illobits | an illustration blog by Marcus Cutler

Winter Night - Humpty Dumpty Magazine

2012-01-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late posting this since the issue this appeared in was the November/December Humpty Dumpty but better late than never.

I've been so crazy busy the last few months with a few large projects (which I'm very eager to share them but which must remain under wraps for now). I've also been on an extended working holiday from Christmas up until now. I'm finally getting back doing some promotion to hopefully keep things rolling throughout 2012.

This piece was for Humpty Dumpty's back cover. US Kids Magazines are always a pleasure to work with. I love that they give me quite a lot of freedom and don't usually have many revisions for me. For this piece they did have a revision though which was to add a cat or dog which I think was a good call (you can see my original sketch below). Being a cat person I of course chose a cat and I think it helped to friendly the scene up a lot.

Santa's Big Helper iOS App & New Babies

2011-12-07T19:17:00.001-07:00

I'm not the type to miss a deadline but it's tough not to when your first child arrives in the world two weeks early. Thankfully I had a very understanding client in Wet Nose Design.

I worked with them on Santa's Big Helper about a year ago under it's original title Elf Cam. The deadline for the artwork was the same day as my wifes due date and I figured the baby would likely be overdue (first children always are, everybody know that) so I had nothing to worry about. I had warned them though that if I was out of touch for a few days it was because we were in the hospital.

Needless to say finishing a large project with a newborn to take care of was nothing less than grueling but with a very understanding and flexible client it became manageable. Did I also mention that we had just moved across the country and hadn't yet to fully unpacked? I am pretty proud that even though I missed the deadline it was only by a couple days.

Our daughter is now 1 and it's been the best year of our lives. It's great to watch her grow up and my memories of her first couple weeks will always be tied to this project.

If you have kids yourself please visit the app-store and download Santa's Big Helper, it's fantastically done. My favourite part is the Elf Update videos. That guy puts a smile on my face.

Halloween Puzzle Pages - Jack and Jill Magazine

2011-10-12T15:43:00.001-06:00

Halloween is my favourite holiday, so I'm quite pleased that I had the opportunity to create the illustrations for Jack & Jill Magazine's Halloween themed Puzzle Pages spread. My favourite part was the Frankenstein which in truth was primarily added to balance out the colours.

I love that these puzzle pages pose such fun compositional challenges. Look out for the next one which will be posted soon.

First Flight for Baby - AAA Traveler Magazine

2011-09-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

The characters were based on my own wife and daughter.

I had the pleasure of working with Pace Communications to create an illustration for this month's AAA Traveler Magazine. The article by Amity Moore is titled Hush Little Baby, Tips to make flying with young children as easy as 1-2-3.

This was a very interesting convergence since when I created this piece my wife and I had only recently returned from our very first flying experience with our 7 month old daughter. Our own experience wasn't quite as easy as 1-2-3, but we survived nonetheless.

Pictured above is an idealized account of how our trip was for the magazine piece, and pictured below is my actual wife and daughter whom the characters above are based on.

They're even more lovely in real life!

One additional note, the pattern that I used for the chairs comes courtesy of Adobe and Von Glitschka.

Cricket Lullaby for Turtle Magazine

2011-07-21T09:16:00.000-06:00

Pick up the current issue of Turtle Magazine and you'll see this piece I did on the back cover. It accompanies the poem Cricket Lullaby by Jacqueline Schiff.

The first sketch I did (see below) had the cricket in a suit and fedora a la Sinatra but that idea was nixed. I was sad to loose that touch, but I think it helped the image in the end because the suit would have diminished the effect the green has against the monochrome background.

In related news I'll be working on the puzzle pages for Jack & Jill (which is Turtle's sister magazine) for September through to the end of 2012. Be sure to check out the first installment which is a Halloween themed spread.

Burning Celebrities for Keep the Heat

2011-07-07T07:31:00.003-06:00

Alex Negrete of Keep the Heat fame asked me to make a background with a bunch of celebrities heads screaming and yelling and caught up in fire. Needless to say I said yes.

You can see the complete full sized background here.

Chef Able's Fables

2011-06-06T14:25:00.000-06:00

Believing in the importance of healthy food for kids is something that Chefables and I have in common. So when they asked me to participate in their book Chef Able's Fabels I was more than happy to help out.

Below are the two spreads that I worked on for the Take Out Philosophy story, plus my concept sketches.

The Old Ball Game

2011-05-06T10:05:00.002-06:00

Since I'm a big baseball geek I was thrilled when I landed this assignment from Humpty Dumpty Magazine. I was also thrilled when they didn't seem to mind me referencing my team the Toronto Blue Jays, and about to strike out the Red Sox no less! I also decided to make the second baseman a boy version of new Hall-of-Famer Roberto Alomar.

This piece is featured on the back cover and accompanies the poem The Old Ball Game by Lorna Johnson. It's on shelves now so get yours today!

Spring Cleaning

2011-03-22T14:30:00.000-06:00

I think I promised that this would drop last week, but it's been quite busy of late which is always a nice problem to have.

This was created for a postcard promotion that went out last month. Below is the bonus accompanying wallpaper. Click it to download the hi res image.

Masthead Spread for Turtle Magazine

2011-03-13T14:48:00.000-06:00

Hey, if you check out the March/April issue of Turtle Magazine then you can see the above illustration featured on the masthead spread. It accompanies a poem by Suzanne Wenk.

Stripping for Spring

2011-03-07T12:39:00.003-07:00

To celebrate the coming spring I created this and another piece which will be debuted here next week (check back soon!). After living in Edmonton for 4 years and then moving back to Ontario, spring seems so early now! Man I hate winter.

You can see from the original sketch below that I made a few adjustments to the final piece. I eliminated the naked winter tree and gave the snowman a scarf to help the visual flow from left to right which is really important in this piece. The scarf also helps tie in the gold colour throughout the entire image. The tree was a case where something looks good in a sketch but is obviously out of place once seen in colour.

As an added bonus, this piece has also been made into a handy desktop wallpaper that you can download in full size here.

Sweater Be Gone!

2011-02-15T08:37:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since I've had the chance to participate in an Illustration Friday topic, but I have a very slight lull for about a day and so I had the opportunity to do a sketch for this week's topic of "sweater". It was inspired by the fact that we've had a couple days of unseasonably warm weather, and I have the urge to run outside and shed clothing much like in the piece. Don't worry neighbors... I won't actually do it.

Once finished I'll be using this piece for a promotional email next month to celebrate spring, and as my new homepage header at The I Spot. Check back next month because I'll also post the finished product here.

Retro Pixel Background for Keep the Heat

2011-01-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

To celebrate hitting 500,000 subscribes Alex of YouTube's Keep the Heat fame commissioned this fresh new background. It was a fun challenge since I had never created anything with this pixelated look before but I think it came out great.

Working with Alex is always a good time since he always has a fun new idea. I'm glad that I'm his go-to illustrator!

Toothless Illustration for Humpty Dumpty Magazine

2011-01-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

If you check out the new issue of Humpty Dumpty Magazine you'll find my work on the back cover. The piece accompanies a poem by Jody Jensen Shaffer called "Toothless". Below you can see some of the concept sketches. The first attempt (far left) came out a bit too scary looking to be age appropriate so I created two more sketches as options and we went with the latter one.

2011 Winter Wallpaper

2011-01-07T14:11:00.010-07:00

It took a while for me to get around to this with workload, Christmas holidays, and a new baby in the house, but here it is at last, a fresh new wallpaper for 2011. If all goes well I'll have 3 more this year - one for each season. So please check back in April for the next installment.

Since Blogger limits image sizes to 1600x1000 pixels, go here if you'd like to download the full size wallpaper.

Elf Cam

2010-12-06T11:53:00.001-07:00

I recently had the honour of working on this iPhone App project called Elf Cam with Wet Nose Design. It's a really fun app that lets you see Santa come down your chimney as well as a multitude of other functions. I find the Ask An Elf videos particularly enjoyable!Make sure you download yours today!

Wet Nose Design was a joy to work with on the project as they allowed me a lot of creative freedom, and had lots of good input, and a good vision of what the final product should look like. This was hopefully the first of many apps that I get to work on.

New Location, Same Great Marcus

2010-10-22T08:55:00.003-06:00

It's been a very busy time for me and my wife these last few months. We're expecting our first child in a matter of weeks and so have moved to Windsor, Ontario to be closer to family. If you'd like to contact me my email and fax number are the same, but please note the change of phone number in the image above.

So You Want to Work With an Illustrator

2010-10-03T13:14:00.007-06:00

I created this animation in response to clients who have approached me with questions about the process involved when working with an illustrator. I can understand the apprehension, but hopefully it will answer some of their questions. This movie can also be found on YouTube, so please feel free to post it, and share it with others as you see fit!

This is my first ever animation. It was a lot of work, and a very steep learning curve was involved. I'll take you through the process below.

My first step was to do a whole bunch of research into animation. I've had some of my illustration work adapted into animation in the past so I had a good understanding of how to construct the illustrations, plus I had some past experience using Adobe Flash so I had a good starting point.

Lynda.com was my sole resource for learning the software involved for the animation and music. If you've never checked out their service it's worth your time. For the actual animation theory I turned to The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams. I'd recommend it to any who have an interest in animation.

Adobe After Effects was the workhorse behind the animation. While I'm aware that I've barely scratched the surface of the program, I now have a decent understanding of how to use it for my immediate needs.

The expanded "Marcus Puppet" showing all the parts involved.

I wrote a script and made a storyboard, both of which we're altered during the process as I learned what I was doing along the way. A big lesson that I learned was that it's extremely helpful to have it all sorted out in the beginning rather than having to fudge with it down the road. I then created most of the illustrations that I would need, adding a few more during the animating process (again, it's better to get this all organized ahead of time).

I bought a nice usb microphone and recorded the voices. A big thanks to my very helpful and co-operative wife Holly for voicing the role of Suzie. The audio was then edited and refined in Adobe Soundbooth which I also learned through Lynda.com.

I started animating from the first shot and went shot by shot until the end. If you watch the animation closely you'll see my skills improve as it goes. The first bits are way too over animated and it looks like my character is flopping around like a fish. The cliche holds true kiddies; less is more!

I completed the animation and added the sound effects which were found at SoundJay.com. The music was composed in Garage Band which luckily came preloaded on my Mac. And it was all put together in Adobe Premier Pro. Once again, thanks to Lynda.com for teaching me to use both those programs.

Even though it was somewhat arduous, I had a good time making it. Hopefully I'll be able to create some more animated projects down the road.

On Shelves Now!

2010-09-14T09:07:00.000-06:00

Wow, exciting week! In one day I received copies of both Turtle Magazine and The Writer Magazine which both feature my work. The piece for Turtle was created to accompany the poem City Street by Betty L. Hass. Many thanks to Bart Rivers for the super fun assignment!

The piece for The Writer was for an article by Lynn Capehart titled The Importance of Inclusionary Writing. It's a very interesting article about how many white writers will only describe a character in terms of race if they're non-white. It's a more heady topic than I'm used to, but I think it turned out great, thanks in large part to Ron Kovatch the magazine's Senior Editor.

Illustrator of the Month

2010-09-08T08:57:00.000-06:00

I'm exited to announce that childrensillustrators.com has chosen me to be their illustrator of the month! I consider it a big honour considering the the wealth of talented illustrators who are members of the site.

Keep the Heat Apocalypse Background

2010-09-02T09:34:00.003-06:00

I was recently commissioned by the infamous Alex Negrete of Keep the Heat to create a new web background in celebration of hitting 300,000 subscribes. It's always a lot of fun working with Alex on these since he always has creative concepts and gives me a lot of room to play.

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization

2010-08-27T14:31:00.002-06:00

I saw this posted on illustrationmundo, and though it was brilliant. He makes graphic design seem much more profound than I ever conceived. Enjoy, and check out more Ted Talks.

There Was an Old Lady...

2010-07-22T13:44:00.005-06:00

If you seek out the latest issue of Humpty Dumpty Magazine you'll find the above illustration by yours truly on the back cover. It accompanies the poem New High Rise by Vera Koppler.

Stay tuned as I was asked back by U.S. Kids Magazines to create an illustrated spread for Turtle Magazine which will be out this September!

Singing Science - Owl Magazine

2010-07-01T10:21:00.003-06:00

I love it when work leads to more work! After creating the lizard puzzle spread illustration for the fabulous Canadian children's magazine chickaDEE, their sister magazine Owl contacted me for the the above spot illustrations.

Owl is for a slightly older crowd and the illustrations were for a feature on the science of music and singing. It was a big challenge making all that anatomical stuff!

The Elephant in the Room

2010-06-07T21:53:00.003-06:00

Here's a piece was completed last week. The end client is in the business of helping medical pros with their organizational systems, and the elephant refers to changes coming down the province's pipeline that nobody wants to deal with until it's too late.

Thanks to Randy at Mythographics for being fun to work with on this one. I was actually able to meet him over coffee a couple of times. It seems that it's a rare but pleasant occurrence that I can meet the people I collaborate with.

Stolley Children's Hospital Campaign

2010-06-04T09:09:00.005-06:00

I was really happy to get this gig doing the illustration work for The Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation's new campaign. The campaign will continue with phases 2 and 3 where you'll learn what happens to Ethan.

It's a really fun project to work on, and definitely a worthy cause. Props to the crew at g[squared] for being the masterminds behind it all.

Illustration Pages

2010-05-17T09:24:00.001-06:00

Hey ya'll, I'm honored to have been listed on Illustration Pages today! It's a neat site that's all about illustrators Facebook pages and online stores. You should definitely check it out. They were Listed as one of HOW Magazine's Top 10 Websites For Designers March, 2010.

K9 Design Portraits

2010-05-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

I was recently asked to create this trio of portraits for the crew over at K9 Design Co. I've worked with the team there before and it's always an enjoyable experience. The job was fun too, I always like the challenge of portraying real people in my simplistic style. Maybe some of you out there would like to commission a portrait?

ChickaDEE Puzzle Page

2010-04-14T12:56:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to announce that you can find some of my work in the current edition of ChickaDEE Magazine. I was asked to create the illustrations for a puzzle page in the new reptile issue - in stores now!

I've also just finished a couple spot illustrations for ChickaDEE's sister magazine Owl, and have a piece underway for Humpty Dumpty Magazine.

I really like doing these kids magazine pieces, they're super fun.

Brave Sunterrainean Circus Mouse

2010-03-17T08:59:00.004-06:00

Well, I actually created this as a part of Illustration Friday's "brave" theme for last week as well as for Monday Artday's theme of "circus"... also last week. So it's late on both counts. But, I feel it could also apply to this week's IF theme of "subterranean".

This was also my first time posting for Monday Artday. I have to say that I'm a big fan. I think I'll try to do more crossovers of pieces that can apply to both. Could be a fun challenge.

Keep the Heat Illustrations

2010-03-10T13:07:00.006-07:00

I very recently created some illustrations for Alex Negrete of the Keep the Heat YouTube channel (with over a million views). The work consisted of a background for the web page, as well as some additional character illustrations for his show Klik, a show for teens and tweens where Alex riffs on celebrities and other topical stuff. I'm especially proud of the God character - he's a pretty hip looking dude. It was a fun assignment, and Alex was definitely a pleasure to work with.

Illustration for Canadian Running Magazine

2010-02-22T08:15:00.003-07:00

This piece was created for an article called Crossing the Line by Katherine Low, and appears in this month's issue of Canadian Running Magazine.

Life Of Pi

2010-02-21T22:16:00.003-07:00

This is a little late for the Illustration Friday topic of "adrift", but I'm super pleased with it so I need to share it. Anyone who's read it will instantly recognize this as coming from Yann Martel's awfully good book The Life Of Pi. I really wanted to capture the uneasy truce between the characters.

New Website!

2010-02-18T08:59:00.002-07:00

Hey folks, I'm happy to say that my new marcuscutler.com website has just launched! Please have a look and let me know what you think!

Plan B

2010-02-10T21:50:00.004-07:00

I decided to try an experiment. For a long time I've done my best to move away from the use of line in my work and rely on colour and and contrast to separate elements. However, I was recently looking at some beautiful vector work with strong black lines and was jealous of the heavily graphic effect they had. So I thought I might go back and see if I could work with that idea a bit.

Well, it looked like crap. I think I was forcing it too much. It happened naturally with an older piece of mine, The Dude. I think the outlines work there because it's in the context of stained glass style, and because there's a lot less of them. They're also incorporated a lot better due to the texture. Anyway, you can see my revised version and I think you'll agree that it's much better. It never hurts to play around though I guess.

Got Mud?

2010-02-08T17:12:00.003-07:00

This is both my response to the Illustration Friday theme of "muddy", as well as a kids t-shirt design for my new Zazzle store - check it out here!

New Self Portrait for 2010

2010-01-29T13:58:00.004-07:00

I made this for something to have on the back of my promotional postcards. I toyed with the idea of just repeating whatever was on the front and just washing it out, but that didn't really add anything to the design. If I'm going to shell out for 2 sided printing, I might as well make it worthwhile and add a bit of interest, and part of promotion is selling myself as a brand so why not just blatantly sell myself?

I'm quite pleased with the end result will post my finished design once done. This image also dovetails nicely with this weeks Illustration Friday theme of "focused". So total bonus!

Clumsy

2010-01-28T09:32:00.002-07:00

Here's my submission for the Illustration Friday theme of clumsy. I hate when people talk on their phones and drive... unless of course I'm the one doing it.

Wilderness

2010-01-18T21:58:00.003-07:00

I was trying to figure out something to do for a promotional piece, and since I've been remiss at doing any Illustration Friday themes for a while, that's naturally where I turned. Above you'll see the result.

A nice thing about being in Edmonton is having a taste of city life with some beautiful nature pretty nearby. My wife and I took off to Jasper for some snowboarding over the holidays and we've been enough times that we're starting to take things like gorgeous mountain scenery and having to navigate around big horn sheep wandering around the road for granted. So I guess that's what this piece is about.

2010 Desktop Wallpaper

2009-12-29T16:35:00.004-07:00

Hey, to celebrate the new year I created a fancy-schmancy wallpaper, click the image above for a large version that you can download and enjoy for a whole 365 days.

My first attempt at a "Making Of"

2009-12-10T10:33:00.005-07:00

I've been wanting to try doing a "making of" video for a while, and when I heard about Screenr, I thought it was time to get off my backside and give it a shot. Screenr is pretty sweet - it's a web app so no installation is involved, and if you like you can publish right to twitter. I just downloaded my clips and edited with iMovie. I got the music from Musopen, a very good source for public domain classical music.

So, voila - I'm a filmmaker. Orson Wells ain't got nothin' on me.

They look like big, good, strong hands. Don't they?

2009-12-07T14:53:00.006-07:00

My first thought for the Illustration Friday topic of "crunchy" was the Rockbiter from Neverending Story. My first sketch was him happily munching on some rocks, but then I realized that I much better remember him sad and waiting for death after (spoiler alert) he's failed to save his friends from The Nothing. So that's what I went with because I thought it'd be far more interesting.

This has now made me nostalgic for the film, so I think I'll be getting it at the library this week. Especially as *gasp* my wife has never seen it! Although it probably won't hold up and I'll totally ruin my view of the film. Ah well.

Entangled

2009-12-03T15:33:00.005-07:00

My under-the-wire submission for the Illustration Friday theme of "entangled". I haven't drawn any superhero stuff in a while. Maybe it has to do with me reading tons of Batman comics recently - wrong universe, but still...

If you're wondering to yourself "why Electro, he's super lame?", my answer to you is: because he's super lame. I couldn't resist drawing the ridiculous outfit of his. How does he get through doorways with that thing!?!

Christmas Choir Animation

2009-11-30T09:12:00.004-07:00

I recently completed this piece for a flash e-card that's to be used by the Finnish Post Office. Click here to see it animated with music (click on the characters to make them sing).

The animation was done by TBWA/Helsinki, who are a great company to work with. It's really cool to see my drawing animated, hopefully I'll get another project like this in the future.

Unbalanced

2009-11-16T14:33:00.003-07:00

I had two ideas for this weeks Illustration Friday topic of "unbalanced". The above one, and another similar idea with a fat kid on one end and a skinny kid stuck in the air on the other. I liked both ideas, but went with emotional impact over humor... so unlike me.

Twitter Brain

2009-11-06T12:51:00.005-07:00

(Above is the original, below the revised)

I think this recently completed image fits nicely with this week's Illustration Friday theme of "blur". I see people who are so lightning fast texting on their keypads t blows my mind. When I was in high school we took typing on electric typewriters, these days I'm sure they must use iphones.

Mostly though, this piece is about my fear that Twitter will make our civilization dumb by limiting any introspection to 140 characters. That being said, CLICK HERE if you'd like to follow me on Twitter!

Fast Little Butterfly/Art From The Unknown

2009-10-26T15:31:00.007-06:00

This is partly inspired by this weeks Illustration Friday topic of "fast", partly by having just reread Life of Pi, and partly for a 2010 (year of the tiger) desktop calendar I'm working on as a promotional piece. I think it will also work nicely as an art print.

Speaking of art prints, I had a really good time at Art From The Unknown, sold a few prints, and also exchanged prints with Karen Bishop who's super nice, has a cool accent, and does some really awesome watercolours. Exchanging artwork is great because I'm a bit of a collector, but have limited funds. I'm wondering if there should be some sort of collective site where pieces could be offered up for trade. I think that would be sweet - somebody do that and let me know.

Below is a revision to the calendar based on some feedback that I got from the folks over at the HOW forum, and Illustration Mundo Forum.

Frozen

2009-10-19T22:29:00.002-06:00

This is my submission for Illustration Friday's topic of "Frozen", although this little Inuit girl seems fairly cozy all snuggled up in her parka.

Art from the Unknown - Oct. 23 to Oct. 25

2009-10-19T08:24:00.005-06:00

I'm happy to announce that I'm part of a group show called Art from the Unknown this upcoming weekend, Oct. 23 - 25. The show is sponsored by Rachel Notley, MLA and will be at The Old Strathcona Center for the Performing Arts/Cosmopolitan Music Society. The venue is located at 8426 Gateway Boulevard, Edmonton, Alberta.

I'll be at the the opening night reception on the 23rd that runs from 5:00 to 9:00. Hope to see you there!

Flying (or lack thereof)

2009-10-12T20:45:00.004-06:00

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Mmmm, nice and full from my dinner. There's nothing better than my wife's candied yams! We celebrated in our own style this weekend by getting trained in first aid. It's something that we've wanted to do for a while and finally got around to it. I just hope it's never needed, it's all really gross. Hats off to the nurses and paramedics that I know - better you than me!

Above is my response to this weeks Illustration Friday topic of "flying", based on the idea that maybe if this fella could fly he might escape his fate. I usually go cute and fun with my work, so just for a change I went dark and sad... Happy Thanksgiving!

Combining My Geekery for Sci-Fi & Baseball

2009-10-07T16:44:00.008-06:00

This is a personal project that started a while back in response to Illustration Friday's topic of "infinite". I thought of outer space first since it's as infinite as you're gonna get, and plus I'm a geek. I'm not sure how I came up with the baseball idea... that was just some random randomness.

I liked the implausibility of the idea of sports without gravity. How could every hit not be a home run? Could you still throw a curve-ball in space? I'll have to ask my physicist friend about that. Anyway, I turned the idea into a series of baseball cards. Above is the second one I completed. He's the requisite robot, with the other two in the series being the requisite human, and requisite alien.

At fist they looked all glossy and futuristic, but then I thought it would be better to add some texture to crap them up a bit like they've been sitting at the bottom of some space-kid's space-drawer for a long time.

I'd love to keep going on these, but they take frickin' forever! As it is I think I'll print them and send them out as promos. If you want to see the complete series I plan to feature them in my e-newsletter which you can sign up for here.

The Shop Is Now Open

2009-10-02T16:53:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to announce that I now have a space on Etsy where you can buy my prints. Check it out at marcuscutler.etsy.com. If you see anything on my blog or website that you think you might like as a print let me know and I may be able to make it available for you.

2009-09-22T12:57:00.003-06:00

A followup to the earlier Illustration Friday topic of "magnify". I've turned it into a bit of a story, scroll down to see the stunning conclusion to The Case of the Very Chewed Shoes (dundundun!)

I like this kid, he's turning into a cross between Indiana Jones and Sam Spade. I haven't named him yet - any suggestions?

Trick Or Treat

2009-09-15T17:46:00.004-06:00

This piece is in response to the Iluustration Friday topic of "welcome", and also because I can't wait for Halloween. It's definitely one of the best times of the year. It also seems everything I do these days is brown. Hmmm.

Magnify

2009-08-30T17:53:00.005-06:00

Here's my submission for Illustration Friday's topic of "magnify". I did it as a promotional piece, and ended up creating a story around it as you can gleam from the concept sketches I've included.

The sketches are done with Col-Erase pencils. I got this from my animation friends who seem to always use the blue ones (I think if they use anything else they get kicked out of the club). I like them because I can start the sketch with a lighter colour and refine it with subsequently darker colours. This is good for me because my first attempts almost always suck so I save both paper, and the time it would take to start from zero. Hooray!

A Cautionary Tale

2009-08-23T18:58:00.004-06:00

A caution-ary tale: if a group of sword wielding nihilists are demanding the scant amount of money you have in your wallet, it might be best to give it to them (regardless of the fact that you watched your buddies die face down in the muck).

So as you can see my Lebowski triptych is now complete, and I aim to have them printed this week! I think Donny was the hardest one due to his lack of affectations such as any kind of glasses or facial hair. Plus Buscemi a pretty weird looking dude.

Sometimes, there's a man...

2009-08-17T19:47:00.005-06:00

Here's piece #2 in my Big Lebowski series, and is also doubling as my response to this weeks Illustration Friday topic as The Dude is wrapped in his signature robe. I don't know what next weeks topic will be, but I'll stretch it any way I have to in order to make it fit Donny, my third piece in the series. You can see my first piece featuring Walter in the post below. All of these will be turned into prints so fire me off an email if you're interested and I'll contact you once they're available for purchase.

Also, anyone who's thinking of drawing a Persian rug might want to reconsider - it's a pain in the tuchus, you know, in the parlance of our times.

Shut the F up Donnie!

2009-08-13T16:00:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to do a Big Lebowski series for a while now and was actual going to do a Dude portrait for Illustration Friday's topic of "Idle" a couple weeks back but I didn't have the time. But then this weeks topic of "Impatience" called to mind Walter's constant impatience with Donnie.

This is one of my favourite things that I've ever done. It took forever, but I'm pretty passionate about The Big Lebowski and so wanted to do it service. I'll continue the series into a triptich that I'll turn into prints for an art show that I might be a part of this October so watch for The Dude and Donnie coming soon!

2009-07-12T12:39:00.004-06:00

Here's my submission for the Illustration Friday topic this week of "hollow". Poor kid has a hollow tummy. Time for a Mac attack!

I'd also like to announce that I've begun a newsletter. It's to keep folks updated with fresh new samples of work. It also has links to helpful websites and resources for creative types, and other fun and cool things that I find. I intend to send it monthly, but that may vary depending on how much time I have.

I'm also on Twitter now too, so if you'd like to follow me there, please do! I think it's a great way for us in the illustration and design community to keep in touch despite the distances between us. Also it's another way to shamelessly promote myself, something now that I'm a full time freelancer I can't do enough of.

Once Upon A Time...

2009-07-05T12:07:00.003-06:00

I'm finally done my small business course and decided to celebrate by catching up on some drawings.This piece was supposed to be in response to the IF topic of "Unfold" a couple weeks back.

There's another version of this that can be seen here. The difference is a blue background, and a different font for the type. I think I prefer this version but feel free to let me know your thoughts! The character was in part inspired by Groucho Marx as when I started this my wife and I had just watched Duck Soup (which I highly reccomend).

Craving to show my gratitude!

2009-06-05T14:54:00.005-06:00

I've been neglecting my blog for quite a while now. The reason is that I'm in school again - an 8 week course on writing a business plan -- my business being freelance illustration, natch.

Part of this course has us doing market research by calling those in the industry. I won't name names as I think this stuff is supposed to stay confidential, but a shout out to those who were so friendly as to help me out. I feel so lucky to be in such a supportive and fraternal (is "fraternal" inclusive of females? I'll have to look that up...) industry.

As of this posting I'm halfway through the course so hopefully I can start posting more regularly soon!

ps. For those Illustration Friday-ers stopping by I offer my sincere apologies on the cop out on this weeks theme. I hate it when people do that!

Theatre

2009-04-28T14:38:00.004-06:00

This is my ad hock submission for the Illustration Friday theme of "Theater". It's something I was working on already, and it almost fits the theme. But since I'm busy/lazy, I think it'll do.

Fleeting

2009-04-13T17:44:00.003-06:00

This weekend the weather finally warmed up and the snow is all melted. So like any good Canadian my first instinct was to find a patio where I could enjoy the sunshine and sip a beverage.

I was also inspired to do this image for the Illustration Friday weekly topic of "Fleeting" as I know how quickly it'll be winter again, so ya gotta enjoy it while you can.

Poise - Free Bookmark!

2009-04-01T11:02:00.006-06:00

Here's my entry for the Illustration Friday topic of "Poise". I did it in bookmark format, so if you like click on the image, print it out (card stock would probably work well), and you've got yourself a handy dandy new bookmark!

Subtract 2

2009-03-26T11:54:00.003-06:00

A second concept of mine for IF's topic of Subtract. I've got a third - but we'll see if I have time to see it through.

Now that I've posted this I think I'll take a wii fit break right now - I've got to try to beat my wife's soccer score.

Subtract

2009-03-24T11:26:00.003-06:00

Here's my submission for the Illustration Friday topic of subtract. It reminded me of a friend who had a couple of pet geckos. One day while cleaning the tank they got loose, and he chased one into the bathroom. As the little guy scurried behind the toilet my friend grabbed him by the tail, which promptly detached from the rest of the gecko. Now, while this is supposed to happen to help protect lizards from predators, it's not a good thing.

The geckos tail never quite fully regenerated, but grew into a weird red stub. The gecko himself was never quite the same either. He didn't live very long, and was always slow and sickly.

Sorry for the depressing story. But on the bright side - there's a silly illustration to look at.

Submit your office Catchphrase!

2009-03-16T14:24:00.005-06:00

Let me explain...

A friend and co-worker once tried to put a rainbow theme into a design, but it didn't get past the censors as it was deemed to gay. His response was "Rainbows are for everybody!". Which became a bit of a thing around the office for at least half a day.

So as I was doodling this zombie, as I am wont to do, a rainbow appeared behind him, which led to my recall of this particular anecdote... Tadaa!

So, if you have an office catchphrase (not the sitcom), preferably with accompanying anecdote, please submit it in the comments section. I'll illustrate my favourite and send the winner a signed print.

Gosh, what a good idea this is.

Legendary

2009-03-15T20:54:00.004-06:00

My submission for Illustration Friday topic of "legendary". I figure anything with the title Legendary needs to include a broad sword in some form or another. So here's Barack Obama inserted into the King Arthur myth, pulling Excalibur from the stone.

Now, according to my research, The Lady of the Lake gave Arthur Excalibur. The sword in the stone is some other story that got blended into the Arthur legend, but I thought this made a better image. Besides, you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.

Ninja Wallpaper Freebie

2009-03-11T08:31:00.004-06:00

I put together this desktop wallpaper so as to combine my love of ninjas, with my love of robots. And also to demonstrate how throwing stars and hand claws can be effective weapons against a 30' tall evil iron robot (as long as you use proper taijutsu).

Intricate

2009-03-09T14:26:00.004-06:00

My Illustration Friday submission for the theme "intricate". The first response I had of course was a spider web. And after drawing one, I have a higher appreciation of spiders - it's so much work!

Anyway, that led me to Charlotte's web and a modern interpretation thinking about the kazillion layoffs these days (including yours truly), and to what extent some may be driven to go to in defending themselves from the proverbial "axe".

I'm not sure if the reference if too vague, hands-up, who got it?

Breezy

2009-03-03T17:03:00.007-07:00

This is my twofold response to this weeks Illustration Friday topic "breezy". Like last week I wanted to try both a juvenile and editorial version. The later is a portrait of my cold hating wife battling the Edmonton winter.

I wasn't sure how successful the fluffy dandelions would come out in the little girl picture, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Notice how I was lazy and used the same wind swirls for both?

Instinct 2

2009-02-24T11:03:00.003-07:00

A second piece for the IF topic of "instinct". Trying to play with some texture and pattern a bit in this one.

I guess I have a pet peeve about dogs nosing where they don't belong - can't they just learn some darn manners?

Instinct

2009-02-23T10:35:00.005-07:00

1 of 2 pieces that I've been working on for the Illustration Friday topic this week. The second will be a more editorial/less juvenile take on the same concept.

I used this opportunity to really start playing around with the layered look on the werewolf. I'm pretty happy with the results, but am not sure if it should have been taken further. Hmmm. I also wanted to keep the dog much more simply rendered as a contrast to the scary werewolf. I think that worked well.

Thanks for the comments on the last post - I'm such a critique junkie.

My firsts

2009-02-19T22:25:00.006-07:00

This is my first blog, and my first submission for the Illustration Friday topic of the week, which is "Celebrate". Please critique if you feel the urge - and don't hold back, I can take it!