Top 3 Ways to Start Ormlänk Chain Weave?

Today is an exciting milestone with the launch of my first ever chain weave tutorial video as part of our new Whytes.tv YouTube Channel - hope you enjoy this lesson and be sure to let me know what you think! So far I've really enjoyed working with our Hero4 Silver - despite all the technical ups and downs of learning a new piece of equipment. POV filming is a lot of fun and I can hardly wait to put together more fresh island content.

Oh, and just for fun - here is an animated GIF of me speed weaving Ormlänk:


via GIPHY

Making the chain?

Busy week carried into weekend with responsive site design upgrades for The Art of Chainmail and Whytes Online both going live after much polishing.

Had a funny giggle upon discovering that Sudbury's Talent North Magazine (which some of you may remember from my Zombie adventures in Espanola last summer) choose to feature none other than yours truly for the cover of their April edition. Check out the widget below - something awesome about this publication is that it is completely free-to-read online via international digital publishing service Issuu. (In retrospect I wish we'd had something this slick for the digital edition of Scrapbook.)

All around Talent North is definitely an innovative publication and even includes an awesome editorial this month on self-confidence!

The latest Scrapbook Story revealed?

Good day. 

We spoke yesterday at your gallery. I was hoping that I could maybe get some background information from the artist about this piece. I adore this work and would love to know more about it. I can send more photos if needed. Thanks for any help you can give me. 

Thanks. Sandi

---

Hi Sandi,

 I spoke with Dad and this is what he related to me:

"Sugar Bush - This painting was created as a Christmas present for my parents sometime in the 1970's. I'm not sure of the exact date - but it may be written on the painting. It hung in their home into the mid 1990's when it was purchased by the Sauls of Spring Bay - from that point I'm not sure how it wound its way through time

I'm pleased to hear you take joy from your painting - it was very personable to my parents who enjoyed it as well."

As you know we're currently running a Kickstarter campaign and were wondering if we may share your photograph and story?

Thanks in advance,

Dylon

---

Absolutely!  Please do. Thanks for the information. It is a painting that I adore and it garners a great deal of conversation. Thanks for your help. Sandi

Go big or go home. 

What I did on my one day summer vacation?

Chainman - Ever wonder why do they call me that?

Greetings chainmail fans around the world! My name is Dylon Whyte - many of you may know me from my DIY books and tutorials on chain waves, jewelry and armour - but did you know that in real life I'm actually an IT professional? And that I also assist at my family owned and operated art gallery (Whytes) while simultaneously acting as producer and publisher for our family projects?

Our latest publication is entitled Scrapbook: a story of art - my father's free-to-read memoir. If you have ever wondered where my creative mind comes from - this is your chance to find out!

Scrapbook is also accompanied by a Kickstarter campaign for those who may be interested in pre-ordering the hardcover edition.

This has been and continues to be a massive undertaking for us - For the last year I set everything else aside in order to pursue our dreams and participate with bringing Scrapbook to life, and right now I would like to know if you would consider contributing and sharing our effort?

As you can see from this double-page preview Scrapbook contains plenty of content for chain mail fans everywhere - so please share!

#JWScrapbook

Hot off the Press!

Kickstarter campaign launched for coffee-table compendium of Jack Whyte ’s life in art - read the whole article here.

It's not about the money - we just want to teach the world to dance...

Professional artist Jack Whyte really is the Dragon Ball Z Turtle Hermit (complete with Kame House) to my Monkey King Goku - not in a perverted anime way - but in the sense of my first and most cherished mentor - then yes.

Working with him on Scrapbook: a story of art has been the greatest experience in my life and it's my extreme hope that we are able to continue documenting his life's works. For us (if successfully kick-started) Scrapbook will be just the first stepping stone on a much larger journey of creativity - would you care to join us on our journey through time?

What happens when the Titanic of the Great Lakes collides head-on with The Perfect Storm?

Another hot day in the digital forge and this is the result - what do ya think?

Jack Whyte launches Scrapbook along with new gallery and invites world to visit for free!

“Access to arts and culture should be free for everyone,” says artist Jack Whyte. “Anyone can tour my 2015 exhibits online for free and - from anywhere in the world.” He and his son Dylon Whyte created a virtual gallery this past Spring where artworks are experienced up close and personally, as if literally standing in front of them.

"It's great to produce and present work on a scale of my choice, the way I originally envisioned it," Jack explains. As a young boy he never imagined having the opportunity to design and construct art without restriction. The discovery of a platform which allows for creative freedom has provided a new means for connecting with others.

Jack Whyte was born in 1939 in Toronto, Ontario - just before the start of the second World War. Having been influenced at an early age by a creative environment, he has pursued artistic practices as well as the adventure of invention for more than 55 years.

2015 marks the beginning of a new exploit for Jack, the release of his latest publication, 'Scrapbook: a story of art'. From modelling with Mickey Mouse as a child to showing at the Pollock Gallery and even winning awards for videos, this book recounts the journey and challenges faced by a becoming artist and the enormous adversity that life can throw at you.

In the autumn of 2014, Jack mentioned to his son, Dylon, that he was starting a book and could use some help with it. Over the course of a long winter and many toasty afternoons by the fire, they searched for, found, prepared and put together what has become a very personal and thoughtful one-of-a-kind memoir.

"It's not until you have the whole story that you really understand how the pieces all fit together," says Dylon Whyte. "It's also difficult to put everything into perspective when you're part of the story. Getting to the point where I can hold a part history in my hands helps me understand where I come from."

When Jack and Dylon started producing the book, it was just a collection of stories and images, but with months of collaboration and hard work, they have created an album that is delightfully personable and genuinely familiar.

"Jack tells you about the experiences that influenced him as an artist and includes all sorts of fun stories from his life," says Ashley Whyte, wife of Dylon and proprietor of the Whytes gallery on the waterfront in the Gore Bay Harbour Centre. "There is also an abundance of never-before-seen photographs and a wealth of artwork. When Jack named it Scrapbook, he really meant it."

Coming in at a whole 456 pages, Scrapbook was digitally published in June of this year and is available online for everyone to read for free. Although it was only meant to be a digital publication, new economic platforms have given Scrapbook the opportunity to become something more than just a concept.

"The book is obviously quite big and financing a print run on our own wouldn't be viable, so we talked about other options and crowdfunding came up as a potential," explains Ms. Whyte. "It's an incredibly different approach than anything Jack is familiar with, he has always done things on his own. It wasn't until only recently that we knew something like this even existed."

Crowdfunding is the process of funding your projects through small contributions made by many individuals in order to attain a certain monetary goal, typically via the internet. The model that has been around the longest is rewards-based crowdfunding, where people can donate and receive goods in recognition of their support.

Ashley and Dylon Whyte have taken Scrapbook to Rockethub; a platform specializing in arts and entertainment, to seek help in bringing Jack's story to life. They've launched their campaign and are working to raise $11,500 to cover the costs of printing a limited edition hardcover. In the meantime, Scrapbook remains free for everyone to read online and enjoy.

For more information about Scrapbook and how you can help, please visit their Rockethub campaign at: scrapbook.whytesonline.com

Where did you first learn chainmail?

For me it all started with the Jean Claude VanDamme movie Cyborg, then a poster on "The Ancient Art of Mail Forging", then a tome called The Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: In All Places and All Times by George Cameron Stone. Then it was a photocopied guide from an SCA event called S.T.A.G. Method and an eventual desire to pay back all the mentors I had learned from that led to my first website and subsequent self-published title The Art of Chainmail.

When I started such resources were scarce, especially living on the Island, but today Chain, Chainmail, Chaimaille, Maille, Mail or whatever you call it has literally experienced a renaissance of popularity and like a cog spawned many niche interests.

Facebook Groups like Chain Maille also keep the art vital in an environment where solutions to the issues all maillers face - such as aspect ratio, confusion over gauge standards, spring back, etc... can all be crowdsourced.

Below is my chain reading list - be sure to comment below with your favourite chain and mail learning resources and let me know if you'd be interested in Chainman reviews of specific titles or if you art interested in submitting your titled for review.

Advanced Chain Maille

AntiCraft

Beaded Chain Mail Jewlery

Beadmaille

Chain and Bead Jewelry

Chain and Bead Jewelry Creative Connections

Chain and Bead Jewelry Geometric Connections

Chain Mail Jewlery

Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop

Chain Mail & Wire Reimagined

Chained

Chainmail - Novel

Chainmail Made Easy

Chainmail RPG

Classic Chain Mail Jewelry with a Twist

Creative Chain Mail Jewelry

Chicks in Chainmail

Chicks 'N Chained Males

Classic Chain Mail Jewelry

Elven Chain Maille

Handcrafting Chain and Bead Jewelry

Introduction to Chain Mail

Introduction to Chain Mail

Kumihimo Wire Jewelry

Linked: Innovative Chain Mail Jewelry Designs

Make Chain Maille Jewelry 1

Make Chain Maille Jewelry 2

Making Chain Mail Jewelry

Manly Crafts

Practical Chainmail in the Current Middle Ages

Silver Soldering Simplified

Techniques Of Medieval Armour Reproduction

The Art of Chainmail

The Art Of Mail Armor

The Art of Wire

The Missing Link

Unconventional Chain Mail Jewelry

Woven Wire Jewelry

The Biggest, Blackest Cock to Ever Walk The Earth!?

Future dreams include the creation a one-of-a-kind series of illustrated speculative fiction novels which carry on the story of Cockzillionaire Big Dandy Whorebucks introduced in 419 and 64 Shades of Bacomegle as part of the Dyl W. Thrillogy.

Titles in the COCKZILLA! Ring of Fear are based on the tongue-firmly-planted-in-other-cheek humours of allusion, insinuation and double entendre. Much like the running gag of a giant wiener-shaped rocket passing in front of the moon from The Spy Who Shagged Me combined with a healthy dose of Sterling Archer thrown in for good measure. (Get it? Sorry, must have been an inside joke. OMG! I try not to use innuendo, but IT is hard, so very hard.)

Therefore, as incendiary as they may seem, none of these humours speculative fiction titles contain actual "blue" or "adult" material and instead utilize a satisfyingly clever - if completely cheesy blend of jokes and campy puns.

1. COCKZILLA! Atomic Barnyard Avenger

2. Fückushima! The Pacific Rim Job

3. Bow to... Mecha-COCKZILLA!

4. Sex Machina - Would You Like to Play a Game of Thermonuclear Whore?

5. Feaster Island: Hell Come to The Island!

6.  Five Dollar Blow Jobs

7. If I Were King of the World: The Preposterously Unlikely Legend of Sonny Chainman

8. P.O.D. PPL On Demand

9. F.L.E.S.H. Unleashed: Invasion of the Booby Snatchers

10. RUPTURE! The Day The Earth Still Stood

11. Brown Box Express

12. Innovation XXX: The Game Changer

13. Kingdom Cum-a-lot: Infinite Sex - plus Violence! Who could resist!?

What is the strangest thing you have ever done?

Sorry - 64 Shades of Bacomegle: Looking For Two Strangers... O.P. ala Stranger Still is currently out-of-print.

What does the number Four-One-Nine mean to you?

Sorry - 419: a Fictionalized eNovella Based on Actual Events by Dyl W. is currently out-of-print.

What is IT?

Sorry - THE ~IT~ CHING! A Book of Spare Change from The Itchy Manitou is currently out-of-print.

Are You Social Media Savvy?

Fools' names, like fools' faces, are often seen in public places...

Contacting Dylon

Chain related: kusari@artofchainmail.com

Writing related: dylon@grumbledude.com

Instant Messenger

Yahoo! : Kusari55

AIM : KusariKhan

MSN : KusariKahn at Hotmail.com

ICQ : 2128006

Social Media Links

Facebook

Fiverr

Flattr

Flickr

FourSquare

Goodreads

GooglePlus

Instagram

Klout

LinkedIn

Medium

Memecenter

Pinterest

Pseudodictionary

Society 6

Twitter

Tumblr

Vine

YouNow

YouTube

To learn more Google "Dylon Whyte"

Do you ever talk to yourself?

Sorry - Affirmations: Collected Works of Irony by Dylon Whyte is currently out-of-print.

Who is Dylon Whyte?

"If every fool wore a crown - I would be a king and not a clown."

Dylon has been influenced by creative environments since before he knew who he was, much like his father Jack Whyte. His childhood was filled with colours, smells, textures and the experiences of being raised by a fine artist. For him, this meant discovering the innovation of art and applying it to his own life.

Captivated by chainmail in his teenage years, Dylon found a new outlet for his inventive mind. His adventure into entrepreneurial adulthood included an interest in computers and combined with his passion for chain, led him to the creation of The Art of Chainmail; an illustrated book on how to create European patterned armour. He was later contracted by Lark Books and Sterling Publishing to produce instructional books on the topic of chainmail jewellery.

Dylon eventually found interest in other mediums and through a series of experimental projects discovered an opportunity to work with the artist he grew up with.

He has since produced a number of books, magazines and other literature pertaining to his father's artwork and the history of Manitoulin Island (Ontario, Canada). Dylon continues to pursue independent publishing and has recently released his latest project, 'Scrapbook: a story of art', which he co-produced with his father.

 

Dylon the Author

Dylon the Actor

Dylon the Artist

Dylon Whyte - Author and Publisher?

I've been involved with creative writing for so long that it's hard to remember how I got started - other than faded memories of my grandfather's old portable Underwood typewriter and a wee Dylon plunking away at speculative fiction narratives at 6 or 7. Now at 41, between physical and digital, writing and editing, illustrating and publishing, I've discovered that I have 17 titles under my belt and ideas for a zillion more.

(in reverse chronological order)

Scrapbook: a story of art - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2015

Manitoulin Island Coloring Book - Technical Adviser-Publisher - (2015 pending publication)

The Tragedy of the Asia - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2014

THE ~IT~ CHING! - Author as T.P. Leaky - Self-published 2013

The Way to Canada - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2013

64 Shades of Bacomegle: Looking For Two Strangers - Author as Stranger Still - Self-published 2013

419 - A Fictionalized Novella Based On Actual Events - Author as Dyl W. - Self-published 2013

Just Desserts: Grandma's Country Kitchen - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2012

Affirmations: Collected Works of Irony - Author - Self-published 2012

The $hitch: Issue #1 - Author as Ditto.D - Self-published 2012

Manitoulin Island Notebook - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2009

Beaded Chain Mail Jewelry - Author-Illustrator - Lark Books / Sterling Publishing 2008

Autumn '08 - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2008

Manitoulin Island Sketch Book - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2008

Manitoulin Illustrated Volume 1 - Technical Adviser-Publisher - 2006

Chain Mail Jewelry - Technical Editor-Author-Illustrator - Lark Books / Sterling Publishing 2006

The Art of Chainmail: Volume 1: European Patterns - Author-Illustrator - Self-published 2002

The Lonely Gunman - Earliest Blog - 2002

Dylon the Artist?

(True story: When I was a kid I thought Ricardo Montalban was a tan gent.)

Most of my work as an artist has been behind the scenes or as a technical illustrator - however creatively I am continually fascinated by memetics and semiotics. Along with my regular retinue of humorous digital pieces, I also actively pursue freelance poster, cover and packaging design.

Outside of my books and tutorials here are a few examples of my other works:

The Big Yellow Sub-Machine Gun - 2013

Videography with Jack Whyte

Paradoxian Tarot - Website - 2000 - 2004

Question Reality - Gore Bay Museum - 2000