I drew this picture a couple days ago. I've probably already mentioned it, but if I haven't, I should tell you that I've realized my long sought after goal of being a productive painter. Of the paintings and pictures in this picture are mine. In progress, some, but mine all the same. It's an interesting time to be living around here nowadays. I leave sheets of discarded oily Oiler program pages seemingly everywhere. I bought a wooden pallet the other day, but I didn't wash it off when I was through with it and now there's a bunch of paint stuck to it. It kinda hurt my hand too.
Anyway, I have a number of canvases on the go. The one on the easel is about a stolen chair which presumably carries some legal implications for a certain someone along with it. It's not blackmail. It's fact!
The one on the other easel is about a tree Kaylin and I rescued from the building lobby. We rode down on the elevator with the man who gave it away (who also happens to live on our floor), but were too shy to ask for it then. We had to claim it on our way back in. This way we don't run the risk of making building friends.
There's a picture of the legislature building being constructed in there too. It's a picture I got from my dead friend Ross who is no doubt looking down wondering why I don't write more about him. You're in my thoughts, guy.
The first canvas I worked on is in there too. It's a picture of Kaylin at the fair, but I think that choosing to paint my best friend and love as my first painting was probably a mistake. Talk about pressure! It's stalled, but I haven't thrown it away yet.
There's also some blank canvases in a bag in there which I've since done something with. They're in progress, but there is progress. I haven't posted my right proper first painting yet. It's at the framers. It's a lamp. The second one will be finished shortly. and the third. and the forth.
Ink on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Anything for the children
Kaylin has this creepy book of nightmareish illustrated childrens stories. I found it on the shelf one day and used it as source material for this drawing. The story is about a man who dresses up as animals to entertain the children. One can only assume that the displays are innocent, but perhaps one shouldn't be so short on assumption and long on long deliberate thought. I think that means that there must be a reason that he goes to such lenghts to attract and entertain children. That's some fish suit, fella. Nice blood baby blood fountain too.
I also drew this picture at New City. Maybe my days as the smart assed, yet accomidating retailer in that boozy closet will turn out to be a turning point. It was the first time I'd ever been tipped on a regular basis. I did a lot of interacting back then too. Ask me about some of my associations there sometime. I think it was kinda like bartending, only soberer and quieter. Notice the colour? I'm trying really hard to be in tune with colour.
Felt pen on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007.
I also drew this picture at New City. Maybe my days as the smart assed, yet accomidating retailer in that boozy closet will turn out to be a turning point. It was the first time I'd ever been tipped on a regular basis. I did a lot of interacting back then too. Ask me about some of my associations there sometime. I think it was kinda like bartending, only soberer and quieter. Notice the colour? I'm trying really hard to be in tune with colour.
Felt pen on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007.
The end of oil.
I just looked and nowadays a shiny new barrel of crude will cost you $90.90 amd. That's down from when it was around a hundred a barrel, but it's still pretty high. Oh how the inevitability remains (!) that the world's cheap supply of oil has been depleted. Notwithstanding the ever apparent environmental impact black gold has left and will continue to leave on our world. Notwithstanding human impact deniers and their oily counter spin machine... the cheap stuff is long gone, and will continue to be long gone short of some amazingly destructive catastrophic event (or events) leading to the end of civil, righteous oil producing and consuming humanity as we know it.
I drew this picture while I was working in the liquor box at New City. Looking back with some objectivity, I can see that this picture was an important step in my development as an artist. I think I'm really starting to get it at this point.
Ink on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007
PS: This post is for you Mark. I get pretty inspired by you too.
I drew this picture while I was working in the liquor box at New City. Looking back with some objectivity, I can see that this picture was an important step in my development as an artist. I think I'm really starting to get it at this point.
Ink on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007
PS: This post is for you Mark. I get pretty inspired by you too.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
O'Reilly and Soldiers
This is Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly enjoying a hamburger with a group of American soldiers. He has a show called the O'Reilly Factor which generally follows the prescribed American right-wing talking points of the day. Sometimes he will have someone with a dissenting opinion into his "no spin zone" where he'll talk over them and tell them how wrong and insane they are to his audiences great satisfaction. He likes to call a lot of sensible people left wing loons and kool-aid drinkers which I find hilariously ironic.
I find his show really fascinating. I'm fascinated that there is actually a large segment of the American public perfectly willing to follow without question. I'm also fascinated that such extreme commentary even exists and that his audience does not see his rhetoric as extreme- quite the opposite, his viewers and listeners eat up his "Fair And Balanced" reports. He has a radio show that I sometimes listen to too. Sometimes he says some pretty hateful things.
Anyway, I saw a picture of O'Reilly on wikipedia sitting in a mess hall with a group of American soldiers. I find it interesting because he's sitting with soldiers who are largely bearing the brunt of the insane policies he largely supports. In the picture, O'Reilly is also giving the soldier to his left the stink eye like the soldier just asked him what exactly happened to WTC 7 or why the hole in the pentagon was only 80 feet wide after a big 757 with wings just hit it.
A free and unmolested media is vital to the health of a democracy. So is an informed and active public. The state of the once proud American democracy has been decimated, possibly forever, by the ideologically driven editorial policies of Fox News and America's right wing echo chamber. They've made it so the truth is whatever they say it is and made journalistic integrity a slogan, not a ideal. As a journalist I'm appalled, but it's something that I have a very hard time looking away from. It's a democracy car crash.
Keep on fighin' that culture war, Bill.
The picture itself took a long time to draw and I'm pretty proud of it. I drew it in ink on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007
I find his show really fascinating. I'm fascinated that there is actually a large segment of the American public perfectly willing to follow without question. I'm also fascinated that such extreme commentary even exists and that his audience does not see his rhetoric as extreme- quite the opposite, his viewers and listeners eat up his "Fair And Balanced" reports. He has a radio show that I sometimes listen to too. Sometimes he says some pretty hateful things.
Anyway, I saw a picture of O'Reilly on wikipedia sitting in a mess hall with a group of American soldiers. I find it interesting because he's sitting with soldiers who are largely bearing the brunt of the insane policies he largely supports. In the picture, O'Reilly is also giving the soldier to his left the stink eye like the soldier just asked him what exactly happened to WTC 7 or why the hole in the pentagon was only 80 feet wide after a big 757 with wings just hit it.
A free and unmolested media is vital to the health of a democracy. So is an informed and active public. The state of the once proud American democracy has been decimated, possibly forever, by the ideologically driven editorial policies of Fox News and America's right wing echo chamber. They've made it so the truth is whatever they say it is and made journalistic integrity a slogan, not a ideal. As a journalist I'm appalled, but it's something that I have a very hard time looking away from. It's a democracy car crash.
Keep on fighin' that culture war, Bill.
The picture itself took a long time to draw and I'm pretty proud of it. I drew it in ink on paper.
Blake Betteridge 2007
Horray the G8 are Here!
This is a picture of the G8 summit in early June 2007. The summit was held in the small German town of Heilingendamm. For three days the resort town on the Baltic Sea was home to leaders from Canada, the United Stakes, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Japan and Germany. Along with them came protesters outraged with the state and direction of the world; with them, a futuristic tyrannical militarized riot squad.
I honestly consider this drawing to be my first real crack at art. It's the first time that I Incorporated different colours, however minimally. I feel like it communicates the sheer terror and chaos that must have been filling the streets that day... that's kinda what I was going for. Mission Accomplished.
Blake Betteridge 2007
PS: The fact that such terror and chaos surround today's world leaders is really terrifying. Aren't these leaders of the people? Isn't protest healthy for democracy?
I honestly consider this drawing to be my first real crack at art. It's the first time that I Incorporated different colours, however minimally. I feel like it communicates the sheer terror and chaos that must have been filling the streets that day... that's kinda what I was going for. Mission Accomplished.
Blake Betteridge 2007
PS: The fact that such terror and chaos surround today's world leaders is really terrifying. Aren't these leaders of the people? Isn't protest healthy for democracy?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Nature's Janitor 1 and 2
After I finished drawing China I was starting to get a little bored with black pen and pencil so I borrowed some of Kaylin's coloured felt markers and went to work in colour. At first the thought of using more than one colour to draw something seemed so beyond me, so I stuck to the mono.
This is my first attempt at drawing a vulture. As you can see, the acceptably realistic vulture head is perched upon a large egg shaped object with something attached to it.
I sourced the vulture from a magazine that Kaylin had taken home from her parent's house. The picture of the vulture had a black background and was really dark. As such, I couldn't really tell what the hell the vulture's body was supposed to look like. The result was at most generously mixed. Looking back I suppose it's my first attempt at drawing something straight from my imagination.
So little was I impressed by it that I decided have another go at drawing and imagining what a vulture's body looks like.
This one looks like it's on a balloon.
Blake Betteridge 2007
This is my first attempt at drawing a vulture. As you can see, the acceptably realistic vulture head is perched upon a large egg shaped object with something attached to it.
I sourced the vulture from a magazine that Kaylin had taken home from her parent's house. The picture of the vulture had a black background and was really dark. As such, I couldn't really tell what the hell the vulture's body was supposed to look like. The result was at most generously mixed. Looking back I suppose it's my first attempt at drawing something straight from my imagination.
So little was I impressed by it that I decided have another go at drawing and imagining what a vulture's body looks like.
This one looks like it's on a balloon.
Blake Betteridge 2007
China From a Warehouse
Around the time that I drew this picture I had just started a part time job selling booze in the New City Liquor Box. For those of you not familiar with Edmonton, New City is a bar basically at the center of the city on 100th St and Jasper. The job in the tiny liquor store gave me plenty of time to sit and do nothing and I selectively used that time to draw.
This is a picture of China from the inside of an abandoned warehouse. I found the picture from an old Time magazine which is no doubt still in the Liquor Box. At the time I was absolutely desperate for some source material that wasn't an animal.
Some of the drawing is missing a bunch of lines (the part at the bottom) cause at some point I decided to close up shop and move on. China looks really smoggy. Gulp.
Blake Betteridge 2007
This is a picture of China from the inside of an abandoned warehouse. I found the picture from an old Time magazine which is no doubt still in the Liquor Box. At the time I was absolutely desperate for some source material that wasn't an animal.
Some of the drawing is missing a bunch of lines (the part at the bottom) cause at some point I decided to close up shop and move on. China looks really smoggy. Gulp.
Blake Betteridge 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Elephant on Pedestal two
Painting number two.
I thought the first painting I did looked lonely, so I painted it a friend to hang with. It's my second painting and lemmie tell you... I am in no way in love with watercolour, but at the same time I'm pretty happy with how these two turned out.
I'm off to the store to buy some oil paint.
I finished this painting this morning and worked on it for the last three days or so.
Blake Betteridge
I thought the first painting I did looked lonely, so I painted it a friend to hang with. It's my second painting and lemmie tell you... I am in no way in love with watercolour, but at the same time I'm pretty happy with how these two turned out.
I'm off to the store to buy some oil paint.
I finished this painting this morning and worked on it for the last three days or so.
Blake Betteridge
Mr. Harper, meet Mr. Anonymous Soilder
I have a really deep respect for soldiers and am really fascinated by them. They sign up and blindly follow their orders putting their lives on the line while leaving their families for forevers at a time. I found this picture of our beloved Prime Minister shaking hands with one such proud solider. I thought it was a nice moment as you can see the respect that Mr. Harper has for this man in his eyes and expression. I didn't try to make Stephen Harper look any fatter than he actually looked that day, although I accidentally made him look taller in relation to the solider.
When I show people this picture the most common reaction is... "Oh, that really does look like Stephen Harper!" The anonymous solider apparently just looks anonymous, but I think I like him better than the other guy.
Pencil on paper.
Blake Betteridge.
When I show people this picture the most common reaction is... "Oh, that really does look like Stephen Harper!" The anonymous solider apparently just looks anonymous, but I think I like him better than the other guy.
Pencil on paper.
Blake Betteridge.
Baseball Cards
I found a picture of another artist's rendering of baseball cards for a magazine story about baseball. I copied it not because I really love baseball or anything, but as an exercise. I wanted to see if I could draw people and have them look like people.
I spent a really really long time on this one. The cards are made up of really light pencil strokes. It was my first experiment filling every empty space I could with concentric lines. I like the way it turned out. Oh snap, they look like people.
This drawing is pencil on paper. I learned from this drawing that when you use as much lead as I did on a drawing it will get all smudged around and get on the back of it's preceding page. That's okay though.
I drew this from April 15th, 2007 to April 29th, 2007.
Blake Betteridge.
I spent a really really long time on this one. The cards are made up of really light pencil strokes. It was my first experiment filling every empty space I could with concentric lines. I like the way it turned out. Oh snap, they look like people.
This drawing is pencil on paper. I learned from this drawing that when you use as much lead as I did on a drawing it will get all smudged around and get on the back of it's preceding page. That's okay though.
I drew this from April 15th, 2007 to April 29th, 2007.
Blake Betteridge.
Underwater Fish
This picture took me forever to draw. It started out as one fish, but I accidentally drew the eyes and other facial features too far to the left. To fix it I decided to make it two fish with the front fish being transparent. To accomplish this I first drew the front fish and then copied every detail pushing the details to the right. It was really hard because there was a lot of overlapping.
I meant to draw more reeds behind the fish, but didn't really get around to it. You can imagine that if I had it would have been a more complete picture. I like the log I drew.
This was one of the first pictures I drew where began to imagine a life in the visual arts for myself.
It's ink on paper. I drew it April 14th, 2007.
Blake Betteridge.
I meant to draw more reeds behind the fish, but didn't really get around to it. You can imagine that if I had it would have been a more complete picture. I like the log I drew.
This was one of the first pictures I drew where began to imagine a life in the visual arts for myself.
It's ink on paper. I drew it April 14th, 2007.
Blake Betteridge.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Wildebeest and Giraffes
I drew this picture attempting to capture a complete scene (my first attempt). Both the giraffes and wildebeest are sourced from the ever relible thrift store animal box.
With this drawing I was, for the first time, able to capture some sort of depth.
With it's dipped neck and bent legs the larger giraffe looks like it's in motion, while the wildebeest looks still and stoic.
I drew this picture April 9th, 2007. I drew it with ink.
Blake Betteridge.
With this drawing I was, for the first time, able to capture some sort of depth.
With it's dipped neck and bent legs the larger giraffe looks like it's in motion, while the wildebeest looks still and stoic.
I drew this picture April 9th, 2007. I drew it with ink.
Blake Betteridge.
Fox
This is the second picture in my sketch book. Like Duck and Pelicans it's also sourced from Kaylin's thrift shop animal cards. This is the first drawing where I used little pen strokes to work out large features, like the texture in the fox's fur. I remember it took a long time to do, but it's at least partically true to the fox's hair pattern.
When I finished the drawing I added a speach ballon saying "I'm supposed to look like a fox!" which I suppose it does, I was just worried people would see it as a dog (or maybe a dog-cat). Foxes seem like really catty dogs to me anyway.
I used an ink pen for this drawing.
Blake Betteridge.
When I finished the drawing I added a speach ballon saying "I'm supposed to look like a fox!" which I suppose it does, I was just worried people would see it as a dog (or maybe a dog-cat). Foxes seem like really catty dogs to me anyway.
I used an ink pen for this drawing.
Blake Betteridge.
Pelicans and Duck
Hey,
This is one of my first drawings. I think it's maybe my third drawing. The first two are tucked away somewhere in one of Kaylin's journals. It's from April 5th, 2007 and it's the first drawing I drew in my sketch book.
I sourced the birds from a set of animal cards Kaylin found at a thrift store. I meant to finish the scene, but inevitably left it as is (as regrettably became a running theme among my first set of drawings). One of the pelicans has a really sinister look on it's face which I really enjoy. The duck has a bit of a shadow under it but the swans don't... oh well, they look like pelicans and a duck: mission accomplished.
I drew this picture with and number 2 pencil.
Blake Betteridge.
This is one of my first drawings. I think it's maybe my third drawing. The first two are tucked away somewhere in one of Kaylin's journals. It's from April 5th, 2007 and it's the first drawing I drew in my sketch book.
I sourced the birds from a set of animal cards Kaylin found at a thrift store. I meant to finish the scene, but inevitably left it as is (as regrettably became a running theme among my first set of drawings). One of the pelicans has a really sinister look on it's face which I really enjoy. The duck has a bit of a shadow under it but the swans don't... oh well, they look like pelicans and a duck: mission accomplished.
I drew this picture with and number 2 pencil.
Blake Betteridge.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Elephant on Pedestal
When I was growing up, I didn't think much of art. Even when I started playing and writing music in bands, I didn't really connect the two ideas (music as art). As I developed as a musician, and unintentionally as an artist, my appreciation for the arts grew.
Kaylin's influence is huge. She helped and inspired me to take my first steps to become an artist, an occupation that I now consider my calling to life.
This is my first painting. For me, it's monumental. For the last 6 months or so I've been busy training my eyes and hands while working towards developing a personal style by making mostly ink and pencil drawings. I've pined for this moment for months and I've finally made it! I've become a painter, and an artist!
The point of this blog is to illustrate my journey to artist-dom. It will chronicle my last six months or so of work. Over the next days, weeks and months I will be updating this blog with the work I put in to achieve this modest, yet hugely personally important watercolour.
Welcome,
Blake Betteridge.
Kaylin's influence is huge. She helped and inspired me to take my first steps to become an artist, an occupation that I now consider my calling to life.
This is my first painting. For me, it's monumental. For the last 6 months or so I've been busy training my eyes and hands while working towards developing a personal style by making mostly ink and pencil drawings. I've pined for this moment for months and I've finally made it! I've become a painter, and an artist!
The point of this blog is to illustrate my journey to artist-dom. It will chronicle my last six months or so of work. Over the next days, weeks and months I will be updating this blog with the work I put in to achieve this modest, yet hugely personally important watercolour.
Welcome,
Blake Betteridge.
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