Some recent editorial work for a magazine. These are a nice diversion from children’s illustration.
Frozen Dinner
A random, quick cartoon I drew a while back. I like watching some cooking shows, especially the challenges. I guess I was playing off of his interest. It’s making me hungry though. Lunch calleth.
Samples: Quebec Carnival Spead for Owlkids
Hello, hello! Or I should say “Bonjour!”, given the spread I am displaying below is of the winter carnival (Carnaval de Quebec) held in Quebec City, Quebec each winter. I illustrated this for the December 2011 issue of Chirp magazine this past summer. It was a fun albeit intricate piece to pull together. And if you are familiar with the carnival, you may notice a key figure missing–Bonhomme Carnaval. This was due to copyright issues, so generic clowns took his place in the end. But I did include the beautiful Le Chateau Frontenac, in the upper right part of the spread.
So below is the original spec/sketch from the client…
…And the final spread (after shuffling and moving things around) in the magazine. For a larger view, please click on the image.
And a few random close-ups, below.
(copyright Owlkids, 2011)
The Beavers In Winter
So we have a new banner. The Christmas tree is down and the beavers are now in winter mode, building themselves a snowbeaver. I’m not sure where these characters came from. They were the first thing I drew when I tried out this painterly style a few years back, so maybe they just have a special place in the scheme of things. And they like winter, ‘cuz they get to dress in sweaters and boots and scarves to add just a little more warmth to their furry little bodies. (What? No toque?)
My Greeting Card-o-Rama
I’ve been slowly doing some office inventory, such as going through boxes and making some order out of my mayhem. I had a box of greeting cards I’ve done over the years, just begging for some order. So I made piles on the living room floor to match up cards and envelopes, etc. (Pic below. I erased the floor). I count 46 here but some are missing. I had no idea there were that many. How about that! Most are commissioned and not my concepts, but a few are. I’m grateful to my clients for the opportunity to make cards of different types. Thanks, guys!
First Day Before Christmas…
Christmas Eve. And a reworking of a reindeer, below…
…from this one.
Second Day Before Christmas…
… I reworked the skating deer. It’s fun reworking old work!
The original:
Third Day Before Christmas…
My Christmas card for 2011 in print. Cards always seem to look better when grouped, yes?
Fourth Day Before Christmas…
…And now we have an oldy but likey-like-like. I have always liked this little bear and these two images. They surfaced around this time of the year in 2007. They were warm up drawings, it seems. I had planned (and maybe did?) put them on a postcard promo. On the front was a skating reindeer. Hmmm…It might be fun to rework that one.
Enough musing for now. On to other things!
Fifth Day Before Christmas…
…And THIS came out. Hmmm… I’m not sure about posting this as it doesn’t fit into the over-all cutesy-ness of my posted work as of late, but c’est la vie. I was playing around with line and color and sort of just wanted to do a devil decorating a Christmas tree. Not so clever, I know. I didn’t work at this all that much so it is what it is: a/the devil decorating a pine tree. But while working on it, this question was in my head as far as a cartoon idea, and I will ask you all: What would Christmas in hell look like? Got a clever cartoon idea for that anyone…? Feel free to share!
Sixth Days Before Christmas…
…And I thought I’d post something Christmasy each day. Just to keep the juices flowing. Today I dug through the archive of my stuff and pulled up this card I did a while back. I sure like drawing beavers! So up it goes.
Have a great week!
Christmas Header 2011
Hi y’all. Just wanted to point to the new banner/header up for the holiday season on my website/blog. It’s a variation on a Christmas card I will use this year. Little Beaver Boy is decorating his tree with a string of peeerty, colorful pearls. Yay, Beaver Boy!
And as you all know, it’s hard to leave a “good thing” alone and not tweak it to the nth degree, so I’ve included some variations, below. Just for fun. And a demo of how I while away the hours. : ) So you might see the header change now and then as I kind of like them all.
Sample: Taiwan & Focus On The Family
I like to watch Chopped (Foodnetwork cooking show–Anybody else watch it…?), and they talk a lot about “repurposing” a (usually funky) food from the basket in a different way. Guess ya gotta watch the show to know what I’m talking about. Anyway… : )
So that works with illustrations, too. These images I did for Focus on the Family earlier this year (I will post the spread at some point), and Focus on the Family–Taiwan wanted to “repurpose” them for another article. Neat. And they were kind enough to send the spread to see. So thought I’d share.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Watch your pets this Thanksgiving!
I’m just posting the rest of the illustrations for the spread I did for this month’s Highlights magazine. Enjoy the day, whatever you do and where ever it finds you. : )
(Copyright Highlights magazine, 2011)
Illustration Friday: “Vanity”
Someone’s getting glammed up for Thursday…
For this week’s Illustration Friday prompt– “Vanity”.
Happy Thanksgiving, U.S. of A. folks!
