mentalist*

Here's a retarded picture. It was way more retarded at the start, when it was only a bunch of 3am drunken ramblings I wrote while listening to Led Zepellin and laughing and saying "yeah. yeah. yeah." out loud to myself. Then it got better when I drew a man and fingerpainted coffee on it. Then it got worse when I finger painted white acrylic on it, then better (but still terrible) when I washed off the acrylic. Now it's a honking pile of shite I call "Mentalist Finds Flies Behind Venetian Blinds".

I recommend watching "Shutter Island" - it is the opposite to the goo-chasm illustrated above. Martin Scorcese and Leo DiCaprio. It's a very tight script, great story that gives tonnes of motivation and tension, and Leo is so committed and present in every scene.

I think the film stands out for the camera work. Watch how simple tricks of the camera are used to discomfit you (switching the Director's axis, quick pans and cuts that are off-pattern, etc.) That is what you get with an old-school director (and D.O.P., I'll bet) who know the basic language of film, and can fuck with it. None of that CGI sweeping camera move bullshit, or crazy special effects. (In fact I think some VFX were intentionally done wrong for discomfort and story purposes!) Lots of risks taken directorially, and they all worked. That's what you get when you've been art-ing for so many years, I guess.

I'm inspired that Martin Scorcese still challenges himself and takes risks at his age. Something to aspire to for sure.

*footnote: the term "mentalist" traces its roots back to Chris Huggins, salesman-gone-wrong, guardian-of-parkades.

sun heart of sky beast

First shots for the next film. It's not going to be a conventional story, more like a series of images that you can find our own meaning in. I'm going to use all kinds of techniques and not restrict myself to keeping any rigid style or creation process.

I'm extremely excited about it. To me, a big part of art is letting go of restrictions and making your own rules. Every single shot I've planned makes me cackle so far, because it's so far off convention and so true to myself.

The weather has changed and the ocean has become significantly colder. I've lost some fat in the last few weeks, and really felt it swimming yesterday - I didn't do my two big swims, only went about 1/5th of the distance once. In cold weather I'll need to eat more and/or wear a wetsuit, and/or maintain a high heartrate for the entire time I'm swimming. No chill-out breaks floating on my back and rolling over waves.

A big ol' seal followed me around while I was swimming last night. I climbed onto a floating dock out in the middle of the cove and he circled it, watching me cautiously. I didn't have the balls to jump in until he swam down the shore a bit.

Makes me realize that there is a bit of a risk of encountering larger sea animals. There's a huge undersea cliff right offshore where I swim, so I need to be a bit more aware, because I'm in very deep water that a killer whale could easily be cruising through. If an orca ever spotted me I'd be dead, guaranteed. Maybe there's an orca-watch website I can look at. Or maybe I should just stick to the cove when visibility isn't so good (waves / wind / fog)...

sketch with words

Doodlin' at the coffeeshop. I sometimes add random thoughts to a drawing, or little phrases that I overhear. It makes the images feel like they're part of a story.. you start to fit the sketch into a situation just because of one little phrase.

On a related note, I am dying to create a graphic novel, but instead of writing it myself, I want to adapt a screenplay / theatre script / short story or something. Does anyone have any work that translates well into visuals (i.e. not too much dialogue?) Or maybe there's an old film or novel that you think would work? A science fiction short story might be cool. Or maybe it's a story / script that you've written?

Any subject matter is fine.

Send me an email at gogomax49 at gmail dot com if you have any ideas - thanks!

firewood rant

"Phone doodle on laptop - 2010 - work in progress" Gesso, Spraypaint, India Ink, Pencil.

I thought firewood down here would be cheaper than in the Yukon, because there's so many damned trees. The problem is that there's way more people (and money) in proportion to those trees. So you get shit wood at high prices.

I paid $170 for a truckload of 15" rounds of fir today. Just a normal pickup truckload - like what, 2/3rds of a cord at most? (A cord is 4' x 4' x 8' of wood). It was supposed to be $200 / truckload but I wanted rounds so I can handsplit them myself. (Rounds are a slice of tree, like 15" chunks of stump - i.e. not cut into pie shapes. I way prefer that, because splitting wood with an axe is one of my top 10 things to do in life.)

At least 10% of the wood is funky (rotten inside) and another 10% isn't seasoned (i.e. it was cut this year, so it's full of moisture, which means it doesn't burn easy, and puts out a lot of creosote, which is not healthy to inhale and clogs up your chimney.) Balls! Balls Balls Balls!

Another guy on this island offered me $200 for a cord of fir that was cut this year, i.e. not seasoned. He said, "Yeah, we just cut it,but let it sit out in the sun for a month and it'll be good." What?! Do people fall for that? How dishonest!

This all makes me miss the Yukon.

Ooooohh, give me a place where we're all talkin' wood,
prices are good,

woodsmoke in the air
dog barks at a bear

the mornings are crisp
and its early august...

...

At least I get to swing an axe this winter.

doodlin'

A doodle while in a Skype meeting. Korean characters from a Kimchi container. I also drew and painted a big crazy design on the back of my old laptop, but it's not finished yet. I like how it's turning out.

No phones in this house, just internet. So you can't call me, I can only call out using Skype phone. Been going that way for six weeks now and it's working out fine.

ladyface

A lady on the ferry. It's not as easy to draw people on the ferry as it is in coffeeshops. People on the ferry move around a lot and look around a lot. I suspect it will get easier in the fall when tourists aren't around. It's easier to draw the regulars who sit in their car and read / nap during the 20-minute ride.

I had a beautiful swim tonight right at sunset. The water was super calm so I swam further than I ever have in my life. There's an adult seal that hunts in the kelp beds at sunset. He/she scoped me out right as I was nearing shore. Thank gawd it wasn't when I was way out in the water - I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I honked at him a bit and we watched each other and dove / surfaced at a distance of about 50m, but that's it. I wonder if we'll get to know each other over time. Maybe he'll kill me eventually.

I'm circumnavigating this whole island bit by bit, by hiking/swimming/climbing the rocks. I have a map where I mark the bits of perimeter I've done so far. The tough part is going to be a long stretch of cliff. It doesn't look like there's any breaks in the cliff so I'm going to have to swim the whole way. I think it's about 8-10 times further than I swam tonight... but I suppose I could rest by holding onto cracks in the rock for a while. I've been bouldering along the rocks every day, so my fingertips are getting strong. It would be nice to do that cliff-part with someone, but the only person I know who's interested is away for 2 months.

some asshole is making graffiti that looks like my drawings

My sister works as a book editor. Publishing companies get these sample books from book binding companies - really nice hardbound books, but there's no text on the pages. So I get these sweet free sketchbooks every once in a while.

This image is from one of these sample books - this one is entirely glossy paper. I'm filling the whole thing with images like this. I like to use water soluble ink, then wash the whole thing in water to give it texture. I put a bit of a watercolor wash on this one as well.

These images are very relaxing and meditative to create.

Some asshole is following me around and making graffiti using shapes just like this. I've seen a few in Vancouver. There's one on this island I'm living on too. Stop following me, buddy!

I'll take a photo of the graffiti sometime.