Kazoo!

We're really excited to join forces with Jenny "Omnichord" Mitchell and Scott "Shopkeeper" Haynes to create an original audio/visual performance for Kazoo Fest 2016!  The official announcement is below:

http://kazookazoo.ca/look-hear-micro-grants-results-announced/

You Are Here

Did I mention that we moved to Guelph? We did. One of the cool things that we learned about Guelph after arriving here is that the Guelph Arts Council has made partnerships with local businesses and building owners to feature local artwork in shop windows that are located on busy streets with lots of foot traffic! I (Devon) proposed an installation piece for the second round of the Hatch Project and they accepted my proposal for installation in the window of Budd's (a classic department store and Guelph mainstay on Wyndham street since 1926)! Here are some pictures of me creating the piece:

As you can see from the last photo, YOU ARE HERE is a hand-illustrated map of Guelph that does not refer to physical landmarks, but attempts to trigger emotional resonances with experiences of the city. If you'd like to see it the installation with be up until the end of October.

Little Deaths at Ace Art

Here are some pictures I took during the installation of my piece entitled "Some Memories About Memory," which was part of a group show presented by MAWA called Little Deaths.

This Old Face

Here is my comic in it's entirety!
(You can click on each image/page for a larger view and read it in sequence from the top down.)

A few words before you begin:

This is an "autographics" text (a term used to describe a text that combines elements of textual and visual media to tell a sequential story see this essay by Gillian Whitlock if you are interested in learning more)

I have attempted to tell a story through "sequential art" which is a nice term to describe this kind of comic. As a form, sequential art can tell a multi-faceted story through the use of written text, illustration, panels/frames and gutter (negative) space. The deliberate placement of these elements on the page can control the rhythm of the narrative and the pacing of the story.

This specific story of mine is meant to challenge traditional ideas of biography and autobiography, while exploring the central thematic idea of an 'unreliable narrator.' This is an experiment in Life Narrative when the narrator can't be sure of the details...the reader must participate and draw their own conclusions of what they imagine the story to be.

The question is: How can you know a life? In old age and especially with memory loss, what can you hold on to show evidence of a life lived? Do you (can you?) look towards the face as a map and try to inform these lines with biographical/historical events?

A note on the artwork:
The text was hand-inked and all of the illustrations were drawn with a brush-tipped ink-pen. The components were then scanned, arranged in photoshop and additional shading details were 'painted' using brush and tablet. I then sequenced the pages, printed them out and hand-bound them in to a one-of-a-kind comic with a hand-embossed soft cotton paper cover to hand in as my final project for a class on (auto)biographical comics.

Please let me know if you like it!

Love,
Devon

New Project Almost Done!!!

Here is a little teaser: this is the hand-inked inside cover page to my new comic. Click on it to see a bigger view!
The comic is getting printed and bound (by me) tomorrow...

Check back next week for the pages that follow so that you can read the whole story!!

last night of illustration

It's been a great year illustrating for the Manitoban Newspaper at the University of Manitoba. Every week, I drew on average 2-3 main illustrations to fulfill graphic requests for different articles and then a whole load of "house ads" which helped fill layout space on the page the night before going to print.
The above illustration highlights one of my more political drawings. You can browse the Manitoban archives to see my my work from the last year. The paper will be back up and running again in June.

Now I can get down to business and draw my own stuff!!!
Stay tuned!!!

Welcome to Leap Day!

Here is a piece of one of my paintings that is featured on the cover of The Manitoban this week. It is acrylic and ink on canvas. I thought it would be a nice simple uplifting image for the newspaper as we move into spring.

If you are new to our little blog, please take a minute to check out some of my drawings in the archives, they feature ink-painted comics about some elderly folks I had the pleasure of knowing. Enjoy!