Colored Pencil Workshop!

Come join us for a day of fun and art! 

Date: Saturday, June 25th, 2011
Time: 10AM - 6PM (with a break for lunch)
Location: Allan, SK - "Allan Bowl Rec Centre" - www.AllanBowl.com
(Allan is a half hour drive South East of Saskatoon - a nice drive through the country!)
Lunch: Lunch will be provided by the facility (included in your entry fee - probably in the form of a buffet lunch)

Supplies: Included in the course price (just bring yourself and your enthusiasm!)
Price: $95/person (plus PST) Payment methods: PayPal, Credit Card, Cash, Cheque
Total spots available: 12
Skill level: anyone and everyone! If you can't draw a stick person - you're right for this course! If you can paint like the masters - you're right for this course too!
Ages: The course is geared at adults, but anyone 10 & up can participate.

I expect this course to fill up very quickly, and so if you are interested, please contact me as soon as you can. Entries will be taken as a first-come-first-served basis, and your spot will be confirmed only after full payment.

The course project will be a tiger face, and will cover all aspects of my colored pencil technique for blurry backgrounds, hair, whiskers, nose, and of course, the eye. The techniques taught can be applied to any subject matter. The supplies provided (paper, graphite transfer paper, colored pencils specific to the project, sharpener, workshop booklet) are yours to keep at the end of the workshop. And, at the end of the workshop, a draw will take place for one lucky student to take home a special prize. During the course, you will get a chance to see me demonstrate my technique and have a chance to try each technique yourself with group lessons and one-on-one instruction throughout the day. We will have a lot of fun! If you've worked in colored pencils before, feel free to bring your artwork for discussion or critique.

If you have any questions about the workshop, please don't hesitate to ask via e-mail: bigcatart@gmail.com - also feel free to pass this information along to family/friends who might be interested. Once the course fills up, anyone wanting to be added to the waiting list to the next one can be contacted as soon as I plan another one.

A Much Needed Update!

I know I have apologized for this in the past, so I’ll skip the “I’m sorry for neglecting my blog and my website and my Facebook” rant… however, I hope that this massive update post will show why I’ve been so busy that my online presence has taken the back burner lately! This post is quite lengthy (sorry!) but for anyone interested it will catch you up on all the news on my art and my business.

The biggest news to most of my readers and followers will be that I have moved…again. My 2009 move to Calgary, AB only lasted a year, and I ended up back in Regina, SK briefly. As much as I have said that Saskatchewan isn’t home to me, it seems to keep pulling me back. And so, rather than fighting it, I’m finally relaxing and going with it, and even learning to like it! I’ve always loved Saskatoon; it’s a great location for the art community, and so I made the move from Regina to Saskatoon. It has been the best decision I’ve made in a long time. I found an absolutely perfect rental property, which has been a huge validation of the benefits of posting a want-ad on Kijiji. (Anyone curious about that story can message me…) My new house is in a great neighborhood close to all amenities, has ample parking, a fenced and landscaped yard with huge garden and separate fenced dog run for Duke, hardwood floors, new appliances, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and quite possibly the best landlord in the entire city. I feel like I am “home” and it has been a very long time since I have truly felt that way about anywhere I’ve lived.

One of the greatest things about my new home is the space I have for a home studio. I have converted one of the extra bedrooms into my studio space, which consists of office, workspace, and storage for all of my work-related supplies. Having a proper work-space is crucial for making a successful go of a home-based business.

With the new studio comes space to expand my business, and having moved away from Regina and hence away from my local source for quality prints, I have made the decision to begin printing for myself. This means the investment in a top-of-the-line professional printer, and taking the time to learn the process behind making quality prints, which I am thoroughly enjoying. In the very near future, I will be offering a variety of graphic services to fellow artists – and so, if you are interested in this opportunity, I encourage you to get in touch. I will also be offering incentives and referral programs for new clients. My website will soon advertise this aspect of my business, and I will post a link as soon as it’s completed.

Another addition to my home studio is a “framing station”, where I am now framing my own work. Rather than investing in a mat-cutter, and then needing the obvious space and training (not to mention time) to do that, I have found a fantastic website - the MatShop.ca - that offers quality mats cut-to-spec, as well as all the framing supplies I need to frame my own work at home. The mats, backing materials, and frame pieces arrive custom-cut, complete with hardware, I buy the glass locally, and I then assemble everything in my studio. It has led to a great savings compared to retail framing, and means that I can keep and provide stock of framed prints for sale, which is fantastic. I now offer every one of my prints either framed or un-framed, and all options will soon be available on my website.

A new commissioned colored pencil artwork will be starting soon! This piece, working title “Intensity”, has been commissioned by a long-time collector of my limited edition prints. This will be his first original artwork of mine, and it’s a project we are both very excited about. Although I call myself a “wildlife artist” who specializes in “big cats”, I may have to start saying I specialize in “cougars on rocks with snow” as this will be the third piece featuring the cougar from both ”Focus” and ”Regard”. This is another Grambo reference photo, and will be created the same size (15” x 21”) as the previous two pieces. It will be the first piece started in my new home studio.

I have always been a little different than most artists… I have never pursued a gallery showing, nor have I ever sought out retail space for my work. It may seem counterproductive to becoming a successful artist, but I have my reasons. The main one being that I’ve never felt that a gallery is worth the staggering commission that most charge, along with the fact that my slight tendency to be a control freak would mean giving up control over my work. Additionally, most galleries and retail spaces only hang original art, which is a problem for an artist like me who only produces a few per year, most of which are commissioned, and therefore not available for sale. I have instead settled for marketing my own work through my website and occasional trade shows, and previously have participated in local art guilds. Recently, however, I was offered an absolutely amazing opportunity...

While purchasing my new car at Subaru of Saskatoon, they asked what I did for work, leading to my blatantly obvious and somewhat shameless showing off of my artwork on my website. When the owner of the dealership walked into the office and saw my website, he immediately and without hesitation asked if I’d like to display and sell my work in his dealership. “Fill the walls with your work!” Mac said. His offer shocked me to say the least, but I told him I would definitely take him up on it. It took me a couple months to get everything arranged (throughout the move and setting up in a new location of course), including the framing of limited edition prints for the walls, and the creation of a contract for our arrangement. After hanging everything in the showroom, during which I was very warmly received by the entire staff, I offered to set-up in an unused cubicle to do a public demo of my work, and the owner of the dealership loved the idea. So, next weekend, (Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th, 2011) I will be set up in the Subaru of Saskatoon showroom to work on some art and enjoy talking to the public about my work (and subsequently about how much I absolutely love my Subaru WRX!) This is an exciting new direction for my work, and I am so very grateful to Mac at Subaru for the wonderful opportunity. If you’re in or around Saskatoon, I encourage you to stop by and check it out. I hope to be there more often in the future as well. And if you’re looking to buy a car – well I can’t rave enough about how much I love my Subaru. I truly believe that I will never drive anything but a Subaru ever again.

On top of the showing of my work at Subaru, I have agreed (somewhat last minute) to participate in the Collector’s Show here in Saskatoon. Their show consists of guns, antiques, and wildlife art – quite the combination of attractions, and the largest show of its kind in the Prairie Provinces! I will have my booth set up at this well-attended show from Friday March 11th to Sunday March 13th, 2011. For hours and information, visit the Collector’s Show website. This show will be the first time I will be transporting my trade show booth with my new car, which will be an experiment for sure, as my car is small and my display is quite large! At least for a local show, if I have to make multiple trips to set up, it won’t be a problem. I will be doing my best to fit everything in one trip though, as I also intend to do this same thing when I travel to Onoway, Alberta in April!

Speaking of which – the third annual Night of Artists Onoway is just around the corner! The show will be held on April 9th, 2011, and more information can be found at the Night of Artists website (click on the Onoway Show). I’m excited to see everyone again, and visit family, all while participating in a fun day (and night) of art and entertainment.

And so, that’s what I’ve been up to and what I will be up to for the foreseeable future! For those of you who read this far, I appreciate your patience and thanks for bearing with me. I hope to be more diligent with my blog and website from now on, and I look forward to keeping in better touch with my fans and collectors.

Upcoming Workshop

Because of the success and demand generated from the first workshop I taught in Hanna, Alberta (May 2009), they have invited me back to teach another workshop. This time, I'll be doing two separate workshops on one weekend - the first being a beginner introduction to colored pencils, and the second advancing on the techniques to provide examples of how to do complete scenery with colored pencils. I'm excited to be teaching again, as it's a lot of fun to pass on the things that I've learned in my experiences with colored pencils. It's excellent to introduce other artists to this fabulous medium. The workshop details are included in the poster below: (click to view larger)

"Regard" - WIP 2

I know it has been a LONG time since I have posted, but I am going to try to make a better effort to keep in touch with my few blog-readers and fans. And so, here are a couple WIP shots of "Regard". Although it's taking much longer than originally planned, it is still going really well, and it is coming together nicely. I'm excited to have it finished, and see it framed next to "Focus". They will make quite the pair.

A new workshop!

"Achieving Photo-Realism in Colored Pencils" is being offered as a one-day workshop through The Prince Albert Arts Centre (in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) on January 24th, from 10AM - 5PM. I'll be teaching the fundamentals of my colored pencil techniques to create a close-up face of a tiger with a blurred background. Adults interested in attending the workshop can contact Shaun Pikaluk at ph: 306-953-4811 or e-mail: spikaluk@citypa.com for more information. There are still spots available in the class, but they're filling quickly! I'm looking forward to the workshop, and will post pictures from the event. Anyone interested in hiring me to teach workshops for their group or city/town should contact me via e-mail. Reasonable rates, and willing to travel!

Miniature "Zebra Muzzle" - FINISHED!

And here it is! Completely finished. Obviously, I'm a bit behind my goal of one miniature every two weeks... and I do plan on rectifying that situation, just not any time soon! I've been consumed with a number of other tasks, mostly related to creating the website and program for the NOAO Show coming up in April. On top of that, I am panicking to get the last few things done for the RFA show this weekend. And, last but not least, I've been SO VERY SICK for over a week now! But of course, that's enough of all that. This zebra muzzle was a lot of fun, and it's the first image I've done that didn't incorporate an eye in the scene. It was a unique challenge, and I'm happy with the result. I had a lot of fun completing this one!

Miniature "Zebra Muzzle" - WIP 4

Well I know it's been a while, but I've finally put pencil to paper again on the zebra muzzle. Of course, it's because I have a deadline - the piece is registered to be entered in the RFA show this weekend! And now, it's complete, and ready to be scanned to be turned into prints, which will hopefully get done just in time to put it in a frame for the art show. Here's the various steps, in order, since the last post. I'm not going to write much about each one - they speak for themselves. The next post will have the finished image.

"Regard" - WIP 1

Tonight was my first night working on "Regard", and I am starting with the background. Surprisingly, I am finding that settling into the motions of the blurry-tree-background is quite natural, even though it's been months and months (maybe a year even...) since I last worked on this part of the background on "Focus". I'm using the same colors as I did in "Focus" as well, hoping to have the pieces turn out as a nice matching pair. I can already tell that it won't be a problem at all. There are quite a few differences between this picture and "Focus", but I am looking forward to the new challenges. I know it's not much to look at right now, but here are the initial stages:

This image shows... well... nothing really! You can see the frisket which I've applied to the section of the picture that has the snow, rocks, and cougar. This is due to the error of NOT doing this for "Focus" - resulting in the area being smudged quite excessively, which made it next to impossible to create white snow. This time I'm prepared, and using my air-brushing frisket I think I managed to cover everything important. When I'm done the background this plastic will peel off and let me work on nice clean paper.

I've zoomed in for the in-progress photos, as I figured it was pointless to view it as a tiny little inch on your screen. This is the top left corner of the image, above the ridge of snow and rocks. This stage is first layers of color, pre-burnishing.

This is one tiny section completed! Burnished and detailed, although the detail part of it is somewhat lacking, seeing as it's a blurry background. I'll post more soon, I assure you. I'd like to work on this piece almost exclusively for as long as I can.

"Regard" - The Beginning

Well, it's officially the start of the next "big" project. I realize I haven't finished the zebra muzzle yet, but my goal is to work on each piece alternating - so as to not get burnt out working too hard on either of them. It would be nice if I could continue producing miniatures while I work on "Regard" as well. This, for those of you who didn't already know, is the companion piece to "Focus", commissioned by the same owners who already have "Focus" hanging in their home. The overall size will be 15" x 21", the same size as "Focus". Ideally, they will be the same tones as well, permitting them to be framed identically and displayed as a pair. Here is the reference photo I will be working from, courtesy of Grambo Photography. Their photography is amazing, and without them I would certainly not be at the same point in my career.


This photo is incredibly inspiring, and I'm excited to be finished. Yup - you heard it correctly, I'm excited to be FINISHED. But that's months away... I officially started, tonight, by prepping the hot-press paper I use, getting the poster frame ready to protect it during the progress, taping off edges, and all of that. It's tedious, but the anticipation is like adrenaline. So here I sit, across the room from a giant sheet of blank, white paper... just staring back at me. It's daunting. Almost crippling, really, and I know those first pencil strokes are going to feel like minor heart palpitations. Yet at the same time, it will feel great to "get the show on the road" so-to-speak. It's been a long time in the making, and will likely be a long journey to the finish line, but I'm glad to have you few dedicated readers along for the ride!

Miniature "Zebra Muzzle" - WIP 3

So, another four hours has passed while working on the zebra, and I must say that although I knew that doing a short-haired animal like this would be time consuming, it's even more labor intensive than I thought it would be. It's fun, even though it's a lot of time. I find that long hairs are easier, as you can use longer and faster pencil strokes to fill an area in. I'm still enjoying this project, and each day that passes I'm even more excited to see it finished. And not just to "get it over with" - I'm actually excited to see the results. The following five pictures are the in-progress scans from tonight's work.






I'm actually really enjoying the challenge of doing the wrinkles in the soft skin on the zebra's muzzle. I'll admit there are parts that I'm not looking forward to, but ultimately it all has to be done eventually, but there's no point in putting it off just because it seems challenging, right?

Miniature "Zebra Muzzle" - WIP 2

I've put in another 3 hours or so on this piece, starting with the side of the face, underside of the jaw. I have to admit that I really didn't know where to start on this muzzle... usually a project has an obvious "start-point" that I can work from, but this one I really had to think about before deciding to start where I did. Also, I typically like working in small sections, completely finishing each section before moving on, as you've seen in my previous works. However, I'm approaching a point on this piece where the rest of the muzzle is mostly a smooth continuous shade, meaning working in tiny quilt-like sections isn't ideal. The next bit of progress will likely be a larger piece done all at once, which I tend to find overwhelming! However, I must say that I'm happy with how this piece is going, and it's a fun project to work on.

This is the start, and already it's noticeable how crisp and detailed the foreground is compared to the background.

This step shows some of the first layer work, before burnishing.

This image and the following one are completed sections of the face, in the order I worked on them.

I think the detailed stripes and skin look a little out of place without the rest of the image, but I really think it's starting to come together.

Miniature "Zebra Muzzle" - WIP 1

Here are the first few in-progress photos from the "Zebra Muzzle" miniature. They show the progress from the first five minutes right up until about 4:30AM, approximately 5 hours after I started. The background is now complete, and I'm ready to start working on the actual muzzle. I'm excited for how this background will look once the crisp details of the foreground are there for contrast. The backgrounds tend to look pretty boring and blurry without anything for that depth of field. I'm already having a lot of fun with this project!
The photo above shows the picture with only black so far, in rough strokes for the first layer.

Added to the black above is some color, which will get burnished by the grey in the next stages.

This and all the following images show the burnishing of the background. This involves using a grey pencil (in this case french and warm grey both in 20%) and pushing incredibly hard onto the paper, working in tiny circular motions to blend the previous layers of color together. As necessary I add some more dark or light into the burnishing as I go.



And now on to the best part - the detailed foreground!

Miniature "Moses" - FINISHED!

Here's the finished product! "Eye of Moses the Serval" - colored pencils, 5" x 5". It took approximately 20 hours to complete.

I am quite liking this size to work with... it's proving to be popular with the public as well, which is always nice. They are small enough that they don't take months to finish - meaning if I am working on one that I end up not liking, I'm not in it for the long haul! This is also the first time I've used my new all-in-one scanner/printer for uploading pictures. I'm not sure if it's better than the camera, but it certainly means less Photoshop work to make them all look the same for the blog. Perhaps if I tweak some of the settings, the scans would come through a little better. I'm happy with how this piece turned out, and I don't really think the scan does it justice. Now to plan the next miniature, and the start of "Regard", the companion cougar project to "Focus".

Miniature "Moses" - WIP 4

Well - I know it's been a while, but I've got new pictures for the "Moses" miniature. It's finished! This post will have the work in progress pictures, and the next post will have the final picture. Here are the scans in order, since the last post.





All of this progress happened from about midnight to about 3:30AM this morning (now). So, obviously, I'm drifting back towards a night schedule... which I'll talk about more in a separate post. See the next post for the finished "Moses" miniature!

Miniature "Moses" - WIP 3

Here's an update on the Miniature 5" x 5" piece of "Moses" the serval cat. It's taken me a little longer than planned, simply because of the holiday season, but I'm working on it here and there when I have a few minutes. I'm enjoying this piece, and am excited to see it finished. These pictures follow from the place I left off in the last post, even though they were each done on different days.
This first picture (above) is the base layer of the cheek, just before burnishing, which is in the following image:

This image (above) shows adding some detail to the face and cheek.
This image (above) shows more detail in the face, and the start of the neck. In the reference photo, the neck is a little blurry - almost a little out of focus, and I intend to replicate that. There is less hair texture in the neck area, as it's not a main focus point for the picture.

And I just realized that I haven't kept up with my "What's in the DVD player?" segment... I've been through a good number of shows already since I last mentioned I was watching "The Simpsons" DVDs, and right now I am watching the third season of "Futurama". I got the first season of "King of the Hill" on DVD for Christmas, and I think that will be next in line.

Miniature "Moses" - WIP 2

Here are some more in-progress photos from "Moses" the Serval. Keep in mind that this piece is 5" x 5". I like working in this scale, as it's still big enough to do lots of detail, but it's small enough to potentially finish a piece in a few days. I'm enjoying working on this one, and I think it's going well. My apologies though for the lack of quality for the photos... if anyone has advice for how to photograph artwork while in-progress, please let me know! Essentially what I am doing now is keeping a tripod up and pointed at a wall which has marks where to put the picture... and at each stage I put the picture up, shoot a photo, and then go back to work. The problem is, these won't be taken in natural light, and trying to edit them in Photoshop to all look the same (levels, color, etc) is a nightmare. Overall, it's taking me WAY too much time to do the photos, edit them, and then post them here, and I don't want it to take away from my actual work!
This first picture is the nose, which is very different on a serval - compared to most cats which have noses resembling house cat anatomy, servals have a large and smooth nose, very rounded and almost dog-like.
One of my favorite parts of this picture is where the hair swirls and changes direction on his muzzle. I will likely add even more detail to that part, as it's crucial to the realism of the hair.
More progress...
Even though the eye is penciled in (outlined in black) I will leave it for last. I love to do the eye, and saving it for last keeps my interest in the picture, and it really allows the picture to "come alive" at that stage.
More progress... I should be finished this piece soon, and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished!

Miniature "Moses" - WIP 1

This is the starting stages of the Miniature serval cat, "Moses" from a few posts back. I decided to go with some foliage for the background, as I figured the original reference photo of his cage wasn't all that flattering! The photos that follow are the first steps: 1) Transferring the sketch to the final copy, 2) Base layer on the background, and 3) Burnishing and Detailing of the background. This piece will henceforth be titled "Eye of Moses the Serval".