Skins

Again, it's been a long time since I posted. I have been very busy designing and illustrating at my day job, and the work there is proprietary so I can't post that. But we have a number of terrific artists there and a small gallery wall, and right now it is my turn to hang something. So here is a photo and a write-up of the show that will be on the office wall for the next five weeks.

"Skins are what enclose things; the thin, external coating covering the structure.  On the human body, the enclosure is a soft, flexible epidermis. In the case of buildings the material is hard, brick or block or metal. Over time, blemishes may appear on both: discolouration, rust, wrinkles, broken parts, bruises. For some reason, there seems to be a need to personalize and embellish the skin: here you will see graffiti on one and tattoos on the other.

In these two series of paintings, Robert Lewicki shows a fluency in two paint mediums. The watercoloured buildings are all local and the graffiti is all real, though sometimes found on other nearby walls.  Similarly, the oils are composites: the models were sketched in life drawing sessions and were afterwards imagined into suitable room scenes. As one painting insightfully points out: "This is a Wall". Both have colour, texture, detail, character. There is beauty to be found in all the skins that surround us."

What To Do Afterward

If There Is No Warning

The Airburst

These Are the Bombs

Atomic Attack

It's been quite a while since I last posted. I've been very busy at a new position; designing and illustrating theme parks. Unfortunately I can't post any of this artwork because of copyright, but it has been fun.
Recently discovered in my basement a booklet from 1951, published by Civil Defense Canada under the Minister of Health and Welfare, called "Personal Protection Under Atomic Attack". I scanned in some of the text and images and have created a series of posters. I have taken the liberty of omitting some sentences and reflowing the text, but they all are actual text and images from this book.
So in the spirit of the Fukushima meltdown and the current Cold War with Iran, I will be posting one a day for the next few days.

Niagara Escarpment

Springtime Sketching: two digital paintings (with their source photographs) from a hike along the Bruce Trail on the Niagara Escarpment.

SpaceBerg

Back to the Concept Art: an iceberg in a polar sea on a distant planet?

Flash Manga

Have been busy lately multi-tasking. Doing a website for someone, designing a house, and have been asked to do some animations in Flash, so I'm now learning that. Here are a few heads done in that program; the paintbrush tool is surprisingly nice to work with.

Mountain Moods

An exercise in mood: the same scene rendered in dark and light imagery.

Honest Ed's

More Illustrator: a tribute to Toronto's famous bargain shopping store.

Dog Show Girls

Had a little fun using Adobe Illustrator. Going to the dogs, I guess...

Cradle of Civilization

Another quick concept piece. Beginning of the world? Erich von Daniken meets Arthur C. Clarke?

Desert Gear

Visited the new Evergreen Brickworks complex here in Toronto on the weekend. Nice old gear driven machinery. When I started painting today, it wanted to turn into some sort of strange desert oil field concept.

Otello

More opera: the basic plot of Verdi's Otello as imagined as a comic page. High art meets low art?

Every Morning

Ode to my Cuisinart espresso maker. Every morning it's a different world.

Relook at Tintin

Not my work today, but the marvelous drawings of Hergé (George Remi). Lately I've been reading some Tintin (en français naturalement, c'est la bonne practique!) and the graphic compositions are inspiring. Most people remember this type of flat elevation panels, which may look old-fashioned but are interesting because they are so seldom seen today:

But other panels are based on the diagonal:

Negative space and foregrounding:

Directional layout:

Dynamic compositions:

I'm showing examples side by side, but it's even more interesting when the panel types alternate next to each other, as they do in the typical story. Another good book on graphic composition I recently bought is "Framed Ink" by Marcos Mateu-Mestre (who's linked at right).

Mountain Man

A series inspired by Tibet and the Himalayas. The monk-warrior out on a solitary mission. Could be a setting for a movie? Or a game?

Response

Northern Tails

Illustrations for a children’s book I wrote years ago, when my kids were young. It was kind of like a Canadian “Wind in the Willows”; with characters Arthur "Red" Squirrel, the Beaver, Miles Otter and Dexter "Toons" Loon. These are traditional watercolors.