Happy Birthday to my decision to register a domain name, one siteway.com. She's 12-years-old today. Oh boy. ¶ Pick up the National Post this weekend: Saturday's magazine, Toronto will include four noirish illustrations including the cover.

Labels: Freelancing, NationalPost, SitewayWorld

¶ 12:35 PM

Vanity Fair is a fine publication, it's true, and while I appreciate their Hitchcockian spread in the Hollywood issue (VF March 2008), I sometimes wish there was a publication just like it that wrapped itself in fine illustration instead of photography. And the photography is beautiful, no question. But it's been YEARS. Why not a Hollywood publication beautifully designed with line and shape? A kind of perfect graphic marriage. Maybe one day. ¶ I watched the Super Bowl at this very chilled bar called the Soft Spot near North 10th on Bedford Ave. It was one of these friendly American bars filled with young patrons chatting about their lives ahead. I like places like that. They ordered in a bunch of wings, there was a three-cheese dip thing, and draught beer was on for two-for-one. ¶ As I recovered the next AM, I wandered down Driggs Ave. On my mind were vintage clothing stores and art galleries. I found this very cool men's vintage store called Houndstooth where I picked up a new shirt and blazer. I also visited gallery Jack the Pelican and it's worth a visit. Monday night I went to Knickerbocker Bar & Grill where I saw some Al Hirschfeld prints in the flesh. Including one of Jules Fieffer. I would see him, and a few more of my heroes, the next night. ¶ I know I've drawn Hitchcock before. He's someone I admire a great deal and I find drawing him tremendously satisfying.

Labels: AdmirationOfBenefit, FeaturedIllustration, NewYorkHareII, SitewayWorld

¶ 2:14 PM

As Taylor Dayne's absurd Heart of Stone played in the departure lounge at JFK, I breathed easy. It had been a great trip, after all. And considering how anxious I had been, a sense of relief was not unearned. ¶ Things took a frustrating beginning. I missed my outbound flight. My bag somehow made it on board. This is something the gate agent assured me did not take place. In retrospect, I should have (a) used the self-service kiosk to check in and (b) not have checked in my small suitcase. I didn't do either, for many reasons, none of which much matter now. Eventually I was off to NYC, a day late. A day most certainly wiser. ¶ The flight to JFK was about as smooth as you can expect for winter flying and it took me all of thirty minutes to grab my lonely bag which was quietly waiting for me in a humble room near baggage claim in Terminal 8. Somehow I imagined it would be among trillions of black cases in a room the size of a bloody hanger. This reunion felt good. Patiently I waited for a yellow cab to take me to Williamsburg. The queue, while long for a grocery store, was quick for a taxi stand. Aside from a roadside truck ablaze with bright yellow flames that licked stubbornly in the face of shotgun water, the ride in was uneventful. The sun set too soon, at least in my mind, but nonetheless I was safe, sound, and only minimally anxious. ¶ The taxi dropped me right in front of Vinny Vella's Pizza Place and I hopped out and grabbed a slice. Famished, I hadn't eaten. I never eat when traveling. My contact would meet me here later and so I took a moment to just sit and digest. Running Scared was playing, muted, and so I watched Vera Farmiga for a time. ¶ Before long I was settled into where I would be sleeping and off I went in search of adventure. ¶ More on my trip to NYC tomorrow. I've been making serious progress on this installment of Admiration of Benefit. I know I've been late—later than ever in Siteway history in fact—but this does not trouble me. Things are very busy on the drawing board, and I am putting an unprecedented level of focus on the quality of my work. I am re-affirming my strive for excellence within these walls and, as always, I look forward to sharing my progress with you. It won't always be pretty. But it's guaranteed to be about the work.

Labels: Airport, NewYorkHareII, NYC, SitewayWorld, Travel, WithCertaintyOfBenefit

¶ 10:54 AM

It has taken me almost four months to raise my office from a simple four-walled room into a bona fide place of business. Up until yesterday I still had a few boxes here and there. Small regions of my mind occupied by nagging thoughts. An open-house can quickly solve these sorts of issues and that's precisely what I did. Thank you for coming, and for showing the very support I've been lucky enough to receive for the past little while. It's not always a picnic, but I've been very fortunate to date. I've got big fish to fry, including more narrative work that has, up to now, only been promised. I think it's the next big phase of my career and I look forward to sharing it with you on Siteway World.

Labels: Gratitude, SitewayWorld

¶ 2:43 PM

Some times you got it, and some times you don't. I had the good fortune of having it Saturday, and I'm grateful for it. I worked on a bunch of illustrations for clients and for myself. There's two specific things I'm working on: two Toronto art shows. The first will be a showing of portraits commissioned by the National Post (titled The National Post Portraits) and secondly, an exhibition of all-new, illustrated posters thematically linked to Tonicville, Phelts, and Coastalmatic (titled JetSet). I'm excited about both. The former will prove satisfying, I think, and the latter will be the riskiest career move, to date. Let's see what happens. ¶ This week's portrait is of writer Nick Tosches. Mr. Tosches has a piece on sushi in the June 2007 issue of Vanity Fair. I read his book, The Last Opium Den during our time in Sundridge and it has stayed with me.

Labels: Gratitude, SitewayWorld, WeekendUpdate

¶ 11:10 PM

Gliding through Southwestern Ontario via rail, I have lucked into a complimentary net connexion which has allowed me to finish my work in the early PM. It clears my head and plate for the later evening. Aldershot! ¶ This thought occurred to me last evening: cinema is largely trauma, realised. I don't think that trauma = drama, but in many cinematic instances, it certainly helps. For example, a revenge story is more compelling when lives are on the line as opposed to mere pride. Gambling stories only work when someone loses their Everything and not just their One Thing. I thought, last night, that books were exempt from this grip but the truth is I haven't read enough to know. Seeing Walk The Line had me wondering if real pill poppers would see themselves on screen or not. I suppose this is just a tiny observation about subtlety in storytelling. In Disturbia, the acceptable film I saw a couple of weeks ago, the hero has our sympathies right at the outset: he loses his good-guy father in an accident that he witnesses. Any further actions this character is involved in reminds us to keep this in mind (poor kid). The film is weak, as a direct result from this choice, not just because their choice was obvious. It was just easier. And easier is usually easy to see. This is why the great debate about Commerce vs. Art in film is largely moot. All popular art is sold but not all popular art is easy. Hell, even unpopular "hard" art sells. The idea that these choices are more conservative is something we all agree on. I think even the executives who clearly water down most Hollywood productions would agree to the label of conservatism via focus groups (i.e. they listen to focus groups). The real question is: does conservatism help or hurt the form? This happens in a lot of mainstream media. Is it really a good idea to put celebrities and headlines over all magazine covers? Maybe. But to me it just looks like one missed opportunity after another. Opportunities to carve our new niches, new interest, and as a direct result, new money. Crying "the reader will be confused" is like saying "I'm unsure of my role here." The details of our lives are like fine needlepoint. Easily lost when looking at the dress, but perhaps the defining characteristic of the dress. This stuff matters. It always has, it always will. Care is like fuel for art. ¶ Earlier this week I worked on a Mike Myers illustration that will be in this Saturday's National Post, Toronto section. Which is nice, because I'll be in Toronto.

Labels: Cinema, NationalPost, SitewayWorld, Train

¶ 12:58 PM

Siteway is eleven years old today which is to say I've been working on this online project since my late teens. That's striking to me, and more than a little dizzying, too. ¶ It's spring and that means a purge is coming. Old magazines, brochures, cards, and nick-nacks are on their way out the door. Not to mention tired clothes and shoes, too. ¶ Pauline finished school today. It's already over and it's the first time I've noticed the hourglass measuring our chapter here. We're still going to be hanging around these parts for a time (we start sailing soon!), but the meat of it is over and "in the can" as the creative professionals of various description are known to say. She did great, in this husband's opinion, and I don't mind writing so. She even took on her final-hour last exam with a degree of seriousness and focus that, well, floored me. Nicely played. ¶ It's just a start, but Pauline Hare's site is now online.

Labels: SitewayWorld

¶ 4:21 PM

Cherry blossom girl... ¶ Okay so we're in week two of Coastalmatic's short life. You can check the latest animation here and last week's here. ¶ A Siteway featured illustration of Quentin Tarantino was in the National Post last week. You can see a photograph of it here. ¶ Quietly reflecting on our extenda-weekend in Toronto reveals warm emotions and while writing this way can get uncomfortable, I will say that I had some rare quiet moments with many of those close to me and I'm extremely grateful for them. ¶ If you win some, and you lose some, then count me in. ¶ Just quickly in closing: I know I'm taking on another lofty who-cares-right-now experiment with Coastalmatic, and I know it's all a little vague. Especially the part about how all the sites are related. But there's a lot I've invested in these areas of my life and I'm serious about their full and complete development. Vagueness must scent character, and not dolls, after all.

Labels: Clear, Coastalmatic, Gratitude, NationalPost, SitewayWorld, Vague

¶ 12:43 AM

Recently I haven't articulated where I'm taking Siteway. This hasn't been sincerely an omission since I'm generally more interested, again recently, in showing versus telling. And, indeed, I can't quite promise an exposition here, but I can say that the vision I have for the Siteway sites is coming into focus. Without further ado, I present Coastalmatic. Man on a boat... is the first in a what I hope will be a series of animations. New every Tuesday. ¶ Still can't get enough of the gang in The Office. This week on Siteway, Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, SitewayWorld

¶ 4:53 PM

Ladies and gentlemen, a portrait of the late film director, Stanley Kubrick. Out on DVD, Tuesday: Color Me Kubrick. ¶ Lots of stuff to talk about soon, but I'm not quite there yet. I have the rest of my sites to launch, a new site for Pauline to complete, and dozens of illustrations on the go. Stay tuned for the public ones. ¶ I made chicken bizeli tonight.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, SitewayWorld

¶ 12:00 AM

Two Wednesdays ago we got a late start to our morning but our intentions were solid. We were going to visit Brooklyn. ¶ We had a few reasons to visit Brooklyn and one of them was simply to visit. We took the L train to Metropolitan. When we got to street level I was immediately reminded of the North End of Halifax. It has that distinctive wood panelling, low-rise, eastern-seaboard feel. I'm working on an illustration for an upcoming business in Brooklyn, and so we were also there to see the location. We bumped into my client and we chatted a little about the business and Williamsburg. After that we wandered over to Bedford Ave, I grabbed a midday pint and cheeseburger, and then we explored some more. ¶ I stopped into Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers (218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) and was tempted by many things. I ended up purchasing a postcard upon which I based this photo and an audio CD by David Lynch and Penguin Audio: Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity which is VERY good and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their lives vis. being able to do more of what you love in this life. ¶ In January I recorded myself draw a portrait of David Lynch. I'm very happy with the way these time-lapse animations are working out and intend to do more in this vein. ¶ I've temporarily removed The Art Game from the main navigation until I figure out the role of Art on Siteway. Until then, I've linked it to my photostream on flickr which is not only where friends and family can catch up on photos but also where I upload some of my illustrations.

Labels: Flickr, Heroes, NYC, SitewayWorld

¶ 4:41 PM

About a year in the works, I present the new design for Siteway. I've tried to strip things down, simplify the overall feel, and increase the real estate for illustrations. I haven't updated all the pages on Siteway so there will be some old pages mixed in with new ones. I'm using a font called Market Deco that I believe is freeware. It's quite handsome in this author's opinion. All I can find about its designer, Steve Ferrera, is this comment page. ¶ I promised a friend that I'd launch the new Siteway with a portrait of Shelly Duvall from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. And here she is.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, SitewayWorld

¶ 12:14 AM

I had an illustration in today's National Post (AL2) of Norah Jones. I've been illustrating for the Arts & Life section on a semi-regular basis since last May. I've been posting photographs of my illustrations that have appeared in the Post to my flickr account. You can check it out at thepost.siteway.com. ¶ I've decided to pull the plug on my CafePress store. I could probably articulate the reasons why but I think I'll just let time do the explaining. Right now the only place you can purchase Siteway related stuff is through my online store, Siteway Select. Oh, and my sister brand, Tonicville, has a store over at Prickie you can check out. ¶ We're hope hope going to NYC in late February. Now's the time to send me suggestions on where to eat, drink, and be merry. I've already set up one client meeting and I'm hoping to drop off my portfolio at the Esquire and Rolling Stone offices. ¶ And finally I want to say that the new Siteway site is coming along very well, thank you, and I'll be posting my launch date any day now. Stay tuned, illustration and vague-talk lovers, we've just finished the pre-dinner drinks. With any luck, we've got a full dinner ahead to look forward to. ¶ Cheers for the nod, Jason.

Labels: NationalPost, NYC, SitewaySelect, SitewayWorld, Vague

¶ 8:43 PM

The fall is in full swing which is just another way of saying that winter is around the corner. I'm sometimes so influenced by old media that require months of development that I think like a fashion editor might: it's already spring 2007. It's not a bad worldview, if you understand what it means. I'm not looking forward to spring or even believing it to actually be spring as much as I am simply acknowledging the speed of life. Time appears variable despite this framework, but I sometimes reduce my anxiety by taking for granted the unnerving speed at which it can sometimes travel (especially as the seasons are concerned). ¶ I've just boarded the VIA train at Union Station in downtown Toronto and my mind is already in the clouds. What would it take for me to do something for VIA in return for unlimited travel coupons? I'd really like that. So I am going to take home my copy of VIA Destinations magazine (on the cover it says: "take me home") and start by contacting them. Failing that I'll come up with a plan B, or something. FYI: the deal with wireless on the VIA train is $8.95 for unlimited usage in one 24-hour period. They have other plans, but that was the simplest one, and the one I chose. ¶ A young man seated in front of me has just tucked into a Harvey's double-burger combination meal with fries and a bottle of Coke (plastic). The smell is actually not as overwhelming as you might imagine. Just don't get me to be so patient when somebody tucks into a couple of stinky tacos from Taco Bell in the cinema. Come on, that's too much! ¶ There's plenty of good news on the illustration front as evidenced in part by some recent work in the National Post and TORO magazine. I've also had the fortunate opportunity to work with Bloomsbury USA for an upcoming book cover, a portrait of David Carter Beane in Advocate magazine, as well as a small Toronto-based company needing some identity help. As is so often the case, I'm of two minds about my career. On the one hand, I'm very pleased that I'm working more and delivering what I think are ever-improving illustrations in a style that I still feel very good about. On the other hand, I wonder what tomorrow holds. What role will portraits play in my future work? What about my growing desire to tell stories? How will the for-hire mesh with the for-sale? I don't know the answer, and I'm not wishing I did. I'm merely posing it and I've got to be honest: it's something I'm curious about. To that end, there's considerable amount of non-freelance projects that are keeping me busy. I'm attempting to relaunch the entire family of Siteway web sites. That's Siteway (here!), Phelts, Tonicville, and a new addition, Coastalmatic. I'm also back on the Final Straw train with a new hook and clearer direction. I don't know it all means, but I've been blessed with some good opportunities and a wonderful working environment in London. I just need to focus on a few choice milestones and really take this thing to another level, the recognition of which won't be noticed until I'm dreaming up the next chapter. ¶ We're pulling into Oakville and the train ride has been so far so great. Cheers Toronto, I'll see you again soon.

Labels: Freelancing, Londontown, SitewayWorld, Toronto, Train

¶ 10:47 AM

Although I'm not able to attend, I have a piece in Midnight Snack, an art show curated by Sarah Lazarovic, at the Beaver (1192 Queen Street West). The show opening is this Saturday, September 30, 2006, at 7pm. My piece is entitled Uncle Paully wants a Sausage. It's an unframed photographic print that measures 16"x20". ¶ Recently I've been spending hours a day designing the new Siteway sites (Siteway and the family of art brands therein: Tonicville, Phelts, and a surprise...) for an all-encompassing launch in 2007. I'm obviously excited about the new sites for a number of reasons: what they mean to me, how they're designed, where they're going, and everything in between. ¶ In other Siteway news, I'm now a proud member of Alternative Pick and today I'm actually member of the day.

Labels: ArtShow, SitewayWorld, Toronto

¶ 12:02 PM

We're in autumn now. ¶ I have my first North American national magazine illustration in this month's TORO magazine. It's of Brian Cox. On newsstands Tuesday. ¶ After a great list of suggestions I decided to draw Audrey Hepburn tonight. She's a classic, of course, but she's one of many recent portraits that I actually started many moons ago. I struggled then, but not as much tonight. It's always been true: practise is the best prescription. I'm so glad I decided to draw weekly portraits here on Siteway.

Labels: Freelancing, SitewayWorld

¶ 11:46 PM

I'm stealing a few moments during the working day to write because I honestly don't know when I'll have spare time in the coming days. Most people were overjoyed; they took to their boats. ¶ When I first met Ponitac, she lived in a tiny bachelor near St. Clair West station. It's far and away my favourite TTC station. ¶ I'm selling for cheap: framed Blow poster ($30) Update: sold. And the following Siteway framed prints: George Harrison ($90), Stanley Kubrick ($90), Martin Scorsese ($90), and Aristotle ($90). Pickup only Update: all sold. ¶ Do you live in San Francisco? Know any cool art galleries? Stuff only the locals know about? Drop me a line. ¶ It's been a hectic time but also, exciting. Malista!

Labels: Flickr, Lyric, San Francisco, SitewayWorld, Toronto

¶ 4:23 PM

I'm writing this from our hotel room in Sudbury, Ontario. Lovely spot. We drove up this morning. There was an accident just outside of Parry Sound which required us to detour. There was a nice gentleman on a motorcycle directing traffic until, I suspect, the OPP made it to the scene. We checked in, ordered room service, and I got down to work. Jimi Hendrix! First ever Siteway Weekly illustration not completed in Toronto (some of the original Siteway illustrations were completed in Nottingham, UK, but I started doing a weekly in Toronto in January 2005).

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, SitewayWorld, UK

¶ 8:46 PM

Genghis Kahn, illustrated with spectacles, in today's National Post. Arts & Life section. ¶ This is my 600th blog post to Siteway! ¶ What does your Toronto include? That's what Photojunkie wants to know, and he also wants to take your picture. I'm part of Rannie's latest project, and I thought that some of my readers might be interested as well. Check it out. ¶ We had a great yard sale on the weekend. Got rid of a tonne of excess, and met some interesting folks to boot. It was the small gentleman who read the back of all my VHS films that made me smile the most. And then there was the dude on his bike with "thousands" of video tapes who wanted to know if we had "software, you know what I mean" for sale. And finally, there was a gentle lady who couldn't afford Pauline's 25 cent frames. She seemed genuinely happy when we gave them to her at the end of the day for the low low price of 0 cents.

Labels: NationalPost, SitewayWorld, Toronto, Vague

¶ 11:01 AM

My fifth illustration for the National Post appears in Wednesday's Arts & Life section. It's of Ringo Starr, aka Richard Starkey. ¶ My mobile office will be born any day now.

Labels: NationalPost, SitewayWorld

¶ 4:13 PM

Update! PDF fixed. ¶ Ten years ago today I registered siteway.com. It's been a hell of a good time, let me say that for sure, and I hope everything evolves for another ten. I've put together an annotated timeline to help represent how an abstract entity can have metaphysical weight. By right-clicking or normal-clicking, download the PDF. If you're running Windows and are frustrated by PDFs because of the inefficient Acrobat plug-in, then make yourself happy and get Foxit Reader instead. Personally, I like to download my PDFs. But it's entirely up to you.

Labels: Nostalgia, PDF, SitewayWorld

¶ 11:59 AM

Receiving my eyeglasses today has given me, in tangible form, another dimension to what has been a month of exciting reckoning. On the first day of this month I gave up smoking cigarettes (sidebar: ever find it strange to read about cigarettes on a blog? I know I find it strange in part because it's so difficult to picture something so 1970s as smoke in the clean world of CSS beauty.) as part of what the marketers are calling Driven To Quit. It's a month-long contest encouraging folks who smoke to pack it in for at least a month. Successful cessation gives you an entry in a draw where prizes include a Honda Civic Hybrid and a bunch of huge flat televisions. So that was the impetus, and I'm happy to report that as of this writing I'm well on my way to succeeding. I go almost six years and 500 some-odd posts before I write about smoking and here I am with the second post in just a few weeks. ¶ So the weekend away in London, Ontario, provided me ample daydreaming time where I was able to picture my life there, starting in the fall. This sort of imaginary picturing is vital to my life. Pauline's going back to upgrade her BA from UWO and I'm there to continue building the Siteway business (including, but not limited to Siteway Select), designing as always, and generally enjoying my newlywed status. Part of my plan is to buy a workstation-replacement notebook and a smaller Wacom tablet to start the transition from home office to mobile office. Suggestions here are not only welcomed but encouraged. ¶ In other words: I'm slowly but surely making decisions about lifestyle and career that I've been putting on the backburner since I moved to Toronto. It nevers comes all at once, but this month has been an inspiring one because the work preceding it is actually bearing fruit. ¶ Off to Halifax in the morning. The blunt truth is that I haven't been looking forward to going home this much since the summer after first-year at Western. The reality is that my home is here now, but because I'm uprooting here and there for the next 24 months or so, and because I've never been able to show Halifax off to Pauline in the warmer months, I'm keen as a kitten. When I get back I've got a nice surprise for anyone who has ever taken an interest in Siteway and what I do online. ¶ P.S. The glasses are awesome. I can see. ¶ P.P.S. I don't think many of you know that I have a Flickr account. Check out some of my pictures.

Labels: Flickr, Londontown, Musings, SitewaySelect, SitewayWorld

¶ 2:02 PM

I've finished the eighth philosopher portrait: Arthur Schopenhauer. One more to go! After that I will be concentrating on the Matchstick eComic. I've also made slight changes here and there so make sure to clear your cache.

Labels: FeaturedIllustration, SitewayWorld

¶ 8:05 AM

Was floored by the flu this week. Am feeling much better now. Went to see Ghost Dog last week at the Broadway. It was excellent. Thanks to everyone that has voted for me. Keep the votes coming, and soon my banner will appear on that list. In other news, I have started compiling a film journal which will include a listing for every film I can remember seeing, where I saw it, and with whom. I think I can reach one thousand. When I do, I'll post it.

Labels: Cinema, SitewayWorld

¶ 9:52 AM

Thought I'd just point out that I'm trying to get some significant traffic to Siteway. One way you can help is by voting for my site if you like my caricatures. Thanks!

Labels: SitewayWorld

¶ 10:10 AM