Tim Lai - Cartoonist, Illustrator, Designer | Blog

I'm a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer living in Ontario, Canada. You can view my portfolio here and you can follow me on Twitter here. Sometimes I write and draw a webcomic called Lemon Inc. which is about kids who run a lemonade stand like it's an office environment.

[lemoninc]

Andy’s back in Lemon Inc. Part 2: Grand Standing. July 2016. lemon-inc.com

[timrlai]

TABLE IN TAAFI’S ANIMATION ARTS MAARKET - INDIE ALLEY FOR ONLY $99!

CALLING ALL INDIE ARTISTS!

The Animation Arts Maarket is the heart of TAAFI 2016 Independant artists are invited to grandstand on the second floor of the Maarket space in ‘Indie Alley’. Priced to accommodate independent artists, Indie Alley tables are an excellent space for creatives to show, sell and talk art with attendees of TAAFI 2016. With a history of attracting more than 1,000 registered animation arts students and professionals from across Canada, TAAFI's Animation Arts Maarket - Indie Alley is an excellent place to show your work.

DETAILS:

Location:

George Brown College (GBC) - Waterfront Campus, 2nd Floor 51 Dockside Drive, Toronto, Ontario

Dates:

Saturday April 23 - Sunday April 24

Operating hours:

Saturday April 23: 9 am open - 5 pm close Sunday April 24: 10 am open - 5 pm close

TABLES IN THE INDIE ALLEY AREA ARE PERFECT FOR ARTISTS!

Students, independent freelancers and collectives of four (4) or fewer: The Animation Arts Maarket - Indie Alley offers you the chance to showcase your work to the animation arts industry and the attending general public, and to introduce your fans to the smiling face behind that work. TAAFI offers specially priced tables of 4’ to individuals and collectives who would like to showcase and/or sell work in the Maarket. Studios, schools and retailers are invited to register for a Maarket - Studio Floor Booth or Table. Registration for both floors can be found at taafi.com/maarket.

EVENT DETAILS

TAAFI 2016, April 22-25 welcomes Eric Goldberg (Aladdin, Pocahontas), Audu Paden (Animaniacs), Tony Benedict, Willie Ito, Jerry Eisenberg (Hanna-Barbera) and Michael Rianda (Gravity Falls) for a weekend of shorts and feature film screenings, behind the scenes, creator Q&As and industry networking events.

Animation Arts ‘Maarket’ - Studios, Schools, Retailers and Independant Artists

Workshops - featuring VIP Guest Artists*

Nelvana Bouncing Ball - Toronto’s Largest Animation Party*

Screenings and Talks - Shorts, Features and Behind-the-Scenes events*

*Admittance is not included in the purchase of an Indie Alley table. To participate in these amazing events, please purchase a pass at taafi.com/passes.

INDIE ALLEY FLOOR PLAN

The Animation Arts Maarket will be taking over the whole ground floor of George Brown for their Maarket of studios, schools and exhibitors. The Indie Alley will be situated on the 2nd floor of the festival, right outside the doors of main screening area, the Seneca Auditorium, and beside the VIP area, and speaker rooms. There are only twenty 4 foot artists tables available.

TABLE COSTS

4 Foot Table:

$99 CAN + HST & service fees

4’ sectioned table

Black table cloth

One chair

One artist only per 4 foot table

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants will be accepted at TAAFI’s discretion based on appropriate content and thematic fit in the realm of ‘indie artists’ within the theme of ‘animation arts’. Fill out our online application form at taafi.com/maarket before midnight on March 31, 2016 for the final deadline. Regular applicants will be juried and successful applicants will be contacted via email by April 1, 2016. Once an applicant is successful they will have five (5) days to complete payment to confirm their Indie Alley table in TAAFI 2016. When applying applicants will be required to enter their credit card information into a secure site, but TABLE COSTS will ONLY be billed if they are successful, and only after they are accepted. If an applicant is not successful their credit card will NOT be billed. Payments can only be made by credit card.

[timrlai]

Good news! The Early Bird deadline to submit to the TAAFI Art Book has been extended by one week until March 8th! For only one more week, you can get a full page of art in the TAAFI Art Book for a very affordable $24 or a two page spread for an equally affordable $40.

“The TAAFI Art Book 2016 is a recruitment tool for studios, a high quality, printed and bound, collectable keepsake and a snapshot of our industry in 2016. Take part and have your best work published in this professionally bound book that includes your contact info for easy reference. Bonus: After the festival TAAFI will distribute a PDF of this year’s Art Book to the industry with your contact info inside!”

As this Art Book will be sent to all of the local animation studios and will include a directory organizing you by your areas of expertise, this is a great opportunity to have your work seen by art directors!

For more information see taafi.com/artbook or download the 2016 Art Book Info Package.

[timrlai]

Today is the last day to take advantage of the extended Early Bird rate for the TAAFI Art Book! Get those submissions in already!

[zeekayart]

TIM

[sassy-ghost-princess]

TIM TAMS

[timrlai]

So Zeekayart drew me...

[timrlai]

Toronto Comics Anthology Signing @ Yonge + Eglinton Indigo

So supposedly there will be a book signing for volume two of the Toronto Comics Anthology at the Yonge and Eglinton Indigo today from 6pm to 9pm. Supposedly I illustrated the story “Toronto the Rude” which was written by author, J.M Frey in this volume. Supposedly I will be there for some amount of time to sign some copies of this Toronto Comics Anthology. Supposedly this is pretty cool for me because I love the Toronto Comics Anthology, I like signing my name and I love Indigo, the book store and the colour. Maybe I will see you there. Maybe not. Why aren’t you coming? You should come. Yes, I realize this is short notice and that I should have written this blog post sooner but I forgot to until this very moment as I did not plan well. You should try to come anyway! Don’t worry about the kids, bring the kids. This is a family friendly signing. Here is a picture of the indigo you’re looking for. Nice right?

While we’re on the topic of the Toronto Comics Anthology, the Kickstarter for volume three just launched!

I am not in this volume but you should totally back it anyway! There are so many skilled and awesome writers, artists and even friends and aquaintances in this volume that I can fully and emphatically endorse it. It's crazy!

Need to know more? Watch this Kickstarter video or go to the Kickstarter page and look at the great rewards.

[timrlai]

Good news! The Early Bird deadline to submit to the TAAFI Art Book has been extended by one week until March 8th! For only one more week, you can get a full page of art in the TAAFI Art Book for a very affordable $24 or a two page spread for an equally affordable $40.

“The TAAFI Art Book 2016 is a recruitment tool for studios, a high quality, printed and bound, collectable keepsake and a snapshot of our industry in 2016. Take part and have your best work published in this professionally bound book that includes your contact info for easy reference. Bonus: After the festival TAAFI will distribute a PDF of this year’s Art Book to the industry with your contact info inside!”

As this Art Book will be sent to all of the local animation studios and will include a directory organizing you by your areas of expertise, this is a great opportunity to have your work seen by art directors!

For more information see taafi.com/artbook or download the 2016 Art Book Info Package.

[lemoninc]

“Happy 22nd Birthday to my very good friend Justin Bieber!! Me and the Biebs go waaay back. These are a couple of my favourite shots of us together. Dat Bieber bump!” - Andy Lemon

[timrlai]

Toronto Loves Harbourfront! It loves it so much that the buildings travel there for nautical fun! The Toronto Comics Anthology asked me if I’d be interested in doing a follow up to my Toronto Loves You! illustration in the same style. I wanted to but it had been a while since I worked in that style and I wasn’t sure how I could make another illustration with the same theme and make it original. It occurred to me that I could do something with Harbourfront since it’s one of my favourite places in Toronto and it has a distinct feel to it. At first I wanted to use different buildings, a bunch of boats and a hippo bus. I couldn’t find other buildings near harbourfront that felt as iconic to me so I ended up just using the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre again. I like the idea that they’re friends who just travel around the city visiting different parts of it. I did manage to work in that hippo bus. I can’t decide which of these colour schemes I like the best though.

[timrlai]

A Truly Terrifying Tale

Do you believe in ghosts? Something really creepy happened to me once but I've never told anyone about it... until now.

It was a cold and haunting February night. Snow blew through the air to briefly take the form of spirits in my mind. I was making my way back home from the TAAFI Masterclass with Mike Surrey (one of the many amazing masterclasses and workshops that TAAFI has offered, some of which can be enjoyed by purchasing a workshop pass at http://taafi.com/passes). I'm making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home bound. Staring blankly ahead, just making my way. Making a way through the crowd... and then I hear it.

"Aaarrrr! Aaaarrr!" At first I just think that it's the barking of feral dogs even though there are no dogs in sight. Then it grows louder and higher pitched. "AAARR! AAARR!!" The voice morphs from a low groan to a shriek that reverberates through my very being to the centre of my soul. I frantically look around, trying to locate the source of the cry. Nobody around me seems to notice the voice and I begin to suspect that I'm crazy. I keep walking to the bus.

As I reach the bus station the snow is blowing even harder, but I've managed to put the voice out of my mind. And that's when I hear it. "Boooo! Booo!" I begin to think that this ghost is getting pretty cliché. The voice grows louder. "BOOOO!!!" I decide that the cliché of ghosts saying "boo" must have come from somewhere and begin running to the bus. The closer I get to the bus, the louder and closer the voice gets until it's as if the ghost is practically whispering into my ear. I can even feel little droplets of ghost spittle hitting my ear. It's really gross.

I reach the bus station yelling "GO AWAY! LEAVE ME BE SPIRITS!!" The snow dies down. The voice seems to have gone away. The people waiting in line for the bus look at me with quizzical expressions and I begin to feel like a right old Silly Sally. I get on the bus. I take my seat.

The person in the seat next to mine appears to be a little girl. She is very pale and her hair is plastered to her face from the melted snow. She is crying softly. I wonder where her parents are. I turn to her and ask her why she is crying. Suddenly she whips her head around, revealing her face which is contorted into a horrific expression of disgust and agony. "You're sitting in my dad's seat!" she says. I appologize and switch seats.

I get home. I get into bed. And then I hear it. "AAARR! BOOOO!!" It's coming from under the covers. I'm overcome with a creeping sense of dread. I whip the covers off the bed and see it... A man who appears to resemble Willem Dafoe but who has bright pink skin, only slits for eyes and a a lot of acne scars. And then he says it: "Aaarrrrt! Boook!" Stricken with terror and confusion I exclaim "What?!"

He responds by saying something that has left me shaking with fear and dread until this very day: "I'm talkin' 'bout the TAAFI Art Book, ya dingus! Exactly one year and a week from today there will be only one weekend left to take advantage of the 20% off Early Bird special on pages in the TAAFI Art Book. You can get one page for the crazy affordable price of $24 or a two page spread for the bargain of $40! But beware: after March 1st, 2016 prices for the TAAFI Art Book will go up by 20%! And then after March 21st applications will close altogether!" I gasp and he leaves me with a final warning: "I forgot to apply for the TAAFI Art Book last year and I was so ashamed that my eyes fell out for they could not stand to gaze upon my artwork sitting outside of a full colour, professionally bound TAAFI Art Book like some kind of chump!"

Then the pink eyeless Willem Dafoe jumped out the window and left me lying in bed, shaking in fear at the thought of not submitting to the TAAFI Art Book by going to http://taafi.com/artbook. I hope you all learned something from this tale.

[timrlai]

Hey guys! Are you familiar with the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International? It’s an annual animation festival that features screenings of animated films, panels, workshops, a job fair, an Animation Arts Maarket and more!

This year, TAAFI is also producing an Art Book which you can apply to have your work featured in:

“The TAAFI Art Book 2016 is a recruitment tool for studios, a high quality, printed and bound, collectable keepsake and a snapshot of our industry in 2016. Take part and have your best work published in this professionally bound book that includes your contact info for easy reference. Bonus: After the festival TAAFI will distribute a PDF of this year’s Art Book to the industry with your contact info inside!”

Time is running out to take advantage of the 20% off Early Bird rate! For only one more week, you can get a full page of art in the TAAFI Art Book for a very affordable $24 or a two page spread for an equally affordable $40 as long as you submit your work before March 1st.

As this Art Book will be sent to all of the local animation studios and will include a directory organizing you by your areas of expertise, this is a great opportunity to have your work seen by art directors!

For more information see http://taafi.com/artbook or download the 2016 Art Book Info Package.

[timrlai]

This weekend is your last chance to take advantage of the TAAFI Art Book’s 20% off Early Bird rate! Don’t miss out!

[timrlai]

Here’s a side by side comparison of the old Lemon Inc. logo and the new one if you couldn’t tell the difference.

[timrlai]

This is the new Lemon Inc. logo. I’ve been meaning to do a refresh of the logo for a while and I finally decided to take a quick stab at it last night. I designed the original logo like seven years ago (wow, it’s been a while) and while it was iconic and descriptive it was also cluttered. I wanted to maintain the basic idea behind it but streamline it and simplify it so that it works in black and white... or in this case yellow.

[timrlai]

Hey guys! Are you familiar with the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International? It's an annual animation festival that features screenings of animated films, panels, workshops, a job fair, an Animation Arts Maarket and more!

This year, TAAFI is also producing an Art Book which you can apply to have your work featured in:

"The TAAFI Art Book 2016 is a recruitment tool for studios, a high quality, printed and bound, collectable keepsake and a snapshot of our industry in 2016. Take part and have your best work published in this professionally bound book that includes your contact info for easy reference. Bonus: After the festival TAAFI will distribute a PDF of this year's Art Book to the industry with your contact info inside!"

Time is running out to take advantage of the 20% off Early Bird rate! For only one more week, you can get a full page of art in the TAAFI Art Book for a very affordable $24 or a two page spread for an equally affordable $40 as long as you submit your work before March 1st.

As this Art Book will be sent to all of the local animation studios and will include a directory organizing you by your areas of expertise, this is a great opportunity to have your work seen by art directors!

For more information see http://taafi.com/artbook or download the 2016 Art Book Info Package.

[timrlai]

Heeere’s Andy! I was hoping to illustrate the entire comic in this new painterly style but it takes forever to paint so I might have to simplify the style somewhat for sequential pages. Regardless, this is demonstrative of the look that I want Lemon Inc. and my art in general to have going forward. I really want to start moving away from using black outlines in my work and to move towards illustrating purely with colour as much as possible. The speech bubble also shows what the new lettering style will look like. The rest of the characters will be coming soon hopefully!

[timrlai]

Sooooo.... I’m working on some Lemon Inc. designs but they’re taking longer than I anticipated. For now, here are the beginnings of Andy and the silhouettes of everyone else.

[timrlai]

It has been too long since I’ve seen this jerk.

[timrlai]

Here are all of the comics I got from @kevincoulston, unpacked. #kevincoulston #dylanmcvillain #teenageparadox #4thgradespacecaptain #kidscomicclub #kidscomics #comics #cartooning #illustration #coloringbook #coloring