sycla: illustration & photo

website change

2008-03-07T06:41:00.002-05:00

after a more-than-six-month hiatus, i now update my illustrations on a friend of mine's website. Visit www.let-off.com to see my illustrations and photos.

thanks, blogger. too bad you were bought out by google. but that's business, it seems.

aceo art cards 1

2007-07-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

"climber," "tibetan free bird," "hilltop." multiple media.
date begun: 21st july, 2007.
date completed: 22nd july, 2007.

artist comments: these are my first three attempts at 'art cards,' which i'll put up for sale on e-bay later this evening. all are pen on paper, with watercolor pencils for colouring/tinting. the rock climber piece also used charcoal stick for grey shading.

being out of work, i'm still looking for methods to make a little cash on the side. selling artwork is as good as any other method. better than plenty, actually...

big thanks goes out to my friend and colleague tracey, who inspired me to do these works.

these images protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

photo: four quarters farm

2007-06-01T10:12:00.001-04:00

i took a trip out to artemas, pennsylvania on memorial day weekend to participate in the alleghany mountain green festival, which was a two-day event focused on promoting sustainable living, alternative power sources, and simpler living. it took place at a wondrous campground/retreat/sanctuary called four quarters farm, which is somewhere in the middle of the woods a mile north of the maryland/pennsylvania border. below are some of the pictures I'd taken of the trip. a handful of friends and acquaintances attended the festival with me (you'll see a glimpse of most of them below).

to be honest, I'm only satisfied with a handful of the pictures I took on this "vacation." i've been quite stressed as of late, and I haven't been taking care of myself as well lately; i think some of the photographs indicate that, particularly the first. this trip out of town was more of an escape than I realized at the time. it was exceptionally restful, fruitful, and rejuvenating; it's a pity the photographs really don't do it justice. of course, the visual surroundings are only a fraction of the entire experience, so of course pictures are unable to capture the entire "thing."

all of these photographs were taken with disposable kodak funsaver cameras with 800-speed film.

i used to take "before and after" pictures of myself all the time, prior to trips out of town. this one clearly depicts my sunny disposition prior to the car ride.
i drove past a truck that was transporting some sedan circa 1920's on a trailer. there are a couple pictures of it here.
picture two, taken one-handed as i drove past.
another one-hander as i drove past the vehicle a second time.
the further west you drove in maryland, there were more roads that were cut through mountains with dynamite. this and the next blurred shot are from one of those roadways; the striations of various rock layers can been seen on these roads.

crappy road shot number two; i think i took this one over my shoulder.
one of my housemates (the one two whom i'm referring is also my landlord) is a big fan of mushrooms, and has casually studied and cultivated his own for organic farming, focusing primarily with the 'mycelium' layer that is found in the undergrowth. these two patches of mushrooms were found in my chosen camping area; hopefully he will be able to identify them when he sees these.
mushroom patch number two.
one of several shots taken along the water. the campground is more or less along a peninsula, encircled by this stream which is at various points ranging from six inches to six feet in depth. my only lament is that the majority of these shots are too dark.
water, stone and trees along the bank.
another thing about these previous three spots is that i simply looked to my right, then straight ahead, then left, snapping pictures at each perspective from the same point.
a low shot highlighting the marsh grasses that grew sporadically at the eddies along the stream.
some of the mud-stained stones along the bank.
i really like this one; i neglected to use the flash, but it seems like it was a good thing.
ugly leg featured here. as i hiked, i picked up an inchworm. i saw many of them during my three-day stay.

more of the stream; i think i attempted to capture some of the rock faces on the opposite bank, but i was largeley unsuccessful.
a nice shot that captures the water and reflections, the trees, and some of the sky.
a large, sloping rock face that i later visited during my stay. i sat on that bank and watched crayfish feeding in the waters for at least twenty minutes. water life is fascinating stuff.
a tree that, at sometime in the past, had been swept over by water. some stones are perched within a hollowed out bole in the tree trunk.
this weathered tree has a remarkable texture and colouring.
a derelict washing machine was found along my trek.

washing machine, from the opposite side.
if there is one shot that comes closest to capturing the essence of my retreat, it would be this one. i took a picture of the same location later that night, where the moon peeked through the trees, but it didn't develop. technically speaking, i'm happiest with this particular photograph out of the whole lot of them.
four of my five acquaintances are pictured here; i woke up long before they did on sunday morning. the other, a woman i know who helps run another non-profit, was the fifth person; she's out wandering the forest or something at the time this was taken.

i'm also quite happy with this particular photograph. it's a location along the dirt road leading to the camp proper, perhaps a mile away from our campsite.

me, when i'd just finished packing the car to drive home. this is probably the last picture i have of my car when it still worked. i was sad to go, and grateful of the time i'd spent there.

these photographic images protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: citrus

2007-05-17T08:01:00.000-04:00

"citrus," for illustration friday. pen (rapidograph-style) on sketch paper.

date begun: wednesday, 17th may, 2007.
date completed: wednesday, 17th may, 2007.

artist comments: don't ask. hey--at least there's an orange in it.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

anger

2007-05-12T02:38:00.000-04:00

I AM FUCKING LIVID IN REGARDS TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARKING SITUATION.

...it was necessary to vent that somewhere of little consequence. thanks for the indulgence.

illustration friday: neighbour

2007-05-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

"neighbour," for illustration friday. pen (rapidograph-style) on paper.

date begun: 6th may, 2007.
date completed: 6th may, 2007.

artist comments: screen shot captured from a scanned pdf of the original work. i drew this one while at a show last night at the art space.

i think this one's pretty funny. big thanks to JB, fellow board member, who recommended the calendar and wood paneling on the walls.
---

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

photo: ocean city, md, usa.

2007-05-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

the following are photographs from my recent americorps retreat to ocean city. we spent about three days and two nights at a superb condo between oceanside and bayside (ocean city is one, long island, with a portion of the chesapeake bay and its tributaries along its western side), right along 5th street and philadelphia road. descriptions follow each picture, where applicable.

this is the first photo i took. my current m.o. is to purchase a disposable camera, and use it to take pictures (instead of investing in a worthwhile camera). this camera in particular was encased in plastic, which apparently made it waterproof.

for the shots of the shore, i attempted to capture nothing but the beach and nature. but of course the city snuck in there for several of them. i blame it on the viewfinder.

because it was so windy, there were all sorts of oddly-weathered sand hills and remnants of sandy cliffs along the shore. some cheesy hotels highlight the background of this one.

along certain segments of the beach, ocean city has placed rocky barriers (the official name escapes me at the moment) to ease erosion.

the rocks along this row in particular were studded with barnacles. for some reason, i was fascinated with them. i didn't want to take a picture of them too close, for fear of the photo completely blurring out.

i tried to catch a number of waves crashing on the rocks with this camera; i was moderately successful. the low-speed film always makes water crappy.

more rocks on the water.

good thing i splurged for that waterproof camera.

hell no, i'm not perfect. that's a silhouette of my head as the picture is snapped.

more shots of water on the rocks. one of my team mates made it into this one (dang viewfinder).

here are two of my team members, investigating one of the rocky outcroppings along the shore.

earth, sea, and sky 1.

these unlucky lumps are the remnants of my monday afternoon sandcastles. an errant wave turned this into a low-budget rendition of 'swamp castle.'

again, with the hotels interrupting my VISION.

it was quite windy the first day we arrived at the shore, and there were some honest-to-goodness dunes. these were shaped by the wind.

dunes texture 2.

this is a picture of two of my team members, along with my supervisor (center).

"god bless 'merica. best election." 'nuff said.

snakes on a muthafuckin' beach!

earth, sea, and sky 2.

construction was taking place incessantly along the boardwalk, sporadically placed. this was a 75' long auger bit, i assume used to dig post holes for support of the massive pylons or pillars that hold up those multi-unit hotels we all love.

es hoy, indeed.
---

these photographs protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: remember

2007-05-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

"remember," for illustration friday. pen (uni-ball) on paper.

date begun: 1st may, 2007.
date completed: 1st may, 2007.

artist comments: this is a TIFF file scaled down from its original size. kinda blotchy, but it works for me just the same. i drew this while on a three-day retreat to ocean city, md (usa) with my fellow americorps members. i started drawing at maybe 11:00pm, then didn't finish until half past 12 in the morning. the next day we drove back home.

when i was maybe four years old, i came up with the concept of my dream job. i wanted to be an ice cream man, because i thought that on my days off i could eat all the ice cream i wanted. well, nowadays, i don't eat any dairy and i don't want to be an ice cream man anymore. but it's still an amusing notion. this is an 'imaginary self portrait,' depicting me if i had my four-year-old's-mind dream job.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: polar

2007-04-24T09:43:00.000-04:00

"polar," for illustration friday. ink (pen and marker) on paper.

date begun: 24th april, 2007.
date completed: 24th april, 2007.

artist comments: i clearly needed to remind myself to maintain a sense of humour about things today. this picture was finished in less than an hour, and i think it was a lot of fun. it reminds me of a power rangers villain or something similar.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: i spy...

2007-03-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

"i spy..." for illustration friday. ink and charcoal on paper.

date begun: 24th march, 2007.
date completed: 25th march, 2007.

artists' comments: when i began this one, i really wasn't impressed. truth be told, i wasn't so inspired by the subject this time around. however, i eventually settled on an image similar to the infamous 'eye impalement' scene from lucio fulci's zombie. once i finished, i was more pleased with the final product.

i started the piece while sitting at the box office at a rock show on saturday night. the picture totally doesn't mesh well with the music that was played that evening...!

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: total

2007-03-22T08:12:00.000-04:00

"total" for illustration friday. pen and charcoal on paper.

date begun: 21 march, 2007.
date completed: 21 march, 2007.

artist comments: eh, I should have left out the charcoal. this is another 'workplace scan,' but i attempted a different method this time. i scanned it as a pdf, took a screen shot, cropped it, and finally saved it as a png file. i really wish i had more time to do a decent scan every once in a while. i looked at my own hand for modeling in this one, twisting my left hand around so i could look at it at the proper angle. i totally winged the face, though. notice the lack of eyelashes? generally speaking, i usually create less negative pictures if i draw during the daytime, or over several days. this one was completed in less than an hour last night.

regarding the subject matter: i attended a city council meeting last night, where representatives from the police department talked about gang violence in baltimore, and showed various images of gangs and their signs, tags, and such. i had an idea for this piece, but it was changed a little bit when i came home from the meeting and i couldn't fall asleep right away even though i was physically tired.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: communication

2007-03-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

"communication," by sycla. charcoal and ink on paper.
date begun: 7 march, 2007
date completed: 17 march, 2007

artist comments: sorry the cropping is a bit off. but anyway, i'm very happy with the combination of charcoal and ink these days. there's a lot more depth and tone to the last two pieces i've completed when compared to most of the other ones. and i can still stipple...!

regarding the subject matter: i bought flowers for someone a couple weeks ago; it was the first time since i can remember that i'd actually bought them (maybe the last person i'd bought them for was my mother). they were very well-received, so i recommend it to everyone. that, and mail art. but buying flowers was originally the inspiration for this one, because even though there may not be a card packed along with them, it's pretty clear that you mean good, positive vibes for someone when you give them fresh flowers. also, the night i finally started this piece, i used some actual flowers as a model for the ones i drew; the performer at the space that night received a flower delivery that evening, and i drew them while at the box office desk.

...and yeah, i know "communication" is like three weeks late. i've been working on a grant proposal. literally nothing else was done until the proposal went in the post.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: gravity

2007-02-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

"gravity," by sycla. pen and charcoal on paper.

date begun: 18 february, 2007.
date completed: 22 february, 2007.

artist comments: i think i found a style i really like. my hands become rather messy, but it's a small price to pay, says i.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

illustration friday: crash

2007-02-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

"Crash" for illustration friday. triptych, charcoal on paper.
date begun: 14 February, 2007.
date completed: 14th February, 2007.

artist comments: it's great to be back, illustration friday. i missed you. :)

a really strange effect happened with these illustrations. i'm at work, so i used the photocopy machine to save tiff graphics on the server. i then downloaded the tiffs to my machine, scaled them down a bit, then saved them as png files. they ended up looking like this: much grainier than the originals. however, i like the effect of stark contrast in these. a little subtlety is lost, but not too much.

i've been experimenting with sequential artwork, and storyboarding. can you decipher the situation? feedback is always appreciated.

these works protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Test of Conviction

2007-01-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

"Test of Conviction," ink pen on paper.

Date begun: maybe 14th January, 2007.
Date completed: 20th January, 2007.

Artist comments: "Test of Conviction" is actually from a book of Chinese Fairy Tales. I took the one-page story and put it into pictures on twice as many pages. As far as I can see, it's not too bad for doing no preliminary sketches, no pencilling beforehand, and having only a rudimentary conceptual layout prior to putting pen on paper. The end of the second page shows this rather clearly, I'd say. There's only one panel I definitely wish I did differently; the one showing the two of them traveling to the fortress is just way too busy for my tastes.

This isn't for Illustration Friday or anything like that. It's a story I found amusing, and I just felt like seeing what I would create. Incidentally, I would have used PNG files, but they wouldn't fit on a 3 1/2-inch floppy disc (WinZIP never did a damn thing for graphics files...). I had to use JPG files, which in my opinion is second-best in terms of quality and file size.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

10 in 20: "crystallography"

2007-01-02T09:51:00.000-05:00

Artist Comments: The idea behind this exercise was to visually brainstorm a random word, and see what I could come up with. I set my materials and my alarm clock to one side, took my mini-dictionary in hand, and resolved to make 10 pictures in 20 minutes. I timed myself for 2 minutes on each sketch I did, frantically re-setting the alarm as I turned the page.

I originally hatched the idea for this sort of thing back in the spring of 2005, when I drew ten self-portraits of myself in a half hour, using a Sharpie marker on paper. Nearly two years later, here's another iteration of the same exercise. I like the idea of doing exercises in short amounts of time; it tends to focus my energies and efforts when I set limitations or a framework upon myself. I recommend it to everyone, especially if you've never tried it.

For this first "10 in 20," the word I first looked at in the dictionary was "crystallography." At the outset, I hadn't a clear idea of the word's definition. Here it is, from dictionary.com:

(noun) the science dealing with crystallization and the forms and structure of crystals.

For some reason, blogger didn't post the pictures in order, though I uploaded them sequentially. I can't be bothered to try and re-order them. Not like it makes much difference, anyway; it's not a narrative.
Media: charcoal stick on paper.
All pictures completed between 9:40 and 10:00pm, Monday, 1st January, 2007.

these works protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Doodle: goalkeeper

2006-12-11T21:15:00.000-05:00

"this goalkeeper is fucked," black ink (rapidograph-style pen) on white paper.

Artist's Comments: Another fun doodle from the weird music night.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Doodle: lovely sausage

2006-12-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

"lovely sausage," black ink (rapidograph-style pen) on white paper.

Artist's Comments: Okay, so they were playing some really strange music at the theatre space, and this came out. It was a fun night. Kind of a mockery (okay, a complete mockery) of the "this is a pipe" painting, but with the same sense of humour involved.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Doodle: bed-ridden

2006-12-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

"bed-ridden," ball-point pen on the back of a note card.

Artist's Comments: Drew this at the theatre space during one of our performances. The actor was describing her invalid father, wasting away in a hospital bed, and this came to mind.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Thanksgiving

2006-11-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

"Thanksgiving," for Illustration Friday. Graphite pencil on paper.

Date begun: 19th November, 2006.
Date completed: 20th November, 2006.

Artist comments: The scan didn't turn out as well as I'd expected (pencil turned out to be much lighter than ink, even in grayscale scanning), which is a shame.

If I wrote in anything other than capital, block-print letters, that's what my handwriting would look like.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Smoke

2006-11-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

"Smoke," for Illustration Friday. One week late (I was out of town). India ink and charcoal on note paper.

Date begun: 15th November, 2006.
Date completed: 15th November, 2006.

Artist comments: For those of you who are curious, I took the quote at random from the Tao Te Ching.

This is another one for which I used my recently-purchased art materials. I put a couple layers of india ink on there, then added the text with charcoal as an eleventh-hour addition.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Clear

2006-11-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

"Clear," for Illustration Friday. Ink and acrylic on the back of an index card.

Date begun: 15th November, 2006.
Date completed: 15th November, 2006.

Artist comments: I spent much of last week in Vermont helping some friends of mine build their home. This is what I saw while I was there. I miss it already.

I used some of my new art materials for this one! Craigslist is great for finding cheap stuff.

For the stars, I discovered that whenever I used the white india ink, it soon disappeared when absorbed into the paper. So I took a carpentry nail and dipped it in white acrylic to make those.

Anyone with ink watercolor tips, please post them. Thanks!

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Wind

2006-10-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

"Wind," for Illustration Friday. Black ink (rapidograph-style pen) on white notecard.

Date began: 29th October, 2006.
Date completed: 30th October, 2006.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Ghost

2006-10-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

"Ghost," for Illustration Friday. Black ink (rapidograph-style pen) on the back of an index card.

Date begun: 23rd October, 2006.
Date completed: 23rd October, 2006.

Comments: This is more a collection of doodles as opposed to a complete composition. There's some cool stuff happening on the bottom of the page, and I considered cropping it somehow, but I figured the stuff near the top also deserved some merit. It just looks muddled when all taken together. Maybe next time.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Smitten

2006-10-17T22:57:00.000-04:00

"Smitten," for Illustration Friday. Black ink (Sharpie and rapidograph-style pen) on the back of a cardstock flyer.

Date begun: 17th October, 2006.
Date completed: 17th OCtober, 2006.

Comments: What can I say? I like this one. Makes me want to go back to scratchboard...would have been a lot quicker and less streaky, anyway.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Trouble, v2

2006-10-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

"Trouble," my second try. Black ink (rapidograph-style pen) on index card.

Date began: 11th October, 2006.
Date completed: 11th October, 2006.

Comments: I finished this one when I realized if I kept shading the thing, I would have made it a mess. So it ended up much lighter than my other works. Maybe I'm still feeling ill, but I do like this style. Very loose, casual, and still understandable. Though things appear unfinished, when you look at the whole, it seems done. Composition for this one is much more solid than the previous "trouble" entry. Maybe that's what 'makes' it for me. Plus, this one reminds me of recent history; interesting that I caught it in a picture.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Trouble

2006-10-09T19:10:00.000-04:00

"Trouble," for Illustration Friday. Black ink on the back of a white index card, cropped to its current size.

I know this one isn't the best; I was sick and not feeling well this weekend when I made it.

Date begun: 8th October, 2006.
Date completed: 8th October, 2006.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Quiet

2006-10-05T22:25:00.000-04:00

For the illustration friday topic "Quiet." In black ink (rapidograph-style pen and Sharpie) on the back of a cardstock flyer.

Date begun: 6th October, 2006.
Date completed: 6th October, 2006.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Phobia

2006-09-24T17:15:00.000-04:00

"Phobia," for Illustration Friday. Black ink on cardstock paper.

I used a black Sharpie marker and rapidograph-style pen on a bit of cardstock for this one.

Date begun: 24 Sept, 2006.
Date complete: 24 Sept, 2006.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.

Illustration Friday: Change

2006-09-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

"Change," a week late for Illustration Friday. Black ink on cardstock.

I used a Sharpie marker and a rapidograph-style pen on the back of a flyer for this illustration.

Date begun: 24 Sept, 2006.
Date completed:24 Sept, 2006.

this work protected by a creative commons license. more information is available on the main page.