This doodle represents my personal take on Illustration Friday's current theme of magnify, as well as a sneak peek of another stress-free artistic venture I took on to see me through the fading days of summer. Loosely drawn first in pencil, these birdies were afforded the quickest-of-quick rose red watercolour washes before being inked with .01-nib and calligraphic pens. I'm not sure what all else to add – except I have a lot of material piled up and ready to display in the near future. Please stand by.
It's been a teensy-weensy while since I've posted, and realize it may be some time coming as well. I've recently been the recipient of a wadge of fun and enjoyable freelance and pro bono work/assignments – ranging from illustration to logo design to photography – and need to direct my efforts as such. Some of it I'll be showing off in the weeks and months to come, no doubt, but for the time being Jeopopolis must resort to keeping the back seat warm.Stay classy. In the meantime, here's a photo to melt hearts; when my four-year-old niece in her pink summer dress snuck up barefoot on a lazing rabbit at the magic hour for photographers – well, I thanked High Holy Bacon.See you in September.
Illustration Friday's theme of modify had me scouring my photo vault, then interpreting in a purely technical manner. So bear with me here, if you think I'm off my rocker. Firstly, the quick sketch above, drawn with a fast-fading black brush pen – my new best friend – is of Kerry's brother-in-law and his mega-awesome hat. In Photoshop, I frittered away at the drawing's edges, particularly along the bottom, and performed some minor tweaks to a few detail areas where the brush pen was overly blunt.Where Illustration Friday's theme enters the picture is in choice of colour scheme and setting. The original photo (shown below), was snapped on a cloudy and blustery day on a northern Manitoba lake, from a boat halted at a barren, wretched colony of nesting gulls. The modified illustration instead inserts our hero into a far warmer climate. And there you have it.
This was the scene – according to the eggheads at Environment Canada – awaiting our six-day jet-away to the jungles of southern Ontario last week. My geographically-challenged family unit pitched in together for a lakeside cabin rental in Port Elgin, a resort-and-cottage town on the shores of Lake Huron that I know well from my childhood. And fortunately, the federal government does weather prediction about as well as [fill in the blank].
Rainy overnights and mornings were more the case, but afternoons and evenings were by and large, glorious, and even included a solid sunny day from open to close mixed in. This laid the groundwork for a classic stuffed-to-the-rafters cabin experience, including much wine, six-ton brownies, barbeque, bocce, beers, badminton, biking, Big Bay homemade ice cream and a run-amok midnight bat in the living room.
It was a grand time, to be schooled in bocce by my almost-five-year-old niece, and to giggle with my nephew, a 15-month-old ball of giddiness. To munch on fresh fish and veggies still weeks away from harvest back at home. To hear cheer-uppy cardinals at dawn and see egrets in the marsh, and to escape one of the coldest summers on record at home to be with people I love and a place in the world I will always have fond memories for.
