suspended animation

ICBC

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:08:00 +0000

This was a very easygoing and pleasing project to work on. It is supposed to be one continuous line but if you were to look closely you can see that I cheated a little.

Upper Canada College

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Here is my version of something I did for UCC. The final didn't really please me at all as it lost all it's energy and become too straightforward. But that is how it goes. I wasn't doing it for me.
That said, an artist still wants a project to have as much of "them" in it as possible.

dee

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:41:00 +0000

I did this pitch for a Montreal rap artist by the name of Dee. Never got the job but I still like the images.

FemBots CALLING OUT Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Something I did for the FemBots upcoming tour. Look out for them, they could be in your neighborhood even now.

MORE LOBLAWS

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Something in the shops right now.

For Vancouver

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:33:00 +0000

A couple of Little Red Riding Hoods.

BOB LOBLAW

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:02:00 +0000

This is something I did for Loblaws. A tissue box design! A bit slick but its for kids.

THE BROWNS

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:43:00 +0000

Meet the Browns. They may seem a little down. Maybe they're just playing it cool like they're from Toronto or something. Probably vegans on their way to yoga. Eating a lot of mashed food. Slows you down I guess.

COWBOY IN A CAVE

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:00:00 +0000

The cowboy is back and he's wandered into a cave. Maybe he should have left the damn lamp alone. Usually he challenges inanimate things like rocks and trees and bicycles. Sometimes flowers. Layers and layers of tissue paper scanned to create this. It starts to look like so many levels of lettuce after a while.

EARLY THANKSGIVING

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:53:00 +0000

Just to show that I play fair, something for the vegetarians in my silent community.

DISAPPEARING LINE

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:15:00 +0000

Trying to move away from such a heavy use of line. Here are two examples of what I have been thinking about. There is no doubt that less is more. There is more room to shape an idea because it is less labour intensive and consequently much more fun. The guy in the hat is some sort of little Napoleon. Looks like he's either just come back from sea or he just can't remember where he parked his boat. The cowboy speaks for himself. He doesn't agree with cacti.

TANGLED

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:48:00 +0000

Also, I found this yesterday. I did it a while ago but the digital version I had was pretty fucked up. I boosted the color balance so much it looked like goat's head soup. I actually prefer this more retro feel, kinda storybook gone wrong. Tangled

SOMETHING FOR VEGETARIANS

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:41:00 +0000

Yes, thanks to vegans, vegetarians and animal rights activists rodents are ruling the streets at night. They have ruined my garden, raided my trash and I swear they have their eyes on my i-pod.

Been A Long While

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:12:00 +0000

Yes it has been some time since I bothered with this thing. Time that's been slow and time that's been fast but let's not get into that drivel. These are three pictures I did recently. Feeling a great deal of disatisfaction with my cumbersome style. About to let the weight drop.

TOY STORE

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:42:00 +0000

Finally, after weeks of doing things I grew to hate, I have an illustration I can almost live with. This is for the nb illustration calendar and I kinda like it. It still needs work but I am posting it anyhow. I have been pretty busy working in the animation world, slaving for a good friend of mine. Daniel Sumich is his name, a very talented fellow. Forget about that and let me know what you think of this boy in a toy store at christmas. The colour balance is still lacking and if you check the blog at johnkstuff.blogspot.com you will know what I mean. Now, thay guy is a genius. He makes a lot of us look like we are just playing around.

ROBOT STRANGLER

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 15:11:00 +0000

Here is an illustration I did this week overa couple of days. Quite simple but I kind of like it. I have returned to working in pencil rather than pen lately. The line is softer and smoother. It may sound boring to elaborate but I really enjoy working in 4B and 3B pencil. The stuff just flows. I have been working with pen for ages because it saves time in the sharpening department. But it turns out that pencil is much looser and the redundant sharpening somewhat rewarding. I've also been doing a lot of charcoal sketches emulating my favorite french artist Gus Bofa. If you don't know him you should really check him out. He was a master and a genuis.

CHARCOAL

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 09:14:00 +0000

These are some charcoal sketches I did last night. Charcoal is pretty different from drawing on a tablet. There's texture, resistance and vibration with conte and charcoal and pencil on paper, These drawings here are pretty retro but I think something is coming to life.

ORIGINAL FABLES

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 14:08:00 +0000

Initially I was working with black and white drawings like these. I still kind of like these as they are before I started mucking about with them. The obvious problem with all the white is that the image glares at you. At first I framed the images with a heavy vignette. Then I went to a painted canvas textured red vignette. Now I am working on the approach I mentioned below.

FABLES

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 09:40:00 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on this stuff. Taking artwork from an old film idea, adding more detail and changing the style of render. Initially, for the film I was making, it was just going to be black and white line. I tried a number of approaches and settled on this. What I consider to be fable like panoramics.

SKETCHES of SPAIN

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Tue, 30 May 2006 08:47:00 +0000

Here is something I started on Wednesday afternoon and had to have finished for Friday. It is for a travel brochure published by conde nast. The image is a representation of an annual festival in Spain. I was pretty happy about it during the process of making it but in reflection it kind of bugs me. It reads a bit like a drunken photograph. Initially it had more flow through but I could have improved on that with a better distribution of the three grey tones. Instead I kind of drew as if I were within the party.It kind of lacks a real focal point. Is that a good thing? It makes the image more lively and more like a celebration but when I look at my favourite illustrators their work seems more orchestrated. Not contrived but evolved. I guess I am going to have to work on this. The picture with the heavier shadows is probably stronger because it reinforces the idea of the trumpet and guitar dudes as a starting point.

POLKE POGO

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 18:02:00 +0000

I did this some time ago. It's part of the Later Toots thing listed in the archives here... I guess it could be considered an outtake from the series I did. The style is some sort of homage to some really incredible domestic pieces that Sigmar Polke did.

MISTER BLUE

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:18:00 +0000

Here is something new I have been working on. A film idea. Based on a song by an old fifties band called The Fleetwoods. A song called Mister Blue. The film is very simple, mostly lip sync and acting. Not too many shots at all. Something I can produce quickly without too much deliberation and procrastination. If you know what I mean.

FEEDING FRENZY

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 14:11:00 +0000

Did this yesterday. May still add some patterns to the fish bodies to make it less like animation and more like illustration. Or just more interesting all around. This is the place where Doctor Suess and I meet head on. But it may still seem that George Grosz is winning the battle for the control of my disposition.

GANGSTER COLA

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:45:00 +0000

Whoah. Been some time. Lapsed blogger. Here is something that has taken me months to finish. I have worked on and off with this image since July. I must have done the figures twenty times eaach and I'm still not entirely happy with it. The blue longshot is called QUEEN SAYS TERRORISTS WON'T CHANGE OUR WAY OF LIFE. I was working on a series of roughs in a pub when this statement flashed up on one of those vulgar twenty-four hour news channels. They were so happy to have a new story to exploit and London had just been bombed. The queen, as usual, was oblivious.

CONFESSIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Gravestock) — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 21:43:00 +0000

I have been zig-zagging all over the place wih this wesite, It is no longer an advertisemnt but a slow motion journal. Anyhow, I have noticed a strain in my comics which is confessional and testament like. Character driven stuff. I'm not catholic but I can live with this place. It is an allotment I can work with.