274: The Icicle Thief

We spent time this summer building a slideshow in honour of Kerry's parents' anniversary (me: scanning and designing; she, sneaking and supplying from their archives). We came across a photograph from the early 1980s of Kerry in her snowsuit, sucking an icicle outside of the family cottage. While it struck me as merely adorable, I realized when the first snow fell this winter that the photo would serve as perfect reference material for this year's Christmas card.

The image itself (below) is very pleasing. The clothing and film grain suggest a different era, but one not so long ago. In these wintry parts warmth still overpowers style for small kids – parents will, ideally, see to that until the end of time – but the utilitarian navy-blue suit with yellow striping has been largely replaced by shock pink and chichi snowboarder chic. I fear sometimes that icicle-suckery will go the way of tree-climbing and playing outside until dusk. I hope this isn't so, and I'm doing my part: I sucked on an icicle a few weekends ago while cross-country skiing. It was satisfying and thirst-quenching. And I hope that, one day, our kid will also suck on icicles.


Our Christmas card also doubles as a submission to Illustration Friday – which I haven't partaken in for some time – for their theme-of-the-week of snow. For those checking in via Illustration Friday, thanks for stopping by; this piece was drawn exclusively with a black Pigma brush pen, then scanned, coloured and stylized in Photoshop. You can click here for a closer, more detailed look-see.

262: Drawing The Shades

Kerry and I bought ourselves an introductory class in letterpress and bookbinding techniques at Winnipeg's Martha Street Studio for Christmas. The sessions began later in January, just wrapping up last week. It was an invaluable experience for myself – I've always wanted to plant my butt at Martha Street and get dirty doing something decidedly un-digital. That it was something the two of us could share made it all the more sweet. The place kicks ass.

The basic bookbinding stitch techniques we learned bent my brain into a pretzel – always a sure sign that I'm learning something. I'm now unashamed to admit I had never needle-and-stringed anything before, beyond coasting through one term of a junior high home-ec class on charm and procrastination. Though I didn't exactly master the skill, I can at least be a tiny bit pro about it now and say hey, the stab stitch is my favourite stitch.

I was more enamoured with using the ink, chase, quoins and other old-timey tools of my trade with the presses. Again, all very basic stuff in this class – which was ideal. Scrounging through the studio's trays of type I found a face I liked, and set to work making these flash-cards – for lack of a better word – to underline yet-to-be-created illustrations I'd create to hopefully match. These pieces eventually became a quartet of simple, geometric – and above all, hand-made – cards featuring two-toned songbirds, shaded in brown and black for Illustration Friday's current theme of shades.

No computers were consulted/harmed/touched/even thought about, in the creation of these pieces.

256: Grounded Down

In a concerted effort to prove to myself that any drawing can be fruitful drawing, I'm posting this doodle. Doodled among other doodles during a department meeting at work yesterday afternoon, I scanned and brought these fellows home, where I proceeded to meticulously transform them into an ever-so-slightly more interesting doodle. And then, respectfully submitted to Illustration Friday to also exemplify their theme-du-jour theme-de-la-semaine of "grounded" – showcasing the unfortunate reality that some people are genetically more, um, grounded than others.

253: Vanity In Purple

I sketched this portrait of my now-seven-year-old niece (holy crap, it seems like only yesterday) in fits and starts over the last few days. 

I am rusty. It took me more than a few do-overs to arrive at the basis of something I could continue with. The source material was never in doubt: an incredibly brief moment I captured earlier this past summer at the beach. The reason for this epic pout long since forgotten, it's still a universal expression all kids learn to master – whether it works or not in getting what they want.

The layerings of purple, added digitally, come from an altogether different source of inspiration: my friend's three-year-old daughter who, like three-year-old daughters across this earth, is enamoured with all things purple and pink (despite her parents' consternation). But as the pinky-purply wash continued to accumulate, the more it began to take on overtones of summer storms around these parts – some of which even come close to matching the power of a little-girl tantrum.

Midway through creating this thing, Illustration Friday – that one-time bastion of inspiration for me in keeping this blog running – dropped in my Friday inbox their current theme of "vanity". I haven't dropped in on Illustration Friday in a year and a half, but am including it here since the whole creation would not have happened were it not for the brief moment of pouty vanity that inspired what you see here… which, you can click here, to see even bigger.

229: Subterranean Homesick Owls

Illustration Friday's current theme of subterranean – very specific, which I like – allows an opportunity to display wares from a weekend spree of woodcut-based monoprints.


In January, a friend offered me a couple of small blocks of particle-board and some cutting tools to try my hand at carving, something I hadn't really done since high school (on linoleum, I think we all did this in high school). After a few sessions of trial and error, I carved myself a nice little cut of a burrowing owl (above).


Actual printing went down on Sunday; about a dozen or so decent copies (above) run off on a small but effective homemade press at my friend's place. These I am quite proud of.


For Illustration Friday's purposes I scanned one of the black-ink prints (above) to further the piece digitally, though I hoped to retain the print's sense of hand-craftedness. Burrowing owls are unique among the owl set for nesting in abandoned prairie-dog dens, among other subterranean abodes, and the stark, confined nature of these prints suited an idea I had in mind. Where the concept – and this write-up – takes an odd turn is in the piece's source of inspiration. Subterranean, for some reason or another, made me recall the mining sequence about midway through Dance, a two-minute animated National Film Board vignette that used to fill space on CBC when I was a kid (any Canadian worth his toque should recognize this tune).

Click here, to view the illustration larger (and on black).

221: Small Wilderness

This is my submission for Illustration Friday's theme of wilderness. The word conjures up images of vastness and scope. True, the wilderness is big. But step inside it, and you'll see it can also be quite small.

I love the wilderness, and I'm most grateful that I live in a place where true wilderness is a stone's throw away. I realize a great many people in the world don't have the ability to say that. The wilderness – and all that is in it – continues to be my number one source of inspiration; anyone skimming through this blog will notice this. I couldn't have come up with a more inviting theme for Illustration Friday.

I'm still dickering around with my woodblock carving, and I don't want it to seem that I have nothing to show for Monday night Creative Night. I hope to display my wares someday very soon. For now, you can click here to see this sketch in greater detail.

219: I've Come Undone

It took my friend Amy's Illustration Friday theme suggestion of undone to pop up in my email yesterday to realize a) I haven't completed an IF assignment in weeks, and b) I still have a whole wadge of incomplete MayDay illustrations from last spring that I never expounded on. Combined, this is the reason for the tubes-unclogging stream of sketchery you just scrolled through to at last reach this paragraph of explanation.

These are all unfinished (undone) works from the once-a-day creativity marathon my wife and I went through earlier this year (me, drawing; she, writing) – sketches dating from the first to final day of May. A select handful of other pieces from this adventure passed lovingly and thoughtfully through digital post-production to show up here since then (click here to see the results). But not this undone crew, who, once June arrived, did not see the light of day again – until now. The year is almost through, and, nuts to Photoshop, they need airing out.

Click on these links to see any of them larger. They are, from top to bottom: cowboy singer/troubador Pop Wagner, a vulturine guineafowl from the Assiniboine Park Zoo, my sister's dog Kayla, an unexplainable pen-and-watercolour skeletal bird of some sort, a big fat prairiedog and a toucanet (both from the zoo as well).

217: The Skinny

Illustration Friday's brand-new theme of skinny allows me a chance to show off a brand-new freelance illustration endeavour. It also sends me spouting off about blogs' inabilities to showcase or scroll long and skinny horizontal pieces (like comic strip panels and stitched panoramic photos, which I love to build). But on this matter I digress.

Recently I was afforded the opportunity to craft a unique illustration to support a one-pager article in a new magazine being published by Canada's National History Society (makers of The Beaver, a time-honoured Canuck literary tradition). The magazine, Teaching Canada's History, unveiled last week, is being distributed to educators and will also be available at newsstands.

I, of course, delayed any decision to show the piece until following the launch. But as a freelance assignment it was a fun challenge and a chance to work with tall and skinny pre-set dimensions that I’ve taken advantage of with previous Illustration Friday themes like this, and this.

The article called for a support piece that dealt with themes of history and technology, and connections between the two. Wide open skies for an illustrator, and among presented rough concepts to the client is what you see here, with the connection being shown quite literally (in the blue corner, representing technology, the cur-sorrrrr!... and in the red corner...). Also called upon for divine inspiration were Michelangelo’s doodles in the Sistine Chapel.

The hand, based on the hand of Adam, was drawn using soft pencil and charcoals; the cursor icon was created originally with pens and a ruler, then coloured and tidied up digitally. Amalgamation, background texture elements and distressing were all finalized in Photoshop. The final piece measures roughly 3" by 8" – and I do enjoy drawing skinny, so thanks, Canada’s National History Society! And thanks, Illustration Friday!

205: Magnify This

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.

204: Pimp My Photo

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.

197: Worn Out

Illustration Friday's theme of worn made me think of a lemur. Yes, that's right.

Not just any lemur, but one I photographed during a spring 2007 visit to the local zoo with my zoom lens in tow. I was there to test the lens out on my favourite Big Cage of Snowy Owls and came upon this tired-looking fellow. Granted, I'm not zoological enough to differentiate a healthy, virile lemur from a grizzled old one, but the mannerisms of this guy led me to believe he was pretty aged – and well-worn.

I sketched this lemur based from the photo, using an equally well-worn Pigma brush pen. I'd been using this pen tons lately and it's quite low on ink now – but this gives me a texture I love when I dab the nib on the page (an effect best seen in the muzzle area). The drying pen was also beneficial for the fur, providing delicacy that a healthy, virile brush pen could not achieve.

To follow the theme even moreso, I used an image of weathered wood planks to superimpose the illustration over, placing down Photoshop layers of white paint and muted splashes of colour. I then used a variety of custom brushes to whittle away the spaces between the planks and bring out a few cracks in the surface in an attempt to mimic painting the piece directly on wood.

A closer look at the detail can be had, here.

196: Drifting In And Out Of Snow

It's funny (to me anyways) that at the moment summer finally hits my home town – and hits, big-time – illustrative thoughts turn to such cold imagery. But when you come from a place that can conceivably get snow during parts or all of 10 of 12 months in a calendar year, the white stuff can drift into your consciousness quite easily. To wit, to hoot: this owl – sleeping under a blanket of drifted snow.

And since it's too hot to go into further detail, I will insist only upon viewing this link where you can see the piece in its more feathery, detailed glory.

The original line-work was drawn with a Pigma brush pen.

194: What A Squirrel Wants

Happy worldwide Drawing Day, everyone!

This is my contribution, of sorts – it wasn't drawn exactly today – and also a submission for Illustration Friday's current theme of craving. A pretty straightforward concept; namely, squirrels such as this one consistently crave only one thing... OK, it's spring, so mebbe two things. This red squirrel comes from a photo taken at Flowerpot Island, Ontario, during a 2007 road trip around the Great Lakes. It was frighteningly aggressive, towards a fellow squirrel at this picnic site, as well as to Kerry and myself, us attempting a mild-mannered attempt at a peaceful lunch.

The original drawing, done in brown- and black-ink Pigma Micron brush pens, was my May 8 entry towards a self-directed challenge of sketching once a day in May. All further work crafting it into a submission for Illustration Friday was completed in Photoshop over the weekend.

A closer, more detailed look can be had here.

188: A Tale Of Theatrics

There's a long-ish story behind this fellow; and, to be entirely honest, his story began well in advance of this week's Illustration Friday theme of theater. But along the way he struck and overcame obstacles, had a near-death experience and then, earned a shot at redemption. What started as an honest attempt at drawing something – anything, really – without using my fine-nib Pigma Microns, was shunted to the wayside following a misguided stab at adding charcoal to the mix of übersoft pencil shading.

I wrecked it. I was mad. I almost tossed it in a theatrical fit of frustration.

Instead I let the drawing sit for days before eventually deciding to scan it anyways and use it for an attempt at some loose-and-dirty Photoshop colouring. Truthfully I didn't know where it was going to go. I tinkered with various ideas before Illustration Friday came along with its curious theme and I set to work honing this final piece. All told, from start to finish, it simmered for almost three weeks. The final illustration is concocted from a few different soft-lead pencils, charcoal, Photoshop colour layers and washes, an overlay of wood grain and a few other miscellaneous photographic offerings. You can garner a more detailed look right here, in my Flickr stream.

179: My Gut Instinct

Illustration Friday's current theme of instinct made me think of one phrase and one phrase only: go with your gut. There's not a whole helluva lot more to this, considering. But there was one major conceptual change between the original image in my head and what eventually made it to paper – at first, the concept had one man's entire bottom half walking away on him. But a chat with Kerry cinched the deal that the man's gut should be the only part making a break. I said OK, then mebbe the guts should have their own pair of feet, strutting off stage right, but she said no, make it move like an inchworm.

I actually posed for myself with this one ­ using my tripod and remote, thinking I'd draw it in a more realistic manner. Even though I didn't in the end, I thought I'd give that visual as well, despite your pleas; I don't believe I've shown off my gut here on my site before... or have I?

Click here for the obligatory closer glimpse at the spectacle. The drawing, I mean.

176: A Man For His Time

An oddly random link cropped up in a thread on HOW magazine's online forum – this one, to be precise; an image gallery on a seemingly forgotten genealogy page – which painted a strong picture of a time in none-too-distant history that, for many reasons, many who witnessed would choose to forget. Take a look at the link and you'll see. I may one day think the same thing about my own favourite period of nostalgia (the grunge era) – but for now, not likely.

Coincidentally, Illustration Friday offers up the goes-in-all-directions theme of time. And I decided as such, that I wanted to pay tribute to the mutton-chopped chap in the go-go, whiz-bang 1960s information retrieval industry, and to a unique period of time in fashion (and facial hair).

This illustration, drawn with a fine-nib Pigma Micron and a pseudo-calligraphic pen, does not venture far from its original source material. But afterwards I opted for a certain colour scheme, and style, that accentuates the man's place in time; and had fun sticking to a two-toned palette. The erasing away of the background shapes was done with custom Photoshop brushes I made, based from old scans of sumac bush leaves.

There's detail in the inking that this blog – and its 500-pixel picture dimensions – does not do justice. So for that I say look here, for a better glimpse of what I was attempting.

174: A Nasty Case Of The Smurfs

I had no ideas for Illustration Friday's theme of pale, and I wasn't set on doing much of anything in the next little while as I prep my spare time to do some work for the local chapter of the GDC.

But I was putting away clothes and caught a glimpse of the Smurfs All Star Show LP I won in the fall during a quiz game at Cinemathèque's second cereal-and-cartoons marathon. I pictured a portrait of a smurf matched with its closest-matching Pantone swatch – "Smurf blue" as it were – and also paler varieties with their own companion swatches. Kind of neat, if not a bit gimmicky.

I tried instead to make my own take on a sickly-looking smurf (a caricature of a cartoon, harder than it sounds), using "pale" in terms of illness. The absolute palest, sickliest, smurfliest smurf-smurfing smurf I could come up with – in a fairly short time span.

Currently my Smurf remains nameless, so if you have a suggestion now's the time to pipe up.

173: On Recognising Contained Rage In A Chipmunk

Probably one of the more premier examples of first drawing something, then working backwards to fit Illustration Friday's theme-of-the-week (contained) – though not entirely the case to begin with. My initial idea was to sketch a run-of-the-mill bunny rabbit, duplicate it and place a squiggly spiral (see above) over one to illustrate the difference between a content rabbit and one displaying contained rage. But then I opted for a chipmunk. And then, it veered in this slightly different direction.

Drawn with a .005 Pigma Micron pen (using a field guide for reference), then layered in Photoshop with paper texture, text additions from Illustrator and scanned/clipped book copy. Click here for a much better look at the detail (recommended!).

170: Voicing On Nibbles

Illustration Friday's pre-Christmas theme is voices. And for a few short years during my childhood, the voice of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve must have sounded an awful lot like the nocturnal squeaks of my pet gerbil.

My memory is hazy when it comes to so many key childhood moments. I dislike myself about that. One notable – and timely – example is the circumstances surrounding the suspension of my belief in Santa Claus. I don't remember the secret being spoiled in the schoolyard, by TV or my bigger siblings. But I was usually one to quickly deduce things – even minutiae like how similar Santa's handwriting was to my mom's. But pre-dating this discovery, my brother and I owned a pair of gerbils – Friend (his) and Nibbles (mine, making for an awesome what's-your-pornstar-name: Nibbles Kingswood). And as those formative Christmases rolled by, fewer presents arrived in my stocking or under the tree from Santa – and more began arriving from Nibbles. Then following Friend's and Nibbles' brief gerbilian lifespans, Christmas gifts then became the exclusive responsibility of my family.

And that was pretty much that. A nice, smooth transition, no questions asked.

So in honour of my childhood proxy Santa – Nibbles the gerbil – I sat down and attempted my first real attempt at sketching her, something I never did as a kid when Nibbles was alive and chewing happily through our discarded toilet paper rolls.

You can click here to see a closer look at the pen detail.

167: Balloons Save Lives

I go through doldrums like any creatuve type, and they tend to hit my psyche hard. I get down on myself. So Kerry and I first tried the concept of "Creative Night" – her as writer, me as illustrator – last January, resulting in this drawing of a painted bunting for Illustration Friday's theme of "stitch". For one reason or another, Creative Night didn't take – but we resurrected it a few weeks ago after I went a pallid stretch of about three months without drawing a single thing (except for this doodle), and since then I've reeled off submissions for Illustration Friday's past three themes of "pretend", "opinion" and now balloon. My entry was inspired by a sequence of photos in an old National Geographic I read, in which a leopard seal literally whip-lashed the skin right off a penguin for a meal. And I thought, well, a balloon might have helped that penguin.

Critters drawn separately using calligraphic and brush pens; image seamed together in Photoshop. Click here for access to a more detailed view.