The Eagle and the Flag

I've been seeing a lot of eagles lately.
I'm hoping to have a whole series to show at some point.  But I'm also trying to figure out what to do with some of the shots to make them more interesting.  
Like the picture I got of this cutie:

(detail)

So I simplified the background, and I liked the overall image.  It looked like something one might use to decorate something.

But I could't just leave it so simple, so I started trying other things,

And then it hit me, and I made this MASTERPIECE:

Because the only thing better than an eagle is an eagle wearing a pink captain's hat.  Am I right?  Probably.  Also probably right that you probably would want this on your wall, or t-shirt, or tattooed on your chest.  Probably.

(definitely noticing the difference whatever compression is being used to upload these to blogger-  I'll make sure they look correct when I eventually post them on my eventual for real website...)

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

2 things

One:  Animated time-lapse snow sculpture?  OK!

"The Snow of Man"
https://vine.co/v/MAVwMnDBEpM

Two:  A made-up fictional and also make-believe album cover?   Sure!

Sometimes I wish there was money in making fake album covers, but fake bands tend to have extremely low budgets...

Yes, I took even ANOTHER photo!

Experimenting with color-  Another random shot from the archives, with a slight color tweak...

(click to enlarge)


All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

Random Landscapes

This might be the last of my random scenic shots from the archives.  Other collections I might dig out at some point, or have yet to complete working on, but these are just a few that I took here and there, thither and yon.  

And in case you like rocky crags...

Studying telephone poles for a painting...

 And in case you wanted me to throw some upside-down paint in the sky...

 And lastly, if you don't mind, a little Burrard Inlet action.

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

Random Branches & Trees

Part 2 of my collection of random scenic imagery.  Here are random shots of branches and trees, with varying amounts of digital manipulation, and in various states of undress.  

Here is the slideshow (13 photos):

http://www.lifeisart.ca/temp/Branch&Tree/


Here are a few specimens:

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

Random Seascapes...

i've been going through old photos lately, and collecting together my favorites of those that don't belong to any particular collection or outing.  There have been a few scenic photos especially from this last year that I feel are worthy to share.  Some may even make for great big ol' prints to go up on a wall or two.  (Let me know if you are interested!)  

I have enough that I've tried to break them down by theme, so to begin the first of a few photo posts, here are some random seascapes:


Like this one near Stanley Park:

And these two at Cresent Beach:

And also these two from White Rock:

 (This one is my fave.  It'll look really good printed big on canvas)

Also this one from Richmond:

Plus more!
Click the link to see the full slideshow (17 photos)

http://www.lifeisart.ca/temp/Seascapes/

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

SNOW

So far, it's snowed everywhere but here this winter.  We live in Surrey, BC.  and we need some snow.  Soon.   Please.  I would really appreciate the snow.  Because then I can go back to doing things like this:    

Like making this guy in a pile at a Chucky E. Cheese parking lot.

Or this dead guy.

Or making this snow ant with farmer hat.

 Or carving this face into a ski slope.

I guess the point is, next time you fall down while skiing, take the time to carve something special into the slope, because people will wonder what you are doing and if you are OK.  And after all, isn't that what we really want?

Animatoring

From the archives... 
Years ago I tried making a little motion happen with frame-by-frame MS Paint drawings. I didn't have the heart to finish it, but I threw it up on YouTube today, because of the timeliness of it's political message.

Animatoring on Youtube

I'm a computer

Hey Kid.
Just edited this video, because sometimes videos need editing.

http://youtu.be/XMDfvZcUoeU

My cardboard + duct tape sculpture

Bearbot the Robobear is finished.  The bear of the future.  And I finally have the photos to prove it.

He's very photogenic. Click this link for the slideshow:

lifeisart-bearbot



















He's come a long way from being some cardboard boxes from Home Depot.
As you can see in the slideshow, he even has a "mystery compartment."  
(As do all bears of the future, I'm sure.)
The only problem is, he needs a new home.
He is very light, but also very sturdy.    Unlike most bears, he is great for just being there to throw your coat on, or a sandwich.
Let me know if you are interested, or have any suggestions as to where he should end up...


All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

get to work!!!

My head is too full of too many things.  it is about to explode. 
I started this blog as an outlet to get said things out of my head.

But at this point, I have half a hundred things, half-ready, to half-post.

So there's a bottle neck in this process somewhere...

When I figure it out, I'll let you know...

Sometimes I doodle on styrofoam cups. And so should you.

Wherever there are styrofoam cups, there is boredom.   

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

From my last Art Show...

New Monsters. Future People. ..was the title of this series of illustrations, from the last art show I participated in.    

The theme of the show was, "Drawing Tomorrow", so naturally I drew these...

And the inspiration for it all is this sketch I did which I hope to turn into a rather large painting someday soon.   So presumably this answers the question, "How do I feel about the future?"

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

Photographic Magic

Digital arts.  Here are SOME of the results of my recent explorations of what can happen when I use just light as my paintbrush.   I had taken a bunch of photos of lights a few years back that I started messing with.  Mostly Christmas tree lights.  The original photos themselves were rather fun.   But I started flipping, reversing, and combining them together, and I think I see a great deal of potential here...

I had some comments about what I see in some of these, but I'd rather hear your interpretation- leave me a comment!

Like a Rorschach test- what do you see?

For some reason the style of this one reminds me of Bjork's Vespertine album...

Why put a bird on it when you can add a tree?
(Also, I have bunch of photos of trees and branches I've been doing stuff with... to be posted later )

(And this is the one you may have seen in my blog's background.)

The bad news is that I was working from photos off an old camera with a pretty low file size,  so I'm not sure how big of prints I could get from these without doing some pretty creative upscaling.  But I'm excited to see what I can do with the equipment I have now.

+Lifeisartandwhatnot Facebook 

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

And then there were these...

Although most of these are also from a while back, they are among my more recent work.  Of the literally severals of dozens of ideas for works that I have conceived and even sketched out, these are the few that I managed to make time for over the last 5 years.   But this is just the beginning.   The arts pump has been primed.  Arts time will be made.  Art will march on.  I shall call it Artsmarch.


Art Imitates Art and other surprises, 36x30, acyrlic

 Hot Pink (the hazards of painting), 36x36, acrylic and graphite 

Release, 36x24, acrylic

Blue Jesus Playing a Green Sitar, 18x24, acrylic

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen

START WITH THE OLD...

NOBODY can say that I didn't post these old paintings.  not anymore.   Some of these go back about fifteen years, but I figured they should be archived somewhere...

Do this in Rememberance of me,  36x30 acrylic

 All we need is love, 11x16, acrylic

 Robobear, 14x10, acrylic

 Seattle, 48x24, acrylic

 Downtown, 36x24, acrylic

Chair, 48x24, acrylic 

 Heaven & Hell, 20x16, acrylic

The Great Bear of Judgement from the North, 2-panels 30x30,30x20, acrylic

This one is from my school days.

Who-who? 30x24, acrylic

This one is also from school daze.

All images © 2014 James Alfred Friesen