Forever Young

I unfortunately never grew out of certain things as a kid, one of which being the whole “not liking vegetables phase”. To this day, I grimace at the sight of an onion in my spaghetti or a tomato on my burger. I also still enjoy Saturday morning cartoons. This is partly why I get along so well with my students in grades 5 and 6.

As an avid t.v. enthusiast, I’ve often wanted to create fan art (specifically paintings) inspired by my favourite cartoon characters. As part of this Learning Project for ECMP 355, I will be doing just that. I will attempt to delve into the world of fan art and will be creating a number of pieces inspired by The Simpsons, Spongebob, Adventuretime, etc. The idea came from a number of fan art Instagram accounts that I follow, including: idrawhomer and thesimpsonstattoo.

In addition, when I was completing my Undergrad in Education at the University of Ottawa, I had a custom painting done in the Byward Market. It features two of my favourite characters (Harvey Spectre and Donna Paulson) from one of my favourite television shows: Suits. It currently hangs in my apartment, that I share with my fiancée, and whispers to me every day, “Jordan, you could do something like this if you put your mind to it”. Well today I am putting my mind to it.

Painting done by artist Cinema in the Byward Market, Ottawa.

I will be using all forms of technology to acquire the skills and techniques that come with painting. And you, as one of my readers, will hopefully notice an improvement in my style/technique from week to week.

From its roots, this project is based out of technology, as the shows that inspire the paintings originally play on television, one of the most influential technological inventions of our time. Today, I moreso access these shows online. Through the Internet, the shows I enjoy and the art I hope to create will meet to help me learn a new skill.

To start the project, and to begin my education in painting, I have consulted a number of different websites as to what types of paint supplies to purchase. Being a first time painter, I originally had no clue what to purchase, or even where to purchase my supplies. The following article was helpful: Top 5 Brands of Acrylic Paint for Fine Art and Craft Painting, however, did not fit with my budget/teacher’s salary.

I eventually ended up at the paint section of the Michael’s website, assessing the cost of supplies and checking out what they had to offer in terms of canvases, paints, and brushes. I also downloaded the Michael’s app, which is super easy to use and offers coupons that are up to 50% off! From the app, you can also browse products, see their weekly ads, etc. Their pages are also grouped based on “Projects” which made it really easy for my research. The “General Crafts” section under “Projects” had all I needed – but I will be sure to check out the “Teacher Section” soon.

In the end, I spent $83 and landed on a combination of supplies from Michael’s and Dollarama (can’t resist a good deal). Stay tuned as I figure out what to do with all of these newly acquired tools that I’m told will create art for me. À bientôt.