“Folking Canadian - Saturday Night Mass”
Canadian tall-tales, campfire stories, and regional folklore’s romanticized reverence for the spirt of the nation, contrasted by society’s modern definition of it. Exploring the foreboding parallels between the stories told and the lessons never learned.
Hockey Night in Canada has been a ritual since 1952. This piece pays tribute to the face of Coaches Corner Don Cherry and his dog Blue
This project is basically an exercise in portraiture for myself. Most of my work is more environmental and I wanted to use this piece as an opportunity to practice character development and try my hand at interpreting someones likeness into my graphic and minimalist style.
The concept for this Don Cherry portrait is Hockey Night in Canada has been a staple of the Canadian culture since the early fifties and Don Cherry wears incredibly obnoxious clothing – so the solution was to combine his outfit with a very retro patterned wall paper.
One early sketch had Don with an iconic cone head, referencing a scene in the shows opening montage. Although I thought it was funny I felt not enough people would get the joke and ended up exaggerating his neck and tight tie – something that is a more regular aspect of his wardrobe rather than a one-time costume.
