis, Don Lloyd, Gus Lindgren, Tina Power, Neil Ford, Asa Ellerup, Alyson B. Stanfield, Paul Sizer, Lola Augustine Brown, Gary Bolt & Morna Tudor, Sean Parrack, Mike Rooth, Jeff Hotchkiss, Donald Milliken, Jason Light, Chris Nowlin, Ray Rivard, Gene Gillespie, Robert Genn, Amber Mac, Eddy Crosby, Wes Thompson, Jeff Clow, Jessi Sensabaugh, Kevin Bungay, Laura Whaley, Pól Rua, Thom Taylor, Jaye Frisina, Lisa and Rev. Paul from Mojave, Matt Osepchook, Paula McCloskey, Lief Peng, Mordechai Luchins, Daphna Luchins, Mystery Shopper, the gang(s) at CBR, deviantArt, WetCanvas, Whitechapel, Flickr and Motorburg...

... and most of all my extended family, without whom none of this would even be happening.

Thank you all so very, very much.

P.S. If I forgot to mention you, it's a headcold-induced oversite on my part. No offense intended.

Three More Days...

2010-12-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

... and it'll be 2011. To quote John Lennon, "another year older, and what have you done?"

I'm tempted to just say "I survived", which is no small feat in this economy. My advertising career is bottoming out so bad, it feels like it's almost over. But the art, on the other hand, is thriving like never before. Sales and commissions are way up, and once again it's been a stellar year in terms of artistic growth and education.

Roughly 15 paintings completed, along with 35 illustrations. Many more of each underway. Published a calendar, sold a few books, and several prints (including the biggest sale of my art career to date, which was a nice Christmas present).

I won't go into plans for 2011 yet. That'll be another post. Instead I'll just say this: art is what kept me alive this year. And in closing I leave you with this recent painting:

Nautilus - @Bret Taylor, 2010.

Almost There.

2010-12-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Only 15 days to go in this latest experiment in drawing/painting every day. And this one's been much more productive than when I did it the first time, in 2008. It started out mainly as an exercise in discipline, but what it's really about is training your subconscious mind to be more creative.

Not sure whether I'll try it again next year. It's quite possible - I remember how twitchy I got on the first day of 2009 when I took a day off. Maybe I just won't make it such a formal thing.

Anybody else ever try this method?

Amazing.

2010-12-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

Today the UPS guy dropped off an amazing present:

You've heard me rave about the Liquid Mirror before, so I won't give you that spiel again (let's just say that a bottle this big is a pretty extravagant gift). But the Sludge is one of the smarter products I've heard of - basically it's comprised of the leftover gunk from the normal paint-making process. Leftover gunk (both solid and liquid waste) that would otherwise have to be disposed of somehow. You can read more about it here, but it's a pretty impressive and ecologically-friendly product.

Thanks, Rheni. I'll try to use it wisely.

Waste Not.

2010-12-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

If you dig paint as much as I do, you probably realize how easy it is to waste lots of it. I'm slowly getting better at judging how much paint to use when I'm mixing colours, but it's still a tricky process. More frequently than I'd like, I end up with more than I need.

Occasionally I save it in a small container, and then forget about it - only to open it months later and find the paint is completely dry.

What I've ended up doing over the years is putting that leftover paint to more productive use in a couple of ongoing projects. Smearing the stuff onto a glass palette can come in handy - once you've got a nice thick layer of paint built up, you can peel it off and cut it into pieces to use in new paintings (trivia note: these are referred to as "paint skins"). You can do all sorts of cool stuff with them - building impressionistic colour, creating texture, making mosaics, etc. etc. Just google "acrylic paint skins" and you'll find lots of articles and tutorials like this one.

I've also got a couple of long-term projects in the works using the leftover bits. Both of them started with me just innocently wiping my brush or knife on the nearest convenient surface. They're still transitional pieces, and probably will be for a long time to come, but eventually they'll be full-fledged works of art on their own.

The first is this former coffee mug:

A souvenir of my first advertising job, I still use it to clean my brushes. It's gradually getting so coated in paint that the bigger brushes will barely fit into it. I also do a lot of colour experimentation on the surface of this thing. No idea where this will take me, but for now I just want to make it a lot wider (possibly even spherical) with a semi-lattice effect.

And the other piece is this old beach towel that I use as a drop cloth:

It's still quite flexible now, but once it's too stiff to roll up, I'll mount it to some kind of support and make an actual painting out of it. I can almost see the design in my head, but not quite. My subconscious needs more time, I guess. I suspect there'll be geometric shapes laid out in gold leaf on top of the final painted surface.

Kinda makes me wonder what else I could do with leftover paint.

A Few of My Favourite Things.

2010-11-27T01:21:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, I've really been cranking out the art the past few months. Another highly educational period for me, especially since I started working on roughly 20 paintings at once. I realized once again tonight just how much I love playing mad scientist with paint.

That being said, there are a handful of products that really float my boat. So with your kind indulgence, I present the following list:

Liquitex Pouring Medium. Seriously, this stuff is the real deal. I've used many other manufacturers' self-levelling mediums, and most of them are garbage. Liquitex, though, has come up with the magic formula - the stuff dries hard and clear with no crazing, sets up fast, and looks gorgeous when it's done.

Tri-Art Liquid Mirror. Another product that absolutely raises the bar. I've used a lot of iridescent paints in recent years, and nothing else even compares for reflectivity. Even when it's relatively dark, Liquid Mirror will pick up any minimal ambient light and reflect it - it's almost phosphorescent in that respect. Washes of transparent colour on top of it barely affect the reflectivity at all. I'm told the secret ingredient is bismuth oxychloride, but let's call it what it is - magic.

Golden Iridescent Copper (Fine). I'm a little bit obsessed with copper. Even as a child I was drawn to its colour and sheen. When I built my bar in 2004, I put $500 worth of sheet copper into the top. Getting back to paint, there are many iridescent coppers, of course. I've tried 5 or 6 at last count, and I finally found what I was looking for with the Golden. So rich and vibrant it puts others to shame.

Montana Gold Spraypaint (various colours). A stunning array of colours, seemingly endless cans of paint, and a system of interchangeable nozzles in a wide variety of sizes. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with these paints. Expect a major push in this direction in my art in 2011.

Anybody else have paint or mediums they'd like to recommend? I'm all ears.

Addendum.

2010-11-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Further to the last post, here's another shot of the red metalflake:

Just added a layer of clear (Liquitex Pouring Medium in this particular case) yesterday, and the added depth really makes a difference. Planning to add another layer or two in the coming days.

Tip #002.

2010-11-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

Been doing a lot of thinking and reading about paint the past few days. My primary sources were Rheni Tauchid's superlative New Acrylics Essential Sourcebook (I've had this for awhile, but haven't delved that deeply into it till now) and a growing library of car magazines. Now, if you're familiar with custom cars at all, you've probably seen how a well-done metalflake job looks like it's a mile deep - essentially there are transparent layers of rich colour laid down over a base that has tiny pieces of metal (or mica) suspended in it.

I'm currently in the middle of new batch of paintings, and as fate would have it, I want a background treatment for one that resembles candyapple metalflake red. I've got any number of acrylic colours, texture gels and grounds, but I had my heart set on micaceous iron oxide for a base. From what I hear this miraculous substance, in addition to providing all sorts of chromatic variation effects, is a formidable protective coating.

I say "from what I hear" because I was unsuccessful in my attempts to track some down, despite the efforts of a helpful sales associate at Opus.

Which is largely, of course, what led to my latest research. So with my thinking cap on, I came up with this recipe: a base of black gesso, a layer of black lava gel, some drybrushed highlights in Tri-Art Liquid Mirror and iridescent stainless steel paints, and finally, a series of glazes in Alizarin crimson. I may yet add a protective layer or two of clear gloss gel for added depth, but that remains to be seen at the moment.

So, to make a long story short ("too late!"), my solution worked just fine. Have a look at this photo:

Towards the corner, that's just the glaze over the lava gel, and moving left there's a band of the stainless steel, followed by the Liquid Mirror. I'd call that a successful experiment. Playing mad scientist is one of the best parts of painting with a medium as advanced as acrylics.

ADDENDUM: Now that I've given this some more thought, there's another potential solution: a base coat of the Liquid Mirror, then the lava gel, and then the crimson glaze. May have to try this option out as well.

Today's Post Was Brought to You by the Number 3.

2010-11-09T02:15:00.000-08:00

Just a quick blog post before I call it a night - er, morning. Today (that is, Tuesday) marks my 313th straight day of creating art. I did almost break my streak in the last couple months, though. I was so caught up in work-related stuff one day that drawing barely even entered my mind. Fortunately, I happened to do a quick 5-minute thumbnail in the middle of all the madness, and so that day was saved.

There's another place that the number 3 factors in - today I wrapped up a couple more cars for the book. The total number completed is now 30. Yep, we're 60% of the way there. Without further ado, here are the cars in question:

That one's a heavily-modified '69 Chevy Z28 Camaro. I call it the Z28 Speedster.

And that one's a '63 Ford Galaxie. Initially started for a commission that's apparently fallen by the wayside, but at least a decent illustration came out of it. There's also a version of it in my calendar.

As always, thanks for reading.

Bret Taylor
November 9, 2010

A Pair of Chevys.

2010-10-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

Two new illustrations in the works as of tonight. A '72 Chevy Blazer, and a '56 Chevy Nomad. Lots of body mods, but nothing really that extreme. A long way to go with each one yet, of course. In the case of the Nomad, I just really needed to do some sketching tonight, and I decided to try the one tri-five Chevrolet that I've never drawn before.

So that's 28 pics for the book done, and 9 more in progress.

Oh, and the calendar is selling nicely. My thanks to all who've bought one so far.

Dawn Patrol.

2010-10-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

I bought three of these yesterday (the 24x36-inch ones). My cousin is commissioning a massive painted version of my old Dawn Patrol piece from a few years back:

This'll be the biggest (in every sense of the word) commission I've done yet - mounted together, the panels will be 3 ft. x 6ft. I just laid the panels together on the floor and I'm finally getting a sense of how huge this will be when it's done. The panels themselves are extremely high-quality pieces. Everything is very solid, and they're braced well on the backs. You could park a truck on one of them, I swear.

Can't wait to get started on building the background textures, but first there's a bunch of surface prep to be done. I keep telling myself to be patient. So far it's working...

This Art Thing Might Actually Work.

2010-10-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting month or so. I think I'm finally building up a decent body of work for sale, and forming a bigger, better network of friends and potential clients (do I dare say "fans"? It seems a mite pretentious).

I've sold a few calendars, prints from the Imagekind store, and I'm working on 4 commissions at the moment. This has easily been my best year yet - by the time the year's out, I'll probably have sold three times as much as I have in any previous year. Hard to believe - especially in this economy - but this art thing might actually work.

I know, I know. I'm still kind of in shock myself.

And I really should say a word or two of thanks for all the support - financial and otherwise - I've gotten in recent years. I really couldn't have done it without you folks. Thank you.

Bret

Hot Rods Calendar.

2010-10-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

It's done:

Calendar Cover.

2010-10-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Been messing around today, choosing cars for the calendar, investigating RedBubble's print specs and such, and designing the cover. Sounds like I might be able to drum up some real interest in this project.

Here's a first draft of the cover design:

Thoughts?

Up to Date.

2010-09-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hey. For those kindhearted souls still frequenting this blog, I've got something on my mind. I mentioned recently that half of the hot rod book is done, but at the rate I'm going, I'm probably a good 8 months away from the big finish. And people have indicated they're interesting in buying some of the new art now.

The other day it occurred to me that a hot rod calendar might well be the answer. Poked around the internet today to look at my options, and I've settled on RedBubble. Which leaves me in a bit of a quandary - should the calendar be a standalone piece, or could it overlap some with the book, in terms of content? I certainly don't wanna stop doing the automotive art anytime soon, but at the same time, if I have to do 12 more cars on top of the 50 in the book, then the book release will be that much farther away.

I'm also looking into magazine options from Magcloud. Maybe take the same cars that are in the calendar/book and show a bit more of the creative process - initial sketches, maybe some discussion of the different directions a piece might've gone in.

I dunno, a lot to think about here. I'll have to make a decision fairly soon to cash in on the Christmas market, but some feedback would come in handy at this juncture. While you're thinking about it, feast your eyes on some eye candy:

What say you?

Red or Gold.

2010-09-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Brothers and sisters, once again I come to you with a colour question. In this case... well, you can see for yourself:

So what's it gonna be? Red, or gold?

Halfway There.

2010-09-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note - finished the 25th car this afternoon, so the book is half done. This is the milestone car right here:

(There are 6 more well underway, too.)

This calls for bourbon.