Chapter 166 . Skies & Water in the City I Live In

Where is the inspiration coming from?
...

Is it our surrounding?
All of it?

Without a doubt, the answer is:
-" The surrounding is part of it."

I find myself, more and more inspired by my surrounding, physical and metaphysical.
The place I live in has a "powerful nature", and by this, I mean the nature has an amazing power towards all and everything.
It is omnipresent, it is everywhere, from the little flowers by the side of the road, to the great and immuable ocean.

Yes, that's it, skies and water!
I live on an island.
Water surrounds us all.
It's not easy to leave, nor to come.
It's an island.

The good part of it, one of them at least, is that we get to see a lots of water, especially that I live in a port, at the edge of the southern part of Vancouver Island.

The summer creates amazing colours in the sky when the sun rush to disappear, and the ocean, its water, makes marvels at reflecting those skies and colours.

Maybe inspiration comes from there, in a great deal, maybe...

Here's a sunset from The Bluff on Fairfield, some kind of hidden place, not a popular one yet.
No water here, but the sky, the city and my wife facing the sun:

From The Fairfield Bluff - Victoria BC

Then, we go to the opposite direction, where the sun sets in our back, Haynes Park in Oak Bay:

Haynes Park - Oak Bay - Victoria BC

The calm of those images is real, it exists.
And that is the real beauty of this place, and, like many other places, the place makes the people, the moods...

Yes, we have to be honest and recognize it, some of us are indeed lucky...
Yes, we are lucky to have made the decisions we have made.

Have a great day folks,

Sincerely,

Serge Foglio
July 29th 2015

Chapter 165 . New Prints, New Drawing Tablet, New Drawing & New Marvel Movie.

Good day folks,

It's been a while since I wrote here, but then and again, I have been busy...
So I guess, I have few things to say.
Let's start if you will.

First and foremost, after a nice break, I went back to drawing.
The thing is, when you stop drawing for a while, you forget how to draw. Or to be more precise, "I" forget how I use to draw, especially the technical level, the tricks, the method.
The good thing is, this comes back quite fast with practice, and then, it's like:
- "WOW, that's really how I did it? So much work!!!".
Truth is, that's in those situations that you find new ways, new tricks, new paths, a new way of looking at your own work in a certain way.

All of that bla bla bla to say that I sat back at my desk and I simply draw.
I wanted to do something simple, relatively simple, some drawing without any deep message, just a doodle, something that I'll enjoy, something that is not crushing, because, massive pieces always are.
I wanted to go for a portrait.
I like drawing portraits, it's very fulfilling for some reasons that I can't really explain, it just is.
The choice of the subject often depends on the picture I choose as a model.
Out of the great choice I had, I choose Laurent, my wife's sister husband if you're still following me.
The character is great, he carries an incredible positivity, and such a vivacity in life, it's good to see and a pleasure to experiment first hand.
And, I had the picture which came with the character.
So, I sat and drew.

Now, and I'll get back to it later, but my Wacom tablet was giving me some challenges.
In short, I couldn't draw straight lines across the screen, they would be wavy, and I would have to readjust them over and over.
A real pain, so darn frustrating!
In the end, a drawing that should have take me 2 to 4 hours ended up taking 10 hours...
But, the result was worth it, I believe I captured the character perfectly!
I'll get back to the tablet issue later, and how to fix the issue.
Here's the drawing:

Laurent

I should definitely keep on doing portraits like that, not only do I enjoy it, but it really fulfills me, and, I just love people when they are lovable.
The portraits make me love people, as I explore their visage during the process, bringing something oh so human, it touches me deeply.
Time to make myself happy!
-wink-
Something to keep in mind!


On a different subject, my dear wife reminds me often that, my drawings are made to be printed.
Well, she's right of course...
But this is something that is easy for me to forget, I draw those things, then I forget about them almost immediately. In fact, in my subconscious, when the drawing's done, the work is done.
But that's only partially true, the drawing is done when it resides on a piece of paper, hang on a wall, looked at by people.
So, and she had to work quite a lot to convince me, it's time to get stuff printed.
A step at the time, of course, but regularly, we will get some of my pieces printed, in different size and flavour. This, not only brings some more happiness to my life, but also will allow me to do some exhibits, as I will have something to show on a different support than a bloody computer.
There is nothing like having artwork in a material form, just like receiving a letter instead of an email.
After all, we are also grounded beings, we touch and smell and we relate to all of our senses....

We did 3 prints.
The first one is the poster I did, a while ago, of my wife Stephanie.
It's a poster/advertisement for a show in Japan. To add the Japan's feeling, I worked the entire piece keeping in mind a great Japanese master, Mr. Miyazaki.
The piece is quite large, 24x18, framed and already on a wall.
Here it is:

Stephanie in Japan

And here is another picture, just to place it in it's environment:

The Bathroom

Then, there was the print for Mr. Kyle McLachlan.
A while ago, I did a poster related to the character he played in the second season of Marvel Agent of SHIELD. My wife suggested I contacted him to show him the piece.
Turned out he answered and liked it quite a lot.

Answer from Kyle McLachlan

I offered a print, and he accepted.
So, the print is done, looks fabulous, and ready to be sent to him at the beginning of next week.

Myself and the print of Calvin Zabo aka Mr. Hyde

Third and last for now, there was a print that many people asked me for. But I was reluctant to do so, as, it was only a part of the bigger piece, which, I haven't worked on in a very long time...
Time will tell, as far as this is concerned.
Nevertheless, someone very dear to my heart asked me for a print recently, and I just couldn't resist.
I got it printed, and it looked rather good.
So, another gentleman, also very dear to my heart, did some huge favour for me and my family recently, and he had asked for this print as well, a hell of a long time ago.
Do I did...
I can hardly wait to give it to him, such a pleasure to offer what I do best, or one of the thing I do best in life.
-smile-

Myself and the print of the piece called We

And now, the bloody story of the bloody Wacom Tablet.
First, I have never been a huge fan of Wacom, not that their products are not of quality, they are, but their prices are nothing short than ridiculous.
I guess, when you have a monopoly for so many years, you get used to do whatever you want in your field of business, and are able to argument it properly and adequately.
My present Wacom had a drawing surface of 12"x8" or so, I had it for many years, and for the past year I had started to notice a lack of precision, going from slightly annoying to a real nightmare.
As I said earlier, when I had to draw in diagonale, which I do an insane amount of time, the straight line would become wavy, and there is simply no fix but to rework those line many many many time...
This is a real pain, because it brakes the flow of creativity, which, in itself is all that really matters.
I did my researches on the net, and I am not the only one with this issue.
And there is no fix.
Wacom would not answer any of those concerns, and so, it looked to me like a perfect time to make a new move.
Plus, Wacom are starting to not support some of their old tablet, and you have to partially run some application in 32 bits instead of 64 and it is another real pain.
Let's make it clear, I don't use a computer to be able to trouble shoot.
Once and for all, I use this medium because I enjoy it. And to enjoy it, it has to be working properly.
So, ciao Wacom, and hello Huion.
After some new researches, I choose to try the Huion W58:

Drawing Tablet Huion W58

The drawing surface is a tad smaller, 10"x6.5", but frankly, I don't believe I will notice a difference after a tad of practice. How much did I really use from the Wacom? That would be a very good question.
And, because there is almost always a "and", the price is more than affordable, the whole thing, shipping included for a mere $100.
I don't even want to look at the equivalent for a Wacom, but we would probably be looking at 4 to 6 times more expensive...
Did I mentioned that Wacom had ridiculous prices?!!

Tablet is ordered, and I will keep you updated of the use of it when I will have this lovely possibility!


And we, slowly but surely, arrive at the end of that post.
One more thing though, this week was my younger son's birthday.
He just turned 13. Don't even ask me how this is possible, life is simply incredible.
Even though, there is a party today, on the very day of his Bday, we had a small special day.
He didn't have to do his daily chores, -wink-, we cooked what he likes, and we went to see the new Marvel movie, Ant-Man.

Ant-Man

And again, it was great!
Very funny, entertaining, and I just love feeling like the kid I once was, again...
I like and admire the way they introduce their characters, the way they turn those comics book into movies.
I read some bad review, among some good ones, but I think people who are displeased are waiting for something that Marvel is not. How can you expect what is not?
This is a great big question that can be asked for many many movies and such, adaptations in general.
Also, I read a post online of someone who said that he went to see Ant-Man and he goes to see Marvel movie to see when they are going to screw it up, to mess it up. And, as per this gentleman, it's not for that time!
What a weird way of thinking did I think...

We had a great time!

Ant-Man Tickets

Us after seeing Ant-Man

Voila folks, I think that's enough for now, more to come soon, hopefully, have a great week end, and, may the Force be with you!

Sincerely

Serge
25th July 2015

Chapter 164 . Mad Mr. Hyde, Sooke Scoop Local Magazine Update & Norah Jones in the UK

Kyle MacLachlan's Calvin Zabo

Good day,
It's been a while since I was here last!
Gosh, times fly.
What else is new?!

I have been busy...
-smile-
There is few things I want to talk about, so, let's start immediately with my latest illustration, a poster of the infamous Calvin Zabo, aka Marvel Mr. Hyde.
I don't know if you're following the TV Show Marvel Agents of SHIELD, and regardless of the show itself, there is a character played by awesome Kyle MacLachlan, who is worth watching!
Back in the days when I was a boy, there was that Marvel character, which I had, but he way, completely forgotten, named Mr. Hyde.
It was a brilliant surgeon who did experimentation on itself and become Mr. Hyde.
The story is old like the the world itself.
However, Jekyll and Hyde are two amazing characters in general, maybe a character  in which we can all recognize ourself...
Maybe...

Anyway, they brought the character to the show, modified him intensively, and gave the role to Kyle.
The result is nothing short than awesome!!!!
His interpretation of the character is so subtil, you'd up liking quite a lot the mad murderer...
And so, it was most definitely worth an illustration.

Presently, I'm into posters, so, the plan was to make a Calvin Zabo poster, and so, I did...

First, here is the original one created by marvel:

Marvel's Mr. Hyde

Here is also a sweet cover from a Thor album when he has to fight The Cobra and Mr. Hyde:

Thor vs The Cobra & Mr. Hyde

And now, here is my own interpretation of Cal Zabo/Mr. Hyde, adjusted to 2015:

Kyle MacLachlan's Calvin Zabo

I like the darkness of the illustration, and still, there is some kind of uncanny humanity within the character...
I like telling stories.
This image tells a big story...

Here is a detail worth watching:

Scalpel and Flowers

On a side note, the technic I use with this medium is in constant evolution. It's kinda odd as, I am always surprise how there is always room for improvement...
It's wonderful and terrible at the same time...
Guess I'm stuck in the middle...
By chance, I am with her, he he he...



Now, I would like to talk a little about the Sooke magazine I quite like, the Sooke Scoop.
Frankly, if you live in the Sooke area, it is insane if you are not reading that Mag, and supporting the creators at the same time!
First of all, it's awesome, second of all, it's of high quality, and third of all, it feels great to support a good cause!
Does't it?
-smile-
The mag is sold $5 at the Stick in the Mud I believe, go there and pick up yours, the second edition is out!

Sooke Scoop 1st and 2nd Edition

Sooke Scoop 1st Edition

Sooke Scoop 2nd Edition

And, also, thought I would mention that, the Sooke Scoop are publishing my comic book, The Case of the Chinese Cemetery, so, you also get to ready some comics, he he he...

Sooke Scoop Comic Pages

On a side note, the comic will be available in very few months to order in a beautiful format!
More to come about that, stay tuned Peeps!

And, go get the Sooke Scoop!
-smile again-


Last, but not least, there is another illustration I did.
but the truth is, there is two new illustrations I did on top of Mr. Hyde, Mme Norah Jones.
I want through a while without drawing, after the Avengers poster, and one day, Norah called me, so to speak.
It had been a while I wanted to do an illustration of her, but... Well, you know, I like to tell stories, and if I have nothing to say, then, to me, the illustration becomes irrelevant and a loss of my personal time.
That is the very reason why it takes me, sometimes, so long to do a specific drawing, I need to have a story to tell.
Also, that is why drawing comic books are what I like doing the best!
Bla bla bla...

And so, I decided to draw a poster, for a UK tour, with Norah Jones.
As always, everything is overly thought about in the illustration, there is a fair amount of hidden messages, and inside jokes and what's not, the pub is a darn real UK pub, and the feel of the illustration, I believe, is what I was trying to do.
So, in short, I sat down, worked y composition, and drew.
Black and white, pure like back in the days...

Norah Jones Black & White UK Tour Poster

And it was done.
And I was happy.

Then, another idea came.
What about colouring it, but not like adding colours to the same image, but instead, working it as if it was a different image all together.
It's a state of mind that changes everything...

I wanted to play with two colours only, Orange and Blue.
And, after much work, here it is:

Norah Jones Coloured UK Tour Poster

And again, I liked it, some kind of lovely melancholy going on, only partially controlled...

And here is a detail:

Norah Jones Poster Detail

Et voila...
Plenty of other things to talk about, but that will be all for now.

More surprises coming soon.
Have fun and be good Folks.

Sincerely,

Serge
7th June 2015

Chapter 163 . New Drawing, and How it all Happened...

Good day.
So, here it is,  the final product, The Avengers Poster, something I have had in mind for quite a while:

The Avengers Poster

And yes, I drew that.
This is the question I get most often, did you draw that? And how?
The answer is always the same and quite simple, yes, I drew that, with a pen.
A digital one if you really want to know.
And I use one software only, I do it all in Adobe Illustrator.
Voila.
That's pretty much all.

But, let's have fun this time, and have an imaged look at the process.
Here, I wanted to give a retro type of look to the poster.
I had been thinking about drawing one of the Avengers for a long time, and I guess I was finally ready.
Because I knew the feel I wanted to give, I approached that one in a completely different way that usually.
First, I designed the structure, the template basically, where are the images going to be, the title, etc...
Usually, I start by drawing the characters, or the background, and then, I contract my structure so to speak, but by doing it this way, you open a door to a possibility you have not "
yet" foreseen, and so, you end up with a completely different product than the one originally intended.
This, can be very good.
But not if you want to stick to your original idea.
Anyhow, as soon as I had a rough template, I entirely designed the title and fonts area.
here it is:

Title

Then, I drew Loki, I needed to see where this was going.
I drew him in his original or classic costume, but gave him the Spear from the movie, and here he is:

Loki

And here is where I was at:

Template 1

Note that I had already worked quite a lot with the textures and the feel the poster will have in the end.

Now, I just had to... Draw all the characters one by one in their respective little boxes.
Now, it was going to be fun because, except for Captain America, I never drew any of the others.
But then and again, it will probably also be a challenge of some sort.
So, I sat down and did what I do, I drew.

First, I wanted to draw Hawkeye, again, to keep the retro feel, in his original costume.
Here he is:

Hawkeye

Then, it was the time to draw the insane beast, The Hulk:

The Hulk

Lots and lots of fun to do!
Note that I use a limited amount of colours and shades, but I think it works very well actually!
Here is where we're at:

Template 2

OK, the harmony of colours is working, let's keep on drawing.
Time for the man of steal, the other one, not the blue and red guy from DC, but Iron Man instead:

Iron Man

And here's the template again:

Template 3

OK, things are coming along nicely.
I especially like the front leg of Iron Man, I couldn't really say why...

Now, the First Avenger, Captain America:

Captain America

And the full view:

Template 4

Oh yes, it is most definitely working!
One always think it is going to work, but never know for sure until it's done... Duh...
But here, it's working, even if there is some things that are annoying me, like the texture which I will have to entirely rework, and the stars. Not fond of those...

Anyhow, time for the God of Thunder, Thor!

Thor

And, again, the template:

Template 5

Ok, one more, the lady, and I will be ready for the next step!
So, here is The Black Widow:

The Black Widow

I really like her, I mean, the result of the illustration, and I am especially fond of her hair...

Template 6

And again, it works!
Note also the background colours, in the back of the characters, I stayed very conventional, but it works, there is a unity folks!

Ok, There is something else I have done here, I have changed the stars... Entirely...
Look, her is how they were:

Original Stars

And here is how they are after the rework:

New Stars

Quite different hey?!
Yea, but I am not satisfied with those at all...
I will have to wait until the middle of the night to realize what I would have to do, and so, here are the final stars:

Final Stars

I also entirely reworked the texture, the background colour of the poster, and the SHIELD logo in the back.
And here we are:

Template 7

And now, a last little touch, the big villain, Thanos to complete the structure, and the poster itself:

Thanos

And here is, once again, the completed piece:

Final Template: The Avengers Poster

Voila, it was a lots of fun and a fair amount of work, but it was worth it!
You wanna purchase it?
Here is the deal:

Avengers Poster Print Options

And, on that note, I would like to wish you a good day,
And as always, behave yourself Peeps!

Sincerely,

Serge
23rd April 2015

Chapter 162 . New Illustration . My Wife in Japan...

My dear wife is an artist...
Those things happen...

She makes very complex luminaries, complicated and intricate pieces, made from local material, usually.
It is impossible to describe what she does, this will be the only attempt, but it is of a stunning beauty tho be able to admire the completed pieces.

Then, she sells the pieces.
That's how she makes a living.

I will post her work another time, so stay tuned if you're interested.

Now, last week or so I made a poster for an exhibit in NYC, but this time it was time to do another one for Japan.
Ah, Japan...
I already ranted about that, the trick is to represent the artist, the place of the exhibit, and give the predominant feeling of the event.
This is what I came up with:

Stéphanie Crétat . Japan Exhibit

I am quite fond of that one, there is a lots of hidden details, and the illustration tells a lot.
I also used some new technics, that I will experiment further in a near future, like for the clouds in the back for instance.

Last, I had chosen since the beginning to give this Japan feeling by doing a reference to a Japanese artist I respect a great deal.
Can you figure it out Peeps?

This said, have a good day and all that jazz.

Cheers

Serge
April 6th 2015

Chapter 161 . New Illustration . JJ Cale . Pack My Jack

Yes, I've been moving to the highway
Rambling man keeps rambling on
Yes, I've been moving to the highway
Rambling man keeps rambling on
Well, you can't seem to see it my way
Pack my jack and I'll be gone...

On July 26, 2013, John Cale passed away, leaving us with his Oh so wonderful music.
Pack my Jack is a poster I drew in 24 hours, a sort of happy remembrance, memories, souvenir...

Pack my Jack . JJ Cale Poster

Print Available - The Winter Soldier

18x24 - $46 CA + Shipping

12x18 - $30 CA + Shipping

To Order Your Print: Simply email sergefoglio@gmail.com

with the name of your print and the size

Sometime ago, I wrote a blog on Mr. Cale, here it is:

Link to JJ's Article

Last, here's the song Pack my Jack, one last time...



OK, that's all for today Folks,
Have a great evening.

Sincerely,

Serge
1st April 2015

Chapter 160 . Project & New Illustration

I have been busy...
An unexpected project came up, with a very tight deadline, and so, I put my head down and did it.
Ther is very little I can say about it, nor can I really show anything, as, it is for a competition and the deadline is not over yet.
But anyhow, in short, a friend of mine, Erika, contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in doing a series of illustration for a video about Asthma and Allergies.
I jumped on the occasion, she provided all the narrative, and I drew the illustrations.
Then, I put them together in a video, with original music, and Erika's voice, et voila!
This was a fair amount of drawings, and hope to be able to see them, as well as the video soon!
I'll keep you updated...

Meanwhile, during the project, I was drawing a good 6 to 8 hours per day, which, is exhausting.
I needed something else to balance.
So, as soon as the project was close to be completed, I starting a drawing of my sweet heart I had in mind for a while now.

So, here it is, the portrait and the poster I did with it, and, this one is not for sale.
- smile -

Stephanie . The Youth

And:

Stephanie Poster

Voila folks, that's all for now.
Have a good sunny and rainy day.

Cheers

Serge
31st March 2015