More Books for Your Buck

The latest ad campaign for The Bookman in Chilliwack, using my illustration. Hopefully my other work will be featured in the up coming calendar of Nietzsche, celebrity cat.

The Bookman Cat

I've been doing some more work for The Bookman, this time a calendar featuring the store cat Nietzsche. Nietzsche is the perfect cat; he loves pets, taking rides on the book carts, and just laying around getting in the way of customers (in a good way). It takes a special breed to be the best bookstore cat in Canada. I wish my cat was more layed back like him.

Long overdue...

It's been forever since I've posted. Between moving and looking for a new job my illustration work has suffered. The most recent pieces I've done are a series of bookmarks for The Bookman in Chilliwack, coming soon to a used classic near you.

Bird of Blue

Random sketchbook drawings

Alpine Mitrewort trading card

My Alpine Mitrewort illustration has finally become a Phylomon Card! I'm really happy that my work is part of this project and I hope to do a couple more pieces for it. I might even play the game.

Although I've never been into these kind of card games I've always liked the ways the cards are designed and the quality of the illustrations used.

In Progess

I'm working on a Frankenstein cover, but the man himself is not coming out so great for now. I gotta work on that shoulder. Anyway, stay tuned...

Random sketchbook drawings

I've really been slacking off on my illustrating this week, mostly because I've been having troubles laying out my classic horror book cover series, it's been harder than I thought. I'm going for a marathon drawing/layout session for the whole weekend so I can get caught up.

As for now I have some more sketchbook doodles. I really like the one on the right, it has this whole Bette Davis feel to it. The one on the left didn't come out so great, it looks like a foot with wheels instead of the trippy car I wanted it to be.

Random sketchbook drawings

While waiting to get my haircut the other day I cranked out a couple of doodles. I find I get more creative when I restrict myself in some way. Part of the exercise is that I get a strange shape, trace it, and fill it in not going outside the shape. I also get more creative when I get out of the house and away from my computer, books, and other possible resources that could influence me in some way.

In Progress

Update 05/01/10: It's getting there but this thing is fighting me every step of the way.

Update 04/30/10: Got Jekyll drawn out, now I have to work it over in Photoshop & Indesign. Should be done tonight.

Finally have a good start on my list of portfolio "TO DO" items. Jekyll/Hyde is the first victim in horror classics.

By the way Adam Ant is making a comeback. A favorite of my childhood, I loved his rocker/solider/punk/pirate look. I think I'll add him to the list.

Procrastinating, bad artist!

While procrastinating in getting my first illustration done for week 4 of the 12 week challenge I drew out my own Golden Girl warrior woman, Viper. Having no idea how to design weapons I just winged it.

Okay, okay, I'll get to my portfolio list now.

Fan Death

Finally done the Fan Death illustration. Sorry about the bad quality, I have to figure out how to properly scan an 11" x 28" sketch with an 11" x 14" scanning bed. Now for some music.

In Progress

We're finally getting down to some serious illustrating this week in the challenge. Even though we're suppose to be working from a list we've made I started this image last night I'll be finishing it today before I start on my list.

I'm doing an illustration of Vancouver based electronicia group
"Fan Death". I used to work with the singer Dandi (right) at an art supply store, she's incredibly talented and seeing her live is an experience.

Wild Ginger

Wild Ginger: Asarum caudatum, for the Phylo Project.

Fairy-Bell

Another submission for the Phylo Project.

Pacific Dogwood

Latest submission for the Phylo Project.

Alpine Mitrewort

A sketch I did to submit to the Phylo Project. I hope to do a couple more for this project.

Golden Girls, no the other ones

Clockwise from top left: Jade, Vultra, Moth Lady & Sapphire.

Sometimes I just get nostalgic for my old toys. My Golden Girl dolls were some of my favorites; put out during the height of the whole HeMan/SheRa craze they were Galoob's way of trying to cash in on cartoon action figures. Even though Golden Girl never had her own TV show, she did have a series of books detailing her adventures.

The dolls were more detailed in their costumes and had more aggressive weapons than their SheRa counterparts (the shields were made out of metal and each was different unlike the repeated plastic one sported by the SheRa clan). I'm not putting down SheRa, I had those toys too, but when SheRa and her gang went up against the Golden Girls you know who always won.

When I drew up some of my favorite Girls I tried to improve on the original designs just a touch, to make them more dangerous looking. Even though it was great to see a toy manufacturer making strong women warriors, they still made them a bit too girly for my taste.

They need their own comic

Crazy Jane, a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder, was part of Grant Morrison and Richard Case's Doom Patrol. A highly complex character, each her 64 personalities had its own superpower. I would have loved to have seen a series come out of her appearance in Doom Patrol, only a handful of the personalities were talked about in the original but a series could have gone into deeper details of each one.

Jet Girl is the sometimes unappreciated sidekick of Tank Girl. Much less aggressive than Tank Girl's other friends she is thought of as boring and criticized for her taste in music. Yet out of all this she has a serendipitous lifestyle in which she is never in need of money and her wants are simple, resulting in a very relaxed outlook on life despite being pursued by the law.
*The character of Jet Girl portrayed in the 1995 film Tank Girl bears no resemblance to the original comic character and should not be used for the argument of a Jet Girl comic*

Illustrations from my website

Since my portfolio website is going through a big redesign I'll be posting some pieces here until the site is up and running again.