Rare Device gallery opening UPDATE

Update, update!

Today's gallery opening was a great success! We'd like to thank everyone who made it, and those who made it happen: Giselle from Rare Device, Asaki who made a beautiful window display, our friend Liz who helped pull this off in such a short amount of time, and James for expertly driving nails. A special shout-out to my two fellow robins, Jenn and Katy, for raising the bar high with their amazing art.

Almost all paintings are gone, so stop by before Nov. 8th to see the show and maybe pick up one of the remaining ones.

ROUND ROBIN Book Signing and Gallery Show

Rare Device, a modern design shop and art space, will host a ROUND ROBIN book signing and gallery opening for us!

Along with the books, we will exhibit 8 new original bookplate paintings (4"X6"), and 11 sequential prints (11"X14") from both books. Also, our friend, the amazing display artist Asaki Oda, is creating our window display (sneak peek below).

We are very excited to partner with Rare Device and we hope to see you there!

ROUND ROBIN Book Signing and Gallery Opening Party
Rare Device, 1845 Market Street, San Francisco,
Nov 5th, 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Art show Nov 5th - 8th

Art Blocks For Ghana

Here is my contribution to the "Art Blocks for Ghana" project. This event, part-art exhibit part-charity auction, will be raising money to build a children's home in Ghana and will take place sometime next March.
Visit the website to find out more about the fundraiser and to see some amazing submissions (many of which are by good friends of mine).

http://artblocksghana.blogspot.com/


"Home"
Acrylic and Marker Pen on board
10" x 10"

One-eyed Willy

Here is a piece I did for an art show celebrating the 25th anniversary of "The Goonies" (in case you got a cute overload with those peas...)
Check out the rest of the show at Lunar Boy Gallery.

"One-Eyed Willy"Acrylic on board8" x 8"

Bonaparte

Here is a new painting I did of young Napoléon at play in his Ajaccio family home, in 1776. I bet he liked sneaking in his dad's office to play with forbidden grown-up things!


And here are some sketches and colour studies.

SketchCrawl 21

We returned to San Francisco a week ago. Something about getting on a plane in winter-y Toronto on the 4th of January, traversing the whole continent and arriving in a greener, warmer, sunnier place makes me feel just like I did when we first arrived, on January 4th 2007. Which in turn triggers a desire to trek around the city and explore its neighborhoods like we did without fail every weekend of those first few months.

I have spent the last week reliving my first impressions here - not a bad thing to remember! That must be why I suggested to James, and friends Ric and Adrian to hike across half of San Francisco in the name of SketchCrawl; from Hayes Valley, through The Mission, The Castro, Cole Valley, The Haight and Golden Gate Park. It was perfect, at least for me!
As for the others - aching muscles, please forgive me!

Here's a sketchbook page, unfinished.


And here's another, from YSL at The De Young! Go see it and you'll recognize many famous outfits, like the one from Buñuel's "Belle De jour".

Totoro Forest Project Update

Hi from snowy Montreal!

Let me give you a quick update on the "Totoro Forest Project".
The art auction that took place in September at Pixar was very well attended and extremely successful - we raised more than 200 000$!!! The Totoro Foundation promptly used the sum to buy off a small portion of Sayama Forest in order to protect it from land developers.
Bravo, Totoro artists!

Before I move on I would also like to tell you a little bit about my piece. "My Neighbor Totoro" is one of my favourite Ghibli films, and it is definitely the one I relate to the most. It reminds me of what it was like to grow up as the little sister, of learning to accept my family responsibilities, of helping the elderly, and of understanding that nature commands reverence and respect. I love this film for its balance of truth and fable, grown-up themes and childlike whimsy.

Naturally my painting is mainly inspired by the film itself so just like Satsuki and Mei (or my older sister and I) it depicts two sisters at play in a field on a warm summer evening. I went back to my own childhood for inspiration on subject matter and look. When I was little outdoor play was the most fun because stick, stone or leaf, just about anything could become a plaything. It was far more adventurous than staying indoors anyways.

Visually, I wanted my piece to be reminiscent of 18th century French landscape paintings and of fairy tales illustrations, both of which fascinated me when I was younger. I looked at Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau for colour, composition and mood, but I also referenced some favourites - Ludwig Bemelmans, Maira Kalman, Mary Blair and Aurelius Battaglia for execution and style.
Here below are some references, my digital study and the final piece, again, for those who may have missed the previous post about it.

Well, this is it for the Totoro Forest Project for now.
If you would like to see this or any other Totoro collection pieces, you can still do so at "The Cartoon Art Museum" of San Francisco until February 8th, 2009.

Totoro Forest Project

Allow me to introduce an extraordinary series of events I have the honour to participate in.
The "Totoro Forest Project" is organized by Dice Tsutsumi, Yukino Pang, Enrico Casarosa and Ronnie Del Carmen, but to name the core committee (although many more deserve credit here), and has a simple mission: to raise funds for the preservation of Sayama Forest, affectionately known as "Totoro Forest", as it is where filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki found inspiration for his 1988 classic film, "My neighbor Totoro".

This project of impressive scope aims to help the "Totoro no Furusato Forest Foundation" in a few ways, kicking off with a Benefit Auction, held at Pixar Animation Studios, on September 6th, 2008. A book of all participating artwork will also be available for sale at the event, and The Cartoon Art Museum, here in San Francisco, will exhibit a collection of selected pieces in Fall 2008 - Winter 2009.

I am inviting you to take a look at The Official Website, where you will find information about the events, galleries of inspired artwork and ways to contribute to this worthy cause from your corner of the world.

Enjoy, and help save the Totoro Forest!


Pencil and Gouache
6.5" x 10"