Montreal diner signs

These pieces were a private commission based on photographs of two Montreal diners, one in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and one by the Stade Olympique. They now live, framed and matted, in a home office in Victoria where the owner can take breaks from work to reminisce on the unique flavours of Montreal rotisserie chicken and the quintessential hotdog steamé.

You & Me Keef!

A new coffee & ink piece in honour of Keith Richards’ autobiography Life, yet another book finished way behind the times (but such is my life). I have to say it was quite nice taking Keef to bed every night. I’m all for his philosophies on music and living (minus the smack), and he’s one of my guitar role models.

The “KR IV” refers to his reaction when Mick was knighted: “As for me, I won’t be Lord Richards, I’ll be fucking King Richard IV, with that IV pronounced eye-vee…” heh. Click to enlarge.

It’s TIKI time!

Designing alcohol labels is a dream job of mine so when I heard that the Canoe Brew Pub was having an art competition to launch their new Southern Cross South Pacific IPA I jumped on board. Given the name, this was a great excuse to go Tiki, but not too Tiki if you know what I mean. I mainly took my inspiration from tiki textures, colours and shapes, combined with some appropriate sketchbook images and fun type design.

Kaleidoscopes!

A couple of these kaleidoscopes appear in an illustration project I’m just finishing up. They are created by making random collages or patterns, and prismafying them. Yes, prismafying. I quite like how they turned out—some are jewel-like, others more psychedelic. Can’t wait to make more, and dare I say… animate them?

click images to enlarge

Gooseplay

The illustrations for Gooseplay are now finished and the book will be self-published in the coming months. Here’s the final cover image and a few more colour illustrations. Learn and see more on my website.

Love to Patti

I recently finished reading Just Kids, Patti Smith’s memoir about her and famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s early years in New York City. I’m sure you’ve all read it by now. It’s a beautifully written and inspiring story despite the sad ending. GOOD Magazine editor Ann Friedman sums it up well in her review for This Recording, “…it’s also “our story”—Patti and us. Patti and every woman who has felt within her a desire to create.” So true.

click images to enlarge

Ladies

The one new year’s resolution or whatever you want to call it that I seem to be coming through on is to draw more people. Drawn from photos I’ve been collecting in my “Ladies” folder, with ink on crappy paper with pleasing results. A couple are stars… Recognize anyone?

Freedom Flight

Here’s another image from Gooseplay, the book I’m illustrating for my uncle (described in this earlier post). I thought I’d put it up today in honour of the real golden eagle I just saw while walking my brother’s dog in Vancouver*. It was huge, and hung out in a tree for a bit before the crows bothered it away. I believe that’s the first golden eagle I’ve ever seen in real life. So here’s a scene from the book where one is freed from captivity and goes for a fly to celebrate.*

A card for baby Elpi

It’s tradition in the Netherlands to send a card to friends and family announcing when a baby is born. I was commissioned to do this one for my cousin Marten and is wife Puck, to announce the arrival of their daughter Elpi.

It was a fun little project, especially receiving my card in the mail all the way from Rotterdam. Felicitaties!

“You Get This” (Briarpatch)

Here’s a cover image I did for the January issue of Briarpatch, a great Canadian magazine based in my home town. The article is about how community organizations increasingly bear the burden of responsibility for sectors of society that are actually the responsibility of government. (Click to enlarge)

Best wishes for 2012

A little “moving greeting card” for 2012. Times are tough, and there is lots to worry about. We all feel the weight of the world on our shoulders these days, as we should. Things need to change. But we can’t let ourselves worry and fret to the point of debilitation, to the point of paralysis. Never stop dreaming of the world you want to see. (Viewable full sized here).

 

The Lucky Ones

A new piece for The Boston Globe OpEd section. Written by an American woman living with her family in an impoverished region of India, the article is about teaching her children compassion and understanding before they become desensitized to the poverty they witness every day.

Click image to enlarge

First flight

Here’s another image from Gooseplay, the children’s book I’m illustrating for my uncle Ben about a boy’s adventure with a migrating flock of geese in British Colombia.

It’s rare to be able to post process work when you’re doing a book, so I’m glad to have the chance to do so here because I learn a lot from putting images online. It allows me to see them in a new light, which is difficult when you’ve been looking at the same thing all day and you’re acting as your own art director.

This image of the boy’s first flight is what I suspect will be used for the cover. It doesn’t feel done but that’s enough for today. Below this is my original “sketch” as explained in the last Gooseplay post, from when we first started this project seven years ago (before I was an illustrator).   Click images to enlarge

play

Okay, so when I’m working on a longer project I often need to take a day or two’s break (if I can) to switch stuff up and play. Here’s something I did today. I’ve been giving myself these fictional tight-deadline “don’t think too much” jobs where I go back and find an old image I never used or something and just play with it. I drew these ladies last winter. Seeing them all together made me think of a hot chick band, and then I thought wouldn’t it be fun to do an illustrated book of women in rock bands? Talk about dream project. Anyway, I’m starting with the cover! (click to enlarge)

Crane Dance

So about 30 years ago my uncle Ben, a wildlife biologist in British Colombia for many years, started writing a book called Gooseplay. Adapted from a Swedish children’s story from the early 1900s, it’s an adventure about a boy who shrinks to the size of an elf and—riding on the back of a farm goose—follows a flock of wild Canada geese on their migratory path through B.C.

Years ago Ben asked if I’d be interested in illustrating Gooseplay. I was still in school at the time (studying anthropology and journalism). Between finishing classes and working several jobs, I spent my nights researching images (at the library!) and drawing quietly in our tiny apartment. This process was part of what led me to take up illustration as a career.

That was seven years ago, and needless to say my style and techniques didn’t really exist yet. I’m now in the process of re-illustrating Gooseplay, and thought it would be fun to post some of the images as I complete them, along with the originals when there’s one that corresponds. Here’s the first colour illustration draft, “Crane Dance” and original illustration it will replace (from a different part of the book) “Night Heron.”