The Flying Trilobite

Regaining That Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 01:48:00 +0000

The eternal debate. After the toddler is good and asleep, do I stay up late and work on contracts? Or get up extra early in the morning?

Mug design by Glendon Mellow, commissioned by Scicurious

Back when I worked at the art store (before the kid) I would get up around 5a.m. and make art or blog. Then, I'd be thinking about what I had worked on all day and I'd feel good about it. But something happened after being a stay at home dad for almost a year. I've become a night person. An ineffective, exhausted, but can't-get-to-sleep night person.

So I needed something stronger than coffee to help. Something to help me regain that edge.

That's right: two coffees.

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
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Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

A Few Flying Trilobite Facebook Stats

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:20:00 +0000

After The Flying Trilobite reached 600+ Likes on Facebook recently, I thought I'd take a look at some of the stats.

Click to enlarge. As of 9 June 2013.

The stat I like best is that among my most popular age range, 25-34 year olds, the gender divide is pretty close to even. Nice to know my niche paintings are close to gender neutral in appeal.

Another stat you don't see here, is that though I currently have 580+ friends on Facebook, only 191 of them also Like the art page. For a long time, I've mostly posted separate items on the wall, saving the double-posts for ones I found the most important. Now I'm not so sure if I should bother. Maybe I'll post things at different times of day so it's less repetition in people's streams (though they could silence one or the other).

Facebook is also giving me $50 of advertising money since I hit 600 Likes: not sure yet what I'll do with it. See if I can post an animated gif of a flying trilobite being swatted with a flyswatter?

What is it readers like about the page? Let me know!

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

Tip-Top Steam-Powered Robot

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Pencil drawing painted on my iPhone 4 with Sketch Club. I think this one is complete now.

Trilobite Boy Leaping

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:58:00 +0000

Quick lunchtime sketch

Trilobite Boys - Big Plans, Little Brains

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:36:00 +0000

A real birthday treat!

Morgan Jackson, sent me this wonderful mash-up via Twitter this morning:

He even dug deep into my bloggy archives and included Ana and her pet Opabinia!

Thanks Morgan! Funny stuff. And yeah, his Trilobite Boy's (or should I call him T-Boy? Seems more appropriate) habit of wearing white tanks fits in perfectly. I'll have to illustrate him in plaid next.

Love this.

Old Timey Art in Awe of Science

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Fri, 31 May 2013 03:21:00 +0000

Bunch of Maggots

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:14:00 +0000

Quick lousy sketch after listening to a lousy radio program by Toronto's Mayor.

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

Smudgy Clouds and Art Conventions

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:08:00 +0000

Sometimes real life looks kind of fake. Or it would if you tried to paint it. Lurid pink, purple and orange sunsets. Up close detail of tree bark.

Or this morning's low hanging clouds over Toronto. They look like poor use of the Photoshop smudge tool.

When painting, we sometimes stick to conventions based on viewer expectation instead of what nature actually looks like. It's rooted in the same impulse that children use when always picking blue for colouring skies even though in they may just as often be grey.

1st Astronaut Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:24:00 +0000

Our son Calvin, age 2, watching Commander Hadfield sing Bowie's Space Oddity a few hours before touchdown.

Calvin tried to sing along about "he puts on his helmet" and "big giant Jupiter in the sky-y-y..."

Stegoceras sketch ii

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:14:00 +0000

Refined this sketch a little more on my lunch break today. Getting me warmed up for a late night binge of drawing commissions.

Bora Zivkovic to Visit Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:35:00 +0000

The Blogfather himself, Bora Zivkovic of Scientific American, ScienceOnline, OpenLab and circadian-rhythm-awesomeness is coming to Toronto next week!

Bora will be giving a talk at my alma mater York University, about Science and the New Media Ecosystem from 2:00-3:30.

Here's the deets:

Science and the New Media Ecosystem
Bora Zivkovic, Blog Editor at Scientific American
Monday, May 6, 2013, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Paul Delaney Gallery, Room 320, Bethune College
York University, TorontoMap
Abstract:The whole media landscape is shifting and changing – newspapers on the decline with blogs, Twitter and YouTube on the rise.
Science is no different. Come listen to one of the pioneers of online science communication talk about how this new media landscape is shaping how science is done, evaluated and communicated in an increasingly connected world.

John Dupuis, the Science Librarian with Bora Zivkovic from ScienceOnline2012.

There's also going to be a tweet-up Monday night! Check out the Facebook page, and here's the info: Monday May 6th, 7pm Duke of York Tavern. Map. Thanks so much to John Dupuis for organizing these events, (and Romeo Vitelli for starting the FB page!)

Both events are open to the public. I'll be at the tweet-up for sure, so say hi to the guy with the winged trilobite tattoo on his arm!

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

Trilobite Boy - band poster

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:30:00 +0000

More goofing around with the Halftone app. Just need to put a date, time and venue on this one.

From this original oil painting.

TRILOBITE FTW!

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:10:00 +0000

Stupid Asthma

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:58:00 +0000

Asthma Incubus Distressed © Glendon Mellow

Woke up at 4am because it hurts to breathe. Stupid asthma.

A painting I did in ArtRage, run through a filter in the Halftone app.

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

Dimetrodon Sphinx, painted on my iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Over the past few years, I've done more versions of this character and image than I can count. It's an exercise in poor background environment planning. These are no different.

My idea for the Dimetrodon Sphinx goes back quite a ways, but at its root has to do with my love for blending mythology and prehistoric creatures, much like the chimaeric flying trilobites. If the Sphinx is an archetype of ancient tricks and wisdom, I thought a predatory dimetrodon is sufficiently old and strange enough to create a half-human with. I have some further ideas for her, and she'll be appearing in the ebook story I've started working on.

So here are a couple of versions of my Dimetrodon Sphinx drawing painted using Sketch Club on my iPhone 4; square ones were put through Instagram afterward.

Pleased with the sky in this one.

Out of the four of them, I like this one best.

See other versions here.

Here's the drawing I started from. Should have taken the time on the iPhone to highlight her lizardy feet and human hands some more.

Oh, that? That's my ego.

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:39:00 +0000

Pic of my revamped studio space.

The hovering blob of heavenly light is my ego, caught on film with a Victorian spiritual technique. Most people have guttering candle flames of light; but I'm an artist.

Snails of Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:59:00 +0000

Calvin has been meeting some of the ants and snails in the neighbourhood.

Edit: Here's a fun tweet I received in response to the post!

@flyingtrilobite Nice! Great pics of interesting Cepaea hortensis invaders from Europe.
— BJLS (@BiolJLinnSoc) April 19, 2013

@flyingtrilobite Looking again, they probably C. nemoralis because of dark lips! Also both 5-banded yellow morph; 2nd has all bands fused.
— BJLS (@BiolJLinnSoc) April 20, 2013

Don't Make Wombats Explode

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:07:00 +0000

This has been a public service announcement of The Flying Trilobite.

Little Stegoceras Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:26:00 +0000

I think I might refine this a little more. What an intriguing, alien looking skull.

As cartoonist Peter Cook (@doodletronicsp) remarked while we stood sketching at the Royal Ontario Museum last weekend, "Mr. Giger would approve".

And so do I.

Strong Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 03:35:00 +0000

Gay marriage in Canada has been around about as long as my marriage to Michelle. It has in no way been a detriment to the country. Here's hoping things change in the U.S. and the rest of the world faster than they have so far.

When we were married, we had a Unitarian minister. I'm an atheist, and my wife's belief system is not up to me to say. It felt strange inviting friends who are part of the LGBT community to our wedding if it wasn't something they could take part in. Unitarian ministers at the time were administering unions to gay couples, so: if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for us. A small gesture (did our family and friends even know? I'm not sure), but we felt it was important.

Married at Victoria College at the University of Toronto under stained glass depicting Kant(I think?), Newton, Ben Franklin and Columbus. Three wise men and a guy who can't steer a boat.

Anyway the point of this trip down memory lane is this: our marriage is stronger when it is something all couples can do. Here's hoping for my American friends.
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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

Art Barrage

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:52:00 +0000

Gutting my studio space and tossing old supplies I'll never use. This also has the added effect of cleaning up the front hall, since that's where my studio is.

The big question: barrage visitors to our home by hanging all my paintings in a giant egotistical monument to my awesomeness, or store them neatly in the corner?

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Portfolio
Blog
Print Shop

Find me on Symbiartic, the art+science blog on the Scientific American Blog Network!

S I X

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:43:00 +0000

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

And now,

Six.

The Flying Trilobite blog is six years old today.

Sketches Better Than Paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 17:47:00 +0000

Sometimes I wonder if the sketches look better than the paintings.

Trilobite Boy with Gargoyles - sketch.

Trilobite Boy with Gargoyles - complete.

There's something about the scratchiness of it I don't usually retain in the finished pieces. That's why I think I'm enjoying drawing and then placing the original drawing over the digital painting on a multiply layer. I'm catching the scratchiness a bit better.

Avimimus - pencil drawing.

Avimimus - painted using the Sketch Club app on my iPhone.

If I Had Google Glass

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:17:00 +0000

I am Canadian, not American, but... #ifihadglass I would record the collision of science and art through my painting, through research and through making something new. Sharing my perspective from my perspective on our greatest ability, the ability to make things that never before existed. #ifihadglass I would share creation.

Google Glass looks cool with a hoodie. I own hoodies.

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Google's rules ask for a 50 word or less answer to what you would do if you had Google Glass. Above is mine.

I cannot win since I am Canadian. But I haven't been this inspired by technology for my art since I saw a painting done on an iPad for the first time. I still haven't been able to budget for an iPad (I hope to change that in the next 6 months) but now...

I don't know exactly how to describe it. With Google Glass, I picture gathering my materials, snapshots, calling up past sketches from my blog before my eyes as needed, and embarking on a new painting. Snippets of video of brush on canvas, of Wacom pen on graphic tablet.

My new book idea on a Guide to Flying Trilobites, a send-up on scientific inquiry, plus a document of the creation behind it. A book about the blind spots in science, with my own blind spots available for the audience to see and experience as viewers while I create.

Holy monkey, I need Google Glass. Without it, I'm still here blogging. You create with what you have.

Merry Darwin Day 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Glendon Mellow) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:51:00 +0000