December.

hot yoga is hot.

Beautiful Grim

'Respiration'

Mixed Media
11.5" x 15.25"

Here is my contribution for the Beautiful Grim charity show.

His Story:
My name is Daarken and I am a concept artist and illustrator working for Mythic Entertainment. My friend Leif Jeffers, an animator at DreamWorks, and I are organizing an art auction fundraiser.

Earlier this year my girlfriend, Cat, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25. On November 3rd, 2009, she had a bilateral mastectomy after going through 16 weeks of chemotherapy. As you can imagine it has been hard for her, not only mentally and physically, but financially. In order to help alleviate some of her medical bills Leif and I wanted to throw an art auction. The proceeds that are left over after her medical bills have been paid will go to a breast cancer related charity to be determined by the artists in the coming weeks.

We currently have artists contributing that hail from all regions of the industry: concept artists, animators, photographers, sculptors, fine artists, illustrators, you name it. The theme for the auction is "Beautiful Grim." The interpretation of "Beautiful Grim" has been left up to the artists.

All the work that is up for online auction can be viewed at http://art.beautifulgrim.org. There are many submissions from numerous talented artists, please take a look and pass the link to others who may want to donate for a good cause!

thank you~~

Preview~

In addition to illustrating, creating a stop motion animation is a goal I have wanted to achieve. I've always had an interest for figurines and claymation and watching Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline recently helped inspire me to try this new project of mine.



I have happily accomplished creating my main character! Made out of bare wires, sculpey and other available materials she stands at nine inches tall and footage has commenced. There is a lot I am going to and need to learn along the way but I'm really excited about this!

I shall keep you posted on my stop motion endeavors and some new work coming soon~

in the hair-swing of things

Return.

It has been a while since my last post but I plan to share more frequently this year with a variety of things. 加油!

The Kids are Alright at LeBasse Projects

"Yield"
Mix Media, 12"x12"

Its the last night of "The Kids are Alright" tour at LeBasse Projects, I'd like to thank Beau and all the gallery owners for the support. If you are in the area come check it out!

LeBasse Projects

6023 W. Washington Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

310.558.0200

contact@lebasseprojects.com

Showing and Telling ... tomorrow. be there.

"Finding Yourself Alone in a Field with String"
Mixed Media, 16"x16"

"Suspended by Dreams of Deluded Thoughts"
Mixed Media, 16"x16"

The Kids are Alright at Show & Tell Gallery

I can't wait for the end of this week even though it just started! This Friday (August 14th) "The Kids are Alright" tour will be landing at the Show & Tell Gallery ... in Toronto! A number of the artists will be there and if you are in town please do come by, it will be a great time. Thanks so much to Beau and Simon for joining forces for this show.

Here is a little preview of my contribution.
See you this Friday!

"Finding Yourself Alone in a Field with String"

Show & Tell Gallery
1161 Dundas St. West
Toronto, ON M6J 1X3
647.347.3316
info@showandtellgallery.com

Sitting at a Racecourse, not gambling

Night transit?

Cat Express.

A day at the Safari!

I enjoyed a lovely afternoon the past weekend at "Canada's Original Safari Adventure", less than an hour away from Oakville. The animals were very responsive and there were some epic encounters including crazy monkeys jumping on the cars and goats mauling people just to get a snack! It is worth checking out this summer... think about it..


Affri-can Li-on Sa-farrr-eeeeee~

Hand cramps.

The thought of one day getting arthritis or carpal tunnel is so scary. It would be terrible to not be able to draw or to have to do it with incredible pain! I suppose things happen as we age though...

The Kids are Alright at Black Maria Gallery

Los Angeles is the next stop for The Kids are Alright tour!! The show runs from July 18th through August 8th, 2009 at Black Maria Gallery with the opening this Saturday. Thanks so much to Beau and Melanie for all they've done.

I'm excited to show again with such an amazing group of artists, in ~black and white~ this time around. The preview of the show is available here and the following is my contribution!

enjoy.

"Candescence"
mixed media on paper
12" x 16"

"False Apprehension"
mixed media on paper
24" x 12"

Garage Sale!

"process"

Billy Shire Fine Arts is hosting Ken Tanaka's Art Show! Opening day is Saturday, April 11th from 7-10pm in Culver City.

The popular Youtuber from Japan, is on the search for his birth parents in America; and on the pursuit, creating charming artworks for the world to see. This piece will be part of the "Garage Sale" installation piece in the show, alongside artist such as Kozyndan, David Mack, Pay Katsuyuki, Dominique Fung, Mari Araki, Gary Musgrave and more!

"Adrift"
mixed media
9x12x3

Youtube: Ken Tanaka for additional happiness.

The Kids are Alright: First stop

"In Bloom"
acrylic/ink on wood
18x24

"Fully Taken"
acrylic/ink on wood
16x20

"My Neighbour's Garden"
acrylic/ink on wood
18x24

Tonight is the grand start of the "Kids are Alright" tour hosted at T&P Fine Art in Philadelphia.

I'm thankful to be showing with other talented artists including Luke Berliner, Ching Ching Cheng , Asia Eng, Julian Callos , Ryan Dineen , Nicole Dreyfuss , Mylan Nguyen, Nimit Malavia, Yuta Onoda, Dominique Fung, Chelsea Greene Lewtya , Jeremy Lynch, Andrew Holder, Eric Davidson, David Jien , Linda Kim, Steven Gonzalez, Danni Shinya Luo , and Wendy Cogan Toyoda. Thanks to Beau of LeBasse Galleries for organizing the events. It is going to be a great series.

taking a break to update.

A time ago, our Information Illustration class was were given the opportunity to work with Avenue page for the National Post. I decided to explore the ridiculously-lavish fashion of 'Manhattans elite', specifically the six main characters of the hit show Gossip Girl. The characters were all clothed in school uniform attire as seen on TV and a break down of the costs are presented. I had fun drawing the characters and just a heads up, GG is back on tonight.

xoxo


***
In other new, this past two weeks have been pretty sleepless (the upcoming week should be no different). School is quickly coming to an end unfortunately and there never seems to be enough time in the day.. or night. Also, I've been working on some gallery pieces but more on that later. For now, some pages from my sketch book from Chapters. I somehow need/want to translate my sketchbooks to finished pieces.. somehow...but how... (critique is welcomed :D)

waiting to see the doctor takes forever.

'Lengthy line'

(Sisyphus Project)
Pen & ink

How nice.

'rise of the tides'
15" x 65"

At the end of last year I submitted this design for the RIDE Snowboards Art contest. I inked it to size which was challenging/rewarding and completed the rest digitally. My design made it as a top entry and will be part of the show tonight in Seattle.