Improv Shirt Design

A few weeks ago I wrote an article, The Role of  Improv Apparel for The Way of Improvisation, a new online resource for the improv community. I've designed over two dozen shirts for improv companies and festivals and gradually learned what makes a good design and how important that is to improvisors. 

One point I make in the article is that the shirts we wear sorta act as our resumes, letting people know where we've performed, studied, taught, etc. They're also important as keepsakes for festivals and markers in our improv careers. 

My friend and Atlanta improvisor, Rene Dellefont, has taken this to another level. In the last couple years he's got two tattoos designed around imagery and concepts from shirt designs I did, both for Improv Camp. Here are the originals and Rene's tattoos (click images for info about the tattoo shop and artist.)

Something I didn't include in the article, is how cool it feels to see people wear the designs I made! I've made two shirt designs for the Canadian Improv Games National Festivals, for 2011 and 2013. It's so neat to think that hundreds of students from across Canada have a piece of my art in their dresser drawer.

A couple times now, once in Toronto and once in Montreal, I saw somebody walking down the street in one of my designs. The world is so wonderfully tiny.

Three Cheers for February

February for me has always been one of those months you just have to tough through. Not much exciting stuff happens and the weather is usually poor. On February 2nd the transit system here in Halifax announced they were going on strike. I normally rely on transit pretty heavily as I live a little far from the action. In the first days of the strike I complained about all the time I was losing by walking to my friend Rosalind, who is wise in many areas but especially wise on matters of health. Rosalind reminded me that the increased amount of exercise would actually reduce stress and improve my energy. I may have rolled my eyes when I heard this.

But of course, Rosalind was right. Nearly every day of February I walked between 8 and 15km, powered solely by my legs and audiobooks. And with all that time walking, February still turned out to be a highly productive month! It was a particularly stimulating month because all of my interests were engaged. Here’s a recap of my February:

-I started work on a fine art piece for the show A View From Here at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, which excitingly just received a grant in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. (The photo to the right is a detail of the unfinished work.)
-I’ve collaborated with the CBC on a story about photobooths and I started building the official Fotomaton website (a photobooth-art initiative that I started last year with American artist Aran Graham.) I also built the props for the next photobooth animation I’d like to shoot this summer (a blogpost on this coming soon.)
-I designed and got my first two ever tattoos!
-I accepted a few commissions, including an emblem for Bad Dog Theatre Company in Toronto (top photo), a custom cross-stitch through Etsy and two a couple of posters for a band in Halifax.
-I’ve just started collaborating with Lisa Amerongen on a children’s book she’s writing and that I’ll be illustrating this summer.
-I spent a week volunteering as a judge for the Canadian Improv Games and kept up my regular volunteer shift tutoring kids at the public library. And I’ve kept up top-notch grades in my five classes and still found time to attend my regular yoga class.
-And perhaps most excitingly I’ve decided I’m going to attend the 2012 Photobooth Convention in Venice, California from May 18th to 19th. I haven’t got the resources to go yet but I’ve got a few ideas.

Thanks February!

Writing Right: Two Months In!

Well, I’ve been perfecting the dexterity of my right hand for two months now. And, I have to admit, the novelty of the project is starting to wear off as my skills have plateaued. My penmanship and speed certainly have improved but consistency with the shapes of my letters and developing a personal style are still months and months away.

I also have to admit that I missed my daily lessons on more than a few occasions towards the end of March. I have been busy! I was judging at the Nova Scotia Canadian Improv Games tournament, taking Two Hands Two Crowns special orders and doing illustrations for Picnicface’s book being published by HarperCollins this autumn. I’ve also been working on an EXCITING TOP SECRET PROJECT that hopefully will be ready to share online by mid-May.

Here’s the latest ambidextrous drawing video (this one is edited down two minutes and has music to go with it, so hopefully it is not as dry as the first two.)

Any advice on how to rekindle my relationship with my right hand?

Adventures over the Pacific!

I’m stationed beside the only free electrical socket amongst the hustle and bustle at the San Francisco airport, not because I prefer the city’s airport to the city itself but for the practical reason that I’ve got a layover before I fly off to Sydney, Australia. I’ll be teaching improv at the Australian Institute of Performing Arts at their Winter Improv Intensive. I’m going with three other representatives of the Canadian Improv Games to help bring the format we teach in Canada to the Australian school systems. With just a little bit of down time after the Intensive, I’ll be flying back into the Northern hemisphere to Tokyo! I’m going mostly to visit my sister and her family but I’ll also be teaching a little bit of improv (to English speakers). I’m excited and nervous for the cultural differences and the language barrier (I plan on using my six year old niece as a translator.) I’m particularly excited for all the paper and stationary stores. I love handmade paper and thematic stationary kits. (Speaking of which, I’m still taking folks for the Anonymous Pen Pal Matchmaking Service.) After Japan, I’ll fly back to Sydney to visit with some friends and then fly to Edmonton from there. I’m really excited for the trip, I’ve got loads summer reads packed, a few illustration gigs to work on, some Beast and Creep drawings to keep up with and some final details to work out with the storyboard for Arc in the Sky. I’m also putting the final touches on a blog entry I’m writing for Art of Waiting. Their Summer Photobooth Contest is on now until September 1st , this is a super fun way to win some swell prizes. I took the photos above (collaged together for from different strips, click to enlarge) to help inspire some creativity.

A Visit to Our Nation's Capital!

I’m in Ottawa for a week to volunteer at the Canadian Improv Games National Festival, where hundreds of high school students from across the country will participate in friendly competition. In high school I competed in the games myself and owe many thanks to the organization for giving me an outlet in my formative years. It’s one of the two weeks a year (the other being Improv Camp) that I whole-heartedly look forward to! It’s a fun and uber supportive environment and hosted in the National Arts Centre! This photo is of one of the founders of the Games, Howard Jerome speaking before the competition.


This trip also marks the start of 6ish weeks of travel in the area. I’m working on various projects, (most of which are collaborations), of the visual and performing arts variety. After Ottawa I’ll be visiting Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. Stay tuned for some recounts of the adventures! This photo is of a Louise Bourgeois sculpture outside the National Gallery, with Parliament in the background.