Archive for ‘Illustrations’
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How Not to Draw a Poster
Posted In: Blog, Illustrations
IS ARCHIVE
Ahhh, rejection.
Rejection always brings up a range of emotions and thoughts; plummeting sense of self-worth, frantic doubting of one’s abilities and knowledge, questioning the critical worth of the rejector, elaborate revenge scenarios, and eventually begrudging (if not cheerful) acceptance.
The Cathedral Village Arts Festival in Regina decided to do something different with their posters this year. They hired two artists to design posters, with the intent of paying the winning artist more money.
Of course, most artists are always convinced that they can catch that delicious-looking carrot being dangled from the end of a fishing rod.
Needless to say, I felt the stinging kiss of rejection with this poster. The theme for this year’s festival is “Doors to the Imagination”.
I assume most people's imaginations look like this
First there was controversy over my use of knock-off cartoon characters. An argument which later turned out to be a non-issue red-herring.
Eventually the CVAF committee decided that they simply didn’t like my poster.
Oh well, you can’t win them all. I haven’t yet seen the poster that was chosen (nor do I know who the other artist is), but my excitement to see it is a perverse mixture of competitiveness and genuine enthusiasm.
Incidentally, the CVAF committee said that they might still want to use my illustration for promotional material (i.e., for the Comic Jam).
I’ll taste that sweet, fresh carrot yet…
IS ARCHIVE
It’s been a while since I’ve posted something other than daily comics, so I decided to break that trend tonight.
The new year has brought me a few new cover-gigs with Prairie Dog and Planet S. Note Prairie Dog’s spiffy new website!
What love looks like
I enjoy doing this stuff because I don’t have a lot of time for my own comics at the moment. I’m still working a full-time job until I make my trek to the Center for Cartoon Studies this fall (Note CCS’s spiffy new website!).
These covers make me feel like I’m still active as an artist … or at least an illustrator.
The editor overlord asked me to draw a dissected heart with lots of cross-hatching reminiscent of the drawings Andreas Vesalius. But honestly, I wasn’t really listening after he said ‘lots of cross-hatching’. I don’t cross hatch as much as I used to, but I still really enjoy it when situations call for it.
No, that’s an understatement. I love cross-hatching. Cross hatching takes me back to my late teens when I was first exposed to Robert Crumb’s work. I have a lot of happy memories of drawing comics until four in the morning, trying to hatch like Crumb.
Anyway, Prairie Dog’s new graphic designer worked the image into the cover:
Neat-o!
If you can guess to which species of animal it belongs, you will win … well, nothing. I don’t have anything you would want. But still, guess away!
The next cover was for International Women’s Day. Editor overlord wanted an image of Rosie the Riveter, updated for today, with doodle-art style tattoos that reference the 60s/70s feminist movement.
I’m not totally satisfied with the results, but it’s mostly due to small things like the figure’s line of action. The original image of Rosie the Riveter has a dynamic angle in her pose. I had to dampen it a bit so that the tiny men-relieved-by-feminism wouldn’t look cluttered. The finished product lacks some of the oomph of the original. Also, I didn’t really capture that defiant look in her eyes.
We are doing it
That’s all for this week. I’m going to be doing another Prairie Dog cover for next week … which may or may not be Hawksley Workman. We’ll see!
And if you’re really lucky (or rather, if I get off my ass, and onto an ass equipped with a computer), I’ll post my special Valentine’s Day comic that appeared in Prairie Dog.
Lovely to lovingly love your love…
IS ARCHIVE
I made this comic for the upcoming next issue of Regina’s independent Valuable Comics.
Hey, isn't that--?
Gross
I don’t really know why, but eyes being pulled out of the head (and taking the brain with them) is a recurring image in my sketchbooks and comics. The sad thing is that I only realized this as I was looking through old work last night.
But if anyone asks, it has to do with the perceived vapidity of certain once-great cartoons.
Yeah … that sounds kinda smart.
Here’s a sketch from 2007. Maybe it’s because I have terrible eyesight and I don’t want my eyes to rot, thus preventing me from ever drawing again?
They most certainly are not!
Yech.
IS ARCHIVE
The problem with me having a blog is that I forget that I have a blog. Consequently, my blog does not get updated.
But no more! Today I will begin making posts on a regular basis! Today I am a changed man!
For starters, I thought I’d post some of the illustrations I’ve done for Prairie Dog magazine in Regina.
Kids be all fat now
Biking in Regina
It burns
After losing my weekly strip in the Leader-Post, I started seeking out other venues. I sent stuff to magazines across Canada (and even a couple from the USA) … but the only ones who even responded were from Regina. I guess I’m invisible everywhere but home … or maybe I don’t exist anywhere but home. Hm.
Anyway, I approached the Prairie Dog with the idea of doing a regular strip for them. Prairie Dog is pretty ‘with it’, so I figured the staff and readership are probably more aware of the same ephemera that draws my attention.
Sadly, they also don’t have a lot of money. And they need space for those sweet money-making advertisements. So, there are no comics.
On the plus side, they have asked me to do a few covers and illustrations. The three above were done for an article focusing on fun things to do in the summer:
The first cover I did for them was for an issue that responded to the proposed redesign of the Public Library’s Central Branch. The concept was for the cover to depict the best library ever made.
At the time I was frequently visiting paleofuture.com, a blog the highlights what past generations believed the future would look like.
What wonders will the library of the future bring us?
My favorite predictions of the future come from the late 19th century. Everything is a zeppelin! Even things that don’t need to be zeppelins, like coffee tables and barber’s chairs – for some reason everything has a set of propellers and/or a balloon.
I’ll leave it at that for now. More posts in the near future!