Longest Heat Wave since 1880 in Vancouver

Today was the hottest day EVER in Vancouver! 33.8C downtown and 42C in surrounding towns!

Whew, it is hot. We in Vancouver are not used to this heat (899 degrees F...maybe. I don't know Fahrenheit.) This is the longest stretch of over 32 degrees weather (3 days) since 1880! Yuck!

It makes it harder to work on Mr. Anomalocaris!

Anomalocarid sketches - developing ideas for the next ART Evolved Gallery

The Making of Two Pterosaur Pieces!

With a bit over one month to go before the September ART Evolved Gallery (Anomalocarids), I felt that I needed to do a little "making of" of both of my Pterosaur paintings from the last Pterosaur Art Gallery.

The first piece is "Arambourgiania Family Unit" and I have documented it's creation and composition on ART Evolved here. Check it out!

Arambourgiania Family Unit - 2009

The second piece I created was more patriotic! As the Pterosaur Gallery when online on July 1st (Canada Day), I thought it important - as a Canadian - to celebrate just a bit. So "Canadian Quetzalcoatlus" was born.

It began here, as an acrylic painting on white paper. The shape was designed to subtly resemble the iconic Maple Leaf of our flag. Once this image was digitized (using my camera), I imported it into Photoshop, where I tweaked the colour contrast and brightness. Two red bars on each side of the "flag" were added, along with shading and shadowing.

Canadian Quetzalcoatlus - 2009

Tada. and now, onto Anomalocarids...

Goodbye Toby

Toby James Bond
1992 - 2009

I've been out of the blogsphere for a while dealing with the decision of putting my family dog, Toby, down. It's been a tough few weeks because, as Toby's body was getting weaker, his mind and heart were still youthful and strong. At 17 years old, his kidneys and back legs were failing him, and it was time to make a decision. My sister and I took him to the vet yesterday, and he passed peacefully in our arms. It's hard to convey how tough it's been, since Toby's been with me his whole life - since I was 13 years old. Through my high schools, universities, jobs, careers, girlfriends, travels. Toby was an smart, energetic, happy, loving dog and I will miss him terribly. He had a fantastic life and was loved by everyone who met him.

Goodbye buddy. You're a good boy.

Happy Flappin' Canada Day

a Canadian Quetocoatlus - see this and a lot more pterosaur art at ART Evolved.