le blog à mélanie

龍

2012-01-23T23:02:00.001-05:00

恭喜發財!

Here's wishing for a year of the water dragon that's full of good fortune for all!

(Oh, and of babies, apparently... Babies EVERYWHERE!)

fennec

2012-01-17T23:45:00.002-05:00

(Work in progress.)
(Da-doye.)

les bleus

2012-01-10T22:29:00.003-05:00

wildgirl exploration

2012-01-09T23:14:00.000-05:00

2012

2011-12-31T21:09:00.003-05:00

Here's to the new year, and to our mysterious coyote visitor who came by our house on Christmas night, leaving nothing but trails of paw prints behind for us to find on the next morning. That's the kind of stuff that fills me with wonder and inspiration. I miss home already...

I did see a deer in Oakville once. At like 2am.

2012, bitches!

joyeux noël!

2011-12-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

Couldn't wait! Happy holidays guys!! :)

christmas card exploration

2011-12-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

The final thing's done, but I'm thinking of still waiting a bit before posting it up here. How does December 24th sound?

cat drawing

2011-12-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Trying to come up with a fun design of Luce! Something neat looking, but that would translate well into animation... I actually drew these with my trusty scarlet Col-Erase pencils, and shifted the whole thing into grayscale digitally. Fun fun!

Luce from life! Adam says she looks like an alien here.

Whatever.

thalassa

2011-12-11T13:34:00.001-05:00

The Art for Water site is up and running! One of my contributions, Thalassa, is currently up there, along with lots of other pretty pictures. Check it out!

You say water and I think a lot of people think "mermaid", so I didn't even try to be very original on that end. Screw making a skimpy mermaid though. I have this thing with "sexy lady drawings". They kind of bug me. A lot. I personally find the animation field terribly male centric. A lot more needs to be done in terms of positive, smart, relatable material for girls. And I could go on and on about this subject, because I tend to be an angry a passionate feminist.

Anyway, I made a mermaid! And yes, she's naked, and there are boobies on her front side, but hopefully that's not the point. She's just a happy mermaid with her fish pal!

So yeah.

More strong female characters please!

no shame!

2011-12-07T20:06:00.001-05:00

We had our first life drawing session at work today! So this is my first attempt at life drawing in... over a year. If not closer to two. Ugh. But no shame! I'm sharing some samples of tonight's... experiments. Hopefully life drawing becomes a regular thing at work, and progress will happen!

moscow chicks

2011-11-29T23:01:00.001-05:00

fais chier

2011-11-21T23:54:00.001-05:00

corus winter art show 2011

2011-11-17T19:20:00.001-05:00

It's art show time at work again! These are the two pieces I submitted. The one on the left is an ink drawing (or is it a painting? It only has one colour though...) I called La dame du froid, and the one on the right is a preview of one of my Art for Water pieces. So no clearer image of that for you... yet. Wait a bit, kay?

Scan of La dame du froid. I sketched a doodle of her on Photoshop after looking at Inuit prints online, out of the blue, feeling like I needed some bold inspiration. But I wanted to keep it within my style... if that makes any sense...

Her name comes from a Moomin character, who comes out in the winter time, and she needs a horse made of snow to be made for her, for some reason. I think she can freeze people? I just remember finding her creepy as hell as a kid, and I kinda liked that! She wasn't as terrifying as le Groke though...

(Here's a link to the episode I just found. I'm totally re-watching it as soon as I'm done with this post!)

The thrill of finding stuff creepy when you're a kid... Being able to get really creeped out by the stupidest stuff? I don't know about you guys, but I miss that.

chicken scratch

2011-11-12T17:23:00.000-05:00

Also, hens.

For eggs, of course. And the company!

(I'll be posting "prettier", finished stuff soon, in case this and recent drawings have you all worried. Promise.)

bees!

2011-11-11T17:18:00.001-05:00

I'd seriously like to live far, far away from the city (but I'm sure you already knew that part) and keep bees one day.

highlights of chagall and the russian avant-garde @ the AGO

2011-11-06T16:35:00.001-05:00

I love going to the AGO's big exhibitions! Busy as they may be, they're always full of inspiration and unexpected surprises.

I really wanted to check out the Chagall show because I find his paintings so free and gutsy, especially in terms of colour - I'm a big chicken when it comes to colour. I need to learn from these guys. I was also very interested in the show's focus on the influence of Chagall's origins on his work. A nostalgic, even sometime idealized view of my own hometown and culture is something that has unexpectedly crept up on me while living in Toronto, and that I feel I need to tackle through art as well.

That, and I've been reading a lot of Joann Sfar this year.

Did I mention the chickens? I love the fun, happy chickens and goats and cows that pop up here and there, and even in the most sober of his pieces.

See the chicken?

("Newspaper Vendor", Marc Chagall, 1914)

...and the Russian Avant-Garde. It's not all about Chagall, guys! Some of my favourite stuff in the show wasn't Chagall at all, but of other Russian born artists. I really fell for this one:

A little boar and a whacky bird AND a freaky naked lady? I was all over this!

("Spring", Mikhail Larionov, 1912)

I was also floored by this collection of lithographs by Natalia Goncharova. So graphic, so direct, so creepy, and so beautiful.

(Portfolio cover from Misticheskie obrazy voiny, 14 litografii - Mystical Images of War: Fourteen Lithographs, Natalia Goncharova, 1914)

(Bratskaya Mogila - A Common Grave, Natalia Goncharova, 1914)

This documentary by Dziga Vertov was projected on a wall, and I was completely mesmerized. Man with a Movie Camera is a depiction of everyday life for people in Russia in 1929. There's some elements of stop motion in there, along with other fancy camera tricks for the time.

Once you're done with Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde, don't miss Constructing Utopia: Books and Posters from Revolutionary Russia (1910-1940) on the first floor. Propaganda leaflets and posters with beautiful, constructivist design. I love that stuff.

ᑎᖕᒥᐊᖅ

2011-10-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

(messy) giraffe dog

2011-10-24T23:06:00.000-04:00

ourson

2011-10-16T21:20:00.003-04:00

hibernation?

2011-09-28T23:34:00.000-04:00

Fall sucks because it means summer's dead and the freezing's coming. And the colds and the sore throats and the runny noses and the cold and the snow and the never ending nights and... I'm not a fan. Seriously, if seasons could alter between spring and summer, I'd be a happy camper!

den lille havfrue

2011-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

revisited

2011-09-17T13:07:00.000-04:00

I updated an old ink drawing of a cat to look like Luce, hihi!

bubblegum

2011-09-12T22:28:00.003-04:00

elephants for water

2011-09-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

Another elephant themed idea for a piece!

elephant girl for water

2011-09-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

Another idea-in-progress-sketch for Art for Water...

water mouse

2011-09-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

Exploration doodle for one my pieces for Art for Water. I think the plan is to make this one a watercolour!

MANiMATE!

2011-08-07T20:14:00.001-04:00

24 hour film fest preview

2011-08-06T18:07:00.002-04:00

The final thing should be up tomorrow night!

more pencil!

2011-08-04T22:38:00.002-04:00

pencil

2011-08-03T23:24:00.002-04:00

(Ahhh... control...)

sally slingshot

2011-07-31T23:34:00.000-04:00

orange

2011-07-24T22:15:00.002-04:00

deux sketchs

2011-07-08T00:10:00.000-04:00

fille rouge

2011-07-02T23:32:00.003-04:00

le chaton de l'animateur

2011-06-29T23:35:00.001-04:00

I wish I lived in France, if only because they get animated films I actually get excited about like Le Chat du Rabbin over there. You'd never have an obviously intact male cat in a feature on this side of the ocean, and if you did, he'd only be designed that way for the retarded got hit in the balls joke because we think of the poor children here. Anyway, been listening to the soundtrack today, and it made me want to doodle Luce again. She's growing! :)

blue sketch

2011-06-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

Still explorin'!

pink sketch

2011-06-26T23:42:00.000-04:00

She came out looking girlier and older than I wanted, but she fits in here just fine!

huldufólk

2011-06-18T19:25:00.004-04:00

...and this one has a Pipo vibe going on with her!

sirène

2011-06-14T23:19:00.001-04:00

This one turned out to be an unexpected mix of a chick with a shark nose and a chick that looks like Zia.

Update (Photoshop can be fun):

batman

2011-06-08T11:13:00.017-04:00

One of Adam's many nicknames for Luce, along with The Flash, Spiderman... (If you know me, you know I know next to nothing about american superhero comic stuff. No, I was all about Astérix, Boule et Bill, and the Tom Tom et Nana comics at the end of J'aime lire as a kid.)

So Batman.

Because of her big bat ears.

And because she has these little flaps of skin where her legs meet her body. So really, it has nothing to do with Batman the superhero.

...I think.

PS, these were all done, from scratch, on a Cintiq. Which I normally hate working on, but I forced myself to do it. Ugh. I'm still not converting to 100% digital for my own stuff anytime soon!

PS numéro deux, expect more of Luce, I haven't quite found the right way to draw her yet, but I'm having fun searching!

PS trois, she also bats at stuff. Badum pshhhhh.

kitty cat

2011-06-07T19:09:00.001-04:00

Super quick doodle of our kitten, Luce!

work doodles

2011-05-06T20:20:00.000-04:00

Scribbles done at work, but not for work. Things are a lot more relaxed when you don't have quota and just need to take care of reshoots!

Anyway, more mermaids... I like the idea of a shell (or shell shaped hair?) on their heads.

l'acadienne typique

2011-04-21T20:00:00.001-04:00

Piece 2 of 2 for the upcoming Animation Art Show at Corus! This one's messier. I like it.

princesse de la forêt

2011-04-18T20:32:00.002-04:00

It's art show time at work again! I'm really pumped that this is becoming a regular thing, with the space booked straight through December - though some of the shows are photography only, which I've kept away from so far, but I might put up some instax shots for fun sometime. This time around I made two small watercoloured sketches, this is one of them. They look a lot snazzier in their black matted frames, but my dinosaur of a camera's out of batteries...

"laisse les pêcheurs tranquiles!"

2011-03-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

murmaid & friends

2011-01-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

winter art show

2010-11-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

I decided to take out my dusty old paints for the winter art show we're having at work! My original idea was completely different, and then out of nowhere I decided to paint a barn owl. We had an old Larousse dictionary with lots of what I though were creepy pictures in it back before I even knew how to read. Including this guy. L'effraie des clochers. I used to think it was the scariest ghost of a demon bird ever. I'm okay with them now.

Michel

2010-11-06T21:37:00.000-04:00

Bernard

2010-11-06T21:36:00.000-04:00

L' Acadie, l'Acadie?!?

2010-11-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

Петя и волк

2010-07-30T17:27:00.001-04:00

(Pierre et le loup)

I made these quickly on the GO. I'd like to do a lot more with the theme - lots of characters to explore!

go dude

2010-07-30T17:15:00.000-04:00

people watching

2010-06-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

another sketchy girl, again

2010-06-15T23:02:00.002-04:00

another sketchy girl

2010-06-15T22:41:00.000-04:00

ghost girl

2010-06-15T00:05:00.002-04:00

field trip

2010-06-06T14:18:00.000-04:00

Field Trip HD from Mélanie Daigle on Vimeo.

les lutins

2010-06-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

1600s-1750s

2010-06-01T22:51:00.000-04:00

sketches and ...future project?

2010-05-29T19:24:00.000-04:00

liger

2010-05-17T19:35:00.002-04:00

not film related at all

2010-04-19T13:36:00.001-04:00

home stretch

2010-03-29T09:05:00.003-04:00

last minute nun design modification

2010-02-27T19:51:00.003-05:00

My film's nun now draws inspiration from not only Tove Jansson, Sylvain Chomet, and Ludwig Bemelmans, but also from Marjane Satrapi! I'm pretty happy with the decision to simplify the sleeves, because of animation, and because it adds a little something.

monsieur fox

2010-02-08T00:39:00.006-05:00

*edit: foxes don't have white paws, Mel!

rough roughs

2010-01-22T18:48:00.003-05:00

sneek peek!

2010-01-18T17:00:00.003-05:00

One down... a lot more to go!

been busy!

2010-01-13T21:58:00.004-05:00

Drew these super late one night over the break, having fun with some new pens.

frames & busts

2009-11-21T16:25:00.003-05:00

royal winter fair 2009

2009-11-13T21:03:00.005-05:00

madmoizelle street style

2009-11-02T17:25:00.002-05:00

happy hallowe'en!

2009-10-31T00:39:00.001-04:00

retro triptych

2009-10-31T00:31:00.003-04:00

fonts are fun too

2009-10-14T23:15:00.004-04:00

my dilema with luce's neck...

2009-10-10T23:28:00.004-04:00

The way it's been so far, fits with the others' designs but...

...this way she doesn't look so "hunchey" but having a neck makes her look way too old.

I'll get it right soon.

I like this nose though. And the eyes are totally inspired from Persepolis (she's blonde.)

it's here, it's here!!

2009-10-07T19:26:00.004-04:00

Got home to a whole stack of AmiSoleil aux îles de la Madeleine! The print job turned out great!! They should pop up at the good old Saint-Louis Co-op soon, as well as these other bookstores!

field trip of my own

2009-09-25T16:56:00.003-04:00

soeur marie christine

2009-09-19T23:12:00.004-04:00

...I always keep finding her a new name. The other three still just go by their hair colour.

stuffs

2009-09-18T16:33:00.004-04:00

amisoleil aux îles de la madeleine sneek peek

2009-09-11T10:52:00.004-04:00

http://letoile.jminforme.ca/culture/article/786061

It's been well over a year, but the illustrations I did for local author Nicole Daigle are finally getting published this fall! Exciting stuff!

back to school

2009-09-02T22:50:00.006-04:00

...dans moins d'une semaine!

Fixed up a bit.

...and advice from 3rd year that should definitely not be forgotten and better applied in 4th year!

still searching...

2009-08-26T13:07:00.001-04:00

GO thumbnail

2009-07-29T21:01:00.001-04:00

GO doodle

2009-07-24T20:09:00.002-04:00

GO draw

2009-07-22T20:14:00.003-04:00

Not a train passenger. But I did see some lady with a pink coat at one of the stations...

❊ inspiration blog

2009-07-19T13:22:00.006-04:00

My last post gave me an idea...

I now have another blog where all I do is post stuff that influences and/or inspires me. It's already a bit late, I guess, but I hope it'll help me push the work I do for my short that much more. And keep me inspired.

I'd appreciate any suggestions regarding work, films, blogs, etc. that I might not know of yet - and if you can get some inspiration out of the stuff I post, that'd be pretty cool!

les moomins

2009-07-11T20:37:00.005-04:00

I kind of pity anyone who hasn't grown up with the Moomins. I grew up watching the cartoons, and I'm really enjoying the original material, over 10 years later - even if all the names are weird in English...

Les Moomins
Uploaded by GREG1205. - Sitcom, sketch, and standup comedy videos.

Les Moomins - 06 - Le Groke
Uploaded by kroman.

The cartoons were a European/Japan co-production, like so many of the other shows we watched when we were young on the french version of the CBC, la SRC. Seems like no other kid's animated series comes even remotely close to this in quality these days, especially contents wise.

latest nun

2009-07-11T16:09:00.003-04:00

triptych

2009-07-06T21:39:00.004-04:00

chiac lesson of the day

2009-06-07T00:41:00.002-04:00

Il pleut.
It's raining.

just a scribadoodle

2009-06-02T22:26:00.001-04:00

jesus fairies & others

2009-05-28T00:38:00.002-04:00

commute girlies

2009-05-25T23:25:00.009-04:00

I like my choo choo drawing time. When I'm not half asleep.

nuns & girlies

2009-05-24T00:09:00.005-04:00

Sorry, it's been a while..!
Yeah, you'd think I'd be drawing something a little different, eh?
Feels like I haven't drawn with a pencil in so long (feels like I haven't been drawing in so long, PERIOD!)...

finally went to the AGO yesterday

2009-05-07T15:10:00.005-04:00

Marchesa Casati
Is a living doll
Pinned on my Frisco
Skid row wall

Her eyes are vast
Her skin is shiny
Blue veins
And wild red hair
Shoulders sweet & tiny

Love her
Love her
Sings the sea
Bluely
Moaning
In the Augustus John
de John
background

Jack Kerouac

le pen?

2009-05-06T08:44:00.004-04:00

I'm in love with this pen (in black), but I try to use it sparingly... Because I don't know where to get them around here. Anyone ever come across any Marvy Uchidas Le Pen markers around the GTA?

higher education

2009-05-05T19:03:00.005-04:00

When you start you want to make the greatest film in the world, but when you get into it, you just want to get it done, let it be passable and not embarrassing.
Francis Ford Coppola

A hint of the scenes I worked on for the film - props to Angela and Amber for painting the BGs for the whole thing!

did I mention school was out?

2009-04-28T11:47:00.005-04:00

Drawing for nothing. It's been too long. Drawing while watching TV? Even longer.

school's out!

2009-04-27T21:03:00.001-04:00

so I hold my pencil wrong...

2009-03-25T17:32:00.012-04:00

...and I still play around with flat heads every now and then.
All in all, subway sketching was a fantastic distraction from the group film, but hard on the cell phone.

UPDATE...

Presentation, presentation... Should've posted it like this from the get go!