A Special Event of Phenominal Preportions

Medals:  USA  39  -  Germany 29  -  Canada 25  -  Norway 22 -  Austria 16  -  Russia 15
GOLD:  Canada 13  -  Germany  10  -  USA  9  -  Norway  8 ...
 
Today was the Greatest Olympic Day yet!  3 Gold Medals!!!  Canada is now third in medal standing and leading in Gold Medals!

With Craig staying with me in Vancouver (and spending all our time enjoying the Olympics!), we are finally able to sit down and do something arty and creative.  So we've decided to do something radical and potentially damaging to our friendship.

Craig work with computer graphics, while I work with pencil and paper.  We thought that it would be interesting to work together and see if we can create something together - a joint dinosaur project using both of our skills!

For this, we're taking on the most famous of dinos - Tyrannosaurus rex!  The progress of this Epic Event is being documented on Craig's blog Weapon of Mass Imagination. 

The process works like this:  Craig creates a tyrannosaur in CG, and I create a tyrannosaur on paper in pencil, and then we digitally lay one over the other to see the difference between the recreations.  The point is to use both our interpretations, along with reference material from the internet and books (specifically Tomas Holtz's) to create an uber Rex.  The final product will be in CG, as we are able to walk through each body part and discuss and tweak it much more easily that on paper.

Step 1: Our two images, side-by-side (left-mine, right-Craig)

I am extremely interested in where this project will lead.  This is the first time Craig and I have worked together side-by-side on the same thing.  We both have our strong opinions, and have already come to blows over honestly stupid details, such as adding muscle grooves and ear-placement.

Anyway, check our progress out here and let us know how we are doing!  Here come the King!

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 8

 

Liveblogging finishes for today - after a bunch of late nights enjoying the downtown festivities, intense and stressful Olympic action, and hours of drawing, inking and photoshopping.  Just really too tired to focus.  Craig is tired too.  He just lost his Therizinosaur's body - comically leaving legs, claws, and a head floating in space.  (As I type, he has already mended most of the damage but subbing in an older dinosaur's body and playing with it.)

Above is my first attempt at colouring using photoshop. The effect was unexpected and kinda works - enough for me to keep playing with it!  If anyone has any suggestions or tips in colouring digitally, let me know!  Thanks!

So that's it for now, I'm off to bed.  Liveblogging 3 will continue another day!  Stay tuned...

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 7

 

  

A late update, but real progress here.  I've managed to finish up the inking to an extent that I am happy with.  Now I'll be experimenting with colouring in photoshop...  wish me luck!

Quite the smackdown, theropod on theropod!  Leaving the alioramus with some intense gashes on his face - would he survive?

After Canada suffered a loss to China in curling, Craig entered a period of depression, transmitting all his remaining energy into colouring (texturing) his therizinosaur.  The resulting collapse and explosion of creativity on his part has created a beautiful grey-green-orange coat of scales!  Check it out here.

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 6

Ok, I'm over the loss of Canada to USA, so back to updating the progress of this Therizinosaur. 

Since the game is over, Craig and I have both been making lots of progress on our pieces.  Here is Craig's progress.  As you can see, most of the ink detailing is done on the therizinosaur.  I have only his right leg to place and ink. 

Craig as become stressed again as Canadian curlers are loosing 4-2 to China.  But M&Ms and Lady R's delicious dinner helped.  Dishes time. 

Next is to finish all the ink details, then get a good scan.  I'm going to try to colour it in photoshop, which will make good liveblog-reading as I've never tried it before!  But that is one of the bonuses of having photoshop-savy Craig! 

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 5

Too sad to post.  Canada lost.  Also no work progress to show.  Well done, Miller.

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 4

 

 

End of the second period now, with USA up 3-2 on Canada...  yeah, the game is certainly distracting Craig and I from our liveblogging.  He modeled toes and an arm, and I inked a foot.  Not a lot completed.  The stress level is high and our voices are horse...

Go Canada...

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 3

So here are the inks starting, and I'm liking the cartoony feel of it.  I'm not sure if I'll paint it or not - maybe use watercolours?  Any suggestion?

Olympic update:  Canada won silver in speed skating!!!

Now Hockey has started and both Craig and I are incredibly distracted.  And nervous!  USA is up 2-1 at the end of the first, so Canada needs to step up and put pressure on... 

Art.

Hockey!!!!!

So far, Craig forgot to add a knee and I missed a toe my therizinosaur's foot - so things are going great!  Stay tuned for more fun...


Therizinosaur: Coloured or not coloured?

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 2

We've flipped over to 300 m speed skating - to Craig's shegrin.  4 Canadians are in this contest, so I'm stoaked!  The Swiss just won two points in curling, so Craig is freaking out.  Beyond that, he is currently working on the proportions of his dino's leg.  I'm beginning inking my drawing...

Go Cindy Klassen in speed skating!!!!

Live Blogging: Olympic Edition 1

Finally, the time has come for Craig and I to sit down together and do our joint-liveblogging extravaganza!

With him on his computer and me on mine, and the Olympics on TV, we are ready to settle in to many hours of Therizinosaur art.  Currently, curling is on - Canada vs Switzerland, and Craig is incredibly tense.  He keeps yelling out exclamation.  Personally, I'm more of a hockey guy, so I am looking forward to today's epic Canada vs USA game (begins in an hour and a half!!!!)

So this time around, I'll be blogging the creation of a therizinosaur in action.  They have these wonderfully long claws which would have been used for food-gathering along with defense.  This piece will (hopefully) illustrate a Therizinosaurus cheloniformis defending himself against an attaching Alioramus remotus.  Here is the drawing as it is currently. 

 

I will through up some thumbnails in the next post so you can see where this idea evolved from.  Now, if only Craig could calm down...  (CAN 3 - SWI 1)

Vancouver Olympics - Day 6

Medals:  USA  14 - Germany 10 - France  7 - Canada  6  -  Korea  5  -  Austria  5

Canadian Gold in snowboard cross! Yesterday, Maelle Ricker won Canada's second gold medal and was the first Canadian woman ever to win gold IN Canada!  But good on the US for all today's medals.


Images from Vancouver...

Beautiful Russian tall-ship Kruzenshtern docked in North Vancouver.

The Olympic Spirit!

Mukmuk enjoying the festivities

The official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots

Sumi, Quatchi, Miga, and Mukmuk (the mascot's sidekick!)

The Vancouver Skyline (as seen from North Vancouver)

Man, do I LOVE this city!

The Olympic Flame clearly visible from across the water!

Go Canada Go!

Vancouver Olympics - Day 3

Medals:  USA  6  -  Germany  4  -  France  3  -  Canada  3  -  Korea  2  -  Italy  2 

Gold for Canada!  Today, Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada's first GOLD of the 2010 Olympics (in fact, Canada's first gold medal on Canadian soil!)  So that makes one of each medal for Canada, with more to come!

The Games opened Friday night with amazing Opening Ceremonies that showcased Canada's First Nations people, it's beautiful forests, and a bit too much East Coast fiddling punk.

For a beautiful clip from the Opening Ceremonies can be seen here;  Canadian singer K. D. Lang croons "Hallelujah."  

Along with all the Olympic excitement in Vancouver, Marek, another palaeo-Vancouverite blogger, commented on the Games in this episode of Walcot's Quarry!  Check it out!

Speaking of Olympic-palaeo connections, expect Traumador the Tyrannosaur to make a special visit to Vancouver!  As his talent agent, I feel there is no place better than these Olympics to get noticed!  Just gotta give him a call...  Stay tuned to the Tyrannosaur Chronicles to see if any of my money/fame-making schemes work out!
Along with Traum, Craig and Lady R are both in town!  Here we are next to the holiest of Canadian Icons - the Stanley Cup!  (I touched it!!!)
Expect more updates from this extremely exciting time in Vancouver!  I'll periodically update the medal standings, as well as throw up more art.  GO CANADA GO!

The Vancouver Olympics are Here!

Vancouver welcomes the World, as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games begin tomorrow!  And with it comes a redesign of the blog banner.  Can you spot Mukmuk?

Yesterday, the Olympic Torch finally made it to North Vancouver after 105 days of traveling all around Canada.  I snapped the above pic as the torchbearer ran past my apartment.

The 2010 Olympic Torch in all it's glory.  Traumador just arrived in Vancouver and jumped into the photograph!  He's very excited to be a part of the games, but I sure he'll find a way to get himself into trouble!

The Olympic Spirit in mitten form.  Craig, Laura and I paint the West Vancouver red!  These red mittens have really hit it off big - even the Inukshuk and the lions guarding the Lion's Gate Bridge have red mittens!

Here the Torch finally made it's way to West Vancouver - the last stop before heading downtown to light the main Olympic Torch tomorrow!  You can really feel the excitement in the air, as the World's eye turns towards us and Canada shines...

Vancouver

This amazing light instillation is a stunning addition to the Vancouver skyline!  You can submit a design here and the 20 high-powered spotlights will create your design!!

So here's to winning Gold, Canada! 
But first, we've got the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow at 8pm P.S.T.