Forgotten Pagoda, study II - and some river sketches

Yesterday was a stunning day here in Huizhou. It was warm and sunny, a sweet aroma from flowering trees filled the air, and the sounds of migratory birds chirping in trees blended in with the regular fusion of noise - the street cleaner that combs the streets daily, blaring 'It's a small world after all,' the shouts and screams of delighted children who have been released from school for Spring Festival, (otherwise known as Chinese New Year), the nostalgic putt-putt motors of working river boats, the cackling voices of old women playing cards, the drone of distant excavators and the hum of traffic. It was an exceptional day. Spring Festival is just a couple of weeks away, and things are starting to wind down, while at the same time excitement is building.

In the early afternoon I hopped on my bike and rode around the island, stopping here and there to take a snapshot and do some sketching.

Xizhijiang Bridge

Qiaodong Road Bridge

Detail of 'Forgotten Pagoda' (study II)

Forgotten Pagoda, study I - first sketch of the year!

Today I went cycling about town and stopped at a little pagoda I discovered a few days ago. It's tucked away behind a rock wall and some trees, on a busy street corner. I call it the forgotten pagoda because it has weeds growing all over it, which gives it a lot of character, but it's obviously not very well maintained. I like it, though. It's a simple, humble pagoda sitting in its own quiet little courtyard, across the river from the massive, well-maintained pagoda that is the obvious tourist attraction.

I did a sketch of the small pagoda but didn't have the patience to get into much detail. As you can see, the further up to the top I got, the less detailed it became! I'll go back another day and give it another go. This little pagoda has got a lot of mileage for sketches and paintings....

Forgotten Pagoda, study I (04.01.2017)

years later....

It's been three years and nine months since my last post on this blog.... despicable! I've decided to resurrect this creative blog with weekly works of art. Consistency is not my strong point but I'm hoping that this goal will fuel my motivation and creativity, since deadlines have always motivated me. Wish me luck!

Much has happened in my life since April 2nd, 2013. That time in my life was not an easy chapter, but it is the one that lead me to the China Chapter, which I am currently in. I've been in China for just over two years and there are plenty of inspiring sights and scenes here to keep me busy. Here is a collection of sketches I've done in the past couple of years:

Balcony view from my studio apartment in Dongjiaotou, Shenzhen (11.07.15)

Winter flowers in Shekou, Shenzhen (02.11.15)

Facing the East River, Huizhou, Guangdong (06.03.15)

The bridge to Jiangbei, Huizhou (02.04.2016)

Bamboo sprouting I (06.05.16)

Bamboo sprouting II (06.05.16)

Kye Bay, Comox, B.C. (18.06.16)

Kye Bay, Comox, B.C. (19.06.16)

"The ferry's coming," Saltery Bay, B.C. (08.07.16)

 

The bridge to nowhere, Huizhou, Guangdong (13.12.16)

The power building, Huizhou (13.12.16)

Across from "Icy's" in Huizhou (13.12.16)

south street snow storm

Snow inspires me. I love how the streets become barren and peaceful, and the atmosphere of a place is completely transformed. It's a magical window of time that I cherish. I created this mixed media drawing for my niece, Sam, who lives on the west coast. We have a goal of sending monthly mail art to each other. For this drawing I used black ink, oil pastels and acrylics. The image is based on a photograph I took in December 2012 during a late night snow storm in Halifax. 

gritty gallery poster

This poster, commissioned by a friend of mine, is for a group art show at the Gritty Gallery in Whitehorse, Yukon. The gallery is a bike shop during the summer and an art gallery/ studio space during the winter months. I had oodles of fun working with clipart and steampunk-inspired imagery! Thank you, Ja5ck!

drunken angel

This week I made a music complilation for some friends of mine and named the cd after one of the songs, "Drunken Angel," by Lucinda Williams. Inspired by this song title, I drummed up this illustration for the cd cover art!

ice cream fun & games!

This is a game page that I submitted to a Canadian kids magazine, in hopes of being published in their upcoming "Ice Cream" issue. (Unfortunately they use the same artist for all of their game pages at the moment, but they liked my style and showed interest in my illustration! yay!!)

hemp t-shirt No. 2

Here's the second t-shirt that I fixed up for the 420 Hemp Shop. (See previous post to see the first one and for more details about what this project is all about.) This one was a real hit! (Even the young folk thought so!!)

hemp t-shirt No. 1

Last week I dropped by the 420 Hemp Shop to purchase my monthly bar of soap and got talking with Danny, the owner, about printing slogans and images on hemp t-shirts. He had a rack of t-shirts that had been damaged by the sun and was marking them down in price to try to sell them. Well, it gave me an idea.... a few years back I purchased some basic silk screen equipment with the intention of creating designs to silk screen onto hemp t-shirts to sell at the 420 Hemp Shop. This idea of mine never materialized until this week... I offered to take a few of the t-shirts home to fix up by printing designs overtop of the sun-damaged areas and Danny, bless his heart, said "sure, go for it!" So, I've had fun letting the creative solutions flow. Here's the first t-shirt; I've posted before and after shots, just for fun! 

Before:

After:

the cabin

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day here in Sechelt, and it inspired me to do this pencil sketch of the log cabin I've been living in for the past few years.

snowy tree tops

View outside my window.

uninhibitedness

Instantaneous, spontaneous and uninhibited, children draw from a place within; non-judging and free. As a graphic designer I've been trained to strive for perfection and to avoid compromising, so when working on extracurricular creations it's a challenge to throw caution to the wind and work without caring how things will turn out or how others will view my work. Children's art inspires me to strive towards creating with unguarded enthusiasm!

These drawings were created by my two youngest nieces, Morgan (santa) and Samantha (the green series.)

Snow, glorious snow!

Comox was one of many places to get a huge dumping of snow today..... and it is glorious! Snow always inspires me, so I donned my sorels and ventured out into the white bliss, camera in hand. These were taken at my sister's place, where I'm currently housesitting.

Tai Chi t-shirt follow-up

This morning I received word that the design committee of the Pacific Region Tai Chi Society has chosen my t-shirt design! (See November 30 posting) I'm pretty excited!! 

happy holidays

Wow, it's December 1st already and that means Christmas card time! This is the card I created to send out to all my clients. The dotted circles are part of my new website concept. (Website to be up soon!)

Tai Chi

A couple of months ago I signed up to learn Tai Chi with my spouse, Doug, and our friend, Jim. It was Jim who convinced us to sign up and I'm so thankful that he did, because I've been loving it! Every thursday evening we make our way to St. Hilda's church in Sechelt for two hours of observing, learning, practicing and moving. There are 108 moves in Tai Chi and it takes a 12 week course to be introduced to them all! (I say "introduced," because it takes years to really learn them.) It's challenging, yet relaxing. The two hour class includes a tea break after the first hour, which is always a much welcome break. We are encouraged to sit and chat and meet each other, which I dreaded at first, but I adapted quickly to this social aspect of the class; it's a great group of people and I enjoy meeting them and seeing their smiling faces every week. In fact, I've noticed that when I go to Tai Chi I can't stop smiling myself!

Every year a new t-shirt is created for the Taoist Tai Chi Society. Members of the Pacific Region are invited to submit designs, the theme being the Chinese Horoscopes. For 2009 it's the "Year of the Ox" and as a member I decided I'd give it a try! Here's my design:

Greetings!

Welcome to my dandy graphics blog! An extension of my website, dandygraphics.ca, I'll be posting images of my dandy projects, my extracurricular creations and images that inspire me.

The other day while out walking, I was inspired by my neighbours apple tree, with its intertwined scraggly branches and the few ruby red apples that remain on its branches. The branches reminded me of the "ink & straw" technique we learned when we were kids. I had the urge to revisit this technique and created this "apple tree" ink drawing.