January 21, 2008

135: Jeope, Plain & Cold

Disclaimer! Before you read any further, I must stress that you click here for a larger view of the full image.

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Illustration Friday's theme of plain can be taken a number of ways. I selected the word as a noun, as in, where I live, I am surrounded by the boring, flat, boring and flat plain. You will not find a flatter patch of land in the country than what you see in southeastern Manitoba. For the love of prunecake, even Saskatchewan – for all the ribbing it takes – is hillier, more roly-poly than my home turf.

It is worse in the winter – all this flatness means there's no place to hide when the elements take over. And that's where my illustration comes in, pulling double duty (which I will explain in a moment). For Illustration Friday, this poor chap on the prairies represents the standard Manitoban in winter: despondent, bundled to the nines, shielding his eyes from the glare like a polar explorer, watching o'er the expanse of plain.

And for the Sugar Frosted Goodness! Blank Book Project, a traveling sketchbook a third of the way through its global adventure, this sketch represents my entry. Themed Where I Live, the SFG!BBP showed up in Winnipeg by means of Montréal and the eastern seaboard to myself and fellow SFG! contributor Allan Lorde (who graciously allowed me some page space after I wasn't able to land a spot in the book's 50-member initial sign-up).

Photobucket
Left: Kerry strikes the pose that would help me flesh out the drawing (actually photographed indoors). Right: I pose with the amazing SFG! Blank Book, nestled in its wooden carrying case.

9 comments:

Vera Pino said...

Great illo!

Anonymous said...

Wow. I clicked. Then I clicked again to see it large, just like you told me to. And dang, man, that is some serious detail flowing there. I really want to rub my hand on that scarf, it looks so fuzzy. Awesome illo!

Jeope said...

Alright! Thanks! That's the kind of endorsement I'm looking for!

Brine Blank said...

That's pretty awesome! I really like how the color works this to get a good feeling!

pati said...

Brrr... I love your illo... BIG sky, lovely open landscape :)

It makes me feel nostalgic to see the BBP in your hands :')

thefridayfrog said...

hey, i linked and it didn't bite! just like you said! fudge what? all the wonderful detail? this rocks, jeo! great composition and thanks soooo much for the lovely bone numbing chill it inspires! i need to go find another fleece to put on. ")))

studio lolo said...

wonderful illustration! I envy the participants of such a fun project.
I think I lived in Manitoba when I was a baby. I have to say...I don't think I'd survive a winter there as an adult. I'm freezing here and it's fifty degrees!

Shiho Nakaza said...

Nice illustration! I also thought of using plain as a noun, but I digressed. I guess I shouldn't be complaining about my 50-degree winter here.

Congrats on landing a spot on BBP, I'm jealous!

Anonymous said...

Love the layout, love the detail! Very evocative... makes me shiver just looking at it!