Busy with lots of things throughout the year, but here's the last illustration of 2019. As Letterkenny  and its rural Ontario-isms are taking the country by storm, and since a new season comes out every Christmas, main character Wayne seemed like a suitable subject.

Wayne is the toughest guy in Letterkenny (huge neck), loves chore-in, beer and plaid shirts. So pretty much your typical Canadian.

If you're in town through December and January, be sure to check out a solo show of my paintings and sketches at Lock Street Brewing Co. in historic Port Dalhousie. With a launch night of Dec 29 (8pm-11pm), the collection features paintings and sketches of familiar hometown icons such as General Motors, the drydocks, Cloth Co, Facer St., portraits & more.

I started to think about how Lebron would actually look in the Lakers purple and gold after his big signing in the summer, which lead to a quick sketch. For some reason whenever I picture him, Lebron is always rolling his eyes. I suppose if all of your nicknames are either god or royalty related, then it kind of makes sense though. And it will fit in well when he becomes a jolly old king.

I'm generally not a fan of the repetitious nature of graphic design trends. Overall, visuals just get to be very repetitive without much thought. Hipster lo-fi, icons, big beards... too much of that everywhere. Sometimes it's fun to play around a bit and throw in some cliche elements just because, but otherwise I try and stay of the moment without diving into trends.

I had some fun experimenting with textures and a Kid Rock quote in hipster style fonts.




And I worked in some super simplified icons in a poster style, to go along with a quote from Taylor Swift's Bad Blood.





I also felt like I needed to draw a big bearded fellow with lots of tattoos.






More of my work can be seen at http://www.jasondwyer.ca

Here's a few assorted cityscapes from the past year or so that I've gotten around to painting or sketching.



Passing through Paterson, New Jersey, I had the chance to observe some of the crumbling urban decay it is being plagued by. Boarded up vacant buildings and gang graffiti are heavy throughout the once formerly vibrant manufacturing city. It was like every street corner had a story to tell.


A scene from downtown St.Catharines. Older architectural buildings mix with early morning warm winter light for a misty-like quality.


Oil study of some really unique old buildings from a lookout point in Porto, Portugal at sunset. I was in awe of the variety of textures and crumbling bricks. View more art at jasondwyer.ca

Being Canadian, the lore of hockey is always present. Each decade has its share of great players, eccentric characters and their memorable stories. I see older photos and am always tempted to draw the players... the hair, style, the equipment. Some of it seems just too ridculous, playing hockey with no helmets, glorious manes of hair waving in the breeze(the flow). Even specific parts of equipment that were brief fads, that can instantly date when a player was in action.

I decided to do a few classics to start out, just loosely sketching them so that they were more character and less portrait. Legendary rushing defenseman Bobby Orr from the Big Bad Bruins and sniper Mike Bossy from the early 80's Islander dynasty both had unique looks in their day. After finishing up the brush work, I added some splashes of watercolour to liven things up, and give a feel for team colours.

On a trip this summer to Porto this summer, I discovered why it is such a popular tourist destination in Portgual. Aside from the port wine of course, the heritage Ribeira and surrounding area is just packed with scenic lookouts over the water and the city. It was almost an overabundance of spectacular old buildings to take in, to sketch and to photograph. Here are some of the sketches I managed to get when not busy stuffing my face full of olives.