Over the past few years, largely for my own amusement, I’ve been creating digital collages using Illustrator and Photoshop. I finally decided to gather some of these personal works together in an online portfolio, using the interactive issuu publishing platform. Hope you like it. — Louis Fishauf
Please click here to view the online portfolio.
In Blair’s own words, here’s the story behind Dreams of Patoot…
“Some time ago I rediscovered a metaphorical Horn of Plenty crammed with images — good, bad, and indifferent. These were my own works, the products of years of work-for-hire, plus many of my ‘self-commissioned’ paintings. At any rate, I had a lot of them. I was called upon to interpret certain causes, tropes, and ideas that found their way into print. Celebrity portraits. Jocular entertainments. Works of fashion, fiction, and friction. Scientific or socio-economic concepts shown in less abstract, more graspable depictions for the common reader. All of these were painted in styles that seemed appropriate to the subject matter, and which varied considerably in tone – from the broadly comic to the gravely austere and beyond. And all were filtered through my own personal artistic sensibilities.â€
“It occurred to me that perhaps there was a story somewhere within these many images. Was there a narrative here, really? And isn’t it working backwards to contrive a story after the fact of the pictures, especially when there are so many of them? The mule goes before the wagon; he doesn’t push it from behind, like an ass.â€
“Yes indeed. But sometimes when one doesn’t really know what one can or cannot do, or where one is, one blunders into a fool’s paradise. Plain enough was that Dreams of Patoot would be no children’s book. Far too many pictures in the cornucopia were of the naughty variety.â€
“The big hurdle was the problem of consistency of characters from one page to the next. Obviously, the raw material had been originally done for any number of purposes and applications. How then does one contrive a flow of action that shows a central character that the reader can identify and follow from scene to scene, no matter how outlandish the setting? The answer: one doesn’t. The key was contained in the word ‘outlandish’.â€
“Make the story a sort of sci-fi one! Set the action some place, to something like what we are used to — but not the same! And give the denizens of that place the ability to change their appearance, willy-nilly, and at any moment!â€
“Ergo: the Periodic Form Changement.â€
“And while you’re at it, have some fun with language! Make up bad translations that demonstrate the silliness of idioms and expressions which we use every day.â€
“And while you’re at that, might as well take some pot shots at the customs and mores that we live by. But entertain them too! Give them Plafunda! Give them Plafundatongue! Give them Patoot!â€
Blair Drawson’s interactive visual narrative for the iPhone is now available for downloading from the iTunes Store.
The launch date for Blair Drawson’s interactive visual narrative for the iPhone has been confirmed for July 11. This app, featuring more than 400 of Blair’s illustrations, is a science fiction story centering around a distant planet called Plafunda, similar to our own in many ways, yet significantly different in others. The central character, Patoot, like young citizens everywhere, has friends and relations, and they all have their own distinct storyline separate from, and parallel to, the main narrative.
The app, along with the story, allows you to save and share Blair’s illustrations. Watch for the launch of the App in the iTunes store.
Fiona Smyth’s CHEEZ was originally a monthly drawing published in Canada’s Exclaim Magazine over a ten year period from 1992 to 2002. Fiona continues the work every week as part of Index G’s Monday ArtPost where Fiona publishes the new CHEEZ drawing with the same numbering sequence. A collection of the first one hundred strips is available as CHEEZ 100 published by Pedlar Press.
June 26, 2013Here’s Blair’s latest work in progress. First the sketches, then the three panels in progress. Stay tuned for the finished work.
Barbara Klunder At The David Kaye Gallery
Barbara is showing her recent papercuts in her new exhibition, “BulletProof Vests: Papercut Protection†at the David Kaye Gallery. These new works are a commentary on gun culture and its connection to killings of all kinds all over the planet. Barbara insisting that it’s the role of the artist “to raise danger flags,†Klunder defended her fearless practice of bringing her political views to the forefront in her art.
The show runs until June 28.
The David Kaye Gallery
1092 Queen Street West
(entrance on Dovercourt)
Toronto
These are two illustration the Sean created for the band, The Wilderness of Manitoba for their album Island of Echoes.
Reactor has recently begun to represent Sean Lewis. Watch for more samples of Sean Lewis’ work here.
May 3, 2013
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, May 04, 2013 – 3:00 to 6:00 pm
INDEXG
50 Gladstone Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Sunday
1:00 to 6:00 pm
