Art Advent Calendar

Day 1

A process video of an illustration I made for a couple of canoe paddles, using a digital projector and some brush markers (c. 2018).

Day 2

A vector illustration inspired by my dog Cooper who ended up looking like an astronaut one time when he had to wear a protective cone to stop him from chewing his paws

Mockup of the "Cooper the Astronaut" illustration in a light wood frame sitting on a counter next to a decorative coffee mug and cookie jar. The illustration inside the frame is illustration drawn in a whimsical, cartoonish style showing a dog in astronaut gear appear disproportionately on top of a moon. Instead of stars surrounding the cosmic body, there are tiny spot illustrations of various items of clothing, hats, dog bones, underwear, etcetera. In the foreground, a cartoon character is holding up a pencil almost like a magical wand pointed at the dog.

Day 3

“The Lobby Experience.” Watercolour and ink illustration featuring my signature Push Button Heads characters (c. 2021).

Crowd scene in the lobby of a movie theatre drawn in a Wimmelbilder style where all areas of the composition are densely filled with focal points and characters in various poses doing activities such as lining up for popcorn, checking out the magazine stand, walking multiple dogs, trying to buy tickets, etcetera.

Day 4

“Waiting to Watch.” Watercolour and ink illustration featuring my signature Push Button Heads characters (c. 2021).

Crowd scene of various cartoonish characters sitting facing facing the viewer. The illustration is drawn in a Wimmelbilder style with multiple points of focus. Characters with binoculars, with popcorn, with a trombone. One character brought a plant. Another brought their dog. One is distracted on a laptop. One appears to be cheering. One seat is occupied by a couple dogs snuggling. Another pair of characters are playing on their phones.

Day 5

“Coffee Slots.” Two-colour printmaking process demo (c. 2022).

Day 6

Process video showing the application of a line art drawing to a white lamp shade from IKEA (c. 2018).

Day 7

“A Year of Doodles.” A time-lapsed tour through one of my visual journals from 2016.

Day 8

“Vintage Camera Trio.” This was one of my first experiments with two-colour process LinoCut block printing (c. 2012).

Three block prints of vintage camera designs reproduced using a two colour process. Outlines of the objects were done with black ink with fill colours of teal green for the camera on the left, red for the camera in the centre, and gold yellow for the camera on the right.

Day 9

One of the ornaments I created for my first Christmas craft sale featuring some of my vector illustrations (c. 2022).

Closeup of a circular ornament hanging on a Christmas tree with the words "Ho Ho Ho" repeating multiple times to create a pattern-like effect in the design.

Day 10

A page filled with characters from my Push Button Heads series (c. 2023).

Day 11

“Lineup Above and Below.” Wood block print (c. 2002).

Woodblock print consisting of characters inspired by pictograms on street signage. There is a horizontal axis in the centre of the page. Above this line, there is a row of characters walking in a single-file line, and below is another line up of characters but they are all upside down, almost suggesting they are reflections of the characters in the line above. All forms are in white over a black background.

Day 12

One of six ornaments I created for a craft sale in 2022. This one features characters from my Push Button Heads weekly comic strip.

A closeup photos of an ornament hanging on a Christmas tree branch. The illustration features sitting in three flying cars that look UFOs. They have a Christmas tree strapped across the roofs of the threee flying cars.

Day 13

Untitled lino-cut illustration commissioned for an academic conference poster about immigration (c. 2004).

Linocut print of four suitcases arranged in a two-by-two tiled grid. One tile is in red ink and the rest are black. There is a door opening carved into the side of each suitcase. All of the door openings are similar, although they are at different stages of being accessible. One is completely open. Another has a strap blocking the entrance. Another is zipped shut.

Day 14

“Pool Party.” Vector illustration featuring my Push Button Heads characters (c. 2022).

Scene of various characters gathered around an outdoor pool in the summer. The characters have heads shaped like push buttons. Some are accompanied by dogs. Wading in the pool is a character sitting in an inner tube sipping on a martini. Another character is wearing a deep sea diving suit. The colour palette is vibrant.

Day 15

“Five Cameras and a Robot.” Lino-cut block print (c. 2021).

Linocut block print featuring five different retro cameras illustrated with simple shapes. Each camera is printed in a slightly different hue of green. The cameras are arranged in a 2 by 3 grid. The sixth position in the grid shows robot’s head standing in for one of the cameras. The robot head is drawn as a simple rectangle with large circles for eyes, a small mouth, and antenna pointing out of the side in place of ears. The linocut is printed on a white sheet of cotton paper.

Day 16

“Whimsical Trailers.” Vector illustration. In 2015, my partner and I bought a tiny teardrop trailer. The inside was just big enough to fit a queen-sized mattress, and not much else. Our first year in the RV inspired me to create this series.

Vector illustration of four whimsical trailer concepts. The first trailer looks like a tiny house mounted on a slingshot. The second is a teardrop trailer housed inside a larger trailer that looks like a jail cell. The third trailer looks like a cartoonish, spherical bomb. He fourth trailer is just a door, and nothing else, mounted on a trailer bed.

Day 17

A pictogram-style illustration summing up our vacation to Oahu, Hawaii in 2023. I wanted an alternative keepsake to the photos we snapped of every beach and palm tree imaginable on the island — something that captured the whimsy of our trip.

Illustration of the island of Oahu, Hawaii, done in the style of a pictogram depicting stick-figure characters surfing, enjoying the beach, driving, taking selfies, drinking coffee, and looking at scenery through binoculars.

Day 18

Another addition to my series of pictogram-style illustrations. This time it's Nova Scotia! (c. 2023)

An illustration of various landmarks across Nova Scotia arranged in a composition evocative of a coastal city. The artwork is done in a flat, pictographs style. Focal-points include the famous Halifax Theodore Tugboat, the Big Fiddle sculpture from Sydney, the Wave sculpture on the Halifax waterfront, the Halifax Citadel, the Cabot Trail and the Seal Island Bridge. Larger-than-life whimsical elements include an impossibly giant fish, a character taking a selfie atop an enormous lobster, and someone bucking a canon about to fire.

Day 19

One more pictogram-style illustration from an ongoing series about the places where I've lived or visited. This one depicts the essence of Banff, Alberta, Canada (c. 2023).

Mockup of a printed pictogram illustration on a square sheet of paper. In the foreground is a string of gondola cars filled with people sightseeing. In the background is a mountain with people skiing. There is a single walkway mid-ground filled with people hiking, cycling, taking a selfie, walking their dog, and riding a horse-drawn carriage. Directly behind the walkway is a series of shops and cafés, and beyond these building further up the hill is a silhouette of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Directly in front of the walkway is a river with a couple paddling in a canoe.

Day 20

A tribute to lawn mowing and those who genuinely love the chore. Some people requested that I turn this into a greeting card, and so here it is. (c. 2023)

Day 21

A new lino-cut t-shirt print design. Graphic designers should get the inside joke here (c. 2023).

Video clip of the process of peeling away a lino-block print to reveal a lettering illustration that reads, "Lorem Ipsum Makes No Sense.

Day 22

An art process shot of another linocut t-shirt print design recently completed (c. 2023).

Day 23

“Three On a Beach.” One of my early lino-cut prints (c. 2001). I printed a limited run at the time, so I don't have many left at this point.

Linocut block print in black ink on white paper. The composition includes three human figures sitting under three umbrellas on the ground. They figure in the centre is sitting up proudly, starring off into the distance as if looking at the ocean. The other two have their heads down or turned away as if worried or in deep thought.

Day 24

“Thought Process.” Vector Illustration (c. 2023)

Abstract vector illustration showing three thick lines in yellow, orange, and teal respectively coming from the top edge of the page in evenly spaced lines before the start to tangle into each other in innumerable loops in the centre of the illustration. The lines emerge from the tangle at the bottom of the page and return to a straightened and even position, then exit off the edge of the composition.