Subway sketches again...

posted by Arna:

A quick sketch from life...

Posted by Arna:

I made this as a note at the end of the modelling sessions. My sculpture needed work and I hoped to finish it when the model was no longer there. That plan didn't work out so well, but I do like this composite sketch.

a cat doodle dump...

sometimes ya just gotta! (do cat doodles that is).
What did you think I meant? ;)

yes, I know it's time to clean the scanner...

Dark Years...

Posted by Arna:

THE DARK YEARS is a three-part animated docudrama. Produced by Barna-Alper Productions in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada and in association with History Television. You can see it on the History Channel this Friday, March 21, beginning at 3:00 PM. Start times are 3, 4, and 5 pm for the entire three parter.

Set in the 1930’s in Canada, it follows the path of the great Depression as told by reporters of The Toronto Star newspaper.

Our pal, John Halfpenny directed the animation, that is to say was co director of the three parter with documentarian Stephen Silver.

Here’s John in an interview describing the process.

This is an ambitious animated epic all done in FLASH, full of great moments. Though I feel it does not always ‘work’ in the story sense, I find its images always compelling. I love the rawness of the animated forms and the stark simplified way the characters move against the textured backgrounds. There is really nothing else like it.

Backgrounds for this epic evoke the art of the era, all the more remarkable since they were painted digitally by artists Maureen Paxton and Clive Powsey.

Here’s a still from a crazy sequence in which the reporter Gordon Sinclair interviews Adolph Hitler! Chuck Gammage did the animation posing for this sequence. Rex Hackelberg designed the characters for this part.

Go to the NFB multimedia pages and watch a bit of the film.

a last minute note...

At the Bloor Cinema tomorrow Saturday, March 15th_08, 4 pm:

Frédéric Back will be speaking at a screening of his films:

TAIS (The Toronto Animated Image Society) will be presenting a program of 80 minutes of 35mm film prints:

All Nothing

Crac!

The Mighty River, 'Le Fleuve Aux Grandes Eaux'

The Man Who Planted Trees

Link here to more info on TAIS site.

Go! Saw 'The Mighty River' in Montreal last year. No words to describe the impact this film had on me on a small screen. I can't wait to see it up there on a full size screen.

Queen and Portland aftermath of the fire...

RIP Suspect
Originally uploaded by Jape Wisteria


queenfire!
Originally uploaded by nice+smooth ultramedia.

We don't normally post other peoples shots but this will be an exception. These pictures were taken by several Toronto Flickr members who were close to this 6 alarm blaze. Follow the image links to see more.

UPDATE Feb 28_08: Duke's Cycle is posting a running diary on their site of the day-to-day behind the scenes of getting back to business after the fire.

Some of what was lost:
Duke's Cycle shop (levelled. A great 90 year old family business. That's where I bought my last bike.)
Suspect Video On Queen (they still have Suspect on Markham, but a very large stock with many obscure and hard to find films were lost)
Preloved (they just got their lovely spring collection ready)
National Sound (40 years in business, one of the few shops in Toronto still repairing turntables)

Here's a stitched-together image of the block BEFORE the fire posted by Kevin Steele:

Saturday in the neighbourhood...

posted by Arna and John:

Concentration...

Posted by Arna. Ink on watercolour paper, coloured later in photoshop. He never looked up. Continuing on the theme of sketching on the subway:

Connections...

Posted by Arna:

I was sketching these two on the subway as they shared headphones and stared straight ahead. Then suddenly they hugged to say goodbye. The taller girl left the train and the one that looked like Kirsten Dunst sat down beside me, just as I closed the sketch book. I got up and started for the door. She slide over into my old seat and picked up my red reading glasses that I'd dropped on the floor and handed them to me. Thanks! I should have shown her the sketch.

untitled...

posted by Arna:

New Year's Morning...

Rain fell most of the night then changed to snow about 5 am. When we woke up we saw snow stuck to everything! This is our cherry tree in the backyard in Toronto Canada.

Oscar Peterson...

Posted by Arna:

Oscar Peterson the renowned Canadian jazz piano master died yesterday. He will be missed.

Here is an interview with Oscar Peterson from 1965, published in 'Seventeen & a half', which was my high school literary magazine. Good friend Lanny Salsberg was publisher of the mag. My friend and fellow classmate Robert Libman met Mr. Peterson at the Friars Tavern in Toronto, Canada. I did the portrait from a photograph.

Mewy Christmas to all...

Hair(less) The Musical!

Got the chance to see a terrific forty-five minute cartoon musical this weekend at the Royal Cinema in Toronto.

The RUBY GLOOM characters were all singing and all dancing. With a great music score by Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak, (the same guys who created our COOLMAN! music), HAIR(LESS) sounded and looked gorgeous. Director Robin Budd and his crew pulled out all the stops. Pretty nice stuff for a television budget animated in Toon Boom Harmony. Why not release this on the big screen?

fatKiki

She's actually not this fat, but heck, she sure loves to hang out!