gout blog

2012-02-06T09:11:00.000-05:00

2012-02-04T10:06:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to draw a giraffe for days.

2012-02-04T09:07:00.000-05:00

2012-02-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

Cryptic Speech Bubbles.

2012-01-27T08:13:00.001-05:00

Lurker

2012-01-26T17:20:00.001-05:00

2012-01-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

VIP

2012-01-25T17:44:00.001-05:00

Red Animals of Ontario

2012-01-23T06:46:00.000-05:00

Sea Captains I Have Loved no.3

2012-01-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

Sea Captains I Have Loved no.2

2012-01-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

Sea Captains I Have Loved no.1

2012-01-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

Bit By a Duck

2011-12-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

Encephaluffagus

2011-10-22T12:12:00.001-04:00

Illustration Friday: Fuel

I've put up a new website: http://goutwort.ca/

2011-08-30T09:09:00.003-04:00

Jellyfish! Made for a very talented poet pal, Jen Hadfield.

2011-08-13T20:02:00.002-04:00

Chicken Whisperer.

2011-03-19T17:20:00.002-04:00

2011-02-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

2011-02-06T14:01:00.001-05:00

2010-12-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

2010-12-21T22:36:00.000-05:00

No Diving

2010-12-08T21:50:00.004-05:00

2010-11-22T16:53:00.000-05:00

2010-11-14T17:57:00.001-05:00

2010-11-04T19:28:00.001-04:00

2010-10-19T22:20:00.000-04:00

2010-08-19T23:45:00.000-04:00

2010-07-25T17:32:00.001-04:00

Sea Monster!

2009-12-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Gouache.

2009-10-09T20:20:00.008-04:00

2009-04-11T13:33:00.002-04:00

A gouache colour study. I like snails lately.

2009-02-28T11:26:00.003-05:00

2008-05-01T22:15:00.002-04:00

A squid in ink and watercolour.

I was feeling somewhat discouraged about painting the other day, so I decided to do something blob-like and fun.

2007-06-24T19:05:00.000-04:00

Procrastination.

2007-06-14T17:36:00.001-04:00

Another painting. There is something very liberating about painting on cheap, un-stretched, 90 pound paper.

Also, col-erase and ink on animation paper:

2007-06-08T20:38:00.000-04:00

A Gone-Awry Trip to The Beach

This painting is just this side of too-muddy, but I really like it.

2007-06-02T20:28:00.000-04:00

Paradise. An old drawing I had completely forgotten about, even though it is on my website. I really like this design. I would like to do something with it...

2007-03-01T09:44:00.000-05:00

The thing I love about freelance illustration: the freedom to work almost anywhere.

I'm finished my stop-motion contract. During my second week off I was given an illustration assignment by The National Post. I'm so happy I was able to take the work with me for a week on Georgian Bay. I've discovered there's nothing so nice as earning a pay cheque drawing in front of a fire, surrounded by stark and lovely scenery.

The 12 illustrations were published today on the front page of the Arts and Life section. Here're my favorites:

While up there I also did some more caterpillar drawings, and scribbled plenty in my sketchbook.

I'm starting in on a new animation project today. Once that's done I'd really like to take a month or two in Europe, and then I think I'm very seriously inclined to make an attempt at doing nothing but illustration. I'm hoping it all falls into place as easily as things have over the past few months.

2007-02-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

Just another little bird.

Detail.

2007-01-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

A super hero!

2007-01-25T19:24:00.000-05:00

Caterpillars from my sketchbook.

2007-01-13T23:20:00.000-05:00

A gift for my pal Heather's birthday.

2007-01-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

Drawn today while my puppet was in Triage with a broken leg.

2007-01-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

More drawings done at work (and a painting).

2006-12-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

Some Fish!

2006-12-05T22:49:00.000-05:00

A pervert, and some other people in my sketchbook.

2006-11-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

One of my directors, Dale, is sporting a very dashing moustache. It has inspired some doodles.

2006-11-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

Another Royal Winter Fair drawing (watercolour).

There were incredible cows there. I don't know what the breed was called, but they were all wrinkly, and coloured like Weimaraners. I did the drawing on location and painted it when I got home.

For those like me interested in process, the under-drawing looked something like this:

I am pretty sure I'll be headed to Europe in the spring for a month or two. Before that happens I feel like I need to make a concerted effort to draw more from observation so I am equipped to make the most of the trip. Hopefully I'll be able to bring myself to produce and post some figure drawings soon.

2006-11-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

Drawn at The Royal Winter Fair on November 12. Perhaps I'll post other drawings soon.

Maybe not though.

Take that!

2006-10-02T19:39:00.000-04:00

Monsters!

2006-09-20T20:02:00.000-04:00

I spent most of the summer working on the preliminary stages of a short animated film. I sat down with the producer who hired me and hammered out a story based on his extensive notes. I then went to work on the conceptual art and story boards. Once those were approved I created a two minute trailer which will be used to raise funds for production.

The entire project was assembled and animated in After Effects. Each painting was done with ink and watercolour and scanned as a separate layer. This approach made for some challenges in story boarding. Because the characters are treated as cut-out puppets they are very limited in their motion. Despite the limitations I think the style I chose goes well with the story. It is a fable, and will be told with what are essentially moving illustrations.

The style of the art developed throughout, and still has a way to go before it is ready for production, but in all I am really happy with how things have come out. Below are some stills from the trailer and some board panels.

More artwork from the project can be found here:
http://goutwort.ca/ljh_post_trailer/concepts.html

2006-09-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

I'm back to working as a stop motion animator.

There is one aspect of the job that is both very frustrating, but also very nice: all the time spent sitting around waiting for lighting, set changes, approval from directors, etc. While such delays end up eating into my quota I do end up getting a lot of drawing done.

I've been doodling like mad!

2006-08-15T01:19:00.000-04:00

I am still pretty busy working from home and I have not taken much time to draw for myself. Hopefully once I begin the stop-motion contract in september I will be more incline to do some personal work.

Pretty much the only thing I have felt like taking the time to draw is birds. Sometimes I just don't want to draw things with arms.

Ink and pencil.

Pencil.

Ink and pencil.

Pencil, ink, and gouache.

Ink.

My email has been down. I can be reached at my auxiliary address: elfpod at planet-save dot com.

2006-06-18T11:02:00.000-04:00

Things have been rather busy the past while. Not much chance to do drawings on my own time. But life is settling down to a more normal routine. Here are some drawings I did on the TTC, and another I drew because I have wanted to draw a shark for ages.

2006-04-30T17:18:00.000-04:00

Some rough designs for a small illustration project I am taking on. I should have some final artwork to post soon.

2006-04-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

Creepy Clarence

2006-04-24T17:36:00.000-04:00

A snail and a ball point pen.

2006-04-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

2006-04-17T12:44:00.000-04:00