Straight outta the TDot, and backed by his pseudo street cred earned on the streets of Degrassi, Canadian rapper Drake continues to flex the boundaries of international stardom. Rarely does a musician from the Great White North, successfully make the leap into the U.S. market, but it seems to be no trouble for this actor-turned-rapper. Aside from the Bieb and Drake, it doesn't seem like anyone else from Canada is even making a dent over the border. Aided by a host of big name collaborators, there's no telling how big this Young Money heavyweight will get. However the machine works, Canada doesn't really seem to get this whole complex music promo starpower thing. Which is actually kind of nice.
Portrait done in watercolour on rough board

As the final 22-man squad for the Canadian World Junior Hockey team has been announced, it brings to mind, yet another little thing that the holiday season is great for. I have some very fond memories of classic games that I've gotten to take in over the years, and certainly for me, the tourney is a can't miss.

Here's a sketch I did of the good ol Canadian boys while watching a game last year. It was inspired by some highly entertaining colour commentary, which itself is worthy of analysis from sport to sport. Hockey and it's tough sounding strange terms, golf and its whispered commentary, or the beautiful game and its highly critical hosts. "That was a horrendous effort. Really should've done better for himself there. There's no room for utter despair like that on that pitch. He's brought shame not just on his family, but his entire country with that poor display of an excuse for football."

Randomly scouting large words in the dictionary, sometimes can produce an interesting find. As in this case, I stumbled across a word "defenestration", which is the act of throwing something or someone out a window. A word that says so much, with so little, deserves at least a quick collage. It also helped in the comprehension of the jeopardy category, Defenestration in Cinema.

This year Mother Nature kindly waited till the first of December, to provide the Christmas season's inaugural snowfall. But soon enough, the streets will be covered in the familiar mass of powdered white, slushy grey and hectic holiday shoppers, all muddled together in one big mess.

Snow is one of those painful things to paint...I like to lump into the snore category along with clouds and trees. Not surprising then, that I had to venture back about ten years to find a painting of a full winter scene. This one, of the downtown bus terminal area,  was done in watercolour on rough paper, and captures well, the cold grey of midwinter.