Utopia Moment sketches and writing by Jack Ruttan and friends

New stuff. I guess kind of the same, but I like it like that. I’m also enjoying some of the new gadgets on the blog. Don’t want to make it too busy.

I tried a couple of new themes, but didn’t like them as much as this one. This one was pretty old, and didn’t have a lot of devices I could use in it, but seems to be working.

I’ll fool with some other stuff, and see how it works. Unfortunately, I’m not a genius with CSS or any kind of computer programming, though I hazard to tinker.

This quick sketch I think really captured an aspect of Nora, the new cat. As spring comes in, she’s sort of lording it over the other two cats. Or, at least they’re nervous of her, but seem to hold their own. It’s a house of happy cats, still. Which is great.

I Photoshop coloured the woman I drew yesterday. Not that great at it, but that’s how you learn and get better.

It was such, yesterday when I drew these, and it’s another such today. Happy to draw real animals, etc, from my balcony.

Other people are TV and DVD-inspired faces. Not so bad, but I’m waiting for people to start walking by looking less frozen and bundled up.

More sketches from the little black hardcover book. I like that little book. The paper’s nice (can take a wash), and it’s small and scans reasonably well, if I don’t draw too close to the binding. Never got into Molesquines, and that sort of thing. (Not even sure how to pronounce that!) But I do like the Fabriano watercolour books with the red brick pattern outside. I don’t know what brand the little black book is, but the local art store sells ‘em for about $4.00.

I did some more of these, but I’ll put them up later. Good night again!

Yesterday’s comic was my trying to do that. Get into a working routine that doesn’t take me too long (nobody’s paying for those pages yet! But they’re a lot of effort), and see what works.

That means finding what I’d like to do, and in what style. Also, as I usually do with the sketches that go on this blog, I’m just just putting whatever develops during the day out there, without too much thought beforehand of whether it’s good or not. Not censoring.

Impression of a news reporter, and delinquent boy from tv:

The character in yesterday’s comic isn’t me! He’s also not someone I know, though there are aspects of both. Don’t think he’s going to be a continuing character. Anyhow, it’s been a while since I did a comic regularly, and for some reason I’ve found them difficult to do. Trying to get out of that. And I enjoy telling stories, no matter how eccentric!

Nerd boy drawn mainly with the Pentel brush pen:

I’m also trying out techniques. Yesterday’s story was drawn with a dip pen, which was a little bit awkward, but I’m getting back into it. Other stuff is drawn with a Pentel brush pen. I also fool around with the pages on the computer a bit. Usually just to adjust the tone of the scan, but sometimes I try to fix things. I’m trying out a lot of what the computer can let me do, so that I can produce images that are funny, fast to produce, and look good.

Struggling with the dip pen (a Hunt #102 Hawk Quill):

Writing and drawing makes me feel good, and I’m lucky to be blessed with at least a modicum of ability, or inclination, towards these disciplines. The season’s been psychically rough so far, and I’m trying to smooth it out, get things running.

Woman from a “Making of” doc on a DVD, in colour ballpoint and black roller pen:

Meanwhile, I’m putting up yesterday’s production of sketches. I really do miss sitting on the balcony and drawing people. So during the Montreal winter I’m drawing people I see on DVDs I’m watching, or snapped with the camera, or who have just popped out of my head. Funny, they’re not the most dramatic scenes, but there you go.

Or just some random black and white cat. Nora, my new cat’s been getting bigger. She’s still the smallest of the gang, but it’s often hard to judge. There were some other drawings today, but this is the only one I could find to scan and post.

Also, I’m not intending to slight the other cats, who are beautiful, but the symmetrical black and white is easy to draw.

Hey, I can get you a great deal on a small tuxedo cat. Top of the line. All new fur. Very affectionate (if you know what I mean). So just come down to Ralph Weems car lot and ask for Ralph Weems. He’ll set you up with the cat of your dreams!

We used to get Ralph Williams commercials in Calgary when I was a kid. Hadn’t thought of him for a while, but when this outtake came up on YouTube, I remembered him and his loyal dog Storm. A drawing, kind of a memory of him.

Busy again, which is good. I’m doing some logo, graphic design things, which is new for me. I sketched this little version of my black and white cat, Nora which I like.

Those seem to be my two modes of drawing (get your mind out of the gutter!)

Further hindering me during these cold December days is Nora the cat, who thinks she owns my chair. If I’m sitting here, she’s sometimes below, looking up anxiously. I get up, and she takes over.

i’m seriously thinking of retiring this chair, and calling it a “cat tree.” But she’ll probably want to take over the new chair, too. Not a lot of space in this little work room!

I used to write for art journals, and about art, in newspapers. I’ve been out of that world for a while. It seems a little different when you’ve been on the outside, though I still feel at home in a gallery or museum. Not everyone feels that way!

Maybe I’m getting a little back into writing about art through these blog postings, and by visiting events. Even the comic convention. They’re all artists, striving, creating stuff that doesn’t have practical utility, and doing it for reasons they might not always understand. You can talk about the kind of art, whether it’s pleasing or not, and how much money it sells for, but all of it’s similar in some ways. Though the artists would never be able to agree on that.

Anyhow, here’s a yard I walk by often, on my way to the metro. It’s on my street, rue de Rouen, between Iberville and Frontenac streets in Montreal. There’s sometimes an angry dog barking at me from behind the fence, but also some funny things to see, made out of bits of welded junk, and other scraps.

It’s more pretty in the summer, when there’s a fountain running out of the rocking horse’s nose. Sometimes there are Christmas lights around, even during the summer. The gentleman who built the place was in the back, and I got him to pose for a picture.

Here’s a news flash. He tells me he’s turning this shed next door, which used to be a rehearsal space for some heavy metal bands, into a café, next year. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out! The Café Touski was a bit of a run-down place when it started, and now it’s quite popular. The neighbourhood continues to change.

Speaking of changes, when I moved into the neighbourhood, this building used to be a “Value Explosion” kind of dollar store. Now it’s apartments, with big display windows. That’s where I found this chair, and window cat.

And then finally, speaking of art in the wild, here’s a great painting on the wall inside the Frontenac Metro!

These don’t need explaining, but I like to write a little. Above is Catwoman and a dog. Below, the creepy cowboy from Mulholland Drive.

Next, some well-known author at a badly-attended book convention. I’ve sometimes dreamed about being able to fly to the ceiling at these things. Though I didn’t need Leo da Vinci wings.

Bottom, a pensive puss.

Just more drawings, with photoshop flourishes. I’m getting into the WACOM tablet, but still can’t really draw anything with it.