I just got a spot of good news — a few of my favourite illustrations from this year will be in the 2012 Applied Arts Photography & Illustration Awards.

A series of 3 book reviews for the Globe & Mail with the ever great to work with David Woodside made the cut as did a fun illo of a horse race for Alberta Oil magazine with Andrew Forbes.

Also kudos to doodling friends Jacqui Oakley, Rachel Anne Lindsay, Ben Weeks & Taryn Gee who’re great creative company to keep.

A full list of winners can be seen on the Applied Arts blog.

So, here are the 3 talks that got me hooked & have never left my mind… the amount of humour is incredible in delivering such difficult & interesting topics. If you’ve got one that you can’t live without, tweet me on Twitter’cause I’d love to see it.

1. A delightful & honest talk on killing creativity that any ‘creative’ can immediately sympathize & remember: Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity.

2. Super interesting, variable & wandering talk on how tech & science will affect us: Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science.

3. An entertaining, accurate & intelligent critique of the urban space in North America: James H Kunstler dissects suburbia.

Aside from feeling like I’m staring down a shotgun barrel with a train of molten lead ripping forward with all the prep & presentations, methinks this semester’s going to be interesting. Even in my short time teaching, it’s been both energizing & impressive watching a student get excited &/or grasp a concept for the first time & seeing that ‘click’… of course, this is balanced out by the odd soul-sucking critique, but c’est la vie.

In the meantime I’ll still be illustrating & designing as usual… See you kiddies on the other side!

Have a look! dribbble.com/dushan

You can also follow a host of great artists, designers & illustrators, which is pretty swell.

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No doubt many of you have seen, & very likely enjoyed, the meme of “Pepper Spraying Cop” which has quickly grown to quite a collection of imagery.

There was a quote in the Globe & Mail stating “For the protesters who were at the receiving end of Lt. Pike’s spray, it’s hard to see the humour.” Except, in this case there’s no comment or thoughts from any of the protesters about these images; raising a bit of a red-herring — essentially stating it’s in bad taste to parody.

“Taste” though, doesn’t really enter into it. Creating parodies of this & other incidents highlight the massive overstepping of power this Swine of the Times decided to exercise. Parody is, of course, “a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.” Ridicule is the key word here. These images are a chance by citizens who disagree with the over simplification & violence portrayed to get a jab in & create a modicum of social justice.

Visuals like these continue part of a conversation that is at the heart of the “Occupy” movement, making stark light of exactly how weighted the balance of power was in this situation, & indeed in many other examples of police brutality. Officer Pike was not under threat nor were the protesters acting in anything but passive non-violence. Placing Lt. John Pike nonchalantly spraying into so many iconic images works brilliantly (& hilariously) to keep this poignant image fresh in people’s minds. It’s uncomfortable because it was an uncomfortable, violent action, not because it’s in ‘bad taste’. The only bad taste here is that Lt.Pike still has a career.

Claiming ‘offence’ is a simplistic, childish shortcut to claim moral superiority in order to shut down an uncomfortable conversation. Yes, people were injured, yes this is serious, but humour is a crucial & effective tool for dealing with traumatic, serious, or difficult events. Pretending otherwise is insincere & disingenuous. The only offence & danger illustrated in this case is highlighting the abuse of power, while simultaneously refusing to allow the media, government & police force off the hook. The Daily Show & The Colbert Report are prime examples of parody at it’s finest, tackling equally difficult subject matter with aplomb. What makes this any different? The same goes for many stand-up comedians & writers across the spectrum. Is it simply because it’s their ‘job’ to make light of issues that gives them permission? There’s little reason that ‘non-professionals’ should be excluded from creating parody to highlight a current political issue & movement. Dismissal of this ability is akin to disallowing political discussion or any sort of creativity that happens to question or make uncomfortable.

So, I say “game on” to creating queasy, uneasy, & uncomfortable imagery — we’re all too often awash in publications filled with emotionless & conceptually void stock photos, large media conglomerates that skirt deeper issues for expedience & soundbites, & politicians that refer to citizens as consumers. Take some content back & offend someone, we might just have a richer discussion, & democracy, for it.

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For taste of nearly endless brilliance, check out peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com (a small sampling below)
 
Here’s the Globe & Mail article that raised my hackles in the first place: The G&M ‘Hot Button’

Thanks to BoingBoing for the first collection of these images I stumbled upon. A bigger thanks goes to Reddit though, which sprung on this like all get-out & is where much of this fantastic imagery seems to have originated.

Also check out this great article from the Guardian UK. Merci Elissa Parente for sending this one along.

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Oh, & congratulations to Lieutenant John Pike, you’re my first Swine of the Times!

A few months ago I had the honour of being part of a pretty sweet gallery show called ‘Zoo’ organized by the super creative couple Jacqui Oakley & Jamie Lawson. As animals are always a treat to draw, I started playing with a baboon that would have a print-style feeling. These are some of the early versions of the image which were not quite the look I was intending, but (imo) fairly interesting none the less. The final piece below is where it all ended up.

These first 2 fellows started as large amorphous black shapes that were hacked, chopped & drawn into with varying levels of sucess.

At this stage I was fairly content with the forms I’d found (or perhaps at a loss in terms of direction…) & started to toss around colour variations as well as knocking out the head shape.

Finally, tired & cranky with the look of the previous set, I scrapped the entire thing & started anew, which turned out to be a wise choice. Much to my delight (& intent) Mr.Baboon quickly took form staring from under his furry brow on the wall.

Considering how much I like to rant & rave, it seems bizarre that it’s taken this long to have a blog of any sort, but here it is, or more correctly, will be. It’s already daunting to have a space to disseminate my half-baked but hopefully well considered thoughts on illustration, design, urbanism, cycling, & a hearty love of all things science (as well as the odd LOL Cat meme). Hopefully this exercise fosters some extended thought, conversation & maybe even provokes a laugh or two.

Like many illustrators/designers, I’ll also be sharing some of the process I use when solving visual problems in my day-to-day practice. So, dear 3 readers, please be patient & don’t stomp too hard when the inevitable offensively inconsiderate diatribe rears it’s ugly head… in such cases, it’s probably best to call me out & set me back on the Righteous Path.

More to come, soon… I hope.

Dushan.