Any Here Now First Page / Latest Page(s) / Last Page
I have uploaded the next page (9) showing the first of two modes in which an artist operates.
Look for the next update on Friday July 24 at 6 pm ET.
A full update is available on the last page.
Any Here Now First Page / Latest Page(s) / Last Page
I have finished the next three frames (6-8) introducing the core elements of an artist’s toolbox.
I’ll plan to update by Friday July 17 at 6 pm ET.
A full update is available on the last page.
Any Here Now First Page / Latest Page(s) / Last Page
I have uploaded the first few pages of the webcomic introducing our special narrator Crow.
Check for next update on Friday July 10.
A full update is available on the last page.
I am very excited to share that I am creating a webcomic called Any Here Now (NEHN)! You can learn more about the comic itself on the dedicated page: https://nathanparkinson.com/any-here-now/.
Here I want to elaborate a bit on why I’m making this. For the last year I have been working to improve the quality of my illustration through Tim McBurnie’s Line and Color Academy (LCA). Stages 1 and 2 helped me establish a consistent drawing practice and a simple, reliable process for making art. If you’ve been following along for the last year, you have seen the results of my efforts. In stage 3 I am currently focusing on making and measuring progress. The specific area of progress I have been focusing on is intentionally incorporating abstraction into my work. So far in LCA I have mostly restricted myself to single one-off images to avoid getting too involved with story. I’ve been happy with the results, but my illustrations have generally been detached from one another, except being related in subject matter or theme. Recently I have been trying to weave some story to connect my illustrations while still keeping them separate.
I’ve heard Tim say many times that creating comics is a tremendous way to improve one’s skills by increasing drawing mileage. I also fell in love with the idea of comics when I read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics a couple years ago. I never read comics growing up, and it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve had any considerable exposure to them at all. Therefore it’s no surprise that I had never made a comic, even though I had dabbled with the idea a few years ago and even roughly pencilled several pages before concluding it was more work than I was looking for at the time (besides, I couldn’t stand those ugly speech bubbles mucking up my pretty art!).
Recently Tim suggested I give comics a try as a way to reduce the amount of new visual library / subject matter I needed to learn with each image. I started with a 1-page comic. Next I did a 3-page comic. Writing those stories broke a dam of ideas in my mind which has been flooding ever since. I recently learned of the work of artist Minna Sundberg; I was blown away by her comics and was very inspired by her artistic journey. I also remembered the Team Fortress comics I was introduced to a few years ago; I love the way they make their comics into a sort of animatic – it’s so engaging! – so I decided to try building my own webcomic viewer to recreate that experience for my own comics; I built the viewer with the assistance of Perchance’s AI helper and am super happy with the result (you’re welcome to use it however you wish or even fork your own version): https://nathanparkinson.com/webview.
While I generally love drawing and making pictures for the sake of it, I find it so much more rewarding to incorporate my art into a story and for it to serve a purpose, not just to look pretty. So, as a way for me to draw more, develop my ability to use abstraction, tell a story with my art, and create something that might possibly matter to more people than just me, I plan to create a practice webcomic (in place of my one-off illustrations) for the foreseeable future.
Without further ado…
Any Here Now is live! though quite barren at the moment.
I have planned and thumbnailed the Prologue for a first pass. I am still developing the Webcomic Viewer; that might take another few days to finish. I hope to start uploading finished pages within the next couple weeks. Check for updates July 10.
A full update is available on the last page.
Back in January I joined the Mighty Artisan community. It’s been a great experience of giving and receiving feedback and being able to interact with other artists seriously pursuing growth and creative fulfilment. Having a place to share the artistic journey with other visual artists of all kinds has helped me identify weaknesses in my mindset and skills and gain some clarity in more effective approaches.
I am excited to announce a new direction for my artwork. I have a fresh artistic style consisting of hand-drawn pencil on paper with some digital enhancements. It blends the rough, sketchy look of pencil I love so much with the clean visual impact of digital processes.
I have been illustrating my own stories with delightful results, and I look forward to offering this style for commercial projects as well.
If you are interested in having your project illustrated in this style, please reach out to me via email or Upwork. You can see example illustrations in the art collection.
If you’ve spent much time in the art world, you’ve probably heard of “the fundamentals” and how important they are. Over the years I have studied how making art actually works and how to accurately define the many components. “Why is this useful?” By breaking a skill into its individual parts, you can practice each one more intentionally. Trying to learn everything at once or with a vague focus can make it harder to recognize your progress. For someone trying to master their craft, having a solid comprehension of the tools available is important.
The result of my efforts is the Fundamentals of Art document that I am now offering for free download.
I’m excited to announce that I have begun freelancing on Upwork. If you have any needs for a professional artist, please get in touch.
If interested, please click the “Hire Me” button below or in the main header menu if it’s active.
If you do reach out to me through Upwork, please let me know that you discovered me through my website (or however you found me). Thanks.
One can cover much ground in four years. Choose a direction and get going.
My labour of love, Followed by a Leaf, is finally published and in book form; it is the first title released by Parkinson Publishing. The book is ideal for children ages 4-9, but ages 1-12 may also enjoy the colourful pictures and playful story.
The book is currently selling for $11 CAD and is only available locally within a small part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario, Canada, for now (shipping is not available due to the high cost). Availability is quite limited; so if you’re interested, please let me know ASAP and we can work out the details. I will handle orders on a first-come-first-serve basis; once they’re gone I may begin taking orders for another print run, but I don’t know how soon that might be.
Since printing in August I have been fulfilling pre-orders, but now that those are finalized I have opened up orders to the rest of world . . . or at least to those in my small corner.
I’ll try to update the following section of the blog post to reflect the ongoing status of my inventory:
Status: Out of Stock
The binding is saddle-stitch (triple-stapled); the book is 8×7 inches (landscape) and has high-quality, full-page colour images. There are 28 pages total (not including the cover).
In this blog you’ll get a glimpse into the art-life of Nathan Parkinson (me!). You’ll find updates, thoughts and discoveries, and original art not yet part of complete art collections. For now the name will be Nathan’s Blog, but I plan/hope to come up with something more interesting. As you visit this blog you’ll get to pull back the curtain a bit and see more-regular updates as I explore the world around me and the realms beyond my reality.
You may even find a few inspiring, wisdom-packed quotes . . . probably from other, much wiser people 😉 Stay tuned!