Daily Drawings

So December begins, and the chaos of the end-of-year rush descends across the land, casting a dark and massive shadow that few can escape. Thus begins the rush of frenzied shoppers at Curry's, hunting for gifts to give to their artistic loved ones. Amidst all of this, I've also been hard at work on a number of projects. Some of them would be of little interest to the ordinary reader at present.

Without further ado, a sketch from the series of daily drawings.

It seems like me and finished drawings don't really get along, and I post nothing but unfinished sketches. Peculiar. More to come.

All the best,
Alex

Daily Drawings

Yet more sketchbook pages have been filled with sketches. Astounding. 

Daily Drawing: (Week)

Strictly speaking, today's post isn't really drawing. In fact, it isn't drawing at all. I took some photographs.

I've been tossing ideas around all over the place, and have for some time wanted to use the offcuts from my Self-Portrait series to try to push that work further. I was doing some lighting experiments (quite rudimentary) and attempting to create structures without the use of glue or anything other than the acrylic pieces themselves.

It went ok.

I know this is just a stage in an ongoing process, and with further work and attention it will end up going somewhere. I'm just not sure where. I also think there's only so far you can go without glue, especially given that I want the structures themselves to be the artworks, and they can get quite precarious at times. Here's a taste thus far.

Daily... Drawings.

Hello all,

In a wild combination of working full time, doing jobs for some clients, working at Open Studio, doing yoga, and maintaining a social life of some description, my poor blog has been taking a back seat in recent months. In fact, it may not even be in the station wagon. I think I left it behind, and should probably go back and fetch it.

I have been drawing, although it could hardly be called daily. I do, on a daily basis, crack open my sketchbook, but it is currently equal parts ideas, sketches, drawings, and writing. My brain is teeming with ideas, and I have just recently started working out of Open Studio at 401 Richmond, which has given me somewhere to create work. I'll be proofing a fairly simple plate this Wednesday.

Below is a fairly good example of what my sketchbooks are looking like at the moment. Mostly, a jumbled mess.

A shout out to my brother, Ian Thompson, who is taking the month of November to write a novel. Rock on.

Daily Drawings: Week 15

Yesterday, I returned to Toronto, moving into my new apartment and realizing exactly how little furniture I actually own. I need to address that problem at some point, as storing things all over my floor leaves something to be desired. Also I have no closet.

I was also busy painting a fence for my Dad before I headed back, which was a whole undertaking on its own. I've also managed to get a job in Toronto, so it's been a jam-packed week. I've managed to fit in a bit of drawing as well, so life's been pretty good.

The 'moving back' process is always accompanied by anxiety on my part, along with an adjustment period, so it'll still be a while before I have everything sorted out and am totally comfortable in the new setting. Anyways, here's some of the sketching that came out of this week!

This page is all material drawn from photographs taken while I was on vacation. Thanks, and I shall see you next week for another update.

Daily Drawings: Week 6-14

The summer has flown by in a whirlwind, and it's nearly at an end. My contract with Theatre Ancaster went well, and kept me very busy planning classes and casting and directing. Lovely. Events conspired, however, to slow me down, and I hit a pretty serious slump at the end of June, which was followed up by the chaos that is TA's Stage 2. 

I return to you now, with the colours of fall creeping into the summer palette (I biked through a shallow drift of red maple leaves today), to update you on significant sketches that took place over this absence from the interwebs.

These sketches were done over the course of my summer holiday in mid-August. First are some airport sketches, followed by some members of the jazzy band that played up in the lounge on the ship, and the last is the room my brother and I stayed in on board. Still playing with trying to capture moments.

More sketches from on board. I'm particularly happy with the simplicity in the island. I want to try to pare down some of my images to the least possible number of elements.

Until next time. I plan on making sure that another eight weeks do not go before I update again.

Daily Drawings: Week 5

Daily Drawings: Week 4

This week's offerings for my daily sketchbook project. I've been recently trying to tackle more figurative subjects, just out of a desire to improve my eye. Also, if you checked out last week's post, I mentioned my work going up in Kitchener. The small exhibition, held at Kwartzlab, has been postponed until August, and will feature some fun work. See you all, dear readers, next week for some more weekly sketches!

Daily Drawings: Week 3

More sketches! I'm going to attempt to get back to some figurative subjects, as I feel people tend to be interesting and expressive subjects. I also am likely in need of the practice. I do hope you'll forgive my somewhat sinister-looking figure here.

In no particular order, we have a construction site, a tobacco kiln, and the aforementioned young lady.

In other new, I am installing my work at Kwartzlab in Kitchener tomorrow. It will be up for the remainder of the month of June, so do check it out if you happen to be in the area and have some spare time. Kwartzlab is at 33 Kent Ave in Kitchener. You can find out more about the space here: http://www.kwartzlab.ca

Daily Drawings: Week 2

Week two update! Progress is slow.
This is a sketch of a condo tower at Yonge and Gerrard that has featured fairly prominently in my past work, but is now significantly further along in the construction process. This sketch is also an unfinished project, and is nearing completion.

Until next week!

Daily Drawings: Week 1

Hello again, dear readers. This post is a little later than I would have liked it, but this past weekend was pretty busy. I moved out of my old apartment, and was as a result doing a whole lot of packing and unpacking. 

Below are three of the sketches from the past week.

I shall be posting again on Friday with my next batch of sketches.

New site up!

I have a new website in the works at the moment, found at www.alexrmthompson.4ormat.com. The site is a much sleeker, streamlined, and generally nicer platform, and I will be switching my domain over to it in the near future.

Between hunting for work, I have been getting back to a bit of good, old-fashioned sketching, and am now going to make a promise to you, the internet. I am making it my mission, over the next year (and perhaps beyond), to sit down and draw daily. The studies and sketches that come out of this will be blogged on a regular, weekly basis. The plan is to improve my sketching ability, while also making a commitment to doing it regularly. Thank you for bearing witness.

Here is my commitment to more regular updates. Right here.

Grad Ex has come to a close, and with it my undergraduate degree. It's a peculiar feeling, being done. After a solid 17 years within the educational system, I am now free. Or at least, will be, as I don't yet have the diploma in my hand. Come June, however, the world is my oyster.

Grad Ex was an amazing experience, and gave me the opportunity to talk to a great number of interesting individuals with varying connections to the arts. Congratulations to my fellow medal winners, the work was fascinating and varied! It was truly an educational experience to top of the whole of my educational career (which isn't to say it's necessarily over, I won't preclude myself from the potential of graduate studies).

Attached is an image of my de-installed work, ready to leave the central hall. For images of the installed artwork, please refer to my website at www.alexrmthompson.com.

Christmas is nearly upon us!

With Christmas creeping up on us like some sort of sneaky, excitable elf with pointy shoes, I feel like it's time to post my Christmas card that I printed this year. It is a small edition of etchings, with an image size of approximately 5.25" by 3.25".

I also, within the past week, went to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey not once, but twice. It is not a common occurrence for me to see a movie in theatres more than once (not least due to my restricted student budget) and I must say, my reviews are quite positive. While I realize you likely aren't reading this blog for my movie-critiquing opinions, I highly recommend seeing the film. It's a hefty beast, weighing in at about 3 and a quarter hours with previews, but it is about one and a half rabbit-sleigh-fulls worth of fun (you'll understand when you see it). It is significantly more cartoony than The Lord of the Rings was, and doesn't take itself overly seriously; there are plenty of light-hearted, humourous moments, befitting a fantastical adventure in search of lost treasure. The attention to detail is, on this second trip to Middle Earth, just as superb as it was in The Lord of the Rings. But I won't bore you any more with my opinions. Go see it yourself!

Have a happy holiday, and I'll likely see you again in the new year!

First semester is officially over; Christmas break is here. 

Given that I'm 'writing' my thesis, however, this is more of a studio break. It will be full of family, friends, breathing space, reading, and drawing, in preparation for the return of thesis in January. One potluck into the holidays, I can definitely say I'm looking forward to an enjoyable break. 

Happy holidays, everyone. New work to come, keep your eyes on my website at http://alexrmthompson.com/. Thanks!

Great Hall show is up!

It has been one crazy semester.

Here we are, early December already, and my thesis year at OCAD is just about halfway over. Last week, my printmaking class hung our show in the Great Hall at 100McCaul Street, and it was great to see such a variety of work. For the better part of the semester, everyone has been off in their own corners, and this was really the second time in 3 months that we've gathered and been able to see everything that people have been producing.

Now, I may be biased, but I think we've got a pretty good showing in the space. If you're reading this, and happen to be in the neighbourhood before December 8th, I recommend you check it out.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what installation looks like.

Until next time!

Another excellent summer of camp is over. One manly tear rolls down my cheek. The campers who participated in my Stop Motion workshop made some pretty sweet films. This here is a link to the session two video! Also attached to this blog is a photo of one of the watercolour backgrounds I did for the short film, featuring a distant view of La Seine.

Today was the final tear-down day for camp. This is always accompanied by mixed feelings. Camp's conclusion also means that school- and thesis year- are looming in the not-so-distant future. The prospect is an intimidating one. I need to get my brain around the daunting idea and just get on with it.

Above you'll see a quick oil sketch of my friend Miles first, and second my contribution to the backdrop painting the staff did for camp this summer. She was pretty fun to paint, I must say.

It's been an interesting summer. I'm working at a summer theatre camp at present, which is more fun than I can possibly describe with any clarity, while also driving me a little off the deep end simultaneously. That being said, dramatic children running all over the place haven't been the only thing driving me nuts recently. I've been prepping work for an upcoming show at the Steamwhistle Gallery in downtown Toronto. The show is entitled "Down the Rabbit Hole" and will be running from August 1st until the 31st. Further details can be found at . I don't work in the same way I used to, I've food. This is all at once both good and bad. My practice has become, over them past year and a half, quite firmly rooted in materiality. This made something fantasy-esque a bit of a challenge for me. I recommend you come check out the show at the Steamwhistle, and then get back to me about everything. Cool. This little guy here is just a teaser. Come check out the show to see the whole series.

That's not all that has been on the go; my work has been on the walls of the Blue Dog Coffee Roasters in Brantford as well, which is also quite exciting! check it out if you can!