What A Kerfuffle! An Art Blog.

Foster the People Cartoon (Mark Foster, Cubbie Fink, and Mark Pontius)

2012-01-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

It was about a year ago that a friend of mine told me to check out Foster the People's self-titled EP, which I instantly loved for the excellent song "Houdini". Since then Foster the People have become massive around the world with the release of their superb debut LP Torches. Good work guys, you deserve it!

I decided to draw this picture, since they looked like just three "normal guys hanging out, having fun" in a 1970s basement. Plus Mark Foster's jacket is wonderful! You may be wondering why did I choose to draw tiny copies of Harvest, Revolver and Blur's Best Of records on the carpet? Well, FtP have covered "Heart of Gold" live and they also have stated that they love the Beatles and Blur (two of my favourite bands since childhood too). Picture from their Facebook page.

A favor, pretty please!

2012-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

If you have a spare moment, could you go to the Talent House website and vote for a design of mine to win a contest? The contest is a partnership between Florence + the Machine and the Secret 7" project, with proceeds going to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Read more about it here.

Below is a screencap of the webpage, just click on either of the blue vote buttons (you need Facebook or Twitter to vote). Here is the link: http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/a3cecd28a5b197eec35bb3be1e8fc708/383.

Many thanks!!

Jamie

Karlie Kloss Drawing

2012-01-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is my second time drawing model Karlie Kloss (my first drawing of her is one of my favourites). Karlie has recently been touted as the next Gisele Bundchen by mainstream media, which I kind of think is ridiculous as she's been hugely successful in the modeling world for years now thanks to her own unique look, walk and charming personality. Is it really necessary to compare the two? (Although, I suppose no one would frown at the idea of being compared to the gorgeous Gisele). Anyway, I found this picture from Karlie's new official Tumblr. I adore the flowers -- They remind me of the Philip Treacy hats from the 2009 Spring Haute Couture Chanel show.

Well, hot dog! We have a winner!

2012-01-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much to those who entered my t-shirt contest. I put all the names in a hat this afternoon and picked Matthew from Vancouver. Congrats!

Thanks again to ooshirts.com for providing the prize!

Happy New Year!

Jamie

Michael Fassbender Drawing

2011-12-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

I was watching the Weather Network with my sister this morning, when she said "check out who are in the corner of the screen!" Lo and behold, there was a really tiny, microscopic picture of Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, and Viggo Mortensen. Then the TV said: "This weather report was brought to you by A Dangerous Method." I just about died laughing and took it as a sign to post this drawing I did of my favorite actor (tied with Michael Sheen), Michael Fassbender. Who wants to bet Fassy will be nominated for an Oscar this year? (Unless he is snubbed like Michael Sheen always is -- I still can't understand why Sheen wasn't nominated for The Queen or Frost/Nixon).

So this drawing was a bit of an experiment. It started off as a cartoon, then became way too realistic looking, so I finally got it to end up somewhere in the middle. I posted two versions of the drawing (I couldn't decide which was better): One in color (I was trying to mimic when you color over a black and white photocopy with a pencil crayon) and the second is in black and white.

Photograph from: http://michael-fassbender.us/gallery/

Nicki Minaj Cartoon

2011-12-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

It was actually my mother who suggested I draw the very stylish and cute Nicki Minaj (like everyone else she is a fan of her hit song "Super Bass" -- which is arguably the best pop single of 2011). I really like Nicki since she looks like a real life Barbie doll and she is very charming, smart, and funny in both her songs and interviews. For the cartoon, I decided to change the dress slightly and change Nicki's hair to be more like how she wore it at the VMAs. The cartoon is based on an Nicki Minaj OPI Nail Posh collection ad, which I scanned from the latest issue of American Elle. Check it out!

T-Shirt Giveaway!!

2011-12-12T18:36:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone,

I was super excited when ooshirts.com, a custom t-shirt company from Berkeley, California, offered me a couple of free t-shirts to use for my blog in exchange for a review. I was allowed to create my own design for the t-shirts, so I picked this cartoon of a Joni Mitchell-esque girl playing the guitar (it's one of my favorite illustrations I have drawn). The design process on ooShirts's website was super easy and quick. All I had to do was pick a shirt (they have tons of items to choose from), upload my image (they take JPG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, PDF and many other formats), and add my text. The process was super quick and their really helpful and friendly staff sent me an artwork proof before they printed the shirts. Although my shirts were free, I noticed that they charge a really reasonable price for their products and that shipping (even to Canada) was very cheap! I'd highly recommend checking ooshirts.com out if you are looking to print some shirts with your own illustrations or designs on them.

As for the shirts, which just arrived in the mail, they turned out super great (as you can see below) and they are very soft (you can't even feel a difference between the printing and the shirt!). They also managed to pick up a lot of the details of the original drawing (I found this quite surprising and was very pleased). I'm so happy with them that I am keeping one for myself and giving one away to a lucky reader!

How to enter the contest: If you live in Canada or the United States send me an email with your name and Province or State by January 1st 2012! I will then draw a name from a hat and email the winner! A huge thanks to ooshirts.com for the amazing t-shirts!

The Prize: A Unisex/Men's Size Large Organic Cotton T-Shirt
(Ladies this would make an excellent nightgown if it's too big for you)

Closeup of image on t-Shirt

Original Proof for T-shirt

Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine Drawing

2011-12-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

Florence Welch is the lead singer and songwriter for the very popular band Florence + the Machine. Although, I've known about Florence for years, I only just recently bought all her albums. I'm really glad I did because boy, oh boy is she ever talented! (I've almost air drummed to Cosmic Love on the bus a few too many times). Florence was a blast to draw since she looks like a mixture of Ariel from the Little Mermaid and a Rossetti painting. I decided to go for more of a Vargas/Fashion Illustration vibe than Disney or Pre-Raphaelite look, however.

I thought I'd also mention that this my first drawing using my new Wacom and Photoshop CS5. I'm really wondering where the Brush Mixer Tool has been all my life! It was so fun to use for the dress!

Picture from http://www.fashionising.com/.

Influence Map

2011-12-08T08:40:00.001-08:00

Hey y'all,

Winter break is finally here after many hard months of grueling papers, reports, and presentations. To celebrate I recently purchased the latest Adobe Creative Suite from my Campus's Bookstore (I was stuck on Photoshop 7) and I bought a new Wacom (my old one was a Graphire 4, which I believe the fine folks at Wacom stopped making in 2005). At the moment I'm trying to teach myself both, so I might not get around to posting something new until next week. I also have a really excited post to share with you guys in a couple of weeks (hopefully sooner - I can't wait!).

In the meantime, here is an "influence map" I created of all the artists and cartoonists who have inspired me over the years. I got the idea from Chris Battle's blog -- Chris worked on the Powerpuff girls! The original meme is from here.

Cheers,

Jamie

Fashion Illustrations

2011-10-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

I've had the outlines for these fashion illustrations sitting in the grid (okay my "Photoshop" folder) for many months waiting for a depressing, rainy day to be coloured in. Well, today was a depressing, rainy day in Vancouver (cue "It's Raining Today" by Scott Walker), so I decided to finally colour them in to unwind (it's been a very stressful week). What is different about these drawings from what I normally post is that they were drawn from scratch using my imagination and not based on a celebrity. The idea behind the first one is "Futuristic Rockabillies" (or "What if Mark Ronson and Jessie J. starred in Tron: Legacy") and the second one is an ode to my love of feathers, Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy and Alexander McQueen. Yep, these aren't perfect or that original, but I think they're fun so I hope you guys like them.

These are the inspiration boards behind each drawing. Big thanks to Jill for telling me about Pinterest!

http://pinterest.com/whatakerfuffle/inspiration-for-a-drawing-2/

http://pinterest.com/whatakerfuffle/inspiration-for-a-drawing/

Ryan Gosling Cartoon

2011-10-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Ryan Gosling is the toast of the town in Hollywood these days thanks to his roles in The Ides of March, Drive, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Along with Ryan Reynolds, he is also a Canadian national treasure. Furthermore, he really loves dogs and owns a Moroccan food restaurant (I wonder if his pickup line is "Let's get in a cab. I'll buy you a kebab!"?). I have more fun facts, but you are probably bored now.

Anyway, I really wanted to go see Drive (which this cartoon is based on), since I'm a big fan of Albert Brooks, Carey Mulligan, and Christina Hendricks, but I haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. Why you ask? A) My back always goes out after I see a movie in the theater (I was walking around with a cane after seeing Horrible Bosses) and B) I was kind of scared when Ryan says "I don't carry a gun" in the trailer (generally if someone doesn't use a gun you know a movie will be super violent or they will do the celery trick from MacGruber.) As for the cartoon, I was inspired by those awesome movie review illustrations Adrian Tomine does for the New Yorker. I decided to use the black circle outline to give it more of a "film noir" vibe. Original photo from here.

Marion Cotillard Drawing

2011-09-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Everyone likes Marion Cotillard, right? Of course they do! She's classy and French! It was actually my sister who requested that I draw Marion Cotillard, after we saw this Lady Dior ad in one of my many Vogues (this is actually the second time I've drawn her - check out my Inception cartoon here). Also, Marion has a new movie coming out tomorrow called Contagion, which costars Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and pretty much every other Oscar winner/nominee from the last ten years. Photo from: Fashion Gone Rogue.

On a different note, I just started my Library Studies master's this week and if it's anything like the start of my Archival Studies program I won't have very much time for updating Kerfuffle. Sorry in advance, ha.

Click on the drawing for a larger size.

Jeff Bridges Cartoon

2011-09-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

I really admire Jeff Bridges - he's the definition of a cool dude! Jeff has many talents - he's a wonderful actor, an amazing cartoonist, a great musician (he has a new album out now - listen to "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do"), and really hilarious! I've been a fan since my mom used to force me to watch The Fabulous Baker Boys every time it was on TV as a kid (Beau Bridges is pretty cool too).

Anyway, I recently watched TRON: Legacy (which I LOVED! - "Bio-digital jazz, man") and thought "Hey, I should draw Jeff Bridges. Maybe Disney would then give me a job animating Clu for TRON 3?" Ha, well I don't think that will happen, but I did have a fun time experimenting with the colouring on this cartoon. I was going for a 70s vibe. I hope you guys like it and have a great long weekend!

Picture from Rolling Stone

Amanda Seyfried Drawing

2011-08-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this photo it sort of reminded me of Tsuguharu Foujita's "Jeune Fille Dans le Parc," which is one of my favorite paintings of all time, so I knew I had to draw it. It was a very time consuming drawing and a real learning experiment (click on the drawing for all the details). I'm really happy with how it turn out, though.

So for those of you who don't know, Amanda Seyfried is a talented and funny actress from America. She's been in a number of movies (Mean Girls, Mamma Mia!, Letters to Juliet, and Dear John) and also the TV shows Big Love and Veronica Mars. You can see her in the upcoming Sci-fi Thriller In Time, which co-stars Justin Timberlake, Olivia Wilde, Cillian Murphy, Matt Bomer (handsome guy from White Collar), and Vincent Kartheiser (Pete from Mad Men!).

Picture scanned by me from Elle China

Site News: Slight Layout Changes

2011-08-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I changed the blog's layout slightly. It has the same header, background, and colours, but the template is new. I changed it for two reasons. First, now I can share larger images and second, now you can email, reblog or share a post on Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, and Google+ in one simple click. To do the latter, just click the option you want on the bar at the end of each post. Here's a diagram of it:

Let me know if you have any problems viewing the new template and I will do my best to fix it. Also, let me know if you want me to add a link to your blog to the "Friends" section on the right.

Thanks!
Jamie

Meng Huang (Huang Xiao Meng) Cartoon

2011-07-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, this is a drawing of up-and-coming Chinese model Meng Huang (full name Huang XiaoMeng). I haven't seen her in any North American fashion magazines yet, but I've been very impressed with her work in Elle and Vogue China (I scanned this picture from the May 2011 issue of Elle China Extra). The photo shoot was called "I Do!," so I went for a romantic and girly style for this drawing. I've never been particularly interested in weddings, but I thought the Wedding Special of Elle China Extra was really adorable and wonderful.

On a different note, this is probably my last post until the end of August, as my three week holiday is now over and I have just started a theory intensive Archival Studies class -- Boo-urns! I mean yay Grad School is so much fun! Sarcasm aside, I just won't have very much time to draw, unless the homework fairy grants me with some spare time and a miracle.

Emma Stone Comic

2011-07-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

The hilarious, charming, and adorable Emma Stone came in third in my "Who Should I Draw Next" poll, so I thought I should probably draw her. Emma is really talented and can be seen in the upcoming Steve Carrell / Ryan Gosling movie Crazy, Stupid, Love and The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield. If you haven't already seen them, I suggest watching Emma in Easy A and the House Bunny (I've seen the House Bunny six or seven times). Original picture from Emma Stone Central.

This comic-style illustration was a lot of fun and super quick to draw and colour (I got the outline and colouring done in the span of listening to "FOMO" by Liam Finn, "Torches" by Foster The People and "Suck It And See" by the Arctic Monkeys - less than two hours! A new record!) I did all the colouring with the "Watercolour Small Round Tip" brush and was going for a 60s illustration vibe.

Joan Smalls, Constance Jablonski, and Liu Wen Drawing

2011-06-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

When I asked who I should draw next eons ago (well, back in April I guess), my Uncle Michael voted for Joan Smalls. Well, here is the lovely Joan in addition to the beautiful Constance Jablonski and the stunning Liu Wen. Joan (who is from Puerto Rico), Constance (who is from France), and Liu (who is from China) are three of my favourite models and I always get excited when I see this adorable ad for Estee Lauder’s “Idealist Skintone Illuminator” on TV or in a magazine. I scanned the image from the June issue of American Elle.

This drawing was another experiment with using the Soft Round and Airbrush Soft Brushes instead of my beloved Hard Round brush (my last experiment with the airbrush was my Katy Perry drawing). I really like using the Airbrush for skin, but I think I need to experiment more with using it for hair before I start airbrushing the sides of any vans.

Bridesmaids Cast Cartoon - Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper

2011-06-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

I went to see Bridesmaids last month with my mother, sister, and aunt. It was the funniest movie I have seen in probably ten years! (I'm pretty sure the last time I laughed that hard was watching Good Burger when I was ten). The movie had such a great main cast and Kirsten Wiig made a really likable and funny leading actress (I've always loved her as Vicky St. Elmo in the MacGruber sketches from SNL). The supporting male cast was also great (Chris O'Dowd, Jon Hamm, Matt Lucas, and Tim Heidecker all in the same movie!). Anyway, go see the movie if you haven't already. I don't care if you're a dude, you will still laugh!

Click on the drawing for a larger, more detailed size. Left to right: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Rose Byrne.

The Lonely Island (Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, & Jorma Taccone) Cartoon

2011-04-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright, I admit it... I'm a comedy nerd. I spend a lot of time on the bus listening to comedy songs by the Flight of the Conchords, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Rutles, and The Mighty Boosh. My absolute favorite comedy band, however, are the Lonely Island! The Lonely Island have a new album called "Turtleneck & Chain" coming out on May 10th, which seems far too long to wait. Left to right: Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone. The picture came from their website, where you can watch their music videos and other clips from SNL: http://www.thelonelyisland.com/.

Although they have so many funny videos, I decided to share the one for "Motherlover" since it has one of my favorite actresses, Patricia Clarkson, in it.

Jerry Hall Drawing

2011-04-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for voting in the comments section of my last post everyone! Surprisingly, the person with the most votes (well tied with the Lonely Island) was the gorgeous Jerry Hall! As any of you who read my fashion blog know, I am a massive fan of Ms. Hall. This photo was a lot of fun to draw and has a 1920s meets 1970s vibe to it. I'm really happy with how it turned out and even happier to finally have time to draw again (not saying I don't enjoy writing 20 plus page papers, ha).

Photo scanned by me from Jerry's book My Life in Pictures.

Who Should I Draw Next?

2011-04-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since I last posted (I'm trying to finish a ton of homework at the moment). Anyway, I will finally be able to post something new in two weeks. I've had so many ideas for who to draw over the last month and a half, that I have no idea who to draw first. Thus I an asking you guys to vote on who you would like to see me draw based on this list. Just leave a comment with your pick.

1. Doctor Who Cast - This would include Rory, Amy and River Song.

2. The Lonely Island - A Comedy Band from SNL

3. Joan Smalls - Model.

4. Crystal Renn - Model.

5. Jeff Bridges - A very cool actor.

6. John Legend - Awesome soul singer.

7. Emma Stone - Very funny actress (please say if you prefer her with blond or red hair, ha).

8. Karen Elson - Model and singer.

9. Du Juan - Model.

10. Jerry Hall - Model, actress, and icon.

Carey Mulligan Cartoon

2011-02-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Since her first role as Kitty in 2005's Pride & Prejudice, Carey Mulligan has become one of the UK's fastest rising actresses. Last year she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in An Education. She has also starred in Never Let Me Go (her second movie with BFF Keira Knightley) and one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, "Blink." Additionally she also sings on the title track of Belle & Sebastian's latest album Write About Love (I'm a huge B&S fan, so this impresses me more than the Oscar nod, ha). I based this cartoon off an editorial from the December issue of Vogue China, which I scanned.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Cartoon - Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, and Danny DeVito

2011-01-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

I just started watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a couple of months ago and it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen -- I love it! For those of you who haven’t watched it, to steal my friend’s description of the show, it’s basically Friends but with absolutely despicable people (watch Sunny's take off of Friends here). I highly suggest watching the show as soon as possible so you can discover such gems as the Nightman/Dayman, Greenman, and the Birds of War amongst many others. This cartoon is of the shows main characters (left to right): Charlie Kelly (as played by Charlie Day), Dee Reynolds (as played by Kaitlin Olson), Frank Reynolds (as played by Danny DeVito - who looks like my dad, haha!), Dennis Reynolds (as played by Glenn Howerton), and Mac (as played by Rob McElhenney). Original picture from here.

Click on the drawing for a larger, more detailed size:

Click on the picture below to buy the DVDs on Amazon.com.

Sherlock Cartoon - Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman)

2010-12-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I promised a cartoon of some dudes in my last post, so here you go a cartoon of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson! Sherlock is an excellent BBC/PBS series starring the awesome Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock (he's really good in Stuart: A Life Backwards and rather reminds me of Peter Cook - who also played Sherlock Holmes once, ha) and the wonderful Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson (I loved him as Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, plus he's going to be playing Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit!). The series is a contemporary version of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels and was created by Doctor Who writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. For the cartoon, I decided to use a sketchy effect to give the feel of an old Victorian book plate. I also decided to use much lighter colours than usual. The original picture is from here and the background was modified from a photograph found here.