A Few Words About Yellow Snow

Detail from a lovely traditional Christmas card I got recently. You really have to wonder if that big patch of yellow snow was in the original art. Yes, I know it's supposed to be the golden glow in the window reflected on the snow, but that's not how it reads. Looks like either the toy shop or a large dog has a plumbing problem.

Or maybe I've just been spending too much time here.

Season's greetings to all!

Festive Fashion Tips

December is here again and with it the burning question WTF do I wear to (insert name of event here)?

Holiday partywear need not be expensive. For one thing, there is always something sparkly at your neighborhood thrift shop or vintage clothing store.

Do your research. Check out the windows at the mall for inspiration and a good idea of this season's look. Using this as a guide, you can find something that expresses your personal style, be it classic, edgy or eccentric. For example, there are a lot of 80s inspired looks this season. One of my best finds this season was an asymmetrical batwing top in black and grey stripes embellished with black crystals on the clearance rack at a high-end consignment store.

Of course, if you're a sewer, knitter or crafter, holiday parties are a great opportunity to show off your skills. One of my favourite sweaters is a sparkly purple bolero I knitted from a 1956 pattern.

Now, if only there was some way to make your own pantyhose ...

Nostalgia: Kimwipes, Quink and Eraser Toys

I stumbled upon a link recently to The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Some of the objects were before my time, but others bring back memories.

The set of metal-bodied Design markers, for example. Once they caught on, glass-bodied markers became obsolete and cheap. Great for starving art students. However, if one of them happened to roll off your drafting table, it shattered. Indelible ink and colourful shrapnel all over the studio floor. I found this out the hard way, with a process magenta marker, of course. Despite what you might have seen on Twitter, believe me, magenta is no lie.

Some of the tools in the museum, such as artists' buddies and kneadable erasers, are still used by sketchers and fine artists. Good riddance to rubber cement and its vile-smelling thinner, though. Thanks to digital design and layout, the studio of the 21st century smells okay.

Ginger and the Lost Weekend

While recovering from the flu recently I craved ginger chew candies. Not only were they soothing for a sore throat and queasy stomach, they provided an opportunity to compare two very different branding approaches for the same product.

The mascot for Ginger People's Ginger Chews is an anthropomorphic ginger root rendered in a realistic style. The happy little cannibal smiles as he snacks on what's essentially the boiled carcasses of others of his species. Cute, but a little disturbing. On the other hand, I love the GP logotype - modern and evocative of the Eastern roots of ginger confections.

Chimes ginger chew candies come in an old-fashioned tin. The long history of the company is emphasized by the elaborate early-1900s style artwork on the packaging. Three stylized moon faces along the side of the tin represent three important qualities of the candies - Smooth, Energizing and Satisfying. It's debatable how successful these drawings are. "Energizing" looks positively rabid enlarged on the front of the tin.

Neither brand of candy is easy to find here in Toronto. However, the Ginger People's ginger root character is easily identifiable in the handful of stores that carry their products. Although the Chimes tin looks interesting, I passed it by a couple of times before taking the time to pick it up and read it.

There's a reason why packaging design has become more simple and streamlined over the years!

Night of Pain, Kind of

Wanted to share some sketchbook pages from a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't a bad night at all, but there was an underlying theme of pain.

Had an appointment at the tattoo parlor before my drawing class. Dozed off during my other one, so it was a complete surprise that this one hurt like a sonofabitch. Location, location, location, apparently. A well-inked friend tells me that the waist/hip area is one of the most painful places.

Arrived at Dr Sketchy's early. Plenty of time to check out the art in the front room, which included a huge painting of a dinosaur fight. Ironically, one of the dinosaurs had a bite out of its body in exactly the same place my new tattoo was. I could relate ...

The drawing session proceeded pretty well despite a little more beer consumption than usual. At one point I realized that the model hadn't accessorized his outfit with a necklace or a sweater chain. Nope, this was a piece of S&M paraphernalia -- OW! Spose you'd go numb after a while, but again, ow!

That's all I've got this time out.

Nuit Blanche Notes

Best one yet.

Exhibits and events were grouped in a smaller area, cutting down on the amount of aimless wandering around looking for the next attraction. There was a free shuttle bus between Nathan Phillips Square and the Distillery District. We were better prepared, too, with a good idea of what to see. No pre-drinking this year - consequently no time wasted in ridiculously long washroom queues.

En route to the Distillery District, we passed through the Eaton Centre, where retailers and fast food outlets were getting into the spirit. Nice idea to show a film on the screen outside Canadian Tire, but not too many vantage points that weren't in the path of some kind of traffic. A light and sound installation, Speed Shift Toronto, made interesting use of an existing billboard. Couldn't help thinking the security guards patrolling nearby could've been more festive - some glowsticks, maybe?

Saw the early stages of Battle Royal, the art wrestling event at the bus terminal. A half dozen blindfolded participants bounced off each other, the walls and the floor.

The "independent events" in the Distillery District were well-attended, but not as insanely crowded as in the lower half of Zone A. Became part of an epic fail, apparently, by coming upon an audience participation exercise at the wrong moment shortly after arriving. Fantastic dance/acrobatic performance by HerciniArts incorporating the existing sculptures in the courtyard. Some great clothes in the Art of Fashion exhibit, particularly Heidi Ackerman's Iconic Power collection. Most of the art galleries were open all night. Outstanding photography in projet 8 secondes at the Thompson Landry Gallery.(http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=B&mapID=29)

Like Battle Royal, BeneCorpo's Totemic Systems environment allowed the public to choose between active participation and passive watching. You could become part of the exhibit by choosing a costume and playing a role. In both cases there were far more watchers than doers - unadventurous or just not fond of lineups?

My overall favourite exhibit was Photo Secrets. The secrets ranged from poignant ("I'm not good enough for you. I'm afraid you'll find this out") to cheeky ("I named my vibrator after you"), and they were projected on a random sequence of photos. More on this at http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/iProjects.aspx?zone=B&rowID=12

Took the free shuttle bus took us back to City Hall, just in time to see an impromptu dance on top of the Archer. Hope this didn't have anything to do with the sirens we heard shortly afterward.

Ended the experience as we began - wandering through the Eaton Centre, still teeming with people, toward dinner and drinks. Might as well take advantage of the extended bar hours, right?