Attempt at HDR Imaging! Sweet!

This is one of my first authentic attempts at HDR Imagaing. HDR is high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR).
I took this photo of a Backhoe in Kirkland Lake, Ontario with a Nikon D40 (which doesn't have auto exposure bracketing like most cameras these days).
I used a few pieces of software for the processing and touch-ups. Photoshop and Photomatix Pro for the most part.
I think it turned out pretty decent! Enjoy.

Portfolio Cover

This is the first draft of a physical Portfolio Cover that I plan on using to show my pieces. There isn't much else to say about the design other than I've stuck with the Architect's "Into the Imaginarium" concept, which is branding for my freelance design/art company. The only difference is the use of the "Mouse" figure instead of the "Alien" which is normally used as the image for the Imaginarium designs.
I'm hunting for a piece of that good cheese with this Portfolio!

A Modern Day Dorian Gray (a Self Portrait)

Influenced by Oscar Wilde's only published novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
The story of Dorian Gray seems to resonate more and more with society as time passes by. It intrigues me how the basis of this story written in the 1890 holds more true to today than any time before. Individuals have become overly concerned, even walking the fine line of obsession with aesthetics, and instant gratification.

This is my first attempt at a sort of hybrid art piece/self portrait. The original photograph was taken by the very talented and brilliant photographer (who also happens to be a pleasant and kind individual) Jesse Baumung. www.jessbaumung.com
It was done using several manipulations in Photoshop CS4, I then did something that I've never attempted before! I brought this image into Painter X and spent more time than I should've getting to know the program and experimenting.
It was my initial concept to end up with a self portrait emulating the type of painting that Basil Hallward would've created if I were to take the place of Dorian Gray himself.

Voilà! This is the result, it's not quite as "painterly" as I envisioned but I'm happy with it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray
a novel by Oscar Wilde

Dorian Gray, the young subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art.
A gracious and polite mannered young man soon becomes enthralled by a different view of the world soon after meeting the charming yet manipulative Lord Henry Wotton.
Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, expressing his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself.
Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.

2010 - Here's to new beginnings!

It's early 2010, time to look at the world with fresh eyes. I've been taking some time off from most things creative due to some ruff times health wise. Crohns Disease isn't a friendly companion to live with. But I'm starting to reach "normality" as they say in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And it feels good.
This is a piece I created to celebrate the early stages of what will eventually be my very own Freelance Design Company.
It's been a re-occurring theme in my mind, bouncing about, coming into focus and yearning to be set free; to be my own boss, my own rule maker, living, working, and realizing my own dream.
So here's to new beginnings!

Brand New Pre-Release Poster for Universal Music Canada

Something new for Brand New!
This is another Pre-Release Poster I designed for the new Brand New record titled "Daisy".
Again Universal Music Canada was looking for something simple and based around the album artwork, a straight forward poster telling the world when the new Brand New record is coming out for all to buy and fall in love with... obviously.

Brand New has been one of my favorite bands for years and an inspiration for the music I've written in the past with both Sofia, Sofia & Lexington. I'm sure Daisy will be another amongst the records in their discography that sets them apart from the pack.

A mix of Photoshop and Illustrator did the trick for this one.

A Fire Inside: AFI Pre-Release Poster for Universal Music Canada

A Fire Inside a.k.a. AFI
This is a Pre-Release Poster I designed for the new AFI record titled "Crash Love".
Universal Music Canada wanted something very simple and based around the album artwork, something that said straight forward "This is AFI, this is the new record Crash Love and it's coming out on this date!"

It was a simple piece of work but it was fun and for a cool band.
A mix of Photoshop and Illustrator did the trick for this one.

Come & Get em'! Dropcard Styles

These are a couple designs I did for Universal Music Canada. They are "Dropcards", which are produced as a tangible way to both advertise and deliver a code to people used to download.. in this case music!

These specific Dropcards are for a handful of UMC artist, and come in both English and French.

All designing was done in Illustator.

Achilles; After the Sacking of The Temple of Apollo

The first two lines of the Iliad read:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκεν,

Sing, Goddess, of the rage, of Peleus' son Achilles

the accursed rage, which brought pain to thousands of the Achaeans.

Achilles is the only mortal to experience consuming rage. His anger is at some times wavering, but at other times he cannot be cooled. The humanization of Achilles by the events of the war is an important theme of the narrative.

This is a piece that I created for my nephew Liam whom is still a baby (nearing his 2nd year). I started off dreaming up this in my head months ago and wondered if I could actually pull it off. And to be honest it turned out quite close to how I envisioned it.

I decided to send it to Liam printed and framed as a gift in the hopes that he would grow up wondering and wanting to learn what this image is all about.

The story of Achilles and the Battle of Troy is one that has fascinated myself for years, it's a piece of Greek mythology that holds a great many sides of humanity up to be dissected. Love, hate, peace, war, life, death, honor and deceit.

For me, I think that one of the strongest points the story has to offer is the many sides of Achilles that we are shown. A demi-god who became the greatest warrior of his time, but still a man susceptible to the allure of love and the need to have his name last through out the ages.

Enjoy this piece, and take some time to read about the story.

Achilles; After the Sacking of The Temple of Apollo, looks out to see the rest of the Greek army sailing to the beach of Troy. This would be the beginning of one of the greatest wars of all time.

"Drop Dead Gorgeous"

Drop Dead Gorgeous

I'm a raven hiding in a mans body,
jealous and alone
a scavenger searching for a home
stencil and mold, draped in flesh and bone

oh how we'll dance,
on wires, with conviction

baby you ain't seen nothing yet

I've had myself the great love,
into your skin, that girls got it all
now I'm alive again,
under these sheets, this I can recall

I've never felt so alive
and she's got her mind made up,
it feels like the kind of nightmare
that follows you, follows you
and God I can't get enough

She's the brilliant destination,
like temptation that's gripping my hand
drop dead gorgeous,
drop dead, gorgeous

oh how we'll dance,
on wires, with conviction

baby you ain't seen nothing yet

I now know what it's like to hold beauty,
to taste desire night after day
In spite of my demons she still stands near,
leaving me to admire her and my life every way

Telekinesis/Psychokinesis/Mental Manipulation

Psychokinesis (PK) - sometimes referred to as telekinesis or mind over matter - is the ability to move things or otherwise affect the property of things with the power of the mind. Of psychic abilities, true psychokinesis is one of the rarest. Few have been able to demonstrate this ability, and even those demonstrations are highly contested by the skeptics.

Self Portrait 08

Once upon a time I recorded an EP. that was never released. Sofia Sofia was the name of the band which consisted of Myself and two close friends, Marc DeGroot & Aaron DeGroot (brothers of course).
I still have some of the music and I listen to it from time to time, believe it or not it's one of the pieces of work in my musical career that no matter how long it's been since it's been played it still sounds as beautiful as the day it was written and recorded.
I guess we just wrote some great songs and it's nice to see them stand the test of time.

This is what you call a recording beard, and a smile that proves we had some good times making this one.

The Terminal Affair - Re-Visited

The Terminal Affair - Re-Visited

In the midst of mid-day blossoming day dream,
sat drawn on cloth and on cushion,
a glimpse of beauty changes thoughts train,
perception more often than not causes pain,
attention to detail feels ordinarily humane.

The air that day so crisp in a cheap sort of way,
as if it had been manufactured then purchased
such a grim outlook on the state of city living,
until a moment changes everything, how unforgiving.

I sat drawn on cloth and on cushion,
and nothing made things clearer than,
the tranquility that absorbed the surmise,
wings that moved faster than blinking eyes.

Infinite silence as surroundings pause for seconds,
all but these almost gravity defying motions,
two creatures out of place in my neighborhood beckon,
in a garden that seemed to bloom over night.

I found in the midst of mid-day blossoming day dream,
such a beautiful thing,
the koi and the hummingbird, the reason I called,
such bliss, such beauty stopped time just for me.

But as I look back I think it was the sound of your voice
that made the moment worth ink,
it was with you that I had it to share,
and made all the pain, the city, the time, this air,
the terminal affair.

Capturing Moments in Time Part IV - Framing the Feline

Capturing Moments in Time Part IV - Framing the Feline

Capturing Moments in Time Part III

Capturing Moments in Time Part III

Capturing Moments in Time Part II

Capturing Moments in Time Part II

Capturing Moments in Time

Photography (pronounced /fәˈtɒɡrәfi/^[1]) (from Greek φωτο and γραφία) is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures. The word "photography" comes from the Greek φώς (phos) "light" + γραφίς (graphis) "stylus", "paintbrush" or γραφή (graphê) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light."

I decided to post a hand full of photographs that I've produced through out the past year. I am in no way a "real" or professional photographer and in a time when so many individuals have their fingers upon the trigger with the claim to be more than just your average hobbyist I feel it's important to say this.
True & honest professional photographers deserve more than an over saturated playing field soaked with one click wonders, wondering what depth of field refers to or how to get those fancy "streaks" while shooting their favorite local rock band.

Don't get me wrong, everyone has the right to take pictures no matter how beautiful or ugly, it's the claim to be a "photographer" that I feel should be left to those who eat, sleep and breath with a camera in hand.

So!! now that I got that out in the open here are some photographs I've taken. I leave it to you to decide which are interesting, beautiful, or the opposite.

Enjoy.

Black Eyed Peas e-vite! for Universal Music Canada

This is an e-vite that I designed for Universal Music Canada. It's an email invitation to a special Black Eyed Peas listening event with Will.i.Am.
It was a good time!

More Roar! Lexington t-shirt designs Part 4

This is another design using the beasts vector pack, I don't want to take credit for designing this from scratch as that would be wrong. I'm not sure whom actually designed the beast packs but they have saved me an awful lot of time in designing the t-shirts. Having some sort of pre-made vector to base your work off of & work with is a day to day practice for designers. Creating & sharing original design work is key in this industry and I'm glad there are some very talented vector designers out there.

This is the "More Roar! Lexington" t-shirt design, it's a 2 colour vector image.

3D Robot-Angel! Lexington t-shirt designs Part 3

I decided to design a 3D anaglyph image for the newest Lexington t-shirt! The anaglyph is that 3D style in which you have to wear the old school cardboard glasses with the red & blue lenses in order to see the effect. Super cool!
I think the plan will be to give away a FREE pair of the 3D glasses with the t-shirt which is called "3D! Robot-Angel"

This is a 3 colour vector image.

Vamp Grills! Lexington t-shirt designs Part 2

This design is a play on the urban city style that's captivated the scene as of late, mixed up with my favorite mythical creature.. the Vampire! Again this is a vector image I limited to 3 colours for t-shirt printing purpose.
In my opinion, as a city dwelling vampire, a lord of the night.. you would be the most stylish blood sucker ever if you were to rock a pair of Gold & Diamond studded Grills. Even Kate Beckinsale would take notice.

This design is titled "Vamp Grills! Lexington"