Germaine Arnaktauyok – Inuit Artist
November 25, 2009
After my post on Caroline Leaf’s animation, I’ve been very curious about Inuit stories and imagery. Germaine Arnaktauyok satisfies both those needs – she tells stories through her prints and drawings. 
“Mother Earth” – a lithograph
Germaine was named after a blind woman that her mother cared for. From an interview with Germaine: Read the rest of this entry »
Story in Sand:Owl and Goose by Caroline Leaf
November 23, 2009
Here is another stop motion animation, this time created by drawing pictures in sand on glass. Caroline Leaf based “Owl and Goose” on an ancient Inuit story about an Owl’s unrequited love for a goose. As told in this interview she worked with Agnes Nanogak, an Inuit artist who created the animal silhouettes necessary for sand animation.
I found no information on Anges Nagonak, but did find this image by her from the Montreal Museum’s website: Read the rest of this entry »
Suzie Templeton’s Peter and the Wolf
November 21, 2009
There is something deeply satisfying about a familiar story told from a new angle. This is the case with Piotruś i Wilk – or Peter and the Wolf – a puppet animation adapted and directed by Suzie Templeton. The story and music is the original Sergei Porkofiev’s Peter and the Wolf but in a contemporary setting and with a surprising twist in the end.
You can watch the animation itself here – I’ve included the youtube versions below. It’s been separated into four sections. Small warning – dont get too emotionally attached to that duck… Read the rest of this entry »
The Little Prince and the Tiger Cat – Mischa Damjan & Ralph Steadman
November 19, 2009
Some more cute cat illustration. This time its from “The Little Prince and the Tiger Cat” written by Mischa Damjan and illustrated by Ralph Steadman.
This is rather a change for “gonzo artist” Ralph Steaman, better known for his work with Hunter S Thompson, producing images like this:
The story is set many years ago in Japan, when the Japanese first came into contact with cats. They had heard that cats were very good at getting rid of mice, but were not clear on how this worked. Read the rest of this entry »
Steaming Heart
November 16, 2009
Pin Screen Animation – Jacques Drouin
November 15, 2009
I’ve been meaning to write some posts on some of the lovely animations available on-line. I’ll start with one of the lesser known techniques – “pin screen” animation.
detail from Mindscape by Jacques Drouin
Pin screen animation is made using a screen pierced by thousands of headless pins. The animator creates images on the screen by pushing the pins into the screen. When the screen is lit from the side, each pin casts a shadow – the deeper the pin is pushed, the smaller the shadow, which made it possible to create images with the subtlest of tones, rather like a delicate charcoal drawing. This techniques was invented by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker in the 1930’s.
detail from Mindscape by Jacques Drouin
As you can imagine, this is a very time consuming process and Alexeief and Parker made only a handful of films – and they are worth watching. But the animation I want to show you is by a contemporary animator – Jacques Drouin. Read the rest of this entry »
Translation is the art of failure
November 14, 2009
So – I’m in the habit of reading when I eat. A book is ideal, but anything will do which is why I was browsing through an advertising insert from Pick & Pay during my lunch break the other day.
There was the usual assortment of pots, pans and brooms – and then I came across this strange device: a Broodgraan Uitdeler. I was a little disconcerted but read on. Maybe everyone else knows what a Broodgraan Uitdeler is. Then I found this:
I had always thought of it as a “gieter”. But that makes perfect sense. “Watering Can” could, indeed be translated as “Natmaak Blikkie”. Following the same logic, we have a “Elektriese Grasmaaier”: Read the rest of this entry »
The Hunting of the Last Dragon by Sherryl Jordan
November 9, 2009
The plot in Short: It’s Britain in the 14th century. The last of the dragons was killed almost a generation ago. So how could an entire village be burnt to the ground, all its occupants killed in a night? Young Jude survives, homeless, friendless and terrified.
He meets tiny, fierce Jing-wei, crippled by her bound feet and trapped in the life of the freak in a travelling show. Jude is torn by guilt and fear, but Jing-Wei is more than willing to force him to turn and face his past, to hunt the last dragon.
(image from tripreportwww2008)
What I thought: This is a wonderful book. I’m a sucker for dragon books as it is, and this one is lovely.
Its a real story teller’s book. Read the rest of this entry »
Giving in to Pattern
November 8, 2009
Quilted Drawing
November 8, 2009
Here is another page from my sketchbook – and below are the patterns I generated from it.
Many, many patterns- it looks like a sort of drawing quilt: Read the rest of this entry »
Wallpaper
November 7, 2009
Fractal Virus
November 3, 2009
So I’m sitting at home with a cold. In the break between reading Deon Meyer’s far too intense thriller “13 Uur”, I’ve been taking my pattern obsession to a new level:
Subblue’s Fractal Explorer plug-in lets me take snippets of my own drawings and turn them into fractals. I got the link from this post on feuilleton.
Starting with this seed image copied from my Dragon Girl drawing:
I created these fractal versions:
Nurse – Guardian
November 2, 2009
Drawing and Reading
November 1, 2009
A fairly recent drawing that did not go quite as planned:
I was able to generate quite a few patterns from this drawing. I’m fairly sure that these shapes are inspired by my reading of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars that I’d just finished, and Green Mars that I’m still reading. There is a lot of detail about mutating algae and other microscopic plants in the effort to terraform Mars.
In a previous post I quoted from Green Mars - Hiroko explains her understanding of pattern in nature. Here is a quote about different ways of understanding the world – the scientific, and the poetic: Read the rest of this entry »



















